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Nancy Grace
Toddler Dies in House Fire While Mom Smokes Pot; Cops: Husband Fatally Shoots Wife in Head Because Another Man Buys Her Alcohol
Aired December 03, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Breaking news tonight. Live, Oregon. Mommy admits, I was stoned, when she`s caught outside in a nearby gazebo, texting
away while her little boy, 4-year-old Andre, dies as their home burns down in a horrific blaze.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-three-year-old Niya Sosa-Martinez is accused of recklessly causing the death of her 4-year-old son. She was abusing
marijuana.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We`re going to be showing you photos of what happens to addicts.
And tonight, live, Lakewood, Washington. Friends, family, relatives in shock as her husband, Skyler Nimitz (ph), walks free, police honing in on
Nimitz when his young wife, Danielle (ph), found seated at her home computer, shot dead in the back of the head after police say a neighbor
buys her alcohol while Nimitz away on a military training op.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was found slumped over, dead from a single gunshot wound.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defendant shot his wife because he believed she was cheating on him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators say he found out someone had purchased alcohol for his wife, Danielle. Enraged, prosecutors say, Nimitz shot her
as she sat at the computer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A foster dad left a 10-month-old baby inside a car, windows up, on a 90-degree day. Hours later, when he rushed outside to get
the baby, it was too late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. To Oregon. Mommy admits, I was stoned, when she`s caught outside in a nearby gazebo, texting away while her little boy, 4-
year-old Andre, dies when their home burns down in a horrific blaze.
Straight out to Brett Larson, investigative reporter. hat happened?
BRETT LARSON, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Nancy, this is just terrible. She`s -- she rushes outside. It`s in the middle of the day. She goes and sits
at a gazebo, and starts texting friends as though nothing has happened while her 4-year-old toddler dies of smoke inhalation inside the house.
Firefighters show up, find the house ablaze, get everything under control, only to find that the 4-year-old is, in fact, dead inside.
GRACE: So -- and there was at no point, Brett, when she tries to save the little boy, the 4-year-old child? Isn`t it true she just kind of yells at
the house, Come out, come out, but never once tries to save him?
LARSON: Yes, she attempted to scream and to coax the child out of the home, but at no point, actually, got up and did what I assume would be the
maternal thing to do, run towards a door, try and break a window, try and do something to save your 4-year-old toddler before he dies of smoke
inhalation while the firefighters are there. At least tell them that he`s still inside. She didn`t even do that.
GRACE: Well, where was she when the fire breaks out, Brett Larson?
LARSON: She was inside the house when the fire broke out, and then got herself out very quickly...
GRACE: Doing what?
LARSON: ... and started screaming. Well, she was...
GRACE: Doing what?
LARSON: She was inside smoking marijuana. She admitted that to the authorities when they showed up.
GRACE: So she`s stoned while the house goes up in flames with the baby inside. Who is she texting? Why is she sitting outside, seemingly
disinterested, with her legs crossed? I mean, she`s acting like she`s on a break at work while her house is burning down with the baby inside.
LARSON: Yes, we don`t know who, actually, she was texting. We just know that neighbors thought that it was very unusual. And it is very unusual,
when your house is on fire, to be sitting across the street or nearby in a gazebo, using your phone to text your friends. I don`t know what she was
texting them, maybe, Hey, my house is on fire, how crazy is that? But I mean, you know, she`s stoned. She`s got a rap sheet and she`s sitting
there texting friends while her house burns down.
GRACE: With me right now, deputy chief of the Keizer Police Department, Jeff Kuhns is with us. Chief, thank you for being with us.
JEFF KUHNS, DEPUTY CHIEF, KEIZER POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Thank you, Nancy. I appreciate it.
GRACE: You know, I`m overwhelmed because the mom never tried to rescue the 4-year-old. Do we know how the fire started?
KUHNS: Right now, we still are investigating that, alongside with our partners from the Oregon State Fire Marshal`s office. We did process the
scene over the course of three days after the fatal fire, collected a lot of evidence. And as you know,that evidence is customarily sent off to a
crime lab, where it is analyzed, and we are awaiting the results. And once we know and know for sure the cause of the fire, that cause will be
released.
GRACE: Could I ask you, do the police know who was so important that she texted them while her 4-year-old boy was dying in the fire?
KUHNS: We do not know at this time. We have seized the cellular phone that was in use, that the mother was using in the gazebo. Those facts are
correct. But at this time, we do not know who she was texting. That phone is being analyzed.
GRACE: Also, Justin Freiman, I want to take a quick look at the story of the foster dad who gets high on pot while he`s watching "Game of Thrones."
I guess he was watching the red wedding. But long story short, he`s high on pot, watching "Game of Thrones" while his tot, his baby, dies out in a
hot car. What happened, Justin?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): That`s right, Nancy. This man leaves his baby strapped in the hot car, over 90 degrees outside,
goes into the house and has marijuana with his partner, watches "Game of Thrones." And apparently, they heard a baby crying in the show, and that`s
what reminded them, Oh, my gosh, the 10-month-old is in the car. By the time they get out there, it`s too late.
GRACE: So they leave the baby strapped in the car. The baby dies. And foster dad is inside getting high on pot and watching "Game of Thrones"?
Do I have that right?
FREIMAN: That`s right, Nancy. It was the foster dad leaves the kid in the car, goes inside, watches TV, gets high, and then realizes, Oops, baby`s in
the car.
GRACE: And Brett Larson, before I go back to our original story about the mommy who says, I was stoned, and leaves the 4-year-old in the home while
she sits outside texting, stoned, and the baby dies in the house fire -- before I take you back to that, what can you tell me about this huge pot
delivery that some idiot sends, what was it, FedEx, to the wrong address?
LARSON: Yes, apparently, now is the time of year where you can try and slip a few things into the mail, given the vast amounts of stuff that we`re
shipping around. So somebody thought to themselves, Why not send a bunch of marijuana, 30 pounds at a time, for a total of 90 pounds, shows up in
front of a store, a clothing store. It shows up.
The manager finds it out front and says, What is this? Thinking it`s a mistaken delivery, opens it up, finds the marijuana, contacts the
authorities, who are now trying to track down whoever sent the pot by via FedEx.
GRACE: Unleash Norm Kent, please, president of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Also joining me, Brad Lamm, addiction
specialist, founder of Breathe Life Healing Centers.
First to you, Brad Lamm. I want to focus on the two deaths of the children, all right? I don`t want to drag FedEx into this about delivering
marijuana, but I want to talk about these two dead children. You`ve got a 4-year-old child, another toddler, both dead while the parents are high on
pot. What about it, Brad Lamm?
BRAD LAMM, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: Nancy, to folks who say there really are no repercussions to folks who get addicted and struggle with pot, I`d say
these are cases in my own back yard. I grew up in Oregon. It`s really ground zero of pot there in the Walanda (ph) Valley. And pot slows your
reaction time. For some folks, it will make you very paranoid and delusional. And then other people will smoke pot and it won`t do anything
negative for them.
So I think this is a clear-cut case of somebody who has a problem with it, and people like Norm Kent, who you have on frequently, will probably join
in the conversation and say, Hey, you`re hysterical and pot`s not the problem, it`s people that are the problem.
GRACE: You know, Norm Kent, I want to go to you on this because, typically, you say that there`s no violence or no harm associated with pot.
I guess you want us to believe everybody`s just kicked back on their sofa, getting high, watching, what, cable TV?
So could you help me out here? The mom says when police pull up, I`m stoned! Her 4-year-old child dies as her house burns down. She`s sitting
there texting. Then you`ve got the foster dad high on pot, watching "Game of Thrones" while his child dies in a hot car just outside, about 30 feet
away.
NORM KENT, NORML PRESIDENT: Well, the global answer to your question, Nancy, would be that the misuse of something is not a pragmatic argument
against the fair and responsible use of it.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa!
LARSON: The specific response would be...
GRACE: hat do you mean by the global answer? Who fed you that line? Because you`ve never pulled that on me before.
KENT: I`ve been saving that...
GRACE: So what, did you read that on the Internet, the global answer?
KENT: I`ve been saving that as...
GRACE: What do you even mean by that? Do you know what you mean by that?
KENT: Yes, I do.
GRACE: What? What do you mean by the global answer?
(CROSSTALK)
KENT: ... the thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands of people who are using marijuana responsibly, either medically or recreationally, shouldn`t
be penalized because we have come upon a part of the population that`s negligent and irresponsible. In fact, the person you`re talking about, the
Sosa-Martinez woman from Oregon, if the truth be told, she was already convicted of child neglect. She was on probation. You might want to
question why the judge had her out on the street...
LAMM: Why was she a neglectful parent in the first place?
GRACE: Yes, you know what? Let`s get to the bottom of that.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Put Norm Kent up, please. The reason she was neglectful to start with is because she`s a pothead...
KENT: Well, no, maybe, Nancy --
GRACE: ... and she doesn`t have the energy or the motivation to take care of her children.
LAMM: You know, the reason why people turn to...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You`re the one that brought it up.
LAMM: ... and to escape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I would like to know what her story is and what is it that she might need treatment for.
GRACE: With me is the deputy chief there in Keizer, Oregon. Jeff Kuhns is with us. He is in charge of the case, 4-year-old little boy, Andre, dies a
horrible death. He dies in a house fire. We`re waiting for the arson division to tell us the exact cause of the fire.
But what I know is this. The mom mother never tried to go in, according to our reports, to save the son. She made no effort whatsoever. And when
police arrived, she was sitting in a gazebo near her home, sitting there with her legs crossed, texting. And she says, I`m stoned.
She was as high as a kite, Chief. Did she even know what was going on around her?
KUHNS: Yes, that`s correct. We believe, and our investigation has showed, the mother was actually inside the apartment when the fire began. She made
it out. However, her 4-year-old son did not. He perished in this terrible, terrible fire.
What we saw when we arrived -- and I was the first responder that day -- was a mother who appeared to be under the influence, who was sitting under
a gazebo, texting on a cell phone. There were no outward signs, no indications, no fear, no yelling, no screaming that, My son is inside that
apartment and you need to rescue him. We saw the exact opposite of that.
GRACE: Now, this is what else we know. According to a witness, the mom, who was stoned, goes over, sits in a gazebo and starts texting like
nothing`s happening. And I`m reading from the statement of the witness. "We couldn`t figure out what the H she was doing. She tried to get a
burning mattress out of the house, never tried to get her kid out. She tried to coax her child out by calling in to him. She didn`t even try to
pull him out. She wasn`t crying.` `
To Deputy Chief Kuhns, what was her demeanor?
KUHNS: I would say it was exactly that. There were no outward or obvious signs that anything other than her apartment was on fire, that was wrong.
She was sitting there on her phone, texting. She was not indicating to first responders, police or firefighters, that her infant or young son was
inside the apartment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A mother charged with manslaughter and her little boy gone forever. She was abusing marijuana the day the fire broke out in her
Keizer apartment. Investigators tell me the mother and her son were inside when the fire started.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A man gets high on pot and watches "Game of Thrones" while his 10-month-old foster baby dies inside a hot car!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: One mom stoned out of her gourd when police arrive at the scene, her 4-year-old child in the home as she sits outside and texts, high on
marijuana, as the child dies. Another father gets high and watches "Game of Thrones" while his toddler dies, strapped in, in a hot car, just a few
feet from where he sits, watching TV.
But tonight, joining us, Norm Kent, president of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, insists marijuana should be legalized.
Wouldn`t you agree, Norm Kent, that marijuana is a gateway drug to other drugs, like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine?
KENT: No. For the past 40 years, eminent doctors like Lester Grinspoon (ph) and others have demonstrated marijuana is no such gateway drug, and
it`s a falsification of the truth to say otherwise, just a complete misrepresentation of fact. Marijuana can be a gateway to inner awareness,
higher learning, better experiences in life...
GRACE: Did you just say...
(CROSSTALK)
KENT: In Colorado...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait. Please clear something up. Did you just say -- everybody, that`s from Rehabs.com. You can go there and see the full video
and more faces of drugs.
Did you just say marijuana leads to inner -- what, did you say inner enlightenment?
KENT: Yes, I absolutely said that.
GRACE: OK. OK, to Brad Lamm. What do you make of it? We are showing the faces of drugs right now, a real-time progression of people on drugs. Kent
insists it`s not a gateway drug.
LAMM: And so Nancy, for people like Norm that are talking out of both sides of their mouth, I think...
GRACE: I`m not sure that`s what he`s talking out of, but go ahead.
LAMM: But there are people like Dr. David Smith (ph), who was the founder of the Haight-Ashbury clinic, who says, full stop, amen, pot is a gateway
drug to other drugs. In my own life, you know, I`m a recovered meth addict and alcoholic. Pot was the very first thing that set me into active
addiction many, many, many years ago, Nancy.
GRACE: You know what, Brad Lamm? Let`s see Brad Lamm and Norm Kent, please. I remember the first time I had to use the worst curse word ever
in front of a jury, that I had never used, ever. But I was quoting what a defendant said during a sex attack. And I read the statement to the jury.
Well, you know, the next time I had to read a statement like that in front of a jury, it wasn`t so mortifying anymore. Then the third time, I just
ripped it off, just like that, no problem. And I`m wondering, psychologically, Brad Lamm, is once you get over the hurdle of using an
illegal drug, it`s just that much easier to use the next drug. You don`t really think anything about it.
LAMM: Agreed, Nancy. And people that get addicted -- that`s one in five adolescents that start smoking pot as teenagers -- are going to get
addicted and sick because of their relationship with pot. So at Breathe, that`s who we`re treating, people that are having -- coming into treatment,
need to go to rehab because they are wounded and they are addicted, full stop.
GRACE: OK, to you, Norm Kent. Explain to me why you think marijuana should be legalized and why -- and don`t quote some doctor we`ve never
heard of -- why you say it`s not a gateway drug.
KENT: Well, to start with, it should be legalized because I believe in the responsible use and management and taxation of an herb that millions of
Americans are using effectively without harming others or hurting themselves.
GRACE: Well, don`t you think this a bad time...
KENT: And it`s a taxable revenue source...
GRACE: ... to bring that up, since this mom just let her son fry, burn, smoke inhalation, while she sits outside, high on pot?
KENT: What part of her being a convicted child-neglected mom, who was on probation...
GRACE: Who was stoned.
KENT: ... using heroin and methamphetamine, did you not hear?
GRACE: So?
KENT: The cops say her home was strewn about it. Yes, maybe...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You said that. The cop never said that.
(CROSSTALK)
LAMM: I would bet...
KENT: That`s in the police report you sent out.
LAMM: I would bet that this young lady, when she started off as a young gal, a young teenager -- I would bet you -- because I see this in most of
my clients that we work with -- that alcohol or pot was the very first time that they introduced a substance into their pretty little brain as
teenagers. And that`s just how it works.
So all these people that are calling for legalization, I hear you. It may not be right to lock people up instead of treat them, but pot does have a
negative impact on many people`s lives. And this mom, she would tell you she loves being a mom. It was the most important thing in her life. Bull!
The most important thing in her life was addiction!
KENT: Well, I don`t disagree with you there, Brad. And I don`t disagree with you in the fact that marijuana use or abuse could be dealt with more
effectively as a public health crisis, rather than a criminal law enforcement technique. So we do have some common ground, despite the fact
that you never want to admit to it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seth Jackson (ph) left his foster baby inside a car on a 90-degree day, went into his home, smoked marijuana and watched "Game of
Thrones" for about two hours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mother made it out alive. Police tell me her son died of smoke inhalation, that she was abusing marijuana.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: One dad is high, watching "Game of Thrones" -- I guess it was the red wedding night -- while his child dies, strapped into a car outside.
Another mom, high as a kite on pot, lets her house burn down as she sits outside texting and forgets to tell the fire department that her baby is
inside, dying.
With me, special guest Jeff Kuhns, the deputy chief of the Keizer Police Department, Norm Kent and Brad Lamm, along with our panel.
To Deputy Chief Jeff Kuhns, again, thank you for being with us. I`ve been reading over what Norm Kent keeps spouting out, that she had a child
neglect charge back in 2012, and I`m looking at that right now. And actually, what it says is that a deputy district attorney, Katie Suever
(ph), noted during arraignment that she had a child neglect in 2012, was on probation, and had been twice since found in the possession of marijuana.
To Chief Kuhns, is that true?
KUHNS: To the best of my knowledge, that is factual information.
GRACE: So Chief, when the fire department gets there, she`s so stoned she never even mentions her son is inside?
KUHNS: She did not mention it to us or any of the first responders that I am aware of. Like I stated earlier, we arrived and she was sitting across
the way from this apartment that was fully engulfed in flames and smoke, texting and/or using a cellular telephone.
GRACE: To Dr. Bill Manion, medical examiner, forensic pathologist. Dr. Manion, the child died of smoke inhalation. Do you believe that maybe
minutes could have counted? How long does it take a human to die of smoke inhalation?
DR. BILL MANION, MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): You`re right, it would take minutes to die of smoke inhalation. Usually,
if the smoke is very heavy, the person will become unconscious within one to two minutes. And then if they can be resuscitated, you have maybe a
three or four-minute window to get to them. So a total of five to six minutes in a heavy, smoky fire. If it`s not too smoky and just gradual,
maybe up to 8, 9, 10 minutes if rescue can get in there and get to the child.
GRACE: To Norm Kent and Brad Lamm joining us. So Norm Kent, you keep talking about responsible use of marijuana. She`s found twice since her
neglect charge of her child because she`s high on pot all the time with marijuana. She says she`s stoned on pot that night.
And in the moments, the minutes that she sat there texting, failing to tell the firefighters her son was inside, his life could have been saved in
those few minutes, Norm Kent. But you go on and on and on about responsible marijuana use.
NORM KENT, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR REFORM OF MARIJUANA LAWS: His life could have been saved and was tragically lost, because he had a
neglectful, irresponsible parent, that was appropriately criminally charged and maybe not properly supervised by the criminal justice system or her
probation officer. And that`s the fault that we should be looking at.
BRAD LAMM, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: But Norm, part of the responsibility for this very issue has to lie with the way that you and groups like you have
messaged that pot is no big deal. It`s a generational thing, I know.
But for many people who struggle and get addicted to pot, they will do knuckleheaded things like this. Families will be interrupted. Children
will die. This is not a drug that people use without repercussions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And now we go live, Lakewood, Washington, friends, family, relatives in shock after husband, Skyler Nimitz walks free. Police hone in
on Nimitz when his young wife, Danielle, found, seated at her home computer, shot dead in the back of the head, after police say a neighbor
buys her alcohol while Nimitz is away on a military training ops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prosecutors say after Skyler Nimitz shot his 19-year- old wife in the back of a head with an AR-15.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had his and her AR-15 rifles. This was apparently her rifle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He made up several stories, first saying she shot herself and then claiming that her death was an accident.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told you his wife was dead?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Juniper Rose, a reporter with "Eureka Times Standard," thanks for being with us. I don`t quite understand this
scenario. So the husband has been away on training operations for the military. He comes home, I don`t understand what the -- the situation was
for him to come home, his wife is seated at her home computer. She`s shot in the back of the head. What do we know?
JUNIPER ROSE, REPORTER, "EUREKA TIMES-STANDARD" (via telephone): So what we`ve been told and what prosecutors have stated in charging papers is that
he returns home from his training, found a bottle of whiskey at his house, learned from a co-worker that this whiskey had been purchased for his wife
by another man.
And Skyler Nimitz became visibly angry at this time about two hours later is when he allegedly shot her in the back of the head, while she was o at
her computer.
GRACE: To Matt Zarrell, also joining us on the story. Matt, what do we know about the crime scene itself? What can we learn?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): We know that the path of the bullet specifically, the bullet within the completely through
Danielle`s head. It went through the back of the head, exited through her left eye, and went through the computer screen that she was facing. When
police arrived on the scene, they found Danielle in a chair at the computer with her head slumped forward and a pool of blood at her feet.
GRACE: OK. When police arrive, Matt Zarrell, was there any indication of a struggle, of a fight, of marital discord, anything at all?
ZARRELL: No, but police made note immediately, Nancy, that he, the husband, was not the person that called 911. The police were called when
neighbors heard a gunshot and called for help.
GRACE: OK. Matt, let`s take it from the top. What do we know about the day that Danielle was shot?
ZARRELL: Well, we know that the husband was at a training op, and when he got home, apparently there was this whole issue about this bottle of
alcohol that a co-worker was there with the husband and the wife in the house, and when the husband discovered that another man, not the coworker,
had bought his wife alcohol, he became, quote, "furious, and visually upset, clenching his fists and unclenching it, like he was very, very
angry."
GRACE: So how does he find out about the booze?
ZARRELL: Well, apparently he is in the house and he sees this bottle of cinnamon whiskey. And he asks the coworker about it, and says, thank you -
- he actually tells the coworker, thank you for buying my wife this bottle of alcohol.
And the coworker says, well, I didn`t buy it, this person bought it. And as soon as the husband heard that it wasn`t this coworker, that`s when he
allegedly became furious.
GRACE: Whoa! OK, what was the caliber of the weapon, Matt Zarrell?
ZARRELL: It was an AR-15, which is an assault rifle commonly used in the military.
GRACE: Hold on. Juniper Rose joining me, "Eureka Times Standard," he shot her with an assault rifle?
ROSE: Yes. So the assault rifle, he had left it at home for his wife, for protection while he was away at training, was actually her rifle and he
said that he was going to put the rifle away when he returned home.
And one of his original stories, which he went through several different accounts while he was talking to the police, one of the original accounts
was that he was actually trying to put the rifle on safety when he accidentally shot her in the back of the head.
GRACE: OK. Let me get this straight. He says the assault rifle was his wife`s. Why? Because he bought it -- he says he bought it for her? Just
what every woman wants, an assault rifle. So who buy the gun to start with?
ROSE: He had. He had 11 guns -- he had grown up with guns his entire life, he was in the military, he had training both, of course, including,
you know, how to put a rifle on a safety. That was one of the reasons why it was kind of a fishy aspect of the story, when he was he was attempting
to put it on safety when it went off.
GRACE: OK. Because I`ve never heard of trying to put your assault rifle on safety, as you`re holding it pointed at the back of your wife`s head.
Hold on, Matt Zarrell and Juniper Rose.
I`m being joined right now by James Pelletier, a close family friend of Danielle`s. He says that Danielle was like a daughter to him. Mr.
Peltier, thank you for being with us.
JAMES PELTIER, CLOSE FAMILY FRIEND OF VICTIM VTEL (via telephone): Thank you, Nancy.
GRACE: I`ve heard a lot of stories, Mr. Peltier, but I`ve never heard one like this. That the husband actually says he`s trying to put his assault
rifle on safety, as he`s pointing it at the back of his wife`s head, never heard that one. What do you make of the fact that he has walked free on
bond?
PELTIER: We just can`t believe that somehow they let him out on bond, let him return back to the military base under armed guard. We`re really
confused by that and the lowering of his bond. And as far as what you`re talking about there, his story of, you know, of it being an accident.
We don`t believe it`s an accident and I believe forensic evidence will come out to prove that that wasn`t an accident. And he`s had so many stories
that he`s told and five of them, I believe. And every single story has a lie in it.
GRACE: I don`t understand why his bond, why a judge lowered his bond, Mr. Peltier? What`s your understanding of that? Why is he walking free?
PELTIER: Well, at the time there`s a court date and we`re all down here in the Eureka area, the rest of Danielle`s family, and none of us were
notified that there was a court date for a bail hearing for him.
And apparently he had a couple of days` time to rally some letters from his family members and friends and some of his superiors in the military wrote
some letters to, and there was, I think, 30-some letters that were wrote.
And somehow, the commissioner decided that it was OK or just, justice, I guess, to lower the bail from $1 million down to $350,000. So once it was
lowered to $350,000, they made terms to, you know, require him to be on base in a secured barracks under armed guard, and return back to the base.
Couldn`t be just walking the streets, but for $350,000 bail, that`s $35,000 that someone has to have to get out. And to me, that`s just ridiculous.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DISPATCH: 911, what are you reporting?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: I think someone has just been shot in my neighborhood.
DISPATCH: The male told you that his wife was dead?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Yes.
DISPATCH: Is she breathing?
HUSBAND: No. Danielle?
DISPATCH: Danielle was the one shot and he accidentally shot her?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: I don`t know that part. We just heard the gun go off and he said it`s an accident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: It is not fitting together for me. What we have is a young wife, Danielle Nimitz, found, shot dead in the back of the head, sitting at her
home computer. Her husband has given several different stories about what happened.
But one of them is as he was trying to put his assault rifle on safety and accidentally did that as he was pointing at the back of her head. I`m
hearing in my ear, I`m just now being joined by special guest, Pierce County prosecuting attorney, Mark Lindquist. Mark, thanks so much for
being with us.
MARK LINDQUIST, PIERCE COUNTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY (via telephone): Happy to be here, Nancy. Thank you.
GRACE: Man, you`ve got a tough job. I remember the ten years that I prosecuted felonies, every day, I would think, well, I`ve seen it all now,
until the next day. How many stories, Mark Lindquist, do we know that Skyler Nimitz gave about the shooting death of his wife?
LINDQUIST: He gave basically three different stories, which obviously undercuts his claim that this was an accident. Initially, he claimed his
wife shot herself. Second, he claimed the weapon went off accidentally when the stock bumped against his leg.
And third, he admitted that he pointed the gun at the back of her head, and took off the safety and pulled the trigger, but claimed he didn`t know the
gun was loaded.
GRACE: Now this is the problem, Mark Lindquist, as you probably already know. Some people out there will think, if he thought his wife was having
an affair, whether she was or wasn`t, that that will somehow lower the charge or nullify the charge. But as I have the "I was mad" argument is
not a legal defense under the law, Mark.
LINDQUIST: Right. And actually I think the motive of jealousy makes it more clear that this was intentional.
GRACE: Why do you say that, Mark?
LINDQUIST: Well, first, let me step back a little and note that this defendant is highly trained in the use of firearms and it doesn`t make any
sense that he would point a loaded gun at the back of his wife`s head, click the safety off and pull the trigger. We know the number one rule of
gun safety is assumed all guns are loaded.
GRACE: You know what, Mark? Even when I would bring a gun in as evidence, number one, I hate handling guns because I`m the victim of gun violence.
But always, even after my investigator would hand me the gun in open court, I would turn it away from the jury and down to the ground if I wanted to
demonstrate anything because of the number one rule of gun safety is assume it`s loaded. Go ahead, Mark.
LINDQUIST: And always point the gun in a safe direction. He knows what he`s doing with guns. He`s angry for whatever reason, whether it`s an
actual affair or imagined affair, and his multiple claims that it was an accident just don`t make sense.
GRACE: An accident? Was there a point where he said his wife shot herself?
LINDQUIST: Yes, that`s what he told the neighbor initially.
GRACE: Why is it that the neighbor -- you know what? Unleash the lawyers. In addition to the prosecuting attorney, Mark Lindquist, with me, Randy
Kessler, Alex Sanchez and also with me, Dr. Ish Major, board certified psychiatrist out of New York.
Doctor Ish Major, first to you. When does jealousy take over your body so somehow it makes sense to you to murder your wife?
DR. ISH MAJOR, BOARD CERTIFIED PSYCHIATRIST: You know what? It sounds like he was building up and got to a point where he was in a jealous rage.
The question I have, Nancy, is what is the history here? Guys just don`t come home and get jealous and shoot their wife in the back of the head. So
I`m betting there`s a history of violence, maybe abuse or in the very at least intimidation going on.
GRACE: Randy Kessler, Alex Sanchez, taking that into account what Ish Major has just told us, give me your best defense, Alex Sanchez, I`m
braced.
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The best defense is that he`s going to be ending up pleading manslaughter in this case on the grounds of extreme
emotional disturbance. He was in the military, under stress. He comes home and finds out his wife may be having an affair with somebody.
Somebody is giving alcohol --
GRACE: It was a bottle of liquor.
SANCHEZ: Yes, bottle of liquor, but what is that for? What do you think is going on there?
GRACE: Are you asking me to speculate because a family friend gives this family a bottle of liquor. Let me ask you something, when you go to a
Christmas party or a dinner, I bet you give people a bottle of wine. Does that mean you`re sleeping with the lady?
SANCHEZ: The first thing you need to do is get real. A man is giving a bottle of alcohol to a man`s wife while this guy is away. That doesn`t
look good and he has intentions that are inconsistent with the marital vows.
GRACE: OK, to Mark Lindquist, Pierce County prosecuting attorney. That`s a perfect argument to a jury when some defense attorney tries this, is how
many people on a jury, whether they drink or not, how many times when they go to a party or a dinner or get together, do they take a bottle of wine?
Does that mean you`re sleeping with the lady that lives there? No, it does not. I guess, you`re ready for that, Mark.
LINDQUIST: I`m a prosecutor, not a psychiatrist, so I look at the evidence, and the fact that he may have imagined that she was doing
something, cheating on him, to me that just gives him motive to murder her. I don`t think there`s a jury out there that will say, maybe she was
cheating and therefore this is manslaughter. On the contrary, they will say that`s motive for murder.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Randy Kessler, did you know there was also a cover up at the scene?
RANDY KESSLER, DIVORCE/DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, I didn`t know that. But the prosecution has a tough case because they`ve got to get inside his head and
prove intent. He was a military guy, use to weapons, and he might have been acting out. They`ve got to prove it was not an accident, that his
finger didn`t slip, that he intended to kill his wife who he loved and there`s no reason to think he wanted her dead.
GRACE: Everyone, we`re talking about Skyler Nimitz and the death of his wife, Danielle. But let`s stop and remember American hero, Army Corporal
Dale Fracker Jr. 23, Apple Valley, California, Bronze Heart, Purple Heart, as a little boy, his father would sing "Amazing Grace" every night at
bedtime.
Parents Dale Sr. and Legiah, brother, Herman, served Marines, Fiance Tracy. Dale Fracker, Jr. American hero. Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow
night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
END
