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Nancy Grace
Tot Stuffed in Dryer
Aired January 15, 2015 - 20:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Bangor, Maine. Mommy leaves her children at home to a live-in, only to arrive home from work to
find her 2-year-old baby boy, his entire body covered in critical burns.
Bombshell tonight. Did the live-in actually put the 2-year-old baby in a hot clothes dryer, temperature soaring to over 180 degrees?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Allegations of aggravated assault...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put his girlfriend`s child, 2-year-old boy, in the dryer and power it on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The burns on the boy`s arm and back...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... inside the dryer reported to reach 180 degrees after running for just a few minutes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, upscale Michigan suburbs, a 25-year-old grad student studying kenesiology (ph) living in the family home with her mom and dad
under suspicion tonight, police questioning the 25-year-old woman suspected of recently giving birth. Problem? No one can find the baby, mommy
refusing to talk. Kicker -- just months ago, a judge let 25-year-old Melissa Mitten (ph) out on bond for killing her first baby, a little girl,
death by asphyxiation. And now a second baby missing?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One newborn dead, another missing, both from the same mom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prosecutor says Melissa Mitten suffocated her daughter by stuffing her in a trash can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitten was released on a $5,000 bond and secretly had a second child, and this one is missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And then, live to the valley. Imagine looking over your back yard fence to see a thousand-pound alligator looking back at you. You can`t see
anything but teeth! Well, that`s just what happened. When detectives arrive at the home of Laura Mattson (ph), they investigate and find the
half-a-ton beast, nothing but raw hide and teeth, in the back yard along with two dead cats, the family insisting tonight they are distraught over
losing the family pet, and that they were absolutely not feeding it dead cats. You know what? Forget about the dead cats. They`ve got an
alligator in the back yard!
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Live to Bangor, Maine. Mommy leaves her children at home with the live-in, only to arrive home from work to find her 2-year-old
baby boy, entire body covered in critical burns. Did the live-in actually put the baby in a hot dryer, a hot clothes dryer, temperatures soaring to
over 180 degrees?
Now, according to our sources, the live-in gave several different stories. But there`s no doubt about it. I`m going to go to our medical examiner on
this. The marks on the baby`s body, the burn marks on the baby`s body directly line up with hot bolts inside the dryer. You know, there`s no
arguing with forensic evidence.
Straight out to Jack Heath, host of "New Hampshire Today," WGIR. Jack, what happened?
JACK HEATH, WGIR (via telephone): Well, Nancy, as you said, it seems to be a sick and twisted extreme case of the child abuse in which Adam Morton,
27-year-old guy of Berlin, New Hampshire, at the apartment of his girlfriend in Bangor, Maine, supposedly supposed to be baby-sitting for the
children while she`s at work.
And he is charged with and later admitted after different stories to police, who did phenomenal investigative work, that for whatever reason,
whatever twisted reason -- I mean, get this. He put the 2-year-old into the dryer, shut the door, turned it on, and just later on just thought he
could get away with it. And so police seized the dryer and matched the injuries...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Jack Heath, I`m trying to get my mind around what you just said, that he puts the 2-year-old baby in the hot dryer. He changed his story
several times. But in my mind, it`s all about forensics. And what do forensics show me in this case? There are marks on this little baby that
match up identically, perfectly to bolts that are inside the dryer.
And to learn this, police have to get the dryer out of the home, take it to a lab and try to compare it to what they see on the child. Not only that,
we learn that the child has bruises all over its body, a contusion to the head, previous injuries, previous bruises. I mean what`s been going on
while Mommy`s at work and the children are left with the live-in?
Hold on. I`m hearing in my ear right now we`re being joined by special guest Detective Tim Shaw (ph) with the Bangor PD. Detective, thank you for
being with us.
DET. TIM SHAW, BANGOR POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Hi, Nancy. Thank you for having me.
GRACE: You know, Detective, I`ve prosecuted a lot of child abuse cases. Putting a child in a hot dryer, where the temperature goes up to nearly 200
degrees?
I`ve got your affidavit here, where you swore -- police swore all of this was true. And I`m just stunned that the Mommy says she doesn`t believe the
live-in would possibly do this. I`m reading exactly what she says, that she says, "in her heart" -- and I`m quoting. "In her heart, she does not
believe that he did it."
So what does Mommy think happened? By the way, Mommy`s not charged in this. She was at work when it happened, but she`s basically siding with
the boyfriend?
SHAW: Well, it appears that way, you know, and I can`t give any kind of reasons for it, of what it would be. You know, everybody has their own
opinion, and she certainly has made up hers.
GRACE: Well, I`m reading directly from her quote in this police affidavit. And she says, quote, "She believed in her heart Adam would not hurt her
children and believed that these injuries were caused by the children themselves."
So what I don`t understand, Jack Heath, does she believe the boy willingly, the little baby got into the dryer and turned it on? I mean, the Mommy is
siding with the live-in boyfriend? She hasn`t even been with him that long!
HEALTH: No, Nancy, she actually is indirectly -- and the detective will, I think, sense this -- points to older brothers, as somehow that they were
rough and that they might have put the young 2-year-old baby boy in the dryer. So she doesn`t even concede that the boyfriend, who admitted and
allegedly is charged with this, did this. And the boy`s real father, Mike Sousa (ph) from New Hampshire, thinks that the boyfriend...
GRACE: Awful.
HEATH: ... should be charged with attempted murder...
GRACE: Awful.
HEATH: ... not just the...
GRACE: Awful!
HEATH: ... aggravated assault.
GRACE: I agree! I agree. Joining me right now, in addition to Jack Heath and Detective Shaw is the child`s biological father. With me is Michael
Sousa (ph). Mr. Sousa, thank you for being with us.
MICHAEL SOUSA, CHILD`S FATHER (via telephone): Thanks for having me.
GRACE: Mr. Sousa, I absolutely believe this should be charged as attempted murder. And you know what I learned? In all the years I was prosecuting
felonies, when a child is the victim, somehow, there`s a lesser -- there`s a lesser offense. There`s a light sentence...
(CROSSTALK)
SOUSA: Shouldn`t it be a greater offense for someone that can`t defend themselves? Shouldn`t it be a greater...
GRACE: That`s what I`m screaming.
SOUSA: ... offense for somebody that can`t defend themselves?
GRACE: Tell me how -- I agree, Michael. I agree. Tell me how you learned that your 2-year-old baby had been critically burned all over his body, in
addition to other suggestions of previous child abuse, such as a contusion to the head, cuts all around his mouth, other abrasions on the body. When
did you learn he had been stuffed in a dryer?
SOUSA: Yes. Well, I was -- to be honest, I was completely shocked when I had heard of the accusations (INAUDIBLE) And then also -- jaw dropping
can`t explain the overwhelming feelings I had for when I found out that they found -- they didn`t just find bolt marks on his body. They found his
skin in the dryer. So there is no -- that -- that -- chase (ph) is the key. The forensic evidence isn`t the key. Chase was the key. Chase gave
away everything to them so they could do their jobs.
And it -- I`m definitely proud of the police work that they have all done. But I am definitely -- I am not happy with the results of the charges. I
mean, if we look at it, that means Adam Morton walks away in a year.
GRACE: Oh!
SOUSA: He got a two-year sentence, but with good behavior and the way the justice system works...
GRACE: Now, hold on.
SOUSA: ... today, he walks away in a year.
GRACE: This is a -- this is a proposed. The sentencing has not happened. And that is why we`re airing this tonight because we oppose a light
sentence. And you, the biological father, oppose a light sentence. This is a travesty.
Let me tell you something, Michael Sousa. If the judge had been put in a dryer like this, in an industrial dryer, and left in there for God only
knows how long, until his skin burned off and was left on the inside of the dryer, I guarantee you that judge would not think that a light sentence was
in order.
And I agree with you. And we say tonight we want justice. This 2-year-old baby could not fight back, could not speak for himself. And to be put in a
dryer and it turned on, the child suffering critical injuries, his skin left on the inside of the dryer, and now a light sentence is proposed?
Absolutely not!
Straight out to Michael Sousa, the biological father of this child. Michael, do you know who the judge is in charge of this case?
SOUSA: I`m so glad you asked that (INAUDIBLE) I just heard all of this through social media. I haven`t been contacted by not one detective, not
one prosecutor, not one attorney. Me and my little brother have pursued (ph) to look after getting an attorney because of the events that have
happened. I mean, I literally had to go on Facebook to find out what is happening. And I just -- something is wrong, and it needs to be adjusted.
GRACE: Well, I`m absolutely stunned that the father, the biological father, was not consulted before some sweetheart deal got into the works.
For those of you just joining us, Mommy comes home from work to find her 2- year-old baby boy covered in critical burns, bruises, cuts around the mouth, other indicia of abuse. And now they want a sweetheart deal where
this guy can walk in a year? Absolutely not! And tonight, we want justice!
To Detective Tim Shaw. Detective, do you know who the judge is going to be in this case?
HEATH: I do not know who that is. I was notified by the district attorney that -- of the offer, and I do not know who the judge is that will be
overhearing this.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining me tonight, Parag Shah, defense attorney, author of "The Code," and Robert Schalk, defense attorney,
joining us.
All right, Mommy is not charged in this. But I got a problem with Mommy, and my problem with Mommy is you leave your children with a live-in that
you haven`t even been with that long? I mean, the children tell the detective, Parag Shah, that the live-in spanks the 2-year-old, that he
yells at the 2-year-old all the time, that he, quote, "does mean things" to the 2-year-old.
You know what? It will be a cold day in H-E-double-L that I would leave my children with somebody I didn`t know that well. Parag Shah, thoughts?
PARAG SHAH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, we don`t know that the mother had any idea that he had a propensity towards these kind of violent acts, assuming
that he actually did it and is not taking the fall for the elder son.
GRACE: Really? Is that what you think.
SHAH: And -- and there could be...
GRACE: OK.
SHAH: ... you know, reasonable discipline. She is on his side, and she probably has the same views on discipline as he does, potentially...
GRACE: Oh, put a child in a dryer?
SHAH: Well, not the dryer...
GRACE: I don`t think so!
SHAH: ... I`m talking about the spanking and the yelling and those type of corporal punishment that...
GRACE: OK, I...
SHAH: ... a lot of parents across the country do to discipline their children, and these people should not be charged. Bad parenting is
different from criminal conduct.
GRACE: OK, let me go to you, Schalk, because if either of you have taken the time to actually read the police affidavit -- the child is covered in
burns, back, arms, burns and blisters on the baby`s feet. But they would get calls from the live-in saying, Oh, this one fell. That one got hurt.
That one got a bruise. He would always be calling and saying what had happened, why one of them had a bruise, why one of them fell.
You know, after the second time, I would start being suspicious. And not only that, he tells police he would take his belt off to scare the
children? Really?
ROBERT SCHALK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You`re talking about...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: That`s not your child?
SCHALK: It`s not a crime to take your belt off to scare somebody, as...
GRACE: Really?
SCHALK: No, it`s not.
GRACE: If somebody took a belt off and came at you, you don`t think that would be an aggravated assault?
SCHALK: If they didn`t touch me, no.
GRACE: You don`t think that would at least...
SCHALK: No. If they did not touch...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: What about an assault, putting someone in fear of serious bodily harm?
SCHALK: That`s menacing, not assault.
GRACE: Well, maybe in your jurisdiction, but battery...
SCHALK: You have to put your hands on somebody for there to be battery and assault.
GRACE: Battery and assault. The battery is the touching. The assault is putting someone...
SCHALK: Is the injury.
GRACE: ... in fear...
SCHALK: It`s injury.
GRACE: ... of bodily injury.
SCHALK: Plus injury.
GRACE: That is what assault is. Assault is putting someone in fear of bodily injury. But you know what? I`ll let you call it what you want to
call it in your jurisdiction. But I guarantee you, Schalk, if somebody came at you with a belt, that would not be OK. So why is it OK for to it
happen to a 2-year-old? Why is it OK? Why is there a sweetheart deal in the works for a man that stuffs a 2-year-old in a dryer with temperatures
up to 200 degrees?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He put him inside the dryer. He should see severe penalties.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that child can`t breathe and it`s hot. That child may die.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, the mother of the boy saying officials pressured him into confessing. A court affidavit says Morton had been stressed, and
quote, "snapped."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. Tonight, we learn a secret plea deal in the works after Mommy`s live-in puts her 2-year-old baby boy in a clothes dryer, the
temperature soaring to nearly 200 degrees. Mommy comes home from work to find her baby covered in critical burns, bruises and cuts.
Now, he`s not charged with abusing any of the other children, but I`m reading from a police affidavit that talks about how he repeatedly called
Mom at work during the past week going, This one has a bruise. That one had fallen. It goes on and on. Wow. A lot of injuries while the live-
in`s the baby sitter. The mother convinced the boyfriend is in the right.
Unleash the lawyers, Parag Shah and Robert Schalk. Also joining me, Dr. Charles Sophy, psychologist (sic), author of "Side by Side." Dr. Sophy,
thank you for being with us. You know what`s interesting to me -- and I was telling someone this the other day. They didn`t believe me. I have
thought and thought and thought on all the child abuse cases and all the child molestation cases, all the child murder cases I`ve ever prosecuted.
I don`t recall a single mother believing the allegations. Not one. Why is that?
DR. CHARLES SOPHY, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, because this woman is definitely in need of having this man in her life for some reason. It`s past denial.
It`s a shared delusional system, where they probably work together just to protect each other and they live in some reality that doesn`t really exist.
That`s the problem. She`s deluded, and he`s with her and they are colluded. And there is a diagnosis and there are syndromes where people
believe things together and they`re in some kind of fantasy or...
GRACE: I mean, Dr. Sophy...
SOPHY: ... disregulated reality.
GRACE: ... does she need a man so badly, she`ll put up with this?
SOPHY: Absolutely. She needs a baby-sitter. She needs a man. She needs all the things that come with it, and she`s willing to sell her children
down the road for it.
GRACE: To Michael Sousa, the baby`s biological father, who is finding out a lot of the details tonight. No one has called him. No one has contacted
him about this sweetheart deal that`s simmering. Mr. Sousa, question. Does she need a boyfriend that badly?
SOUSA: Oh, all of us need a mom (ph). All of us need it. And we just -- we look in the wrong areas. And if you ask me, moving too fast is what it
is. She thought she knew him so well. And they knew each other for years. She grew up in Berlin, New Hampshire, he grew up in Berlin, New Hampshire.
I grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. Now, me (INAUDIBLE) we didn`t get together for two years. I chased her. We were best friends every day.
She barely knew him, and a month after they`re dating, he`s living in the house.
GRACE: You know, Michael?
SOUSA: Four months later...
GRACE: ... another thing...
SOUSA: ... this is happening.
GRACE: Another thing I`ve also wondered...
SOUSA: And (INAUDIBLE) agree with the doctor.
GRACE: You know another thing I`ve wondered, Michael, is that when moms are confronted with the fact that the man they introduced to the home has
done a terrible thing, I think that it`s hard for them to believe it. They don`t want to believe it because they may feel guilty that they trusted
this person and their judgment was so wrong. And they didn`t mean to hurt the child, but it happened. The bottom line is it happened, whether she
meant it or not.
Very quickly back to you, Jack Heath joining me, "New Hampshire Today," WGIR. It`s hard for me to understand, Jack, why anyone would propose that
this guy get a light sentence. I mean, the baby`s skin is stuck in the dryer!
HEATH: Right. Nancy, we`ve seen in New Hampshire -- but this will be a Penobscot County judge. There was a superior court justice, Ann Murray
(ph), that heard one of the hearings. I don`t know if it`ll be her or a different judge.
But we`ve seen cases in New Hampshire where the judge tosses out the plea bargain and went for the maximum sentence on some child abuse, domestic
violence. These are the worst cases, Nancy, as you know, for police to investigate. They`re very twisted. Many times, the mother will turn
against the police and take the side of the assailant. And it`s just really tough to get to the bottom of it.
At the end of it, a helpless 2-year-old kid was put in a dryer, could easily have been killed. The charge probably should be attempted murder.
But let`s just hope that this guy gets many years be the child could have died and there`s obviously a pattern of abuse here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police confiscated the dryer from the Bowling Drive residence, detectives comparing the inside of the machine to the burns on
the boy`s arm and back, doctors and officials determining the trauma could only have occurred from inside the dryer. Morton admitted to police that
he did put his girlfriend`s child in the dryer and powered it on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A 2-year-old baby boy stuffed into a dryer that soars to temperatures of about 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Mommy comes home from work
to find out her baby is covered with critical burns, bruises, cuts, contusion to the head. Police -- long hours of police work -- go and
retrieve the dryer and match the baby`s injuries up exactly to some bolts, some heated-up bolts inside that dryer.
Joining me right now, Dr. Tim Gallagher, medical examiner, forensic pathologist out of Daytona Beach. Dr. Gallagher, this baby`s skin was in
the dryer. How does that happen?
DR. TIM GALLAGHER, MEDICAL EXAMINER/FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): Well, the heat and the metal would cause the skin to separate from the baby
and then stick to the inside of the dryer. So it`s very easy to see how because of the heat and the trauma that the skin would remain inside the
dryer when the child was taken out.
GRACE: You know, Dr. Gallagher, I`m trying to imagine -- and I think it`s hard for adults to imagine being in a dryer -- somebody stuffing you in,
slamming that door and turning it on, and you start to go around and around. And the temperature`s soaring to nearly 200 degrees.
What did that child suffer, Doctor?
GALLAGHER: Well, the child suffered probably second and third-degree burns, which are the most painful burns that you can have, you know, as
well as the turning motion of the dryer, he could have hit his head and also suffered head damage, possibly a contusion or maybe even bleeding on
the brain. That needs to be checked out at a hospital.
GRACE: You know, Dr. Sophy, maybe I`m projecting, but I`m almost sick to my stomach imagining one of my children put in a dryer, stuffed in there.
The child`s probably screaming and fighting. And the other children are there seeing it. They see what happens. And then he turns it on. I just
-- what is -- what has this done to this baby? Will -- is there any chance he won`t remember it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be checked out at a hospital.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: You know, Dr. Sophy, maybe I`m projecting but I`m almost sick to my stomach imagining one of my children put in a dryer,
stuffed in there. The child is probably screaming and fighting. And the other children are there seeing it. They see what happens. And then he
turns it on. I just -- what -- what has this done to this baby? Is there any chance he won`t remember it?
DR. CHARLES SOPHY, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, absolutely he`ll remember on some level. The amount that will stay and residualize with him is really
dependent on any past trauma this poor child might have been exposed to. So if he had any past of abuse it is going to stick longer and deeper for
him but there`s going to be definitely a memory.
GRACE: Detective Tim Shaw, Bangor Police Department, after you guys do so much work to put this case together, I`m looking back through all of the
explanations. First the live-in says that I guess he did it to himself. Maybe the other children did it. The mom says maybe he backed up against
one of those plug-in scented candles. I mean, how many different stories did these two give?
DET. TIM SHAW, BANGOR POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, certainly the amount of stories that at least Mr. Morton gave was very suspicious to us. In
subsequent interviews and actually did help us a lot in our final interview with him because he had given us two conflicting stories that seemed to go
against the forensic evidence that we had.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Live upscale Michigan suburbs, a 25-year-old grad student studying kinesiology, living in the family home with her mother and father, under
suspicion tonight. Police questioning the 25-year-old woman suspected of recently giving birth. That`s not the problem. The problem, no one can
find the baby. Mommy refusing to talk.
Here`s the kicker. Just months ago a judge lets 25-year-old Melissa Mitin out on bond for killing her first baby. A little girl. Death by
asphyxiation. And now a second baby missing?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A mom accused of murdering her newborn is let out on a $5,000 bond. Gets pregnant and has another baby that has gone
missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She didn`t remember. She didn`t know where the baby was.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Now Mitin is back behind bars but her newborn son is still missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: So it`s hard for me to understand this whole scenario. I had to do a flow chart.
To James Gimmel, news director, Newstalk WJRW. James, so one year ago she is before the court with a dead baby. All right. That she gives birth to.
The baby is alive at birth. And it dies from positional asphyxiation. In other words, she, a 25-year-old grad student, forces the baby into a trash
bin. The baby is crying.
And she`s got it in a position where it can`t breathe. It finally dies of asphyxiation. One year later she`s given birth again. And when asked
where is the baby, she goes, "I don`t know."
Help me, James.
JAMES GIMMEL, NEWS DIRECTOR, NEWSTALK WJRW: Well, it is bizarre. And in fact Ingham County prosecutor, Stuart Dunnings told me today that he think
he -- he`s exceedingly concerned and calls it quite incredible. And as you said this happened right around 2013. Right around Christmas Day. The
death of the baby daughter. Now right around Christmas time 2014 a year later the baby boy turns up missing.
And in fact near Detroit today at a recycling plant in Roseville they found a 1-3 day old baby boy`s frozen body wrapped in a T-shirt and an autopsy is
being done to determine the exact cause of death. They took a DNA sample up to the Michigan State Police crime lab to determine whether this child
that was found today -- or technically last night -- was also the -- is the mother`s son. And so two babies dead within a one-year period of time.
GRACE: Look at this home. It`s beautiful. It`s a dream home. She lives with her mother and father. They foot all her bills. She`s getting a
graduate degree in kinesiology. That`s the working of the body. And now there is one and likely two dead babies?
What are they, Pat Lalama? I was like, paper cut me like just me. Just throw it away. Is that what it is? Is that what it is to her?
PAT LALAMA, CORRESPONDENT, INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY: This is double tragedy. It`s extraordinary. When the parents and sister discovered had
first baby, the mother said to her, did you have sex? They had no clue. And she said --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: But wait. Wait, wait. Stop, stop, stop.
Pat Lalama, let me just back that up. So the big problem is, did you have sex? Not did you give birth and kill the baby?
LALAMA: Right.
GRACE: The big boo-boo is she has sex?
LALAMA: And by the way, just to add more color to the story, the mother is an attorney. This seems to be a very well-to-do established family. The
mother says I just see all this black hair when they discovered the baby. Then she says did you have sex and Michelle says to her well, I was forced
to. I was raped. Then she gets pregnant again.
And by the way, Nancy, here`s what to me is so extraordinary. She was actually seeking prenatal care. She was going to a doctor with second
child -- pregnant with the second child just in December. When the doctor`s office calls her back to say, are you coming in for, you know,
some -- you know, more care, she said, well, I`ve already had the baby. Now the of course sets the bells and whistles going.
Now they -- when they say to her, where is your child, she says I don`t know, I don`t remember. Now she`s undergoing psychiatric testing.
GRACE: Of course. Now. With a second dead body.
LALAMA: But how did she ever get out on 5,000 bond and no restrictions.
GRACE: With a second dead body. Suddenly she`s mentally ill.
Pat Lalama, hold. I`m hearing in my ear, joining me right now, a special guest, the chief of police there in Roseville. Chief James Berlin is with
us.
Chief Berlin, thank you for being with us.
CHIEF JAMES BERLIN, ROSEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: No problem.
GRACE: Chief, as we started the show tonight I did not realize that a body -- I`m just learning that you all have found a child`s body.
I`m stunned, Chief, that a judge let this woman out on bond after her first baby -- after she was killed it. All right. Because it was alive when it
was born and it died of asphyxiation in the trash can. And now she`s -- one year hasn`t passed. I guess she rushed out and got pregnant and now
can`t find the other baby.
Well, Chief, do you think the baby you found in the dumpster is connected to her? And if so, why?
BERLIN: Well, all indications are looking that way. She had a baby boy born in late December. That child could not be found. She had a court
appearance on Tuesday and the judge asked where that child was at and she says she can`t remember. So the time frame adds up. And thankfully we do
not have many infants go miss like that. So two and two usually make four.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Will you help us track this case. Sioux Falls schoolgirl Faith McShane last seen in school disappears. We must help keep her case alive.
Here`s what you can do. Go to Facebook, Twitter, share this photo, I`ll say, with your friend, with everybody you know. Help us spread the word
and bring Faith home. And everybody, you can now watch Nancy Grace live on your mobile device. Go to your app store, download HLN to go, get the
Nancy Grace broadcast wherever you go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One newborn dead. Another missing. Both from the same mom.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Prosecutors says Melissa Mitin suffocated her daughter by stuffing her in a trash can.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mitin was released on a $5.000 fine and secretly had a second children and this one is missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me right now mark class president and found over class kids foundation. You know, Mark, the first story a child stuffed into a dryer,
a clothes dryer. Now we`ve got one baby dead by being stuffed in the trash can. Another baby, oh I don`t know where he is. And now they find a
child`s body in a dumpster? I can`t get my mind around it, Mark.
Well, it is tragedy compounded around tragedy, Nancy. And to think that the judge allowed this woman out on bond without condition. And she lived
at home with her family. And knowing full well that she is a child killer, this was allowed to happen again. I think there is plenty of
responsibility to spread around here. And one could only hope that this woman never sees the light of day again. Because if she does another child
will most likely die.
I mean, Stacey Newman. This looks like a modern day castle. Look at this thing. I mean she`s clearly gotten every privilege there is to give. And
she gives birth. Puts one baby in a trash can until it dies. And now this? What did she say in court?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, she said she just didn`t know where the second baby is. That`s how her bond actually got revoked.
And, Nancy, let`s keep in mind here, she was able to hide not one but two pregnancies? And the second pregnancy she weighed over 200 pounds. How
could nobody in that house have noticed?
GRACE: You know, Pat Lalama, investigative reporter, when I think of the way the first baby died, and I think adults should put themselves into the
position of the baby. Being put basically upside down with your face smushed into trash until you can`t breathe. Your body -- basically
suffocating yourself with your own body, the weight of your own body. That`s how the first baby died. And now this baby is found frozen in a
dumpster?
LALAMA: It`s hard to imagine why you want to give up a child when there are so many resources, so many people who want that child. I don`t
understand the psychology of it. The cruelty of it. What is she thinking? She could go to someone and say, help me. Help me, I`ve gotten myself into
some trouble.
And you know what, Nancy, something else I just remembered. She had recently been discharged from Michigan State for academic reasons. So
clearly there were all kinds of interesting things going on in her life. But the fact that she could hide it.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Do you think I care about her getting kicked out of school?
LALAMA: From the people around her.
GRACE: Pat Lalama, do you think I care about that?
LALAMA: No. Nancy --
GRACE: I care about these babies.
LALAMA: I don`t give a rats -- Nancy, I don`t give a rats behind either. I`m just trying to figure out what`s going on in her head. Was it malice?
Was she screwed up? What was it?
GRACE: I`m sure her mommy and daddy will get her out of this, too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And live to the Valley. Imagine looking over your backyard fence to see a 1,000 pound alligator staring back at you. You can`t see anything
but eyes and teeth. Well, that`s what happened when detectives arrived at the home of Laura Matheson. They investigate and they find the half ton
beast nothing but rawhide and teeth in the backyard along with two dead cats.
Well, the family insisting tonight they`re distraught over losing the family pet and that they absolutely were not feeding the alligator dead
cats.
Well, you know what? Forget about the cats for a minute.
People, you`ve got an alligator in your backyard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They found this in the backyard. Jackson is an eight foot long alligator nearly 40 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The officer approached the crate, could hear some hissing out of it, and there we find the alligator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: With me right off the bat, let`s go to Dr. Grey Stafford, director of Conservation at Wild Life World Zoo, animal -- OK. I think there`s an
unannounced guest.
GREY STAFFORD, ANIMAL TRAINER: Good to see you, Nancy.
GRACE: Tell me that`s a stuffed animal.
STAFFORD: This is actually a live American alligator. But much smaller than the one we`re talking about in the news today.
GRACE: OK. Why is he there?
STAFFORD: Well, he`s one of our animal ambassadors from Wild Life World and I just thought --
GRACE: An animal ambassador?
STAFFORD: Yes. And he is the --
GRACE: Could you pick something cute like a little -- I don`t know, bear or a rabbit? Wide teeth.
STAFFORD: He is cute. He or she is cute. And they`re living dinosaurs. They are amazing animals. They just don`t belong in our backyard.
GRACE: OK. Well, they may be amazing to you. And if you don`t know if it`s a girl or boy, I`d like you to just lift up its tail because I`m just
a JD, you`re the MD, but I think that`s how you tell. Anyway, long story short, I`m going to try not to look at his teeth.
These people have a grown alligator in their backyard. And pet authorities had been out there before. And I guess they hid the thing. It was living
in a crate.
STAFFORD: Yes. Obviously, they were taking care of its needs because it lived there for four decades. But obviously too --
GRACE: Whoa. It was 40 years old?
STAFFORD: Yes.
GRACE: This alligator, Jackson is her name, is 40 years old? In the backyard.
STAFFORD: And that`s only a fraction of how long she can live.
GRACE: OK --
STAFFORD: They are a very long lived animal.
GRACE: Can you tame an alligator?
STAFFORD: You know, alligators get a bad rap in media. But they`re actually very attentive mothers. You would really like this, Nancy. The
mothers have crushing jaws. But when they protect their babies, they can actually carry them in their mouth. They are very attentive. We really do
underestimate just how beautiful and amazing these animals are. But again these are wild beast animals.
GRACE: Have you ever been chased by one? Have you ever been chased by an alligator?
STAFFORD: No, I don`t like --
GRACE: Because I was running one time out in the middle of nowhere and saw an alligator. Do you know an alligator can run about 35 miles an hour?
Did you know that, Grey?
STAFFORD: Yes, I did. They`re very fast.
GRACE: Those little legs can move. They`re about that. OK. Can we get off that and get back to why you don`t keep a half a ton alligator in your
backyard?
STAFFORD: Well, there`s all kinds of hazards to not only to you but to your neighbors, to your neighbor`s children, their pets. These animals
need a nice swampy, marshy area to live in. And not only that, it is illegal. California is one of the most restrictive states in the union as
far as holding wild life. You not only need a permit, you need a reason for that permit. And very often they`re going to deny people to own --
GRACE: You know, Grey, maybe I`m the crazy one and you are the one who is sane here. But all you`re talking about is why an alligator needs like a
marshy area to be happy. What about a kid sticking its hand out and getting it bitten off? I`m worried about the people in this scenario.
Don`t get mad, PETA. All right? I`ll deal with you later. But you cannot keep a ton beast in your backyard with nothing but teeth and rawhide and
expect a good thing to happen, Grey.
STAFFORD: That`s right. And-- for example, at my zoo, we have double barriers. We only have trained people that go in to work with the animals,
to feed them and care for them and service their exhibits so --
GRACE: Yes. I know. I know all about --
STAFFORD: It`s not something for --
GRACE: All about wild life -- the whole thing. Wild Life World Zoo, I have been there many, many times. You`re not far from the Jodi Arias
trial.
Straight out to Mark Salazar, head of field operations for L.A. Animal Services.
How was Jackson discovered living as a pet in Laura Matheson`s backyard, sir?
MARK SALAZAR, L.A. ANIMAL SERVICES: We originally received a complaint late last year of a possible alligator being in the rear yard of the
residence. Officers conducted an inspection. The residents allowed us a very thorough look at the property both inside the residence and in the
yard. And no alligator could be located. The officers were fairly suspectful that the alligator may have been relocated and was not -- we
weren`t getting all of the information as to what had been going on there.
So we decided to set up for a follow-up inspection. We call it a bit of a surprise inspection. And that occurred this last Monday, the 12th. We
made an attempt to make contact with the occupants of the residents. They refused us entry. It felt very different to the officers but why they
would not allow us to look in their yard. And we also received some additional information that someone in the neighborhood had seen recently
what they described as a 10-foot alligator in the rear yard of that property.
Based off of that, we immediately -- we left an officer at the property and sent another officer out to obtain a search warrant which the magistrate
signed and we executed that same day.
GRACE: Mark, what were they feeding the animal, dare I ask?
SALAZAR: You know, parts of this right now is we`re still early in the investigation. I`m not going to be able to comment on the investigative
part.
GRACE: OK.
SALAZAR: Because there are pending charges.
GRACE: Well, I`ll put it out there. And I respect your professionality, Mark Salazar.
We were told it eats nothing but chicken. And I can only hope that`s chicken bought at the grocery store. Not the type flapping around with
feathers on it.
All right. To you, Grey Stafford, Mark Salazar, thank you. I think.
Let`s stop and remember American hero Army Sergeant Scott Dykman, just 27, Helena, Montana, Bronze Star, a volunteer firefighter. Loved boxing and
rodeos. Dreamed of becoming a fishing and hunting guide in Alaska. Parents, Donna and Doug, brother, Michael, widow Chantal, son William,
daughter Rachel.
Scott Dykman, American hero.
Happy birthday tonight to Elizabeth who loves music and playing games. Isn`t she beautiful?
Everyone, Dr. Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, my friend.
END
