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Nancy Grace
Charges Dropped Against George Zimmerman; Bride Set to Walk Free on Plea Deal?
Aired December 12, 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. We go off the top, live, Orlando. After 17-year-old Trayvon Martin gunned down by captain of neighborhood watch George Zimmerman, he walks free. Then Zimmerman back in court when his live-in lover says he points a loaded shotgun right at her face.
Bombshell tonight. George Zimmerman wins again! Prosecutors announce they`ll drop all charges because the girlfriend says she, quote, "wants to be with George." Oh, please!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George Zimmerman will not face charges for his arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will not be charged with domestic violence or assault.
SAMANTHA SCHEIBE, ZIMMERMAN`S GIRLFRIEND: He`s in my house, breaking all my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) because I asked him to leave. He has his friggin` gun...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scheibe said in a court document she did not want him to be charged.
SCHEIBE: He told me to get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out. So this is not your house!
He knows how to do this. He knows how to play this game!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, top trial. Prosecutors say eight days after the wedding, the bride shoves her husband off a cliff at Glacier Park. Why? Because she regrets getting married, even demanding her little brother lie to cops about hubby`s body. In court, the groom`s mother tells how excited he was on his wedding day, claiming it`s the best day of his life, Mom breaking down on the stand, sobbing, I always wanted to be a grandma.
As we go to air tonight, killer bride set free, set to walk free in a secret sweetheart deal?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prosecutors played video of police interviews where the jury saw and heard Graham lying to police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) she confessed, I pushed and he went over, and I took off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Graham also lied to her own 16-year-old brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She could have just told us the truth, but she had to keep adding more lies to cover up. Cody was laying face down, looked as if he was on top of a rock in the water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Off the top, live, Orlando. George Zimmerman wins again. Prosecutors announce they`ll drop all charges because the girlfriend says she, quote, "wants to be with George." Oh, please!
Straight out to Deborah Roberts, anchor with Florida News Network. Deborah, I`m stunned!
DEBORAH ROBERTS, FLORIDA NEWS NETWORK: Nancy, everybody is, as well. It`s like they seem to be putting us through these circuses, and there`s no fruition at the end. There`s no payoff for all of this. But Samantha and George don`t want to be alone for the holidays, and now they get their wish.
GRACE: Out to Frank Taaffe, friend and spokesperson for George Zimmerman. So isn`t it amazing, Frank Taaffe, that no matter what Zimmerman gets charged with, he always seems to walk free?
You know, I noticed back in, what was it, just September -- let`s see, this is December -- why, that was just a couple of months ago -- his wife, Shellie, calls 911, claiming George Zimmerman is threatening her, that they are arguing over items, property after the breakup of their marriage.
And then, suddenly, once George Zimmerman`s defense lawyer shows up on the scene, everything mysteriously goes away. And now once again, this time, the girlfriend, Scheibe, says he points a long gun straight at her face, a loaded shotgun. She calls 911 frantically. And now, amazingly, everything`s just disappearing. It`s just evaporating.
Liz, do you have that 911 call for me? Let`s hear it. Take a listen to this, Taaffe.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: What happened today? What made you guys start fighting?
SCHEIBE: I asked him to leave.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Has he been drinking or anything?
SCHEIBE: I think he was locked out front.
911 OPERATOR: What`s he wearing?
SCHEIBE: Jeans, dark jeans, and a gray T-shirt.
911 OPERATOR: OK, what kind of gun did he have?
SCHEIBE: He has this -- the gun that he just smashed all my stuff with was the Kel Tec, the shotgun.
911 OPERATOR: It`s a shotgun or is it a handgun?
SCHEIBE: It`s a shotgun.
911 OPERATOR: Does he have it with him now?
SCHEIBE: Well, he has all of his guns are inside. He just unloaded the shotgun and his AR, but he took that (INAUDIBLE) and smashed my table and smashed my sunglasses and smashed whatever the hell else he`s smashing in there right now while I`m outside.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SCHEIBE: Are you serious?
911 OPERATOR: 911. Do you need police, fire, or medical?
SCHEIBE: I need police right now.
911 OPERATOR: OK, what`s your address?
SCHEIBE: You`re the one that`s 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 frickin` gun, breaking all of my stuff right now.
No, this is not...
911 OPERATOR: OK...
SCHEIBE: I`m doing this again? You just broke my glass table! You just broke my sunglasses! And put your gun in my frickin` face and told me to get (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out. So this is not your house! No! Get out of here!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to the lines. To Laura. Let`s see if Frank Taaffe can answer a few calls unrehearsed. Hi, Laura. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. I was just wondering, do you think George Zimmerman likes this -- all this attention and purposely does things like this to get back on the news?
FRANK TAAFFE, FRIEND OF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: No. No.
GRACE: Do I think he likes the attention? Of course. As a matter of fact, Frank Taaffe -- where`s Taaffe? Taaffe...
TAAFFE: No.
GRACE: ... you said yourself that he was coming down after all the media attention. You told me that.
TAAFFE: Nancy, you know, first of all, I`m not shocked, nor am I stunned from this recent event, all the charges being dropped.
GRACE: Please answer the question.
TAAFFE: OK, I am. You know what? We have laws in this country, and each citizen is entitled to due process, OK? There was no evidence. There was no facts and evidence that the state attorney could uphold and charge this man, other than the fact that...
GRACE: No, that`s not what happened.
TAAFFE: ... media -- you guys want to keep...
(CROSSTALK)
TAAFFE: He`s not a miscreant.
GRACE: I`m not vilifying him.
TAAFFE: He`s not a villain.
GRACE: I`m not vilifying.
TAAFFE: He`s not a miscreant, but there are viewers that believe...
GRACE: May I have the affidavit...
TAAFFE: ... that he`s a villain.
GRACE: ... please? Because...
TAAFFE: He`s not a villain. He`s not a miscreant.
GRACE: OK, don`t make me cut your mike in the first three minutes of the show, please. I`m reading off the girlfriend`s affidavit, OK?
TAAFFE: Yes, well, she listened...
GRACE: Now she`s saying that she didn`t get -- OK, your mike is going to go bye-bye. She told police that he pointed a long gun straight in her face, a loaded shotgun.
TAAFFE: Right.
GRACE: The police -- that he broke all her stuff, that he barricaded himself in her home, pushed her out of her own home, all right? The police got there, every single thing she said was corroborated. And in this sworn affidavit that I have right here, she`s saying, I felt intimidated by police. She`s the one that called 911!
I`m not vilifying him, Taaffe. She`s the one that said this and called 911.
TAAFFE: Well, guess what?
GRACE: And they corroborated...
TAAFFE: Guess what?
GRACE: ... every single thing she said.
TAAFFE: Listen -- listen...
GRACE: What?
TAAFFE: ... OK, it`s up to the state attorney...
GRACE: What?
TAAFFE: ... as you know, that there has to be facts in evidence to make it beyond...
GRACE: No.
TAAFFE: ... to prove the case...
GRACE: Somebody talked her out of it.
TAAFFE: ... beyond a reasonable doubt.
GRACE: All right, Liz...
TAAFFE: How did he do that? He was supposed to have no contact! He had no contact with her!
GRACE: His lawyer can talk to her, just like...
(CROSSTALK)
TAAFFE: What did he do, use sign language?
GRACE: When the lawyer shows up on the scene with his wife Shellie, everything disappears. Now the lawyer gets involved, everything disappears.
TAAFFE: Disappears?
GRACE: George Zimmerman beat...
TAAFFE: How`s it disappear?
GRACE: ... Lady Justice...
TAAFFE: What is it, a Houdini act?
GRACE: ... again. No, she`s dropping charges.
TAAFFE: Facts in evidence!
GRACE: Liz, show me what was found in George Zimmerman`s home -- three black handgun holsters, pocket knives, two 223 rounds, 9-millimeter rounds, 40-caliber magazines, eight rounds each, 9-millimeter magazine, a 380 interarm (ph) handgun, a Taurus 9-millimeter handgun, a Glock handgun, Kel Tec 12-gauge shotgun -- it was there. This is the one he pointed at her face -- another 12-gauge shotgun, rounds. I mean, it goes on and on and on, the ammo, the arsenal.
TAAFFE: So what? So what?
GRACE: And finally tonight -- finally tonight, he`s going to be happily reunited with all of his guns and his arsenal of ammo. Are you happy about that, Taaffe? Just one dead boy is not enough?
TAAFFE: I`m exuberant over the fact that he has not been convicted of any crime in the state of Florida. That`s what I`m exuberant about.
GRACE: Let me give you a statistic.
TAAFFE: Go ahead.
GRACE: Did you know that 78 percent of all felony aggravated assault charges in domestic situations are dropped because the women are talked out of testifying, just like in this case? I mean, Taaffe, she says the reason she was intimidated is because the cops didn`t give her anything to eat.
TAAFFE: Yes. OK.
GRACE: I`ve been hungry plenty of times, it doesn`t make me give false statements to police, Taaffe.
TAAFFE: Well, it all sounds like hogwash to me, OK, from the beginning. That entire 911...
GRACE: Yes, it does. The fact that she`s dropping her charges...
TAAFFE: That entire 911 call...
GRACE: ... is hogwash!
TAAFFE: It was fabricated. She listened to the Shellie Zimmerman tape from two months ago, and if you listen to it, it mimics almost exactly what he did at that time. He`s pointing a gun, he`s breaking things. It`s almost like she had it on DVD and she listened to it. And you know she tried to shop this story prior to...
GRACE: I don`t know that. I don`t know that.
TAAFFE: Well...
GRACE: George Zimmerman is the one who`s been...
TAAFFE: ... one of the local affiliates...
GRACE: ... mooching off the public with his Web site, where he gets people to donate to him.
TAAFFE: Mooching?
GRACE: You know, this is about the fifth or sixth time 911 has been called on him.
Tonight, the bombshell is George Zimmerman wins again. He walks free after gunning down a defenseless and unarmed teen boy on his way to his dad`s condo. His wife calls in, claiming he`s beating her. That disappears. His wife calls in claiming he`s beating her. That disappears. Now the girlfriend claims he shoves a shotgun, a loaded shotgun, in her face. Now that`s disappearing.
We are taking your calls. Out to Bobby in Virginia. Hi, Bobby. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you? I love you, Nancy, love you to death. I just have a statement...
GRACE: You know what? I`m glad you said that because I feel so beaten down right now!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don`t feel beaten down.
GRACE: I mean, this kid gets shot down, dying out in the wet mud and grass with George Zimmerman, the captain of neighborhood watch. Then he has a fight with his wife over possessions. Then he has a fight with his girlfriend and points a long gun right in her face, a shotgun, over possessions, pushes her out of her own home.
And now somebody`s talked her into dropping charges. You know, I don`t know what`s next, Bobby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something`s not right. His father is a judge. Somebody keeps letting him off on purpose because he`s like an accident waiting to happen. Something is going to happen so bad that they are never...
GRACE: You mean something else...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... recover from it.
GRACE: ... is going to happen so bad?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, something...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s Zimmerman`s latest run-in with the law.
911 OPERATOR: What made you guys start fighting?
SCHEIBE: I asked him to leave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Zimmerman`s girlfriend has had an apparent change of heart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George Zimmerman will not face charges for a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe.
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGES DROPPED: I just want everyone to know the truth.
SCHEIBE: The gun that he just smashed all my stuff with was the Kel Tec, the shotgun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She claimed that Zimmerman pointed a gun at her. She recanted and says she doesn`t want him charged.
SCHEIBE: Are you kidding me? He just pushed me out of my house and locked me out!
911 OPERATOR: OK, you`re outside now?
SCHEIBE: Yes, he locked me out of my house.
911 OPERATOR: OK, I`ve got units on the way. Is there some place safe you can step away from?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Bombshell tonight. George Zimmerman wins again, beating Lady Justice at her own game. In the last hours, his live-in girlfriend says she, quote, "wants to be with George," contacts his lawyer, according to the story. All charges are dropped against George Zimmerman.
We are taking your calls. Taaffe, so...
TAAFFE: Yes?
GRACE: ... last time you and I talked, you were all about the DSM, like you had been, like, taking some correspondence course in psychology, psychiatry...
TAAFFE: No, I read it...
GRACE: ... knew all about these diagnostic manuals.
TAAFFE: No.
GRACE: You were quoting DSM-4. But this afternoon...
TAAFFE: No, 5.
GRACE: ... you tell me that -- no, you were corrected. I can pull the transcript. You were quoting 4. Now it`s 5.
TAAFFE: I stand corrected.
GRACE: Now, Taaffe, you`re using -- and I`m quoting you, you`re using a ouija board to figure out what`s going to happen with George next?
TAAFFE: No, Nancy. If you remember, back in July...
GRACE: No, you said that.
TAAFFE: ... when I responded to the acquittal...
GRACE: That`s what you told us this afternoon.
TAAFFE: No, I -- you said to me, Taaffe, what have you got down your pants, a ouija board? And in this season of giving, Nancy, I have a gift for you. And it is -- what I`d like to present to you tonight is your own personal ouija board that you can use -- it`s my Christmas gift to you -- that you can use in the future...
GRACE: You know what?
TAAFFE: ... to help you decide on these cases. But I went strictly on the facts of the evidence.
GRACE: Taaffe, I`ll be sending that...
TAAFFE: I didn`t use a ouija board.
GRACE: ... back to you COD because I don`t need a ouija board because when I don`t know...
TAAFFE: Well...
GRACE: ... a horse, I look at his track record.
TAAFFE: ... you said to me, Taaffe...
GRACE: George Zimmerman...
TAAFFE: You said, Taaffe, what do you got...
GRACE: ... is going to be back in trouble...
TAAFFE: ... down your pants, a ouija board?
GRACE: ... again. George Zimmerman...
TAAFFE: You said...
GRACE: ... is going to be back in trouble...
TAAFFE: No, he`s not.
GRACE: ... with guns again.
TAAFFE: No, he`s not.
GRACE: Oh, OK.
TAAFFE: No, he`s not.
GRACE: Clark, Clark Goldband...
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: ... tell me what was seized. Tell me just a tiny bit...
GOLDBAND: Sure.
GRACE: ... of what was seized at George Zimmerman`s arsenal.
GOLDBAND: We can start with about half a dozen firearms, guns that were taken. Not only that, look at that -- Kel Tec, Glock, AR-15, a Taurus handgun, also boxes and boxes of ammo, and then even the mundane things like a flashlight, a pocket knife, even a pack of gum and a sanitizing wipe, Nancy!
GRACE: What I don`t understand is why anybody needs automatic shotguns, 9-millimeters, 12-gauges, 200 -- over 200 rounds -- I don`t understand that.
Tell me -- out to you, Bethany Marshall. I don`t think the lawyers can help me much on this. I think I need a shrink. Why is George Zimmerman fascinated with guns? And why is his girlfriend letting a ticking timebomb walk? Why is George Zimmerman winning again tonight?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: George Zimmerman is fascinated with guns because guns are the ultimate symbol of power. You know, people with these kinds of personality disorders relate to their love objects on the basis of power, rather than affection.
Affection is presenting your needs, problem solving, nuanced communication. Power is when you wave a gun over somebody and you have complete control over them, and you can only relate through dominating.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHEIBE: No, get out of my house. Do not push me out of my house! Please get out of my house. You`re going to -- are you serious right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George Zimmerman will not be charged with domestic violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Bombshell tonight. Live to Orlando, George Zimmerman wins again. Before we take you to the killer bride walking free, let me just fill you in. For those of you just joining us, George Zimmerman`s live-in girlfriend has decided she wants to be with George, and he`s walking free. She claims that police, quote, "misinterpreted" her statements when she said Zimmerman held a loaded shotgun right at her face, pushed her out the door of her own home, barricading himself inside with all of his guns.
We`re taking your calls. Larry, Nevada, what`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes (INAUDIBLE) Taaffe -- and thank you, Nancy, for having me on.
GRACE: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taaffe, Nancy, I`m not trying to take sides. Let`s be real. We`re on the air now. This situation has to be addressed with George Zimmerman. I am a victim of domestic violence. I don`t want to elaborate on that, but usually, when domestic violence is in the hands of the authorities, then the authorities have the say-so. They have to pick up the case. Now, Florida`s different. Taaffe, your man`s always in trouble.
TAAFFE: No, he`s not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your man`s...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You know what? He`s right. Larry in Nevada is right. Your guy`s always in trouble, and I think he should be investigated further.
Unleash the lawyers, Jeff Gold, New York, Kimberly Priest Johnson, Dallas, Texas, both of them renowned defense attorneys.
OK, if the two of you could just be honest for just this one moment? Kimberly Priest Johnson, the reality is the prosecution, even though the girl, the girlfriend doesn`t want to testify, they don`t have to drop charges. They could use this 911 call. They could put her up there, declare her as a hostile witness if she tries to lie, use the 911 call and use her statement to police. And then when she -- if she deviates from that story on the stand, they could bring the cops in to say what she said. That is using a prior inconsistent statement.
KIMBERLY PRIEST JOHNSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Exactly right. Nancy, you and I know that in these types of cases, that`s often what happens because the victim does oftentimes recant their statement. So I think that what we have to assume from these facts is that the prosecution, despite their wanting to bring this case against Zimmerman, simply didn`t have the evidence to do it. Otherwise, they would not have dropped the case.
GRACE: Well, you know what? Jeff Gold, I disagree because when they get there -- this is confirmed -- everything she says on 911 is confirmed. There`s not another eyewitness seeing him holding the shotgun. That`s what would have to be proved to the jury. That would be the issue of fact to go in front of the jury. If they wanted to, they could.
But you know what I think? I think they got their tail whipped the first time they went up to trial, and they don`t want to do it again. And I think that`s wrong. I think they ought to hold her feet to the fire and say, This is what you told the cops, we`re going to trial.
JEFF GOLD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, I hate to actually agree, but I do agree that they could have put in that tape. In most jurisdictions, they would go ahead and put in that tape. And they are gun-shy, no pun intended, of George Zimmerman right now and are afraid of losing again. I think that really is true. You know, domestic violence is prosecuted everywhere with this kind of evidence.
GRACE: Last word to you, Taaffe. I`m sure we`ll see each other again because George Zimmerman cannot behave. Taaffe?
TAAFFE: Yes, well, here`s the deal. Why don`t we charge Samantha for a false 911 call, and also filing a false police affidavit? And maybe...
GRACE: You know what? You`ve got...
TAAFFE: ... just maybe...
GRACE: ... a nerve, Taaffe. You`ve got a nerve...
TAAFFE: ... we`ll do a little twist. Maybe...
(CROSSTALK)
TAAFFE: ... stop this BS!
GRACE: You got one dead boy, a roughed-up life...
TAAFFE: Maybe this will stop! Hey...
GRACE: ... and a scared girlfriend.
TAAFFE: ... (INAUDIBLE) said it the best...
GRACE: And you want to charge them on false report. OK, fine. You know what? Cut his mike.
TAAFFE: ... winning...
GRACE: I`ve been wanting to say it for 25 minutes.
When we come back: Prosecutors say eight days after the wedding, the bride shoves her husband off a cliff at Glacier Park because she regrets getting married, even demanding her little brother lie to cops about her hubby`s body.
But tonight, killer bride set to walk free in a secret sweetheart deal?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And now to tonight`s hot trial. Prosecutors say eight days after the wedding vows, the bride shoves her husband off a cliff at Glacier Park because she regrets getting married. Even then demanding her little brother lie to police about her husband`s body.
In court, the groom`s own mother takes the stand, telling the jury how excited he was on his wedding day, how he said, today`s the best day of my life, mom. I`m going to start a family. The mom breaking down on the stand sobbing, I always wanted to be a grandma.
The jury looking right at killer bride.
As we go to air at this hour, is killer bride set to walk free in a secret sweetheart deal?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: She drove him there, pushes him over, both hands on his back. This is not self-defense. He`s walking away, he falls to his death, she lives him and starts covering her tracks. In fact, when her 16-year-old brother found the body she asked him to lie to police.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He testified that Graham brought him to the cliff to discover Johnson`s body. The teenage boy sobbed saying, she told one lie, was asked to tell the truth, she said it again, she had to keep adding more lies to cover it up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s from ABC`s "GMA." In the last hours is killer bride set to walk free in a secret sweetheart deal? Remember, she`s charged with not only murder two but with murder one. With murder one in federal court. She could get life without parole.
Straight out to Jon King, reporter with KGVO. He`s been in the courtroom.
Jon King, we`re getting to the end of the state`s presentation and suddenly a plea deal? What the hay?
JON KING, REPORTER, KGVO NEWSTALK 95.5: We were all surprised. Honestly the prosecution looked like they had a hill to climb and then she`s going to plead guilty at the last minute to second-degree murder.
GRACE: Jon King, KGVO, by the time I had prepared a case, gotten all my witnesses, all my forensic evidence, all my demonstrative evidence, all my demonstrations ready, given an opening statement, prepared my closing statement, get all my jury charges of law ready, why would you back out of going for the gold? Why did they take a plea to a lesser offense?
KING: I don`t know exactly. There are some caveats to the plea deal. She bypassed, went over the right to double jeopardy on those first and third charges.
GRACE: Everybody, bombshell out of a federal courtroom. In the last hours, we learned Jordan Graham, killer bride, set to possibly walk free in a secret sweetheart deal.
Matt Zarrell, I want to take it from the beginning. Give me the facts of the case in a nutshell.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, just a few days after a gorgeous wedding, newlywed bride Jordan Graham admits that she pushed her husband Cody Johnson off a cliff, 200 feet below to his death. Then prosecutors say she spent -- she went on a nine-day campaign to cover up the crime, including getting her brother and others to lie for her as well as evidence that she fabricated e-mails to make it seem like he had fell off the cliff. And then she, Nancy, was the one who found the body days later.
GRACE: Jon King, to me, what broke the camel`s back was when her own little brother took the stand and he described breaking down in tears yelling out, why did she have to lie over and over. We learned that Jordan Graham even tried to involve her little brother in obstruction of justice lying to police because she goes, oh, no, there`s my husband, there he is.
And the little brother looks down, he sees the dead body down there with an eight inch skull fracture. He sees that down there and he falls apart. And he says she`s just standing there like nothing happening. Nothing happened. Then she made him lie to police and say somebody else found the body, not her.
KING: I think you`re right. It was that scene in the courtroom when he cried, she cried. But that was about the only emotion we saw from Jordan the entire trial. And it`s the testimony of him climbing, from other friends, just barely able to walk up from seeing Cody`s dead body. It was the most shocking moment, I think, in the courtroom.
And if anything got her to plead guilty, I think it was the moral weight of her friends and family in that courtroom.
GRACE: You`re kidding. You`re kidding. The moral weight?
Dave Mack, syndicated talk show host, I got to disagree on -- with Jon King on that one. I usually agree with King.
But, Dave Mack, she`s taking the moral high ground? Now this is the woman --
DAVE MACK, MORNING TALK SHOW HOST, CLEAR CHANNEL WAAX RADIO: No.
GRACE: -- that drove her husband there. Pushed him off the cliff, both hands on his back, so it was not self-defense, leaves, and starts making up e-mail addresses so she can write herself posing as one of his friends going, oh, yes, we were partying, he fell off the cliff, he`s dead, call off the search. And not only that.
MACK: Yes. She --
GRACE: As she leaves, as she leaves the cliff where she killed her husband, she starts texting, writing her buddies about her Zumba class moves.
MACK: Yes.
GRACE: Zumba. Do you what that is? That`s the big race, the dance, where you lose weight. Yes. She started -- before she can even get out of Glacier National Park, she`s writing her friends about the Zumba moves.
MACK: Yes. Nancy, the day after the wedding she was telling friends she regretted marrying him. She pushes him over the cliff with both hands, then she starts lying, he went off on a joyride, he did all this other stuff.
GRACE: That`s sick.
MACK: But if you noticed, he thing that got me about her lack of conscience, just like any other murderer, she wanted to make sure the body was found so that they could move on with it, and like she said. You know, they went back, the one night, she and her brother, they didn`t find him, they went back the next day, and her brother said he wondered why they were going back to the same place that they had already searched. Well, she knew where the body was because she killed him. She has no moral conscience.
GRACE: Yes.
MACK: She`s got nothing.
GRACE: Hey, Dave Mack, this is what I learned from a source. Guess what they were arguing about? Sex.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: For the first time, the jury saw Jordan Graham wipe away tears and they were not for Cody Johnson, the husband she`s accused of pushing off a cliff face first.
So what made the usually stoic newlywed cry? The sight of her 16-year-old stepbrother breaking down as he testified against her.
His sister`s attorney asked, are you mad at Jordan? Not so much anymore, but at first yes. Why? She could have just told us the truth, but she had to keep adding more lies to cover up.
The baby-faced Michael Rutledge told the jury how he helped his big sister search for Cody Johnson, even hanging up missing posters, all while Jordan Graham knew exactly where her husband was -- at the bottom of the cliff in Montana`s Glacier National Park.
The teenager was with his sister that July night when she finally pointed to the body.
"I lost it, I couldn`t control my emotions," Rutledge told the jury. "Cody was laying face down, looked as if he was on top of a rock in the water."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is from ABC`s "Good Morning America." The discussion of the 16-year-old brother is -- he just turned 16 -- breaking down, just crying on the stand about what he saw Cody`s body lying there like that, and how his brother, Jordan Graham, the killer bride, demanded that he lied to police, putting her little brother in jeopardy, to tell police somebody else found the body. This is after she kept saying, I`ve got a feeling. I got a feeling, this is where we`re going to find him.
What a load of BS, and I am sick that there is a plea deal, a sweetheart deal, and she`s going to walk, walk early, very early on this case. On a lot -- murder one charge she would get life without parole. Not so any more. And now we learn the big fight, the reason she was having regrets was over sex.
You`re kidding, Jon King, KGVO. They`ve only been married eight days and they`re already arguing about sex?
KING: There were statements during the trial from friends that had spoken to Jordan that he had asked for it every night. But I heard her final testimony, she didn`t bring up the discussion was specifically about sex.
GRACE: Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Are you saying Cody Johnson, aged 25, asked his bride of eight days for sex every night? Is that what I just heard?
KING: That`s not specifically the quote, but it`s along those lines.
GRACE: OK. He`s 25 years old. Of course he wants sex every night. He probably wants sex every hour. I give him credit for just asking for sex once a night, for Pete`s sake. So she kills him? She regrets the marriage and she kills him?
What about saying, yes, no, I`ve got a headache. Or go away? Or I`m not your sex slave. Or let`s cuddle. You know, that might work. Does she have to kill him, Jon King?
KING: I obviously -- no, she doesn`t have to kill him. One of the statements she made was that he -- he wants me to make him happy, but he doesn`t want me to make him happy. At least that`s the paraphrase from what one of the friends testified in court yesterday.
GRACE: OK. Jon King with me, KGVO. But first, Dave Mack, isn`t that kind of argument supposed to happen about 25 years into the marriage, not on day eight?
MACK: Yes, you actually hope it never happens. But, you know, Nancy, it`s really interesting that she said to a friend, I wish somebody would have asked me if I wanted to marry him the day we got married. And that`s a question a lot of newlyweds need to be asked, need to be asked before the marriage, are you sure you want to go through with this?
GRACE: Well, you know what, Dave Mack?
MACK: A lot of time to get caught up.
GRACE: Correct me if I`m wrong, Dave, but in every wedding I`ve ever seen, somebody says, if there are any objections, speak now or forever hold your peace. There was her chance.
MACK: That`s in front of --
GRACE: She should have run down the aisle.
(CROSSTALK)
MACK: That`s in front of the crowd.
GRACE: OK, Jon King.
MACK: I got you.
GRACE: Jordan Graham, killer bride, allocute or speaks in court. I don`t know attorneys insist on saying allocuting. She spokes in court. What happened, Jon King?
KING: Well, yes, she took the stand, went to say that she was guilty, and she was asked a series of questions by the judge. Judge Malloy asked her, you know, are you sure you know what you`re getting into? You realized that you could be living the rest of your life out in federal prison?
He asked her a series of questions. Things that he was, you know, unsure of. Made sure that she wouldn`t lie to him and even told her, you know, I`ve seen evidence that you`ve lied in the past. And some of the questions he asked were, you know, who went down that hill first, and she said that he went first and I followed.
He asked, you know, where were the keys? How did he get ahold of the car keys? How did you get ahold of his cell phone. And she said, I always carry the car keys in my pocket, we left the cell phones in the car.
He asked, what did he say to make you angry? And she said, he didn`t, he grabbed my hand. Did he let go? Judge Malloy. She responded no. And that she pulled away. And then we get the story where she pushed him with both hands on the shoulder and the back, and he fell over head first.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police videotaped Graham again, she went to police because she received an e-mail dated July 10th, three days after her husband`s death. The e-mail came from a mysterious friend named Tony. It reads, "Hello, Jordan. My name is Tony. There is no bother in looking for Cody any more, he is gone."
The e-mail claims Johnson died during that car trip. The officer who saw the e-mail says to Graham, seems kind of sketchy, because it was. The e- mail traces back to a computer at Graham`s father`s home, a fake e-mail created to support Graham`s story to police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To Dr. Bill Manion, medical examiner, joining me tonight out of Philadelphia.
Dr. Manion, thank you so much for being with us. There was an eight inch skull fracture, plus his knees were skinned up. Now I understand the eight inch fracture from falling. But the knees skinned up, I just wonder if that didn`t happen higher up.
DR. BILL MANION, M.D., MEDICAL EXAMINER, BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ: Yes, you`re absolutely right. Depending on the angle of the fall itself, his body could have easily come into contact with rocks or boulders. Trees. And then as he fell forward, probably when he fell finally on that rock, he suffered that fracture which mercifully killed him -- or knocked him unconscious and you know, instantly, so he didn`t suffer any more than he would have suffered plunging down that side of the cliff.
GRACE: Is killer bride set to walk free on a secret sweetheart deal as the state nears it -- the end of its case? Killer bride, suddenly, the courtroom is stunned, when she is allowed to plea to a lesser offense.
Back to Jon King, KGVO. OK. The two are apparently arguing over sex, so she decides to just kill him. But what were you saying? She said during allocution or speaking to the court today that he grabbed her hand and then she pushed him?
KING: Yes. Yes. She -- that he grabbed her hand, she pulled away, and in one continuous motion pushed him on the shoulder and the back. The judge actually asked her to be specific. Was it two hands on the back and then she changed her statement a little bit and said --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: And how, Jon King --
KING: And on the back.
GRACE: And how, Jon King, with KGVO, did she explain the fact that before she could even get out of Glacier National Park, and she`s leaving her husband`s body back there to rot, to decay, for animals to tear it apart -- that`s a certain mind-set right there. She starts texting about her Zumba moves. What was that?
KING: Well, I think it was actually a church luau, but maybe you read a different text. But what I heard, and this is what she said, she said, that was my way of trying to calm myself down and not showing anyone I was scared. My way of coping.
GRACE: So you talk about the church luau?
KING: Yes. She texted back and forth with a friend about a church luau
GRACE: OK.
KING: That they were practicing their dance move.
GRACE: You say luau, I say Zumba. Bottom line is that mental state, the cool, calmness of being able to send those fake texts after just killing your husband, your groom to me speaks of murder one.
Unleash the lawyers. Jeff Gold, Kimberly Priest Johnson.
All right, Kimberly Priest-Johnson, the reason I clarified with Jon King that the dead groom grabbed her hand, that doesn`t signify any cause for self-defense. He took her hand. That`s not an attack.
KIMBERLY PRIEST JOHNSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, and Nancy, I agree. It`s not self-defense. I think really what the defense should have argued, to be a little more accurate with the facts, is that it was an accident. And I think that`s why we got the plea that we got, which is murder --
GRACE: Can I please say Kimberly Priest Johnson?
You know, Kimberly, regardless of the line of -- let me just say BS that you`re feeding me right now, if anybody ever pushes you off a cliff, honey, I will not rest if they say it was an accident.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNSON: But I -- I mean, I`m sorry --
GRACE: Because when you push somebody to their death, that`s not an accident.
JOHNSON: No, no, no. I practiced in federal court too long and I know that prosecutors are not going to agree to a plea deal, dropping their strongest count unless they believe they cannot make their case. And that is the only reason why we have the deal that we have.
GRACE: Well, you know what, that`s a great question. I think that would have been a great question for the jury to decide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Prosecutors played video of police interviews where the jury saw and heard Graham lying with police. In the first video, Graham was matter of fact and unemotional as she tells police the story, that her husband, Cody Johnson, took off from home in a dark car with Washington plates. Sgt. Chad --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Jeff Gold, Kimberly Priest Johnson.
Jeff Gold, I just heard Kimberly Priest Johnson say prosecutors took a sweetheart deal where she could walk because they thought they couldn`t make out murder one. Well, wouldn`t that be a great question for the jury?
JEFF GOLD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, it might be. But first of all, she`s not going to walk. It`s second-degree murder. She`s not going to get probation for it. And the other part of that is this. Look, we have a lot of circumstantial evidence but we really don`t know what exactly happened.
GRACE: I know.
GOLD: Leaving that up to a jury is a chance.
GRACE: I know.
GOLD: These prosecutors wanted to convict her.
GRACE: She murdered him.
GOLD: And they wanted to make sure she went behind bars and they were willing to do the plea agreement to make sure she didn`t walk. And she should have walked.
GRACE: Do you know what I say to that? I say to that, if you have the gut and the backbone and you believe in your case enough to take it to a grand jury, take it to a petite jury, jury of 12, and you should hold out. If you believe in it that much, and take it to the jury and let them decide.
Matt Zarrell, he is going on, Jeff Gold, about how she`s not going to walk free. But isn`t it true under the federal code she could be sentenced to any period of years, even one, and she`s already done a few days?
ZARRELL: Well, yes, Nancy, but the judge sent a sentencing guideline range of about 19 and a half to 24 and a half years that he expects to give her.
GRACE: That`s what he expects. But isn`t it true? Let me just nail you down, Matt Zarrell, because you could be pretty slippery sometimes. I`m quoting from the federal code by heart. Murder two, she can be sentenced to, quote, "any period of years," including one year? Yes, no?
ZARRELL: It doesn`t say including one year, but it said any years, yes.
GRACE: Any period of years, that`s my quote. Is that correct?
ZARRELL: Yes.
GRACE: And let me ask you this, Jon King, has she been behind bars waiting for this trial or she`d been out on bond?
KING: She`s been at her mom`s house.
GRACE: So she`s been out on bond. So, Mack, if she gets a small sentence, she could be out in 12 months and one day. Now there`s justice for you.
Let`s stop and remember American hero Army Staff Sergeant Eric Shaw, just 31 years old, Exeter, Maine. Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, dreamed of being a history teacher. Mother, Michelle. Widow, Audrey. Daughters, Madison and Victoria.
Eric Shaw, American hero.
And tonight, a special happy birthday to the most beautiful girl in the world.
Happy birthday, Mother.
And happy birthday to friend, Evelyn. Loves church, her three children, four grands and four greats.
This holiday season, we support the Murphy Hearts Home for Abused Children. Children that have beaten, that have been starved and have nowhere to go.
Go to Nancygrace.com for special holiday packages, including our signature handcuff necklace, travel mugs, murder mystery books. Order soon and get your delivery for Christmas.
And did I mention happy birthday, Mother?
Dr. Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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