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Nancy Grace
The Death of Cooper Harris
Aired July 11, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Foul odor or stench coming from the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sexting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The child`s eyes were half closed, his lips were discolored, his tongue was protruding from his mouth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six different conversations with different women.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would it have been a painful death?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sexual exploitation of a minor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Abrasions to the back of the child`s head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Picture of her exposed breasts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Oh, my God, what have I done, my child is dead."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Picture of his exposed erect penis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was trying to hyperventilate himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Photos of women`s breasts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Oh, my God, my son is dead. Oh, my God, my son is dead."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: It was a hot Wednesday afternoon around 4:00 o`clock, a little after, that the world first realized that 22-month-old
toddler boy Cooper was dead. Cooper Harris`s father, Justin Ross Harris, had taken Cooper that morning to Chick-fil-A. He took the child into
Chick-fil-A. It was very close to work. They noted in Chick-fil-A that he took the child out and put Cooper in a rear-facing carseat in his Hyundai
Tucson and headed out to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: According to the investigative narrative, the day that the baby dies begins here, when the father and son are seen at this
restaurant and the father is seen placing the 22-month-old baby into the back seat of his car, into a child seat.
Father and son interacting. The father knows he has the child. And he`s going to drive to work. Let me point out something. Those white
buildings just in the distance? That`s work. So let`s do the drive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Wednesday, June 18th, it`s reported that Justin Ross Harris and 22-month-old Cooper left Chick-fil-A at 8:55 AM and drove
to Harris`s place of employment less than half a mile away. In order to get there, Harris would have needed to make a right turn out of the parking
lot, then a U-turn just in front of the Home Depot.
To do this, he would have had to look to the right into oncoming traffic, presumably over the carseat where little Cooper was sitting.
After coming to an intersection where several street cameras are located, it would take less than a minute before Harris would finally reach his
destination at work.
In total, this trip took us under two minutes. The question remains, is this enough time to forget a child?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Justin Ross Harris`s work at Home Depot, at the "treehouse," which is the corporate headquarters -- it`s not a Home Depot like you and I
-- you or I would walk into to buy something. He specializes in IT, computer IT, there.
It was just about one minute and 10 seconds from Chick-fil-A to work. And during that drive from Chick-fil-A to work, Ross Harris would have to
take a turn out of Chick-fil-A, an immediate U-turn back to his left, and then drive for about a minute and take a sharp right into the parking area
at the "treehouse."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the surveillance video at Chick-fil-A, how did the child appear?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The child appeared wide awake and happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Per the defendant and the video, did he appear to be walking around and active at that time at the Chick-fil-A?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We have learned that the positioning of Cooper`s carseat places Cooper in a rear-facing carseat basically at his father`s elbow.
Every time his father would look to his right, there`s Cooper`s head right there beside him.
In any event, the father, Ross Harris, pulls into parking, parks and leaves. According to the father, he works from about 9:00-ish that morning
until a little before 4:00 o`clock. He is supposed to go to a movie, an early movie with his friends from work.
And it is en route to that movie, about seven red lights away from work, that he suddenly realizes that baby Cooper has been in the car all
day, the baking hot car. He pulls the car over quickly into the parking lot of an Uncle Maddio`s restaurant, takes the child out and begins
screaming, Oh, my God. Oh, my God. What have I done? My son is dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the defendant pulled over and was at the Acres Mill, he pulled directly into a shopping center, Acres Mill shopping
center, and parked his car in the middle of the roadway. He exited his vehicle and popped open the rear door to his vehicle. He entered into the
rear door, removed Cooper from the carseat. He removed Cooper from the carseat and then placed him on the pavement next to the vehicle. He got
down next to Cooper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me ask you this. What was confirmed from the law enforcement and witnesses on scene? What was the condition of Cooper
when he was pulled out of that car and placed on the pavement?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cooper was deceased.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: He immediately steps back when other people arrive to start assisting, and gets on his cell phone. Police arrive. They say he becomes
so belligerent and actually yells, F you, at them that they put him in the back of a squad car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it`s not just the father`s behavior that the authorities are investigating, it`s Cooper`s mother, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After being told that he was deceased, did she ask to see her son or anything like that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who did she ask to see?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She asked to see her husband.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: When she was given a choice, Do you want to see your child or your husband -- no offense to men listening tonight, but of course a
mother`s going to pick her child. Of course she`s going to go to her toddler! But she didn`t. She went to her husband.
The first thing, or one of the first things she said when she went into the interrogation room was not, What happened? What happened to
Cooper? No! One of the first things, if not the first was, Did you tell police too much? Did you say too much? Yes, that`s not right!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So now the question so many are asking, will Leanna Harris be charged as well.
GRACE: Damning new details emerge...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: HLN`s Nancy Grace has been following the case closely.
GRACE: If she`s charged, that means they were in on it together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe most troubling was Leanna Harris`s reaction to learning that Cooper had not been dropped off at day care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And in front of several witnesses, all of a sudden, she states, Ross must have left him in the car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was Justin Ross Harris allegedly doing while his 22-month-old son, Cooper, suffered in the back of this scorching SUV?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was having up to six different conversations with different women. The most common term would be sexting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: He is questioned. It is upon questioning that he lays out the story I`ve just told you. Police go back to Home Depot, and they look at
the surveillance video. And that is when they first learn that he left out the fact that he returns to the car at lunchtime, opens the car door, puts
something in the car, and closes the door and leaves.
So he never mentioned that to police that he had gone back to the car at lunchtime. Why? Investigation reveals that he had been interoffice
texting, instant messaging his friends. And two of them and the dad, Ross Harris, decide to go to lunch.
I`m not sure yet who instigates the lunch. And I`m not sure, but I think I know, who instigates or a shopping trip during lunch. One person
says they`ve got to go to Home Depot, and that is Ross Harris. He insists he`s got to get lightbulbs for his wife`s vanity at home.
He -- and this is on the video. This is how police know about this. The three come back after lunch. He very carefully gets out of the car and
has them stay in the car, opens his Hyundai door, throws -- and I`m quoting -- "throws" the lightbulbs into the car, slams the door, and they all go in
to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stunning claims of raunchy text messages, suspicious Internet searches, and a plan to kill his son.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Evidence is showing us right now that he`s got this whole second life that he`s living with alternate personalities and
alternate personas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harris sat shackled and sullen as Detective Phil Stoddard (ph) with the Cobb County Police Department detailed X-rated
messages allegedly exchanged the day Cooper died, including with a then 16- year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were photos being sent back and forth between these women and the defendant during this day while the child`s out in the
car?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. There were photos of his exposed penis, erect penis being sent. There were also photos of women`s breasts being
sent back to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No visible reaction from the 33-year-old`s wife, Leanna Harris, who sat with her family and supporters in the packed
courtroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a loving father. He loved his son very much. They went on family vacations together, and he was a good dad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But just five day before Cooper`s death, Detective Stoddard says Internet searches revealed that Harris watched videos on line
about the dangers of being trapped in a hot car, and that Harris visited a Web forum devoted to the child-free lifestyle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: It`s also observed on the surveillance video that another Home Depot pedestrian, somebody I guess that works there, walks up to his car as
he`s coming out, and he hedges them. His body movements, his body language hedged them away from getting close to his car. And then once they walked
by and they`re no longer a threat to seeing the baby in the car, he then goes back in to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The detective also testified the couple had financial problems and took out life insurance policies on Cooper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had two policies on Cooper. The first policy is a $2,000 policy through the Home Depot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, the second one, was this something that they got back in 2013?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Well, yes, November 2012 is when he signed up for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And was this something that he still had at the time of the child`s death?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how much was the policy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a $25,000 policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Interesting, he parks between a grassy area, where there`ll be no witnesses -- nobody`s going to park there -- and a car already parked,
as opposed to parking in a clear area, where he knows people are going to come up beside his car and park on either side and spot baby Cooper in the
car. Where he parked made that virtually impossible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stoddard laid out the strange way he saw Harris reacting the day Cooper died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He started off trying to work himself up. And we`re watching him on the camera as he`s doing this. He`s walking around
and he`s rubbing his eyes and he`s, you know, kind of -- it looked like he`s trying to hyperventilate himself. No tears, no you know, real emotion
coming out of him except for, you know, the huffing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And through the time you`re talking with him about his son and his son`s death, did you ever see any tears coming from him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even more bizarre, how witnesses say Leanna Harris reacted at the day care when she was told that Cooper was never dropped
off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And in front of several witnesses, all of a sudden she states, Ross must have left him in the car. And they`re, like, What?
There`s no other -- no other reason, that Ross must have -- no other explanation. Excuse me. Ross must have left him in the car. And they try
to console her. And they`re, like, No, you know, there`s a thousand reasons. You know, he could have taken him to lunch or something. We
don`t know yet. And she`s, like, No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then another shocker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were there any injuries to the child`s face?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what were those?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way it`s explained, there were several marks on the child`s face. It would have come from the child or a scratch being
made while the child was alive, and then not healing, not scabbing over or anything like that, and just soon after he passed away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were there any injuries to the child -- back of the child`s head?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. There were abrasions to the back of the child`s head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After three hours of stunning testimony, Judge Frank Cox (ph) denied Harris bond. The defense maintaining...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not criminal negligence. It`s a horrible tragedy and an accident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six different conversations with different women.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities shattered Justin Ross Harris`s image as a faithful husband and loving father, portraying him instead as a man
yearning to be single and involved in on-line relationships.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justin Ross Harris used a messaging site to sext women on the day his son died in a hot SUV.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Describes himself as a married man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on the flirting Web site and smartphone app Scout, under the name R.J. are three profile photos. All appear to be
Harris -- "Just looking to talk. Message me. I`m harmless. Yes, I`m married."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At her son`s funeral, she said, Ross is and was and will be, if we have more children, a wonderful father.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harris sent lewd text messages and explicit photos to multiple women.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An alternative lifestyle. He`s got this whole second life that he`s living with alternate personalities and alternate
personas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said he loved his son all the time. He said it was -- he said his son was very important to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It shows that he was unhappy with his life. That`s more evidence that he wanted a change in his life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was his joy. This was his pride. He was very proud to be Cooper`s daddy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s take a look at Daddy in interrogation. Ross Harris answers many questions during police interrogation, and it is during that
time police become suspicious of his on-line activities.
Police learn, and then we learn at the bind-over or preliminary probable cause hearing, that Daddy is sexting, sending sex texts, to six
different women, including one that`s a teenager, while his son is baking dead in the car, including sending photos of his own erect naked penis
while his son is out in the car, baking dead.
Even more damning than that, we learn that Ross Harris and his wife recently, in the days leading up to baby Cooper`s torturous death, research
on line the temperature needed -- their words, not mine -- the temperature that would be needed for a child to die in a hot car.
Ross Harris even looks up how animals die in hot cars, and specifically goes to a video prepared by a veterinarian about animals dying
in a hot car, and the vet puts himself in the hot car and details for the viewer what the animal experiences upon the beginning of heat stroke.
I spoke to that veterinarian. I watched the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m at five minutes in. It is unbelievably hot in here.
We`re nearing 100 degrees already, 10 minutes in. I`ll tell you, it is almost unbearable. At this point, the temperature is about 106 degrees.
Fifteen minutes now, and it`s about 110 in my car.
Twenty minutes now at this point, and it is right -- hovering right around 110, 112.
Twenty-five minutes, it`s now, oh, gosh, what is it, 113 degrees.
Thirty minutes, 30 minutes in a parked car with the windows cracked. The temperature right now is about 115, 116, really hot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And it is damning evidence that Ross Harris watched this video just before his son dies in a hot car. Not only that, upon police
investigation, we learn that Ross Harris goes to a Web site and watches one video after the next of people in the throes of death. He watches them as
they actually die under a myriad of circumstances -- suicide, death in Iraq, a number of circumstances causing death. He watches one video after
the next after the next of people as they actually die.
He also goes to Web sites about living a child-free life. He is on line all day, throughout the work day, and I`m only assuming he`s got his
personal computer open, his laptop open at work. He`s going to Kick (ph), to Reddit, to various Web sites where he can hook up with women. All this
is going on all day long. I don`t know when he`s got time to work.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The child appeared wide awake and happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What he was doing during that day while his child was out in the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was having up to six different conversations with different women, sexting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No tears, no, you know, real emotion coming out of him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were photos being sent back and forth between these women and the defendant during this day while the child`s out in the
car?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. There were photos of his exposed penis, erect penis being sent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, the 16-year-old girl, OK -- did she send him a picture that day?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She sent a picture of her exposed breasts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did he send any pictures to her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did. He sent a picture of his exposed erect penis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He also did a search, how to survive prison.
He went to a sub-Reddit. It was called child-free. And child-free is a -- people who advocate living child-free.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wanted to live a child-free life or there`s evidence to suggest that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tragic accident or premeditated murder?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wanted to live a child-free life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was yelling, he was hollering, he was screaming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The spotlight on Cooper`s mother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And she looks at him, and she`s, like, Well, did you say too much?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ross must have left him in the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a sign of guilt?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: During interrogation, something very, very interesting happens. We learn that his wife, Leanna Taylor Harris, has gone to the day
care center to pick up Cooper. When she arrives at the day care center, she`s told, Well, Ross never dropped him off. Her first words are, Ross
left him in the car all day! Well, the people at the day care immediately say, No, no, you know, maybe they`re at the playground. Maybe they`re at
McDonald`s. Maybe they`re at Chick-fil-A. They could be anywhere. Anything could have happened. She says, No, no, he left him in the car.
Now, either she`s clairvoyant or she knew what was going down that day. Remember, she, too, tells police that she searched the temperature
needed for a child to die in a hot car recently before Cooper`s death. Why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leanna Harris`s demeanor in the days before and after her son`s death was odd and raised potential red flags for
authorities investigating the case. She has not been named a suspect in connection with Cooper Harris`s death, nor has she been charged with a
crime. But still, authorities say she behaved strangely.
Cobb County police detective Phil Stoddard testified when Leanna Harris arrived to pick up the toddler from day care on June 18th and found
he wasn`t there, she predicted what had happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They walked back out into the lobby. And in front of several witnesses, all of a sudden, she states, Ross must have left him
in the car. And they`re, like, What? There`s no other explanation. Ross must have left him in the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Detective Stoddard had also questioned Harris`s reaction to hearing her son had died after her husband, Ross, had left
their 22-month-old strapped in the car`s child seat on a sweltering hot day for seven hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She didn`t show any emotion when I asked her -- or actually, when they notified her of Cooper`s death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a sign of guilt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all have a script in our head of what`s the appropriate way for someone to react when confronted with a tragedy.
People react all sorts of ways. And that doesn`t make them guilty of anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While in police custody, Leanna Harris seemed very concerned about her husband speaking with detectives, specifically what he
had told them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had him sit down. And he starts going through this, and she looks at him, she`s, like, Well, did you say too much?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harris continues to stand by her husband of eight years, who told police they are happily married despite allegations he was
sexting with six women while his son was dying inside their car.
During funeral services, Harris referred to him as a wonderful father and began her eulogy by thanking him saying, quote, "First of all, Ross, I
love you, and I`m doing this for you." She spoke of Cooper, saying she was happy he will never have to face his first heartbreak or awkward middle
school years, saying, quote, "I miss him with all of my heart. Would I bring him back? No. To bring him back into this broken world would be
selfish."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: When Leanna Taylor learns her husband is in police interrogation at police headquarters, she`s offered, Do you want to go to
Cooper? Do you want to go see Ross? Instead of a mother going to her child, as many of us likely would, she foregoes going to her child to go to
see her husband, Ross Cooper. (sic)
When she walks in -- and this is I`m sure all going to be caught on tape through a two-way mirror or through a camera in the interrogation room
-- instead of walking in and saying, What happened? What happened to Cooper? She says, Well, did you say too much? Did you say too much to
police? Did you tell them too much? Did you say too much? That`s the first thing she says. That`s very disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Internet postings believed to be by Justin Ross Harris seem to depict two different people. For instance, last year on
what looks to be his Reddit account, Harris talks about his new job and new baby in glowing terms. "I am now in my dream job, have a beautiful 6-
month-old son, and love going to work every day. I couldn`t be happier."
Contrast that with this tweet, allegedly from Ross Harris to a friend, seven months later. "New invention, snooze button on babies." Of course,
the musings of a sleep-deprived parent are nothing unusual, but given the horrific act he`s accused of, murdering his son, some are now interpreting
the message with alarming new meaning.
The dad maintains he forgot to drop his son off at day care that day, June 18th, instead leaving him strapped in his carseat for about seven
hours before discovering his lifeless body after leaving work.
And using their own measurements of temperatures recorded around the area that day, CNN`s experts say the interior of the car, where Cooper sat
trapped, could have reached close to 140 degrees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "First of all, Ross, I love you. I`m doing this for you, OK? Two years ago, when we welcomed a 6-pound, 8-ounce perfect
baby into the world, this never crossed my mind. He was perfect, and he is perfect. Am I angry with Ross? Absolutely not. It has never crossed my
mind. Ross is and was, and will be if we have more children, a wonderful father. Ross is a wonderful daddy and leader for our household. Cooper
meant the world to him."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Another interesting fact, let me say, that police will be looking at, is Leanna Taylor`s behavior at Cooper`s funeral, his memorial.
It was held in Tuscaloosa. And she solicited from the audience a standing ovation -- a standing ovation -- for her husband, Justin Ross Harris, as a
father.
Now, whether you want to believe this is by accident or intentional -- malice murder -- as authorities clearly do, she solicited a standing
ovation for the husband that left the child in the car to bake dead while he texted six different women and sent naked pictures of his penis. OK,
that doesn`t work. That doesn`t fit. It doesn`t jibe.
Also, during her statements at the funeral, she stated that even if she could have baby Cooper back, she didn`t want him, that she would never
bring him back. She went on to detail some comment, some theory that she didn`t want him to suffer when nobody would sit with him at lunchroom at
school, that his first broken heart, having to go on after the death of his grandparents or parents -- that he would be spared all of that pain.
You know, most mothers` reactions are that they want to be there to pick their child up when their child falls after those tragedies or minor
disappointments in life, not that it`s better off the child is dead. That began to pique the interest of police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: In the last hours, we learn Mommy lawyers up with a defense lawyer all her own, separate from Daddy`s, as toxicology reports come in on
baby Cooper. He was given nothing to numb the pain of the death he suffered in a baking hot car.
We have also dug deep to find out the truth behind his claims that he`s deaf in one ear and couldn`t hear his son sitting next to him. That`s
virtually impossible! Kyle Peltz, what else have we learned?
KYLE PELTZ, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, Nancy, a couple other interesting things that we found on line, starting with this
dad`s Flickr account. When you look at the photos of him and his wife, his wedding ring is on and very visible. But then we took a closer look at the
photos from dad on his Scout profile -- this is a dating site, Nancy -- and his wedding ring is gone. So no wedding rings for these urinal selfies.
GRACE: You know, I like the way you refer to it as a urinal selfie. I`ve never really thought of them that way. What else did you learn, Kyle
Peltz?
PELTZ: We also combed through more posts on Reddit, which is the site Harris seemed to visit most, and found some comments that the dad was
making, apparently bewildered about how someone could leave a laptop in a car outside of a popular stadium in Atlanta, saying he`ll never understand
it.
And there are just more stunning posts where he reveals details about his personal life, including his past love life, saying, My girlfriend of
three years dumped me because her parents didn`t think I was going anywhere in life. I can`t wait to call them when I`m promoted to VP of a Fortune 50
company.
GRACE: Wa-wa-wait. My girlfriend of three years dumped me because her parents didn`t think I was going anywhere in life. I can`t wait to
call them when I`m promoted to VP of a Fortune 50 company. I guess that would be Home Depot. They were 29 in 2010. Oh, don`t worry about that. I
think they`ve heard enough of you right now, that poor old girlfriend probably just sobbing tonight she didn`t marry you!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The bind-over hearing, the PC, probable cause hearing, was a treasure trove of evidence. We watched as Leanna Taylor Harris sat on the
front row, looking bored and snapping gum the entire time. She didn`t seem surprised at any of the evidence that came out. That damning evidence did
come out.
Many people noticed that Justin Ross Harris showed no emotion whatsoever during the bind-over hearing until it was brought out that he
was sexting six different women and sending photos of his naked penis from work while Cooper died. That`s when he first sat up in alarm. A few times
after that, his nose got red, typically when they were talking about him.
And his eyes did tear up later on. That was well into the hearing, and that was the first display of emotion that he had, when the sexting
came up. And the camera went straight to his wife, who showed no surprise whatsoever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I got closer, I thought it was a doll. And about three or four feet away, I noticed that it was the body of a toddler.
Right then, my heart dropped because I saw this -- this precious boy laying there lifeless, to hear his cries and his desperation for his son to be
revived.
Well, he was saying, Oh, my God, oh, my God, my son is dead. Oh, my God, my son is dead. He was yelling and he was hollering and he was
screaming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: It also came out the two had money problems. Now, while that was later denied, police insist that Leanna Taylor Harris said that her
husband had sporadic spending habits, and one time spent $4,000 on spree buying on unnecessary items.
That opened up the question of life insurance. We then learn that there`s nearly $30,000 life insurance policy on baby Cooper. Very unusual.
And even more damning, that very weekend, from behind bars, Ross Harris directs his family how to cash in on baby Cooper`s life insurance.
Now, sources say that Home Depot paid for the funeral. So why is he directing his wife to cash in on life insurance? What, before she becomes
a suspect and it`s too late?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This guy, Justin Ross Harris, was in IT. He`s a computer expert. He`s on numerous accounts. What about the possibility he`s using
a VSP, kind of a private, a secret provider? It`s very, very difficult to trace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s absolutely right, Nancy. People who want to remain anonymous will hire a service that acts as kind of a go-between.
Say I want to send anonymous text messages to somebody. I can, for very cheap or free, hire a company that I`ll send them the messages, and they
will forward the messages to whoever the victim is.
Now, if these companies are in the U.S., we can subpoena then. But many of these anonymizer companies are in foreign countries, and their
business is to maintain that secrecy. Using these anonymizers, it`ll be very difficult to get some information. However, we do have all of the
computers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The medical examiner autopsy report reveals that baby Cooper died of hyperthermia, heat stroke. He, the baby, had scratches, unhealed
scratches on his face where he had scratched himself in frustration at trying to get out of that carseat. We learned that there are abrasions all
on the back of his head where he likely banged back and forth trying to free himself. Heat stroke ends up in vomiting. We know that police seize
the baby`s carseat pursuant to search warrant for DNA evidence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One question that a lot of people have for us is what would it have been like that day in the car when little Cooper died?
Well, we wanted to show you. So here I am, sitting in the same make and model. It`s a 2011 Hyundai Tucson, the same car that Harris would have
been driving that day.
Now, I wanted to point out that you can see immediately the carseat is right here to my right. It`s literally in between the two front seats.
Now, let me show you what Ross Harris would have seen that day. From this vantage point, every time I turn to my right, there`s the carseat, there`s
the head. Now, if I would look out my back window, once again, there`s the head, there`s the carseat.
Also, I wanted to point out that when I look into my rearview mirror, once again, there`s the head, there`s the carseat. So what did happen that
day?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We also learned about a deadly carseat switch, where just before Cooper dies in the carseat his dad used, he was taken out of -- the
carseats were switched. He was taken out of the bigger carseat that fit him and put in a smaller carseat and adjusted on the tightest level
possible. There was no way for baby Cooper to get free, no matter how much he struggled and called out for Daddy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he approach the car at any point at the scene?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About how long after the defendant had pulled over?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over an hour.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when he approached the car and stuck his head in -- did he stick his head in?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he did that, was there anything of note that he noticed an hour and 20 minutes after, with the door open?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there was a foul odor or stench coming from the vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, did you actually access that vehicle later, as well?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And why did you do that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We executed a search warrant of the vehicle later on that night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you executed that search warrant and you went inside the vehicle hours later, did you notice anything?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it smelled like -- it was a foul odor. It smelled like decomposition or death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, just to prove the elements of this crime (INAUDIBLE) did you speak to the ME about whether this child would have
suffered cruel or excessive physical pain?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. What did he say? Would it have been a painful death?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you notice any -- were there any injuries to the child`s face?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what were those?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way it was explained, there were several marks on the child`s face that would have come from the child or a scratch being
made while the child was alive, and then not healing, not scabbing over or anything like that, and just soon after, he passed away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were there any injuries to the child, back of the child`s head?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there were abrasions to the back of the child`s head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The search warrants in this case reveal a plethora of information and questions -- computers, iPhones, laptops, the works, many
computer storage devices, many of them taken out of the car.
We also know that medical records of baby Cooper and of Justin Ross Harris were obtained. Had the child suffer previous bruises, previous
injuries? Was there a string of hospital visits? We don`t know.
Also regarding those medical records, was Justin Ross Harris`s medical records seized because he claims he`s deaf in one ear? What`s the point of
that, to claim he couldn`t hear little Cooper in the car? That made it easy to forget him in the one minute, 20-second drive from Chick-fil-A to
work? I don`t think so.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: What will happen next? I believe that this case will be indicted by a grand jury. I believe there will be alternative counts, many
counts for the jurors to choose from. And I believe the state will seek the death penalty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The court is persuaded that at the very minimum, there`s reckless disregard for the safety of others in the conduct of Mr.
Harris, in that the moments or seconds that elapsed between the time he placed the child in the carseat until he got to his workplace, which is a
matter of moments, he allegedly forgot the child.
And then for him to enter the car later that day, after 4:00 o`clock in the afternoon, when the child had been dead and rigor mortis had set in,
and the testimony is the stench in the car was overwhelming at that point in time, that he in spite of that, got in the car and drove it for some
distance before he took any action to check on the welfare of his child.
So I find there`s probable cause for the two charges contained in the warrant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The only question right now is whether Leanna Harris, Mommy, will also be brought into the case. Right now, she`s not a suspect. She`s
not a person of interest. She`s not been named a target. But we know police are investigating her -- with good cause.
END
