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Nancy Grace
Man Charged in Kansas Cheerleader Murder
Aired September 07, 2010 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live to the heartland. A 14-year-old Kansas cheerleader leaves home for a party, never seen again. Less than 48 hours before her first day of high school as a freshman cheerleader, she vanishes. We learn the location cops tried to keep secret, hidden five miles west of city limits, a body disposed behind an asphalt plant and huge mountains of gravel confirmed the remains of missing cheerleader, 14-year-old Alicia DeBolt, still wearing one tennis shoe, the girl`s body burned beyond recognition, positive ID only possible through dental records.
After a high-speed chase across the Kansas countryside, suspect now in custody. And no, it`s not a pack of juveniles, it`s not a young boyfriend, it`s a 36-year-old father of two.
Bombshell tonight. A secret grand jury hands down charges of sodomy and murder one. And just hours ago, in a bizarre twist, Longoria in court turns on the little cheerleader`s family -- in open court! Tonight, we learn the man charged with sodomizing and murdering, burning the body of a 14-year-old cheerleader is dining in fine style, lounging, reading. Well, don`t get used to it, Longoria! Remember, Kansas has the DP, the death penalty, death by needle. That`s lethal injection, Longoria. So kick back, buddy, enjoy that dessert.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Adam Joseph Longoria was charged this morning with the capital murder of Alicia DeBolt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Adam Longoria.
GRACE: AKA Rocco.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man arrested in connection with the murder of 14-year-old cheerleader Alicia DeBolt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allegations are Mr. Longoria engaged in sodomy before murdering Alicia DeBolt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say he was driving a vehicle stolen from the Venture company, the same company where DeBolt`s body was found.
GRACE: What does he have to do with a 14-year-old cheerleader?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He admits that he met her. Yet he only admits he met her once.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) party, my wife`s birthday party with her boyfriend. They were there. That`s the last I contacted her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alicia`s charred body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her body was burned beyond recognition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s called my phone a few times. My wife has intercepted it and told her, Hey, don`t be calling my husband, this and that, asking for rides to take her to parties and stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very intense and brutal burning was done on her body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This charge can carry the ultimate penalty of death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, hundreds rally together to give a gorgeous 23- year-old bride her dream wedding after she`s diagnosed with terminal cancer. With only a few months to live, the bride wears a designer wedding gown, specialty hothouse flowers, deluxe wedding photos, expensive 14-karat white gold traditional rings, topped off with an all-expense-paid honeymoon trip to Aruba.
But tonight, the new groom walks out when he discovers it`s all a big fake. That`s right, the bride faked terminal cancer to get a free wedding with all the showstopping bells and whistles. Lady, you just got another free first class ticket, to hell!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reports just in a young bride who claimed to have terminal cancer and was given countless donations for her wedding allegedly faked the illness just to get her dream wedding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve known her for maybe two years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-three-year-old Michael O`Connell reportedly claims his wife, Jessica Vega (ph), told friends and family she had terminal cancer and had just months to live.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A few months ago, her mother was in the neighborhood and she was crying (ph) to tears, telling me that Jessica was ill, that she had cancer, terminally ill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only to find out she allegedly made it all up. Friends and strangers had reportedly donated everything from a wedding dress to the honeymoon itself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had my doubts, but I just left it alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While Vega reportedly denies the claims, O`Connell claims he has proof. O`Connell reportedly says he became suspicious when his wife`s health did not get any worse, and he called the doctor that was supposed to be treating his wife, only to find out she was reportedly never even a patient.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. A 36-year-old father of two charged by a secret grand jury with sodomy and murder in connection with the brutal kidnap, the murder, then burning the body of a 14-year-old high school cheerleader, Alicia DeBolt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-six-year-old Adam Longoria.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charged this morning with the capital murder of Alicia DeBolt.
GRACE: The 14-year-old girl had been burned beyond recognition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A charge of criminal sodomy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The murder case of 14-year-old Alicia DeBolt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Positively identified as the body of 14-year-old Alicia DeBolt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She went missing Saturday, supposed to be going to a party with her friends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alicia`s (INAUDIBLE) boyfriend gave me her number and told me to text her and let her know that we were having a party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told us then he was cooperating with police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said, Have you had any contact with her before? And I`m, like, No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We brought the charges that have the possibility of bringing the charge of death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the night Alicia disappeared, Longoria says he never saw her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not know where she was on Saturday. There was a so-called rumor going around that the party was going to be at my house, which it wasn`t.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Rita Cosby, investigative journalist, author of "Quiet Hero," who`s been reporting on this case. So a secret grand jury meets and hands down sodomy and murder charges. Now, sodomy can mean one of two things, Rita Cosby. It can mean either forced oral sodomy or forced anal sodomy. Do we know the facts in this case?
RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: We do not know what type of sodomy, but clearly, they have evidence of a sexual encounter of this nature. And indeed, these charges, along with capital murder, Nancy, mean possibly the death penalty. They are taking this very seriously.
The other thing, too, and you brought this up, is just the belligerence, just the attitude of Joseph -- Adam Joseph Longoria when he was in court today.
GRACE: Wait a minute! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! Wait, Rita. Liz, put him in full. I want to see Longoria in court. There he is, puffing up, looking around. Rita, in some bizarre twist -- look at him looking over at the victim`s family! He stared them down. Man, that`s some chutzpah! He allegedly murders, sodomizes and then burns the body of their 14-year-old girl, then he stares them down in court?
COSBY: It is absolutely disgusting. Apparently, he was staring at the family the whole time. And needless to say, this family is so distraught, so devastated at this the news. And then, the also (SIC) audacity, he wouldn`t look at the judge. The judge was saying, Do you understand these charges? These are very serious charges. He wouldn`t answer him. And then finally, he looked away at the judge and said, yes, yes, was very dismissive of the judge, and then apparently stood (SIC) on the table with his fists, staring at the family. It`s just disgusting, Nancy!
GRACE: Out to Craig Meade, reporter with KNSS Newstalk Radio, joining us out of Wichita. What happened in court? It was just a couple hours ago, Craig.
CRAIG MEADE, KNSS NEWSTALK RADIO (via telephone): Well, just exactly what you heard. It was kind of tense because Adam Longoria continued to look at the family of Alicia DeBolt. He was, I would say, disrespectful to the judge. She said, You have to answer yes, when she asked, Do you understand the charges and do you understand the penalty. He looked down at the table and wouldn`t say anything. And she said, You have to answer yes, and he said, yes, yes, just a very disrespectful moment there. And he did continue to stare at the family of Alicia DeBolt all through the process.
GRACE: OK. So I need to just make the viewers aware about what we know, that we can report on, anyway, about this 36-year-old father of two, now charged with kidnapping the little 14-year-old cheerleader. He`s formally charged with sodomy and murder one.
I noticed he didn`t catch a charge for burning the body, Rita Cosby. But what I want to talk about very quickly is, this is the same guy that was wanted in, I believe it was North Carolina, for calling elementary schools and doing bomb threats?
COSBY: Yes, indeed. He has a pending charge there. He had apparently called two elementary schools. And these were schools in his neighborhood, too, Nancy. So he was wanted on that. And then also, just to show this guy`s background -- I mean, he`s a sleazebag because he spent basically his entire adult life in prison. And in fact, he just got out of prison on May 25th for serving a seven-year sentence. And this was evading authority. He escaped prison, also. He had burglary. He had larceny. He had aggravated assault. This guy`s got a track record a mile long.
GRACE: And catch this. You know what? I want to see the defense lawyers when I report the next thing I`m going to report. Unleash the lawyers, Liz. Sue Moss, family law attorney, New York, Raymond Giudice, defense attorney, Atlanta, Richard Herman, defense attorney, joining us tonight out of Vegas. I don`t want to even know why you`re in Vegas instead of New York! Don`t tell me.
But listen to this, guys. This guy, Longoria, while he`s in prison in Texas, brings a lawsuit against the jail claiming that he was physically mistreated. Now, this guy actually sues for thousands and thousands of dollars, saying he is being mistreated. It`s the same guy that allegedly sodomizes and murders and burns the body of a little 14-year-old cheerleader. Sue Moss, isn`t that a little ironic?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Absolutely! It is unbelievable and outrageous! Two, four, six, eight, this cheerleader killer will have a death fate! Not only does he kill her, but first he sodomizes her! And don`t forget, he burned her! We don`t know yet if she was alive or dead when he burned her body, but there`s a special place in hell for him!
GRACE: Raymond Giudice, defense attorney, they have now formally handed down an indictment on sodomy and murder one. I saw the murder one coming, all right? But Marc Klaas was right all along. He said from day one this was a sexual murder, and now they either have him confessing to sodomy, which I doubt, or they have DNA evidence somewhere on the body of the 14-year-old girl, Alicia DeBolt, that will prove sodomy.
RAYMOND GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right and...
GRACE: DNA.
GIUDICE: ... that will be also a foundation for the jury to give a death penalty, if the state -- and they have not yet done so -- give a notice that they are seeking the death penalty. They have indicted it so that they can seek it. I would submit to you that this may be an opportunity for the defendant. The state may be saying, If you want to plead guilty now to consecutive life sentences, do it before we charge you with the death penalty.
GRACE: Oh, no, no, no, Richard Herman! This is worse. This is worse than two life sentences. And another thing. I`ll never forget a murder case I had where the defendant tried to explain away why semen was found in the anal cavity of the murder victim. I can`t wait to hear what he`s going to say, Richard Herman.
RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, contrary to Dr. Seuss Moss up there, we don`t -- I don`t know how -- and you can -- maybe you can tell me how they`re going to prove sodomy on a charred body like this. There`s no DNA there, Nancy.
GRACE: Put Herman up!
HERMAN: It`s charred. It`s destroyed.
GRACE: Put Herman up! No, Richard, we don`t know how badly her body was charred. And there`s no way you can tell me that you still can`t get DNA out of body cavities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Murdered cheerleader Alicia DeBolt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Longoria`s neighbor told us he met Alicia DeBolt in Longoria`s garage that very same night, the night that she had disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That search warrant was executed at his home and in his garage, and that is a critical fact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s a cheerleader and just 14 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just feel something has happened to her.
GRACE: A 36-year-old father of two.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body so badly burned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body was unidentifiable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body located west of town in the asphalt plant has been positively identified as the body of 14-year-old Alicia DeBolt.
GRACE: Positive ID only possible through dental records.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no doubt in my mind that this was a sexually motivated crime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Longoria tells us he only met DeBolt once.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not know where she was.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charged in court this morning with capital murder and criminal sodomy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`d been to a party, my wife`s birthday party with her boyfriend. They were there. That`s the last I contacted her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: For those of you just joining us, a secret grand jury in the state of Kansas hands down a murder indictment, murder one and felony charges of sodomy against this 36-year-old father of two and the disappearance and ultimate death of a 14-year-old cheerleader, Alicia DeBolt.
We are taking your calls, but first to Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. Weigh in, Marc. What do you think about this defendant`s behavior in court today, basically, taking on the little girl`s family?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Which is exactly what happened in our situation in court. And I`ll tell you what. These guys are among the worst cowards in the world. They target women. They target children. He has all of this bluster when he`s surrounded by bailiffs and officers of the court, knowing that nobody can get at him.
I`ll tell you exactly what I did. When he stared me down, and I happened to be on the witness stand, I just looked back at him. And I didn`t blink and I didn`t drop my gaze. And eventually, he did, and I never had a problem with that punk again.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Margaret in Kansas. Hi, Margaret.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.
GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to know about the 19-year-old. When it all started, they said that there was a 19-year-old that picked her up for the party.
GRACE: You`re absolutely right, Margaret. Out to Natisha Lance, our producer on the story. Natisha, she`s right. Margaret in Kansas recalls, distinctly, a 19-year-old man, apparently her boyfriend, I don`t know, friend, picked her up to go to a party. Is that true, or did this guy pick her up? What happened?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s a question that we asked the attorney general`s office today, Nancy, about that 19-year-old. Did he exist? Did he come to the home? There was a statement that was read at Alicia`s funeral just four days ago, and in that statement, they said that they wanted to teach people a lesson about who their children are going out with and who they`re with and having open, honest conversations with them about who they`re with. So it is a possibility that there was no 19-year- old and that Adam Longoria was the one who picked up picked up Alicia DeBolt on the 21st.
GRACE: To Dr. Leslie Austin, psychotherapist. Whatever happened to the guy coming to the door and ringing the doorbell and the father or mother answering the door and staring at them and then letting the girl go? What happened to that?
LESLIE AUSTIN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, you know, when we first...
GRACE: (INAUDIBLE) you just honk the horn and the girl runs out.
AUSTIN: When we first talked about this case, that was the exact thing I said. Where were the parents, and why was she going out with a 19- year-old guy, if she was 14, if she did...
GRACE: Forget about 19, Leslie.
AUSTIN: Anybody.
GRACE: We`re talking about 36.
AUSTIN: Anybody. Why was she going out with anybody without the parents interviewing and talking to him? And I don`t want to condemn the parents in their time of pain...
GRACE: No.
AUSTIN: ... but it`s something for parents to consider. You need to know who your kids are hanging out with because this kind of typical sociopath, with this defiant behavior, will do anything he wants to make himself the victim.
GRACE: To Dr. Titus Duncan, general surgeon in the Atlanta Medical Center. You know, Richard Herman says there`s not any way to prove sodomy because the body was burned. Explain, Doctor, how it can be proved.
DR. TITUS DUNCAN, GENERAL SURGEON, ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER: Well, you know, when the body`s burned recognition, that`s just the outside layer. You still have the cavities inside the body, the anus and the mouth and in the foregut, that you can actually have some DNA specimen there. So just because the outside skin layers are burned doesn`t mean that the inside core is burned, as well. So you probably will have some DNA evidence inside that body core.
GRACE: Did you hear that, Richard Herman?
HERMAN: I think he`s wrong, Nancy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... to court this morning, this time with a court- appointed attorney. His only response today was a "yes" to the judge when asked if he understood that he now faces charges of capital murder and criminal sodomy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody has my child, my baby girl. Somebody has her!
GRACE: He`s suspected in the murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-six-year-old Adam Longoria.
GRACE: And the burning of a 14-year-old cheerleader`s body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alicia DeBolt.
GRACE: Stealing a car, leading cops on a high-speed chase.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A warrant for his arrest out of North Carolina for making bomb threats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Longoria`s neighbor told us he met Alicia DeBolt in Longoria`s garage the night that she had disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He now faces additional charges of capital murder and criminal sodomy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. For those of you just joining us, a secret grand jury hands down a formal indictment against a 36-year- old father of two, now charged with murder and sodomy in connection with the death of a 14-year-old freshman cheerleader, Alicia DeBolt.
Out to the lines. Teri in Michigan. Hi, Teri.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you tonight?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy, what in the world is wrong with those parents, letting their 14-year-old girl go out at 11:00 at night?
GRACE: You know what, Teri? I don`t want come down on the parents because I cannot even imagine the suffering that they are going through and the blaming themselves. But the kicker is, Teri, her curfew was at midnight, and she leaves the house at 11:00 PM. The only thing I can imagine is that she told them this was a party or something right down the street and she was just going to go drive by and then come back home. I still can`t understand it myself.
What more do we know? How to you, Craig Meade, Craig joining us from KNSS Newstalk Radio in Wichita. What do we know about that situation?
MEADE: Nothing other than the fact that she did leave late in the evening, and apparently, she left with the 19-year-old man that was mentioned earlier. And there has been some speculation, as somebody else pointed out, that that may not have been entirely the truth. She disappeared that night, and her parents reported her missing the next afternoon. And of course, it was on the 24th that her body was found.
GRACE: And I noticed in the indictment that she was allegedly murdered between midnight and 1:00 AM, just a couple of hours after she left her parents` home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Longoria, do you understand what the charges are and what the penalty could be? You have to say yes or no, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A young bride with terminal leukemia was given her dream wedding by friends and strangers who wanted to help her in her last months. The problem is, the wife`s husband reportedly says the whole illness was a sham.
PAULA NEGRIN, JESSICA VEGA`S FORMER NEIGHBOR: I just found it very shocking, such a young, healthy girl can be so terminally ill in such a short matter of time.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Michael O`Connell reportedly claims his wife, Jessica Vega, faked having terminal cancer in order to get donations for her wedding and honeymoon.
O`Connell and Vega were featured in a local news story just a week before their wedding, causing many, including complete strangers, to offer help. But O`Connell now reportedly claims he and their entire family were duped by his wife.
NEGRIN: Was wondering, actually, questioning, how true can that be? She looked -- she looked fine.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: O`Connell reportedly says he spoke with the doctor`s office that was allegedly treating his wife and they never heard of her. Vega has reportedly denied the claims.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: That`s right. The bride faked cancer to get a free wedding. As you see, a beautiful designer wedding dress, 14 karat white-gold wedding bands, an all-expense paid honeymoon trip to Aruba. The works!
Out to Matt Zarrell, our producer on the story. Matt, what happened?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Well, what happened was, is that just a week before the wedding, a newspaper article appeared in a local paper, describing how strangers and well-wishers were coming to help this couple, because this wife allegedly had cancer -- leukemia -- and she was terminal. Only had months to live.
That caused a ton of people to send offers of well wishers to save money. They sent donations of a stay at Aruba. All of this to help her. Turns out, the husband found out just a few weeks, months later, the whole thing was allegedly made up.
She had a letter from a doctor that claims she had this illness. That was also allegedly doctored.
GRACE: To Rita Cosby, investigative journalist, author of "Quiet Hero." Rita, what all did she scam? I know this beautiful designer wedding dress, the wedding bands, the wedding photos. Got the deluxe package, the honeymoon trip to Aruba.
Am I missing anything? What else did she scam?
RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, AUTHOR OF "QUIET HERO": Well, she got flights also, plane tickets to Aruba, which is not cheap. Also got this time-share, as you point out, down there. And also got these 14 karat wedding rings, which incidentally were not inscribed, which is kind of interesting.
The other thing, too, what tipped off the husband, was suddenly he looked at this letter. We actually have a copy of this letter. If you take a look at it --
GRACE: Yes, I`ve got it.
COSBY: It`s kind of interesting, Nancy, it looks like it was almost done on a computer. And my mother, unfortunately, was diagnosed with cancer and I remember seeing letters from the doctors.
And know -- it didn`t look at all like this. The letter, just the wording of it looks ridiculous and that`s what apparently tipped off the husband.
Again, now, the other thing that`s important. The wife is denying this. The wife is actually saying that he was physically abusive to her, that there were a number of things, and that`s why he`s, quote, "creating this issue".
She`s denying and saying, yes, she did have cancer and still does.
GRACE: OK, wait, wait, wait. Rita, she`s still saying she`s got terminal cancer?
COSBY: Yes. And she is not returning calls. In fact --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: OK, can I ask you the obvious question? The obvious question. If she had terminal cancer way back then, she`s still alive. She`s healthy looking as a horse. Explain.
COSBY: Yes, well, she claims that -- and get this, this is the most incredible thing, Nancy, of all. She says she suddenly found some miracle cure basically that she was working out --
GRACE: Fresh food, exercising, and drinking water?
COSBY: Yes. Isn`t this amazing? And boy, don`t we all wish that that was the cure for cancer out there. It is absolutely absurd.
GRACE: Joining me right now in a prime-time exclusive, the handsome young man you are seeing in the photos, Michael O`Connell, the husband of the woman who allegedly faked terminal cancer to get a free wedding with all the show-stopping bells and whistles.
Michael O`Connell joining us out of New York.
Mr. O`Connell, I know that you have now walked out of the marriage after you`ve discovered that this is allegedly a big fake. How did you find out?
MICHAEL O`CONNELL, HUSBAND OF WOMAN WHO ALLEGEDLY FAKED TERMINAL CANCER: I called Dr. Costin`s office and I asked if she was a patient there. I gave them her name, her full name, her Social Security number, and her date of birth. And they could not pull her up in the computer.
And I said, wait, I have this letter here. She gave this to me, said that he typed it in front of her, and I had my father scan and e-mail it over to them, and they called me back and said that this is not our -- this is not our letter. This is not even the doctor`s signature.
GRACE: Michael O`Connell, explain to me -- I`m just trying to understand this. How -- all those weeks and months past, how did she convince you she had terminal cancer? What did she do?
O`CONNELL: Well, when somebody says they have cancer, you don`t expect them to be lying about it. It`s automatically -- you just let your guard down and give them the benefit of the doubt, because who lies about these things? Who lies about these things?
GRACE: Did she ever appear to be ill? Did she lose weight?
O`CONNELL: No.
GRACE: Did she lose her hair during chemotherapy or radiation? I mean anything?
O`CONNELL: She claims she had radiation. I wasn`t there. I was working. She shaved her head.
GRACE: OK. She shaved her head. How do you know she shaved her head?
O`CONNELL: Because one day she had long, beautiful hair, and the next day it was all gone.
GRACE: OK, you know what, with me right now is a survivor. Our show regular, my long-time friend and adversary, Richard Herman, defense attorney joining me tonight out of Vegas, who is currently still taking chemo after a battle of a lifetime.
I remember when it happened, Richard Herman. They told you that you had, what, two or three weeks to live?
RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, RECENT CANCER SURVIVOR, GIVEN WEEKS TO LIVE: Yes. That`s right, Nancy. Let`s not blow anybody`s minds because the second day in the hospital, you were there in the hospital to come to the aid of your defense attorney friend so I`ll never forget that, Nancy.
GRACE: Neither do I.
HERMAN: But, you know, unless you walk in the shoes -- unless you walk in the shoes of somebody who gets that diagnosis, you have no comprehension of what it`s like. So for this woman to carry on like this, the type of leukemia she says she had is pretty much the kind I had, an acute myelocynic (ph) type of leukemia.
If you get a death sentence with that, you`re not walking around, partying, living it up. You`re lucky if you can get out of bed, OK? And the miracle cure for me was my loved ones, my family, and my doctor, the medicine that was given to me.
They put me in the hospital for two months on massive chemotherapy. That was the miracle that saved my life. And Aleesha. That`s what saved my life, Nancy.
GRACE: I`ll just never forget walking into that room and seeing you there and you`ve always been so robust and so full of life. I mean one of the most alive people I know.
Remember, we were looking out on the East River there in New York, and you were talking about how you were going to fight cancer. And when I hear this story and I think of you and what you went through, I could just chew a nail in half.
What kind of charges could she face, Richard Herman?
HERMAN: Well, you know, it would be a stretch, I think, to go criminally against her, unless she was using her computer or laptop, phones --
GRACE: She took people`s money, Richard!
HERMAN: Yes.
GRACE: She took thousands of dollars of people`s money.
HERMAN: I don`t know.
GRACE: Good people that wanted to help her.
HERMAN: Maybe civil fraud case, Nancy.
GRACE: You don`t know. What don`t you know?
HERMAN: I don`t think there`s criminal charges. I don`t think so. Civil fraud.
GRACE: OK, well, let me tell you something, think again. What about it, Sue Moss?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & CHILD ADVOCATE: Criminal fraud. This is New York. The AG should be going to her doorstep and collecting her. Her lack of morals, her lack of integrity, this woman has a young child. She should lose custody.
What the heck could she teach a child about doing the right thing, about being truthful? She can`t teach this child anything. I have a feeling this dad is going to get custody. It`s well deserved and this woman should rot in hell.
GRACE: OK. Ray Giudice -- Liz, give me that tab again. What you were just showing the viewers. This woman fakes to her fiance that she has terminal cancer, frauds the whole community to the tune of -- look at this.
A wedding dress, wedding bands, golf tournament donations, round-trip plane tickets, videographer, photographer, Time Share, music, wedding cake, food, the bar tab -- $4,000. $26,000, that we know of, Ray Giudice. What charges?
RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, Nancy, I`m actually going to go with Richard on this, and I`ll tell you why.
GRACE: Oh good --
(CROSSTALK)
GIUDICE: Well, let me say. I think her defense is going to be that these were gifts. No one that gave her anything expected anything back in return. They were gifts. She took them. She used them as they were intended to be used, which was to fly, to travel, to have a good time.
GRACE: I`ve got another question. I`ve got another --
GIUDICE: I think it`s a good civil lawsuit. I would agree with Sue, I`m sure, about a civil Rico case.
GRACE: Yes. I heard you. How can you say that with a straight face?
GIUDICE: Well, Nancy, I have to come out here and try to defend people, citizens who are overcharged by overzealous prosecutors every single day. It`s what I`ve sworn to the Constitution to do.
GRACE: I`ll tell you what, if this woman had ripped off my parents for this, oh, there would be criminal charges. People on retirement, giving this woman money for her dream wedding while she allegedly fakes cancer.
There are thousands of cancer victims in hospitals right now that are dying. And she`s ripping people off in their name.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A young bride with terminal leukemia was given her dream wedding by friends and strangers who wanted to help her in her last months. The problem is, the wife`s husband reportedly says the whole illness was a sham.
He said he spoke with the doctor`s office that was allegedly treating his wife and they never heard of her. Vega has reportedly denied the claims.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Reports just in a young bride who claimed to have terminal cancer and was given countless donations for her wedding allegedly faked the illness just to get her dream wedding.
NEGRIN: I`d known her for maybe two years.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: 23-year-old Michael O`Connell reportedly claims his wife, Jessica Vega, told friends and family she had terminal cancer and had just months to live.
NEGRIN: A few months ago, her mother was in the neighborhood and she was crying for tears, telling me that Jessica was ill, that she had a cancer, terminally ill.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Only to find out she allegedly made it all up. Friends and strangers had reportedly donated everything, from a wedding dress to the honeymoon itself.
NEGRIN: I had my doubts, by I just left it alone.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: While Vega denies the claims, O`Connell says he has proof. O`Connell reportedly says he became suspicious when his wife`s health did not get any worse and he called the doctor that was supposed to be treating his wife, only to find out she was reportedly never even a patient.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are talking about 23-year-old Jessica Vega, who allegedly faked out the whole community, including her own groom, that she had terminal cancer and just raked in -- if this is true, she is a robber.
She`s robbing that train, people. Check out that designer wedding dress she`s got on. Did you see that train? It went halfway across the room.
We are taking your calls, out to Dawn in Canada. Hi, Dawn.
DAWN, CALLER FROM CANADA: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear, what`s your question?
DAWN: I`d like to make a comment to you.
GRACE: OK.
DAWN: I have a child who has a difference of ability -- we don`t use disability -- and I think it`s wonderful that your proceeds go to people that are in homes in the state.
And I`d like to also say to the husband that -- you know, like I commend him for coming forward. This story also happened in Canada with another girl. As far as this girl goes, can they make her work with terminally ill, like, patients? Like children and that, that are dying in --
GRACE: The only thing is, Dawn, I would want someone working with cancer patients to have their heart in it. I wouldn`t someone working with them because they had to, because the court made them do it.
But I see where you`re headed. Maybe scrubbing toilets for them would be a good thing for her to do.
I want to go back to her husband, very handsome young man, Michael O`Connell, who discovered a letter allegedly written by a doctor`s office, and you can look at it and tell this is not from a doctor`s office.
So what range of emotions went through you, Michael O`Connell, when you found out your beautiful bride was allegedly lying about terminal cancer?
O`CONNELL: I have never felt so angry in my entire life. There were people that gave everything, at the last minute, to make this happen. And it`s disgusting.
GRACE: Like what? What do you mean, gave everything? What was done for her?
O`CONNELL: They gave -- they gave money, they gave her the wedding dress, they gave her all these donations. Friends, families, and complete strangers.
GRACE: Did she ever explain it to you, Michael?
O`CONNELL: Explain what?
GRACE: The whole fraud?
O`CONNELL: No.
GRACE: Or is she still actually saying she`s got cancer?
O`CONNELL: She`s still saying she has cancer.
GRACE: Well, OK, then how come she looks so healthy? How come she hasn`t been in the hospital?
O`CONNELL: I don`t know. I don`t know. She has been -- she says she has been in the hospital. I was always working because I was always providing the money, the food, and everything that she needed so that she didn`t have to work, so she had the best lifestyle that she could.
GRACE: But when you go to the hospital, Michael, you spend the night. Did she ever spend the night away from home?
O`CONNELL: No.
GRACE: And as a matter of fact, Michael O`Connell, didn`t she kind of devote herself to partying and going out every night?
O`CONNELL: This is correct.
GRACE: What happened?
O`CONNELL: I would suggest that we don`t go out, we stay in, we watch movies, let`s relax. I got to work tomorrow. Oh, I want to live it up, I`m not going to be around for long, I want to be around the people that I love and that love me.
GRACE: Well, what about you and the baby?
O`CONNELL: The baby wasn`t with us for a month because she claimed that the doctor said that when the baby got her first year vaccinations, that they were live viruses and she could not be around the baby because of her immune system. So we did not have our child for a month. She was in the care of Jessica`s mom.
GRACE: OK. I`ve never heard that.
To Dr. Titus Duncan, surgeon with the Atlanta Medical Center. Dr. Duncan, is that true?
DR. TITUS DUNCAN, M.D., GENERAL SURGERY, ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER: I don`t think so.
GRACE: I`ve never heard that you can`t be around a child that got a vaccine.
DUNCAN: I just don`t think so at all. I think that she basically kind of made all this stuff up.
GRACE: Crazy talk.
DUNCAN: And basically, if she indeed had acute myelomonocytic leukemia, she would be a little sick. She would have to go undergo chemotherapy because the acute form is much more dangerous than the chronic form.
The acute form is something that is rapidly progressing, and you get - - you do have symptoms. You do have tiredness, weakness, you do have fatigue. You`re not going to go out partying if you have acute myelomonocytic leukemia.
GRACE: Well, Dr. Duncan, don`t you have -- I mean Richard Herman was in the hospital for months.
DUNCAN: Yes.
GRACE: You don`t just stop -- it`s not like a day treatment when you`re being treated for acute leukemia. It doesn`t work like that. You have to stay in the hospital.
DUNCAN: Right.
GRACE: Our Sandy Shift, our Sandy Shift that passed away that was on our show every week, died after months of being in the hospital. You have to stay overnight, right?
DUNCAN: Right. It`s a much more serious problem when you have acute. When you have an acute versus the chronic problem so because the acute problem is indeed a more aggressive disease process, and so you do -- if you get to it early enough that doctors can treat you.
GRACE: Right.
DUNCAN: But, yes, you`re in the hospital. Yes, you do get chemotherapy and sometimes they`re giving you other drugs as well, but you`re not looking very well. You may come out of it, just like Richard did, and you may actually have a remission like Richard does right now, but at the most part, you`re going to be going through an illness phase at first.
GRACE: Out to Bill Majeski, former NYPD detective, now president of Majeski Associates Inc., joining us out of New York. Bill, how do you prove criminal charges? How do you put this whole thing back together again?
BILL MAJESKI, FMR. NYPD DETECTIVE, MAJESKI ASSOCIATES, INC.: It`s going to be difficult but the reality is, New York state has numerous laws on the books. They go after gypsies all the time in similar circumstances where fraud is committed with a promise of information about their life or their past life.
Here there was a conspiracy to commit fraud and she`s a pathetic individual -- behaving with reprehensible. I just can`t understand why it wasn`t identified during this whole process. I mean, she didn`t exhibit any --
GRACE: But Bill Majeski, can --
MAJESKI: Any signs of being ill.
GRACE: Will there be new evidence to prove the case, Bill? Can they prove the case?
MAJESKI: I think that there`s probably enough laws on the books where they could come forward, press charges against her, and hopefully put her before a jury and put her before a jury and she`s going to wind up getting convicted.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: For those of you just joining us, a 23-year-old gorgeous bride gets a free wedding, a beautiful designer gown, free wedding rings, all expense-paid trip to Aruba because the community bands together after they discover she has terminal cancer.
Well, not so fast. Turns out allegedly it`s all a fraud.
Taking your calls. Ashley, Wisconsin, hi, Ashley. Oh, I`m sorry. Marie in West Virginia. Hi, Marie.
MARIE, CALLER FROM WEST VIRGINIA: Hey, Nancy. I can`t believe I got to talk to you.
GRACE: Thank you for calling in, Marie. What is your question, dear?
MARIE: Well, I think this lady should be put in jail for the rest of her life or I`m like you clean bathrooms, commodes for the cancer patients. Because I`ve had several in my family that`s had cancer, almost terminal cancer, and this just makes me so angry. And I appreciate you and your little twins.
GRACE: I tell you. They are -- you know love comes in so many forms, Marie. And I got to say they are the loves of my life. I -- but I agree with you about what should happen to this lady.
To Patricia in New York, hi, Patricia. I think I`ve got Patricia. Hi, dear. What`s your question?
PATRICIA, CALLER FROM NEW YORK: Nancy, where --
GRACE: Yes, dear?
PATRICIA: Where are the bills? Chemo is not cheap.
GRACE: You are so right. Hold on just a moment. Michael O`Connell, joining us exclusively tonight.
Michael, what about the bills? This stuff costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.
O`CONNELL: What about the bills? I`ve never seen one.
GRACE: OK, Richard --
O`CONNELL: I never even thought of that.
GRACE: Richard Herman, final thought, friend?
HERMAN: Nancy, my treatment was almost a million dollars in medical bills. This is incredible story that letters of sham and stupid letter. And for people to believe her, it`s just pure stupidity.
GRACE: Everybody, let`s stop and remember Marine Lance Corporal Jourdan Grez, 24, Harrisonburg, Virginia, killed Iraq. Awarded the Purple Heart, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
Left James Madison University to enlist. An EMT remembered for his smile and laugh. Leaves behind parents Armand Jr. and Andrea, brothers Armand III and Eric, son, Collin.
Jourdan Grez, American hero.
Thank you to our guests but our biggest thanks is to you for being with us. And a special good night tonight from Georgia friends Carol and Raymond. Now that`s a beautiful couple.
And happy birthday to Florida friend Angelina who never misses a show and loves "The Young and Restless", started watching when she was pregnant with one of our stars Greg.
Happy birthday, Angelina. You`re a great mom.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
