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Nancy Grace

New Bride Pushes Husband Off a Cliff

Aired September 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: Cody Johnson said, `Til death do us part. Little did he know his death would come just a week later.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A chilling scene as prosecutors say 22-year-old Jordan Linn Graham pushed her new husband, Cody Lee Johnson, off this cliff in the high mountains of Montana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very steep area, very treacherous, full of rocks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Graham reportedly told a ranger she`d found Cody`s body below the Loop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The park ranger said it was unusual she had found Johnson. Graham replied, It was the place he wanted to see before he died.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a complete shock to me. Cody is one of the greatest guys that I`ve had the opportunity to know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Graham took his hand off her arm, but was so angry, she pushed him with both hands in the back, and he fell face first off the cliff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what`s so bizarre about it? She had told a friend she was having second thoughts about the marriage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Graham is now facing second degree murder charges and possibly life in prison.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never, ever expected her to be capable of hurting someone at that degree -- I mean, especially someone who would worship her. And he could have -- he would have given her anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.

Breaking news tonight, live, Missoula. She dreamed all her life about an extravagant storybook wedding, and Jordan Graham`s dream comes true, a twilight garden wedding, complete with attendants dressed in pink head to toe, an over-the-top reception.

Bombshell tonight. Just eight days after that storybook wedding, the 26-year-old groom, Cody Johnson, dead after a night of alleged good times with friends. But at this hour, as we go to air, police hone in on not just a friend, but Cody`s very best friend, his brand-new bride.

We are live and taking your calls in an incredible story, this groom`s body found at the foot of a mountain that`s nearly 7,000 feet tall. How did he end up there?

Now, according to his wife, he goes out on a drive, partying, joyriding with friends, but it`s not the bride that reports him missing the next day, which is a Monday. It`s his uncle.

Straight out to Jean Casarez, HLN legal correspondent. Jean, what happened?

JEAN CASAREZ, HLN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: There are so many twists and turns. Friends say that Cody Johnson was afraid of heights. Nonetheless, they went to the Glacier National Park, to the Loop, which was a hiking trail that was extremely steep.

And what we now know the facts are, according to she herself, they got in an argument, her husband put his hand on her arm, she walked away, but then she pushed him. And he fell face first down the cliff.

GRACE: Out to Jessie Davis, joining me from Kalispell. He is police and courts reporter with "The Daily Interlake."

Jessie, thank you for being with us. Jessie, I don`t really buy that version of the story because, first of all, what was she and her husband her brand-new groom, doing out hiking at nighttime? I mean, I would rate myself as maybe an intermediate to experienced hiker -- before I had the twins, of course.

But who launches a hike in the dark, especially with him afraid of heights, Jessie?

JESSIE DAVIS, "DAILY INTERLAKE" (via telephone): Well, that`s a very good question, Nancy. And that`s certainly something that friends and family are asking questions about, and we`ve been asking here in the newsroom.

But as of yet, details have been pretty slim ever since the FBI took over the lead position in the investigation. I mean, basically, nothing has come out, other than the affidavit just a few days ago.

GRACE: Well, wait, this is what I know. Jean Casarez, it`s Glacier National Park. There`s over a million acres there. And her story has changed so much, it`s gone from one end of the spectrum to the next. But I know this. I know she`s the one that finds his body out of a million acres in Glacier National Park. What do you know about that, Jean?

CASAREZ: She not only found it, she told police this is what he wanted to visit before he died and goes on to say that he was with friends, they were driving around, and he fell.

GRACE: OK, let`s take this thing chronologically. Out to you, Matt Zarrell, on the story. Take it from the top.

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): OK, Nancy. What happened was is that this is just eight days -- eight days after they were married. Cody Johnson was reported missing by his uncle on July 8th.

Now, when cops went out to speak with the wife, Jordan Graham, she gave this story about how they came home after dinner with friends and that he got this phone call that made him upset, and then soon after, he left. She got a text message from her husband saying that he was going for a drive with a friend from out of town. We don`t know who the friend is...

GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait! Wait! Whoa! Matt Zarrell, you`re not married yet, are you.

ZARRELL: No.

GRACE: Well, you`ve got a lot to look forward to. And I can tell you this much, Matt Zarrell. When you do find that special lucky lady, if she says, Hey, I`m going out for a joyride with friends from out of town -- yes, that doesn`t cut it. What friends? What? Where? Why? When? Who are these friends, Matt Zarrell?

ZARRELL: I think cops are asking themselves the same question, Nancy, because Graham only described the car as a dark-colored car. And she claims that text messages could verify this information, but she and her husband routinely delete their text messages.

GRACE: So within 24 hours, she deletes her text messages.

Out to the lines. Ty in Florida. Hi, Ty. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Nancy. How`re you doing?

GRACE: I`m good, dear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just read that on Facebook, and to me, I was - - I was amazed. I mean, eight days after being married, your husband dies?

GRACE: Yes, it`s the eight-day itch. Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I saw a similar case a few weeks back, a man, a few years ago, his wife died or (INAUDIBLE) mixed up. It seems very weird. And she deletes her text messages?

GRACE: I think you`re probably thinking of that couple that goes diving on the reef and the wife dies during a diving accident. But then, as it turns out, some other people in the dive trip happen to snap a picture and show the bride down at the bottom, holding her arms out for help, dying, and the new groom swimming away. Very reminiscent of this case.

Back to you, Matt Zarrell. So they date for a couple of years, and she always had her heart set on a big storybook wedding. They have the wedding, an over-the-top reception, a twilight wedding.

You are seeing exclusive photos we obtained of that wedding. Here they are in their first dance, with everyone looking on. She`s got this beautiful satin dress with a train. She`s wearing a tiara. It is a storybook wedding, with her dressed as a princess. I don`t know if she looks like a princess tonight after police interrogation.

But Matt Zarrell, so they get married, eight days later. He gets a phone call from friends and they go joyriding. What happens next?

ZARRELL: OK. So I should keep in mind that while he went out joyriding, Cody did not take his cell phone, his keys or his car. So that`s the first thing.

Now, what happens is, is that police then go and start talking to friends, friends of the wife. Now, Graham`s friend told police that Graham told her she wanted out of her marriage...

GRACE: Wait. Wait.

ZARRELL: ... and actually planned to talk with the husband...

GRACE: Wanted out of her marriage? Whoa! She`s only been married eight days! Wants out of her marriage? Why? Why does she want out of her marriage, Jean Casarez?

CASAREZ: Something wasn`t just right. She just didn`t want to be where she was. But those texts, Nancy...

GRACE: Wait! Wait! Put her up! Wait, wait, wait. Don`t change the subject, Jean Casarez.

CASAREZ: You know, Nancy, it`s critical...

GRACE: I want to get back to...

CASAREZ: The texts are critical because they have to do with the subject.

GRACE: I`m not asking you about the texts! I`m not asking you about the texts. I`m asking you about why would -- after just eight days of marriage, would she want out of the marriage. What was happening?

CASAREZ: She didn`t want to be married to him.

GRACE: OK...

CASAREZ: ... and the texts reflect that.

GRACE: Whoa! Unleash the lawyers. Joining me, death penalty- qualified prosecutor Eleanor Odom. Also with me tonight, a veteran defense attorney, former prosecutor turned defense attorney, Peter Odom joining us.

Pete Odom, after just eight short days, she wants out of the marriage?

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Mm.

GRACE: All you`ve got to say is "Mm"?

PETER ODOM: Well, I mean, what can I -- are you asking me why? I don`t know. But clearly, she really wanted out of the marriage.

GRACE: You don`t find that coincidental? You don`t find that coincidental that she texts a friend, according to Jean Casarez...

PETER ODOM: Oh, the timing of it, yes.

GRACE: ... she wants out of her marriage, and suddenly he`s dead.

PETER ODOM: Right. And the state is going to latch right onto that, that she was looking for a way out of the marriage, and whoops, look, she found a way out of the marriage. So you know the timing of it is certainly...

GRACE: You know what? I`m not hiring you...

PETER ODOM: ... incriminating to her.

GRACE: I`m not hiring you on this one because you`re not convincing me that she could even possibly be innocent because you just regurgitated what I just said.

PETER ODOM: Nancy...

GRACE: I want to hear a defense.

PETER ODOM: ... she has told the police -- the defense is they were having a fight. He reached out for her. She reached back at him, and over he went. I mean, I see this as coming down to accident.

GRACE: She reached back at -- put him up, please!

PETER ODOM: Put me up!

GRACE: What do you mean -- I`ve never heard -- she reached back -- you mean she pushed him? Is that what you`re trying to say? She reached back -- you mean reached back like that?

PETER ODOM: That`s what she told the police. So unless that statement can be suppressed, she`s going to be stuck with that statement. But you know, there`s a defense that can be had in that, Nancy.

GRACE: Which is?

PETER ODOM: They were having a fight at the time. That`s what she told the police -- that it was accidental.

GRACE: OK, you know what? Eleanor, one of her many, many stories -- and I`m not sure this is the story. It`s just like Jodi Arias. I`m not sure if this is the story we`re going to hear at trial. One of her many, many stories is that they had an argument and that she pushed him back.

Now, I don`t think that`s true, Eleanor, because I think she lured him up there. It was well known he was afraid of heights. It was at night. Why would they go on a hike here at night? I think she lured him up there and pushed him to his death, Eleanor.

ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Well, I think you`re exactly right, Nancy. And even though all of us, from time to time, may feel like pushing our husbands off a cliff, I think here it`s premeditation. And that`s very obvious.

I mean, and look at their past. Did they normally go hiking at night? Did they normally hike this particular dangerous route at night? No. I bet you`re going to find that that hadn`t happened. And you`re right. She lures him up there on whatever pretense, and has planned this out.

GRACE: Well, this is what I think. I think she wanted the wedding but not the groom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Folks, they were married one week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`d been married eight days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now this newlywed wife`s charged with the murder of her husband.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One week after this beaming couple`s wedding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, they just got married.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is now, instead of being a happy newlywed, is in jail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She admits to pushing him off the cliff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Flying face-first off the edge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Montana`s Glacier National Park. They were hiking. The two apparently got into a some kind of heated exchange. Prosecutors say she pushed her husband face first off that cliff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She now faces second degree murder. A sentence, if convicted, she could face life in prison.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn`t feel like Jordan was capable of doing this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Well, nobody ever thinks they`re capable until they find the dead body. This woman has told so many different stories.

You are seeing exclusive photos we obtained of that storybook wedding, a twilight wedding outdoors in a garden setting, an over-the-top reception. She had been planning the this and dreaming about it all of her life. Well, the wedding dream comes true, complete with full attendants, bridesmaids dressed in pink from head to toe, a fleet of attendants there, groomsmen and bridesmaids, flower girls, an over-the-top reception, you name it.

Only eight days later, the groom is dead. Now, is it true -- back out to Jessie Davis, courts reporter with "The Daily Interlake," joining me there in Montana, in Kalispell. Is it true that the bereaved bride did not report him missing? Who reported him missing?

DAVIS: That is true. It was actually Cody`s uncle at Nomad (ph) Global Communication Solutions who called in to police after he didn`t show up to work on Monday.

GRACE: So she doesn`t even report him missing. Matt Zarrell, what, if any, is her explanation for that?

ZARRELL: Nancy, she really doesn`t seem to have an explanation because when the cops confronted her, she gave this long, elaborate story about how he went out for a joyride and she doesn`t know where he is. And then three days later, she`s the one that finds the body.

GRACE: You know, Jean Casarez, you and I were there in Arizona covering the Jodi Arias trial from day one on. This sounds exactly like Jodi Arias. I mean, how many times has the bride changed her story, Jean?

CASAREZ: Three. Three different times. In addition to that, she created an e-mail, prosecutors are saying, an e-mail account to send herself the e-mail that said friends said he went driving, he fell off the cliff, he`s dead, the search should stop.

GRACE: OK, wait a minute, wait a minute. What -- I don`t understand about the e-mail. Tell me that part again?

CASAREZ: She said that she had gotten an e-mail from a friend of her husband`s saying that he had gone out with friends, riding, that they -- that he`d fallen off the cliff, he was dead, and the search should stop, because there was a massive search effort.

Well, she actually, it has just come out, created that e-mail account to send herself that e-mail.

GRACE: OK. Let me follow up on that, Jean Casarez. Bill Levitan joining me, telecommunications guru out of Raleigh. Ben, I mean, in this day and age, doesn`t everybody know that you can trace who creates an e- mail account?

So she creates this e-mail account from, I guess, one of those friends he goes out joyriding the night he dies, he goes out with them. So one of those friends writes, Call off the search, he`s dead at the bottom of the cliff, you`ve got to go to find his body.

Doesn`t everybody know that in this day and age, you can find out where an e-mail account originated?

BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT (via telephone): Well, absolutely. Anyone who watches your show does. This is such a simple forensic, you know, study for the police because the account was probably created on the same computer she sent the message to herself from. So when they look at the sent and received e-mail, it`ll show it came from the same computer, and we`ll know that`s a lie.

GRACE: OK, Ben, how do you confirm -- or when you`re investigating, how do you find out who set up an e-mail account? Say I go on and I do NancyGrace35@yahoo.com, or whatever I come up with. How can you tell it`s me that creates that account?

LEVITAN: There`s no way I can tell that it`s you because anyone could sit down if at a computer anywhere in the world and set you up an e-mail account under your name.

What we do know, though, is what`s called the IP address of that computer. When you set up that account -- when you send out anything over the computer and you expect a response, the whole computer world (ph) has to know where to send you back that message. How does the message get back to your computer? Every computer has what`s basically a unique worldwide phone number that we call an IP address.

So if I sit down at a computer somewhere in the world and set up an account for you, it will be very easy for Yahoo! or anyone, Hotmail, to tell you -- to tell the police exactly what computer was used to set up that account.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Interactions were very limited with Jordan. Like I said, we would always have group activities and have people over. We would go out to dinner, have people over for cards and stuff like that, and she was just -- she was very -- very quiet. She wouldn`t engage in conversation. She acted miserable, like she didn`t want to be there. We would joke, and all of us would try and get her, you know, involved in the conversation, joking and laughing it up, and she just -- she just didn`t want to be a part of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: There you are hearing one the deceased groom`s friends -- the groom, Cody Johnson, just 25 years old. There you`re seeing exclusive photos that we obtained of that twilight wedding, no holds barred. They pulled out all the stops. There you see some of the many, many bridal attendants in all pink, head to toe. There were a fleet of groomsmen -- the music, the outdoor wedding, the over-the-top reception, the satin bride`s dress with a train, the works. She dreamed of it her whole life. And she loved it!

There was just one part that didn`t set right, and that was the groom part, the husband part, according to police.

For those of you just joining us, this groom found dead. Now, Matt Zarrell, you were telling me, or Jean Casarez -- one of you were telling me the different stories she gave. Jean told me there were three stories. What are the three stories?

ZARRELL: OK. One story was the story we went through earlier, that she said that her husband went on this joyride with a bunch of friends from out of town. That`s the first story.

GRACE: OK.

ZARRELL: Then she gave this more detailed -- it`s a similar story, but it`s in variation to the friends of Cody Johnson. She said to cops that she was not home when the friend -- when Cody Johnson went on the joyride with friends. When she spoke to cops, though, she said she was present, and she identified the car as a dark-colored vehicle. Then the third story...

GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Wait, Matt. Wait, wait! I think you`re a little shook up since I suggested you were going to find Miss Right soon. A dark-colored vehicle. Was it a Volkswagen Beetle, was it an SUV, was it a convertible, was it a limo, what was it?

ZARRELL: She only describes it as a dark-colored car.

GRACE: A dark-colored car. All right, Peter Odom, that helps a lot, a dark-colored car. I mean, if you see your wife backing out and you think she`s in the car, with tinted windows -- a dark-colored car, that`s all you can give me, a dark car?

PETER ODOM: Well, I mean, let`s assume for a moment that that part of the story is true. All she sees is a dark car. It`s night. That`s not what troubles me. What`s troubling for her and the thing that she`s going to have to worry about at trial is that she told several different stories. The story she`s going to have to go with, ultimately, at trial, is the story about an accident.

GRACE: OK, Matt, the third story. We`ve got the joyride, the off with the friend. What`s the third story?

ZARRELL: OK, the third story is when cops confronted her with her information, she says that they got in an argument and that he grabbed her arm, by the arm, grabbed her, removed Cody`s hand from her arm.

Now, what she says -- clear, she says after removing Cody`s hand her arm, she could have just walked away, but due to her anger, she pushed Cody with both hands in the back, and he fell face first off the cliff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say a newlywed pushed her husband off a cliff. Folks, they were married one week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even at their wedding, something just didn`t seem right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they were exchanging their vows, Jordan wasn`t -- never once looked at Cody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Graham later admitting to police soon after they went for a hike in Glacier National Park, they argued. Graham says her husband grabbed her arm. She then pushed his back, which sent him flying face first off the edge of this cliff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Admits to pushing him off the cliff. She now faces second-degree murder. A sentence, if convicted, she could face life in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Wait a minute, let`s think this thing through. He goes face first off the cliff, which means she had to push him from behind. If he goes face first, off the cliff.

Welcome back. For those of you just joining us, she has a storybook wedding, complete with all of her bridesmaids dressed in pink head to toe, a twilight wedding outdoors, a garden ceremony, an over-the-top reception following, with a beautiful dress, music, the works. But eight days into it, there was one thing she didn`t bargain for. And that is the husband that goes along with that storybook wedding.

We are live and taking your calls. Frank in Florida, hi, Frank, what`s your question?

CALLER: Hey, Nancy, I`m just wondering why you`re assuming this bride is so guilty? I think it`s pretty obvious she didn`t do it. This guy grabbed her arm and he was probably abusive. I mean, he fell off a cliff, and she was probably just shocked to death, and, you know, just because she didn`t want to get married, I don`t think that means she did it. My cousin didn`t want to get married and she didn`t murder her groom.

GRACE: Really, what happened with your cousin?

CALLER: She was just really nervous about getting married and she didn`t want to do it, she was having second thoughts.

GRACE: Did she get married?

CALLER: Yes, she got married.

GRACE: Is the groom still alive?

CALLER: Yes, the groom`s still alive.

GRACE: Yes, well, see, that`s the difference between your cousin and Jordan Graham. Another thing too, Frank in Florida, because she has lied to police, because she did not report her husband missing, the uncle at work did, because his keys, cell phone, and car were still at the home, because none of her three stories to police make sense, because everything surrounding this reminds me of none other than Jodi Arias. That`s why, I think, she`s guilty.

Oh, you know, I don`t know how long you`re going to keep these pictures in the control room, but there, since I mentioned her, I guess you took that opportunity to put Jodi Arias back up on the screen. I want to go back to the three stories. But more importantly, I want to go back to Jean Casarez on something she was touching on earlier, that she thinks is crucial to this case, and that is the text message. Jean, explain.

CASAREZ: Well, this was a text message that she had with her maid of honor, seemingly right around the time this all happened. So you see her state of mind, right? She said, I`m just about to talk to him. Maid of honor replies back, my prayers are with you. She replies back, listen to this, Nancy, but dead serious, if you don`t hear from me at all again tonight, something happened. That could be premeditation, Nancy.

GRACE: Well, it sounds to me, let me go out to Caryn Stark, psychologist, joining me out of New York. It sounds to me like she was setting up her defense, and at that moment when she said, if you don`t hear back from me, something happened, that she possibly was setting up a self- defense claim.

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Look, the point to all of this, Nancy, is that it was so premeditated. And if you take a look, I want to go back to the point you made about her being like Jodi Arias. She`s a pathological liar. She lived for a fantasy, this fantasy wedding. And she keeps changing her story. She doesn`t seem to have any feelings. She doesn`t even look at him when she marries him. Yet she marries him anyway. So she was living her life to have a wedding, and then she had to deal with this groom.

GRACE: Out to Dr. Michael Arnall, board certified forensic pathologist joining me out of Denver. You know, that`s hiking country where you are, Dr. Arnall. What do you think about this couple, the groom afraid of heights, going hiking in Glacier National Park after dark, at night?

DR. MICHAEL ARNALL, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, I agree with the first statement that you made. Hiking in that type of country at night is extraordinarily bad judgment, and these are folks from Montana. They`re smart enough to know not to do that. And in particular, this is a gentleman who doesn`t like heights anyway. So that story makes very little sense.

GRACE: Dr. Arnall, you have handled so many homicide investigations and autopsies. What do you make of this? A park ranger confronts the bride, claiming that it was very unusual that she of all people finds this dead body, and she claims, to him, that that was the place that Cody had always wanted to see before he died. Now, how odd is it that she finds his body, out of a million acres, in Glacier National Park, Dr. Arnall?

ARNALL: Remarkably unusual. If she is the one that discovers that body, she is instantly going to be No. 1 on the list of suspects. This appears to be a completely non-random event that she found this body.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Pete in Florida. Interesting how all the male callers think she`s innocent. Hmm, same thing with Arias. Pete in Florida, hi, what`s your question?

CALLER: But if she did kill him, what took police so long to arrest her? That`s why I don`t think she did it, because they wouldn`t have taken so long to arrest her.

GRACE: Interesting. I think Pete in Florida may have a tiny obsession with this woman, because I haven`t told you yet when the arrest was. So let`s just hold Pete in Florida for just one moment. Pete in Florida, have you ever heard of something called a police investigation? It doesn`t always happen -- it doesn`t unfold in 30 minutes like it does on TV.

Out to you, Jessie Davis, police reporter with the "Daily Interlake." A couple of months have gone by until she is just arrested in the last days. Why, Jessie?

DAVIS: Well, for one, I mean, they had to interview quite a few people. From what we hear, all of the different friends and family were all taken in individually for questioning, and also, I think they were just trying to put their case together.

GRACE: Out to Ben Levitan. Ben -- wait, hold on, Ben, I`ve got to ask Matt Zarrell a question about the text messages first. Jean was telling us about these text messages. Matt, you told me that she says to police, she routinely deletes her text messages, is that right, Matt?

ZARRELL: Yes.

GRACE: All right, Ben Levitan, once a text message is deleted off your phone, is it possible to retrieve it?

LEVITAN: Nancy, text messages are saved by the phone company, not quite as long as this marriage. They`re kept for about five days. So if the police could get to the phone company within five days, they could probably recover it from the phone company. But if she deletes -- remember, whenever you send a text message, there`s two copies of it. One in the sender`s phone, and one in the receiver`s phone. And if it was deleted out of both of those and is no longer available at the phone company, we can`t get a copy of the phone message.

GRACE: Well, here`s the kicker. Here`s the kicker, though, Ben Levitan. If he sent her the text message that she was going out with his friends, hello! His cell phone was found there in the home. She obviously -- I mean, how could he send her a message, I`m out with my friends, when the cell phone is sitting right there in the home. The police recovered it.

LEVITAN: Exactly. If the phone came -- if the message came from his phone, we would know, and this is kept for at least a year, we would know - - we would have a record that he sent her a text message. We would also know the general location from where that text message was sent. So if he was out and about and texting there from even two, three miles away, the police would have that evidence today.

GRACE: Matt Zarrell, is it true that his friends warned him not to marry her?

ZARRELL: Yes, Nancy. A number of friends warned Cody not to marry Graham. They were worried about that Graham was very distant and reserved. They describe her as anti-social and unfriendly. She actually, Nancy, after the death, she didn`t even show any grief, including at the funeral, she refused to talk to the husband`s mother.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The affidavit leaves out the most incriminating evidence, an alleged admission from Graham that she had lied. He tells me that he and Cody`s friends all thought it was strange she would never hang out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a relief knowing that there`s going to be justice, one way or another.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: According to police, on the day of Johnson`s death, Graham texted her friend, oh, well, I`m about to talk to him. Her friend replies, I`ll pray for you guys, and in an eerie response, she writes, but dead serious, if you don`t hear from me at all again tonight, something happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: This is such a setup! Out to prosecutor, Eleanor Odom, you know she lured him up to that trail that night. He was pushed, as evidence has indicated, face forward. That means she pushed him from behind, off that cliff. She had written all of these text messages to friends, that something was going to happen that night. She wanted out of the marriage, and boom, he`s dead?

E. ODOM: Yes, Nancy, all the circumstances point to murder. And that`s -- there`s no way around it. All her stories, all the facts point to one thing and one conclusion only. And that is that she murdered him. And I think those texts are very interesting. I really enjoyed what Ben had to say. We can do a preservation letter to the telephone companies and really make sure we have all of that.

GRACE: Eleanor, while I`m on the air, do you think you could button one of those buttons on your jacket, please? I want to go out to the lines. Tom in Idaho, what`s your question, dear?

CALLER: Hi, Nancy, I`m just so glad you`re covering this story. It`s such a terrible tragedy. I think she`s guilty as sin, personally, she definitely did it, and I was just wondering, do we know the family of the groom? Like, did they ever think she would do this? They were getting married, they probably knew her pretty well?

GRACE: Interesting. Out to Jean Casarez. From what I understood, she has very little -- had, even during their courtship and their brief marriage, eight days, had very little to do with his family and was actually texting during the funeral or memorial service.

CASAREZ: That`s right. And during the wedding, she didn`t look at him in his eyes when she gave her vows to him.

GRACE: OK, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Give me a split screen with Jean Casarez and Caryn Stark. Caryn Stark, psychologist, I can remember the moment, right now, I can actually remember it from other people`s weddings, but in my wedding, when I said those vows, what does this mean, Caryn Stark? That she would not even, Jean Casarez has just reported, not even look him in the eye when she gave -- when she recited her wedding vows.

STARK: Nancy, when someone doesn`t look someone in the eye, that means that there`s no truth there. There`s no connection. They can`t, they don`t want to engage with the person. So, obviously, if you`re saying vows that have to do with "I love you and I`m going to spend my life with you, dedicate myself to you," she`s not looking him in the eye. So nothing that she`s saying has any meaning at all.

GRACE: Out to prosecutor turned defense attorney, Peter Odom, practicing in the Atlanta jurisdiction and beyond. Peter Odom, you know, at a funeral of your husband, even if you have not gotten along with the mother-in-law, with your husband`s mother, at that time, you`re both grieving deeply, beyond words. She refused to speak to his parents -- his family at the funeral, Peter. What does that mean, nothing to you?

P. ODOM: I mean, I have two responses to that, Nancy. First of all, this is totally in line with her own personality. Everybody says how before there was ever a murder, before there was ever a marriage, everybody talks about how distant she was. She didn`t engage with people, even his family. So that`s consistent with her personality, irrespective of the whole question of whether she murdered him or not.

Secondly, you know, this whole idea that you can gauge someone`s guilt or innocence by their reaction to a tragedy, I just disagree with. There`s no script for it. People don`t have a scripted reaction to how they`re supposed to react. Most people would scream and cry, but not everybody, Nancy. I don`t think that`s an indication of guilt.

GRACE: Well, you tell that to the jury. Matt Zarrell, what can you tell me about her conditions right now? She has just been arrested. The state is building a case right now. What do you know? What about the jail conditions?

ZARRELL: Yes. She`s being held at the Missoula County detention center. She actually had a detention hearing today. She`s being held in general population. She does have access to cable TV, access to a library, visitation.

GRACE: So she`s probably watching our show right now. Maybe Jordan will call in. Let`s see the menu, Liz, because I`m very interested to see. OK, roasted turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and dessert. That sounds like Thanksgiving dinner. I had leftover butter beans, Matt Zarrell, that I found in the refrigerator. I don`t even know where they came from. Did you see she`s having a Thanksgiving feast tonight?

ZARRELL: Yes, Nancy, and I`ve actually seen a separate menu for another night that includes chicken breast and minestrone soup and dessert. So she`s eating pretty well, in addition to her one to two hours of recreation a day. But unfortunately, she doesn`t have any gym equipment. She just has to run around on concrete.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He mentioned to us that she made him happy and that`s what he wanted to be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 25-year-old Cody Lee Johnson found dead.

She admitted to pushing her spouse to his death.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The top of the mountain, at the edge of a cliff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very steep area, very treacherous, full of rocks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t feel like Cody would have gone someplace like that, willingly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could always light a room. He was always a joy to have around. Received a text from Jordan, asking if Cody came into work, which I thought was odd. When I first met Jordan, she was very closed off. Very quiet. Not a lot of interaction with anyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fredrickson (ph) says, even at their wedding, something just didn`t seem right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was standing up there, and I noticed that when they were exchanging their vows --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And she would not even look him in the eye, as they exchanged their wedding vows. Interesting. Back out to you, Matt Zarrell. Is it true that she was telling friends she wanted out of the marriage? I mean, they`ve only been married for eight days.

ZARRELL: Yes, Nancy, she was. She had told multiple people that she did not want to be in the marriage anymore. In fact, Nancy, I`ve seen reports from a family friend that told people she never wanted to be married. She just wanted to have a wedding. And in fact, that`s what she and her husband were arguing about that night.

GRACE: To Jessie Davis, police and courts reporter, "Daily Interlake." I have never heard of that in my life, that you just want the wedding. I mean, to me, the wedding ceremony was just like the bottom of my list. You know, I wanted to be married and to have a family. I mean, to spend your whole life dreaming about a ceremony?

DAVIS: Well, and certainly her unusual behavior, according to his friends, is kind of what made them become suspicious of her. Especially early on when he first went missing, there was a lot of questions about his disappearance, about where he was, about what was going on, but no one seemed to be pointing any fingers at anyone, initially. And it was not until later on when the friends started questioning her earlier behavior and kind of seeing the way she was acting--

GRACE: What early behavior?

(CROSSTALK)

DAVIS: -- that they started to be suspicious of her.

GRACE: What early behavior?

What early behavior?

DAVIS: Just the same things the other guests have been talking about. She was very -- she seemed very withdrawn, they said. She never seemed -- put it this way. They said that he was immediately and totally in love with her, from the first day he met her, and they said that just wasn`t the case with her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Tonight, we remember nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives September 11th, the attack on America. Tonight, we pay tribute and we honor all the heroes, the men, the women, emergency workers, military, everyone who put themselves in harm`s way for our freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The cockpit`s not answering. Somebody`s stabbed in business class. I don`t know. I think we`re getting hijacked.

GEORGE W. BUSH: Today we`ve had a national tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An incredible scene. We saw people that just ran out of their shoes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was standing next to One World Trade Center, and then all of a sudden, I heard rumbling and we all started running away from it.

RUDY GIULIANI, MAYOR, NYC: The situation is two airplanes have attacked, apparently.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like it is embedded in the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just went ba-boom, it was like a bomb went off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number of casualties will be more than any of us can bear, ultimately.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got a major fire at the Pentagon and the Pentagon being evacuated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was thrown to a window. So I was very lucky to get out. Because there`s a lot of people that didn`t get out. There`s a lot of people coming down the stairs, burnt up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like holy hell coming down them stairs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The devastation is just unbelievable. It makes you feel weak in the knees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The front tower, the top portion of which is collapsing. Good Lord. There are no words.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just came in to help people and do my job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move it! Now!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a day that we`re never going to get over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To remember those who perished.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: God bless America. Good night, friend.

END