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Nancy Grace

Porn and Guns Seized From Hailey Owens`s Killer`s Home; George Zimmerman`s Arsenal

Aired February 24, 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, live, Springfield. At this hour, we are waiting on a police update, a little girl snatched from the front yard, broad daylight.

Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, we obtain from a police source exactly what`s found in the murder home, a floor soaked, the overwhelming smell of bleach, an arsenal of guns and ammo, thousands, thousands of child porn images meticulously bound together in massive binders, child porn in hard copies, magazines, a computer, and a little girl`s dead body doubled over, wrapped in trash bags.

Tonight, we uncover the type of weapon used when little Hailey`s life cut short. As thousands protest, as we go to air, the middle school coach suspected in Hailey`s horrific murder says he`ll plead not guilty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Spreading light in the aftermath of the darkest of tragedies...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kidnapping and murder of 10-year-old Hailey Owens.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police found evidence of what Craig Wood he did to her in his home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How and why and when her daughter`s accused murderer targeted Hailey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, Arizona, a socialite accused of hiring a hit man to car bomb her husband dead, spotted living it up in Austria after she collects $2 million on hubby`s life insurance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The socialite mother of two accused of hiring a hit man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She paid $400,000 to kill her husband.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His Lincoln town car is rigged with a bomb.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A car bomb, so she could allegedly collect on his $2 million life insurance policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And to Orlando. After 17-year-old Trayvon Martin gunned down by the captain of neighborhood watch, George Zimmerman walks free. But then also (INAUDIBLE) with his wife and claims he pulled a shotgun on his girlfriend. Tonight, we uncover Zimmerman`s shocking arsenal of guns and ammo as Zimmerman turns publicity hound, more plans to get celebs like female wrestler Chyna (ph), rappers ZMX (ph) and Drake (ph), even movie star Orlando Jones (ph), and millionaire Sean Diddy Combs (ph) in the ring so Zimmerman can make blood money off Trayvon`s death!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to talk about something more important here. You know, you keep talking about this gun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has his frickin` gun, breaking all of my stuff right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George had a concealed weapons permit.

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, FOUND NOT GUILTY OF MURDER: I had acted within the laws of our nation in self-defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live to Myrtle Beach and the desperate search for a 20-year-old. In the last hours, two in custody in connection with her disappearance. But tonight, where is Heather Elvis?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was seemingly just another day for a 20-year-old makeup artist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A break in the case of a young woman who simply vanished.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She dropped by her parents` home to pick up mail, went out on a date later that night. She`s never heard from again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A South Carolina couple believed to be linked to the mysterious disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s hard. It`s very hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

Bombshell tonight. A little girl snatched from a yard, broad daylight. Tonight, we obtain stunning and disturbing details from a police source.

Straight out to Rita Cosby, investigative journalist. Rita, one thing that really disturbed me is when police walk into this middle school coach`s home, they are just kicked back by the smell of bleach. Even when they talk to him, he smells like bleach. When they go in, the floor is still soaked with bleach.

And when I -- where`s Rita? When I hear about the thousands of child porn images found in his home, and there he is propped (ph) up, working at a middle school, a middle school? In a lot of places, middle school can be 5th, 6th, 7th. Did you know that, 5th graders? That`s 10 years old. And here`s this guy with thousands of images of porn, child porn, and an arsenal of weapons?

Rita, he had more weapons than the shooter in Sandy Hook did and the Colorado shooter, the movie shooter. They all had the same amount of weapons. What?

RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: It`s unbelievable! The other thing, Nancy, when cops come up, they`re surveilling him. They finally got the registration. They tie it to him. They`re waiting at the house. He`s holding duct tape! And then inside, they seize that notebook that has all that pornography. They also seize computers, videos. There is just a slew of information, and you wonder how did this guy even get the job at the school, and what else has he done.

GRACE: Well, we`re learning more and more about what is found in the home. We are taking your calls. I`ve also learned, Kelly Lamm, host of "Kelly Lamm" on "The Woman" joining me from Missouri -- we have also learned that he wants a public defender, but he`s got a million-dollar trust, a million- dollar trust in his name that, apparently, his parents set up. They have a huge farm where they raise show horses, quarterhorses.

KELLY LAMM, HOST OF "KELLY LAMM" (via telephone): Yes. To think that he has a $1 million trust fund and that we might be spending more money to help this person, who is not considered a person but a monster, is an incredible thought and should not happen. I know they`re looking over it right now, and we`re hoping that we don`t have to spend our tax dollars to help him in court.

GRACE: There you see him -- he`s an amateur bluegrass musician. The stunning details we`re obtaining from inside with a police source very disturbing. There you see him with his group, "The Thuds (ph)." And we`re learning as we go to air tonight, word from his camp (ph) that he will plead not guilty.

Now, remember, in this jurisdiction, there is the death penalty by lethal injection. Also, I believe they have another mode of DP there, but before I put the cart before the horse -- possibly the gas chamber -- Matt Zarrell, let me go to you.

There is a stunning amount of evidence found in the home. Tonight, we go inside the murder scene -- this child playing in the front yard on literally a tree-lined street, people see her getting snatched. Can you imagine your child getting snatched? Everybody running on foot after the truck. Somebody hops in the car, running after Hailey, trying to get her back. Witnesses say he threw her in the truck like she was a rag doll. I`m now learning that truck belongs to his parents, who seem to be funding his lifestyle.

Matt Zarrell, what else was found at the scene?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, a couple key pieces of information, Nancy. When cops discover Hailey`s body, they observed blood pooling in the bottom of the container. This is before they actually went and retrieved the body. An additional search of the home revealed that bedding had been removed, and there appeared to be unknown stains...

GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait! The bedding. What do you mean by that, Matt?

ZARRELL: Yes, the sheets and the mattress covers, the bedding had been removed from one of the beds, and there appear to be unknown stains on the mattress and pillows.

GRACE: Everyone, we are live in Missouri and taking your calls. Thousands take to the street, protesting the abduction and murder of this little girl, little Hailey Owens, just 10 years old. Turns out the lead suspect is a coach at a local middle school, lives about five miles away from her.

Back to you, Rita Cosby. Also, is it true the judge is going to personally look into this $1 million trust he`s got in his name? He`s now -- not only do I have to put up with the fact that he allegedly takes this child -- and I mean, he`s a pedophile. I mean, obviously, he`s got binders of child porn. I hear the judge, Dan Imhoff (ph), is going to personally determine whether he should be allowed to have a public defender. Do I have to pay his legal fees, too, on top of it all?

COSBY: Yes, it is incredible! If, indeed, he does have this $1 million trust, which is what prosecutors found immediately, they say he should not be funded by taxpayers, by our money, by anybody`s money but his own. And the judge said because of the heinousness and the brutality of this crime, he will personally look into this immediately.

GRACE: With me, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, Marc Klaas joining me from San Francisco. Marc, this is what I don`t understand, like, so much of it. I mean, his whole home was basically a shrine to child porn. But he`s working at a local middle school as a coach and dealing with children who were in detention.

I don`t get it. What, they didn`t know about his drug conviction? They didn`t know about his other conviction? What`s going on, Marc Klaas?

MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION (via telephone): Well, Nancy, unfortunately, child pornography is epidemic in this country. There are millions of people that are file-sharing this kind of information. And law enforcement oftentimes knows who they are. They just don`t have the resources to be able to arrest and convict and imprison these individuals. It`s the task forces, the crimes against children task forces, that have been requesting this money for well over a decade now.

GRACE: The public defender says, "I don`t litigate in the press." You know why? Because what can he say?

Marc Klaas, so many children have literally been taken out of the front yard. You know, I`m afraid to even let the twins go play -- I don`t let them go play unless I`m with them, Marc, I`m so worried.

KLAAS: And I think you have good reason to be worried, Nancy. I mean, even my own daughter was taken out of her bedroom. Oftentimes, we let people out onto the streets again knowing full well the kinds of crimes that they will commit, yet we don`t put the resources necessary to protect our children, either through laws, through even things like neighborhood watch programs, even increased law enforcement. We just don`t put the resources out there to protect our kids from these individuals.

People say, Well, the child should have been doing this, the child should have been doing that. The trouble is, they`re children. We don`t put the burden of the issue on the shoulders of the innocent kids. It`s our job to protect them, and quite frankly, we don`t do a good enough job of it.

GRACE: Marc, how old was Polly, your daughter, when she was kidnapped? Was she 10 or 12?

KLAAS: Polly was 12 years old. And just like this child, Nancy, she was kidnapped in front of witnesses. Unlike this child, that was a time when we didn`t have the Amber Alert. Now we have the Amber Alert. In this case, all the criteria was fulfilled within 12 minutes of her being abducted, yet it took 2 hours and 19 minutes to issue the alert. That demonstrates very clearly that it`s a broken system that needs to be fixed.

GRACE: Everyone, we are learning details from inside the scene where little Hailey was taken. We have learned about stains on the bedsheets that have been taken. We have learned about a cleanup. We have also learned and determined what caliber weapon was used to kill this child. It was a .22. We have learned an arsenal of weapons in that home, and reams and reams of child pornography.

Right now, we are waiting to hear from the medical examiner. I notice very carefully he is not yet charged with any sex assault on this child. Talking about children being taken from the front yard -- I see the lines are stacking up -- but right now, take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven-year-old Summer Thompson who was abducted and murdered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who vanishes while walking home from her elementary school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten-year-old Jessica Ridgeway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was last seen walking to school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. This is Jaycee Dugard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was grabbed as she walked to her bus stop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hailey Dunn (ph) walked out the doors of this house and was never seen again.

GRACE: Fourteen -- year-old Amber Dubois (ph) goes missing on her way to school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen-year-old Abigail Hernandez vanished after she left high school.

GRACE: A 5-year-old Samantha Runyon, Samantha abducted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many children do they have to take away before we as Americans get organized? We outnumber you so many times over! There is no excuse, and we`re not going to let you get away with this anymore!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Marching to honor a little girl`s life that was cut short.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have charged Craig Michael Wood, 45, of Springfield, with the tragic murder of Hailey Owens.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The documents also show 16 guns were found in the home, trash bags, bloody clothes, bleach and a binder full of child pornography.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. We are live in Missouri with the latest. This little girl, Hailey`s, body found just five miles from her home. Tonight, the man that is the lead suspect says he will plead not guilty.

OK, here`s my question to you, Matt Zarrell. Isn`t it true that blood was found on his shirt? Was he wearing the shirt? Where was the shirt? When was the blood found? Has it been DNA typed? What do we know?

ZARRELL: OK, let me take you through it because the cops were waiting for him at night when he pulled up to the house, and they asked him to come to the police station for questioning. Now, when they asked him to come for questioning, he never asked them why he was being interviewed or why he was being contacted by police. But nevertheless, he agrees to go to the police station.

As the police are interviewing him, they notice on his shirt, as he`s talking to them, there`s blood on his shirt. Now, police immediately seized the clothing and are testing it.

GRACE: Everyone, we are waiting to hear from the medical examiner exactly the details about what happened with this child.

Out to the lines. Mary, Virginia. Hi, Mary. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. First I just want to thank you so much for your voice that you bring attention to these murdered children.

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that children are becoming an endangered species in our country right before our eyes. I mean, it`s just every single day. My question is, how would it -- what would the likelihood be of making child murder a federal crime with tough, tough laws? Because every state is different.

GRACE: You know what? I`ve often thought about that, Mary, and I`ve got to tell you, I would not put it in the feds` hands. I just don`t see them -- they very rarely go forward with a death penalty case. I think you`ve got a better chance of it, even though it`s a patchwork cobbled together across our country how various states handle violent crime -- but, you know, put the federal government in charge? I mean, really? Look. Look at Capitol Hill. They can`t agree on anything. I would not trust them, OK? The state prosecutions are bad enough, but forget about trusting the feds!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A digital camera that was found inside of the washing machine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ran it through a wash cycle with some clothes of Travis`s.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Do you remember Scott Peterson, who murdered his wife and unborn child, Laci and Conner, washed clothes, cleaned the kitchen, took a shower after wrapping Laci body in a tarp. Bobby Cutts (ph) -- he used bleach to clean up a crime scene in the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, Jessie (ph). David Westerfield (ph) used bleach to clean up after murdering his little neighbor, Danielle Van Dam, went to dry cleaners with two comforters, pillow covers and a jacket covered in blood. That was smart, Westerfield.

We are taking your calls. Back to you, Matt Zarrell. Speaking of a cleanup, what can you tell me about this guy, Craig Michael Wood, going to the laundromat and the bleach?

ZARRELL: Yes, Nancy, just hours -- just hours after Hailey was reported missing, a laundromat worker went to the local laundry place to open up, and unfortunately (ph), the FBI and the cops were already there inside, searching. Apparently, they had searched a washing machine and a number of dryers, and they believe that Wood went to the laundromat after allegedly killing Hailey and was returning to his house from the laundromat when police took him into custody.

GRACE: You know, it`s really a fingerprint identifier. Out to you, Marc Klaas. I mean, come on. The whole home reeks of bleach? He makes an impromptu trip to the laundromat? What, he suddenly becomes a neatnik?

KLAAS: Yes, there`s no question about it. I thought that the point was driven home very forcefully when you brought up Westerfield and Peterson and all of these other characters. It`s unbelievable that they think at this point in time that a little bit of bleach or even a lot of bleach is going to be able to cover up their heinous crimes against kids.

GRACE: Well, another little surprise for them. Dr. Joye M. Carter, chief forensic pathologist, Marion County, author of "I Speak for the Dead," bleach doesn`t always break down DNA. You need something more like muriatic acid, like a black (ph) swan (ph) muriatic acid to really break down DNA. So all of those efforts might be for naught, Dr. Carter.

DR. JOYE M. CARTER, CHIEF FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): That`s right. It`s really important to remember that the police have tools to find minute particles of blood, particularly in floors, hard surfaces with cracks. Bleach is not going to wipe away all the evidence. That`s been tried and filed in so many places situations that you`ve already listed.

GRACE: Rita Cosby, the state has announced, the district attorney, that they are thinking about the death penalty. They haven`t decided. What is there to decide? What is the defense arguing against the death penalty?

COSBY: Yes, it`s unbelievable! And listen to this defense. He says he wasn`t in the area. He`s claiming his innocence, even though he was also wearing the same hat that people said the abductor was wearing. He was in the vehicle, all the evidence we talked about in the home. But he claims he wasn`t near any young girls and he was on another side of town at that time.

GRACE: Thousands of images of child porn, and this little girl dragged into his truck like a rag doll. I don`t know what the district attorney is thinking about. This needs to go to a jury for the death penalty.

When we come back, stunning new evidence revealing George Zimmerman`s shocking arsenal of guns and ammo. This as Zimmerman turns publicity hound. He`s set to make a mint off Trayvon Martin`s murder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Stunning new evidence revealing George Zimmerman`s shocking arsenal of guns and ammo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn`t brandish a gun, he had his hand on the gun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You put your gun in my frickin` face and told me to get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George had a concealed weapons permit.

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: I believe there`s one judge and that`s who should all answer to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Larry Elder, ABC radio talk show host. Larry, why does Zimmerman not only have an arsenal of guns, but he`s set now, George Zimmerman turned publicity hound, to get back in the ring. We thought that was over, it`s not, it`s getting resurrected with rappers like Drake, DMX, he`s even trying for Chyna, the female wrestler, Orlando Jones, Sean "Diddy" Combs. Why should he make money off Trayvon Martin`s death? And not only that. Selling his so called art on-line? He`s probably raked in over $200,000 now, this after Zimmerman rakes in over $300,000 on his on- line financial campaign.

LARRY ELDER: Nancy, I don`t know the definition of arsenal, let alone shocking arsenal, the adjective that you used, but it would shock me if George Zimmerman, probably one of the most hated men in America, didn`t have self-defense material. This is a guy who`s had death threats from day one. Spike Lee tweeted the address of what he thought was George Zimmerman`s parents. There was a guy at the courthouse the days of the verdict who had a T-shirt with George Zimmerman`s face on it with crosshairs on it. There is a Website that offers a million dollars bounty on him. I would be shocked if this man didn`t have fire arm to protect himself.

GRACE: Well, is it that .

ELDER: If the Second Amendment was designed for anything .

GRACE: Isn`t that odd, though, Larry that the only time we hear about Zimmerman in connection with a gun is when he is brandishing it? He`s already shot down one child, unarmed. Then he has this fight with his wife. Then, according to the girlfriend, he points a long gunshot gun right at her face. Now we uncover an arsenal, over 100 rounds of ammo at his home, and he`s set to make more money off Trayvon`s death. I mean, I don`t see other people trying to get in the ring with a female wrestler and claims it`s going to charity. After he takes his cut, I`m sure.

ELDER: Nancy, last I checked, George Zimmerman was found not guilty. He therefore has the right to keep and bear arms. The Second Amendment applies to him, the First Amendment applies to him. This idea that George Zimmerman somehow should be singled out as some sort of a poster boy for the proliferation of handguns in America is insane.

GRACE: He`s not being singled out, Elder. Hold on. He`s not being singled out. Not everybody in this country has gunned down an unarmed youth. Not everyone has pointed a shotgun in the face of their girlfriend. He has.

ELDER: He was found not guilty, Nancy. Again, one more time, this is a free man. The Second Amendment applies to him.

(CROSSTALK)

ELDER: If anybody has the need for a firearm, it`s George Zimmerman. This is one of the most hated men in America, for crying out loud. Leave the guy alone.

GRACE: You know what? That`s not true.

ELDER: There are lots of not guilty verdicts.

FRANK TAAFFE: I want to talk out something more important here. You know, you keep talking about this gun. George had a concealed weapons permit. He had a legal right to carry that weapon with him, OK?

GRACE: Yes.

TAAFFE: And we talked about the Second Amendment, and you said something about before the Civil War. Well, in the state of Florida .

GRACE: The Civil War?

TAAFFE: The requirements were met by Mr. Zimmerman

GRACE: What in the hay? OK.

TAAFFE: You said something about the civil war before. .

GRACE: Listen, Cathy, it was the Revolutionary War when the Brits .

TAAFFE: Ms. Grace.

GRACE: The Tories were bursting into people`s home.

TAAFFE: He has every right to carry that weapon. OK? He had every right to carry that weapon. He did - he was a legal concealed weapons permit carrier. OK?

GRACE: A legal concealed weapons carrier? Did you just say that, a legal concealed weapons carrier?

TAAFFE: He had a permit to carry that weapon.

GRACE: I don`t care.

TAAFFE: He had a permit to carry that weapon.

GRACE: I don`t care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Of course, then it took a little bit of digging to figure out that Frank Taaffe, Zimmerman spokesperson, may have a bias.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAAFFE: Yeah, she`s a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) because she keeps spewing all that (EXPLETIVE DELETED). She goes over to Switzerland and she says that the lady didn`t want to share her a handbag because she thought, you know, that she couldn`t afford it and she keeps just doing what she`s doing. She keeps stirring the pot. She keeps trying to promote her boy Obama. You know, Obama could do no wrong. You know, it`s birds of a feather, they flock together and stick together, and to me, she`s a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Oprah Winfrey is a (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That is Frank Taaffe`s standing our ground on the White Voice Network where he attacks Oprah Winfrey who raised herself out of one of the worst neighborhoods you could possibly grow up in to become the superstar she is today, and when you hear him argue for Zimmerman and for his gun rights, you have to understand where he`s coming from. Back to you, Larry Elder, ABC talk show host. You know what, I don`t care what you say that he was found not guilty. You know what?

ELDER: He was.

GRACE: You`ve got Trayvon dead in the mud. You go ahead and tell Trayvon`s parents he was found not guilty. Then you have got his girlfriend who mysteriously drops charges after he allegedly points a shotgun in her face. Then you`ve got the fight with his wife over their stuff. I mean, just for a moment, Larry, and don`t argue with me, I know what the law is. I know what the Constitution says about bearing guns, but this -- I mean, look at his arsenal at home. This is heading to no good. It`s not going to end until there`s somebody else dead, Larry.

ELDER: And that dead person may be George Zimmerman. Suppose he didn`t have a firearm or somebody broke into his home? One of the people that beat up Rodney King was a guy named Stacy Kuhn. He was at a halfway house here in L.A. and somebody went up there to shoot him. It turned out he was there on - left on leave, but he ended up killing a vending machine guy thinking it was Stacy Kuhn. So, George Zimmerman has every right to have a firearm. And if I were

GRACE: You know what? You`re digging deep, man. I`ve got to give you a credit for that. You`re digging up over ten years ago.

ELDER: I would advise him .

GRACE: You`re digging up Rodney King. You know - you do know Rodney King has passed away, but you go ahead and keep digging him up when you have to. Hold on, Elder, right now, Derrick Ashong, Fusion anchor. Derrick, thanks for being with us. You met with Zimmerman. What about this arsenal and his plans? They`re not dead yet. He is going to have a celebrity so- called boxing match where you know he`s going to take part in the till.

DERRICK ASHONG, FUSION ANCHOR: Yeah. I mean, we asked him about the celebrity matches, and he kind of hemmed and hawed on that question, and he said that nothing was official. But he didn`t deny that - he said that his supporters had encouraged him not to do it, but then he later said that he needs to earn money, he`s still $2.5 million in debt. When you see the images of the arsenal that was released today, the question that comes up to me is how does a person who effectively, I believe, got away with murder how is that that he is able to have such an arsenal at his disposal? It seems only a matter of time given his violent track record that something is going to go wrong.

GRACE: Derrick Ashong with us. You know, Derrick, it just seems to me we all now know about Zimmerman`s arsenal. We know he`s out to just make money any way he can. You know, you put those two together, and that`s a deadly recipe.

ASHONG Yeah. I definitely think so. And I think one of the big questions to me is what`s up with the people that are around him? You would think that someone would advise this guy, like, look, this is what you`ve been through. Obviously you are in a precarious situation. Calm down, chill out and live a low-key lifestyle. This whole rhetoric of oh, he`s in such danger so he needs all of these weapons. How are you going to grab an AR- 15, a shotgun and a Glock, if you are under attack? It`s just not going to happen. What I think is happening is, he`s becoming avatar for people who want to argue certain Second Amendment arguments, but also who want to push a racial agendas. And I think that he is actually in a worse situation than all of his supporters, because ultimately he`s going to be the one who`ll wind up paying the price.

GRACE: When we come back, a gorgeous socialite accused of hiring a hitman to carbomb her husband dead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: And now live, Arizona. A gorgeous socialite accused of hiring a hit man to car bomb her husband dead. In the last hours, we learned she was spotted living a lavish lifestyle in Austria after she rakes in $2 million on hubby`s life insurance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her ex-husband ends up dead in a mysterious car bombing. They say Phillips hired a former boyfriend to kill her former husband to get her hands on millions in life insurance money.

GRACE: Triano had just finished a round of golf with a friend at a nearby Tucson country club. When he approached his car, a pipe bomb went off inside it, killing him almost instantly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: With me Justin Schecker with CNN affiliate KGUN. Justin, thanks for being with us, joining us from Arizona. Question. So the husband is coming in from playing golf at some country club, and he gets in the car. Am I correct that the car bomb was actually a remote control device that was in a bag on the passenger side seat?

JUSTIN SCHECKER: Good afternoon, Nancy, that`s what authorities and investigators do believe, that it was some remote controlled bomb that as he approached the car after that round of golf, it just blew him up and obliterated the Lincoln town car. And it really sounds like a scene from a movie happening right here on our backdoor at one of the nicest country clubs here in Tucson.

GRACE: Wow. And there were people all around, so whoever killed him - I mean we know it wasn`t an accident, the car bomb was detonated in her husband`s car -- whoever did that wasn`t afraid to bring down or murder other people around him. It was at this posh country club, right?

SCHECKER: Well, Mr. Triano was the only victim, but obviously, the way this was carried out, we actually heard last week from the last man who spoke with Triano just moments before the bomb went off, he said, he shook Triano`s hands. He walked back to the car and then turned around, just saw the cloud of smoke. So, obviously it was a very aggressive way to take someone out.

GRACE: You now, it`s interesting, she alone -- correct me if I`m wrong, Justin, you know more about the story than me - Justin Schecker, she was the one paying the premiums on his - Ronald Young`s life insurance policy, a $2 million policy, she was paying the premiums, not him.

SCHECKER: Pamela Phillips and Triano, they were divorced. It was 1993, so three years before this murder was carried out, but again, she did continue to pay the premium, and after his death, she collected $2 million of his life insurance. From that - some of that was paid to the hit man.

GRACE: OK, so Gary Triano was the guy that she kills. Take a look at him. Her husband dead from a car bomb. The man she enlisted to help her, Ronald Young, her ex-boyfriend. Justin Schecker is joining me from Arizona. Now, she maintained this life insurance policy, she started paying on it three years before his death. He didn`t know she was still paying on it. Tell me about how she is spotted in Austria living a lavish lifestyle?

SCHECKER: Really here, Nancy, the prosecution, their whole case is based on the motive of money, saying that when Triano`s business started going down toward the end of their marriage that she did this to collect his money to continue living her high-rather lifestyle.

GRACE: Justin, where did his money come from?

SCHECKER: He invested -- I believe it was in Indian bingo halls and slot machine parlors, so he had a bunch of businesses here. But bankruptcy reports from 1994 solicited assets at 1.3 million and he had debts closer to 27 million.

GRACE: Wow.

SCHECKER: So ..

GRACE: So he was like a slot machine king, and she was used to living the high life, but then it all came to an end when he wanted a divorce. So she keeps paying on that life insurance premium, collects $2 million after his car bombed and heads to Austria. You know, to Cooper Lawrence, psychologist and radio personality, Dr. Lawrence, thanks for being with us. She`s obviously the very first suspect. I mean, she`s the one that takes $2 million. The place of the murder is a place well known to her, their country club after he`s been playing golf. She`s the one to benefit from his death and she`s the one that started paying these life insurance premiums three years before his death. He didn`t know about it.

COOPER LAWRENCE, PH.D.: The most robust research shows that women who kill and kill in this way where they hire a hit man rather than do it themselves do it for money. She is a textbook case. Usually it`s for money, usually if somebody wants to be kept in their lifestyle, usually the husband is either having an affair or divorced or something. But when you hire a hit man, it`s for money as opposed to women who kill on their own out of rage or find their husband like in bed with somebody. She`s a textbook case. And interestingly enough, Nancy, the other thing that the research found is the first thing they do after the death is some sort of celebration. Sometimes it`s just - you know, like they go out and buy a dress or they go out and have some wine. She moved to Austria. She is spending his money. She is continuing to celebrate.

GRACE: This girl moves to Austria! Stacey Newman, OK, I just have got to hear about her Austrian lifestyle. I mean she`s spotted living it up, living the high life in Austria. I mean, her husband is put in the coffin in pieces.

STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right, and she was living a very lavish lifestyle. Actually, when police caught up to her, she was at a very high-end hotel, Nancy. Now, remember, her husband was not just involved in casinos and bingos, he also was a very prominent real estate developer when that Tucson market was booming. So they had millions of dollars, she was used to this lifestyle, and she did not want to give it up. That is why she had him killed, according to prosecutors, and wanted that money.

GRACE: Well, I`m sure that the accommodations in sheriff jail Arpaio`s jail may be comparable to that lavish hotel she was living in in Austria. We`ll see how this whole thing turns out.

When we come back, the desperate search for a 20-year-old restaurant hostess who disappears after dinner at Mexican restaurant. In the last hours, two people in custody, but tonight, where is Heather?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: is there a break in the case of missing girl heather elvis? Two in custody, but still no idea where is Heather. Straight out to Michael Smith editor, with the Carolina Forest Chronicle. Michael, thanks for being with us. I`m stunned that we`ve got a couple, a man and a woman, in custody. They claim to have an open marriage? What does that have to do with Heather Elvis?

MICHAEL SMITH: Well, that`s a very good question. We got the police report, like everyone else, but it didn`t take long for us to figure out what it says. Part of what that open marriage, apparently, must have meant, there is a relationship history between Heather Elvis and Sidney Moorer, that is the husband who has been charged in all of this. The details of that relationship -- I don`t have all the specifics, but he claims to have broken it off in October, according to police records, but there was also telephone contact between him and Heather Elvis in the early morning hours that she disappeared.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was seemingly just another day for a 20-year-old makeup artist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A break in the case of a young woman who simply vanished.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She dropped by her parents` home to pick up mail, went on a date later that night, she`s never heard from again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A South Carolina couple believed to be linked to the disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s hard. It`s very hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Joining me right now, Lieutenant Robert Kegler from the Horry County Police Department. Thank you for being with us. This couple, lots of phone calls back and forth with Heather Elvis, including around the time she disappeared. Certainly they know something. Too much of a coincidence. What are they booked on, Lieutenant?

LT. ROBERT KEGLER, HORRY COUNTY PD: Right now, they are booked on the most serious of the charges being murder, both Tammy and Sidney are charged with murder. That occurred today. They were charged with kidnapping in connection to Heather Elvis` disappearance yesterday. And on Friday, when we conducted a search warrant, we executed a search warrant at the Moorer residence, during that, they were taken into custody originally and they were charged with obstruction of justice and two counts each of indecent exposure. So we`re looking at those charges from Friday along with an additional kidnapping and murder charge.

GRACE: You know what, Lieutenant? We have tried our best to help in the search for Heather, but I`ve got the tell you, when it gets right down to it, I`m just so distraught, because she is so young to be tangled up with this couple claiming they`ve got an open marriage and he`s dating her. She`s just a girl. She`s just a girl compared to these two, Lieutenant.

KEGLER: Yes, ma`am. She`s 20 years old. Tammy is in her 40s, early 40s, and Sidney is late 30s.

GRACE: Everyone, still, the question remains tonight, Michael Smith, are we any closer to finding her?

SMITH: Everyone hopes so, but right now they`re still looking for Heather. That was the message this morning at the press conference, but still no, no new clues that we received as to her whereabouts.

GRACE: Let`s stop and remember American hero, Army Specialist Bobby Pagan, 23, Austin, Texas, National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Combat Infantry Badge. Loved University of Texas Longhorns. Parents Peggy and Robert. Four sisters, three brothers, fiancee Diana (inaudible). Bobby Pagan, American hero.

Happy birthday tonight to our friend Jeannette. Isn`t she beautiful? The mother of two beautiful girls who look just like her. And happy 12th to Logan Kirsten (ph). Severely autistic, told mom he has no friends for a birthday party. Thanks to mommy, he receives thousands of birthday cards from around the world. Logan, here`s one from all of us. Happy birthday, Logan!

Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night. 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.

END