Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Cristie Schoen`s Remains Found? Durst Has a Bail Hearing. Aired 8- 8:30p ET
Aired March 23, 2015 - 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, live, Leicester, North Carolina, where a gorgeous young pregnant Food Network TV star, seen here on Food
Network, missing and murdered?
Bombshell tonight. As we go to air, human remains just found. Are they what`s left of Food Network star Cristie Schoen and her husband? And
the man we highlighted right here in connection with her disappearance, we learn police hone in on his kitchen oven, where reportedly, human bones
have been cooked!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See that beautiful color right there? That is what we`re looking for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christie, the former Food Network reality show contestant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guess what I`m going to make for you today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Human remains recovered from a wood stove.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That video from Food Network.
And tonight, multi-millionaire Robert Durst, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, walks free after he shoots and dismembers his neighbor. His
wife, Kathie, also disappears. That`s still unsolved. HBO airs docu- series "The Jinx" about Durst and his shenanigans. Durst arrested finally as a prime suspect in the murder of a long-time friend, Susan Berman, who
many people believe helped him dispose of his wife`s body.
FBI raids his apartment in Houston. In the last hours, Durst in court, this as a female judge comes forward with her claims she believes
Durst put a severed cat head in her front yard. But why? To warn her? Warn her about what?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Robert Durst is stepping out of his jail cell, heading to court for a detention hearing.
ROBERT DURST, CHARGED WITH MURDER: I didn`t think that when you were charged -- I mean (INAUDIBLE) you can`t give someone charged with murder a
bail because they`re going to run away, of course.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: In the last hours, his bail hearing -- that video from HBO`s "The Jinx."
And tonight, live, Dublin, Virginia, a 5-year-old little boy missing from his own home, and in the Minnesota suburbs, A 10-year-old boy goes
missing. Tonight, where are Noah (ph) and Barway (ph)?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities say that this 10-year-old boy has been missing when surveillance video shows him being dropped off after school by
a school bus near his apartment. But Barway didn`t go inside. Have you seen Barway Collins?
Five-year-old Noah Thomas has been missing after police say that he wandered out of his home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multiple agencies, including the FBI, were searching in air and on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you help bring Noah Thomas home?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, imagine a baby with its mommy hunted as they run through the forest to escape a killer, not able to run fast enough,
overtaken and slaughtered. Well, that`s what happens every day to these beautiful creatures. Why? And how can this barbaric savagery be stopped?
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight, live to Leicester, North Carolina, where a gorgeous young pregnant Food Network TV star missing and murdered? As we go to air
tonight, human remains have just been found. Are they what`s left of the Food Network star Cristie Schoen and her husband?
And the man we highlighted right here in connection with her disappearance -- tonight, we learn police hone in on his kitchen oven, a
wood-burning stove, where reportedly, human bones have been cooked?
We`re going straight out to the scene. Joining us is news director of WWNC Mark Starling. Mark, you`re there at the scene. Tell me what you
see.
MARK STARLING, WWNC (via telephone): Well, Nancy, the searches have all been done. The search warrants have all been served. A total of five
warrants were obtained by the sheriff`s department, including, obviously, the Schoens` house, and of course, the Owenses` house. And that grisly
discovery made in the oven of what is suspected to be human remains. Now, those have been sent to Wake Forest Hospital for -- you know, for
identification. As far as things go right now, you know, it really does look from some of the statements that Owens has made that they`re right on
the right trail.
GRACE: Let`s take it from the very beginning. Everyone, joining me, news director of WWNC, Mark Starling, is there on the scene. The scene
includes the suspect`s wood-burning stove. We have reason to believe that stove may have been in his kitchen or in the back yard because, remember,
when we first started talking about this guy, this guy, Robert Jason Owens, age 36, was doing construction work on the Food Network star`s home.
[20:05:12]Now, let`s see a picture of her, Cristie Schoen. I know you`re going to recognize her husband, J.T. Codd. She was an up and coming
star and featured on Food Network. There she is. Let`s take a listen. Everybody, that`s video of Food Network star from the Network.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRISTIE SCHOEN, FOOD NETWORK: I would always recommend to have your bananas already peeled and ready to go -- like, before you start your
sauce, go ahead and peel them. And sometimes, it helps if you put orange juice and you soak the bananas in orange juice so they don`t brown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) tips in. She had some explanations. She had reasons for why she was doing the things or having me do the things
that she was doing.
SCHOEN: All right, we`re going to put the pan back on there. See that beautiful color right there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is very pretty.
SCHOEN: That is what we`re looking for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s what I`m looking for.
SCHOEN: And you know what we`re about to do with that? We`re going to set that on fire!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s the video from "Food Network Star" from Food Network.
This woman, five months pregnant, has gone missing, along with her husband, J.T. Now, we have reason to believe that she was at a mountain
retreat, a getaway that they were building together, trying to complete it before the baby was born. Let`s see a picture of that mountain retreat
they were working on. It`s right in the middle of Asheville, North Carolina, mountain range. That`s the interior they were redoing
(INAUDIBLE)
They have this construction worker, Robert Jason Owens, working there. Matt Zarrell, we were just talking to Mark Starling, WWNC, who`s at the
scene right now. Matt, let`s take it from the beginning, from the moment we think the Food Network star disappeared. What do we know, Matt?. Let`s
put it together.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, well, police got notified by Cristie`s father, who called them last Sunday. He said his
wife last spoke with Cristie the day before. They were very concerned.
Now, when cops went to the house, immediately, some things looked out of place, including they found items belonging to Cristie and her husband
that you would not normally find in the house if they were not there. They found Cristie`s purse. They found a wallet for her husband. They also saw
a medicine cabinet open inside the home with Band-Aids removed. The couple`s cars and dogs were still at the home. It sounds like they left or
were ambushed in a big rush.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, right now, we understand that police are honing in on this guy`s wood-burning stove. And what we learned last week was
that way into the night, around the time that the Food Network star goes missing, neighbors report that he`s burning something in the back yard.
To Mark Starling, WWNC. Was the wood-burning stove in the yard, the back yard, or was it in the home?
STARLING: No, and there was a little bit of confusion with that. Now, the stove was in the home. You know, originally, neighbors had
reported that Owens was doing something out in the back yard late at night, and burning something. Now, it`s not uncommon in this area for people to
be burning, you know, maybe yard trash or garbage or whatever it might be. But in the middle of the night, that was what originally spurred the ground
search.
Now, that ground search didn`t turn anything up. And it wasn`t until they searched the Owenses` home, that`s when they found that grisly
discovery there in that wood-burning stove.
GRACE: To special guest joining us, Dr. Bill Manion, forensic pathologist joining us from Philly tonight. Dr. Manion, how can you look
at a bone or what`s left of a bone and determine is it a man or a woman`s bone, a child`s bone? Isn`t it true you can determine whether it`s of
European descent? You can learn so much from, for instance, the pelvic bones, the facial bones. What can they learn from just a bone?
DR. BILL MANION, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): Well, that`s correct. They can identify male and female bones, especially if they have
the pelvis, because the size and shape of the pelvis is much different. They can identify some different races. Some races have thicker bones,
more sturdy bones than others. But the best thing for identifying a body would be if they found teeth with fillings or some -- something that they
could match (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Well, what about DNA from the bones? Everybody, you`re seeing video from "Food Network Star," Food Network.
Go ahead. There she is right there, five months pregnant. The Food Network star in a rush to finish up her mountain retreat that they had been
working on, trying to finish it before the baby comes in just four months from now. But she`s been gone now, along with her husband, for days,
police fearing the worst not only because this guy we believe has bones of some sort in his stove, but because he is possibly connected to another
young man that goes missing.
[20:10:00]So Dr. Manion, can you get DNA from bones?
MANION: Yes, as long as it`s not burned too much. Generally, that would be the marrow, the deepest part of the bone, and it can be recovered
as long as it`s not been completely scorched.
GRACE: OK, everybody, you are seeing her there. That`s Cristie Schoen promo video from YouTube, from Cajun Meister (ph) on YouTube.
Back to Matt Zarrell. Matt, what did we learn? What, if anything, did he say as it relates to the young boy, the teen that goes missing, last
seen with him? His last name was Quinn?
ZARRELL: Yes, Zebb Quinn. Apparently, they were co-workers. They played pool together. It was all about that Quinn wanted to buy a new car,
and he was going to help this person buy a new car. But -- and we actually have surveillance video of the last time that Quinn was seen alive, where
he actually goes inside a surveillance -- inside a store to buy sodas with Owens.
Then they leave in separate cars. Apparently, Quinn had this emergency that he had to answer via page and left. He was never seen
again. But what`s...
GRACE: Whoa. Hold on. Look, we`re showing it right now. Guys, if he had been arrested on this case -- there was the Quinn young man, a teen.
There he is. That`s from Investigation Discovery`s "Disappeared."
Now, this young guy wanted to buy a used car, and Robert Jason Owens was going to help him. So he goes with Owens to look for a used car. He`s
never seen again. This is the last time he`s seen alive. He`s in the company of Robert Jason Owens.
And now, once again, you`ve got this female five months pregnant -- there`s Quinn -- Food Network star last seen with (ph) Owens or with (ph)
Owens. He`s doing construction work on her home. She`s gone. Her husband, J.T. Codd, gone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:16:34]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Known to the public on the Food Network TV series "Next Food Network Star."
SCHOEN: Go ahead and add my sausage and my chicken.
I would always recommend to have your bananas already peeled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cristie Schoen Codd dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unidentified remains were found in Owens`s wood stove.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Repeat, that`s unidentified remains, and reports it`s in his wood stove. You`re seeing video from "Food Network Star" from Food
Network, and we`re talking about Cristie Schoen and her husband, J.T. Codd. They`re both missing from a mountain retreat. Here are their wedding
photos. And at the time she goes missing, she`s five months pregnant. They`re working on a mountain retreat in the Asheville, North Carolina,
mountain range. And they haven`t been seen for days.
Now police honing in on the man we first mentioned, Robert Jason Owens, age 36, who lives down the street from them and was working, doing
construction work on their new home.
Now, here`s the thing. To Matt Zarrell. What can you tell me about text messages from the construction worker`s home, that was working in
their home, Robert Jason Owens, and this Food Network star, the five-months pregnant Cristie Schoen? What was happening with her text messages that
day?
ZARRELL: Yes, it appears, based on the search warrant, Nancy, that that is how cops were initially triggered into this guy, that they noticed
on the phone records that there were no calls from either victim`s phone leading up to the disappearance, but cops found multiple text messages from
the husband`s phone on March 10th and 11th to Robert Owens`s phone, and that`s when they immediately started looking at him.
GRACE: Now, let me understand this. So for a period of time, there`s nothing on either Cristie`s or J.T.`s phone. Then suddenly, there`s a lot
of text messages from the husband to the construction worker?
ZARRELL: There`s no calls at all. Starting March 10th, there are no outgoing calls from either phone. But there are text messages from the
husband`s phone on those same two dates to Robert Owens`s phone.
GRACE: OK, interesting. Matthew W. Horace is with us, law enforcement and security expert with FJC Security. Matthew, it sounds to
me like he is staging text messages because why would either this five- months-pregnant woman, a Food Network star -- certainly, she`s using her phone -- or her husband, J.T. -- why would they not make a single phone
call from their cells for days, and then suddenly it`s text to this guy? It sounds like he`s staging text messages that probably were not that
impressive.
MATTHEW W. HORACE, LAW ENFORCEMENT AND SECURITY EXPERT: Well, that absolutely is what it sounds like in this case. But in any case like this,
we work backwards and identify who was the last person to see the victims alive...
GRACE: Right.
HORACE: ... and who was that. And this is exactly what police have done here, and it`s looking like they have a viable suspect.
GRACE: Everybody, I want you to take a look. Give me just a second. Liz, if you could pull up that sound of Cristie. Everybody, look at this
woman. Have you seen her? Have you seen her husband? And what we have to think about is that if he was burning bones in a stove, human bones, that
means that he had to dismember these bodies.
Now, I want to bring out something else we found in the documents. A few years ago, police were actually looking on this guy`s property for
graves, for hidden graves where he may have hidden a body or bodies. This was several years ago.
[20:20:12]Take a look at Cristie Schoen. Has anyone seen her? Take a look. This is from Food Network.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOEN: My culinary point of view is fresh organic, delicious, healthy cuisine. If I became the "Next Food Network Star," it wouldn`t be
about changing my life. It would be more about changing everybody else`s lives that are watching my show. I would hope that I could convey a
message out to my audience and help change lives in a very, very positive and healthy way.
A lot of people would die to have this kind of opportunity to be on a competition show for the Food Network, especially. You know, I am just
extremely excited and I am so ready to just start this already.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: In the last hours, multi-millionaire Robert Durst, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, suspected in the murders of multiple people, in
court, this as a female judge comes forward with her claims she believes Durst put a severed cat head in her front yard. But why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:21]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prosecutors in New Orleans are arguing that millionaire Robert Durst is as big a flight risk as anyone can
possibly be.
DURST: You can`t give someone charged with murder bail because they`re going to run away, of course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was your intention when you put up the $250,000?
DURST: (INAUDIBLE) Good-bye, $250,000. Good-bye, jail. I`m -- I`m - - I`m out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, that was exactly what was played in court. Just before we go to air tonight, multi-millionaire, to the tune of $100 million -- his
family is worth billions of dollars -- in court.
With me right now, Miguel Marquez, CNN correspondent. You know, Miguel explain why it`s so significant that this -- "The Jinx" video from
HBO was played in court as Durst makes a play for a bond?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a guy who has a lot of money and has access to it. They found $44,000 in his hotel room. They
also found a receipt from UPS. In that UPS package (INAUDIBLE) came another $117,000, five ounces of marijuana. So if there`s somebody who
could get off -- get out of jail and run, it would be Robert Durst. And that`s exactly what they argued, and even his own defense team said, We`re
not surprised there was no bond set.
GRACE: Well, Miguel -- Miguel, all right, first of all, you`ve got -- his wife goes missing, so we just have to assume now, 20 years later, his
wife is still missing, Kathie Durst. Then you`ve got Morris Black. All of Kathie`s friends tell me that they knew at the time and tried to convince
police to pursue Durst for the murder of his wife, that apparently, money talked, and for some reason, he was never pursued. That case is unsolved.
He moves to Texas. He kills his next-door neighbor as he`s dressed as a woman, Dorothy Signer (ph), and beheads the guy, dismembers Morris Black,
and gets off, claims it was self-defense and he dismembered the body because he was afraid.
All right, now, here`s Susan Berman, his friend, Miguel, who many people believe helped him or knows about the disposal of his wife,
Kathie`s, body. She`s dead. Miguel -- let`s play -- Liz, play what Miguel`s talking about, what Durst said. This was just played in court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DURST: I had been told by the detective that I`d been charged with murder. Bail has been set at $250,000. And I didn`t think that when you
were charged with -- I mean, I know nothing, but you can`t give someone charged with murder bail because they`re going to run away, of course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But was your intention when you put up the $250,000 to run away?
DURST: Oh, good-bye, $250,000. Good-bye, jail. I`m out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is from HBO`s docu-series "The Jinx" about Durst and his shenanigans.
So Miguel, of course he`s not going to get a bond when the judge hears that!
MARQUEZ: Well, he`s not going to get a bond for that, and he`s also still -- the Los Angeles have asked them to hold him, as well, without
bond. So he wasn`t going to get out on that, as well. So this is a guy who, every aspect of his life is now being looked into. He is not going
anywhere. It is fascinating to...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Oh, you know what, Miguel? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, LA, jurisdiction, did this, they did that. Well, you know what? They`ve been
sitting their you-know-whats on the Susan Berman murder now for years, and they haven`t done that about it! So what -- what does it take?
MARQUEZ: It`s fascinating...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... take out an ad on Rodeo Drive, I did it?
MARQUEZ: It`s fascinating how they got onto him. They knew -- the LAPD knew that he left his house on the 10th of March, two days after the
fifth episode of "The Jinx" aired, with five bags. They then -- he turned off his cell phone, as well. They were monitoring his cell phone somehow.
Between the 9th and the 14th, nothing from a guy who always used his cell phone and then he pops up near Beaumont, Texas, and then suddenly, he
checks his voicemail from where? The J.W. Marriott.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:34:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Robert Durst is stepping out of his jail cell, headed to court for a detention hearing.
DURST: You can`t give someone charged with murder bail, because they`re going to run away, of course.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s from HBO`s The Jinx. Imagine that, Durst says that about getting granted bond over the murder of Morris Black, his elderly
neighbor. He was acquitted on that by a jury, even though he admits he killed Black and dismembered his body and threw it in Galveston Bay. The
head has never been found, by the way, and of course he made bond in that case, and he skipped bail. He was finally caught thousands of miles away,
when he was caught on surveillance stealing a chicken sandwich.
This time, Durst has been caught again in New Orleans. Back to -- joining us, Miguel Marquez, senior correspondent. And Eric Leonard joining
us from in the courthouse today, tell me what you observed about Durst in court.
LEONARD: He appears to be a feeble and much more aged rendition of the man you see in the documentary, The Jinx. He doesn`t look well. He
has this stint (ph) in his head where there`s some scarring. It looks like there`s almost a tube or something embedded in his head. His head is
completely shaved because his lawyer had mentioned he was having some fluid drained from his head. It makes for a bizarre appearance, especially when
he`s led into court not in typical handcuffs that you would see any other high security inmate wearing, but he`s wearing orange jail clothes and a
special belt that has his hands secured in what looked like leather wrist cuffs that are attached on each side of his body and his waist. It`s much
more Hannibal Lecteresque than you would see almost any other inmate appear in court.
GRACE: Everyone, you`re seeing shots of Durst in court in just the last hours, asking for bond. Back to you, Miguel Marquez, explain how he
was traced to New Orleans. You`re seeing HBO`s The Jinx.
MARQUEZ: This is a guy who when he left his place. The fifth episode airs on Sunday the 8th, on the 9th, his phone goes dead. They talk in
court about having a pen warrant--
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Matthew Horace, explain pen register. Pen warrant.
HORACE: What law enforcement uses is a way to track when calls are made and when incoming calls are coming in. In this case, police were able
to check the cell towers, and when he started using his cell phone again after it was turned off initially, they were able to determine the general
area where he was located. Through his cell phone tower pinging. And this helped them to lead them to Mr. Durst.
GRACE: Miguel Marquez, bottom line, they get a pen register that gets outgoing and incoming calls, and what do they find?
MARQUEZ: They know he`s on the move. On the tenth they pick him up near Beaumont, Texas later on, and then they go silent again, but only when
he checks his voice mail, not necessarily with his phone, but he checks his voice mail do they realize he`s at the J.W. Marriott, then detectives go
down there to see if he`s around. They ask for Robert Durst, they ask for one of ten different names he goes by. Dorothy Singer, Jim Torres, Jim
Torrez, Morris Black, Diane Wynn, Robert Dean Jones. Ten names. Finally they find Everett Ward was the name, they see him standing by the
elevators, they ask if it`s him. They ask if it`s him. He says I have my passport in my room. They go up to the room, they start doing an inventory
they say, the defense lawyers say that was a search, and that`s where they find all this stuff on him.
GRACE: Bottom line, he`s got a passport in his true name, and about $200,000. With all that in mind, we also believe now there`s a chance he
was planning to go to Cuba. We know his wife had just been to Cuba in the last weeks. Justin Freiman, was there a map found in his room regarding
Cuba?
FREIMAN: Nancy, there was a map found there that did have on it Florida, New Orleans and Cuba.
GRACE: What about this latex map, it`s a mask with hair on it?
FREIMAN: Yes. Salt and pepper hair actually.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Randy Zelin and Troy Slaten. First to you, Zelin, what`s he doing with a mask with gray hair on it, $200,000.
And maps about Cuba?
ZELIN: Well, early Halloween? But putting all that aside, what do you have if you don`t have this alleged confession? You have nothing. You
may as well try him in New Orleans. That`s all they got.
GRACE: Hold on, let`s listen to what he`s claiming is an alleged confession. This happened on The Jinx. Durst is miked up giving his grand
interview, and he leaves to go to the bathroom, I guess not realizing he`s still miked. He says, they want to know what I did with all of them, I
killed them. Listen to this. This is Durst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you write the cadaver note?
DURST: No, I didn`t write the cadaver note.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell me which one you didn`t write?
DURST: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
DURST: Well, thank you very much. I`m going to go use the restroom, which is right here, or maybe this is the bathroom. You`re right, this is
the bathroom.
What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:40:08]
GRACE: That`s from HBO`s The Jinx. We don`t know the context of that statement or whether it was shared with police. You say an alleged
confession, but Troy, there`s no way that that`s going to be suppressed in court. In addition to that, we have the handwriting cadaver letter that
will absolutely be matched up to him. Only the killer knew Susan Berman`s body was rotting in her home. And only the killer would know to write that
to police. He admits it`s his writing.
SLATEN: It may have been very clever editing, he may have been giving a Shakespearian soliloquy. He may have just talking to himself and
imagining what others are saying about him. There are so many innocent explanations--
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Well, you can talk amongst yourselves about that, I don`t think a jury is going to agree with you. I`m hearing in my ear. I`m being
joined by special guest, with me is judge Susan Criss. She`s the former judge who presided over Durst`s trial, his murder trial. Which I covered
live, and I was stunned when he was acquitted. Judge Criss believes that Durst left a severed cat`s head on her property after she testifies
regarding Durst at a parole hearing. Judge Criss, thank you for being with us.
JUDGE SUSAN CRISS: Glad to be here.
GRACE: You know, Judge, we see movies about defendants coming back on the prosecutor or back on the judge, and I always tell myself, that`s just
a movie, that never happens. When did you discover a severed cat`s head on your property? And why do you believe it was put there by Robert Durst?
CRISS: It was a hot July day in June of 2006 when I came home, and I found a severed cat head with the front two legs attached, carefully laid
right in front of the sidewalk that leads to my front door, and this was just a few months after I testified against him at a parole hearing for
violating his parole.
GRACE: You know, everyone, with me is Judge Susan Criss. If you could have seen her on the bench as I did, watching the trial of Robert
Durst, look, there she is right there. She ruled the court with an iron fist, bent over backwards to protect the defendant`s rights and heard the
not guilty as it was announced in that courtroom. Judge Criss, when you saw the severed cat head with the legs still attached on the property, what
was your immediate thought?
CRISS: My immediate thought was, oh my God, this is a severed head, and we had a trial where the biggest piece of evidence that was missing was
a severed head. I immediately thought oh, my God, it`s Robert Durst, and I ran in my house to make sure my dogs were okay.
GRACE: Judge Criss, when you testified in the Durst hearing, what was it about, and why would that have made Durst mad?
CRISS: Durst had been out on parole, and I ran into him at the mall, at the Galleria mall in Houston. I didn`t know he was violating his
parole, because he was supposed to be under house arrest. We inadvertently ran into each other at the shopping mall doing Christmas shopping, and then
when the parole board found out about it, I testified against him, because he was violating his parole and should have been revoked.
GRACE: Judge, you said something that I had thought of, you verbalized it, you said when you saw that severed cat head, there on the
edge of your property, that is the piece missing from the Morris Black trial. The elderly neighbor of Robert Durst, all of his body was found
when a little boy came up on a human torso, except for the head. And then what else is on your property but a dead cat`s head? It`s just so obvious
to me.
CRISS: It was obvious to me too, and had we found that head of Morris Black, we would have known where the entrance wound and the exit wound was,
and the angle, and all the ballistics would have shown his story was not true.
GRACE: Right, because his story in the shooting death of Morris Black
[20:45:00]
was that this elderly neighbor got into a fight with him and they were fighting and he shot him in self-defense, and you`re so right, Judge Criss.
That head could have shown a trajectory path. All sorts of forensic evidence to disprove his theory at trial.
Let me ask you this, when that trial happened, I will never forget it, when he was acquitted. I remember saying Durst is going to kill again,
Durst is going to do something else. This is two bodies, his wife Kathy, and now Morris Black. What did you think when you found out he was
arrested in the murder of Susan Berman? Were you surprised?
CRISS: I wasn`t surprised, because I knew there had been an investigation reopened, both with the LAPD and the FBI. I always hoped he
would be arrested again. I hoped he would be arrested again before any other bodies showed up, but there was no question when I saw the evidence
in the trial, where he cut up the body, and I saw those pictures of those legs and those arms and that torso, and how clean it was, and I heard the
medical examiner talk about how clean those cuts were, done by someone who knew what they were doing. There was no question that he had practiced it
before, and he would be doing it again if he could.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:50:45]
GRACE: We are getting information, two little boys missing, one age 5, one age 10, two separate incidences. Rita Cosby, investigative
journalist, WABC host. First, let`s talk about the 5-year-old. What happened?
COSBY: Very sad story. This little 5-year-old boy goes with the mother. The mother also has an infant child. They drop off -- the father,
this is in Virginia, she comes back, the 5-year-old is watching cartoons. She goes to sleep. That`s the last time she sees her son. An all-out
frantic search for him right now.
GRACE: Hold on. Take a look at this boy. 5-year-old Noah Terry Thomas. Tip line, 540-980-7800. Anthony Akers with us, assistant Pulasky
County administrator. Anthony, what can you tell us about this case?
AKERS: Nancy, at this time, obviously, Noah has been missing since yesterday morning. and the call came in a little after 10:00 a.m. Since
that time, ground crews started the search for Noah, and it intensified throughout the day. And obviously we found nothing. We have re-
intensified throughout the day.
GRACE: Has the family taken polygraphs?
AKERS: To my knowledge, they have not.
GRACE: Let`s show that picture again. We`re talking about Noah. Take a look at him. 5-year-old Noah. Rita, also missing, another little
boy, ten years old. Barway Collins. What happened?
COSBY: He`s known as little Edwin. He was dropped off at 4:30 in the afternoon from school. The school bus driver says dropped him off at his
apartment complex. And then they see on surveillance video, it doesn`t look like he goes into the complex. It almost looks like he hears from
someone in the area and gets led away. On surveillance video, there are pictures of a man and a woman --
GRACE: Look at this. Look at this, people. Look at this man and this woman. We are looking for a 10-year-old little boy. Barway Collins.
The tip line, 952-258-5321.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:57:07]
GRACE: Elephants being slaughtered to feed our desire for ivory? With me is John Calvelli, EDP public affairs at the Wildlife Conservation
Society and director of 96 Elephants campaign. Thank you for being with us. I am just sick looking at these pictures. Why is this happening?
Notice the tusks are cut off the elephants.
CALVELLI: First of all, thanks for having us on so that we can raise awareness of what`s happening. Fundamentally, 96 elephants are being
killed every day in Africa. Why? To feed this desire for ivory. And for ivory trinkets. These elephants are being killed by terrorist
organizations. They are being killed simply to fund illegal activities. It`s kind of a scary situation to be in.
GRACE: We`re showing video right now from 96 Elephants campaign of a mom elephant trying to figure out what`s wrong with the baby. John, how do
we stop this? I had no idea that the U.S. still wants ivory.
CALVELLI: Unfortunately, the United States is one of the largest markets in the world for ivory. We need to really work with our elected
officials at the state and federal level. What we need to do is ban the sale of ivory. We need to make sure we`re giving resources. The problem
here is, it`s not just here in the United States, it`s around the world. People are still purchasing ivory. What they don`t realize is when they
purchase that ivory, what they`re doing is helping to fund illegal activities and fundamentally terrorism in Africa. So go to the
96elephants.org web site. We have information there where they can find out how to get engaged.
GRACE: With me is John Calvelli from 96 Elephants campaign, and just because it`s always been done doesn`t mean it should be done. It`s wrong.
We need to stop it. I`m ashamed that America has such a desire for the ivory from these beautiful animals.
Mr. Calvelli, thank you for being with us. Please join us again to tell us what we can do to help.
Let`s remember American hero, Army Corporal Matthew Creed, 23, California, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, dreamed of being a police officer
and buying his first new car. Parents, Kimberly and Richard, brother James, widow, Ashley. Matthew Creed, American hero.
A very special birthday tonight to our friend Mr. George, father of two beautiful daughters with a beautiful wife. Isn`t he handsome? Happy
birthday, Mr. George. Drew up next. More on Bobbi Kristina Brown. I will see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
END
