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Nancy Grace
Maryland Road Rage Murder; Monica Spear and Ex-Husband Murdered in Venezuela
Aired January 08, 2014 - 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. The FBI puts out a nationwide warning. There`s a killer on the roads.
Bombshell tonight. Police begging for help to track down the person who guns down this 28-year-old man in an apparent case of road rage. Tonight, police convinced the suspect could and will strike again at any moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A random act of road rage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But this one was deadly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Davison placed a frantic call to 911. Minutes later, that driver rammed Davison`s SUV into the median, got out and shot him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised there`s still an active shooter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re taking this incident extremely seriously, and we`re leaving no stone unturned as far as the investigation is concerned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, a beauty queen, a well-known soap opera star, her husband and 5-year-old daughter in their Toyota Corolla, the car hits sharp objects on the road and blows out two tires. Police now believe those objects deliberately placed there, a common ploy for criminals. As the soap star, Monica Spear, and her husband frantically lock their doors, the gunman opens fire, killing both of them and shooting the little girl, as well. Tonight, a slain beauty. What went wrong?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Monica Spear!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A former beauty queen and her husband were gunned down?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities say Spear, her estranged husband and their 5-year-old daughter were attacked by armed robbers on a rural highway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no words to describe our pain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Also tonight, live, Missouri. They were thrilled when their baby boy was born, but just eight short months later, Daddy lets the baby boy drown alone in the bathtub while Daddy plays video games!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dad admits he left his baby alone to play video games, his 8-month-old baby boy in the bathtub. After finding the boy drowned, he calls 911.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I heard, like, some kind of screaming. I saw him carry the baby out to the cop and the cop took the baby to the ambulance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tiny infant is pronounced dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And also tonight, live, San Jose. Cops on high alert for an armed serial bank robber hitting multiple banks. It`s all caught on grainy surveillance video. But there`s one problem. Is the robber a man or a woman? So far, the wig-wearing serial bank robber, armed to the hilt, outsmarting police and bank officials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A wig-wearing serial bank robber on the loose. Is it a man or a woman?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police are still not sure if the suspect is a man or a woman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Caught on tape, we can see the robber donning a long black wig and sunglasses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brandishing a gun, threatening some tellers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They aren`t even sure if it`s a man or a woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. The FBI puts out a nationwide warning. There`s a killer on the road. Bombshell tonight. Police are begging for help to track down the person who guns down a 28-year-old man in an apparent case of road rage.
Tonight, police are convinced the suspect could and will strike again at any moment, and right now are working around the clock to piece together pieces of the puzzle suggesting that the killer may have killed before under almost identical circumstances.
Straight out to Joe Elias, reporter with "The Patriot-News," Pennlive.com. Joe, what happened?
JOE ELIAS, "PATRIOT-NEWS" (via telephone): Well, Nancy, just about after 2:10 AM on Saturday, Timothy Davison is driving home along the northbound lanes of on Interstate 91 in Maryland when he places a call to 911 saying he`s being chased and shot at by someone.
For some unknown reason, the call is disconnected, and he places another one, and it`s picked up by officials in Franklin County in Pennsylvania, and he tells them the same story. At about 2:10 AM, a Maryland state trooper finds Davison in his SUV in the median of 81, near mile marker 3, with several gunshot wounds, including at least one to the head.
GRACE: With me is Joe Elias with "The Patriot-News" at Pennlive.com, joining me out of Mechanicsburg. Joe, again, thank you for being with us.
I want to go back over what you just said. So the victim calls 911 from his vehicle. For whatever reason, the call drops. We know he was on a cell phone, obviously. Now, when he called, Joe, did he suggest that he knew the identity of the person chasing him?
ELIAS: No. He described -- he only described a dark-colored Ford Ranger-type vehicle, according to the state police.
GRACE: Everyone, tonight, the FBI issuing an APB, all points bulletin, for the person -- and we believe it is a man -- that guns down an innocent driver along this stretch of highway.
Back to Joe Elias. So the first call was dropped. Do we know why? The first 911 call?
ELIAS: No, we do not.
GRACE: OK. In that call, he doesn`t know who it is. Tell me again exactly what he says to police, to the best of your knowledge. I know they haven`t released the 911 call yet.
ELIAS: According to the state police here in Pennsylvania, he`s describing being chased and being shot at.
GRACE: Joining me also, Justin Freiman. Justin, what more do we know tonight? And why are police now considering the possibility this is not his first victim on the road?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): That`s right, Nancy, just eight hours before this and 40 miles away, another person was shot at by somebody in a dark pickup truck. Thankfully, that person did survive.
GRACE: OK. Joe Elias, "Patriot-News," what do you know about that incident, that there was another road shooting just a few hours before this fatality?
ELIAS: That person describes a dark-colored Nissan truck, possibly black, that pulled up alongside of them and fired several shots. And in that incident, the police recovered one of the shots from the car.
GRACE: OK, then -- the police are right now considering the possibility that these two are linked, Joe Elias. Do you believe that they are not linked? And if so, why?
ELIAS: What the police have said is there`s nothing that definitively relates the two, but they are treating them as linked until they find something that says it`s not.
GRACE: OK, they`re eight hours apart. They`re both dark vehicles. Did you say they`re both SUVs or trucks, Joe?
ELIAS: Trucks.
GRACE: So they`re both black or dark pickup trucks. They both have...
ELIAS: Yes, one was a Nissan, one was a Ford Ranger.
GRACE: Are they absolutely sure of the style, Ford Ranger versus Nissan? Are they absolutely sure?
ELIAS: That`s the information they`ve provided to us.
GRACE: Because it seems like too much of a coincidence to me for them not to be linked.
Everyone, police on the lookout. Now the FBI is in on the search. Is a killer on the road picking just the right victims on which to open fire?
Joe Elias with me, "Patriot-News." Joe, did the perp get out of their vehicle and approach the driver, or was it a drive-by?
ELIAS: The state police have said that Mr. Davidson was somehow run off the road and he slid in the snowy median into near the southbound lanes, and the driver of the other vehicle got out and fired several shots at him.
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! OK, that is much different than what many of us had envisioned because it`s one thing, Joe Elias, for a driver to get angry, roll the window down and shoot a bird or shake your fist or even fire a shot, as awful as it is. The premeditation it takes to get out of your -- to run somebody off the road, then get out of your car and go over to them and point into the driver`s side and let loose, unload on the victim -- and it`s apparently somebody you don`t even know? That is a whole different animal.
So Joe Elias, tell me again. He`s driving and he makes a 911 call. The call drops. He calls back. Then is he on the line with 911 when the murder occurs?
ELIAS: All we have been told is that he was found in his car with several gunshot wounds.
GRACE: Multiple gunshot wounds. Joe, was the driver`s side window broken, or did the driver let the window down?
ELIAS: We`ve not been told anything about that.
GRACE: Because if he let the window down, that would suggest to me that he knew the person that ran him off the road. Unleash the lawyers...
ELIAS: The state police have not -- they`ve told us that there is nothing that links Mr. Davison to any suspect that would want to do this.
GRACE: OK, back to you, Justin Freiman. I want to hear what other intel do we have on this because according to police, they are saying they expect the guy to shoot again. That means any of us driving along the interstate -- both of these incidents happened on freeways, on interstates -- are subject to this type of a threat.
So Justin, why are they linking the two?
FREIMAN: Nancy, you`re correct. It`s terrifying. The police actually said, We have to assume the individual is a violent person and might do this again. They go on to say that the potential for additional incidents of similar nature is anticipated, due to the violent nature of the incident. That`s scary stuff.
GRACE: OK, out to Marc Harrold, former police officer, lawyer, author of "Observations of White Noise." Marc, thanks for being with us. I want to hear your thoughts. What should people be looking for to identify the perp? We already know a dark truck. But what about a geographic area, or does that even matter anymore?
MARC HARROLD, FORMER POLICE OFFICER (via telephone): Well, the timeframe has been so long, geographic area is hard to go with. If you take the two incidents and think that he`s proceeding away -- let`s assume that the first incident -- the shooting is a pattern, there`s two of them - - he`s moving away from the first possibly in the direction of the second one, if that corresponds to the northbound lane.
But this a very dangerous individual because you have (INAUDIBLE) looks like random suspects -- or I`m sorry, random victims but deliberate killings, and that combination`s very dangerous.
GRACE: Everyone, FBI now joining in on the search of a freeway killer following their victim, running him off the road, getting out of their vehicle, going over to the car and gunning them down.
In the first instance, Joe Elias, was the victim killed?
ELIAS: No, he was not hit at all.
GRACE: Interesting about the identity. Does he know -- obviously, this is going to be a male. What else do we know about the male? Do we have an ID? Do we have anything other than a black pickup?
ELIAS: No ID, no description, just vague accounts of the car.
GRACE: OK. You know what I`m thinking. I`m wondering about the interstate cameras.
We are taking your calls. Rose, New Jersey. What`s your question, Rose?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was wondering if they had a description of the guy, by any chance.
GRACE: No. No description yet. Jason, Canada. What`s your question, Jason?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy. Great talking with you again tonight.
GRACE: Likewise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My question is, do we know if there was more than one suspect?
GRACE: So far, we only know of one suspect, and police are linking the two.
Unleash the lawyers, Jonna Spilbor, Peter Odom. Out to you, Jonna Spilbor. It`s a far cry when you just drive by and shoot or shoot a bird or you raise your fist in anger. When he gets out of his car, slams his door and walks to the other car and unloads all his ammunition into the victim, that cannot be overcome by a defense attorney. That is premeditation.
JONNA SPILBOR, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I have to agree with you there. But what I don`t think that the police are going to be able to do right now, Nancy, is link these two. This is really a needle in a haystack investigation at this point because there`s precious little evidence of either crime. We have one dead victim and another victim who can`t really identify the perpetrator. And there`s nothing...
GRACE: Yes, I know all that...
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: ... to connect the two.
GRACE: ... but the coincidence, Peter Odom. You know, you and I have always said -- we`ve agreed on one thing -- there is no coincidence in criminal law.
ODOM: You have to assume there`s not.
GRACE: The fact that both of these occur -- no, I disagree. I think that we`re going to find out there is a link.
Everybody, when we come back, a beauty queen, a well-known soap opera star, her husband and their 5-year-old daughter in their Toyota, the car hits a sharp object on the road, blows out two tires. Police now think those objects deliberately placed there. And the soap star and her hubby frantically try to lock the doors, a gunman opens fire, killing them and shooting their little girl, as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A beauty queen, a well-known soap opera star, her husband and 5-year-old daughter in their Toyota. The car hits a sharp object on the road and blows out two tires. Police now say those objects deliberately placed there, a very common ploy for criminals. As the soap opera star, Monica Spear, and her husband frantically try to lock the doors, a gunman opens fire, killing both of them and shooting their little girl, as well.
Tonight, a slain beauty. What went wrong?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A woman who once competed for the title Miss Universe has been killed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her little daughter, Maya, who was just 5 years old, was shot in her leg.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She lost both her mother and father, and tragically, she was the witness to it all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So young, a mother, great sister, a great daughter. It was very painful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: What a tragedy. The 5-year-old little girl also shot. She survived, but will she ever get beyond seeing her mother and father gunned down?
Straight out to Maria Alejandra Requena, CNN Latino anchor and friend of Monica Spear. Maria, thank you for being with us. What do police believe happened?
MARIA ALEJANDRA REQUENA, CNN LATINO ANCHOR: They believe it was a robbery that went really, really wrong. It was terrible for Monica, of course, for her family, for Thomas Berry, who was his (ph) partner, their father of Maya, who just, as you say, is 5 years old. So they believe it was a robbery.
But the thing is, I`m not so sure it was (INAUDIBLE) were things placed on the road because, usually, the roads in Venezuela are in a very, very bad shape. They have holes all over the road. So in this case, she blew up the two tires from the right side of the car. And that`s what happened.
After they -- they were waiting for a tow truck. They tried to contact the emergency line. They couldn`t. Finally, the truck arrived, and while the car was in the truck, on the truck, this robbers came armed and they lock themselves in the car and they just start shooting at the car.
GRACE: You know what`s very interesting? Out to you, Clark Goldband. Joining me, in addition to Maria Alejandra Requena, Clark Goldband. Clark, all this happened after the tow trucks were called, right?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, that`s what authorities are now saying, Nancy. And in fact, according to reports, some of these drivers of the tow trucks are being questioned. And it`s important to point out here, we`re not talking about one tow truck, two tow trucks, and the car was already hooked up to one of the tow trucks when this went down.
GRACE: Here`s the issue. Whether there are witnesses or not, the issue is the 5-year-old little girl is really the only witness that we know of that was there.
But according to Clark Goldband, Maria, the tow trucks had gotten there and were getting the car up on the tow or had already done it when the shooting broke out.
Now, here`s my question. If this was an ordinary robbery, where robbers had placed something in the road, they would have robbed her, they would have robbed Monica -- a beauty queen, she`s a graduate of Central Florida State University, she`s a soap opera star. Look at her. The father of the child, the child in the car -- that would have all gone down before the tow operators got there, Maria.
See, that`s not fitting together with me. If this had been a robbery plan, they would have robbed them immediately when the car blew up, the tires, and gotten out of there. Why wait until two groups of tow trucks arrive?
REQUENA: That`s what I think that it wasn`t (ph) an object on the road. That`s what I think that, that maybe it was because of the holes on the road that they got these two blew -- they blew up, the two tires, and that`s why they were waiting. The tow truck came here, came in, and the robbers realized that they were all alone on the road, on a dark road, so they just do what they do best, rob people and kill them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A beauty queen gunned down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Monica Spear. She was just 29 years old. She was shot, dead along with her ex-husband, on a roadside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spear described herself as someone who likes to travel light, like a passing cloud, words that now seem to describe a life that was cut too short.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A beauty queen and soap opera star gunned down, along with the husband. The little girl in the back seat of the car saw her mother and father murdered.
Joining me right now is a special guest, Ricardo Spear, the brother of Monica Spear. Ricardo, thank you for being with us. When did your family hear this horrible news? And where is the 5-year-old girl tonight?
RICARDO SPEAR, BROTHER (via telephone): Can you repeat the second question, please?
GRACE: Yes. When did the family hear this news? And where is the 5- year-old daughter tonight?
SPEAR: OK. So we first heard of it apparently from a news source in Canada. Somebody called my aunt and told her that -- you know, what had happened. And they were trying to prepare themselves to tell my parents, but before they could get everything ready, my dad`s TV turned on, you know, on the tone at 7:00 AM, and you know, that`s when they heard the news.
Myself, I heard, you know, a very deep cry, actually, of my parents, and (INAUDIBLE) my dad and I told him, Are you hurt? Do I need to take you to the hospital? And so I kept asking questions until I said, you know, Did someone die? And he said, Yes, your sister. And you know, that`s how I found out and that`s how my dad found out.
GRACE: Ricardo, I am so sorry. I cannot imagine your father screaming out like that and then telling you your sister...
SPEAR: No, you know, it`s shocking. You know, it`s a deep loss.
GRACE: What about the little girl?
SPEAR: You know -- you know, the biggest part right now is my niece. We`re actually trying to take care of her. She has been released from the hospital, thankfully. And right now, we`re in a -- we`re not at their house, but we`re at another house which is very familiar to her. And so she`s surrounded by family, around people that she loves...
GRACE: Does she know...
SPEAR: ... and we`re trying to get her to (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: ... the little girl -- Ricardo, does the daughter, the 5-year- old little girl know her mom and dad have gone to heaven?
SPEAR: No, she does not, not at this time. (INAUDIBLE) couple psychologists see how we should handle the situation. And you know, we`re going to do it slowly today. We`re going to use metaphors, so, you know, they went to heaven, you know, they`re up there watching you, they`re taking care of you, they love you. And so that has been the advice that we`ve been given by more than a couple psychologists, and I think that`s the way that we`re going to go.
GRACE: Oh, Ricardo, I just -- I feel so bad for you guys and I feel so bad for that 5-year-old little daughter. I mean, she knows something happened. She was in the car when it happened.
SPEAR: Right.
GRACE: And who would have the heart to do that to a child and have the child see the mother and father murdered? But in their minds, they probably thought they killed the 5-year-old, too. They shot her.
If you could speak to your sister`s killer tonight, what would you say?
SPEAR: I don`t think I would say anything. You know, as a family, you know, we`re not angry. We`re not angry. We don`t -- we don`t usually have that feeling. We`re really deeply saddened, and we`re just hoping that something good comes out of it, like I said before.
GRACE: Everyone, when we come back: They were thrilled when their baby boy was born, but just eight short months later, Daddy lets the baby boy drown alone in the bathtub while Daddy plays video games!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And now live in Missouri, they were thrilled when their baby boy was born, but just eight short months later, daddy lets the baby boy drown alone in the bathtub while daddy plays video games?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paramedics raced to the scene to find an eight- month-old drowned in the bathtub and started CPR immediately. Two adults in the home tell police it was an accident, but something about the story just doesn`t seem right. When the infant is pronounced dead at the hospital, authorities decide to take a closer look. Cornered, dad admits he left his baby alone to play video games.
We want justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Playing video games while your eight-month-old child drowns in the bathtub? To John Tretbar, reporter with the St. Joseph Post.com. John, what happened?
JOHN TRETBAR, REPORTER, ST.JOSPHPOST.COM: Well, clearly an act of recklessness happened here and neglect. The father, Sean Wakefield Baynard (ph), put his baby son in a bathtub full of water instead of changing his dirty diaper, and then he went to play the video game Call of Duty with his brother. An extended period of time later, and that`s a matter of some dispute, he retrieved young Keon (ph), obviously distraught, called 911 and began efforts to revive the child. There was a huge effort to save this child`s life. First responders, paramedics, and police all made extensive efforts to resuscitate. The baby was transported to the local hospital, Hartland Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
GRACE: We are showing photos of the baby right now, and he is absolutely gorgeous. I heard John Tretbar say it is in dispute how long the father was playing video games. As a matter of fact, to Joshua Bachman, he`s the defense attorney for the father, Sean Wakefield Maynard, a fairly well-known lawyer in that area. Joshua, thank you for being with us. Joshua joining us from St. Joseph. How long was your client playing Call of Duty? Ten minutes or an hour?
JOSHUA BACHMAN, ATTORNEY: Nancy, thank you for having me. It is in dispute. Mr. Wakefield Maynard doesn`t dispute that it could have been anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour.
Our main contention was simply that it was not conclusive, that it had to have been an hour. The autopsy report was going on the assumption of 10 minutes or 5 minutes, and that it could have been that short of a time or longer.
There were two statements from Mr. Wakefield Maynard, and in the first one, he did indicate it could have been 10 minutes, and in the second one, it could have been as long as an hour. But the thing is, it just wasn`t conclusive it was an hour, but it could have been.
GRACE: Well, Mr. Bachman, everybody, with me is defense lawyer Joshua Bachman. Joshua, OK, how can he not know how long he played the game?
BACHMAN: Clearly, that would probably be the best question for Mr. Wakefield Maynard, but obviously this is an incredibly tragic event. Mr. Wakefield Maynard was very distraught afterwards and while he was giving these statements, so it`s understandable he may have lost track of exactly how long it was. I mean, 5, 10 minutes. That`s too long already anyway.
GRACE: With me here is Joshua Bachman, defense lawyer from St. Joseph. Also with me, John Tretbar from St. Joseph. A stunning turn of events. The couple overjoyed when their baby boy, their first child, was born. But just eight months later, daddy is busy playing Call of Duty and the child drowns all alone at eight months. I don`t even know if he can even sit up at eight months. Clark Goldband, what is Call of Duty?
GOLDBAND: Nancy, let`s start with some numbers. We`re talking 100 million copies of this franchise has sold. And you see here--
GRACE: Is that it in the background?
GOLDBAND: It is Call of Duty, as you can see, back here on the screen. What it is is a first player role-playing action game. There you are. You`re in the military on the ground, and Nancy, here`s what we`ve learned. We`ve learned that this suspect said it took too long for his character to die.
GRACE: OK. Hold on. Clark Goldband just told me, and I want to confirm this with you, Joshua, that your client said that the reason he played so long was it took him too long for his character to die?
BACHMAN: That is indeed the case. In the second, later statement that my client gave, he did indeed say he was playing a video game and that it took his character some time to die. Again, the first statement which is closer to the incident he said no more than 10 minutes. But again --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Joshua, you`re doing a great job in defending your client. Unleash the lawyers, Jonna Spilbor and Peter Odom. Peter Odom, took his character too long to die, so he had to keep playing while his character was eliminated?
ODOM: Right.
GRACE: And?
ODOM: Apparently that`s his story, Nancy. What this is, it`s a tragic accident. I don`t know why this case is in criminal court, frankly.
GRACE: Have you ever heard of criminal negligence, Jonna Spilbor?
SPILBOR: That`s what this is. Too bad there`s not a test, Nancy, that parents have to take before they become parents. But the best defense in this case is this parent did not intend to kill his baby. He was too stupid to parent. That resulted in the death. That`s an involuntary manslaughter.
GRACE: I believe both of you -- can I see the lawyers, please? Jonna Spilbor and Peter Odom, you both know, please don`t try to mislead the viewers, okay? They`re not 12 of your poor jurors in the jury box, OK? The law assumes, presumes, that you intend the natural consequence of your act.
Out to you, psychologist Caryn Stark. You put a child, a baby, an infant, eight months old that can`t even sit up yet, into the bathtub, and leave it. What does the law presume? What`s the natural consequence of your act? For instance, if I take this laptop right here and I throw it to the ground and it hits the cement, the law will assume I meant to break it. That`s what the law says. It`s in black and white. So this guy leaves a baby in the bathtub and the baby drowns.
STARK: And it`s so negligent, Nancy, you have to assume this is a really narcissistic, immature person, who knows better. So something was really off. He never should have been a parent. You wonder, what was he doing playing video games to begin with?
GRACE: I agree with you, Caryn Stark. I agree with you. Clark Goldband, let me see it again.
GOLDBAND: Nancy, look at this. You`re taking a look at the view of the scope right behind what the gunman as player is seeing. And as you can see, there is a lot of stages to get through in these games. It can take quite a while. And that`s why this suspect says he couldn`t get away from his game system and just put the child in the tub. Here you are on a mission.
GRACE: Take the child out of the tub. You`re skeeving (ph) me out totally, Goldband, because you`re getting a little too into the game.
GOLDBAND: This is a very exciting game.
GRACE: Try to bring it down. Dr. Carter, chief forensic psychologist in Marion County, Indiana, author of "I Speak for the Dead." Dr. Carter, is there any way to tell how long the baby had been dead when paramedics got there?
CARTER: Well, there are ways to tell by taking the child`s temperature, but it only takes a few minutes for a child to die of asphyxia, not getting enough oxygen, in as little as half a cup of water. You don`t leave an infant in a tub, period.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 24-year-old Sean Wakefield Maynard is at home playing video games when he realizes he forgot to check on something. His eight-month-old boy in the bathtub.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard some kind of screaming so I came outside to see what was going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: He`s busy playing Call of Duty. With me tonight is his lawyer, Joshua Bachman joining me from St. Joseph. Joshua, did the EMT say how long they tried to save the boy? They tried for an hour. Could they tell how long the baby had been dead when they got there?
BACHMAN: It was my understanding that the infant was pronounced dead at the hospital, and as far as I know from my review of the records, there was no indication of how long the child had been in the tub. Only obviously a sufficient amount of time to drown.
GRACE: Well, apparently this is not the first time that the Internet, Facebook and online games have been more important than saving your child`s life. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I just picked him up from his play yard. He`s not breathing. He`s got his eyes open. I hear his heartbeat, though. He`s not breathing.
GRACE: There you see mommy in court, mommy in court after spending hours online playing on Facebook. Apparently, according to police, her 14- week-old baby Dylan cries. And when he does, she doesn`t want to be disturbed. She beats the child in the head with her computer.
An 11-month-old baby girl found floating lifeless in the family tub. Where was mommy? Oh, that`s right. She was downstairs shopping for shoes online.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her 11-month-old daughter drowned in the bathtub upstairs. Kathy Godom (ph) claimed she left her daughter in the tub with her toddler brother for just a couple of minutes. But investigators who looked at Godom`s computer say it was more like 20.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: On FaceBook, buying shoes online. Clark Goldband, there was the other mom who was playing Fishville (ph) or Farmville or something like that, and the baby died?
GOLDBAND: You`re right, it was Farmville and Fishville. Here you have Farmville behind me. Take a look. It`s all about growing and planting fantasy crops, and here`s the thing. You only have a limited amount of time to pick those crops. So that`s why we see--
GRACE: Again, Clark, you need to bring it down. You seem more interested in picking the crops than you do about the baby in the bathtub?
GOLDBAND: Nancy, players from all walks of life --
GRACE: (inaudible). Please. Please.
GOLDBAND: Here`s the thing.
GRACE: What?
GOLDBAND: You only have a certain amount of time to pick these crops. So that`s why parents are not attending to their children. They want to make--
GRACE: They (inaudible) pick the crops. Caryn Stark, based on Clark`s behavior, and in this case that we`re covering tonight, it seems like men have -- they get way too into the game. They can`t get out of the game. But then you have a mom shopping online for shoes and she didn`t notice her child was dying. I guess it`s equal opportunity crime.
STARK: I don`t think it`s just men, Nancy. If you take a look at it, there`s just people who are getting absorbed in computers. Computers can do that. But obviously there is something wrong to begin with. Because you never--
GRACE: I hope you`re not going to take it as far as insanity, because I don`t like where that`s going. Everybody, when we come back, cops on high alert for an armed serial bank robber hitting multiple banks. It`s all caught on grainy surveillance video. Here`s the problem. Is the robber a man or a woman? We can`t tell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And live, San Jose, cops on high alert for an armed serial bank robber hitting multiple banks, and it`s all caught on grainy surveillance video.
Here`s the problem, we can`t tell if it`s a man or a woman. So far the wig-wearing serial bank robber armed to the hilt outsmarting police and bank officials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The armed robber has been caught on camera, is it a man or a woman? Police have no clue as the brazen gun-toting suspect continues to elude them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s scary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some tellers were telling us that they believe that it`s a male dressed as a female. Other tellers have actually told us that they think it`s a female.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Okay. Whatever the gender, the perp is wearing a wig, they always have on sunglasses. To Henry K. Lee, reporter from San Francisco Chronicle, how many banks have they hit?
HENRY K. LEE, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: This person, Nancy, whether a man or a woman, has robbed five banks in San Jose and Milpeda (ph) since November. The most recent happened several days ago. I mean, she has got a different hairstyle each time. Up to you to decide if it`s a man or a woman, guys.
GRACE: I think I`ve made a decision, but first, take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I guess time`s ticking away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, like a biological clock, Pat? Do you have one of those? Or it probably doesn`t matter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or maybe you could wait till you`re 60 to start a family, I mean, could you?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Well, before I start a family, I need a special someone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Video from NBC`s "Saturday Night Live." Obviously the video is not helping us make a call on this bank robber. Henry K. Lee, reporter, San Francisco Chronicle, I`m going to put money on female. Female. And I`m going to tell you why. Show some more pictures, Liz, if you don`t mind. It looks like she`s got hips, and I`m pretty sure I see breasts.
LEE: Yes, I think so, too, Nancy. I see what you`re seeing. There seems to me to be a female. Now whether or not that`s her own hair is an open question.
GRACE: I can tell you right now that`s not her own hair. Henry, you`re the investigative reporter. That`s not her own hair. Peter Odom on the set with me has an opinion.
ODOM: I`m going with the Adam`s apple, Nancy. Men have Adam`s apples. Women don`t tend to. I don`t see an Adam`s apple there. I don`t see, so I am going with female.
GRACE: I don`t know how you can see an Adam`s apple. To Detective Enrique Garcia with the San Jose Police Department. Detective, thanks for being with us. Let me go ahead and tell you guys, this is a woman, okay, and that`s not her hair. We`re kidding around about it, Detective, but this, the bank robber is armed with a weapon every time. Do they threaten the bank teller with a weapon?
DET. ENRIQUE GARCIA, SAN JOSE PD: Yes. What`s interesting here is that clearly the person is using a disguise, whether or not the person is female or male, you know, it`s really not the issue. The issue is, let`s try to identify that person and let`s try to take them into custody as soon as possible.
What happened was initially the suspect entered the bank, presented a note to the teller, then the first time showed a handgun inside one of her like her bag or her purse. Well, since then, it has escalated, and what she`s basically doing is the next couple of robberies, she went in, presented a note, and took the gun out, pointed it at the teller. Since then she presents a note, takes the gun out, points it at the teller, and threatens the teller as well. So what we`re concerned is that clearly the person is motivated more and more each time that the person is committing the robberies.
GRACE: Detective Enrique Garcia, I want to give you a little bit of encouragement because my first bank robbery case I had, I wondered why the feds didn`t want it because normally feds prosecute that because of FDIC. It was because nobody could tell with a disguise if my perp was a man or a woman. Could not tell, wig, there was a fake mustache, there was a hat, sunglasses. Long story short, my bank robber, who also couldn`t spell, he wrote "don`t touch the alram (ph), this is a roby (ph)." Don`t touch the alarm, this is a robbery, translation. Was a man. But I am telling you, this is a woman, although the photo on the right, on the screen, I`m seeing a moustache, and that`s like totally messing with my I.D. on this. Also, Detective Enrique Garcia, is it true the banks are not telling how much she has stolen because they don`t want to scare all the bank customers away?
GARCIA: I think it`s just a matter of protocol. We as an agency don`t provide how much was taken. It`s really irrelevant. The bottom line is that they are going in there and whatever they are using to intimidate others, in this case it`s threats and a handgun, it`s working. What we`re concerned again if she`s going to escalate and take it to the next level.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Problem with this bank robber surveillance video, is it a man or a woman? Justin Freiman, I`m curious about the days of the week and how often she hits the bank. What days is she robbing and what times of the day?
FREIMAN: Nancy, she`s been robbing about two banks per month, which means she could strike again because one has already been hit this month.
GRACE: There`s an $11,000 reward. Tip line 408-947-7876. Everybody, I get lots of tweets and questions from viewers. Here is one from Canadian friend Mary, who wants to know how we find the cases we show on our air. Well, I`ve got a whole fleet that -- let`s see the photos of everyone that helps, Liz. There you go, there`s Liz, who is driving me crazy every night. Beth, Clark, Dana, Justin, Matt, Rachel, Steve. We start around 4:00 in the morning, and together we put -- we pick the topics, and we put together what we believe is the most representative of the crimes across our country. Our main goal is to solve unsolved homicides and find missing people, particularly children.
Tonight, we remember American hero Army Private First Class Benjamin Park. 25, Fairfax Station, Virginia. National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon. Leaves behind parents Ensook (ph) and Do-Huyan (ph), sister Irene. Benjamin Park, American hero.
Drew up next, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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