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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Was Young Mother Killed by Deputy Boyfriend?; Stephen Collins` Wife Accuses Him of Molesting Girls; Life or Death for Jodi Arias?

Aired October 08, 2014 - 19:00   ET

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

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Breaking news tonight in a mysterious death of a beautiful young mother, found on the floor of her boyfriend`s home with a

gunshot to the mouth.

Investigators ruled Michelle O`Connell`s death was a suicide, but her family says no way, no how. The dead woman`s family believes she was

murdered by this man, her then boyfriend. He`s a deputy for the very sheriff`s department that initially investigated this case. He has never

been arrested. He`s never been charged, and he insists he`s the victim of a witch hunt.

Michelle`s family says it was his house, it was his gun, and it was his frantic call to 911. Now an explosive new witness claims the very day

after Michelle died, her cop boyfriend walked into his bar making chilling, sinister comments about the dead woman. Did Deputy Jeremy Banks get a pass

from his fellow cops, as her family claims, or is he an innocent cop getting smeared?

Good evening, I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming to you live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her death ruled a suicide. Her family maintains she was murdered by Banks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A self-inflicted gunshot to the head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four years ago, Michelle lost her life, it was taken.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They believe O`Connell`s boyfriend, St. John`s County deputy Jeremy Banks, pulled the trigger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michelle O`Connell died, and we need to get to the bottom of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Twenty-four-year-old Michelle, found dead inside her boyfriend`s Florida home back in 2010. Cops say she shot herself in the

mouth, using her boyfriend`s service weapon, but her family doesn`t buy it.

Tonight the case has just been reopened. Florida`s governor has just ordered a special prosecutor to launch an independent investigation into

her death after a powerful new witness comes forward claiming less than 24 hours after Michelle died, her boyfriend was at his bar. Listen to this

witness` chilling account.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just said that that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) deserved what she got, you know. And yes, that struck me as weird.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, that`s the blockbuster new info. The cop, through his lawyer, says he was nowhere near that bar that night.

Somebody`s lying.

What do you think? Did she kill herself or was it something more sinister? Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297. And you can join the conversation

by going to my Jane Velez-Mitchell Facebook page, or you can talk to me on Twitter, @JVM. That`s my handle.

We reached out to Deputy Jeremy Banks; have not heard back. He`s invited on our show any time. I`d love to hear his side of the story.

Our expert Lion`s Den panel fired up. Let`s show them. They are ready to debate. Yes, they are. They`re there, I promise you. But first -- there

they are. They are fired up, and they`re fired up.

First, straight out to reporter Jean Wexler from 104.5 in Florida. Jean, what`s the latest on these shocking new developments?

Jean, Jean, can you hear me? Go ahead.

JEAN WEXLER, REPORTER, 104.5 (via phone): The latest is that Governor Rick Scott has assigned state attorney Jeff Ashton to reopen the investigation

into the case. The family obviously very happy about this, because they`ve been claiming since the beginning that it was suicide; and what they`ve got

behind them, their evidence is that the investigation initially when the sheriff`s office, St. John`s County, performed the investigation, they

concluded that night that it was a suicide and didn`t follow through in testing a lot of the evidence to see if it was actually a homicide.

So now the case is going to be reopened. And like you said at the beginning, they`ve got this new witness who says that Jeremy Banks came

into his bar the day after the shooting and made some comments that seemed to insinuate that, you know, she got what she deserved. That seemed to put

him under the microscope for this one, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, absolutely. And by the way, if you recognize the special prosecutor`s name, Jeff Ashton, you remember, he was the prosecutor

who prosecuted the Casey Anthony case. And remember, she was acquitted of murder.

Now Michelle`s family and friends say there is something very, very weird about the way Michelle died. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR O`CONNELL`S FAMILY: There`s something awfully troubling about how Michelle O`Connell died, and we need to get to the

bottom of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michelle`s family points to what they say is a second wound, a cut above Michelle`s right eye. They believe it was a defensive

wound and shows the sign of a struggle before the shots rang out. That would dovetail with Jeremy`s own brother`s claim that Michelle and Jeremy

were fighting at a concert just hours before she allegedly killed herself.

But again, the medical examiner`s original conclusion is this was suicide and that cut above the eye was from the gun recoiling. Recoiling.

So I want to bring in Janet Johnson. You are the attorney for Michelle O`Connell`s family, so the attorney for the victim`s family. OK, what are

the problems as you see it with the gun and the shooting itself? Let`s get to that, because I understand that your side claims that, if she did shoot

herself the way the forensics add up, she would have had to have the gun upside down, in her mouth upside down, and you find that hard to believe.

JANET JOHNSON, ATTORNEY FOR MICHELLE O`CONNELL`S FAMILY: Not just that; it would have been with her left hand. The shooter was apparently left-

handed. Everyone agrees on that. The only left-handed person in the house that night was Jeremy Banks. Michelle was right-handed.

And you know, Ben Crump and I represent the family. I live in Florida. I live, you know, maybe 20 minutes from where Michelle lives. From the get-

go, to have the police, the employer of Jeremy Banks, investigating whether he did anything wrong, that was just not kosher. That just wasn`t right.

But the way the gunshot would have had to have gone off, she would have had to upside with her left hand shoot herself and then the gun would have had

to come into her, whereas everyone knows that guns actually back up. They don`t propel into the person who`s being shot.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So are you saying that you believe this is sort of the blue wall of silence, that this evidence incriminates this officer who is

still on the beat today and that there was a essentially a cover-up and that the sheriff`s department that paid his paycheck was looking the other

way? Is that what you`re suggesting, because that`s a very serious allegation?

JOHNSON: Here`s what I`ll say. Is if your body that employs you is the one that`s also investigating you, nobody would think that that`s an

impartial or fair investigation. I mean, look at you know, the NFL. Everyone`s criticizing Roger Goodell. It took someone from the outside to

bring a video of Ray Rice actually punching his wife to get some action.

So on the face of it, does it appear improper? Absolutely. It`s not appropriate.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me say this. Michelle and her cop boyfriend were dating for a year before she was found dead. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very confident that someone like Jeff Ashton will do the right thing and give this case the look that it deserves and answer any

lingering questions and look at all the facts from the scratch and not just the former investigation, but he will put it together himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, my final question for you, Janet Johnson, attorney for Michelle O`Connell`s family. Her cop boyfriend is on the job. He has

never been charged with anything. I`m holding in my hand a lawsuit where he basically says the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which

eventually did some investigation, as well, has been on a witch hunt against him. What is your reaction to his claim that essentially this is a

malicious smear campaign against him?

JOHNSON: I`ve been a criminal defense attorney for a long time, as well. If ever client of mine could sue the police or FDLE when they got

investigated, saying it`s a witch hunt, then FDLE would be inundated with lawsuits.

So you know, does everyone feel like it`s a witch hunt when they`re being investigated? Of course. I`m sure it`s an uncomfortable position. But if

the person in the home has a motive and has been caught in contradictions, if that doesn`t make you a suspect, who`s going to be a suspect? Of course

you would be a suspect. Any other person who wasn`t law enforcement would certainly be thoroughly investigated. That`s all we`re asking for.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to thank you, Janet Johnson, attorney for the family of Michelle O`Connell, who died in 2010. She had, then, a 4-year-

old daughter. So it`s four years later, so he child is approximately 8 years old. And apparently, she often cries out for her mommy. So this is

a very sad case. We want to get to the bottom of it.

I want to go out to my Lion`s Den and start with Dr. Judy Ho, a clinical psychologist. Do women historically, generally, statistically put guns in

their mouths and shoot themselves?

DR. JUDY HO, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Absolutely not, Jane. Women are statistically known and shown to commit suicide through what we call less

lethal means, things like taking pills; at the most perhaps superficial cuts on the wrists. So very, very rarely do we see a woman use more lethal

means, and we usually see that in men who commit suicide. And that`s why there are more successful completions of suicide in men, as well, because

they`ll tend to jump off a building or shoot themselves.

Another thing that we now about this woman is that she had a young child to care for, and that usually lowers the suicide risk substantially. So when

somebody wants to take their own life, they really hesitate to do it, because they know that somebody is relying on them, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Does anybody disagree with Dr. Judy Ho? Does anybody think, well, just the fact that she allegedly shot herself in the

mouth with a gun upside down using the wrong hand, well, that means that it couldn`t have been suicide? Everybody agrees? Oh, my God. I`m leaving.

I`m leaving.

BRIAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jane -- Jane, I don`t necessarily disagree with Judy, but there`s a big difference between...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead. I`m back.

CLAYPOOL: There`s a difference -- all right, there`s a big difference between a case looking like suicide and proving up the fact that it was not

a suicide.

I think what you need here is a coroner`s inquest. I think Benjamin Crump made a great idea. It needs to be done. And what that is, Jane, it`s much

like a grand jury investigation. You get the medical examiner and six jurors from the community. You bring in a lot of medical testimony. Maybe

we can get a forensic pathologist to come in and testify that, based on the bullet entry trajectory, the wound above the eye, that this is a homicide.

If you can get that in a coroner`s inquest, then maybe you can convince the prosecutor to bring charges against the boyfriend.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Areva Martin, attorney, what really perplexes me about this case is the timing. She was packing up, according to -- I think

everybody agrees that she was packing up. She was getting ready to leave her boyfriend. And statistically, intimate partner violence is most likely

to occur at that juncture during the break-up.

So my question to you: you`re packing up to leave somebody. He`s sitting in the garage on his motorcycle, according to him. She`s packing up to

leave, and then she says, "No, I`m not going to leave. I`m going to kill myself instead." Does that make sense to you?

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY: It doesn`t make any sense. And I think it`s important to listen to what the witness has come forward and said. He said

that this guy was complaining that he was tired of taking this abuse from this woman and that now he was able to move on with his life.

So apparently, they were having some real issues in this relationship. We heard about a fight that happened. And I don`t think there`s necessarily a

problem with the sheriff`s department investigating one of their own. I think it was the poor way in which they conducted that investigation,

failing to look at his cell phone records, failing to test DNA evidence, failing to talk to other people in that neighborhood causes that

investigation to be incredibly suspect and for the public to have no trust in it.

So I`m glad that the governor stepped up and said, "Let`s look at this," because it looks like a case of domestic violence, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, here`s a tweet. "He`s another officer with a God complex. Probably thinks he`ll never be prosecuted. He would definitely

know how to make it look like a cover-up. She was right-handed. Come one, people. She deserves justice."

You know, so some people are saying things don`t look right here. But remember, A, Deputy Banks, you`re invited on our show anytime or your

attorney. We want to hear your side of the story. B, you haven`t been charged with anything. And C, on the other side of the break, we`re going

to show you some texts that she sent earlier that night that the sheriff`s department points to as evidence that she was suicidal. Stay right there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY BANKS, FORMER BOYFRIEND OF MICHELLE O`CONNELL (via phone): Blood is coming out of everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via phone): She`s not breathing?

BANKS: Just get them here now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are on the phone. Calm down a second. Calm down for me. Call down for me, OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BANKS (via phone): Hey, please get someone to my house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via phone): What`s going on?

BANKS: Please. My girlfriend just shot herself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She what?

BANKS: She just shot herself. Please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Ma`am, ma`am. I need you to come down.

BANKS: It`s sir. It`s sir. Let me tell you the truth. I`m Deputy Jeremy Banks. I work with you. Get someone here now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, I need you to calm down then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Michelle O`Connell died in 2010. This beautiful woman left behind a 4-year-old child who is now 8 years old. The

man you hear calling 911 was her then boyfriend. She was reportedly in the process of breaking up with him. That`s deputy Jeremy Banks.

So I want to go to Dr. Judy Ho, clinical psychologist. He`s the one at home. He suggested, apparently, on the 911 call that she had committed

suicide. Now her family says no, it was a homicide and the case has been reopened. What do you make of his tenor on that 911 call?

HO: Well, Jane, one of the things that I fear about somebody who is an insider like he is -- because he was a deputy at the time, and I think he

still is -- is that they have insider information. And I know that our police force, most of them, almost all of them, really, are serving the

public and doing their best job.

But there have been cases in history where a police officer or somebody who`s a paramedic, people who have insider information, are actually

involved in a murder and are able in ways to cover it up because they have that information to be able to put together a case and suggest things to

the 911 dispatcher. As you heard right now, he`s the one that suggested that it was suicide. He`s the one who made that claim to begin with. And

people tended to trust him with this information back then.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we`re hearing that he must be watching our show. You please call in, Deputy Jeremy Banks. We`ll put up our number. But you`ve

just sent us a statement. It`s being sent to me right now. And the second I get it, I will read it.

Meanwhile, let`s go out to the phone lines. Virginia, California, what do you have to say? Virginia, California?

CALLER: Hi Jane. I love you here in Santa Barbara. We love animals like you do.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.

CALLER: I just want to say that 43 years ago when I was 15, my mother supposedly committed suicide by shooting herself in the mouth with a rifle.

And back then I didn`t know that something like that couldn`t have happened, but because my father`s brother killed his ex-wife, and I feel

sometimes that my dad has something to do with my mother`s death because she was a biblical woman. She never would have done that. And I just feel

that somehow my dad had something to do with it, and I was too young then to do something about it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, look, this is a common theme. It pops up in movies all the time. Was it murder or was it suicide? I mean, I`m sure it`s a

Shakespearean theme, as well.

So here`s the other side of the story. Michelle`s death was originally ruled a suicide, and one of the key factors were -- and this is something

that is touted by the sheriff`s department on its website. They stand by their determination of suicide.

They point to the text messages Michelle allegedly sent to her sister in the hours before her death. First she said, quote, "I`m stressed out,"

followed by a demand for a promise. Quote, that "No matter what, her daughter, 4 at the time, will always be safe and loved." Then she texted,

quote, "Make sure my daughter is always No. 1, not like us."

Back out to the Lion`s Den. Brian Claypool, could those texts indicate that, indeed, she was suicidal?

CLAYPOOL: Jane, those text messages could be used to the contrary, that she`s so afraid of this guy she`s talking about taking care of her daughter

if something happens. There was evidence prior they had a fight, a breakup, and she`s worried about that.

But let me get back to that 911 call, Jane. What was profound to me about that guy calling in was that he mentions that he thinks it`s a suicide.

Now, if I was calling in and my girlfriend was laying [SIC] in bed with a gunshot wound in her body, the last thing on my mind, unless I did

something wrong, would be mentioning to a 911 dispatch operator the mechanism of how she was killed. I think that`s very compelling.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. During the 911 call itself, the officer, Jeremy Banks, says the weapon used to kill his girlfriend belongs to him. He`s a

cop, and he`s got a gun. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BANKS: My girlfriend just shot herself with my weapon. Please get someone here now. Please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, we`re doing that. While I`m talking to you, is she still breathing?

BANKS: No, there`s blood coming out of everywhere, please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Even though the gun belonged to Jeremy, it turns out in the end, and there was a lot of controversy about how the evidence was

collected, what evidence was and what evidence wasn`t, but what we heard in the end was that not a single piece of his DNA was on it.

Also the location of the shell casings, again you heard this from Janet Johnson, the attorney for Michelle`s family, would mean that Michelle was

shot by a left-handed person. She`s right-handed. Even if Michelle did shoot herself, the evidence said she would have had to have shot herself

holding the gun upside-down?

Areva Martin, people shoot themselves with a gun upside-down. That is very -- that is strange to me.

MARTIN: It`s very odd, Jane. Given all of the factors in this case, I just can`t understand why the sheriff`s department where this guy worked

wouldn`t have taken it upon themselves to get someone else involved, to get an independent party involved. They knew that there would be tons of

questions. They made a quick determination that it was suicide without doing the complete and thorough investigation I think they would have been

done, had he not been an officer.

So they invited this high-level of scrutiny, and I think now the governor`s decision is correct, because they just fail to do what you would expect a

law enforcement agency to do, which is to be thorough, be complete, and rule out every possibility that this could have been a homicide. They must

have known that this woman and Banks were having issues, that there was a possibility of domestic violence in this case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Listen, I interrupt you, because we just got the statement, hot off the presses, from Jeremy Banks` attorney. So I`m going

to read it just for the first time. We can all analyze it.

Quote, "The new information that has prompted the appointment of a third prosecutor to review issues regarding Jeremy Banks are not new and, more

important, not true. Mr. Banks was nowhere near the place where this bartender was the night after Ms. O`Connell took her own life and has

multiple witnesses, including law enforcement officers, who attest to this. Anyone making such statements four years after a very public story and

after two separate prosecutors and three medical examiners have found this to be a tragic suicide obviously is trying to gain some air time at the

expense of truth and without any credible evidence at all. This individual has significantly altered the story he first told, and when that occurs,

credibility is lacking. Jeremy Banks has been cooperative, truthful, and consistent in his reports of the events if this tragedy." I think it`s "of

this tragedy" he meant. "He is innocent of any wrongful conduct, and every professional investigation has indicated as much." That`s his attorney.

So I want to do a round robin, starting with Brian Claypool. What do you make of it?

CLAYPOOL: Well, Jane, this witness is ridiculous. It doesn`t make any bearing at all, any difference at all in the investigation. That`s not

going to make a determination whether he gets indicted for homicide. What`s really going to turn the table on this is forensics.

And Janet Johnson made a great point. Shell casings eject three feet over your shoulder. So if you shoot left-handed, it`s going to eject three feet

over your shoulder behind you. So they can take the location of that shell casing, and if it was shot by somebody left-handed, they`ve got a great

argument that this was not a suicide. So focus on the forensics, not some witness.

Martin: You have to ask the question, Brian, how is it that it`s four years later and something as simple as you`ve just described, which every

criminologist knows, is just now being considered?

That`s what`s troubling me about this case. This witness isn`t new. He`s been around all along. The forensic evidence that you talked about, it

isn`t new. It`s been there. So we have had this series of prosecutors, series of medical examiners. So I`m not so certain, even though this case

seems extremely strange to me, I don`t know if we`re going to come up with anything new by having a new prosecutor involved.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Last question: According to the "New York Times," which did an investigation, police failed to canvass neighbors. Remember, one

neighbor allegedly, purportedly claimed she heard a woman screaming for help prior to the shots. Failed to file required reports on what they`d

seen, failed to download Jeremy`s cell-phone data or collected and test one of the sheriff`s shirts he wore that night. I mean, if indeed he is

innocent, Dr. Judy Ho, have the investigators done him a huge disservice because now these questions are out there forever?

HO: That`s right, Jane. There`s been a lot of questions about how this was investigated in the first place, how the evidence was collected, how

people were interviewed. And there is such a thing as interviewer bias. And so if the interviewers themselves were trying to get at answers that

would suggest a suicide. This is recorded forever.

And the people whom they were interviewing, that`s implanted in their heads forever, as well. So even if they reopen everything, I agree that there`s

something going on where we may not get to the bottom of it, even with a new prosecutor.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re going to stay on top of this. Deputy Jeremy Banks or the family of the dead woman, Michelle O`Connell, all invited on our

show. We`re going to track this story. We want to hear all sides.

A brand-new bombshell tonight -- and I`m talking shocker -- in the case of a major TV and movie star accused of child molestation by his estranged

wife in divorce documents that will just knock you right off your chair if you`re reading them. Stephen Collins fighting back against his estranged

wife, but he`s not addressing the key accusations and we have some of the TMZ tape that has sent shock waves through Hollywood and really around the

country, because this man is one of the most recognizable faces in the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYLE SEARLES, ACTOR (via phone): He was not only the father of "7th Heaven," because he was also the father on the set for all of us. And

never once did I ever get any sort of weird inclination that maybe he was not who he says that he was. So it`s definitely very disturbing news to

wake up to this morning. I didn`t believe it at first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shocking allegations surrounding actor Stephen Collins.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It didn`t ever seem like he had anything to hide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The "7th Heaven" dad is accused of child molestation. Grant says Collins admitted to molesting three underage girls.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: They had been in a very nasty divorce.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there someone else.

STEPHEN COLLINS, ACTOR: Of course not, this is about us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m always suspect when this stuff happens to come out during a divorce.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What a (inaudible) -- what a huge scandal tonight. The Stephen Collins child molestation scandal is getting crazier and crazier.

The embattled TV star and movie star claims his estranged wife shopped around an explosive audio tape in an attempt to extort millions of dollars

out of him in their very, very, very nasty divorce.

Stephen Collins, you know him as the pastor on that wholesome family drama "7th Heaven". TMZ released a tape purported to be Collins and his

estranged wife Faye Grant during a therapy session. TMZ says Stephen Collins was secretly recording -- he was recorded making incriminating

statements about alleged child molestation on his part that happened 20 to 40 years ago. Listen to this extraordinary audio tape of a therapy

session.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. How many times with --

COLLINS: Once.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you said that there was another girl. How many girls altogether?

COLLINS: That`s it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you said that there was --

COLLINS: No, help me out here. There was -- sister.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So -- sister who was 10 -- because she wrote. Because -- was 10. 10, 11, 12 -- Around several years --

COLLINS: There were I think -- yes, there were like three incidents over about three years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. So and then there was the girl across the way at --

COLLINS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then there`s -- so it`s just three?

COLLINS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re sure?

COLLINS: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: HLN cannot confirm that it is Stephen Collins and his wife on that tape. We cannot confirm if the tape is authentic or it`s been

edited, but we do know they are in the very middle of a very nasty divorce. And we have copies of the divorce documents where Faye Grant, the estranged

wife makes jaw-dropping claims that her husband of 27 years -- they have a child together -- admitted to molesting three girls, two of them in New

York and one of them in Los Angeles.

Now yesterday, Stephen Collins released a statement that did not directly address the audio tape and did not include a denial of the molestation

claims. The statement reads in part, quote, "this is really an attempt to extort concessions in a settlement."

Wait a minute, you`re being accused of being a child molester and so far your only real response is to accuse your estranged wife of extortion? We

have to wonder and ask how come he`s not directly addressing the most serious issue, the accusation that he`s a pedophile.

Straight out to Mike Walters, TMZ news manager -- you broke this story. First of all, that`s the latest? And I`d also like to get your take on

Stephen Collins` apparent silence on the most serious issue, the molestation accusations.

MIKE WALTERS, TMZ NEWS MANAGER: Well, I`ll start with that one, Jane. I can tell you the reason he`s not addressing it is because that is his voice

on this tape. That is him confessing --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We can`t independently confirm that.

WALTERS: -- to his wife. And I do understand that. But I think that kind of tells you a little bit about what`s in the audio and how he feels about

it. His only reaction like you said is to vilify his ex-wife and say, you extorted me, you took this audio tape without my knowledge, and you shopped

it around to try to get your settlement.

I can tell you the other side of the coin though Jane. The other side of the coin is she`s saying yes, I did tape you, and yes I wanted money from

you, but all I ever wanted was my half of our community assets as a married couple who`s now getting divorced. I can tell you I`ve seen all the

documents Jane. They`re worth $14 million.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

WALTERS: There`s a lot of money at stake. There`s $7 million on each side. In the state of California, they`ll probably split the money. She

claims it`s not extortion. I just want my half.

And you have to understand her argument. I`m not taking a side here, Jane, but I will say, her argument is look, I need the money now because if any

of these people you molested that you confessed to molesting to me and on tape -- if any of those people come forward and sue you, our community

assets are at risk and I want to separate the money. It`s my money and your money. And if they come after you for what you did, they can take

your money and not mine.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Out to the "Lion`s Den". And I want to thank you, Mike Walters, as always for breaking the stories and for coming on our show.

Great to hear from you.

"Lion`s Den", I`m going to start with Brian Claypool, criminal defense attorney. You know, they are in a nasty divorce. I`m just looking at the

docket and it goes on and on and on. Their next time in court is apparently in November, so in essence it`s almost like on the eve of

another court proceeding.

Does that take this at all -- and I want to show pictures of these two together. They were married 27 years. They have an adult daughter. If

you go on and Google Stephen Collins and Faye Grant you see tons of photos of them kissing and hugging. The divorce is so ugly, does that taint the

accusations? Does that make the accusation something that put it in a different category or are those two actually unrelated?

BRIAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, Jane. Child abuse is child abuse. And it`s pathetic to suggest that we should feel sorry even for

Faye Grant that she`s trying to save money that she might not get because he might now get sued.

The fact of the matter is Faye Grant is a mandated reporter. She`s a therapist. Judy Ho can talk about this. If he told --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait, wait, she`s an actress. I didn`t hear she`s a therapist. Faye Grant is his estranged wife. She`s an actress. They were

going to a therapist.

CLAYPOOL: Ok, I thought this tape was done in the context of a therapy appointment. If I`m wrong, I`m wrong.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but she`s not the therapist. It`s a therapist -- there`s a therapist there, purportedly but it`s couple`s therapy, probably.

There`s a husband and a wife in a room talking about stuff and this comes up. If indeed it`s them, which we can`t independently confirm, nor can we

confirm it`s his voice. Go ahead.

CLAYPOOL: But Jane -- ok but Jane. If that`s Collins` voice, there`s no excuse for him not to be arrested in Los Angeles today. And I`ll tell you

why, because there`s a statute, Penal Code 803, in California that allows prosecution for child abuse even if the victim is now over the age of 28.

There`s what`s called a reporting window of one year. All the victim has to do is go down to the police department, file a formal report -- let me

finish. That could be done.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s not -- well, ok. But that`s not what I`m hearing. Let me lay out the facts as I understand them. And then we`ll get you to

respond to them.

The New York City Police Department confirmed the actor Stephen Collins is the subject of an ongoing molestation investigation stemming from an

alleged incident between 20 and 40 years ago. The New York statute of limitations says a person has five years from their 18th birthday to make

an accusation of sexual abuse to authorities.

Now as we understand it, in California, a lawsuit can be filed any time prior to the 28th birthday. It appears, according to our analysis, that

all three alleged incidents -- in these three alleged incidents, two purportedly in New York, one in Los Angeles, the statute of limitations has

run out.

Now I just want to go to Areva Martin on this then we`ll continue the debate and get you in, Brian Claypool. I understand that it`s a complex

issue. That there can be exceptions of when people remember -- if they remember in adulthood that they were molested many years ago, there can be

exceptions in some cases, but from what we understand the statute of limitations has run out.

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY: You know Jane, I`m a children`s rights advocate. So, you know, I stand here in support of children and the protection of

children. But I have to tell you, I`m very concerned about this. Nothing in California requires a wife to leak a tape, a secretive tape that she

made during a private therapy session. The community property laws make it very clear this is a no-fault divorce state. I don`t need to rack up

points of all the horrible things that my husband did in order to get my half of the community.

The community speaks for itself. If they were married, the requisite number of years, she`s entitled to her half of the community. She doesn`t

have to produce some salacious tape in order to make her case for the family law judge as to why she should get her half of the community. So I

just can`t accept this is all about ensuring that I protect my $7 million. This seems like an effort to gain leverage in a lawsuit.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. I`ve got to go to Lauren Book, child sex abuse survivor out of Florida. You`ve been listening to all this. Weigh in.

LAUREN BOOK, CHILD SEX ABUSE SURVIVOR: I think the most important thing here, Jane, is that Stephen Collins, while you can`t authenticate the tape,

is a pedophile.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Allegedly.

BOOK: He made himself a trusted adult in the lives of children just like Jerry Sandusky did. And I think the most important thing we look at here

is mandatory reported -- that (inaudible) a child is being harmed. You report it right away because who knows what this man could have been doing

in the time that it took for this tape to surface.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We`ve got to leave it right there -- obviously a very complex, highly emotional issue. This scandal is imploding. We`re

going to have more on it as the days unfold.

Speaking of scandals and unfolding stories, next inside Jodi Arias` inner circle. The private eye hired by Jodi Arias talks to me exclusively next

about the broken relationship, for example, between Jodi and her lead attorney, Kirk Nurmi. But I want to ask him, what`s Jodi like behind bars

when he talks to her? Stay right there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JODI ARIAS, FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER: If I got life, there are many things I can do to effect positive change and contribute in

a meaningful way in prison programs I can start and people I can help and programs that I can continue to participate in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obsessed is the word that they use. That`s the word I hear from everybody -- fatal attraction.

ARIAS: I absolutely did not kill Travis Alexander. I have nothing to do with his murder. I didn`t harm him in any way.

JUAN MARTINEZ, PROSECUTOR: Would you agree that you`re the person who actually slit Mr. Alexander`s throat from ear to ear?

ARIAS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As to Count 1, first-degree murder, guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s guilty and so one way or the other she`s going to get hers in the end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jury selection going on right now in the upcoming retrial to see whether Jodi Arias lives or dies for viciously slaughtering Travis

Alexander. We have an exclusive guest tonight, Dorian Bond, the private investigator who is working for Jodi Arias. You saw her a couple of weeks

ago behind bars.

Tell us what she`s like. Some people have said she seems scared, frail. What are your impressions when you sit behind bars with her, Dorian?

DORIAN BOND, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Usually, when I meet her, she`s very upbeat. She`s very prepared to what she wants to talk about. She`s

expressed some concerns with the lead attorney on the case. She`s happy with second (inaudible) and her mitigation specialist. But what she hired

me for was to work for her on her appeal case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, first of all, I want to ask you about her relationship with the lead attorney, Kirk Nurmi. They clearly despise each

other. He`s asked off the case. He said he doesn`t like her. He said that in open court. How can they work together?

BOND: It`s surprising to me that he`s stayed on the case. She`s tried to go proper (ph) as you can see like in the last few months, she`s tried to

get Jennifer to become lead attorney. She`s tried every way possible. She`s trying to get him off the case. He doesn`t want to be on the case.

She doesn`t want him. It was surprising to me that they are forcing him to stay on the case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What are you guys working on? Because a lot of people are afraid that Jodi is going to try to assassinate the victim`s character

again as she did in the first trial. He`s obviously not alive to speak up for himself. Are you planning on trashing Travis Alexander again?

BOND: I`m not going to talk about what we`re planning on for the appeal work. We`ll concentrate on the legal issues, things that are problems with

the first trial, and we`re looking forward to all the appealable issues that happened in the first trial is what we`re working on. We haven`t

discussed strategy regarding the victim. She`s very cognizant of the information provided in the trial and she`s very, very remorseful for the

problems that that she`s caused in the trial.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: For the problems she`s caused in the trial but for killing Travis Alexander is she remorseful?

BOND: She`s always expressed her remorse in the situation. But what we`re concentrating on, on my side is the appealable issue so we can move forward

because this first trial has gone long, way too long. And with the first attorney on the case, it`s been a problem ever since.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, you`re saying we`re not going see the last of Jodi Arias even if she`s sentenced to death, that this is just the beginning?

BOND: I think it`s going to be a long drawn out process. I think it`s been long in the first trial and there are so many appealable issues on

here that we have to gear up and get ready for the appeal. There`s always going to be appeal if she gets the death penalty or if she gets life.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She`s a known liar. How do you deal with that?

BOND: Well, I mean everybody has an opinion about her. I have to concentrate on what my job is which is to work with my client. I`ve been

hired. Sometimes it`s a tough job. You have to work with people that the public doesn`t like and everyone has an opinion on our clients. We have to

concentrate on what our job is and focus in on this so we don`t have to spend millions and millions of dollars going through this trial again.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Dorian Bond, I want to thank you for joining us. And I know you`re going to be back and talking to us regularly. You

certainly got a grip on the case. We don`t connect you with your client. We know you have a job to do.

So thank you and I hope you come back real soon. We`re just getting started on this retrial.

BOND: Thanks Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. It`s going to be crazy. We`re going to be all over it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: They hope to have a jury selected a week from tomorrow and then a week after that this retrial on life or death begins.

A great primer for the death penalty phase of the Jodi Arias trial, my book; the "New York Times" bestseller "Exposed: The secret life of Jodi

Arias", the inside story you won`t get in court.

Nancy is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END