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Nancy Grace
Wife of Army Medic Found Dead in Hawaii Home; Murderer, Cult Leader Charles Manson to Marry in Prison
Aired December 04, 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. A well respected Army medic comes home from work to find his young wife dead, stabbed, knife wounds in
her neck and torso, there in the family home. Bombshell tonight. Police hit a stone wall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say hi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities are investigating the death of the wife of an Army medic who was found dead inside of her home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With a knife wound to her neck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could have been anybody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to Catherine Walker?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, cult leader Charles Manson hits the headlines again over three decades after a murder spree that shocked the nation, including
the murder of actress Sharon Tate. Tonight, the Sharon Tate family furious mass murderer Charles Manson set to wed behind bars to a 26-year-old woman,
a Manson groupie look-alike. Jail policy -- he will get to kiss the bride!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am Charles Manson`s wife. Charles is not innocent because he sought out to influence others.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Killing spree that left seven people dead, including actress Sharon Tate.
CHARLES MANSON, CONVICTED OF MURDER: Do I look like I have remorse or fear about anything?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hate to see any young person get sucked into this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And to Tampa, a family rushed to the emergency room after chowing down on a steak from Walmart. Problem? The meat, bottom round steak,
laced with LSD. Police say Mommy rushed to the hospital, gives birth prematurely. Now that`s a rollback!
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight, live, an Army wife found stabbed to death in her own home on a military reservation. As we learn, 38-year-old Catherine Walker
found dead, a knife wound to the neck and torso. We join military police in the search for clues.
Straight out to Brett Larson joining us, investigative reporter. Brett Larson, the husband comes home from work -- he`s a very well respected Army
medic -- comes home from work to find his wife stabbed dead. What are the details? What do we know? Where was she in the home?
BRETT LARSON, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, she was just in the home, in the living room area. The husband had just returned. As you mentioned,
he`s in the military. The two of them had had an argument the night before, but he says nothing -- it didn`t escalate to that point.
GRACE: OK, what I want to do is go through the facts as we know them tonight. For those of you just joining us, a well respected Army medic
comes home from work to find his wife stabbed dead.
To Matt Zarrell. Do we know where she was in the home?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): No, Nancy. Police are not releasing that exact information. But we do know that there were knife
wounds, as you mentioned, to the neck and torso, and the husband, just as he came home from work, found the body in the very early morning hours.
GRACE: Very early morning hours. All right, let`s talk about the body and what we can learn from the body. Matt, do we know whether the home had an
alarm system that would have gone off if an intruder had come in?
ZARRELL: No, we don`t, but cops do tell us there are surveillance cameras in the area of the home. But they won`t say how close exactly to the home
they are.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Robert Schalk and Shireen Hormozdi. The problem, Robert Schalk, with surveillance video is, as we learned in the
Chandra Levy case, very often, say every 72 hours or so, they repeat over. The video rolls over. And so whatever may have happened around the time
that she was killed, Catherine Walker, that may have already been rolled over unless police moved quickly to get that surveillance video.
ROBERT SCHALK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. Always a big concern whenever you`re dealing with surveillance video is whether or not it`s being saved
on a hard drive versus being recorded over, like you said. But a lot of things need to be looked into here, Nancy. As Brett said, there was an
argument the night before, whether or not there`s any text messages or e- mails that authorities can get their hands on...
GRACE: Well, you know what? Before we start about the argument with the husband, right now, police are not lending that any credence because that
is a very commonplace thing, to have an argument.
SCHALK: I don`t see how you can just disregard it.
GRACE: Well, of course, they`re not disregarding it. But as of right now, they have not named a suspect.
Back to Matt Zarrell. Matt Zarrell, you`re saying that around the home, there is plenty of surveillance video. What more do we know? What do we
know about the stab wounds themselves?
ZARRELL: OK. So the autopsy concluded that Cathy died from stab wounds specifically to the torso and neck by a knife. And we`re still working to
determine, Nancy, what exactly -- what type of knife it was, where the knife was found and the severity of each injury, which injury specifically
caused her death. We`re trying to figure that out.
GRACE: Everybody, it is an idyllic vacation spot where most people dream of going, and that`s just what she did. Catherine Walker gets married.
Her husband`s stationed in Hawaii. He is a well respected Army medic. He comes home from work to find his wife stabbed dead.
Joining me right now, medical examiner Dr. Tim Gallagher, medical examiner, forensic pathologist out of Daytona Beach. Dr. Gallagher, what do you make
of the injuries?
DR. TIM GALLAGHER, MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): Well, thanks for having me on the show, Nancy. One of the injuries that
I`d be most interested in seeing is, does she have any defensive wounds on her body? Was she struggling? Or did this person come up suddenly and
surprise her? So defensive wounds would be one of the things I`d be very interested in knowing about.
GRACE: You know, another issue is the timing of when he got home. Matt Zarrell, you`re telling me he found her body in the early morning hours,
and according to sources, he came straight from work. That suggests that he worked a night shift, had a night job, comes home and finds her in the
early morning hours. As we know, crime goes up at night.
What more do we know about their home, Matt? Do we know if they had a surveillance camera? Do we know if they had a dog that started barking?
Do we know if there was a forced entry? Do we know if there was a burglar alarm that was set?
ZARRELL: I can tell you this, Nancy, all of those questions you had, we have had for the investigators, as well. They`re not disclosing a lot of
information. But here`s what I do know. They have police and K9 units out searching the area for evidence. They`re even combing in the grass behind
the house. Soldiers are out there looking.
And the military is handling this because it was on a reservation, but the residents in the area are concerned because they say that the gates to the
area where everyone lives is not guarded 24/7, and they`re worried that someone could break into their houses.
GRACE: OK, let`s talk about those gates, Matt Zarrell. I am taking it that there`s no surveillance on the gates, or we would already know that.
So you`ve got gates that anybody can scale. They`re not monitored. Now the other residents are afraid. Now, police have not put out a warning to
the neighborhood.
There you see it right there. This is an idyllic area where people spend their whole life dreaming of visiting. It`s Hawaii. There at the Aliamanu
base, Catherine Walker weds and they`re stationed here. The husband, a well respected Army medic, comes home to find her dead.
Back to you, Matt Zarrell. Do we know if she was in the floor? Was she by the door? Was she in her bed? Had she been sleeping? What do we know,
any other shred of evidence to help solve this riddle?
ZARRELL: Well, I do have one piece of information, which is that a close friend of the couple has told a local station that the husband`s car was
broken into five days before Cathy was found dead, and some of the items taken include the husband`s wallet, which you would think, Nancy, would
contain their home address.
GRACE: Joining me right now is Jessica Benson, a very dear friend of the wife, Catherine Walker. Jessica, thank you for being with us.
JESSICA BENSON, FRIEND OF VICTIM (via telephone): Thank you.
GRACE: Jessica, when did you learn of your friend`s death?
BENSON: I learned -- I -- her sister called me on Sunday night to let me know.
GRACE: And what were you told at that time?
BENSON: I was just told that there was some very sad news, that Cathy had been killed, and that that is all that they knew.
GRACE: At this juncture, no suspect has been named. Police apparently have hit a stone wall. You are seeing shots of Catherine and her husband,
who discovered her body.
Back to you, Brett Larson. Were there two stab wounds?
LARSON: We know of -- yes, there were two stab wounds to the neck and torso, and that was what they -- the medical examiner, rather, concluded
that the death was, in fact, a homicide.
GRACE: To Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "DealBreakers." Bethany, that brings up two scenarios. One, a stabbing is very often
considered a sweetheart murder, which is quite the dichotomy, the irony, sweetheart murder, because unlike a shooting or running somebody down with
a car or even poisoning them, which is also an intimate crime in a sense, stabbing, you`re in very close proximity with the victim. They are
probably fighting with you.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: That`s right.
GRACE: Also, the fact that this was in the home. That does not rule out an intruder, but it may suggest it is somebody she knows.
MARSHALL: It`s true, Nancy, because the neck and the torso -- I mean, whoever did this was looking the victim in the eyes. That suggests an
intimate type of rage.
And one of the things we know about homicide is that the feelings that lean towards homicide often occur in the context of intimate relationships.
Think about it -- envy, jealousy, rage, the fear that the other person is going betray you or they have insulted you in some way. And that`s why we
always look to intimates and family members first.
And so from this standpoint, the timeline`s extremely important. But some people might actually have the illusion of intimacy, even if they`re not
close to the victim. For instance, he was a medic. What if in his service -- his public service, he tried to save somebody`s life and was
unsuccessful, and that brought about rage on a family member`s part, and someone attacked her out of some sense of vengeance towards him? So
intimacy doesn`t mean an intimate.
GRACE: And when we were talking about the killer possibly knowing her, we`re not point the finger at the husband. The husband was at work, we
believe, at the time of the killing, but he had been at work. He gets home. He finds her body around 6:30 AM there in the home, stabbed twice to
the neck and the torso.
Back to Jessica Benson, a very dear friend of the victim, Catherine Walker. Jessica, what can you tell us about Catherine? What can you tell us about
her marriage, if anything?
BENSON: I can tell you that every time I have seen them -- I was at their wedding celebration -- every time I have seen them, they`ve always been
happy. Any time that I talked to Cathy, she`s always mentioned that they were happy.
GRACE: Have you spoken to the husband since the death?
BENSON: Other than a Facebook message back and forth, no, I haven`t.
GRACE: Did she, Catherine, ever discuss with you troubles in their marriage?
BENSON: Never.
GRACE: Now, see, I find that very telling.
Out to Brett Larson, investigative reporter. If they had had troubles in their marriage, certainly she would have told one of her best friends.
LARSON: Oh, absolutely. And the neighbors echo what this friend is saying, that this woman had a heart of gold, she loved doing community
service. She was working with her church. She worked with young women. She sold essential oils. I mean, this is an all-around great person that
you can`t -- you couldn`t say -- point the finger at someone per se that would say, I`ve got to go and take out this rage on her. And yes, no --
the neighbors have not said that their -- that the couple had ever fought prior.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The family of Catherine Walker is seeking justice after her body was found dead inside of her home with knife wounds to her neck
and torso.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her husband told police he found her after he returned home from work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officials and K9 units scoured the area around the house for clues.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Friends of Cathy say they want the killer to know a good woman died at their hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: As her family is preparing a funeral for her here, back in the States, the investigation goes on into the death of this young wife. It`s
Catherine Walker. Her husband, a well respected Army medic, comes home from work in the early morning hours and finds her stabbed dead in the neck
and in the torso. As of right now, no suspects have been named. But in the last hours, we learn that K9s have searched the entire area.
To you, Matt Zarrell. What can you tell me about the K9 search?
ZARRELL: Yes. Police had K9s out in the area for multiple days. The Army investigators were searching outside the home. Soldiers were seen combing
through the grass behind the house, as well.
GRACE: Everyone, as the K9s are coming out, the police are telling us they do not believe that the attack was random.
Back to you, Dr. Tim Gallagher, medical examiner, forensic pathologist joining me out of Daytona Beach. Dr. Gallagher, you said that you would
want to know, were there defensive wounds. Why? What difference would it make?
GALLAGHER: Well, the lack of defensive wounds on the body during a stabbing would certainly give the impression that the victim knew the
attacker. Defensive wounds on the body would suggest a violent struggle, perhaps the victim not knowing -- or perhaps the victim was unfamiliar with
the attacker.
GRACE: Everyone, you are seeing a shot of Catherine Walker. To you, Matt Zarrell. What do we know about her?
ZARRELL: Yes. Friends say that Cathy was very soft-spoken, extremely helpful. Willing to do just about anything for anyone. And friends also
say she was a very regular church goer. She was a devout Mormon. She attended the church regularly with the husband. The couple had no
children, but friends say she treated the kids at her church like her own. She actually served as the ward`s young women`s president for girls ages 12
to 18. She even sold essential oils just to help people feel better about themselves.
GRACE: You know, Cathy`s father has publicly stated that he believes his son-in-law is totally innocent. That would be Cathy`s husband that came
home and discovered the body. And he believes, the father, that someone broke into the home and murdered her.
Unleash the lawyers, Robert Schalk and Shireen Hormozdi. To you, Shireen. Everyone always naturally assumes the husband is at fault. That`s not
always true.
SHIREEN HORMOZDI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. But what`s the motive in this case? Since nothing was taken from the scene, it seems like someone
personal to her did this to her.
GRACE: You know, it does seem like that, and police are also saying, which is a clue to us, that this is not a random attack. So Robert Schalk, we`ve
got the father saying it`s not the son-in-law, it`s not her husband, and we`ve got police saying this is not random. So if you believe both of
these to be true, that means that it`s someone else in her life. There`s no suggestion she had any affair or relationship, which means, if you`re
doing process of elimination, it`s someone that she knew that targeted her, Robert.
SCHALK: Yes, that`s absolutely what I would say, Nancy, someone that targeted her. I mean, like you said, there`s no evidence of an affair.
That hasn`t been ruled out. There`s no evidence her husband wasn`t (ph) having an affair. That`s not ruled out. I mean, she is very active in her
community. You just never know. And I think, obviously, the forensics will tell the story here. And as I indicated earlier, I think, obviously,
cell phone records and text messages, who was last in contact with her other than her husband, will tell a big story, as well.
GRACE: To Matt Zarrell. What can you tell us about cell phones, computers, any electronic evidence, data that may be collected?
ZARRELL: Well, I know that police are going through a timeline of events leading up to this, and I`m sure they`re going to look at all the Internet
history of both the husband and the wife just to see if anyone was targeting them, anyone had any threats against them, anything like that.
GRACE: Back to Jessica Benson, friend of Catherine Walker. Jessica, thank you so much for being with us. Did you know the husband?
BENSON: I knew him through -- only through Cathy.
GRACE: And how would you describe his personality through her?
BENSON: He was -- he was outgoing. He was friendly. We enjoyed -- they enjoyed going out to eat. We would watch movies, play games.
GRACE: So the -- her father is saying, absolutely, this son had nothing to do with it, the son-in-law, her husband. Police are saying it`s not
random. Now, if both of those statements are true, that gives us a direction in which to go.
Do you have any idea, Jessica, was she worried about anyone? Had she received threats? Was there anyone that had come on to her or was calling
her or bothering her, that you know of?
BENSON: I really don`t know. She never spoke of it.
GRACE: Everyone, you`re seeing shots of Catherine Walker. This case has turned into a mystery there in the idyllic setting on Hawaii. She moves
there married, very happily married. Her husband comes home to find his wife`s body. She`s been stabbed in the neck and in the torso. There is a
gate around their community, but now we realize that gate is not secure.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Cult leader Charles Manson hits the headlines again over three decades after a murder spree that shocks the nation, including the murder
of actress Sharon Tate. Tonight, the Sharon Tate family is furious mass murderer Charles Manson set to wed behind bars to a 26-year-old woman, a
Manson groupie look-alike. And jail policy, he will get to kiss the bride.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am Charles Manson`s wife. Charles is not innocent because he sought out to influence others.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Killing spree that left seven people dead, including actress Sharon Tate.
MANSON: Do I look like I have remorse or fear about anything?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hate to see any young person get sucked into this.
MANSON: Well, you see, I live in the underworld. You live in the overworld. I do a lot of things underworld that you guys don`t see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK, the bride, Afton Elaine Burton, was raised in St. Louis by very devout religious parents, Baptists, I believe, and she was always a good
girl until, apparently, she began experimenting with mushrooms and marijuana. Well, they did what any good parent would do and locked her in
her room.
Well, around age 16, she apparently got ahold of some writings of Charles Manson`s in which he espouses "ATWA" -- air, trees, water and animals. And
she, a few years later, taken with his writings, knew what she had to do. She packed up her bags and moved to the maximum security facility that
houses Charles Manson.
Joining me right now, Alisa Statman, author of "Restless Souls," who has literally written the book on Charles Manson. OK, Alisa, when so many
people want to get married and they can`t, why is Charles Manson allowed to get married? Not only that, kiss the bride? I`m not even going to discuss
the possibility of tongue, all right? Why? Why is this being allowed?
ALISA STATMAN, AUTHOR, "RESTLESS SOULS": You know, because it is a law in California, you know, and until we change those laws, these people, these
killers are allowed to get married. These laws were set up to help the less heinous killers readjust and to give them a reward system. You know,
Charles Manson was sentenced to death 45 years ago. Sure, his -- his sentence was commuted to life, but that`s all he should have the right to,
to live, plain and simple, not to get married.
And let`s remember, he`s not the first Manson family member to get married. We had Susan Atkins who got married twice, we had Charles "Tex" Watson who
got married and was allowed to have conjugal visits, and they had four children out of those conjugal visits.
GRACE: Yes, I appreciate that, Alisa, but right now I`m talking about Charles Manson, the ring leader. The head of the organization that ended
up murdering, mass murdering.
With me right now is Vincent Bugliosi who prosecuted Charles Manson, author of "Helter-Skelter."
Vincent, it is an honor to have you with us and I would like your reaction to Manson being allowed to marry a 26-year-old behind bars and kiss the
bride.
VINCENT BUGLIOSI, PROSECUTED CHARLES MANSON, "HELTER-SKELTER" AUTHOR: Nancy, I`m honored to be back on your show with you. Of course like most
people I`m disgusted by the upcoming marriage. It`s one more assault in the Manson case, on the whole notion of justice, and who knows more about
justice than you, Nancy. And I`m sure you agree that Manson has not been brought to true justice. He was convicted of nine murders, may have been
responsible for 35.
And instead of getting the death penalty which he deserved and would have been true justice, he had his death penalty, as you`ve indicated earlier,
set aside by the U.S. Supreme Court. And since then for over 40 years he`s been fed three meals a day, gotten free medical care, recorded two musical
albums behind bars, has books to read and gets more mail, according to the "L.A. Times" than any other inmate in U.S. prison, the U.S. prison system.
And now this. Now I said this was an assault upon the notion of justice. It`s also a terrible assault upon the feelings and sensibilities of the
survivors of the victims who undoubtedly have had nightmares throughout their lives over what happened to their loved ones. I remember Sharon
Tate`s wonderful mother, Doris, telling me, I live every day with Sharon`s screams and her begging for the life of her baby.
Doris is gone now, but plenty of relatives still survive and this outrageous marriage just pours salt on their already deep wounds. It`s a
travesty, Nancy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: What a travesty of justice. Tonight we learn that mass murderer Charles Manson, as you will recall, who murdered multiple people, including
pregnant actress Sharon Tate, now set to wed to a 26-year-old girl behind bars. And it`s jailhouse policy, he will get to kiss the bride.
OK. In case we have somehow blocked this from our memory, joining us is the man who put Manson behind bars, Vincent Bugliosi.
Vincent, again, thank you for being with us.
Everyone, Bugliosi, well-known as one of the preeminent lawyers of our times who took on this case.
When you hear that Manson is about to marry a 26-year-old girl, he`s basically done the same thing all over again. He`s gotten -- somehow works
his magic on young women and they fall under his spell.
Frankly, Vincent, she`s a Manson groupie look-alike. She looks like all the others did when they were her age. And she has moved across the
country, Vincent, and is marrying this guy. Left her home and is marrying Charles Manson.
(LAUGHTER)
BUGLIOSI: Well, actually there are quite a few similarities between this girl and the Manson family girls. But with respect to the Manson family
girls, Nancy, I knew all of them. I don`t know this girl so I can`t speak with authority on the matter. But if you want me, I`ll just briefly go
over some of the similarities that at least I see.
I think the most obvious ones are her extreme gullibility identical to the Manson family girls in the late `60s and her apparent total devotion and
love for Manson. She said she was born for Manson. Also, as you`ve already indicated, she came from actually an average American family, like
most of the other girls did, but she herself, like them, soon became rebellious and got into drugs.
She`s young, 26, but not quite as young as the Manson family girls who were all in their late teens or early 20s. Manson has given her the name -- she
goes by Star. A star in the milky way. As he remained -- renamed all the Manson family girls. She`s carved an X on her forehead to Manson. That
means I`m X`ing myself out from the world as the Manson family girls all did. So at least on the surface, Nancy, there are some similarities here.
GRACE: With me is Vincent Bugliosi who prosecuted Charles Manson.
Vincent, for those that have managed to block the images, we are showing crime scene photos and now video of the massacre when Sharon Tate was
murdered.
Vincent, if you don`t mind, could you refresh our recollection about what happened at the Manson massacre?
(LAUGHTER)
BUGLIOSI: We probably have a half minute left and you want me to summarize the Manson case.
GRACE: No, take your time.
BUGLIOSI: Well, obviously he ordered and masterminded the seven Tate- LaBianca murders. He did not physically participate in the murders himself which made it a little more difficult to convict him. I had to bring him
into it by way of circumstantial evidence. The two main pieces of evidence against him were his total domination over his family. They never would
have done anything without his approval and the motive.
He`s the only one that had a motive for these murders and that was helter- skelter. In fact, the word helter-skelter were printed in blood at the LaBianca murder scene. And I told the jury that that was tantamount to
Manson`s fingerprints being found at the scene.
I can`t summarize all the murders, but, you know, there was 169 stab wounds and seven gunshot wounds on two nights of murder. These murders were the
type of thing, Nancy, you don`t even see in horror films. Young girls dressed in black entering the homes of total strangers in the middle of the
night and mercilessly stabbing them to death.
The reason it shocked the country so much, not only the brutality of the murders but when it came out who these people were, they came from average
homes, the sense was these could have been our children. And there were some sociological implications to these murders. The novelist, Joan Dien,
wrote, actually this would be a nonfiction thing, she said the `60s, that`s the decade of love and all that, abruptly came to an end on the evening of
August 8th, 1969, because heretofore people looked at hippies as only being involved in drugs and free love and communal living.
And all of a sudden people who looked like hippies turned out to be mass murderers and that kind of brought an end to the so-called decade of love.
But you asked me a question, Nancy, it`s too complex and it involved to answer in the time we have. But these were -- I think the main reason for
the continuing fascination with this case is that the murders were probably the most bizarre in recorded annals of American crime and people tend to be
fascinated by things that are strange and bizarre. And cases don`t get any more bizarre than this.
Also Manson has become a metaphor for evil. You hear allusions to him all the time. I`ll just give you one and you could multiply it by a thousand.
Mike Tyson was applying for readmission as a fighter in Nevada. And he said, look, I`m a bad guy but I`m not Charles Manson. And people, for
whatever reason, are fascinated by pure, unadulterated evil. Witness Hitler, Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES MANSON, CONVICTED MASS MURDERER: One of the reasons I don`t want out is because I am very mad and I don`t know whether I can control myself.
Now you see it? So rather than go out and kill a whole bunch of people, I`ll just kick back and try to let it get out of my brain and let it calm
down, maybe we can get some peace going with it. But I`m so mad, you wouldn`t believe how mad I am.
Do you think I can survive all the things that you`ve put on me as a society and everybody in this country, practically everybody in the world
has tried to killed every way they could and I`ll still here. Now what does that tell you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Mass murderer Charles Manson set to wed behind bars and he will be allowed to kiss the bride. This while many people across the world want to
be married and cannot. This mass killer will be allowed to right here in America.
To Alisa Statman, joining us, author of "Restless Souls," literally wrote the book. What do you know about this girl who meets Manson through his
writings and through the foundation he forms, air, trees, water and animals, and becomes infatuated with him. Leaves her home, travels across
the country, moves to near his penitentiary and is now set to wed him, even tattooing a swastika, I believe, on her head?
STATMAN: You know, the things that we do know about her is that she uses all of the public forums to get his word out and that seems to be very
important about her. She`s an artist. Somebody texted me this morning that she`s got artwork on eBay for sale. And she is, as Bugliosi said,
devoted her life to Charles Manson. And it`s a very, very sad thing. She has actually branded herself to him by putting that X on her forehead.
And, you know, beyond that, it`s just so sad that this girl has chosen this path, that she thinks that life doesn`t get any better than an 80-year-old
mass murderer behind bars and who likes to throw his feces. I mean, this is really sad.
GRACE: Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why come here and then why do that?
AFTON BURTON, WANTS TO MARRY CHARLES MANSON: Well, because I love him. And somehow I`ve got half a brain that I can see that he is the one that
knows what`s going on. He`s the one that is in the truth whenever nobody else is. And --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What is it about him compared to other people you`ve met in your lifetime that makes him so unique and different?
BURTON: Charlie always tells the truth, no matter what.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And you`ve not gotten that from anyone else?
BURTON: Very few people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK. I really don`t know what to say to that. I`m going to go back to Bugliosi, who prosecuted Manson.
Vincent Bugliosi, with us, I hope you could hear what this 26-year-old said. You said she was older than the other Manson family members?
Remember, he started with this girl when she was about 17, 18 years old.
BUGLIOSI: Well, that`s true.
GRACE: She`s just now getting around to marrying him.
BUGLIOSI: That`s true. That`s true. But at the time of the murders, they were in their late teens or early 20s.
GRACE: Yes.
BUGLIOSI: That`s true. She started -- see, I don`t know her whole story at all. I haven`t really kept up with it.
GRACE: Well, let many ask you something else, Vincent. You stated that the words helter-skelter, that came from Manson. What was his motive for
all those murders, Vincent?
BUGLIOSI: Well, I think he had three motives. One was to start helter- skelter, which he said was going to be the last final destructive war on the face of this earth among men. That was the main motive for all the
killers. They bought it hook, line, and sinker.
I don`t believe that was his only motive. Manson had a passion for death, blood, and murder. Someone who knew Manson a lot better than I did, Paul
Watson. He told me, he said, Vince, death is Charlie`s trip. He spoke about death all the time. He said everyone had to die, either in their
head or out on the street, the killing of the ego. He spoke about that, as I say, almost on a day-to-day basis.
Where did he take them after the murders? Death Valley, although that may have been a coincidence. I think another reason for these murders is that
he was trying to strike viciously out at the establishment. And I think the Tate residence represented the establishment to Charles Manson. He
didn`t know who these people were but he knew they were members of the entertainment industry.
And when he went there a couple of months before the murders he was kind of booted off the premises. They told him to take (INAUDIBLE). The person
who told them that was I think ran one of those places. And it wasn`t the alley, it was just the guest house in the rear. But in Manson`s mind, they
were treating him like a dog. And I think on these two nights of murder, he was viciously striking out at the establishment. So I think he had
multiple motives for these murders. By the way, I don`t think he believed in helter-skelter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: To Tampa, a family rushed to the ER after chowing down on a steak from Wal-Mart. Problem, the meat, bottom round steak, laced with LSD, say
police. Mommy rushed to the hospital, gives birth prematurely. Now that`s a rollback.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Determined that the family had consumed bottom round steak contaminated with LSD.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The steak dinner was their first home cooked meal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no indication that we know of right now that the meat tasted funny.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They came from a Wal-Mart. No one knows how the drug ended up in the meat.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One more hour became six soon after the family meal that included the bottom round steak bought at this Wal-Mart store.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The two little --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: (INAUDIBLE), investigative reporter, what happened? I mean, how can you go to Wal-Mart, buy steak and it`s laced with LSD? They did test
on it. It did have LSD in it.
MEREDYTH CENSULLO, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Yes, it did. And all four members of that family, including a little 6-year-old and 7-year-old little
girl, they were all hallucinating, having trouble breathing and walking. It was determined they had all ingested that LSD but there are no other
reported cases. So right now it`s still a complete mystery as to where the drugs came from.
GRACE: Clark, what more do we know?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, here`s the thing. We checked with Wal-Mart. We checked with Cargo. We checked
with people who processed the steak, who sold the steak, and no one can determine how this meat got poisoned with LSD. Now law enforcement says
they tested and they can conclusively determine it had LSD in it.
Wal-Mart said all of the other meat didn`t make any of the customer sick and they were never able to determine how the meat got poisoned.
Furthermore, the beef supplier checked the supply line, they were not able to determine how the meat got poisoned. The Tampa Police Department
checked surveillance and they were not able to determine how the meat got poisoned.
Nancy, they`re say thing this case is now closed unless further information comes forward.
GRACE: So we`ll never know, and the family all passed lie detectors. There weren`t involved.
There you have it. Steak, LSD, Wal-Mart, case now being closed with no resolution.
Let`s stop and remember American hero Army Sgt. 1st Class Victor Cervantes, 27, Stockton, California. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Joint Service
Commendation Medal. Loved mountain biking and rock climbing. Parents Fidel and Nisla, sister Elisa.
Victor Cervantes, American hero.
Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
