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Nancy Grace
Suspect Held in Morning Mugging Murder; Police Interview Tapes With Mom Who Shot Kids Because They Talked Back
Aired April 09, 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, Indianapolis. A 24- year-old young dad-to-be`s morning walk turns deadly. He`s on foot, out for coffee and a newspaper. At home, young wife Jennifer expecting their first baby. He`s viciously attacked, mugged, murdered, all caught on tape. The deadly morning mugger killer actually takes Nathan`s shirt and shoes as trophies of the kill!
Bombshell tonight. At this hour, we have a suspect in the deadly morning mugging murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was surveillance video...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This surveillance video. In it, you can see Simeon Adams and another suspect confronting Nathan Trapuzzano before he was murdered. Police made an arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And hopefully, he goes to jail for a very long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, Tampa suburbs, police race to a multi-million- dollar mansion, a little girl at her bedroom computer doing homework dead, her little brother in the garage, buckled into the car, dead. Who`s the gun-toting shooter? Mommy, lounging by the pool in a house robe covered in blood. But why? Mommy says because her children talked back. And now Mommy claims she`s crazy.
Just obtained, secret police surveillance that showed Mommy may be drunk when she pulls the trigger but definitely not crazy. We have the secret audio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... what happened last night, what happened this morning from you yourself.
JULIE SCHENECKER, CHARGED WITH MURDER: Yes. Are my kids coming in later?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sorry?
SCHENECKER: Are my kids coming in later?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Audio recordings she did with the police the night of the murders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You drink any alcohol or anything last night?
SCHENECKER: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, Olympic superstar Oscar Pistorius, the "Blade Runner," shoots to fame, breaking world records even on prosthetic blades, guns down his girlfriend. After much vomiting and crying in court, in the last hours, Olympic hero Pistorius on the stand in his own defense, watching himself on video firing the murder weapon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSCAR PISTORIUS, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER: I will not look at her picture. I`m tormented by what I saw and felt that night. As I picked Reeva up, my fingers touched her head. I remember! I don`t have to look at a picture. I was there!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, a major WWE superstar dead. Tonight, accusations of illegal steroids and drugs? What killed the WWE superstar?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A shocker for wrestling fans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Legendary wrestling star has been found dead. James Hellwig (ph), AKA, "The Ultimate Warrior," was just 54.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His essence, his spirit will be immortalized!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, caught on tape, a mom and godmother viciously beating their little boy, then posting it on Facebook?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a six-minute video posted to Facebook, an 11- year-old boy smacked in the face and hit with a belt more than 50 times.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you want to talk about it now?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Live to Indianapolis, a 24-year-old young dad-to- be`s morning walk turns deadly. He`s on foot, out for coffee and a newspaper. At home, young wife Jennifer expecting their first baby. He`s viciously attacked, mugged and murdered, all caught on tape. Tonight, we have a suspect in the deadly morning mugging murder.
But first, breaking news, Murraysville (ph), Pennsylvania, a another school massacre. Straight out to Jean Casarez. Jean, what do we know?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nancy, this is a senior high school about 15 miles out of downtown Pittsburgh, 20 victims altogether, 19 students and one adult. It was this morning. The doors were just opened for school to begin. Students were walking in, and one student, who is now in custody, had two knives. We are learning at least one was a large knife, according to one of the trauma physicians. He started stabbing his fellow students.
And I want to talk to you, Nancy, about the pattern of this because the stabbing, most serious stabbings were done in the lower abdomen area. They were also done to majority of male victims versus female victims. But the student who is a sophomore, 16 years old, law enforcement not releasing his name. He was apprehended. He also had injuries to his hands.
GRACE: Jean Casarez joining us as we wait to find out more about another school massacre. Thank you, Jean Casarez, CNN correspondent.
And now back to the morning mugging murder. At this hour, we have a suspect believed to have gunned down the young father-to-be, taking his shirt and his shoes as trophies.
And is it true -- out to Steve Simpson, WIBC -- that the gunman actually, we believe, shot another man just two nights before, a man he claims he bumped into outside of a steakhouse, so he fired off three bullets at that guy?
STEVE SIMPSON, WIBC MORNING NEWS (via telephone): Yes. Apparently, it was a verbal altercation. Police responded to what they said were shots fired, but by that time, he had already left. He was taken by his brother -- the victim was taken by his brother to the hospital. He did not die and did not have life-threatening injuries. But yes, that is where...
GRACE: It`s just so incredible to me, Steve Simpson, that he can fire three rounds, two of them pumping into an innocent person coming out of Baba`s (ph) Steakhouse. The guy claims the man bumped into him, so he shot him? And he was not apprehended, and now he guns down Nathan Trapuzzano, leaving behind an unborn baby girl who will never know her father, who will wake up on Christmas morning with him, who will never go to the father- daughter dance, nothing, nothing, ever? So he was out walking free after that shooting?
Clark Goldband, what more do we know?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, the 16-year-old is being charged as an adult. So we are naming him. His name is Simeon Adams, goes by the nickname "Red."
But take a look at this. If reports and locals and law enforcement are to be believed, Nancy, there was a whole host of alleged mayhem that occurred just days prior to this, starting with March 22nd, alleged to have been in a gun store robbery, Nancy, that March 30th shooting you talked about with the other man. Then the next -- two days later, accused of killing this dad-to-be, Nathan Trapuzzano.
But Nancy, it doesn`t stop there. Somehow, just 17 hours after shooting Trapuzzano, allegedly, this suspect is shot himself! How? The circumstances of that, we don`t know. But he is in juvenile custody tonight, prosecutors saying he`s charged as an adult!
GRACE: What`s so upsetting is he was on a crime spree before he gunned down this young father-to-be. And when you see the video of Trapuzzano`s wife at the funeral, her anguish, her pain is so clear and so raw and so evident. In that photo, she`s carrying their baby girl due in just a few weeks, a baby that will never know her father.
Joining me right now is a special guest, the Reverend Charles Harrison, the president of the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition, who actually had an encounter with the suspect just 48 hours before Trapuzzano is murdered.
Reverend, thank you for being with us.
REV. CHARLES HARRISON, ENCOUNTERED SUSPECT (via telephone): Thank you for having me.
GRACE: Reverend, you know, when you look at what has unfolded, this could very well have been you. I mean, he shoots -- we know that he shot at least two people, that we know of, in about a 72-hour span. How did you encounter the perp?
HARRISON: Well, we encountered Simeon Sunday afternoon about 5:00 clock. And when we got to the gas station, there was a large group of youth. We asked them to leave the gas station. And at that point, Simeon confronted me. He became very, very aggressive and he told me that he didn`t have to do what I told him. And at that point, two of my street outreach workers noticed that he had a gun underneath the sweater that he had on.
GRACE: So you encountered him at a gas station, and he had a gun and refused to do what you, a reverend and his elder, told him to do. How do you know -- how do you know him?
HARRISON: Well, that was my first time meeting him. I was not familiar with him as one of the youth in the area.
GRACE: Reverend Harrison, how do you know that was him, that it was the same person that gunned down Trapuzzano?
HARRISON: I seen his picture on the television when they showed him being arrested, and that was the same young man I encountered that day at the gas station. And he made motions as if he was reaching for his gun, and that`s why the other people with me got behind him very quickly to make sure he wouldn`t dare to pull that gun out.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Eleanor Odom, Mike Gottlieb. Eleanor, he`s a one-man crime wave. What I don`t understand is how was he getting away with all of these gun charges, shooting a guy that bumped into him outside of a steakhouse, pulling a gun on a preacher, for Pete`s sake, who simply asked a group of youth to disperse outside a gas station, and more. I mean, how did he get away and be there on the scene to gun down Trapuzzano?
ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Well, Nancy, if his cases are handled in the juvenile court, then hat`s a completely different system. First of all, you don`t know their names. We can`t say those in juvenile court to the press. And also, the juvenile court`s all about rehabilitation, not necessarily punishment. He is a bad dude going on a bad spree!
GRACE: Gottlieb, what`s your defense?
MIKE GOTTLIEB, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, when you`re dealing with juveniles, you`re dealing with a lack of maturity, an under-developed sense of responsibility. Their character is not well formed. The United States Supreme Court recognizes and doesn`t allow for life sentences -- I mean, the death penalty or for even life sentences with juveniles.
GRACE: Whoa-whoa, wa-wait, wa-wait! Let`s get our law straight. The death penalty is not allowed for anyone in the U.S. 17 and under. Let me see Gottlieb.
GOTTLIEB: Correct.
GRACE: And isn`t it true, Mr. Gottlieb, that there are called the usual -- usually "seven deadlies," which are designated felonies -- typically, a youth will be treated as an adult, felonies such as murder, rape, arson, sodomy, child molestation, aggravated assault, and so forth. Yes, no.
GOTTLIEB: That`s correct that they can be treated like an adult, but they`re not going to be punished like an adult because the male brain does not develop typically until the age of 24 or 26. So you`re dealing with a 16-year-old boy...
GRACE: Are you -- Eleanor, jump in.
GOTTLIEB: I`m 45, so...
ODOM: No. No. That`s wrong. He can be punished as an adult when he`s charged as an adult, and he`s looking at a life sentence.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... can`t get the DP, absolutely not. But the news tonight is a suspect has been identified in the deadly morning mugging murders. (sic) Now, that does not bring Nathan Trapuzzano back to his wife and his unborn baby girl, but it`s something.
When we come back, a beautiful girl sits at her computer doing homework, her little brother also found in the family garage, buckled into the car, both dead. Who`s the shooter? Mommy. Why? She says because her children talked back. Just obtained, secret police surveillance. We have the secret audio.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... find out what happened yesterday, what happened last night and what happened this morning from you, yourself.
SCHENECKER: Yes. Are my kids coming in later?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sorry?
SCHENECKER: Are my kids coming in later?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we`ll talk about all that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, judging by what we found at the scene, she was drunk, not crazy.
Then caught on tape, a mother and godmother viciously beating their little boy. Then they post it on Facebook?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And live, Tampa suburbs, police race to a multi-million-dollar mansion to find a little girl at her bedroom computer going home work dead, her little brother in the garage buckled into the car, dead. Who`s the shooter? Mommy, lounging by the pool in a house robe covered in blood. But why? Mommy says because the children talked back. Now Mommy claims she`s crazy. Tonight, just obtained secret police surveillance showing Mommy may be drunk when she pulls the trigger, but she`s not crazy. We have the secret audio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to find out what happened yesterday, what happened last night and what happened this morning from you, yourself.
SCHENECKER: Yes. Are my kids coming in later?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sorry?
SCHENECKER: Are my kids coming in later?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we`ll talk about all that. Just what happened? How was your day yesterday? I mean, did you pick the kids up from school? Or what happened?
SCHENECKER: No. Monday, Wednesday, Friday is my day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. What do you mean by your day?
SCHENECKER: To pick up the kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Roger Schulman, anchor, WWBA, joining me out of Clearwater. Roger, thanks for being with us. Isn`t it true that she posted a note to the carpoolers that she was on her way to New York?
ROGER SCHULMAN, WWBA (via telephone): That is correct. Apparently, there was a note on her door for her carpool, I guess it was, so they wouldn`t pick up the kids, who were then dead, which does tend to lead one to believe that she was with it at that time. However, other things tend to lead you to believe that she was completely crazy.
GRACE: Well, another thing -- isn`t it true, Roger, that when police arrive, they find several bottles of wine open?
SCHULMAN: They did smell alcohol on her breath, they said, and she did appear very unsteady. In fact, she was shaking, which leads one to believe it was possibly a combination of that alcohol and the multitude of drugs, including lithium she was taking for her bipolar disorder...
GRACE: Well, hold on just a second...
SCHULMAN: ... among many other things.
GRACE: ... Roger. I want to get to another issue. Tonight, we have obtained secret police surveillance tapes of the shooter, of Mommy. Now, remember, she had been so high on booze and oxycontin, her children didn`t want her to drive the car. This is part of the crime scene. She had been drinking all this while her military husband`s out of town. Then when the children talk back, she shoots them both dead.
Take a listen to the secret audio.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you drink any alcohol or anything last night?
SCHENECKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did? How much alcohol did you have, about?
SCHENECKER: Three our four glasses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of what?
SCHENECKER: Beer, and then I switched to wine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Three or four glasses of beer and wine. And that was last night at what time?
SCHENECKER: I can`t remember.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Later in the evening or early in the evening?
SCHENECKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Later? OK.
SCHENECKER: After dinner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After dinner. OK.
We want to find out what happened yesterday, what happened last night and what happened this morning from you yourself.
SCHENECKER: Yes. Are my kids coming in later?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sorry?
SCHENECKER: Are my kids coming in later?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we`ll talk about all that. Just what happened? How was your day yesterday? I mean, did you pick the kids up from school, or what happened?
SCHENECKER: No. Monday, Wednesday, Friday is my day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. What do you mean by your day?
SCHENECKER: To pick up the kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who picks them up on the other day?
SCHENECKER: (INAUDIBLE)
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kinds of grades did they get in school?
SCHENECKER: All A`s and B`s.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All A`s and B`s?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I just looked at their report card. You have any kids?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I have four.
SCHENECKER: You can check their grades.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On line (INAUDIBLE) Headline, is it called? Isn`t that what it`s called?
SCHENECKER: Yes. I don`t know.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: So she knows her children`s grades. She knows here carpool day. But she admits she drank heavily, and what police found at the scene where these two children were gunned down by their own mother, incredible.
Clark, how much had she been drinking and then now -- now claiming she was crazy?
GOLDBAND: Well, Nancy, it`s not entirely clear, but it was certainly a lot that she was drinking, if authorities and reports are to be believed.
But Nancy, there`s something key we`re just learning. According to authorities and reports, she allegedly confessed, confessed that she murdered the kids and was going to kill herself, but was too tired and fell asleep. Now, if this confession is to be believed, it was observed by a law enforcement officer while Schenecker he was in a holding cell right before the sound you`re hearing was made. So authorities held her in that holding cell for about an hour right before...
GRACE: She kills them and planned to kill herself, but she fell asleep. What`s that behind you, Clark?
GOLDBAND: OK, Nancy, I`m glad you asked. You all know "Real Simple" magazine. Well, when authorities arrived on scene, they found this open on the patio, quite eerie, the title of the article, "Five easy ways to be happier," this in addition to the alcohol and pills found on scene, according to law enforcement.
GRACE: To Caryn Stark, psychologist. How many times have we heard, when people kill somebody else, they go, And I meant to commit suicide. I`m, like, well, how did that go wrong, where they`re dead and you`re alive?
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: She meant to commit suicide. She remembers all of these different things, Nancy. She bought a gun. She waited three days. She knows when she picks up her children. But she`s sitting there and saying, Are my kids coming later? So this is so inauthentic to me. She knew what she was doing.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Eleanor Odom, Mike Gottlieb. All right, Gottlieb, she`s not crazy. At some point, she had depression and had possibly been taking something for bipolar. That does not equal insanity. She leaves a note on the front door saying she`s going to New York, so nobody tries to pick up her children and find out they`re dead. She gets drunk, about three sheets to the wind, and now she`s acting crazy. Long story short, she made a full confession in the holding cell to basically whoever was sitting in the cell.
GOTTLIEB: I`m not sure she made a full confession. And what I know from her diagnosis is she`s got depression, she`s got bipolar disorder with psychotic features. She`s on lithium, 10 other medications, 567 pills...
GRACE: You know what?
GOTTLIEB: ... found in her house. She made no effort to conceal her actions and was sitting by the pool reading a magazine? That`s the definition of insanity.
GRACE: You know what? She was out in back of the house, Eleanor, after throwing off the carpool so they wouldn`t try to pick up the children, lying to her husband on e-mails, acting as if nothing was wrong. There`s -- she got the permit and bought the gun several days before for this moment. She had been complaining for weeks that her daughter had been talking back and was angry the children didn`t want to be in the car with her and refused to ride with her because she`d get drunk and take oxycontin.
ODOM: Well, all these steps and this planning shows that she was not mentally ill. Also remember, Nancy, bipolar doesn`t mean mentally ill. You know right from wrong, even if you have that type of mental illness. So that`s just a bunch of hogwash by the defense!
GRACE: Take a listen to the secretly recorded police surveillance.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me about your husband. What rank is he? You said a full bird colonel? What`s his first name?
SCHENECKER: Parker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Parker? And his last name? Is it the same as yours? Is it Schenecker?
SCHENECKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
SCHENECKER: Schenecker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know what his e-mail address is?
SCHENECKER: Yes. Are you going to notify...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I`m just wondering.
SCHENECKER: Parker Schenecker. He`s great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s great?
SCHENECKER: (INAUDIBLE)
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Tonight, a major WWE superstar dead. Accusation of illegal steroids and drugs. What killed the WWE superstar?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A shocker for wrestling fans. Legendary wrestling star has been found dead, James Hellwig, AKA the Ultimate Warrior was just 54.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It comes after he said something to fans just days ago that now sounds very eerie.
JAMES HELLWIG: Every man`s heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe their final breath.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is video of the Ultimate Warrior from WWE. And joining me right here on the set, former pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page. Thank you for being with us.
DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE: Thanks (INAUDIBLE), Nancy.
GRACE: Now, I don`t quite recognize you with all of your clothes on.
(LAUGHTER)
GRACE: I`m trying to get past that.
PAGE: Oh, you might be missing this and the long blond hair I had back in the day, too, so.
GRACE: You know, so many wrestlers dead, now accusations of steroids and illegal drugs swirling. Take a look at wrestlers who died young. To our Dr. John Hong, internal medicine physician, Cape Regional Medical Center, the effect of drugs and steroids after using them for years and years sticks with you, right, doctor?
DR. JOHN HONG, M.D., INTERNAL MEDICINE PHYSICIAN CAPE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: Absolutely. Anabolic steroids are probably used by one percent of Americans and it`s really bad on the cardiovascular system, meaning your heart, your arteries. It ruins your cholesterol, raises your blood pressure, it can cause a lot of heart enlargement. That can lead actually to an arrhythmia causing sudden death.
GRACE: Alexis Tereszcuk, senior reporter of radaronline.com, what happened?
ALEXIS TERESZCUK, SENIOR REPORTER, RADARONLINE.COM: He and his wife were in Phoenix. They were actually just walking to their car in front of their hotel and he collapsed on the ground. What the authorities are just saying is this was a catastrophic medical event that happened to him. He was rushed to the hospital and he was pronounced dead when he was there.
GRACE: When you say a catastrophic medical event, I don`t know what you mean by that. What do you mean, Alexis?
TERESZCUK: Those are the exact words .
GRACE: Is that the words the authorities used?
TERESZCUK: Yeah, that`s what I believe it is, that`s what people are saying, it sounds like a heart attack. What the causes of the heart attack are have not been determined yet. There are going to be toxicology reports, there`s going to be an autopsy done. Because he is only 54. He was only 54, very young. But he even admitted in the past that he had done steroids. That he could have had a long term effect on him. And he just signed up to be an ambassador for WWE to come back again. It was a huge comeback for him. So, this is really just a horrible tragedy.
GRACE: That`s video of Ultimate Warrior from WWE. Here on the set with me, Diamond Dallas Page, former pro-wrestler. Question: when you first heard that he was dead, what did you think?
PAGE: You know, I just saw - I just saw him at the hall of fame. And he looked great. But you don`t always know what`s going on on the inside. You know, his energy was as high as ever. He was a very intense cat. You know, he lived life. I mean if you ever go online, look at his workouts. He still works out like he was 20 years old. I mean he would hit really, really hard. That was the Ultimate Warrior`s spot.
GRACE: Oh, that would mean - you say that he was in great shape. So, why would he be found dead?
PAGE: Yeah, but you know, sometimes -- I don`t know. The last thing I am is a doctor, Nancy.
GRACE: No, and nobody has ever accused you of being a medical doctor. What I`m saying is, tonight claims of drug use and steroids swirling. He`s admitted that he used steroids.
PAGE: Yeah, back in the day. A lot o - we all used them back in the day.
GRACE: Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. You know, we didn`t all. I`ve never used the steroids. I wouldn`t know a steroid if it bit me in the neck.
PAGE: What I mean we did it all. I mean certain guys. Among the certain age. And I tell you I tried it back when I was a kid, too. And it`s something that once that`s in your body, I guess you`re going to have some, you`re going to have some, what`s it called, ramifications from that without question. But you know, like, he was -- and he actually changed his name to Warrior. He was - he was a passionate individual towards working out big time, you know, and that`s -- if you look at him today, he`s nowhere near as big as he was back then. I mean it was like 2:30 or something.
GRACE: Everybody with me. Diamond Dallas Page, former pro-wrestler. Also with me, David Dennis Jr. At the hall of fame ceremony, creative director of Smoking Section. David, thank you for being with us. What`s ultimate warrior known for?
DAVID J. DENNIS JR.: Ultimate Warrior for people of my age, I`m 28, I was a kid when he was wrestling. I mean he was a real life super hero. He`d run into the ring, he had his tassels and his paint. And he was basically captured everybody`s imagination.
GRACE: Captured everybody`s imagination. Did it ever bother anybody that he was using steroids?
DENNIS: Oh, as a kid we just saw him as a really big buff guy. I mean there were a lot of wrestlers that looked like that. The steroids allegation and him admitting to it came much, much later. And like - if he said, I mean he hadn`t been wrestling in 18 years. So, I mean it`s hard to imagine what he has been doing since.
GRACE: Everybody, take a look. You`re seeing video of Ultimate Warrior from WWE tonight. Claims of steroid use and drug swirling as Ultimate drops dead. Very quickly, David Dennis Jr. joining me.
How did he appear at the hall of fame? According to Diamond Dallas Page, he seemed fine.
DENNIS: Yeah, I mean he seemed fine to me. I was at the hall of fame ceremony. He delivered a passionate speech. He came out on Monday night on Monday night "raw" was there. He did his old routine of shaking the ropes. He seems - he seems totally fine, we talked a lot about the future and everything like that, too.
GRACE: Everyone, you`re seeing video of Ultimate, Ultimate Warrior drops dead, claims of drug use and steroids now swirling. Wrestling fans, WWE fans in despair tonight after this. With me Diamond Dallas Page on the set. Question, why do so many -- let`s see that scroll, please, Justin. Why there`s so many die at such a young age? I mean you`ve got to take into account the steroids and drugs.
PAGE: For starters, and I think you got to look at where it is today. Where we are is the WWE has the way stricter policies than the NFL or the NBA or the MLB. They are not just looking for steroids and illegal drugs. They`re looking for painkillers and muscle relaxers. It all those - like there`s the strictest policy, more than any other league, WWE. That`s their whole deal. And the reason why guys like Jake the Snake Roberts and Scott Hall and the guys who, you know, might have been gone earlier, because of their involvement with getting guys that are into rehabilitation programs. So it`s a real - their wellness program is off the hook. And they have stepped up. And I don`t work there anymore. I`m speaking from me to another. I`m all about a wellness program to help people have a longer healthier life and changing their life styles. Back in the day, a lot of athletes took advantage of themselves. Jim Hellwig to me, I`ve been watching him for the last ten years, five years on YouTube. Strong five years. He was a health fanatic. Now, who knows why anybody`s heart just stops like that, you know? Obviously he wasn`t out partying like crazy the night before. He was with his family down there. You know, so, he was a real family man.
GRACE: Everyone at this hour, the Ultimate Warrior, WWE superstar dead.
When we come back, Olympic hero Oscar Pistorius on the stand in his own defense watching himself on video firing the murder weapon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a lot .
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And then later, caught on tape, a mom and godmother viciously beating their little boy then posting it on Facebook?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Olympic superstar Oscar Pistorius, the blade runner shoots to fame, breaking world records running on prosthetic blades, guns down his girlfriend. After much vomiting and crying in court in the last hours, Pistorius on the stand in his own defense, watching himself on video firing a weapon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oscar Pistorius as you`ve never seen him before.
OSCAR PISTORIUS, OLYMPIC HERO, CHARGED WITH MURDER: I had her head on my - on my left shoulder and I could feel the blood was running down on me. I didn`t want to believe that it could be Reeva inside the toilets, I was so scared that maybe somebody was coming in to attack me or us.
GRACE: Joining me from SABC radio in court today, Noma Bolani. Noma, thank you for being with us. Pistorius on the stand seeing himself firing a weapon, shooting a watermelon and then very coldly stating it`s a lot softer than the brain, the human brain and laughing.
NOMA BOLANI, REPORTER, SABC RADIO: Yes, we saw today Pistorius in that video and the state prosecutor was trying to portray, you know, another side of Pistorius as a man who was kind of practicing, you know to shoot, when they used that watermelon and it exploded, using ammunition that`s similar to the - the black talons that went into Reeva`s body and kind of- that decapacitated her. And we know that he made the reference to the watermelon exploding and saying that that`s exactly the way the head reacted to the bullets when it hit. On that Valentine`s Day morning. Pistorius then broke down crying saying that he didn`t want to look at the photo that was now on put up in court, saying that he didn`t want to relive those moments because he was there, he held her head, he`s the one who picked her up. And basically, broke down crying forcing the judge to adjourn the proceedings.
GRACE: Take a listen exactly what was played in court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oscar Pistorius as you`ve never seen him before. And then in these pictures on the couple (INAUDIBLE) youth, the athlete shows his prowess at handling a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That mean you`re ready.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It goes up.
(GUNSHOTS)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLANI: Screams of delight but listen to the voice of a man who sounds very much like Oscar Pistorius.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s the last (INAUDIBLE) to be afraid, but it`s like the zombie stuff out.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To Michael McCann, "Sports Illustrated" legal analyst joining us, a law professor in University of New Hampshire. Michael, thank you for being with us. I`d like your reaction to what`s going on in court in the Pistorius murder trial.
MICHAEL MCCANN, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED LEGAL ANALYST, LAW PROFESSOR: Well, Nancy, I think the use of the video was possibly, could possibly backfire. And I say that because it could be seen as gratuitous, the shooting of a watermelon, and comparing it to the death of his girlfriend. The results of a debate in court about whether he thought it was like shooting the brain of a human or a zombie. To me it`s a distraction. And it`s often the periphery. I don`t think it really addresses the core issues in the case, which is why when he woke up she wasn`t there and why didn`t he exclude the possibility that she wasn`t in the bathroom. To me it`s a big distraction.
GRACE: Unleash your lawyers. Eleanor 0dam, Mike Gottlieb. Eleanor, Michael McCann has an excellent point. But remember, this judge, this female judge is seeing a very charming, a very distraught crying, snotting, vomiting, he`s got to lie down on the floor, he`s got to get shots on the face by a shriek. She`s seeing all of this. But when you see that video you see a very different Oscar Pistorius, possibly the Oscar Pistorius that Reeva Steenkamp saw the night she was gunned down.
ELEANOR ODOM, DEATH PENALTY,-QUALIFIED SEX CRIMES PROSECUTOR: It`s like I like to say, Nancy. He`s mask has been removed, and we see who`s actually behind that mask. And if he`s a gun enthusiast, if he`s knows how to handle weapons, he knows that he handled it in this situation incorrectly if he`s to be believed the night of the murder.
GRACE: Gottlieb?
MIKE GOTTLIEB, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Do we even know if he`s the person on video making those statements? The video .
GRACE: Yes, we do.
GOTTLIEB: It`s inflammatory. It`s misleading. It`s irrelevant.
GRACE: That`s all you`ve got for me? Do we know that`s him? Yes we know it`s him.
GOTTLIEB: No, I`m telling you.
GRACE: Yes, we know that`s him. He looks straight at the camera.
GOTTLIEB: The video is misleading, it`s inflammatory. It doesn`t - it has nothing to do with whether or not he committed the crime. It`s a character assassination. It`s taking his character and you`re trying to say he did something to a watermelon so she must have done it to his girlfriend. It shouldn`t be allowed under any circumstance whether it`s a judge or a jury. It`s absolutely irrelevant.
GRACE: Well, just so you know, it`s already in and we`re talking about the effect if any it had on the trier of fact. The trial goes on. Oscar Pistorius on the stand. When we come back, caught on tape: a mother and godmother viciously beating their little boy. Then they post it on Facebook?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Talk to me. Huh? -- Don`t they?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A mother and godmother caught on tape viciously beating their little boy then they post it on Facebook. Jason Cooper, a news director and host, WFNT, what happened?
JASON COOPER, HOST WFNT: Well, Nancy, thanks for speaking with me today. 11-year-old enflames his mother and his godmother beat the child as a way to teach him not to be assertive with a gang activity.
GRACE: Everybody, you are seeing video from Facebook. A mother and stepmother caught viciously beating the little boy, and then they post it on Facebook?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at him doing the stanky leg. Just look at him .
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s not just discipline. It`s public shaming. It`s humiliation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like him - look at him doing the stanky leg.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You are seeing video from Facebook. Jason Cooper with me, WFNT. Michael Christian, what more do we know? I can`t believe they beat him like that. Everybody, you`re seeing video from Facebook. But then they beat him with this belt buckle. And then they post it on video? And as you play it more, I don`t think I can stand to hear it. You hear the little boy screaming. Why did they post it on - could you please turn that off? I just - I don`t want to hear the screaming of the little boy. Why did they post it, Michael?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, they apparently were trying to teach him a lesson, Nancy. But he cries. They beat him at least 50 times. Maybe more. He`s also slapped in the face. And throughout the entire thing, as you can see there, he`s forced to hold the arms of that chair. Apparently if he had let go, it would have been an even worse beating.
GRACE: Dr. John Hong joining us, internal medical physician, Cape Regional. Dr. Hong, he was slapped, beaten in the face, beaten with the belt buckle. It was brutal. And it went on from here. I`m not showing the worst of it because I can`t stand to look at it.
HOGRACE: I`m glad you`re not. The problem is that when a child comes into the emergency department, we don`t know necessarily if they got injured by accident or if they were beaten. But I mean in this case, I mean this is so egregious, I can`t believe they posted that.
GRACE: Caryn stark, is the mother and the godmother so arrogant they think that nobody cares?
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, actually, Nancy, they are bragging. This is sadistic. And they feel really good about what they did. They`re kind of like saying, well, we`re going to make sure he`s not in the gang. And it`s awful for this little boy. Because he identifies with this kind of abuse. He loves his parents. And he`s going to wonder what he did to create this from -- to make this happen. He`s not going to realize that there was nothing wrong with him.
GRACE: Jason Cooper, news director WFNT. Jason, what about the mother? Has she been arrested?
COOPER: Yes. All three individuals in relation to this case. The mother and the godmother, along with the person that took the video have been arrested. They`ve all been charged with felony counts of child abuse.
GRACE: Demitria Powell, Michelle Taylor and Tirrell Felton all arrested. And just think about it, everybody, if they`ll do this on Facebook, and, oh, there`s a nice shot, mommy on a stripper pole. If they`ll do this on Facebook, and they`re proud of it, what do they do behind closed doors? You know what, let`s stop and remember American hero, Army Staff Sergeant Justin Fiegos. 27, Tucson. Third tour. Bronze star. Three purple hearts. Devoted father, brother, and son. Mother, Josephina. One brother, two sisters. Son, McCaden, Justin Gallegos. American hero.
And happy birthday to Kathy Evans, she loves reading, classic movies, and her precious dog. Everybody, drew up next. With a controversy about strippers at a nursing home. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
