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Nancy Grace
Seacat Guilty on All Counts
Aired June 11, 2013 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Seacat, if you would stand please, sir. In the case of state of Kansas versus Brett T. Seacat, count one, murder in the first degree, we the jury find the defendant, Brett T. Seacat, guilty of murder in the first degree.
Count two, aggravated arson, we the jury find the defendant, Brett T. Seacat, guilty of aggravated arson.
Count three, aggravated endangering of a child. We the jury find the defendant, Brett T. Seacat, guilty of aggravated endangering of a child.
Count four, aggravated endangering of a child. We the jury find the defendant, Brett T. Seacat, guilty of aggravated endangering of a child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Juror eight, do you agree that the verdict read by the judge is the verdict of the jury by agreement of at least 12 members of the jury?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I find you guilty of murder in the first degree. I find you guilty of count two, aggravated arson. And I find you guilty of two counts of aggravated endangering a child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. The jury in the last hours hands down a verdict in the Seacat murder trial. They had a picture-perfect home, but the police raced to their classic two-story to find the home up in flames. Miraculously, Seacat and his two young boys escaped, escaped unharmed. But there in the marital bed upstairs, the room that was burned the most, is the body of the beautiful young mom, Vashti Seacat, the mother of the two little boys.
But she didn`t die from smoke inhalation. She did not die from burning to the body. She died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
We are live and taking your calls. Straight out to Justin Kraemer, joining us from KSN-TV. Describe the moment when this guilty verdict just handed down.
JUSTIN KRAEMER, KSN-TV (via telephone): (INAUDIBLE) an emotional evening in court here in Kingman, Kansas, Brett Seacat sternly looking onward (ph) as the jury deliberated and decided his fate, Vashti`s family breaking down after two long emotional years in relief and joy that this is finally over, Brett`s family showing little emotion, but his father Wat (ph) started breathing very heavy. Shortly after that verdict was read he needed help standing and walking out of the courtroom after his son was found guilty on every charge he faced and now faces 50 years behind bars with no parole.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, also on the story -- Matt, is it true that his father was a state patrol, his brother was in law enforcement. He is a CSI elite. He actually taught crime scene investigation to other people. Many people believe that he actually thought he could outsmart police on this, murder his wife in lieu of a divorce that she wanted and he didn`t.
Did the father of Seacat break down in court?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, he did, Nancy. As the -- after the jury was sent out, the judge had Seacat stand and said, Based on the verdicts rendered, I find you guilty of murder in the first degree, guilty of -- and he went through the counts. And as he`s going through the counts, the father is openly crying in court behind his son.
GRACE: With us tonight, two special guests joining us from that Kansas courthouse. With us is Julie Hostetler. This is Vashti`s mother. Also with us, her brother, Rich Forrest. And as much as I hate to hear that his father broke down in court, that his father`s heart is broken, I`m more concerned with what is to become of Vashti Seacat`s two little children.
First out to you, Ms. Hostetler. Thank you for being with us.
JULIE HOSTETLER, VICTIM`S MOTHER: You`re welcome, Nancy.
GRACE: Ms. Hostetler, as a crime victim myself, I can recall hearing that the one I loved the most had been murdered. I could hardly take it in. It didn`t seem real to me. And the trial is a big blur. I only remember little pieces of it.
And I have watched all of you during this trial, and you have been an inspiration to so many of us crime victims across the country. And I want to thank you for that.
I want to hear first of all, how are the boys doing? Do they have any idea what`s going on?
HOSTETLER: No, they do not, Nancy. They are doing wonderfully at this point. They have an excellent therapist. They`re just blossoming, just blossoming.
GRACE: Well, I`ve got to tell you something, Ms. Hostetler. Seeing you right now, I understand where Vashti got her beauty. You two look almost exactly alike.
To you, Rich Forrest. I want to hear your reaction. What went through your mind and your body when you heard guilty ring out in that courtroom?
RICH FORREST, VICTIM`S BROTHER: I actually -- it brought tears to my eyes. I felt like there was a lot of poor statements made about my sister, and I feel like those statements were heard and a peer (ph) of 12 people didn`t agree with those statements, and it kind of lifted her name back in a good light and the good person that she was.
GRACE: Can I ask you, honestly, do you really believe anyone bought into what Seacat said? Do you think that the world believes those things about Vashti? I mean, from everybody except Seacat himself, Vashti was beautiful on the inside and the outside, vibrant, loving mother. Mother was job number one to her. Are you really worried that somebody believes any of that stuff?
FORREST: No. You don`t worry that people believe it. But I just got to say, from the family`s standpoint, when there`s a gag order and you can`t respond to those things, it`s just very frustrating, even if you don`t think people believe it. I wanted to defend my sister so badly, and you can`t.
GRACE: You know what? I really should be able to understand that better, actually, now that I think about it. My fiance was shot by a co- worker that had worked at the firm before Keith ever started there. And I remember years later, someone said, Didn`t your fiance get gunned down at a liquor store? And I nearly did a back flip. Of course, it doesn`t matter. But I get it. I get what you`re saying.
Which portion of Seacat`s testimony regarding Vashti disturbed you the most? What, claiming that she had other suicide attempts, which is completely false?
FORREST: They were absolutely completely false. Law enforcement checked into these accusations. They tried to verify them. There were no records. No hospitals had any records. And Brett`s response was that the hospitals must have lost the records. So we all knew that those were false accusations.
GRACE: Back to you, Mrs. Hostetler. I would like to hear your reaction. When I today heard the guilty verdict, I had a chill go all the way down my body. And I want to know, what did you feel? What did you think when that guilty verdict rang out in that courtroom, as it should have?
HOSTETLER: It was a little surreal. I felt a lot of relief. I felt justice had been done. And I felt like the boys were safe.
GRACE: Ms. Hostetler, I do not understand the nature of this crime, why Seacat could not accept that Vashti wanted a divorce. She had wanted a divorce for years.
HOSTETLER: This was the first time he had been served. They had talked about it, and he had always agreed to work on it. This time, her words to us, He will know that I am through this time by what I say. And he was a little territorial, if you will, possessive, and he wasn`t going to allow her to leave him and take his two boys.
GRACE: Well, you know, what`s interesting is, it came out that, very quickly after Vashti was murdered, he was trying to have somebody else raise the boys. That`s my understanding, that he was approaching relatives to see if they could raise the boys. Is that true, Julie?
HOSTETLER: Well, when he thought that he was going to get arrested, if he got arrested, he had approached family members about raising the boys.
GRACE: Back to you, Rich. Everyone, with us tonight, Vashti Seacat`s mom and brother, speaking out on her behalf.
Rich, what was it about Seacat? You know, nobody wants a divorce. Nobody, you know, grows up thinking, Gee, one day, I`m going to get a divorce. But it happens. It happens. What was it about him that made it impossible for him to accept a divorce, he`d rather murder her than get divorced?
FORREST: Brett liked to control every aspect of everything he did. I think that came out in the trial, that he was controlling and manipulative. And by her filing for divorce, she had taken the power out of his hands, and he couldn`t deal with the loss of control.
GRACE: Is it true, Rich, that she feared he could kill her?
FORREST: It had been discussed amongst other friends and family. And she had even poked her head in a co-worker`s office door one day and just out of the blue said, Do you really think he would kill me and burn the house down and make it look like a suicide and burn it with me in it? I don`t think it gets any clearer than that. Yes, she was afraid.
GRACE: Ms. Hostetler, did she ever voice her fears to you or anyone else in your family that she was afraid he would kill her?
HOSTETLER: Yes, many times. I begged her those last two months to not serve him papers, to just separate and let him get acclimated, to move in with us. And her words were, I don`t want to endanger your lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen have you reached a verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we have, your honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. If you would hand the forms to the bailiff, please. Mr. Seacat, if you would stand please, sir.
In the case of state of Kansas versus Brett T. Seacat, count one, murder in the first degree...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the case of state of Kansas versus Brett T. Seacat...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once I got custody, she was never going to get to see the kids again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anybody inside?
BRETT SEACAT, CONVICTED OF MURDER: There`s my wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you tell her anything about what your intentions were?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Count one, murder in the first degree...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... if, in fact, this turned into a contested divorce?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she inside?
SEACAT: She`s dead. She shot herself. I heard (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That I was going to do everything, everything in my power to...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We the jury find the defendant, Brett T. Seacat...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... destroy her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... guilty of murder in the first degree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Bombshell tonight. A jury hands down a verdict in the Seacat murder one trial. Yes, he was the elite of the CSI, crime scene investigators. He even taught the book to other new police officers. But when it came down to it, Brett Seacat could not outsmart police.
And more than that. He could not outsmart Vashti Seacat, his wife. Yes, he murdered her, but he left a trail. She had alerted her friends, her family to her fears that he would kill her.
Straight out to John Wright, news director, KFDI. What happened?
JOHN WRIGHT, KFDI RADIO (via telephone): After seven hours of deliberation, Nancy, the jury came back and threw the book at Brett Seacat, his testimony refuted, the jury listened to the evidence. Most people were thinking that if it went a couple more days on that the doubt would creep in. That didn`t happen.
GRACE: Every one, you are seeing a shot of what went on in the courtroom in the last hours. But I want you to see part of an investigation, part of the interrogation of Brett Seacat.
Everyone, we are live taking your calls. Out to Shelly in Tennessee. Hi, Shelly. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I really don`t have a question. I would just state a fact (ph) that I think that his whole testimony was just ridiculous because with that waiting so long to call 911 and sit there on the stand and say he did it. And his attorney tried to ask him what he meant by that, and he just couldn`t come out with a straight answer. He just stumbled upon it, you know?
GRACE: He did. You know, it`s funny how you`re so, so smart until you get on the stand and you start getting cross-examined. That`s hard That`s very, very hard. And I speak from personal experience.
But here`s an issue that I had. Unleash the lawyers, Darryl Cohen, Alex Sanchez. And also with us, Dr. William Morrone, medical examiner, toxicologist, forensic pathologist joining me out of Madison Heights.
First of all, lawyers, I want you to hear this. And Dr. Morrone, I want to give you this crime scene scenario. Vashti didn`t die from smoke inhalation. Her body was not burned. She burned from a -- she died of a single gunshot wound to the head. And it was an angle behind the right ear, going down her body, all right, slightly from back to front, down her body.
Now, all of us know the statistics about females committing suicide. They don`t do it by gunshot wound self-inflicted. They certainly don`t do it through a gunshot wound inflicted in the head or face or neck region.
But what`s so interesting, Dr. Morrone, is that she was found lying on top of the gun, with the covers pulled up over halfway over her. So Dr. Morrone, how could she shoot herself? The gun, even if it had kickback, falls, and she falls on the gun. Let`s just give them that, which is highly improbable. But then how do you get the covers back up over her?
You can`t have her committing suicide, lying on the gun and the covers pulled up over her, Dr. Morrone. It`s physically impossible. It doesn`t make sense.
DR. WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): Nancy, you`re absolutely right. There`s no physical way to really hold this gun, as this young woman would try to position it. Plus, the statistics say most people do contact wounds. They touch their head when they shoot. That didn`t happen here.
There was stippling, and the positioning of the body says that Brett Seacat lied. Everything he said was a lie. None of the forensic evidence supports his story. It`s all a lie. And you`re 100 percent right on the positioning of this body and all that forensic evidence.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Count one, murder in the first degree, we the jury find the defendant, Brett T. Seacat, guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anybody inside?
SEACAT: There`s my wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she inside?
SEACAT: She`s dead. She shot herself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Count two, aggravated arson. We the jury find the defendant, Brett T. Seacat, guilty of aggravated arson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you murder her?
SEACAT: No!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you pull the trigger?
SEACAT: No!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill her?
SEACAT: No!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. In the last hours, the jury hands down a verdict in the Brett Seacat murder one trial. He is guilty in the murder of his beautiful young wife, the mother of their two children, Vashti Seacat.
Ms. Hostetler, you said something that really caught my attention. You said you begged him -- you begged her, Vashti, your daughter, not to serve him with divorce papers. Explain.
HOSTETLER: I asked her to separate from him, to give him time to become acclimated to it and to let some time pass so that she could get safely away.
GRACE: Did you fear for her safety?
HOSTETLER: Oh, yes. For two months, I had talked to her about this. And I had women that I regularly prayed with, and I had asked for them to pray for her safety without going into detail.
GRACE: Oh, Ms. Hostetler, that hurts me so bad to hear you say that, that you asked her not to file those papers, that you were afraid for her. Did you tell her you were afraid? What did she say back?
HOSTETLER: She said -- she said she didn`t think he would do anything while she had the boys and that she would be careful.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Seacat, if you would stand please, sir. In the case of state of Kansas versus Brett T. Seacat, count one, murder in the first degree, we the jury find the defendant, Brett T. Seacat, guilty of murder in the first degree.
Count two, aggravated arson, we the jury find the defendant, Brett T. Seacat, guilty of aggravated arson.
Count three, aggravated endangering of a child, we the jury find the defendant, Brett T. Seacat, guilty of aggravated endangering of a child. Count four, aggravated endangering of a child. We the jury find the defendant Brett T. Seacat guilty of aggravated endangering of a child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Juror eight, do you agree that the verdict read by the judge is the verdict of the jury by agreement of at least 12 members of the jury?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I find you guilty of murder in the first degree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Bombshell tonight. A jury returns a true verdict in state versus Brett Seacat, charged in the murder of his beautiful young wife, the mother of their two boys, Vashti Seacat.
Now, the jury saw one Brett Seacat, when apparently Vashti and her family saw another Brett Seacat. Take a look at Seacat. It`s a very telling moment in his police interrogation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you murder her?
SEACAT: No!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you pull the trigger?
SEACAT: No!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill her?
SEACAT: No!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things are not looking good and they`re adding up to that you had something to do with this. We need to know why.
SEACAT: There`s no why. OK? I didn`t do this. I love Vashti.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She told a friend a week and a half prior to this incident happening that you threatened to kill her.
SEACAT: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You threatened to burn the house down and you threatened to make it look like she did it.
SEACAT: That is --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that --
SEACAT: That is bull [EXPLETIVE DELETED].
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That was an Oscar winning performance. You see him there. Now look at Brett Seacat on the stand. Let`s take a look at what the jury saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you talked to Ms. Suderman (ph), did you at any time tell her, "I killed Vashti?"
SEACAT: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you tell her?
SEACAT: I told her Vashti is dead. It`s my fault.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did you believe it was your fault that Vashti was dead?
SEACAT: Because it was.
GRACE: You`re hearing Brett Seacat on the stand, so mild, so meek, completely different from the Seacat that Vashti saw, that Vashti feared.
With me tonight, her family, her mother and her brother speaking out on her behalf. With me, Julie Hostetler and Rich Forrest.
Rich, I`m very interested in how Seacat would act around your family? Would he act possessive and intimidating toward her or would he act like the charming nice guy?
RICH FORREST: You know, really, it was neither one. It was just a sullen, withdrawn type of demeanor. He didn`t interact with us. He would kind of just find his corner of the house to go sit in when we had family functions, and there was not much interaction at all.
GRACE: What would he do, Mrs. Hostetler, just go in another room or sit in the corner and watch TV while everybody had the family festivity?
JULIE HOSTETLER, VASHTI SEACAT`S MOTHER: Usually. Sometimes he would take the children and go to the basement and watch TV, sometimes --
GRACE: Why? Did he just hate you guys because you had influence over Vashti?
HOSTETLER: I wouldn`t say that he hated us. He just was a loner. Maybe, I don`t know.
GRACE: But they were high school sweethearts, right?
HOSTETLER: Yes, they were.
GRACE: So they`ve known each other -- yes, how long?
HOSTETLER: He was 16, he was 15.
GRACE: What was your thought when she decided to marry him?
HOSTETLER: Nancy, when Brett was younger, he was a different boy, and when they were planning on getting married, it was fine with us. And then she broke up with him. She said he had a dark side. They were apart for a long time. When he found her again, he told her that he had changed, he was going to church. She talked about it, and he even asked Delmar (ph) for her hand in marriage. And he had a long talk with him. Everything we saw about Brett showed us that he was sincere and that he had changed. So we were happy about the marriage, because in many ways they complimented each other.
GRACE: When did you first realize that Vashti was afraid of him and then you became afraid too? When did that happen?
HOSTETLER: That happened about a year. Vashti was very private about their marriage, didn`t share a lot. That`s just who Vashti was. And it was probably a year before she told us she was going to file for divorce. She begun sharing some -- the threats he had made. And of course the signs were there. He was becoming more and more controlling with her.
GRACE: When you say he was becoming more controlling and the signs were there, what do you mean by that? And I`m trying to have women that are out there listening right now, and fathers and daughters that have -- fathers and mothers that have daughters in this kind of relationship, I want them to hear very clearly what you`re saying, Julie. It`s so important. When you say he became more and more controlling, and that the signs were there, what exactly do you mean by that?
HOSTETLER: The lack of social life with her friends. Everything was geared around the home. He didn`t care to come to family functions more and more. At first he would go to church with her, and then that stopped. And he didn`t see the necessity in doing things that normal people do. He was becoming more sullen, more withdrawn, didn`t have anything nice to say, became critical. I suppose that was one of the biggies that I saw, he was becoming more and more critical.
GRACE: I just find that so hard to believe, because when you look at Vashti, she`s stunning. She doesn`t need an hour of hair and makeup to be beautiful. She`s gorgeous. And all her friends say how outgoing and happy and vibrant she was. What was there to be critical about?
HOSTETLER: I don`t think he was ever critical of the way she looked. In fact, if she were to wear makeup or do things of that nature, he might be more critical of dressing up. It was more of her cooking, house keeping, things of that nature.
GRACE: I really want to know this. He was not happy with her cooking and the way she kept the house?
HOSTETLER: Yes, smothering, things, typical, typical controlling men.
GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls, but I want to go back to Vashti`s brother, Rich Forrest, joining us. Rich, did you see this coming like Julie did, Mrs. Hostetler, did you feel a premonition? Were you afraid?
FORREST: You know, probably I didn`t see it coming, because it`s so hard for human nature to encompass that type of evil act that you hear people threaten or you hear them elude to things, but at the end of the day I think it`s very hard for good people to really fathom that somebody could perpetrate such an act like this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hurry. Hurry. I think she`s dead. I think she shot herself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You shot your wife, didn`t you?
SEACAT: No, ma`am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You shot her in the head.
SEACAT: Impossible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anybody inside?
SEACAT: There`s my wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she inside?
SEACAT: She`s dead. She shot herself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The jury hands down a verdict. Straight out to KSN-TV`s Justin Kraemer. Justin, what do you think was the strongest evidence?
JUSTIN KRAEMER, KSN-TV: The strongest evidence from the state`s perspective, that`s what`s the curious thing about this case, Nancy. There was no single piece of evidence that really stood out. It was mainly just a culmination of their entire mountain of circumstantial evidence. His laughable story to start with, that Vashti would commit suicide with her two boys sleeping down the hall. The fact that she would use Dirty Harry`s gun to do it. The fact that he claimed that the affairs didn`t bother him, that he had no injuries from the fire. It was all of these that led the jury to unanimously convict Brett Seacat earlier tonight.
GRACE: With us, Justin Kraemer, KSN-TV. Unleash the lawyers. Darryl Cohen, Alex Sanchez, the part that I think was possibly the most persuasive is the fact that he had gasoline on his pants, Darryl Cohen. And you know, one of my specialties so to speak when I was a prosecutor was arson of any type. Now, the defense tried to claim that the pants were contaminated by gas fumes. But Darrel, it`s a cold day in h-e-l-l that going to a gas station and smelling the fumes, somehow you get gasoline on your pants, all right? It doesn`t work like that. To me, the gas on the pants was damning.
COHEN: Nancy, what you are conveniently forgetting is that those pants were put into a package, into a bag, and they were mishandled by CSI.
GRACE: Say what please?
COHEN: You are absolutely forgetting that--
GRACE: What do you mean mishandled? Mishandled in what way? Did somebody pour gas on them?
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: No, doesn`t say they poured gas on them. Gasoline fumes when he went to save the kids could easily have been impregnated and planted in those slacks. That`s not unusual.
GRACE: Hold on. To you, Dr. William Marrone, you hear, and this is a veteran trial lawyer, used to be a prosecutor and now he`s a defense attorney, saying that gas fumes can impregnate gasoline. I don`t know what that means. But Dr. Marrone, you`re the pathologist. Can gas fumes somehow turn into magically on their own into gasoline splattered on your pants?
MARRONE: I got to tell you that in that room, that was burning at that temperature at that flashpoint, there were no gas fumes. Everything was combustible.
I spent time as a fireman, and I understand the three basic principles. No fumes would exist. Everything was combustible, because it was an accelerant, and everything else burning was carpet, sheets, beds and wood. There were no fumes. The only thing that could have happened is he spilled it on himself. That`s a fact.
GRACE: OK. Sanchez, weigh in.
SANCHEZ: Look, the defense tried to contest that, and obviously the jury took their argument to consideration, but I have to challenge you on something that you said before. You talked about the gun and how this could not have been a suicide and she pulled the cover. If everything you`re saying is correct, then how come the coroner, who works with the state that prosecuted this case, claimed that he could not tell if this was a suicide or a homicide? Please explain that to me.
GRACE: Alex, the coroner -- and you`ve got an excellent point. In my mind, Alex, that is the strongest point that the defense had. The coroner said that the body was so badly burned they could not give a final deduction.
What about, out to you, John Wright, news director, KFDI, how did the state respond to the fact the coroner refused to call it homicide or suicide? Because the body was so badly burned. How did the state counter that?
WRIGHT: The state had to go in for the evidence that when Seacat`s own testimony in the night that it happened, 3:00 in the morning, it showed, the testimony showed that Vashti was active early, late at night, about 11:00 at night, going on Facebook, even posting a friend post, that the phone call that she made allegedly to him to have him come running upstairs finding her body there face down on the bed with a pool of blood, him reaching in, but apparently determining in his own mind she`s dead, so he goes and gets the boys, but they are later out of the house, and find out that he hardly has any bruises, any fire injuries, related to putting his hands down, getting close to the fire, and then trying to get your wife out. Of course he left her there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Hands down a guilty verdict in the last hour. Brett Seacat guilty of murder one in the brutal slaying of his wife, the mother of his two little boys, ages 2 and 4. To Mandy Kupper, joining us along with Vashti Seacat, the mom, the murdered mom in this case, mom and her brother Rich Forrest. Mandy Kupper is with us, knew Vashti so very well, and spoke to Brett Seacat very quickly after the fire, just a couple of days later. Mandy, thank you for being with us. What sticks out in your mind about what Seacat said to you?
MANDY KUPPER: I think it was the whole fact of that he even came in to come and tell me about it, on that Monday after it happened. And then the fact that he`s not showing any emotion. And the only time he got choked up was when he was talking about the boys.
GRACE: What did he say about Vashti?
KUPPER: He said that she was deeply depressed, and that she had tried several times before to commit suicide, which is something that I found odd, because she was the complete opposite of a depressed person in my mind.
GRACE: To Dr. Leslie Austin, psychotherapist. Dr. Leslie, how likely is it that a woman is going to set fire to a home with her two babies in the home?
AUSTIN: It`s almost impossible to imagine, Nancy, unless she had a previous history of depression or struggles and sought help. No mother is going to do that with the two children in the house, especially when she`s behaving happily and making plans for the future, the days after.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Darryl Cohen and Alex Sanchez. Darryl, what`s the likelihood that a mom is going to commit suicide by burning down the house with her children in it, then call the husband on the cell phone? He`s downstairs, after he admits he bullied her to let him stay in the home, then shoot herself. Why would she set fire to the home when she wants her children saved?
COHEN: Nancy, you and I both know that when people are depressed, when they are upset, they do crazy things.
GRACE: Who says she was depressed?
COHEN: Her husband said she was depressed.
GRACE: But her family and all of her friends say she wasn`t.
COHEN: Nancy, she was taking a drug to help her lose weight. This is a woman who was--
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Well, that`s half of America, for Pete`s sake. I bet you and Sanchez have taken all those drugs yourself for some reason or another. You want to lose weight. You want to quit smoking. Blah blah blah. Everybody on the block has taken some kind of a pill. But they`re not all killing themselves and burning the house down with their children in it, Sanchez.
SANCHEZ: I`m bewildered at something here.
GRACE: What?
SANCHEZ: If this woman was repeatedly told she was going to be murdered by the husband and she made those statements to coworkers or she made those statements to her mother, how come nobody as far as I know did not go to the police or his supervisors or anybody else in authority and say this man is a dangerous man? He`s making threats?
GRACE: I`ll tell you why.
SANCHEZ: Why?
GRACE: I`ll tell you why Vashti never did that.
SANCHEZ: Why?
GRACE: The same reason that every abused woman in this country that does not tell anybody, doesn`t tell police, doesn`t tell her family, doesn`t tell her preacher, her pastor, her rabbi anything about it.
SANCHEZ: But she did tell people. She told friends and she told family relatives. And some of those people--
GRACE: Because A, they are embarrassed. And B, they are afraid. That is why. I`ve had dozens of cases of marital homicides when the women have escape plans, safety plans to get out before they`re killed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: We remember American hero, Army Corporal Dale Kridlo. 33, Pittson, Pennsylvania. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, NATO Service Medal. Buried Arlington. Parents Albert and Michelle. Brother Damian. Twin daughters Madeline and Zoe. Dale Kridlo, American hero.
And now back to the verdict in the Brett Seacat murder one trial. I want to go back to Mandy Kupper, who knew Vashti Seacat. Mandy, you are hearing the defense lawyers go on and on about how Vashti was depressed, was suicidal. I want you to speak on her behalf. I want you to tell me about Vashti Seacat.
KUPPER: Vashti was a very giving person. And we had a little boy who was diagnosed with leukemia at four years old. And we did a lot of fund raising. She took it upon herself to go to her workplace and get things to use for a silent auction. One of the things that she got was a signed soccer ball from the women`s `99 World Cup winning team. And that was the highest bidding thing. And that went for $3,000.
GRACE: You know, Mandy, when you`re telling me about her and what you have told us in the past, no way would this woman commit suicide and leave her two boys behind. And a jury agreed with you, Mandy Kupper.
Everyone, justice has been served, as we await sentencing in Brett Seacat`s case. As we go to break, happy birthday to Harris Emerson, Navy vet, married to Doris 66 years. Happy 95th birthday.
Everyone, Dr. Drew up next. Tonight as we sign off, our prayers are with Vashti and her little boys. Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
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