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Nancy Grace
Schizophrenic Mom Missing With Children; TV-Star Going from Luxury House to Club Fed; Is Mayor`s Ex-Wife Clairvoyant or Brutal Killer?
Aired September 10, 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. We go live with the desperate search for a missing Maryland mother, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic
believed on the run with her two little children, 2-year-old Jacob, 3-year- old Sarah, last seen in a gray Nissan Rogue, all three in grave danger.
Bombshell tonight. As we go to air, grainy surveillance video emerges. We have the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Catherine Hoggle, Sarah, Jacob, missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Highly unusual case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The direct plea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just come home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two children go suddenly missing from the same family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are devastated by this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we love you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help to do what`s right for these children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, superstar TV king, author of books, spokesperson for products -- turn on your TV, he`s there any time day or night -- Kevin
Trudeau, convicted of swindling millions to prop up a lavish lifestyle, but tonight behind prison walls at one of the most upscale club feds in the
country. I mean, they`ve got crafts. They watch movies, wellness classes, a music room, pool tables, basketball, volleyball, softball -- but even
with all those amenities, Trudeau whining about life behind bars.
We discover after bilking millions from the public, he`s making a bid for freedom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lost 45 pounds in 45 days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The book that really got him in trouble...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why should anyone listen to what you have to say about health matters?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you like to lose up to 10 pounds in the first 24 hours?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s KevinTrudeau.com and YouTube.
And tonight, did a Florida mayor`s ex-wife beat his new girlfriend to death with a hammer?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: What`s the problem there, please?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there`s been a murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Accused of killing a friend she discovered was having an affair with her estranged husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s saying she`s killed someone.
911 OPERATOR: Telling you she killed somebody?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: She didn`t tell you who she`s saying she killed?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know. Kelly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
We go live tonight and the desperate search for a missing Maryland mother. She is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic believed on the run with her two
little children, 2-year-old Jacob, 3-year-old Sarah, now, last seen in a gray Nissan Rogue, all three in grave danger.
As we go to air, grainy surveillance video has just emerged, and we have the video. The circumstances under which these two little children --
think of your own children at age 2 and 3, how hopeless they were, how much they need you -- this mom, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, has made off
with little Jacob and Sarah, her entire family at their wits end to save the children.
Straight out to John Domen with WNEW. What do you know, John? What do we know about where she may be?
JOHN DOMEN, WNEW (via telephone): That`s a good question at this point. The last time anybody from the police department or anywhere, any confirmed
sighting was early yesterday morning around 4:40 AM. She was kind of walking in the same area where she was last seen by her common-law husband
on Monday evening. And at that point, she was only seen on video for a short time yesterday. Since then, police are just hoping the public may
have seen her since, you know, where she was is a high-traffic area.
GRACE: You know, John, joining me from WNEW, the manner in which the two children go missing even tricked her husband. The family lives together
under one roof. The father works a night shift, so he didn`t quite realize that the children were gone until there was a several-hours lead.
Straight out to special guest joining me right now from Montgomery County, Captain Darren Francke with the Montgomery County police, major crimes
division. Captain, thank you for being with us.
Now, I understand the timeline is little dicey because there`s an 18-hour interval between the first child going missing and possibly when the second
one went missing. Captain, can you break it down for me how this whole thing happened?
CAPT. DARREN FRANCKE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE (via telephone): Yes, Nancy. Thank you for taking an interest in this case. We are -- as you
said, we`re desperately trying to find these children and to find Catherine.
So on Monday the 7th, the husband, common-law husband, and the father of the children came to our fifth district station on Monday, and he reported
that his wife, Sarah -- I`m sorry, his wife, Catherine, was missing and that also his young daughter, Sarah, the 3-year-old, and Jacob, the 2-year-
old were missing, as well, and he was concerned about them. He advised us that his wife had just fled him, that they were looking for Jacob and
Sarah, that she had said that she had dropped them at a day care center and...
GRACE: But they were not at a day care center.
FRANCKE: Correct, they were not, and...
GRACE: Captain Francke, let me ask you a couple quick questions.
FRANCKE: Sure. Go ahead.
GRACE: This is my understanding, and I want to make sure I`ve got it down because you know every single fact may make a difference. We`re showing
some grainy surveillance video we managed to get of her at a Chick-fil-A.
FRANCKE: Correct.
GRACE: She doesn`t have either of the children. She`s acting perfectly normally there. I mean, nobody would know to see her that she is diagnosed
paranoid schizophrenic and she does -- and her two children are missing. They`re missing at the time of this video. We don`t know where they are,
and she`s acting as cool as a cucumber.
Captain Francke, I understand that she was at the grandmother`s home, and she tells the grandmother she`s going to take little Jacob out for pizza
and she leaves with Jacob. But we never know -- we never have any proof that she went for pizza.
Then the next morning, the dad wakes up from the night shift. I`m very familiar with that. My father worked the night shift for the railroad.
And you wake up. You don`t know what happened since you left for work the day before. And she tells the husband she took the little girl and the
boy, Sarah and Jacob, to day care. But she didn`t, right?
FRANCKE: Correct. Yes, when she left on Sunday...
GRACE: I got a bad feeling, Captain. I got a bad feeling. I got a very bad feeling about this. Go ahead.
FRANCKE: When she left on Sunday, she was gone for a couple hours. She came back and she did not have the pizza, she did not have the child.
Unfortunately, you know, to you and me, when you`re told you that you`re leaving a 2-year-old for an overnight stay at a playmate`s house, you know,
that raises suspicions. It didn`t raise the suspicions of the family, and then the next morning, you have the little girl now missing. And again, it
goes to the...
GRACE: That`s a wrinkle I don`t know about, Captain. So she goes for a pizza with Jacob. And I think Jacob is the one that`s just 2. And then,
all right, she comes back and says she`s left her 2-year-old boy at a playmate`s for a stayover?
FRANCKE: Correct. And now, investigatively...
GRACE: At 2 years old, a lot of kids can`t even walk. What are they going to do, look at each other in the crib? A play date?
FRANCKE: Correct. And investigatively, we`ve got a lot of resources and we have proven that that is not the case.
GRACE: Oh! So everybody, with me and taking your calls, Captain Darren Francke from Montgomery County, John Domen with WNEW. Captain, I`m hearing
my ear I`ve got Marc Klaas with me right now, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. He lost his beautiful daughter, Polly, and has
devoted his life to children.
All right, so we know this. We know the mother lied. Let`s just start with that. Now let`s take it from there. Why is she lying? Did she give
the children away? Did she abandoned them somewhere? Is she on the run with them, which is a likely scenario? Are they dead? Weigh in, Marc.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I have no idea where the kids are, but this is a scenario that screams Amber Alert. You have a severely
mentally ill mother who`s being deceptive, who`s -- who`s avoiding -- avoiding being touched by anybody, and this is exactly the kind of a
scenario that you need an Amber Alert for. However, they weren`t able to issue it because there`s no vehicle involved.
Now, Nancy, the Amber Alert has always had great potential. However, that potential has been stymied by a fundamental misunderstanding of its intent
and purpose. The Amber Alert was not created to be activated under specific conditions. Instead, it was meant as a partnership between law
enforcement, media and the public, and that`s being sabotaged in this process.
GRACE: OK, I understand that it didn`t meet the qualifications for an Amber Alert. Got it. Now I`m trying to go from there, all right, and do
what we can do to help find these children. There`s a chance this mom has them, that she`s dumped them somewhere, that she`s on the run with them, or
that she killed them. Those are my alternatives.
Now, let`s go to Caryn Stark, psychologist. Caryn, give it to me in a nutshell, paranoid schizophrenic -- hold on, Caryn. Let me get some more
facts from the captain. Captain Francke, is she on her medication? Do we know that?
FRANCKE: We have no way to confirm that at this time.
GRACE: Darn! Well, what about the husband? Doesn`t he know anything?
FRANCKE: Again, our experience with a lot of folks is they can be on their medication or they can say they`re on the medication and just hide the
fact...
GRACE: Ah. Yes. They never want to be on their meds. You`re right, Captain. Has her ATM or credit card or gas card, her EZ-pass, any of that
been used anywhere outside her own little nuclear neighborhood?
FRANCKE: No, we have no activity.
GRACE: Nothing? And you`ve looked?
FRANCKE: Yes. We`re aggressively looking at her financial records, any way we can to get an idea where she is, which is...
GRACE: How did she pay for that Chick-fil-A, Captain? How did she pay for that, credit card, ATM, what?
FRANCKE: At that time, she was with her husband, or common-law husband at that time. She had money. Further investigation, we have found some of
her belongings. She is making an active effort to -- in our opinion, to avoid contact with the police. And we believe she is of limited means.
And you know, the most important thing for us in reference to the kids is the last video we have of her at 4:40 in the morning, there are no kids
with her. There are no other adults with her.
GRACE: That`s at the Walgreens?
FRANCKE: No. That is in the area, as you said before, of the Chick-fil-A where she originally went missing.
GRACE: OK. Now, wa-wa-wait. A Chick-fil-A is open at 4:40 in the morning?
FRANCKE: I`m sorry...
GRACE: They`re not even open...
FRANCKE: ... she`s in the area...
GRACE: ... on Sunday!
FRANCKE: ... as far as the street.
GRACE: Oh, OK, on the street. I think she`s got a cell phone in her hand, Captain. What about that? Any pings?
FRANCKE: Right now, we do not believe that she has a cell phone.
GRACE: Oh! OK. Caryn Stark, paranoid schizophrenic -- what does it mean for these two children? Yes, I`d like to say the mother, but I`m concerned
about the 2-year-old and the 3-year-old, Caryn. Give it to me in a nutshell.
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, Nancy, you should be concerned because a paranoid schizophrenic is somebody who can, in fact, be extremely
dangerous. She believes that the world is out to get her and she believes this is true. There are plots against her.
A lot of it doesn`t make sense. You could feel that there are aliens in outer space who are trying to communicate with you. That`s by definition
part of being a paranoid schizophrenic sometimes. So I really am concerned about these two children, the fact that they`re not there and what she
might have imagined or who talked to her to tell her to not to have them.
GRACE: Well, on the other hand, Captain Francke, when she`s spotted at 4:40 AM, we don`t -- do you have her car? Do we know if the children could
have been in the car?
FRANCKE: As of that sighting, she did not have a means of transportation unless she hooked up with another citizen, a friend. We have no indication
of that. That`s one of the reasons we keep this story as high profile as we can in case someone is helping her, that they communicate with us
immediately.
GRACE: Oh, wait! I understand something now, Captain. So the mom ditches the husband, the father, at the Chick-fil-A.
FRANCKE: Right.
GRACE: That Chick-fil-A is right across the street from a bus station. What about that? What`s the possibility that she bought a ticket in cash
and took off?
FRANCKE: That`s a local transit (INAUDIBLE). We have strong information that she did not get on a bus or get in a cab and leave from there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are their photos, 27-year-old Catherine Hoggle, her daughter, 3-year-old Sarah, and her son, 2-year-old Jacob.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just come home. And we love you. And if you have the babies, please call us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a highly unusual case, two children go separately missing from the same family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are all missing. You`re asked to look carefully, and if you can help locate them, call police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: At this hour, we join the desperate search for two little children, ages 2 and 3, Jacob and Sarah. We believe that they are with their mother,
Catherine Hoggle, who is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. For those of you watching our program or that can hear our voices on the radio tonight,
all of you truckers and motorists, we are on the lookout for Catherine Hoggle with two children. All of you on XM and Sirius, please help us save
these children.
Right now, I am hearing we`re going straight to a police presser. Let`s go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and our message to her, even though we are seeking charges against her, is to help her and to help these children, is to help
do what`s right for these children and what`s right for this family, who obviously you`ve already talked to. They are devastated by this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a highly unusual case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: According to our investigation, what we`ve learned so far, about an 18-hour period where two children go separately missing from
the same family, both last seen in the care and custody of the same...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Lisa. Hi, Lisa. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy, you have so much strength doing these shows every night! And...
GRACE: Thank you. If I did not have my twins to go home to, I don`t know what I would do. I just do not know what I would do. But thank you.
What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My quick question is, please, knowing that she`s diagnosed with this unfortunate paranoid schizophrenic, why is she allowed
to be alone with them? Why isn`t there special supervision?
GRACE: You know, excellent question. Caryn Stark, psychologist joining me out of New York, is it because family members want to -- they try their
best to have some sense of normalcy? They want to believe everything is going to be OK? I mean, that had to go through the husband`s mind when she
had the children to start with.
STARK: Well, something really doesn`t smell right here, Nancy, because she should not have been alone with those children, especially with paranoid
schizophrenia. And I wanted to say in the announcement that they just made and they, Even though we`re going to have a case against her -- nobody
should be saying that if they want her to turn herself in because she`s paranoid. That`s her biggest fear. She should not have been alone with
the children.
GRACE: Well, here`s another thing. And I know defense lawyers are going to argue insanity here, but Justin Freiman, she had the wherewithal to
complete successfully multiple deceptions to many people in the days leading up to the children`s disappearance.
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): That`s right, Nancy. She apparently lied to her own parents when she said that she took her son
for pizza and then claimed she dropped the son off for a sleepover, which is very questionable. And then she goes on to lie to her husband about
dropping the kids off at day care. It`s only after he starts questioning her about this that she seems to panic and disappear.
GRACE: Back to our special guest, Captain Darren Francke. Also with us, John Domen, WNEW, and Marc Klaas. Captain Francke, you guys are on this
24/7. You`re saying you don`t think that she has with her or is using a cell phone. There`s no ATM activity. You have not found bodies. That
means she`s gone somewhere.
FRANCKE: Correct.
GRACE: How?
FRANCKE: Well, we have a very dense community, a lot of folks traveling about that may not necessarily notice someone like her going through their
community. That`s why it`s important that folks, if they see something, they need to call us right away. That`s how we`re going to find her and
it`s how we`re going to find these kids. We`ve got 1,200 great officers out there, but we got a million people in our county, and they`re going to
help us resolve this.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Robert Schalk, Randy Kessler. All right, Kessler, there are charges lodged against her right now. I guess you think
that`s not fair.
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, she`s only a suspect. If there`s no bodies, you don`t know where they are, and you really have two people.
You have this woman when she`s medicated and when she`s not medicated. And when she`s not medicated, that may be what you want to call temporary
insanity. She may have done something when she was not on her meds. We don`t know nearly enough to charge her at this point.
GRACE: The Constitution, Robert Schalk, does not take into consideration split personalities when a crime has been committed. And yes, mothers are
allowed to take their children but not take them away from the father. And now we have grave concerns the children are being mistreated or worse.
ROBERT SCHALK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, we don`t know any of that, obviously. As the officers are even telling you, this investigation is in
the early stages. Hopefully, everyone comes home OK.
GRACE: What are you talking about?
SCHALK. And Nancy, the...
GRACE: Don`t give me any legal mumbo-jumbo when there`s a 2 year old and a 3-year-old missing, and you`re saying we don`t any if there`s been a crime.
A paranoid schizophrenic has made off with a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old!
SCHALK: Yes, but we need to use this system to get everyone...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Look down about three inches -- Maryland mom, schizophrenic, missing with children ages 2 and 3. You see that?
SCHALK: The goal is to get them back, not to prosecute this woman who has clear mental issues. That`s the goal, to get them back, not to prosecute.
GRACE: I agree with you. I agree with you the goal is to get them back first.
Everyone, this is not the first time a mother with diagnosed mental ailments has made off with her children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight-month-old Gabriel Johnson (ph) vanished just after Christmas 2009. Mom allegedly claimed to the boy`s father that she
suffocated him. But Elizabeth Johnson also told the judge she gave Gabriel away to be with a real loving family.
Today, no sign of 6-year-old Timothy Pitzen (ph) after his mom took him out of school and ran off. Days later, she was found dead from suicide in a
motel room.
Another bizarre case, Dwight Falling`s (ph) mother allegedly said she gave the baby away to strangers in burqas. Bonnie Sweeten (ph) allegedly staged
an elaborate kidnap hoax, calling 911, saying she and her 9-year-old girl were carjacked by two men. Prosecutors said it was a plot to swindle
hundreds of thousands in ransom money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Catherine told family she was taking Jacob to get pizza, but she returned without the child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you have the babies, please call the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) unite these two children with their dad and grandparents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Urgent. We are joining in the search for a 2-year-old and a 3- year-old. They are with their mom, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. She has given her husband the slip while they were at Chick-fil-A. They`re
all gone. Tonight, we are fearing the worst and praying for the best.
To John Domen with WNEW. I understand this route, 118 between the area of Interstate-270 and the Germantown Common shopping. What is there? What is
in that area, John?
DOMEN: There`s a lot of shopping. It`s kind of what they call mixed use development in the city areas, in the suburbs. You have a lot of
apartments, townhouses, a lot of traffic going through, as well, because there are shopping centers, restaurants, fast food bars, all of that, a lot
of people walking around pretty much throughout the day.
GRACE: To Dr. Bill Manion, medical examiner and forensic pathologist joining me out of Philly, Dr. Manion, with paranoid schizophrenia, if you
are off your meds is that when you begin having auditory, for instance, hallucinations and visual hallucinations?
DR. BILL MANION, M.D., MEDICAL EXAMINER & FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Absolutely. Absolutely. And this has a very negative effect on their life
and they don`t understand what`s real and what`s not real. And they`ll act inappropriate and bizarre. So you`re absolutely correct.
GRACE: Captain Darren Francke. I`m just overwhelmed with concern. I`ve got a horrible feeling about the two children. I guess I have covered so
many stories, cases where moms with mental illness take out all of their aggression and their frustrations on the children from Andrea Yates to
Lacy. I mean it just goes on and on. Diana Lacy (ph) it goes on and on. Captain Francke, what are you guys doing to try to find them and what can
we do to help you find these two children?
FRANCKE: So, we have every division of our department working on this right now. I`ve got in the field at least 100 detectives, police officers,
investigators just working on this case alone. We`re searching some areas. We are reaching out to every person that we can identify that she may have
had contact with. The big thing is, I will say the charges that are pending, it was a difficult decision. But it`s a strategic decision based
on probable cause. We want people to know how serious this is and if there`s any chance at all that these children are with some other
individual and that this is some sort of distraction, if this is some sort of thing where they are caring - you know, who knows why they`re gone. We
want people to be absolutely clear that they need to come forward because at this point we have moved forward with some charges on this and we will
continue to move forward until we get those kids back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Superstar TV king, author of books, spokesperson of products, turn on your TV, he`s there any time of day or night. Kevin Trudeau convicted
of swindling millions to prop up his lavish lifestyle, but tonight behind prison walls one of the most upscale club sets in the country. Inmates do
crafts, they watch movies, they have wellness classes, a music room, pool tables, basketball, volleyball, softball, even with all of these amenities,
Trudeau whining about life behind bars. Tonight, we discover. After bilking millions in public, he`s making a bid for freedom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN TRUDEAU: If a person is watching and you need to lose weight.
GRACE: Kevin Trudeau still at it.
TRUDEAU: Let`s not mislead the public. It is a weight loss miracle. It can allow you to lose weight faster than anything ever and keep the weight
off forever. I lost 45 pounds in 45 days. If a person is watching and you need to lose weight, would you like to lose one pound of fat per day?
Would you like to lose up to ten pounds in the first 24 hours? Well, let me show you some before and afters and then we`re going to talk about this
book and the fact that the federal government and the drug companies are so petrified about this information getting released that I was sued and fined
$37 million because I wrote this book. And I was taken off television for three years and ordered by a federal judge not to talk about this book for
three years. I won my appeal which is why I`m here right now. But folks, this is the medical miracle that millions of people have learned about and
hundreds of thousands of people have lost more weight faster than anything else on the planet. And guess what? Even the federal judge and even .
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s from Kevintrudeau.com and YouTube and you heard him say I won my appeal. Now, what he got to do was go forward with that book, but
now in another appeal, he is making a bid for freedom. To Chris Morran, deputy editor of consumers.com. Chris, how many millions of dollars is
Trudeau accused of bilking the public out of?
CHRIS MORRAN, DEPUTY EDITOR, CONSUMERIST.COM: All right. It`s an untold number. I mean all of his books are "The New York Times" bestsellers and
they continue to sell and the lawsuits haven`t had to do with the content of the books, even though they are questionable. It`s how he misrepresents
them in infomercials.
GRACE: Now, when you say misrepresents them in infomercials what do you mean by that?
MORRAN: Specifically it`s the weight loss cure book where he - he goes on his infomercials talking about how they`re easy and no exercise required
and they`re cheap and what he doesn`t tell you is that the books say you have to go on a 500 calorie a day diet, you have to exercise every day and
it also recommends getting injections of a hormone that you can only get from pregnant women.
GRACE: Wait. Wait. Wait. Look at this, guys. This is the lavish lifestyle Trudeau was propping up by selling all of those books about
losing weight and getting rid of your debt. What about his debt? He was paying it all off by us buying all these books. Chris, we`re showing the
shots of his home. I mean, it looks like a museum. It looks like an institute.
MORRAN: And in 2013, he was put in jail for not paying any of the $37 million that he owed as a penalty to the government and they showed that he
had these secret bank accounts in Australia and I`m sure he has secret bank accounts elsewhere around the world that were funding - continuing to fund
this lifestyle.
GRACE: Now, it`s my understanding he has got thousands of Facebook followers behind bars, is that true, Chris?
MORRAN: Yes. His Facebook page has 20,000 Facebook likes on it. You know, I don`t know how many of those are real, but there are plenty of
people constantly supporting him telling him he`ll get out some day if they just get enough people that he`ll get - he`ll be a free man some day.
GRACE: OK, what is it, Chris, that he claimed in his books, all of his various books, that are not true? What are the claims that are believed to
be false?
MORRAN: Again, it`s his books are still available for sale. Because it`s hard to say that 500 calorie a day - 500 calorie a day diet will make you
lose weight. It could possibly kill you. But it won`t make you lose weight. So, it is a weight loss cure and the other stuff in his books does
have some very specious scientific backup. It`s the infomercials. It`s him going on TV and selling these books, because what he is doing this,
he`s selling people - he`s convincing people to buy a book, thinking that the book contains an easy plan when the books don`t contain easy plans.
They contain actual plans that require work.
GRACE: Hey, you know, Michael Christian, we`re showing right now from his uber lavish home to this club fed - true, it`s one of the most luxurious
prisons in the country. What can you tell me? I don`t think that`s the club fed, Liz, but thanks for sharing that with me. What do you know,
Michael Christian and what`s this claim as to why he should walk free?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Basically, the government violated his rights because he didn`t get a speedy trial. He says that the
jury was improperly permitted to find willfulness meaning that he actually knew that his conduct was unlawful, and he says that his ten-year criminal
contempt sentence, which is among the highest ever for criminal contempt is excessive. So based on all of that he`s saying the conviction should be
overturned, and he should get out of prison.
GRACE: I mean, wait. Unleash the lawyers. Robert Schalk, Randy Kessler, he`s claiming the ten years was excessive for contempt of court. But it
was $37 million. This is not $2,000 of back child support. 37 mil. Why are you looking like that, Kessler? I mean $37 million?
KESSLER: He didn`t take $37 million from one person. There was a combination of $30 from every single person.
GRACE: So.
KESSLER: He`s not being put in jail for stealing, he`s being put in jail for contempt of court. Violating the court order .
GRACE: Not paying the public back.
KESSLER: he`s being punished for violating the court order .
GRACE: Don`t try to get - on me.
KESSLER: It`s violating court order.
GRACE: I worked at the FTC before I did violent crimes.
KESSLER: You don`t contempt this, Nancy.
GRACE: Ant this .
KESSLER: Contempt is not murder. Contempt is not rape. Contempt is violating a court order.
GRACE: Did you just say rape?
KESSLER: Contempt is not rape. Contempt is not murder. That`s what I said.
GRACE: OK, I don`t know how you fished that out of the law books. But all right, Schalk, if he swindled 37 million, it was fair for the government,
for a jury, to determine he needed to pay back 37 million. And I mean, for Pete`s sake, wellness classes. He should be glad he`s not there and
working a chain gang on the side of the road with a sling blade cutting the weeds.
SCHALK: Well, he`s lucky to be at club fed, Nancy. But I agree with Randy. This is an excessive sentence for contempt. He`s not serving a
sentence for the stealing. For contempt you have your sentencing guidelines. If they can prove that the judge went above and beyond what
the standard sentences are pursuant to those guidelines, he may have a shot here.
GRACE: OK, everybody, we are talking about a jailed TV star who raked in millions making a bid for freedom. You saw the lavish home he`s used to.
Well, this is where he made all his money. Kevin Trudeau, kevintrudeau.com, YouTube, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUDEAU: I lost 45 pounds in 45 days. If a person is watching and you need to lose weight, would you like to lose one pound of fat per day?
Would you like to lose up to ten pounds in the first 24 hours? Well, let me show you some before and afters and then we`ll talk about this book and the
fact that the federal government and the drug companies are so petrified about this information getting released that I was sued and fined $37
million because I wrote this book. And I was taken off television for three years and ordered by a federal judge not to talk about this book for
three years. I won my appeal, which is why I`m here right now. But folks, this is the medical miracle that millions of people have learned about.
And hundreds of thousands of people have lost more weight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Did a Florida mayor`s ex-wife beat his new girlfriend to death with a hammer?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: I think there`s been a murder.
DISPATCH: OK. And where is the person at that is the victim?
CALLER: I don`t know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The body of Kelly Brennan was discovered of A1A, in the area of Mark`s Landing in Melbourne Beach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DISPATCH: Did she tell you where this happened?
CALLER: Yeah. Down. It`s down by Mark`s Landing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You`re seeing that from ABC`s "GMA." Straight out to Noam Laden of the ABC. Noam, this bizarre scenario. It`s my understanding this Florida
mayor ex-wife according to the prosecution beats the new girlfriend to death with a hammer, then leads her own children to the body?
NOAM LADEN, NEWS ANCHOR, WABC RADIO: Yes. Totally bizarre. So, yes. She`s accused of -- I mean, savagely beating this woman, Kelly Brennan to
death. And then either she fakes or she really has a seizure. This woman, Sheila Trott, ends up in the hospital. Her sons come to visit her in the
hospital. They say, are you OK? She says yeah, but while I was out, I had this vision that Kelly Brennan is in trouble. And in the process after
getting out of the hospital, leads her two teenage sons to Kelly Brennan`s body.
GRACE: So either she is clairvoyant or she`s a killer. I think clairvoyants are very few and far between. Noam Laden, Matt Zarrell, what
more can you tell me?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, after the mother brought the children allegedly to the body location, then went to an empty lot a
couple of miles away, and the sons told police that she picked up this public shopping bag and inside was Kelly Brennan`s purse and
identification.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Robert Schalk and Randy Kessler, Robert Schalk, how do you defend a case when your client leads her children to the
dead body?
SCHALK: Well .
GRACE: I mean, savagely, savagely bludgeoned to death. Her brain matter was on her legs, on the victim`s legs. She beat her so badly, believed to
have been with a hammer.
SCHALK: And I know that the reporters didn`t get to it, when you were speaking to them, Nancy, but there are two big issues that are definitely
to the benefit of the defendant here. There is a videotape of her at a Walgreens allegedly at the time the (INAUDIBLE) has happened. Number two,
you have a soon to be ex-husband of the victim who had a domestic incident with the 250.00 life insurance policy that was on this woman.
GRACE: Hold on, Schalk. Hold on, Schalk. You may be a good defense attorney, but you`re not a magician. That Walgreen`s video is of the
husband. She, the murder defendant, is not the suspect -- is not on the Walgreen`s video. All right? I want you to see it yourself. There he is,
she`s nowhere to be found. But your line of reasoning, I know what you`re doing, that`s from ABC`s "GMA." Randy Kessler, where he`s going with this
is to blame the ex-husband, of course.
KESSLER: Nancy, and everything you`re saying talks about what a horrific crime. Her brains were on her legs. That indicates a horrible crime.
That doesn`t in and of itself point any fingers at anybody. There are a lot of facts to be uncovered.
This was a struggle between .
GRACE: Put him up.
KESSLER: This lady was a small woman .
GRACE: You are not even making any sense. She is - OK, what about her, the murder suspect, the mayor`s wife, leading her two sons to the dead
body.
KESSLER: You don`t want to believe this, Nancy, but it`s circumstantial evidence. There are no eyewitnesses.
GRACE: Could you address the question I just asked you?
KESSLER: There are no eyewitnesses. There is no DNA.
GRACE: Could you address the question I just gave you?
KESSLER: You can`t convict somebody of murder on circumstantial evidence.
GRACE: She knew where the dead body was.
KESSLER: Yes, so maybe somebody told her. Maybe there are thousands things that could have happened.
GRACE: All right.
KESSLER: This is not ..
GRACE: Somebody told her. OK. Hold on. Noam Laden of the ABC, isn`t it true that there was dried blood on the driveway? Whose driveway would that
be?
LADEN: That would be the driveway of Sheila Trot.
KESSLER: And stranger things have happened. And somebody could have come to her house and has that blood on - this wasn`t on the defendant.
GRACE: Wait, wait, this was in the victim`s driveway. What do we know about the suspect`s clothing that night, Matt Zarrell? Something to do
with changing her clothes because of blood spatter and detergent?
ZARRELL: Yeah, authorities believe she had to have changed her clothes. Because when police questioned the sons, the sons said they didn`t notice
any blood on her, any sand on her, any chemical smell.. But when police executed a search warrant on the home, they found clothing with blood on
it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: To Dr. Bill Manion. Dr. Manion, how can the medical examiner hypothesize this was done with a hammer?
MANION: Well, often times the skull is very thin on the side of the head and you can see at the state`s impression made by either a claw hammer or a
ball teen hammer. And it`s a sign of weapon that matched the hammer next to the wound or fracture and - speaks words.
GRACE: So, somewhat like a fingerprint or an impression on the skull. Dr. Bill Manion, joining me.
Everyone, let`s stop and remember American hero Army Sergeant First Class Christopher Henderson, 35, Hillsboro, Oregon. Bronze star, Purple Heart,
loved motorcycles, camping and "Star Wars." Parents Jim and Cindy, sister DF (ph), widow Jennifer, daughter Kelly. Christopher Henderson, American
hero. And tonight, a special good night from friends of the show, Mariana and Yvonne. Aren`t they gorgeous? Happy birthday to Donna, married to
Steve, mother of twin boys, Zach and Nick. Now, isn`t she beautiful, with those big, blue eyes? And tonight, congratulations to parents Lamika and
Byron on the birth of new baby boy, Nasir, 7 pounds, 6 ounces. And not so quick, Caryn Stark. Happy birthday, beautiful Karen. Finally 21 and old
enough to have a tiny sip of alcohol. And thank you to North Point friend Chris. He made this handmade key chain with the twin`s picture on it.
Dr. Drew`s up next, everybody. I`ll see you tomorrow night at 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
