Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Remains of Infant Found in New Mexico; What Killed Brittany Murphy?; Mom Caught Cooking Meth
Aired November 21, 2013 - 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. Off the top, we go live, El Paso suburbs, a happy family of four, Mommy, Daddy, two infant boys just 19 and 5 months old, Daddy working a good job at a nearby military base. Suddenly, the family disappears, allegedly leaving behind a suicide note, distraught over finances. Days later, police zero in on the Eagle`s Nest Motel 1,600 miles away. Happy ending, right? Wrong. Missing, 5-month-old baby boy Jackson.
Bombshell tonight, as we go to air. We go live to a remote New Mexico military base. There on the outskirts of the base, at this hour, police are excavating what we believe to be the remains of a 5-month-old baby boy. Are these remains baby Jackson?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police department announced this family of four from West El Paso was missing, 22-year-old Jeffrey Farrey, an Army specialist at Ft. Bliss, his wife, 20-year-old Jenna Farrey, and their two kids, 19-month-old Blake and 6-month-old Jackson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a stunning development, the family is found at a motel, 5-month-old baby still missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How does this incident make you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kind of uncomfortable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now neighbors in this quaint West El Paso neighborhood are left on edge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel very insecure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The family`s landlord feared they would have been dead by now. He claimed he received a suicide note from them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened? Tonight, authorities need your help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, under investigation, the sudden death of Hollywood star Brittany Murphy, star of movies like "Girl Interrupted," "Eight Mile," "Clueless," Murphy collapsing at her luxury Hollywood Hills home. Paramedics try desperately to revive Brittany Murphy, but two hours later, she`s pronounced dead. Cause of death, pneumonia.
But at this hour, tonight, we have reason to believe it was not pneumonia that killed Hollywood movie star Brittany Murphy. Tonight, her own father demands her body be dug up. He says cause of death, rat poison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brittany Murphy had made a name for herself, rising to fame for her roles in "Clueless," "Eight Mile" and "Girl Interrupted."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some really strange news out of Hollywood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the father of actress Brittany Murphy wants the investigation into his daughter`s 2009 death reopened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was murdered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Los Angeles County coroner`s office ruled the 32-year-old actress died from natural causes related to pneumonia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) something`s wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bertolani (ph) ordered a new toxicology report from an independent firm. The report says high levels of 10 heavy metals were found in a sample of Murphy`s hair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He believes that the star of the movie "Clueless" was, in fact, murdered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her family has had a lot of questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This hair sample alone cannot be used to support an allegation of poisoning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was a good person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Also tonight, live, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Brace yourselves, my Cajun friends. Busted, a suburban soccer mom running a secret meth lab?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A husband spent three days working offshore, to come home to allegedly find his estranged wife with another man, and a meth lab in their home. Authorities seized methamphetamine, chemicals and other drug paraphernalia from the house. This is not 32-year-old Kelly Williams`s (ph) first run-in with the law, as she was arrested previous previously at a traffic stop in connection with a meth lab. Both Williams and the other man have been booked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Off the top, we go live, El Paso suburbs, a happy family of four, Mommy, Daddy, two little boys, infants, just 19 months and 5 months. Daddy`s got a good job at a nearby military base, but suddenly, they disappear, leaving behind a note showing they were distraught over money, finances.
Well, cops zero in on the Eagle`s Nest Motel 1,600 miles away. Happy ending? No. Missing, 5-month-old baby boy Jackson.
As we go to air, we go live to a remote New Mexico military base. There on the outskirts of the base, at this hour, police excavating what we believe to be the remains of 5-month-old baby Jackson.
We are taking your calls. Out to Michael Board, WOAI. Michael -- Liz, let me see a map. Why do we believe that this baby was killed, or at least buried there?
MICHAEL BOARD, WOAI (via telephone): (INAUDIBLE) found remains, and as we go to air tonight, we know that the autopsy is being done on these bones that were dug up in a shallow grave off of highway 54. It`s outside of El Paso, a small town in New Mexico. It`s an area -- the McGregor Range -- it`s an area that was used for military training.
And Nancy, as we know, Jeffrey Farrey, the father who went missing and was found, was in the military. He was a specialist in the Army. He would have known this area perfectly. If you`re looking for the place to dispose of a body, Nancy, this Army person would know exactly where to go.
GRACE: Let`s see that aerial video. The search and the excavation is going on right now, the El Paso police and others there on the scene. Everyone, at this hour, we believe the remains of a tiny 5-month-old baby boy have been uncovered in a shallow grave on the remote outskirts of a military base in New Mexico. Take a look. This is what we`re seeing, the excavation, every single bone counted.
To Dr. Joshua Perper, president and -- joining me right now, former chief medical examiner of the Broward County ME`s office. Dr. Perper, how many bones in the human body?
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, FMR. BROWARD COUNTY CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: About six -- 360 or more.
GRACE: And so to find this child`s remains -- how difficult will it be to find the tiny remains and its hands, its feet, all the bones that make up this child`s body?
PERPER: Well, if the remains were disintegrated, it`s going to be very difficult. Some parts are very small. And probably not the entire skeleton could be reassembled. But I`m sure they`ll try to do the maximum job possible. They will try to sift through the ground and they`ll recover whatever is possible.
GRACE: We are showing you an aerial surveillance photo of police at work, trying to get together all the bones that we believe may be a tiny 5- month-old boy, missing baby Jackson.
Clark Goldband, what else do we know? Why was the family 1,600 miles away? They had the 19-month-old baby with them, but not the 5-month.
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: And that was the big mystery, Nancy. And keep in mind, this father is in the military. So you just can`t show up to work and everything`s OK. In a matter of hours, his supervisor was reportedly at the home, looking for him. The military thought he went AWOL.
When they could not get inside the house, that`s when they talked to the landlord. The landlord comes in and sees a disgusting mess, according to him. In fact, he claims these kids didn`t even have beds to sleep in!
And that`s when the dragnet starts, authorities on the hunt through multiple states, spanning north, south, east and west, and finally tracked down 1,600 miles away at a motel in Michigan. But one big problem. That 5-month-old boy -- he`s missing.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Frankie in Texas. Hi, Frankie. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it`s more of a comment and a question.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This baby`s mother, Jenna, was charged in 2012, when he was 3 months old, with child abandonment. Was CPS never involved? And I believe she took a plea deal and pleaded out on that. So I`m wondering why CPS didn`t stay involved with that family. And if they had, if this baby would not be dead and buried out in the desert.
GRACE: Guys, what happened? Clark Goldband, what can you tell me about the mother being charged, Jenna Farrey, age 20?
GOLDBAND: Sure.
GRACE: What do we know about a previous charge, 2012, where Child Protective Services should have been involved?
GOLDBAND: Yes, Nancy, that caller is absolutely right. And in fact, they were involved, according to reports. And this is not the 5-month-old, this is the older child, who`s not even 2 years old. He was just 3 months. And apparently, authorities received a tip that the child was in the home for hours, home alone!
She was arrested and charged with not supervising this child. She pled to five years probation. CPS says they`ve continued to work with the family up until the last few months.
GRACE: So Clark, she just left the baby alone in the home?
GOLDBAND: Yes, that`s what the allegations appear. We`ve gone through those court files, Nancy, and it appears she just left the child alone. But I want to add, she did claim to authorities she was planning on returning. So she abandoned the child with intent to return. That was the charge.
GRACE: Clark -- put him up! So you think it`s OK if, they find the baby alone in the home, the Mommy says, Oh, I was going to come back? You think that`s OK. That somehow makes it all right?
GOLDBAND: It`s not something I would do, Nancy, but that is what the charge was.
GRACE: Yes, I`m going to call CPS on your baby boy right now if you think that`s OK!
GOLDBAND: No, certainly not.
GRACE: You don`t leave a child and somehow, it`s OK, if you, Oh, yes, I was on my way back. Yes. That doesn`t work.
Out to Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. You know, Marc, it seems to me that the warning signs were all there. The mom was arrested in 2012 for leaving the baby alone. The baby could have died then.
Now, if this is the child -- everyone, we are waiting for a positive ID on these tiny remains. If this is the child, if this is baby Jackson, the mom`s hands are all over it!
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, absolutely. Now, the children were living in squalor. The family was living in squalor. According to the landlord, there were not even beds nor the children to live in.
The El Paso CPS put out a statement that, We believe we know what has happened, and the ending is not good. So obviously, there was a real focus on this family. Unfortunately, as happens so many times, it fell through the cracks, and the result may be a dead child.
GRACE: Everyone, take a look at what we`re showing you, at this hour, excavation and searching for what we believe to be the remains of 5-month- old baby Jackson.
Unleash the lawyers. Joining me out of New York, Evangeline Gomez. Also with me out of Atlanta, defense attorney Parag Shah. All right, Parag, let`s hear your defense for these parents.
PARAG SHAH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the defense is that there`s no evidence that they committed anything -- any type of wrongdoing. Her actions in the past do not reflect...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: So they`re at the Eagle`s Nest Motel, 1,600 miles away. What, you don`t think that they noticed the 5-month-old baby was missing? They were too busy with the 19-month-old?
SHAH: We don`t know what the reason was that they were there, what the explanation is, and it`s just too soon to speculate as to them being involved in some kind of criminal activepy.
GRACE: OK, Ms. Gomez, what about the fact that they had not reported their child missing?
EVANGELINE GOMEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That in itself doesn`t make them guilty of having committed a crime. The mother obviously is going to get an attorney. She`s going to have some type of defense. The father, as well, if they are charged. At this point, we don`t know that there are any charges out there.
So again, we can`t speculate based on the fact that we have what could be a baby...
GRACE: OK...
GOMEZ: ... remains that could be identified. We just can`t go on that alone.
GRACE: Ms. Gomez -- Ms. Gomez, I`m not speculating. When they were found 1,600 miles away, they had one baby and not the other. And if these remains that have now been found are those of baby Jackson, they`re in a whole lot of trouble. And I don`t know what you`re saying about speculation.
Clark Goldband, is there any doubt that the parents left their home, they were found 1,600 miles away, and now a 5-month-old child`s remains are found about 50 miles from their home?
GOLDBAND: No doubt they left their home. No doubt a child`s remains have been found, Nancy. There is no doubt about it. The landlord went into the home because he thought for sure no one was coming back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn`t even know whether they had kids until the officer had mentioned it. I had seen them the day before, you know, just running around, driving their cars and things.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She seemed very friendly, you know, and we haven`t had any problems down this way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, doing, I think, her (ph) own business because he (ph) was not very friendly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never seen the children at all. You know, it was just her and him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no kids at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. For those of you just joining us, we are live at a remote outskirt of a military base in New Mexico, where we believe the remains of 5-month-old baby boy Jackson have been found. We`re waiting for a confirmation on that.
Out to Dr. Joshua Perper. Dr. Perper, how will they match this up to baby Jackson? I mean, there`s no dental work. There`s -- we don`t know that there`s DNA. How will they do it?
PERPER: My understanding is that the child is missing for about a week, so it`s very high chance that there will be soft tissue, and those soft tissue can be matched by DNA fingerprinting to the parents. So it can be certainly established that they are related.
GRACE: Well, you say DNA fingerprinting -- are you saying DNA plus fingerprint? Because with a baby, don`t they just have their footprint at the hospital?
PERPER: No, no. When I say DNA fingerprinting, I mean for the genetic printing of the DNA of the child. The tissue of the child contain DNA. And this DNA can be analyzed and quantified and qualitatively measured. And it can be then measured and matched to that of the parents. So there should not be any kind of problem in identification, if there are still tissue.
GRACE: So the baby can be identified through the DNA of the parents, matched to that of the baby?
PERPER: Yes, that`s the way -- that`s how the identification is going to proceed. That`s exactly so.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Melissa, Virginia. Hi, Melissa. What`s your question? I think I`ve got Melissa. Are you there, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello?
GRACE: Hi, Melissa. What`s your question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. I was just wondering how they knew to look where they looked to find the remains.
GRACE: Good question. Out to Michael Board, WOAI. Michael, how did they -- how were they ever directed to the remote outskirt of the military base?
BOARD: We don`t know, but (INAUDIBLE) guess by how remote this was is one of the parents must have tipped them off to where it is. It is not a place where you would just stumble across this. It`s not a place where people go. So one of the two parents or (ph) maybe (ph) the child, definitely the child, probably one of the two parents tipped them off. Maybe it`s to make a deal, trying to get a better deal, trying to not go to jail for the rest of their lives.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to 5-month-old Jackson? His whole family goes missing. But the family, including his 19-month-old brother, found alive at a motel. Who`s not at the motel? The 5-month-old boy! Where could he be? What happened to 5-month-old Jackson? Questions swirling!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: At this hour, the excavation is on. We have learned that in a remote outskirt area of a military base in New Mexico, the remains of a 5- month-old, approximately a 5-month-old, baby boy have been discovered. Are they the remains of 5-month-old baby Jackson?
We are taking your calls. Out to psychoanalyst and author of "Dealbreakers," Dr. Bethany Marshall. Bethany, weigh in.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, Nancy, you`re a mom. Do you notice how malnourished these two little babies look in every picture? They look wan and peaked. Their eyes look sad.
Neglect is one of the most common forms of child abuse. I bet if we went into that house and took a look, we would find an empty refrigerator. We already know they lived in squalor. There were no beds for these children.
And when these parents are interviewed, what the interviewer will most likely find is not only are these parents unempathetic, but they will have perceived of this 5-month-old as greedy, unconditionally bad and sucking the family resources.
And as an overlay over that, I would wonder, was there a domestic violence situation between the two parents, and because of that, this 5- month-old was beginning to be used as a pawn in marital arguments. I wouldn`t even leave a potted plant alone with these two parents.
GRACE: Clark Goldband, what can you tell me about the mom being more interested in recovering the car and her belongings?
GOLDBAND: Yes, Nancy, there was a hearing when this mom made her first appearance, and according to local reports, after the hearing had concluded, she asks the judge what`s going to happen to her stuff. She`s informed that the police have the vehicle and other belongings as evidence, and after the trial concludes, then she can start trying to get her stuff back.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Evangeline Gomez, New York, Parag Shah, Atlanta. Let`s just start with you, Parag Shah. She doesn`t ask about the baby. She doesn`t ask about the excavation, nothing. She says, Hey, what about my stuff?
SHAH: Look, we don`t know what kind of emotional state she`s in, and we can...
GRACE: The greedy -- the greedy state?
SHAH: We can take the words that she said out of context and manipulate them however we want. But we don`t know...
GRACE: I`m not manipulating anything. She said it, not me. I`m not putting these words in her mouth.
Wait, wait. Marc Klaas, before I go to Gomez -- Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation -- Marc, they do have charges of, what, child abuse? What about murder?
KLAAS: Well, I think the murder charges are coming. And I think that your other guest was exactly right as to how they discovered the remains. All one has to do is look at this lady`s video blog, which is accessible on YouTube, to see that she was obsessed with muscle cars. She never mentioned her children during her video blogs, but she always mentioned her muscle cars. It`s unbelievable.
But Nancy, here`s something that`s very important. In this day and age, when one can drop a child off at a police station, there`s no reason to continue to raise that child and there`s no reason to continue to raise that child and abuse them.
GRACE: Marc Klaas, well put. We will keep you updated as we await the results of that excavation in the New Mexico desert.
When we come back, everyone, the sudden death of a Hollywood star, Brittany Murphy. At this hour, we have reason to believe it was not pneumonia that killed the Hollywood beauty. Tonight, her father demands an exhumation, that her body be dug up. He says cause of death was not pneumonia, she died of rat poison.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Tonight under investigation the sudden death of Hollywood star Brittany Murphy, the star of movies like "Girl Interrupted" with Angelina Jolie, "8 Mile" with Eminem, "Clueless" with Reese Witherspoon.
Brittany Murphy collapsing at her luxury Hollywood Hills home. Paramedics try desperately to revive Murphy, but two hours later, she`s pronounced dead. Cause of death complications of pneumonia.
But at this hour, we have reason to believe it was not pneumonia at all that killed Hollywood movie star Brittany Murphy tonight. Her father demanding that her body be exhumed, dug up. He says it wasn`t pneumonia, it was rat poison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Some big allegations, big suspicions.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The father of the late actress Brittany Murphy thinks she was poisoned.
TURNER: Heavy metals were discovered in hair samples that the lab tested. Things in it like arsenic, beryllium, copper, lead, mercury and uranium. Then he produced a toxicology report that says that his information backs him up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s why we have turned over these test results to the coroner.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Now he believes he has proof his famous daughter was poisoned to death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which will probably require Brittany to be exhumed.
ANGELO BERTOLOTTI, BRITTANY MURPHY`S FATHER: She looks drugged. We saw her three months before she died. She was in great spirits, but she wasn`t herself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The fact that she was in fear for her life? What does that mean? Compounded by this report that I have here, a toxicology list from the crime lab that looked at her hair sample, barium, aluminum, manganese, cobalt, arsenic.
Take a listen to what her father had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERTOLOTTI: I have a feeling that there was a definite murder situation here. She was murdered. She was a good person. She was drugged. We saw her three months before she died. She was in great spirits, but she wasn`t herself. I knew something was wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is Brittany Murphy`s father, Angelo Bertolotti, on ABC`s "GMA" just this morning, insisting that his daughter did not die of natural causes.
Joining me, Dorothy Cascerceri, host of "Celebrity Corner."
Dorothy, thank you for being with us. How did the hair sample come about? How did the father get the hair sample?
DOROTHY CASCERCERI, HOST, CELEBRITY CORNER: Well, reports indicate that the father got the hair sample from the coroner`s office.
GRACE: Oh, OK. To Dr. Joshua Perper, former chief medical examiner in Broward County, how can a civilian get a hair sample from the deceased? I didn`t know that was possible?
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, MEDICAL EXAMINER, AUTHOR OF "WHEN DOCTORS KILL": Well, this is not the usual accepted procedure. Evidence is never given to a family. If a family requests an analysis, a toxicological analysis or any other type of analysis, then a medical examiner`s office would make sure that this sample reaches a proper qualified lab and not through the hands of the family because of possible contamination and so on.
GRACE: Right. Out to Justin Freiman, also on the story.
Justin, how did this whole thing come about? And isn`t it true that just about four months after her death from complications from pneumonia, her husband died? Her young husband died, Simon Monjack, of the same thing?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, you are correct. Her young husband did die of pretty much the same thing in the same home. And ever since, both sets of parents have been questioning what happened here, and have not bought the whole idea that they both have died from pneumonia. And there have been multiple attempts to find out what the truth is, or what they expect to be the truth.
GRACE: Everyone, we`re talking about movie star Brittany Murphy. She stole the scene -- stole the show in "Girl Interrupted" with Angelina Jolie. Jolie is by far the bigger star, but her performance was break out. Also, stealing scene after scene against Reese Witherspoon in "Clueless." It goes on and on. She reached stellar status again with Eminem in "8 Mile."
Take a look at her. There she is, she underwent a complete body transformation for this role that you`re seeing in "Clueless," and not only that, but in "Girl Interrupted." I mean, this woman was incredibly talented. Her life cut short, but she died of complications of pneumonia?
You`re seeing Brittany Murphy in "Clueless" from Paramount Pictures.
To Dorothy Cascerceri, host of "Celebrity Corner." Dorothy, it`s extremely odd that she and her husband both die in the same house four months apart, apparently from complications of pneumonia.
CASCERCERI: Yes, Nancy, you`re entirely right, it is very odd. I mean, is it a mere coincidence? We don`t know. But there are reports that indicate that Brittany was always very paranoid about the house, about it being cursed in some sort. And so --
GRACE: Cursed?
CASCERCERI: Yes. Yes, there were -- there were reports of Brittany constantly saying that she wanted to stay at a hotel even though they owned the home together. And so --
GRACE: Well, it`s a beautiful home, Dorothy. What is that valued at?
CASCERCERI: It was. The home is valued at around $10 million, I believe. She bought it from Britney Spears before -- you know, before they moved in.
GRACE: But I -- you know, everyone is thinking something nefarious occurred, but if the husband Simon Monjack had anything to do with her death, that would have been clear, when he himself died just four months later of complications of pneumonia.
Take a look at them. They apparently were an extremely happy couple.
And joining me right now is the mother of Simon Monjack, Linda.
Linda, thank you for being with us.
LINDA MONJACK, MOTHER OF SIMON MONJACK: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: Linda, there are reports surfacing now that Brittany Murphy died of rat poison, not of complications from pneumonia. What do you think of that?
MONJACK: Well, it`s terribly worrying and really -- I can`t really understand why it has taken so long to come to this decision. Because when Brittany died, Simon died five months later of exactly the same symptoms, and any person who was looking at this surely would have seen two young people die in this way just a few months apart of exactly the same symptoms.
Surely any statistician would look at this and see that it must be something that was so bizarre and so way out that it needed to be investigated.
GRACE: With me is the mother of Simon Monjack. This is Brittany Murphy`s husband, who passed away unexpectedly just four months after she did. Both of complications of pneumonia. Tonight Murphy`s father said no. She was poisoned.
Miss Monjack, what did you notice when you travelled to L.A. for your son`s funeral?
MONJACK: I found everything to be quite bizarre. I was very surprised when I got there. It seemed to be the house was very dark. Everything wasn`t -- didn`t feel right, and at Simon`s funeral, the -- Brittany Murphy`s mother Sharon insisted on going in an armored vehicle to the funeral. And when we got there, there were armored guards. Completely carrying submachine guns.
GRACE: Why?
MONJACK: Exactly. Why? And I was -- when I was speaking to Simon prior to his death, I could see him getting worse and worse, looking really awful. But he kept saying to me that somebody was -- he was frightened. He was fearful. And in the last 18 months before Brittany died, they went out very infrequently.
They were frightened of something, and I don`t know what.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Brittany Murphy had made a name for herself, rising to fame from her roles in "Clueless," "8 Mile" and "Girl Interrupted" before her untimely death in her Hollywood Hills home in 2009. The Los Angeles County Coroner`s Office rules the 32-year-old actress died from natural cases related to pneumonia and iron deficiency and multiple drug intoxications from medicines used to treat respiratory infections. But her father, A.J. Bertolotti, doesn`t buy it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everyone. Movie star Brittany Murphy allegedly dies of complications from pneumonia. But tonight her father says he wants her body dug up and exhumed. He says she died of poison. Rat poison.
We are taking your calls. Very quickly, unleash the lawyers. Evangeline Gomez, New York, Parag Shah, defense attorney, Atlanta.
Parag, the first thing you look at is who would take -- who would inherit? Now, if she died, if she didn`t have a will, and probably if she did have a will it would go to her husband, but if the husband died, isn`t that the first person you look at?
PARAG SHAH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You can look at them. But we don`t know if there`s any evidence of any foul play here. So there`s no --
GRACE: Yes, well, if she`s got --
SHAH: Nothing to look at.
GRACE: You know, I don`t know if you`ve seen this report from the crime lab. It shows all of this.
Out to you, Evangeline Gomez, let`s just get right down to it. You`ve got Linda Monjack, who may have inherited from her son, but she is saying and has said all along, that she thought their death was suspicious, and she`s happy that this action is being taken.
That is - that`s not the demeanor of someone who`s got something to hide. She`s got nothing to hide. She`s joining us tonight. So where do you go from here?
EVANGELINE GOMEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you would think that what could happen next is a Los Angeles County Coroner`s Office would want to reopen the investigation.
GRACE: Exactly.
GOMEZ: But is that going to happen? Do they think that this hair sample is enough for them to expend resources and to reopen the investigation? So where does that put the parents?
GRACE: You know, I think you`re right.
With me is Linda Monjack, the mother of Brittany Murphy`s husband Simon.
Linda, thank you for being with us. Do you support the reopening of this investigation?
MONJACK: Most definitely. Something happened in that house, and it - - we need to know what it is.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You stated that you observed Simon seemed to be getting frailer and -- more and more frail. And he seemed not to be doing very well, leading up to his death. Did he believe he had pneumonia?
MONJACK: He was very -- he had terrible dreams, where he was absolutely in real time, with things eating him. He was in a terrible state. Something he was ingesting or something that he was -- was making him feeling like this, I don`t know. Something was wrong.
GRACE: Let me ask you, Linda. Who inherited the money from their house and their estate once your son died?
MONJACK: I believe Sharon Murphy.
GRACE: Who?
MONJACK: Sharon Murphy.
GRACE: The mother. Well, it`s interesting -- yes, to Dorothy Cascerceri, host of "Celebrity Coroner," so if the -- and I`m in no way saying that she is responsible, that`s just the first place investigators start with who would inherit.
Dorothy, what if anything is being done to reopen the investigation other than the father demanding it on "GMA"?
CASCERCERI: It`s really just the father that`s pushing for it. The L.A. Coroner`s Office is saying that they`re not going to reopen it, you know, unless there`s more evidence, credible evidence.
GRACE: Out to you, Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, I would like to hear your thoughts on this. You`re there in L.A., what`s the problem? Why not reopen it and investigate?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": Well, I -- can I say something about this couple?
GRACE: Yes.
MARSHALL: When you have one half of the couple that`s extremely paranoid, they often influence the other one to be paranoid. And this could be what`s called (INAUDIBLE), the overlapping of mutual psychopathologies where they begin to make bad choices together. Dietary choices, restricting their diets, eating certain foods that are bad for them, using certain types of maybe prescription or nonprescription drugs to get --
GRACE: I hardly believe that they`re eating mercury, lead, thorium and uranium.
MARSHALL: Nancy, do you remember when --
GRACE: I don`t think any of that is on some L.A. fad diet. All right? That`s what in her hair.
MARSHALL: Remember Randy Quaid and his wife who thought the star whackers were after them? And they got really crazy together? And they went from one house to the other. And they became quite delusional and paranoid. And to me, (INAUDIBLE) that there`s something more than just a drug, a poisoning situation, is the fact that they were both so paranoid.
GRACE: Out to Joshua Perper. Dr. Perper, wouldn`t they have been tested for toxicology at the time of Brittany Murphy`s initial autopsy?
PERPER: Yes, yes, they were. And I think in this case, somehow, the carriage is put in front of the horses. What`s happening in this particular case is that the autopsy clearly revealed evidence of severe pneumonia due to staph aureus. That`s a bacteria which causes severe pneumonia.
But pneumonia is not the primary cause of death in a young person. It`s the complication. The question is, was she sick? The answer, yes. And there are some diseases which are difficult to explain. She was severely anemic. At the hospital, her blood was 80 percent between -- normal. She had three grams of hemoglobin instead of 15 grams of hemoglobin. She had severe thrombocytopenia. Decrease in the thrombocytes which precipitates bleeding.
There was no evidence of bleeding, she had some evidence of bleeding from heavy menses. So it`s not clear exactly what happened. Now the toxicology showed Oxycodone in toxic amounts, and in addition to that, it showed anti-depressant drugs. So it`s a very complicated situation, the thing which makes it more difficult --
GRACE: Everyone, with me, Dr. Joshua Perper, weighing in on the cause of death of superstar Brittany Murphy.
When we come back, a suburban soccer mom running a secret meth lab?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: To Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Brace yourself, my Cajun friends. Busted. A suburban soccer mom running a secret meth lab?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When a husband returns home greeted by his estranged wife, Kelly Williams, he reportedly becomes suspicious of her affectionate behavior. He soon discovers a strange man, 43-year-old Steven Hamilton, in his shower along with drug paraphernalia and several plastic bags containing an off-white powder. Little did he know he would find a complete meth lab in his own home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Whoa. A soccer mom running a secret meth lab? Let`s take a look at some of the faces of meth.
Out to Dave Mack, morning talk show host with WAAX. How do you go from being a suburban soccer mom to running a secret meth lab, Dave Mack?
DAVE MACK, MORNING TALK SHOW HOST, CLEAR CHANNEL WAAX RADIO: Nancy, you know, I think it happens a lot more often than we know as tragic and sad as this is. The reason the guy comes home after three days gone and is suspicious is because his wife who he is separated from is actually acting nice towards him. Amorously. So obviously this was something --
GRACE: You mean, like she acted like she wanted to have sex and when he got past that he found a meth lab.
Out to Joe Schrank, interventionist, founder, Rebound Brooklyn. Joe, weigh in.
JOE SCHRANK, INTERVENTIONIST, FOUNDER, REBOUND BROOKLYN: Well, I think that, you know, clearly this is some kind of addictive issue, and it -- that`s how it starts and it grows. It goes in one direction and so if she is, in fact, she has addictive behaviors she could, maybe she started with sipping wine and marijuana and it grew into a meth addiction. You know, that would be my best guess of how a soccer mom falls prey to something like that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Well, brace yourself, my Cajun friends. Right there in Louisiana.
What happened, Clark Goldband? What do we know?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, this husband is on an off-shore employee. So he`s on a three-day shift. He comes in and is surprised, his ex -- his estranged wife, she doesn`t live in the house anymore, but she`s there. She`s being really friendly.
GRACE: Whoa. Is that their home?
GOLDBAND: Yes. Yes.
GRACE: OK. I`d like to move into that. That`s not bad -- that`s not digs.
GOLDBAND: Yes. The lawn is manicured quite nicely as you can see and his alarm bells are set off when he says, why is my estranged wife here and acting nicely. She tries to hold him off from --
GRACE: Wait, wait. When you mean acting nicely you mean she -- when he came in the door she tries to start having sex with him and he didn`t buy it and finds out she`s running a meth lab --
GOLDBAND: Well, that`s not what --
GRACE: -- while he`s off-shore?
GOLDBAND: That`s not what authorities are saying, Nancy, but they are saying he attempts to go back into the bedroom and she tries to stop him. When he gets there he sees an unknown 43-year-old man in the shower. The man takes off. Drug paraphernalia all around-the-house allegedly.
GRACE: OK.
GOLDBAND: And the meth --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Here`s my question. It`s not really that hard to do. What do you need to make meth, Dave Mack?
MACK: You know, we all know you need pseudoephedrine, you need a number of chemicals that are difficult to get, and you have -- you use other people to help you purchase them. But you`ve also got to have -- I mean, if you`ve seen different television shows you know that there`s a number of beakers and flasks and things. You`ve got to have a mini lab that includes a bunch of burner and old pipes.
GRACE: Not that hard to do, Dave Mack. Every time, when I was prosecuting, I heard of a house blowing up, and I go, mm-hmm, they`re cooking up meth. Apparently that`s just what 32-year-old Kelly Williams, you know, suburban soccer mom was doing in her spare time.
Everybody, let`s stop. Let`s remember American hero Army Staff Sergeant Sheldon Tate, 27, Hinesville, Georgia. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation, what a sense of humor, made everybody laugh. Parents Valerie and Reginald, step parents, Walter and Trina, two sisters, three brothers, widow, Marion, daughter Quiante (ph).
Sheldon Tate, American hero.
And tonight happy birthday to our friend Doris, mother of three, grandmother of eight. Also celebrating 67 years of marriage and to one man at that, Harris.
Happy birthday, beautiful Doris.
Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 p.m. sharp Eastern. And until then, good night friend.
END
