Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Nevada Family Found in Mountains; Zimmerman`s Girlfriend Takes It All Back; Blake Shelton Out for Justice
Aired December 10, 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 to Lovelock, Nevada. Children 3, 4 and 10 years old vanish in the night after playing on the snowy peaks of Nevada`s famous Kama Mountains with Mom and Dad. Temperatures plummet to 16 degrees below zero, friends gathering at the foot of the mountains, pleading for help.
Tonight, bombshell tonight. Freezing snow, sleet, rain, wind at 80 MPH -- will it stop rescuers? At elevation nearly 8,000 feet, the desperate search for the Glanton-McIntees in a race against the clock tonight. Can they be saved?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were going out to play in the snow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Desperate search in the Nevada mountains. It`s freezing cold and snowy, and a family of six is missing, including four children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re going to be looking for the family`s silver Jeep with a blacktop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m optimistic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just got to find them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live, Orlando suburbs. After 17-year-old Trayvon Martin gunned down by the captain of neighborhood watch, George Zimmerman walks free. Then Zimmerman back in court when his live-in lover says he points a shotgun right her face. Tonight, after all these two put us through, the girlfriend says she wants to drop charges against George Zimmerman. Will it never end?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMATHA SCHEIBE, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN`S GIRLFRIEND: He puts a gun in my friggin` face and told me to get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many thought this was the last time they`d see George Zimmerman inside a courtroom.
911 OPERATOR: What`s going on there?
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, ACQUITTED OF MURDER: My girlfriend is , for lack of a better word, going crazy on me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) the no contact order lifted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, to the country music capital. Country music superstar and star of "The Voice" Blake Shelton out for justice tonight after his buddy, outlaw country star, shot dead over a no smoking policy. I don`t blame Blake Shelton. Shot dead over a cigarette? That stinks!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did a no smoking policy lead to a country singer`s death?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Country singer Wayne Mills fatally shot in the head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gunned down in a Nashville bar by the bar owner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This argument all started over a cigarette and took a tragic turn.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The owner says the deadly shot to the head was in self-defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live, Indianapolis. He gives his life for our country, fighting in Iraq, comes home to his hometown of Indianapolis. Trying to make ends meet, trying to save money at Christmas, he goes to buy a used iPad to give to his parents.
Now, after this man escapes death in Iraq, this U.S. veteran, a married father of a 1-year-old little boy, gunned down dead just before Christmas by Craigslist hoaxsters. May they rot in hell! Hey, put that on your Christmas tree!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-two-year-old James Vester (ph) of Lisbon (ph), Indiana, was shot answering a Craigslist ad for an iPad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-two-year-old James Vester served his country in Iraq, died not on the battlefield but trying to buy an iPad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Children 3, 4 and 10 years old vanish in the night after playing on the snowy peaks of Nevada`s Kama mountains. They`re there with Mom and Dad. Temperatures plummeting to 16 degrees below zero, elevation nearly 8,000 feet. The desperate search for the Glanton-McIntees in a race against the clock. Can they be saved?
First I want to clear something up. I want to go straight out to Martha Bellisle, investigative reporter with "The Reno Gazette Journal." Martha, it`s great have you with us. Thank you.
How do they go from playing in the snow with their four children, as young as 3 and 4 years old, to getting lost on a snowy mountain peak? How does that happen?
MARTHA BELLISLE, "RENO GAZETTE JOURNAL" (via telephone): Well, it`s a pretty rugged area. I think that`s part of the problem. We had a big snowstorm move through here on Saturday. And so they headed out on Sunday to go play, and they drove into this range. And it`s probably dirt roads all the way back, pretty rugged, mountainous, steep, and probably snow on the ground, as well, and maybe they got stuck.
GRACE: We are hearing now about an incredible rescue. Martha Bellisle, I am hearing the family has been found. Where are they?
BELLISLE: They`ve been taken to a hospital. I was just off the phone with the sheriff`s office, and she had just heard -- the spokeswoman heard over the radio that the under-sheriff said, Yes, they`re good. We found them. They`re alive and well and...
GRACE: Where were they, Martha? There have been around-the-clock vigils, family, relatives, everybody joined there at the foot of the mountains looking for them. They`ve been on ATVs, by air, even infrared trying to find these people, it`s my understanding.
Where were they? Do we have any idea yet?
BELLISLE: We don`t have the details on exactly where they were found or exactly what their condition is, only that they`re doing OK.
GRACE: Well, I know this. They certainly have gotten an early Christmas gift. Everybody, the family, in a miraculous discovery, is safe.
When we come back, George Zimmerman back in court. You know, his live-in lover claims he points a shotgun right at her face? Well, tonight, after all these two have put us through, the live-in girlfriend says she wants to drop charges against George Zimmerman. Will it ever end with him?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: After 17-year-old Trayvon Martin gunned down by the captain of neighborhood watch, George Zimmerman walks free. Well, immediately, Zimmerman back in court when his live-in girlfriend claims he points a shotgun right her face, a loaded shotgun.
Well, tonight, after all these two have put us through, the girlfriend now jumps up and says she wants to drop charges against George Zimmerman. Will it ever end?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZIMMERMAN: She`s pregnant. I`m not going to put her through that kind of stress.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just last month that Samantha Scheibe told police that Zimmerman pointed a shotgun at her during an argument.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She alleged that he had broken a table, and at one point, pointed a long-barreled shotgun at her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now she`s saying that never happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: After all these two put us through, suddenly, the girlfriend of George Zimmerman, who says -- who told police he pointed a long gun, a shotgun, straight at her face, threw her out of her own place, barricaded himself in there, she calls 911 hysterical -- - now she wants to drop charges.
Straight out to Deborah Roberts, anchor with Florida News Network. Deborah, what the hay?
DEBORAH ROBERTS, FLORIDA NEWS NETWORK (via telephone): Nancy, the only thing I can say is that it is the holidays and George Zimmerman is the gift that just keeps on giving. And his girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, I guess, is feeling very charitable this holiday season, now that she`s willing to go back on everything, including the dramatic 911 call, the statements to the police, everything. It`s all now just a misunderstanding.
GRACE: The dramatic 911 call. I want to hear that again, Liz. Cue it back up for me. Everybody, wait until you hear what the girlfriend, the live-in lover, says. She says that -- I was being questioned by police, and I was not allowed anything to eat or drink for a very long time. What? So you lie? Listen to this 911 call.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SCHEIBE: Are you serious?
911 OPERATOR: 911. Police, fire or medical?
SCHEIBE: I need police right now.
911 OPERATOR: OK, what`s your address?
SCHEIBE: You`re the one breaking stuff in my house!
911 OPERATOR: Ma`am? Ma`am, what`s going on?
SCHEIBE: He`s in my house breaking all my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) because I asked him to leave! He has his friggin` gun, breaking all of my stuff right now.
No, this is not -- I`m doing this again? You just broke my glass table! You just broke my sunglasses, and you put your gun in my friggin` face and told me to get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out! But this is not your house. No. Get out of here!
911 OPERATOR: OK, what is your name? OK, where is this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute! Clark Goldband, is this the same woman, Samantha Scheibe who says...
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes.
GRACE: ... now in an affidavit -- and I`m reading from official court documents, we got our mitts on them -- George never -- she refers to him in the -- in his given name George...
GOLDBAND: (INAUDIBLE) girlfriend.
GRACE: "George never pointed a gun at or towards my face in a threatening manner." What?
GOLDBAND: That`s right. It`s a complete about-face, Nancy. And if you go through this whole document, you see that she believes law enforcement misunderstood or misrepresented some of those claims.
Now, law enforcement and prosecutors not taking this down lightly. Look at the statement on your screen. They say that, in fact, they -- she may have misspoken about the facts. She had access to food, access to water. And you know what? She may be confused on what she`s saying.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, David Wolfe, Jason Lamm joining me, Jason Wolfe, veteran attorney out of Atlanta, Jason Lamm in New York.
But first to Frank Taaffe. Gentlemen, take a listen to the spokesperson and friend of George Zimmerman, Frank Taaffe.
So Taaffe, I`m sure you couldn`t be happier. The live-in lover wants to drop charges against Zimmerman.
FRANK TAAFFE, FRIEND OF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: Well...
GRACE: Yes? I know I`ve got Taaffe. Let me know when you get his satellite ready, but I want to freeze that frame right there and keep that.
David Wolfe, Jason Lamm. How often is it that women drop domestic cases?
Now, David Wolfe, don`t even start with me because you and I have tried cases against each other. Just try to tell me the truth, OK? How often is it that women drop charges against their lovers, their boyfriends, their husbands, their exes? Tell me the truth.
DAVID WOLFE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Pretty frequently, particularly when they`re lying in the 911 calls. That was the most rehearsed, orchestrated, prepared bit of nonsense I ever heard in my life.
GRACE: Jason Lamm, why are you shaking your head, yes, like you were there...
JASON LAMM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Because Nancy...
GRACE: ... on the scene?
LAMM: You know what? We are...
GRACE: When police got there...
LAMM: ... on the same page.
GRACE: ... he had a long gun. He had a long gun. You can hear him in the background. All the items that she was talking about he was breaking were broken.
LAMM: I`m sorry, I didn`t hear...
GRACE: So why should I not believe her?
LAMM: I didn`t hear anything breaking in the background.
GRACE: I didn`t say that! I didn`t say you could hear it.
LAMM: All right, Nancy...
GRACE: I think you`re probably hear yourself talking more than anything else!
LAMM: No, no, no. I`m hearing you talking. Liz, can you just cut her mike for a minute because, Nancy, the fact is, this is a "he said, she said" case. And you know as a former prosecutor...
GRACE: Don`t start with me about what I know!
LAMM: ... how tough it is -- well, how tough it is to go up there...
GRACE: (INAUDIBLE)
LAMM: ... and impeach your key witness? You have to get up there...
GRACE: OK, hold on!
LAMM: ... as a prosecutor and say your witness is lying!
GRACE: Jason Lamm, defense attorney, no, that never happened to me in court. I never had that problem. Maybe you two have to impeach your own witnesses. I never had that problem.
Back to Deborah Roberts, Florida News Network. Deborah, in the 911 call -- Liz, in a moment, could you please cue that back up? You hear her telling him -- you hear her referring to him breaking items. When police got there, isn`t it true items had been broken?
ROBERTS: Including a glass table and her sunglasses and various other items, as well.
GRACE: And isn`t it true that George Zimmerman had barricaded -- he`s the man, number one. He outweighs her by 100 pounds and six or seven inches. He`s the man, all right? He`s got the gun, not her. And he barricades himself in her place?
Deborah Roberts, isn`t that true, when police got there, that had happened?
ROBERTS: Yes, it did. He barricaded himself, and he barricaded himself in a home that wasn`t his. Police say when they were able to get inside, they did find him calm and cooperative. But the case (ph) is, they had to fight their way into that residence before George Zimmerman would let them get in.
GRACE: So Frank Taaffe, everything she says on the 911 call has been corroborated. He is -- I`ll put this to you, David Wolfe. He is in the home barricaded. He`s got the long gun. All the items are broken. The table is broken. It`s her place. She`s on the outside, locked out. The only thing she lied about then was that he pointed the gun at her?
WOLFE: He`s the one that was calm. She`s the one that was going berserk outdoors. It`s likely that she tore up all the stuff in the house. He pushed her out of the house and locked the door.
GRACE: Try to look at me with this big, fat lie.
WOLFE: It`s the truth!
GRACE: Look at me. I want you see if you can actually look at me and say she broke all of her own stuff.
WOLFE: Yes because she was angry...
GRACE: You didn`t look at me! Look at me!
WOLFE: Yes, because she was...
GRACE: You`re saying she broke all of her own stuff.
WOLFE: Let me speak. She was angry at him. She was not injured.
GRACE: For what?
WOLFE: She was -- who knows for what. But what she did was, she called the police, told them that he did all of the things she did. What if she said, He tied me to the chair and beat me? Would the fact that a chair is there prove that?
GRACE: All right, do I have Frank Taaffe yet?
TAAFFE: Yes. Right here.
GRACE: OK, Taaffe -- Taaffe...
TAAFFE: What?
GRACE: ... are you going along with this? You know, Taaffe, I know you represent, you speak for George Zimmerman.
TAAFFE: Nancy...
GRACE: But come on, man. You can`t go along...
TAAFFE: ... as a meal ticket, OK, number one...
GRACE: ... with the defense attorney saying...
TAAFFE: George is vulnerable.
GRACE: ... that she broke all her own stuff.
TAAFFE: He`s vulnerable right now. He`s not -- look, he`s the victim in all this, OK? He`s vulnerable...
GRACE: He`s vulnerable, so he breaks people`s furniture and points a gun?
TAAFFE: (INAUDIBLE) see him as a meal ticket! They see a golden pot at the end of the rainbow. They`re all jumping on there!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: After all these two have put us through, now the girlfriend of George Zimmerman says she wants to drop charges. And you know, I only wish you had her sworn affidavit that we got our mitts on. She says that when she called police 911, she was not allowed to eat or drink anything for a long time.
So what, Frank Taaffe, I get hungry and thirsty, so when I pull up to McDonald`s, I should start what, breaking all the furniture and pull a long gun on the little girl taking my order? When you get tired and hungry, what?
TAAFFE: (INAUDIBLE) thing about George in lockup. He didn`t get to eat for almost 48 hours, either.
GRACE: Stop. Well, look, you know what...
TAAFFE: I want to go back to...
GRACE: It`s not going to hurt him to miss a meal.
TAAFFE: Well, what your guest said a couple weeks ago...
GRACE: He`s going to be OK missing a meal, Taaffe. I think he`ll be OK, all right?
TAAFFE: Yes, well, OK.
GRACE: But I want to get back to...
TAAFFE: All right.
GRACE: Are you chiming in...
TAAFFE: I`ll agree with you on that.
GRACE: Are you chiming in with the defense lawyers that this girl, this woman, Samantha Scheibe -- is it Scheibe or Scheibe?
TAAFFE: It`s a ruse. It`s a prevarication!
GRACE: You`re saying she broke all...
TAAFFE: It`s a facade!
GRACE: ... of her own stuff?
TAAFFE: It`s a facade, OK? They see him as a meal ticket because he might be $2.6 million in debt right now, but guess what? He`s going to have beaucoup bucks down the road.
GRACE: OK, Taaffe...
TAAFFE: Guaranteed!
GRACE: Taaffe...
TAAFFE: I haven`t been wrong yet on your show!
GRACE: Talking about seeing him as a meal ticket, it`s my understanding that`s her place. He was freeloading off of her. She didn`t see him as a meal ticket. She`s having to give him a place. Everything is completely bass-ackwards in this scenario.
Out to Celia in Florida. Hi, Celia. What`s your question? Oops, Danielle, Illinois. Hi, Danielle. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I just want to say, first of all, RIP Trayvon Martin. And secondly, I want to know, is it possible that the prosecutor could pick this up on their own, kind of like how they do when the roles are reversed gender-wise?
GRACE: Oh, Celia, Celia, Celia, Celia, I can remember -- excuse me, Danielle. Danielle, I can remember when I had a case -- I had just started prosecuting felonies, and I had a woman with a broken leg, broken in several spots. She came in to court on crutches. Her leg -- she was in a body cast from, like, about the bra down, with this broken leg. And trailing along behind her was her surly-looking live-in lover, and she wanted to drop charges. And he was right there putting her up to it.
I was afraid if I didn`t drop them that he would beat her even more. So what I did was let her fight with me about it, how much she didn`t want to prosecute and she didn`t want to take the stand, and I prosecuted him anyway, and I put him where he belonged, behind bars, without her cooperation.
Bottom line, he ended up taking a guilty plea. But no, it`s very, very difficult, practically speaking, to prosecute a case when your a crime victim and won`t get on the stand and tell the truth.
David Wolfe, Jason Lamm, take off your defense hats just for a moment. Let`s talk about the predicament she has put herself in, OK? She has given this police report, and a police report is a sworn statement. I mean, if you look at the bottom of it, David Wolfe, as you and I and all three of us have done many times, it says, "I hereby swear" that this is the truth when the police officer signs it.
The fact that she called 911 and gave this report that he pulled a shotgun on her, which I think he did -- she`s in a lot of hot water now retracting that, David.
WOLFE: Well, she could never be a witness in case now. She`s saying that the police officers lied now, and they put in their report something that she didn`t say. She`s completely uncredible, and there`s nothing that they can do to prosecute George Zimmerman. And as far as this case, they`re done.
GRACE: No. Practically speaking, they can`t go forward with it. And very quickly, Frank Taaffe, I guess you`re just dancing a jig.
TAAFFE: No, not really, Nancy. I`m doing the hula. I just got back from Maui.
GRACE: Well, you know what? On that note -- up next, everybody, country music superstar and star of "The Voice" Blake Shelton out for justice tonight. His buddy, outlaw country star, shot dead over a no smoking policy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Country music superstar and the star of "The Voice" Blake Shelton out for justice tonight after his friend, his longtime buddy, outlaw country star, shot dead over a no smoking policy in a restaurant bar. And you know what? I don`t blame Blake Shelton. For your friend to be shot dead over a cigarette? That stinks!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nashville police are still investigating Mills`s death. It happened at Pit and Barrel bar in Nashville. Mills was shot to death by the owner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man identified as the shooter, Chris Ferrell, is claiming self-defense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve never, ever, ever seen him be violent or be aggressive to another person or give anybody a reason to pull a gun on him and shoot him in the back of the head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, we go live to the capital of country music. To Alexis Tereszcuk, senior reporter, Radaronline.com. To get shot over a cigarette? It`s my understanding everybody was there at this restaurant/bar having a good time, and when everyone started to leave, the victim in this case, the friend of Blake Shelton, Wayne Mills, he didn`t have a gun. Nobody was fighting. There was not a fistfight going on. And then the next thing you know, people heard shots firing out. What happened, Alexis?
ALEXIS TERESZCUK, RADARONLINE.COM: So what happened was, it was actually just hours after a Blake Shelton concert. Wayne had been in the audience watching his friend perform. They`re in this bar, local Nashville haunt, which has been focused on a reality show called "Bar Rescue." They were about to leave. What the alleged killer says is there was a fight over a cigarette, that he didn`t want him to smoke in there. Then he claims something happened, he hasn`t really said, but it was self-defense. However, self-defense? He shot him in the back of the head. So he was actually turned away from him. Yet he`s been arrested and is claiming self-defense.
GRACE: Out to Gary Sargeant, close friend of Wayne Mills, founder of the Outlaw Music Hall of Fame, joining me out of Hillsborough. Gary, thanks for being with us. I don`t understand how this happened, because Mills was unarmed. What`s your take on it?
GARY SARGEANT, FRIEND OF WAYNE MILLS: Well, Wayne was adamantly unarmed. His philosophy, and he`s -- anybody that asked him would tell you, he refused to carry a gun, because he said, look at me, he says, I`m big enough. I can take care of myself, and if something happens, then I guess it`s just my time where I can`t take care of myself.
GRACE: What kind of --
SARGENT: He was a very loving individual.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: That`s what I was going to ask you. What kind of person was Wayne Mills?
SARGEANT: The epitome of love. Here on this earth. He loved everybody that he came in contact with, and when you saw him and he flashed that giant smile and bent over and gave you a big, old bear hug, you knew you were --
GRACE: You know what, Gary?
SARGEANT: Wayne did not shake hands. He was a hugger.
GRACE: You know what, Gary? With me, Gary Sargeant, founder of the Outlaw Music Hall of Fame. It`s country music. Many would argue at its best. Gary, it`s my understanding that when this whole thing went down that night, that your friend was gunned down, unarmed, over a cigarette, that they didn`t even make an arrest that night? It took public outcry on programs like this before they even made an arrest.
SARGEANT: Well, first, I do want to thank you all for your support and your covering of this and making it a national story. We -- the family and all his friends deeply appreciate y`all`s efforts in supporting this, and you`re correct. It took two weeks before they came down with an indictment, and arrested Chris Ferrell on second-degree murder charges.
I would like -- and the family and all the friends -- would like to believe that it was just the Nashville police crossing their T`s and dotting their I`s to make sure once an indictment did come down --
GRACE: Boy, I hope so, because I had never heard a bad thing about the Nashville police, and I hope you`re right about this. I keep talking about he is a country music star, and Blake Shelton, also a superstar in his own right, is out for justice.
But here`s the real deal. He is a husband and the father of a little boy aged 7. His 7-year-old son, Jack. And -- to many of you, can you even imagine your children going in to the Christmas tree in just a few days, and you have been shot dead over a cigarette? With your children to go the rest of their lives without mommy or daddy? Because nobody is going to love that child the way his mother and his father do. Now did.
Out to you, Justin Freiman. Was there any evidence that the owner of this restaurant/bar -- let me ask you, Alexis -- had any bruises, cuts? Anything? He`s claiming self-defense, but nobody saw a brawl?
TERESZCUK: No. There hasn`t been, but the thing is the police didn`t arrest him. They maybe questioned him that night, but he wasn`t arrested for almost three weeks after the incident happened. They had to go to a grand jury and present their evidence. The grand jury found that there was enough evidence that they actually --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Alexis, that`s interesting. Because typically police make an arrest, and the person either bonds out or stays in jail until the grand jury hears the case, or they have a preliminary hearing. So I find this very interesting, they didn`t put him behind bars.
Listen, let me just assure you, Alexis, if you`re shot dead in a bar over a cigarette, I`ll make sure the perp is put behind bars that night until he/she can unfortunately make bond. Justin Freiman, I understand you`re with me now. What more can you tell me, Justin?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: I can tell you that Mills spent the night listening to country music legends and superstars at a George Jones tribute show, also known at the Possum, and Blake Shelton along with his wife were among those performers that evening.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. David Wolfe, Jason Lamm. All right, Jason Lamm, the bar, restaurant/bar owner, doesn`t have a scratch on him. Where`s the self-defense claim?
LAMM: He`s going to have to get up on the stand, if this case goes to trial and say there was some type of altercation and he was in fear for his life. I`m going to agree with you. I don`t get it. He was shot in the back of the head. Not a great case for self-defense, but if they can sell one juror, that could result in a hung jury, or maybe it will be a plea to a lesser charge. But, you know, there`s a lot more to the investigation.
GRACE: You know what? Let me give a public plea to the prosecutor. Don`t take a lesser charge. Do not take a lesser charge. In fact, I don`t think this should be second-degree murder. I this it should be first- degree murder.
LAMM: But it was not premeditated. It was a fight.
GRACE: Whoa. David Wolfe. You know the code. Isn`t it true that intent, premeditation, so to speak--
WOLFE: Can be formed in an instant?
GRACE: Can be formed in an instant.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: The snap of a finger. In the time it takes him to lift the gun, and pull the trigger, that is long enough under the law for intent to be formed, and he shot the man in the back of the head. This man wasn`t coming at him.
WOLFE: How many times can you snap your finger in two weeks? That`s No. 1. The police never arrested the guy, and -- and -- the grand jury didn`t indict him for a malice or an intentional murder. They indicted him for a second degree homicide. It seems as though there`s more evidence than people are imagining simply because of who this fellow was. He`s a great guy, I don`t have any problem with that.
GRACE: I don`t care who he was. I don`t care if he`s the president or the map sweeping the floor. I don`t care who he is. He`s shot in the back of the head. This is murder one.
WOLFE: I`d like to know what back of the head means. I`d like to see how he got shot and where he got shot.
GRACE: You can (inaudible) all you want to, but I agree with Blake Shelton, and we are not going to rest until this man is put behind bars for the rest of his natural days.
When we come back, a U.S. veteran, a married father of a 1-year-old little boy, gunned down just before Christmas by Craigslist hoaxsters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: He gives his life for our country fighting in Iraq. Then he comes back to his home town of Indianapolis trying to make ends meet. The man`s trying to save money on Christmas gifts. He goes to buy a used iPad to give to his parents for Christmas. That`s what they want. Now, after he escapes death in Iraq, this U.S. veteran, a married father of a 1-year- old little boy, gunned down just before Christmas by Craigslist hoaxsters. May they rot in hell. And, hey, if you`re listening, you can put that on your Christmas tree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 32-year-old James Vester of Lisbon, Indiana, was shot answering a Craigslist ad for an iPad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The purchase was to occur on Craigslist, but the sale doesn`t happen. The man allegedly gunned down while trying to buy the iPad in the middle of the day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sergeant First Class Vester was an Iraq war veteran with 12 years of service in the Indiana National Guard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight authorities searching for answers. Who would want to kill an American hero?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Out to Reed Parker, anchor with WIBC. Reed, thank you for being with us. I`m just sick. Sick over this.
I am trying to get the house all decorated. I just orchestrated snowball fights with marshmallows for the twins in the house, and we`re putting up a nativity scene. This widow has a 1-year-old little boy that`s not going to have daddy at Christmas. I want to hear what happened, Parker?
REED PARKER, WIBC: Well, Jim Vester, Sergeant first class, 12-year veteran of the Indiana National Guard. He responded to a Craigslist ad to buy an iPad for his mom for Christmas, and he went to an apartment complex about 20 or so minutes from his home town in Lisbon, and police believe he was shot and killed by two brothers who intended to rob him, and they got away with only his cell phone and his car keys, and of course, his life.
GRACE: Dave Mack, morning talk show host, Clear Channel, WAAX, so a U.S. veteran, a married father with a little boy, gunned down in the parking lot we were just showing over his cell phone? That`s what they got? They had to shoot him over that?
DAVE MACK, WAAX: Apparently. Nancy, they had -- when the police got them, they had multiple smartphones and they`d been posting things on Craigslist. This was part of their M.O. was get the phones. Why they took his life, why it escalated to that is what they`re still trying to figure out. But Nancy, it`s the saddest Christmas story I think I`ve ever heard in my whole entire life, and as you mentioned, there`s a 14-month-old child that`s never going to know the heroic father that he had.
GRACE: I`m just sick about it. You know, Clark Goldband, you and I have talked many, many times about when my fiance was murdered, he was murdered for about $35 in his wallet, it was that in there, a picture, that was it, that`s all the guy got that murdered him.
This veteran, practically under the shadow of the Christmas tree, gunned down in the parking lot. Tell me about the scam these two brothers were running, allegedly?
GOLDBAND: Nancy, when you take a look at all the photos on your screen, it really just drives it home. Here`s the deal. According to what we found, these two brothers were posting online fake postings of electronic items. The postings were real, they were saying we have got iPhones, we got iPads, we got smartphones for a little bit cheaper than you would normally pay. They knew that these people who replied to the ads had cash. So even though, as in the case of this hero, took great precaution, they knew he had cash. He was a ripe target, and witnesses, according to some police reports that we just obtained, said they could hear one of the two brothers allegedly shout, "this is a robbery." There was a pause for a few seconds, and then two loud pops. Those the gunshots, two shell casings found right next to the body of this dead hero, as well as an iPad box.
Interesting side note. There is a serial number on every iPad box, as you well know, to keep inventory for the shops. Guess what? Law enforcement found an iPad inside the home of these suspects, and guess what? The serial number matched.
GRACE: So you`re saying with the iPad box, which was found in the parking lot.
GOLDBAND: Right.
GRACE: These two make off with the iPad, and you can match the serial number from the box to the iPad?
GOLDBAND: That`s right. You know what ---
GRACE: It`s like a fingerprint.
GOLDBAND: Right. Here`s the thing. They were probably just holding an empty iPod box. So when this soldier saw them standing there, it looked legit. In fact, he had actually gone a few seconds ago to the wrong car. Someone was trying to wait for their kid to come home off the school bus, and said "are you selling the iPad?" They said, no. And then went to the next person.
GRACE: To Dr. Michelle Dupre, medical examiner, forensic pathologist. Dr. Dupre, what we`ll be able to tell about what went down from the body, from the injuries to the body?
DR. MICHELLE DUPRE, FORENSIC EXAMINER: We can look at where he was actually shot. They can look and determine if it was within intermediate gunshot range, if there`s (inaudible) on the body (inaudible) to tell the distance that it might have been. There also might be some defensive injuries, things like that.
GRACE: You know, I`m going to go to you, David Wolfe, defense attorney. You and I have practiced on two sides of the fence for a really, really long time. Doesn`t this just break your heart? I just -- I just hate to even hear it. I don`t know how a defense attorney removes himself, or herself, from these facts to represent these two, Tyron and Tyshaune Kincade, 18 and 19. They can get the death penalty, but it`s not going to bring this guy back. It might be justice, but I don`t know how you do it sometimes.
WOLFE: Well, if what they said occurred, occurred, there is some peculiar facts. You know, this fellow had his money in his pocket. They didn`t rob him. He had his gun on his person. They didn`t rob him. Now, they found some phones with these boys. They found three cell phones, but there is no indication that any of the cell phones belonged to this guy. So while I know why he went there, and while there is circumstantial evidence that that is what was supposed to happen, it didn`t happen, and it sounds very peculiar. I`d like to know more about the case.
GRACE: I know you`re angling at he was there for some other pretext, but that`s not going to wash.
WOLFE: No, no. Not a pretext.
GRACE: It is what it is. It is what happened.
WOLFE: He wasn`t robbed is all I was pointing out.
GRACE: But he was murdered. What difference does that make?
WOLFE: Yes. I`m just saying they`re saying this was a robbery, and that he was there under --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You know what I don`t (inaudible). Robbery gone wrong. I mean, how can a robbery go right? No. A robbery is a felony, and this guy died during a felony, at the very least, felony murder.
WOLFE: I was pointing out some interesting facts with regard to the allegations and essentially what was going on.
GRACE: I appreciate that, David Wolfe, but it`s not --
(CROSSTALK)
WOLFE: It is a tragedy this gentleman died and there`s no reason for it.
GRACE: After he goes to Iraq and risks had life. Look at him, and those shots of people carrying flags, that was his funeral. That`s probably one of the few memories his child will ever have of him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Welcome back. He fights for our country in Iraq, comes home to his home town of Indianapolis, trying to save money at Christmas, to buy an iPad for his mother off Craigslist. When he gets there, he`s robbed and gunned down. You know, David Wolfe, the defense attorney, arguing that maybe there was some other reason he was there, that it wasn`t a robbery, but bottom line, isn`t it true, Reed Parker, WIBC anchor, earwitnesses heard someone yell out, "this is a robbery." It was a robbery! Whether they got the money or not, it was an attempted robbery.
PARKER: Yes, it definitely was an attempted robbery. They didn`t even have an iPad that they were supposedly trying to sell him. They did take his keys and his cell phone. And witnesses heard two shots fired, also saw two men running from the scene, but also another man says he was in his car, Vester saw him drive up to the complex, asked him if he was selling the iPad, he said no. Then he saw Vester walk away, then heard two shots, and then saw Vester walking back to his car carrying a gun, and then Vester collapsed and died.
GRACE: Dave Mack, morning talk show host, Clear Channel, WAAX. A lot of people are arguing that the perps are teens. One 19, one 18.
MACK: I mean, they are. They`re teenagers. They`ve got a rap sheet though. They`ve had problems for a while. Just because they`re juveniles doesn`t excuse their behavior.
GRACE: They`re not juveniles.
(CROSSTALK)
MACK: You`re right. And just because they`re young doesn`t mean they`re not criminally minded. These guys not only lured him in there with the bait of the iPad, but the cell phone is -- the texting back and forth, they had contact between Mr. Vester and the suspects where they actually gave him directions as he was coming into the apartment complex.
GRACE: To Clark Goldband, this was not the first time they ran the scam, is it?
GOLDBAND: No. Nancy, not at all. In fact, law enforcement got permission, she signed consent, the suspect`s mom did, they went to her house, and they found cell phones from all over the place, and personal documents inside a computer bag that they would not normally have.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: He fights for our country, risking his life in Iraq, comes home to Indianapolis, gunned down trying to buy his mother an iPad off Craigslist. Reed Parker WIBC, these two have been running this scam for a long time. Because according to Clark Goldband and Dave Mack, when cops got to their place, they had all sorts of cell phones and other items belonging to others, and it finally ends in murder. How are the mom and the little boy doing tonight?
PARKER: Jamie, his wife, actually has been overcome with the amount of support that`s been shown for the family. Online donors, over 1600 of them, have raised over $65,000 so far. And--
GRACE: Whoa, wait a minute. Is there a website to which we can donate? What do you mean online donors?
PARKER: Yes. They`ve had a campaign, an online campaign. I don`t have the website with me, but they`ve raised over $65,000 so far. And she`s saying, Jamie and Gavin is the boy, they said the amount of support they`ve gotten so far, they said it`s just indescribable. The messages, hundreds of messages of love and support they`ve gotten from the community and probably from the country.
GRACE: Reed Parker, I`ve got the website. It is youcaring.com. Y-o- u-c-a-r-i-n-g.com. A fund-raiser set up by the family for a man described as a great cook, loving father, and faithful man.
Let`s stop and remember American hero, Army Private First Class, Edwin Wood, just 18. Omaha. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal. National Defense Service Medal. Loved building theater sets and operating lights and sound.
Parents Tom and Janis, brother Thomas, Jr., sister Isabel. Edwin Wood, American hero. Dr. Drew up next, everyone. I`ll see you tomorrow night at 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
