Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Tragedy After Arson Via Gas Explosion. Aired 8-9:00p ET
Aired August 12, 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, Richmond Hill. I`m going to buy a Ferrari -- a man tells his friends he`s buying a luxury car
with insurance money. Bombshell tonight. Just days later, that man, Mark Leonard`s, two-story traditional home explodes after an alleged gas main
problem, and in the process burns two neighbors, a young married couple dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators claim Mark Leonard and his accomplices created a gas leak, then used a microwave oven to detonate the
explosions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Leonard stated that he wished to arrange for the death of a witness in the explosion case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Around 80 either damaged or destroyed in Richmond Hill when Leonard concocted a plan to blow up his then-girlfriend`s home
with hopes of an insurance claim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And life, Belafonte (ph), Pennsylvania. A 23-year-old beauty queen, Brandi Lee Weaver-Gates (ph), claims she suffers a rare form of
leukemia for two years, complete with bald head, chemo treatments in the hospital lasting up to 10 hours as her family, anxious, waits for her in
the lobby below, fake doctor bills.
But tonight, the beauty queen accused of faking cancer and pocketing tens of thousands of dollars donated to her by well-wishers.
This is the lowest of the low. Beauty queen? She`s not pretty to me!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trading in her stage walk for a perp walk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After an anonymous tip, 23-year-old beauty queen Brandi Lee Weaver-Gates charged with felonies for allegedly faking cancer
and scamming thousands from the community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, Apopka (ph), Florida, and a shocking moment, a 4- year-old little boy blows into a breathalyzer to start Mommy`s SUV after being trained to do so by Mommy, who leaves her toddlers in the car to go
drink in Fruthers (ph) sports bar. We have the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is bodycam video which shows King (ph) and her 2 and 4-year-old kids in the parking lot. After fiddling with
something in the driver`s seat, you can see the 4-year-old grab a breathalyzer and blow into it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Live to Richmond Hill. I`m going to buy a Ferrari -- a man tells his friends he`s buying a luxury car with insurance money,
but then just days later, that man, Mark Leonard`s, two-story traditional home explodes after an alleged gas main problem. Well, in the process, the
gas explosion burns two neighbors, a young married couple dead.
Joining me right now from WIKY, Kevin Bessler. Kevin, I`m overwhelmed at the degree of planning we now believe this guy put into getting, what,
$3,000 insurance money by setting his house on fire, by a gas main device?
KEVIN BESSLER, WIKY (via telephone): Yes, that`s correct. Him and his girlfriend came up with this plan. And well, they like to gamble,
Nancy. That was one of the reasons.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! I didn`t know he -- oh, good gravy! Hold on, Kevin Bessler, WIKY. We`re showing right now -- it looks like a
bomb went off in this suburban neighborhood. Good gravy! Look at this. Hey, Justin, show me the aerial one more time, if you can rack it up. I
can`t get over the aerial shot of this.
For those of you just joining us, Mark Leonard now accused of blowing up -- whoa. There it is. The aerial really says it all. I mean, look at
that. It looks like a bomb hit it.
Somehow, police believe he tampered with a gas main, some device involving his microwave, allegedly blows up the home. But in his plan to
get nearly half a million dollars insurance proceeds, a young married couple, neighbors, burn to death.
Kevin Bessler, sorry for the detour. So Kevin, do we know what started the fire? Why are police so convinced this is an arson?
BESSLER: Well, they did a great job of investigating this. They know for a fact that one valve that supplies the gas to the appliance in the
kitchen -- that was tampered with. And a valve that supplies gas to the fireplace was removed.
[20:05:04]And then they also checked the meter, and they noticed a huge volume of gas entered the home that day before the explosion.
GRACE: Wow. Wow. That`s some good police work right there.
Joining me right now, special guest Denise Robinson, deputy prosecutor in Marion County. Ms. Robinson, thank you so much for being with us. This
is what I always found tricky about trying arson cases and you`re trying to explain it to a jury, or explain the facts to them.
With an arson, first you`ve got to prove a crime even occurred. It`s not like a bank robbery or a murder or an ag assault or someone`s been
shot. For all we know, this could be a kitchen fire. Somebody left a stove on or a fireplace or the microwave. So you`ve got to first prove a
crime actually happened, and then try to prove who did it.
I`m very intrigued, Denise Robinson. The cause of this fire -- why are we so convinced that this is an arson?
DENISE ARSON, MARION COUNTY DEPUTY PROSECUTOR (via telephone): Well, it took some time for us to reach that conclusion. We spent weeks on site,
looking at all of the evidence. We tried to come up with every plausible explanation for an accidental fire or a natural fire. We ruled those out.
And not only did we rule those out, but in looking at all of the evidence with the fire investigators and the homicide investigators, we
looked at the amount of natural gas that it would take to have caused this explosion. We looked at evidence that we found, a step-down regulator that
was removed. And not just removed, but there was a straight pipe that had been welded in its place.
GRACE: Hold on. Hold on. You`re getting ahead of me.
ROBINSON: OK.
GRACE: Denise Robinson with me, deputy prosecutor there in Marion County, pent weeks and weeks just picking through this scene, trying to
marshal evidence.
For those of you just joining us, a man brags, I`m going to buy a Ferrari with insurance proceeds, plans a nearly $500,000 spending spree,
and then amazingly, after that, boasting his home blows up. It looks like a bomb hit it.
Now, Denise, you`re saying that a pipe had been welded into where the gas main should be?
ROBINSON: Yes. There`s a regulator inside of your house...
GRACE: Right.
ROBINSON: ... that steps down the pressure, the gas pressure, from 2 psi down to about a quarter to a half psi so that your appliances can work.
And that regulator was not only missing, but there was a straight pipe placed -- welded into its place.
GRACE: Welded into place.
ROBINSON: Right, and that allows for...
GRACE: OK. That`s a big red flag, Denise Robinson.
ROBINSON: ... much more natural gas to go into the home.
GRACE: To get an even bigger explosion.
To Kevin Bessler with me, WIKY. Where was Mark Leonard at the time this two-story traditional home goes up in flames? Where was he?
BESSLER: His home away from home, the casino.
GRACE: How do you know he was addicted to gambling? How do we know that, other than he was at the casino that day?
BESSLER: They were seen at the casino numerous times, him and his girlfriend.
GRACE: Ah. OK. All right. How far away was the casino from the home?
BESSLER: Not very far, far enough away that you wouldn`t feel the blast, but...
GRACE: So 15 miles, 30 minutes, an hour? What are we looking at?
BESSLER: Within an hour.
GRACE: So what I`m trying to figure out, Denise Robinson, if he and his girlfriend, who get a half a million dollars in insurance money from
this -- if they`re at the casino and it`s somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour away, then how are they responsible for the blast? How did they do
that? What`s the theory?
ROBINSON: Well, we were able to show that -- we were able to show when they checked into the casino -- and the casino is about two hours away
from Indianapolis. We were able to show when they got to the casino, we were able to show from casino surveillance tape that as it got close to
time of the explosion, they were sitting in an area where they were on -- on camera. They were looking at watches...
GRACE: That`s convenient!
ROBINSON: ... looked to be -- looked to be like they were waiting for something to happen.
GRACE: And?
ROBINSON: And in piecing this together, we were able to show that Mark Leonard had set this plan into place, and then created this alibi for
himself and his girlfriend while others actually committed the crime at his direction.
GRACE: Oh, so he gives himself an alibi and he has hench people to carry it out. I was wondering -- the timing, if he had some a remote
control, if he set the microwave somehow to blow up. I couldn`t figure out how he`s at the casino an hour or two away while his home goes up in
flames.
[20:10:00]To Kevin Bessler, also on the story, WIKY. Kevin, tell me about the married couple next door because I`ve read so many accounts of
neighbors hearing faint screaming. And one neighbor goes up to their home and tries to break through the wall, and basically couldn`t get through the
wall and sits there with them as they die.
Who were the neighbors that died as a result of this?
BESSLER: Well, Dion and Jennifer Longworth was their names. She was a 2nd grade teacher in the area, 36 years old. Dion was 34 years old,
worked at Indy Audio Labs. It`s believed that Jennifer died instantly, but it`s also believed that Dion may have burned to death in this tragedy.
GRACE: Oh! Oh! Oh! Burned to death, the other dying instantly.
Unleash the lawyers. Joining me, renowned defense attorney out of D.C. Robin Ficker and trial veteran out of LA Troy Slaten.
All right, Mr. Ficker. What`s your best defense for these two? You think they were just checking the time?
ROBIN FICKER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, this was the girly-Shirley`s idea. It was her house. She was the one in debt. She knew that Mr.
Leonard was on home detention, and she could report him at any time for the police.
The prosecutors evidently want to cut a deal with her, where she may not serve any jail time at all. Mr. Leonard`s off the hook. Go for girly-
Shirley.
GRACE: OK, so you`re blaming the woman. Oh, you know, where have I heard that? Oh, yes. It goes all the way back to Genesis and Adam and
Eve. Blame the woman.
All right, Slaten, do you have anything better for me other than blame her?
TROY SLATEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He wasn`t there. I mean, he wasn`t there at the time of the crime. And so -- also, this is a gender bias
issue. Why is it that we`re looking to the man to prosecute him and think that he`s the mastermind...
GRACE: It`s just -- put him up!
SLATEN: ... when she may get off with nothing?
GRACE: Number one, nobody said anybody`s getting off with nothing, all right? You`re putting the cart before the horse here. First of all,
she hasn`t been to trial yet. We don`t know what`s going to happen with her.
But when you say gender bias, you know, you might be right. I`m having a little bit of a difficult time imagining her, the girlfriend,
Shirley, out there welding the pipe onto the gas main.
To Robert Rowe, arson investigator, president of Pyrocop, Inc. Robert, can you dummy it down for me a little bit and explain to me how
they jerry-rigged that pipe to blow the home up while they`re two hours away at a casino? Let me see that overhead again, please, Justin. Go
ahead, Robert.
ROBERT ROWE, ARSON INVESTIGATOR (via telephone): No, I just -- the way -- the way it`s -- you know, the way that they did it, it sounds pretty
consistent with what the investigator said. If you straight-pipe gas right into your home, you`re going to have an unrestricted flow of natural gas
coming into a two-story structure, which is going to accumulate.
And when it reaches its explosive levels, it`s going to detonate, cause a blast (ph) pressure that`s going to take out pretty much most of
the neighborhood.
GRACE: Whoa. You know, and he wasn`t worried about that at all when he planned this, according to investigators.
But Matt Zarrell, in answer to Robin Ficker and Troy Slaten accusing me of gender bias, could you just tell our gentlemen lawyers what Leonard
does for a living?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, he was a contractor and a handyman. And I should note that the girlfriend did not
even know what a step-down valve was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators digging through the debris of what was Monserrate Shirley`s home retrieved its gas lines, meter, and other
components. A Citizens Energy employee assisting investigators noticed a critical safety mechanism was gone.
Investigators claim Mark Leonard and his accomplices intentionally removed the regulator, created a gas leak, then used a microwave oven to
detonate the explosion. The plan, according to investigators, was to collect a $300,000 insurance policy.
The blast, defense attorneys insist, was unintentional. It decimated the Richmond Hill neighborhood and killed the young couple living next
door.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:18:31]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Richmond Hill neighborhood destroyed and in flames. The plan was, according to investigators, was to collect a
$300,000 insurance policy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he wished to arrange for the death of a witness in the explosion case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators digging through the debris of what was Monserrate Shirley`s home -- it decimated the Richmond Hill
neighborhood and killed the young couple living next door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See that justice is done on behalf of such innocent victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I`m going to buy a Ferrari -- those words are damning, coupled with the fact that just two or three days after saying that, boasting about
his buying a luxury vehicle, his home blows up. He was hoping for a paycheck of $300,000 and already planning his spending spree.
To Kevin Bessler, WIKY, joining us, along with Denise Robinson, the deputy prosecutor there in Marion County.
To Kevin Bessler -- he had come up with so many theories about where his money was coming from. Didn`t he tell his sister he won $250,000 at
the casino?
BESSLER: Yes, he texted her from the casino and said that, and asked her to come on over and hang out because he just struck it big at the
casino.
GRACE: You know, Denise Robinson joining me, deputy prosecutor, Marion County, I`m really intrigued by -- you`re saying that the casinos,
which -- of course, it`s like NASA. They have video of everybody and what they`re doing.
[20:20:02]So you actually have them on video, him and the girlfriend, sitting there, looking at their clocks at the time they think the blast is
going to go off?
ROBINSON: Yes. We have them sitting at the bar. They went to the casino. He gambled for a matter of a few minutes in a whole -- over a 24-
hour time period. Other than that, they just sat at the bar, walked around the casino waiting for that phone call and something to happen.
GRACE: Tell me, what casino was it, Denise?
ROBINSON: The Hollywood Casino. We have some casinos down on the Ohio River, and it was the Hollywood Casino.
GRACE: Wow. Hollywood Casino, they`re in there, caught on video checking their watches, timing them seemingly to coincide with this
devastation on their own street, this blast claiming the lives of a young married couple, one of them a 2nd grade teacher next door, one killed
instantly, one burns to death.
Denise, another thing I was wondering about was the various statements -- there they are, there`s the next-door neighbors right there -- the
various statements this guy gives before the blast. Let me understand if I -- if I understand the timeline correctly, Denise Robinson.
So before his home goes up in flames, he tells friends, I`m going to buy a Ferrari. I`m not quite sure how much a Ferrari costs. Clark, can
you look up how much does a Ferrari cost, $200,000 or $300,000? OK. So he says he`s going to -- there you go. Thank you, Justin. A $300,000
windfall. Buy a Ferrari. OK.
Then the blast shows up on TV, like, on the 6:00 o`clock news a couple of days later, and the friend calls and says, Hey, are you all right? What
happened?
ROBINSON: Yes. He had that phone conversation about a week before the explosion with his friend, explaining the whole Ferrari purchase, and
saying that winds had come down his chimney and blown up his house. And you know, that was a coincidence to us because in looking at the evidence,
or lack of evidence on the scene, there was a fireplace valve missing that we thought was critical. And obviously, in that phone call, he was talking
about the fireplace.
At the same time then, after the friend inquires -- the explosion occurred about 11:00 o`clock at night. Friend sees it on the news, sends
him a text, and then there`s basically no communication after that.
GRACE: So let me go back to the lawyers, Robin Ficker, Troy Slaten. Mr. Ficker, it sounds as if the guy had tried to commit the fire before and
failed because he`s saying he`s going to buy a Ferrari with insurance money because wind comes down his fireplace and starts a fire.
Then Denise Robinson and her investigators find where the fireplace valve had actually been removed. But uh-oh, it all happened a different
way. So he`s bragging about the money he gets from insurance because of the fire before the fire even happens, Mr. Thicker.
What, do you think he`s clairvoyant?
FICKER: Well, I think he`s engaging in some imaginative thought by thinking about a Ferrari. I tried to test drive a Ferrari once, and it
caught on fire while I was test driving it. And I realized it was just a toy car. Lots of young guys think about Ferraris. They never have any
real intention of getting one. It`s just idle chitchat.
And as for the fireplace, people talk about problems with their fireplace. It doesn`t mean that they`re blowing up 80 houses.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:27:48]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators claim Mark Leonard and his accomplices created a gas leak, then used a microwave oven to detonate the
explosions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Leonard stated that he wished to arrange for the death of a witness of the explosion case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Around 80 either damaged or destroyed in Richmond Hill when Leonard concocted a plan to blow up his then-girlfriend`s home
with hopes of making an insurance claim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. For those of you just joining us, a man now the target of an investigation after his home blows up while he and his
girlfriend are at a casino about two hours away. How did he do it, the big question.
But it doesn`t just blow up his home. It claims the lives of two next-door neighbors, a young married couple. One dies immediately. The
other burns to death. All around the neighborhood. Houses had to be entirely rebuilt.
As a matter of fact, people had thought there had been an airplane crash or even a bomb with the power that was involved with this explosion.
Basically, Denise Robinson, deputy prosecutor, he unleashed the power of the natural gas company and somehow blew up the whole home. Many people
said they thought a bomb had gone off in the neighborhood?
ROBINSON: We had everything from a bomb to a plane crash to a meth lab blowing up. All of those were things that we were hearing early on
that obviously had to be investigated in this whole process.
GRACE: You know, to Robin Ficker and Troy Slaten. Let me go back to you, Mr. Ficker. You claimed him boasting he was going to buy a Ferrari
was idle chitchat, and claims the fire started with the fireplace, he was just complaining about his fireplace. But now rearing its ugly head,
claims that he wants a witness killed. Now there`s that floating around. What do you make of that, Mr. Ficker?
FICKER: There`s a lot of liars in this jail, all around the country, that will say anything to get their time reduced or to get out. There are
rats in all these jails, and they`ll say anything the prosecutors want them to say. Don`t believe them.
[20:30:00]
GRACE: Okay. Troy Slaten, I see you shaking your head yes. What?
SLATEN: That`s true. Snitches get stitches and wind up in ditches is what we often say, and they`re not to be trusted. But look, this was
really an insurance fraud at its core.
GRACE: I hope you`ve never used that rhyme on a jury. I hope you`ve never tried that with a jury, Troy Slaten.
SLATEN: Nobody intended to be hurt here. This was about money.
GRACE: Nobody intended to be hurt.
SLATEN: This was about money.
GRACE: Okay, to Matt Zarrell. I don`t understand how nobody could be intended to be hurt when the whole neighborhood practically blew up.
ZARRELL: What happens is there`s actually a charge called knowing murder, that basically means you just have to be aware that someone could
be killed as a result of your actions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:35:00]
GRACE: To Belfont, Pennsylvania. A 23-year-old beauty queen Brandi Lee Weaver-Gates claims she suffers a rare form of leukemia for two years,
complete with bald head, chemo treatments at the hospital, lasting up to ten hours as family, anxious and worried, wait for her in the lobby below.
Fake doctor bills. But tonight, that beauty queen is accused of faking cancer and pocketing tens of thousands of dollars donated to her by well-
wishers. This is the lowest of the low. Beauty queen? She`s not pretty to me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pennsylvania beauty queen Brandi Lee Weaver- Gates told people she had leukemia, then took part in fundraisers to pay for her, quote, treatment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were some inconsistencies, such as she did not know the name of her doctors and other things like that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Weaver-Gates shaved her head and even took long trips for fake treatment, tricking her own sister.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Fake trips for treatment? Tricking her own sister? You`re taking a look at a so-called beauty queen. And yes, she won plenty of
beauty pageants, but she`s not pretty to me. Tonight, claims she faked her own cancer, getting thousands of dollars from well well-wishers. To Jerry
Fisher, host of Center County This Morning on WBLF, thanks for being with us. Tell me the lengths we think she went to, to fake cancer an con money.
JERRY FISHER: Well, apparently, she did as you mentioned, shave her head, and her sister drove her at times for eight hours to hospitals. And
it`s to the best of my understanding, she would ask these relatives or friends to sit in the hotel -- or the hospital lobby while she went off to
another part of the hospital for at times up to eight hours, and in doing so, would come back and would act like she had just gone through treatment.
They would take the long trip back home.
It`s mind boggling. But you know, when you talk about cancer, Nancy, you`re talking about a disease that so many people want to help people
recover from. And when you talk about somebody with cancer or allegedly with cancer, you want to do whatever you can do to help them. That goes to
the fundraising. That goes for the driving for eight hours. And it`s unfortunate that Brandi Lee Gates Weaver really took advantage of a lot of
people`s emotions in this whole thing.
GRACE: You said she would fake cancer treatments, like leave her family downstairs in the lobby at the hospital and go upstairs for chemo,
and they would sit down there and wait eight to ten hours while she`s upstairs getting fake chemo, Jerry?
FISHER: That`s pretty much what`s being reported. That in itself is pretty amazing to me.
GRACE: Joining me right now is a very special guest. It`s Erin DiChiara. Erin is diagnosed with AML leukemia. She is away from her two
children. She is at M.D. Anderson fighting to beat leukemia while the children`s father, her husband, is at home with them as they start back to
school while mommy`s in the hospital.
Erin, when I heard this story, I thought of all you`re going through to struggle, to survive, trying to Skype with your children, the daily pain
you go through awaiting a bone marrow transplant, and to hear that this girl has bilked well-wishers out of tens of thousands of dollars, I just --
I can`t take in what she has done. Could you give us a glimpse, Erin DiChiara, in what a real battle against leukemia is like?
ERIN DICHIARA, LEUKEMIA PATIENT: You know, it`s an all encompassing battle. I was a well, healthy, productive mother and occupational
therapist. October of 2014, thought I had a strep throat. It wouldn`t go away. Turned out I had leukemia, and my world has been turned upside down
ever since. I`m someone who often gives help, doesn`t ask for a lot of help, so I`ve had to learn to ask people to help me out, because leukemia
encompasses every part of your body, from the exhaustion, from the nausea, from the chemo. I have frequent visits, multiple times per week for blood
products (ph).
[20:40:00]
I`ve undergone multiple extremely painful procedures, either to harvest my bone marrow, to check on the progress of the leukemia, or to
place lines in me to make checking on my blood counts easier. Not to mention the pain my family`s going through right now. I`m several states
away from them. I`m going to be missing the first days of school with my children, Halloween. I`m praying that I will be well enough to be back by
Christmas, because this is about my life and this is about being with my children for forever, and I find it disgusting that someone uses this type
of situation for their own monetary gain.
GRACE: Erin, the battle that you are waging is taking a toll on you, on your family, your children, your friends, and when I hear about Brandi
Lee Weaver-Gates -- to Dr. Pachali Dar, a physician joining us. What a cancer patient goes through, what Erin that we are talking to is going
through, this rare form of cancer this beauty queen claims she had, lymphositic leukemia, what is that?
DAR: Brandi Lee is not that bright. She picked a leukemia that generally strikes people after the age of 60. It`s not that rare, but
because about 15,000, 16,000 people over the age of 60 get CLL, chronic lymphocitic leukemia, every year. But it is a slowly progressive leukemia,
and some people have the option -- this is one of the few cancers where you can watch and wait and see how the disease progresses. And if symptoms get
worse, they can get treatment.
GRACE: So bottom line, she didn`t pick a very good cancer to fake.
DAR: I don`t know where she even picked this, out of a hat or something. She must have heard the word CLL, and said, OK, CLL, that`s
what I have. The fact that she`s going for this treatment for eight hours at a time, anybody who goes for chemotherapy has to have some kind of
permanent IV line on their body called a pick line. She didn`t even have an IV line and she doesn`t even look that sick, so I don`t know how these
people got fooled.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s many people out there who have family, friends, neighbors that are affected with some form of cancer, and
unfortunately, you have people out there who take advantage of that. There were some inconsistencies such as Ms. Gates` hair was always there and
never falling out. She did not know the name of her doctors and other things like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:47:20]
GRACE: Live to Apopka, Florida and the shocking moment, a 4-year-old little boy blows into a breathalyzer to start mommy`s SUV after the tot is
trained to do so by mommy, who leaves her toddlers in the car to go drink in Froggers sports bar. We have the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is body cam video, which shows King and her 2- and 4-year-old kids in the parking lot. After fiddling with something
in the driver`s seat, you can see the 4-year-old grab a breathalyzer and blow into it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Candace Trunzo, senior news editor, Dailymail.com. I want to understand exactly what happened. So mommy
trains a 4-year-old little boy, her child, to blow into a breathalyzer, which is attached to her SUV?
TRUNZO: Yes, and daddy put the breathalyzer in the car because his wife, April King, had just gotten out of rehab. He did not trust her. He
knew or thought that she was going to drink, and so he had the device installed. And mommy, according to dad, taught the kid, taught the 4-year-
old, how to use the breathalyzer, so that she could drink, leave the kids in the car, go for a drink, and then the son could use the breathalyzer and
start the car for her. Incredible.
GRACE: Let`s learn what we can from the 911 call.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a lady that just came in and sat down at my bar, and her kid`s in the car with the AC running. He looks like he`s
about 2 or 3 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. Did you deal with her at the bar? Does she seem under the influence?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She seemed a little under the influence and then she chugged a beer, but I didn`t she had a kid in the car. I just had
another customer come and tell me. But she seems like she`s -- I`m watching her get into the car, she seems like she`s on something. My cook
went out there to make sure that it was a kid in the car and not a dog. And he said it was a 2 or 3-year-old just running around the car while it
was on, blowing the horn, and grabbing the steering wheel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Parked, left him in the car again, walked on the sidewalk, possibly towards AT&T store.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he`s in the front seat playing with the steering wheel right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is car running? Are you able to tell?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like it`s running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Back to Candace Trunzo, senior news editor, and joining me also, is Sergeant Ed Chittenden. Sergeant, thank you for being with us.
SGT ED CHITTENDEN, APOPKA PD: My pleasure.
GRACE: Tell me how this breathalyzer device works and why you`re convinced mommy trained her 4-year-old little boy to blow into it in order
to start her SUV?
[20:50:00]
CHITTENDEN: Well, these devices are installed into the vehicle`s electronics, and they prevent the vehicle from starting, so that you
wouldn`t be able to operate it without providing a clear breath sample into the tube, which would indicate no presence of alcohol. And the reason we
believe that the child was doing it is because at one point, while we were speaking with the mother, the vehicle turned off. She went inside, started
the car. The breath instrument requested her to provide a sample. She began to provide a sample and it denied her. She said jeez, I don`t know
why this is happening, this is strange. She attempted again and restarted. It didn`t work. When she stepped out of the car, the 4-year-old promptly
jumped into the front seat, picked it up, and started to blow into it. By the way he was blowing into it, it didn`t look like he was curious. It
looked like he knew what he was doing.
GRACE: With me is Sergeant Ed Chittenden. The mom couldn`t start the car. You saw her lean over to try to do the breathalyzer. It wouldn`t
start, and she says, well, I don`t know why it`s not working. She turns away and the little boy just hops out of the back seat and blows into it?
CHITTENDEN: Yes, he hopped right out of the back seat and was right into the front seat and began to provide the sample.
GRACE: Everybody, you are seeing body cam video from the police officer. Take a look at this. The mom tries to blow the breathalyzer.
She says, wow, I don`t know what`s wrong. The little boy leaps out of the back seat without any urging, blows into the tube, and allows the SUV to
start.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:56:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is body cam video, which shows King and her the 2-year-old and 4-year-old kids in the parking lot. After fiddling with
something in the front seat, you can see the 4-year-old grab a breathalyzer and blow into it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You are seeing video from a body videocam worn by a police officer, and there`s mommy, 35-year-old April King. She`s been inside a
bar and grill. It`s the middle of the day. Drinking. The 911 calls from the bartender saying her kid, looks to me to be 3 or 4 years old, is out in
the car. With me Candace Trunzo, dailymail.com, and Sergeant Ed Chittenden from the Apopka PD. Sergeant, question, wasn`t it about 90 degrees and the
car was running? It`s the middle of the day, right?
CHITTENDEN: This is, in my experience of living down in Florida, this is probably one of the hottest weeks we`ve ever had. It was in excess of
90 degrees. I believe the heat index this week has been over 100.
GRACE: Another question is, what were the stories she gave before the 4-year-old jumps up and blows into the breathalyzer?
CHITTENDEN: She gave the story that she just pulled in there and she was going into the local cell phone store to get a brand new cell phone.
When we talked to them in there, they said that wasn`t the case. She denied being inside the bar. Said she never was. When we confronted her
with witness statements, she said, oh, yes, I was in there but just to get a to-go order. There was no to-go order.
GRACE: Let me ask you this, what does your blood alcohol have to be, your breathalyzer have to be in order for the car to start?
CHITTENDEN: It has to be clear. There can`t be any detection of any sort of alcohol.
GRACE: To Eris Huemer, psychotherapist, joining us out of LA. What about this? She just got out of rehab, we understand she has had a couple
of DUIs already waiting to be adjudicated. What else can be done besides jail?
HUEMER: Well, sometimes people have to hit a bottom as low as it can go, and this is very scary. She has children in the car, where there`s
child neglect obviously happening. So we have to protect these children first and foremost, because they are already losing their childhood by
having a mother who has this progressive, often life-threatening disease. So I think that the father needs to really set a boundary here that she
needs to have an intervention. And she should not have unsupervised visitation with her children from here on out. And there has to be heavy
consequences for her to get clean and stay clean.
GRACE: Let`s remember American hero, Illinois Police Officer Craig Whisenand, 44, killed in the line of duty. Served Roswell (ph) County 15
years. Began as a corrections officers. Leaves behind a widow and two children. Craig Whisenand, American hero.
I promised you on Twitter I`d bring our vacation photos from Harry Potter Land. And there they are. Here are the twins at Universal having
a blast, and here we are outside a Hogwarts school for wizardry. There we are. On Diagon Alley. And they`re wearing their wizard hats. Oh, here
they are in the entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Here they are on an enchanted motorcycle and side car. There we are in front of the Leaky
Cauldron. Let me tell you, the times we had. At Harry Potter -- oh, they made a potion, too. I forgot to tell you that part.
Also tonight, everyone, happy birthday to beautiful friend Andrea. Loves zumba, baking, vacations with her daughters, Michelle and Danielle.
Happy birthday, Andrea. Thanks to all of our guests. And our biggest thank you is to you for being with us and inviting us into your homes. I`m
signing off for tonight. See you tomorrow at 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
