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Nancy Grace
Affluenza Teen on the Lam/Armed Motel Robbery Caught on Video; Missing Woman`s Body Found; Florida Teacher Accused of Having Sex with Boy Student; Mother Fakes Daughter`s Cancer to Ask for Money; Aired 8-9p ET
Aired December 17, 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, Texas suburbs. A rich kid gets drunk and high on weed and Xanax, then mows down four people dead,
leaving two more paralyzed.
After getting straight probation for killing four people, the families still mourning the fiery deaths of their children, after a sweetheart plea
deal including no jail time whatsoever, the DUI four-time killer allegedly caught on video playing beer pong, of all things, bombshell tonight. After
a warrant issued for the arrest of Ethan Couch, we now learn neither he nor his mother are anywhere to be found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A drunken wreck where he killed four people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The justice system can`t find Ethan Couch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Couch`s house empty (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This video surfaced across social media. It appears to show him at a party with alcohol.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe they`re going to run far (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live to Sanford, a Super 8 motel armed robber caught on video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A knife-wielding would-be robber fails to convince a motel clerk to hand over the money, but the alleged perp is still on the
loose, and cops worry about what he`ll do if he tries again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And in the last hours, police release suspect pictures in the mystery surrounding a missing 24-year-old woman, her body just found, a
mystery man spotted on grainy surveillance video using her ATM card.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A dozen family members stood ready to resume their door-to-door, lot-to-lot search.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we recovered the vehicle, there was evidence of foul play.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Personal items were left in Cajavia`s (ph) vehicle, things she would normally take with her. And there was more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And to St. Augustine, a married high school teacher accused of sex with one of her boy students. Is she actually pregnant?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 26-year-old Florida teacher is accused of having sex with a student. Police say a private meeting in the teacher`s class after
school led to unprotected sex in a nearby park. Now reports emerge the teacher may be pregnant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And to Mission, Texas. Did a mom actually shave her 7-year-old little girl`s head and convince the tot that she, the little girl, is dying
of cancer? Was it all a part of a cancer hoax by Mommy to raise money for Mommy to use on herself?
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. We go live to the Texas suburbs, where a rich kid gets high, drunk on weed and Xanax, then mows down four people. He leaves four
of them dead, two more are permanently paralyzed.
He gets straight probation for killing four people, their families still mourning the fiery death of their children, their mother. He then gets a
sweetheart plea deal of no jail time whatsoever. The DUI four-time killer then allegedly caught on video playing, of all things, beer pong. A
warrant issued for his arrest, the arrest of Ethan Couch.
But tonight, is both he and his mother on the run? Where is Ethan Couch and his mother? What we`re learning in the last hours -- did he use a
private jet to escape justice? Did he fly commercial? Did he cross the U.S. Texas border to Mexico? Where is Ethan Couch? And did his own mother
play a role in harboring a fugitive? Are they on the run?
Straight out to Robyn Walensky, senior news anchor with TheBlaze network. Robin, thank you for being with us. What is suggesting that Ethan Couch, a
four-time killer, is on the run with his mother?
ROBYN WALENSKY, THEBLAZE: The police, Nancy, believe that this dynamic duo is out of the country. They went to the house that Mommy was renting, and
they were gone and the stuff is gone.
The father -- it`s a divorce situation. Daddy says he has no idea where they are. But there`s plenty of money in this family, Nancy, and they
believe that these two had a head start and that they could be in Mexico. They could be on a cruise ship. It would be very interesting to see
because they would both need to be on passports now, wouldn`t they.
GRACE: Well, I guess so. I`m not totally sure if they chartered a private jet. I don`t know what kind of ID they would necessarily have to have.
[20:05:02]Joining me right now is the CEO of Jet the World, R. J. LaSasso. R.J., thank you for being with us. Now, I`m not specifically talking about
Jet the World, R.J. LaSasso. I`m talking about private planes, charter flights in general.
Can you get on -- just for instance, out of Teeterboro there in New Jersey, can somebody get on a plane, a private chartered plane, and fly out without
showing their driver`s license or identification? Could this mother and son -- and I`m not talking about your business, so don`t get all defensive
with me. Could someone get on a private jet and get the hey out of this country?
R.J. LASASSO, CEO, JET THE WORLD: I think anything is possible. Dealing with any type of flying, whether it`s private, whether it`s commercial,
depending if they had their own ID, fake ID -- in this situation if they`re using their own ID, I think it would be very difficult.
GRACE: If they`re using their own ID. But how would a private jet company know that there is a warrant issued for them? For instance, say this
warrant is out of Texas. Robyn Walensky with TheBlaze network, the warrant has issued out of Texas for Ethan Couch. Is there a warrant for his
mother?
WALENSKY: The federal authorities are looking both for the mother, Tonya, and for the son, Ethan, because they believe that they are traveling
together. He is 18 years old. He`s an adult now. He`ll be 19 in April.
And you know, the question becomes, Nancy, what happens on the other side? When you get into Mexico, you get into the Bahamas, you get into Aruba,
don`t you have to show your passport to get into these countries? I know I`ve always shown mine.
GRACE: OK. You know, good question. So back to R.J. LaSasso, the CEO of Jet the World. If you have a fake passport or a fake ID, and you`re wanted
out of Texas, how would, for instance, a private jet company like Jet the World in Teeterboro in New Jersey have any idea that somebody is -- you got
a mother and a son coming in -- you know, well dressed, got loads of Louis Vuitton luggage. They drive up in limo.
Why would you think, you know, that they`re on the run, on the lam from justice? They show you their IDs and off they go. Why would you suspect
anything? How do you know if they`ve got a warrant for them out of Texas?
LASASSO: Well, we wouldn`t know. It would be up to that location`s government to come and notify the FAA and then flag them for the no-fly
list.
GRACE: Right. With me right now, I`m hearing in my ear, straight out of Ft. Worth is SHeriff Dee Anderson, the Tarrant County sheriff.
Sheriff, thank you so much for being with us.
SHERIFF DEE ANDERSON, TARRANT COUNTY (via telephone): My pleasure.
GRACE: Sheriff, question. Do you believe that Ethan Couch and his mother are on the run?
ANDERSON: Oh, I think there`s no doubt they`re on the run. I just don`t - - obviously, we don`t know where, but I don`t think there`s any doubt now, with all the investigation we`ve done in the last couple days, that they
are on the run. I think that`s -- that`s an absolute certainty now.
GRACE: Sheriff Dee Anderson with me out of Tarrant County. Sheriff, why do you believe this four-time killer and his mother, of all people, are on
the run?
ANDERSON: I believe that when the video surfaced of him at a party that was obviously alcohol being served and the investigation began, they were
going to talk to people that were going to confirm he was there and confirm he probably was consuming alcohol, and he felt like that his probation was
going to probably be called into question, if not revoked.
We also had a -- coincidentally, a motion to move his case from juvenile court to adult court recently, which didn`t have anything to do with this.
So the possibility could have been that he would have been held accountable finally for the first time in his life, held accountable for something that
he did.
And the answer why his mother did it is the same reason they enabled him his whole life and let him drink and drive underage, and never held him
accountable, taught him that he could buy his way out of any scrape with the law or any problem he ever had.
So it doesn`t surprise me at all that she`s continuing to enable him and helping him escape and get away from us.
GRACE: To Sheryl McCollum, former director of MADD Georgia, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, director of the Cold Case Investigative Research
Institute.
Sheryl, thank you for being with us. I mean, Sheryl, You know where I`m coming from. I`m a victim of violent crime. And when I think about what
these families have had to put up with -- out of the blue, their wife, their mother, their child dead because of one high driver, a spoiled brat
that was never disciplined in his whole life, never showed remorse, never, never -- I mean, I`m not saying -- I`m certainly not an example, Sheryl,
and I`ve done plenty of things wrong.
[20:10:00]But when I do something wrong and I know it and I realize it, I feel horrible! I feel hot all over. I feel like I need to fix things. I
need to set it right. Never showed remorse whatsoever! You got two people permanently paralyzed, and now this guy is on the run and his mother is
with him?
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, FMR. DIR., MADD GEORGIA (via telephone): Yes, Mommy`s going to protect him, Nancy. You know, I`ll tell you, they`re not on the
lam like poor people. They could have very well possibly chartered a boat, as well. They need to possibly look at whether she`s got a sister, and
there`s a nephew. They could be traveling under those assumed names with ID. They have played this out. They have planned it. And they`re not
hiding like ordinary people.
GRACE: I want to go back to Sheriff Dee Anderson, the Tarrant County sheriff. Again, thank you for being with us, Sheriff. Question. Have you
guys looked at the commercial airports, as well as the private airports?
ANDERSON: We`re doing everything possible. We`re not leaving any stone unturned. You know, I`m not going to talk specifically about what we`re
doing or how we`re doing it, for obvious reasons, but we understand what...
GRACE: Right.
ANDERSON: ... what they had at their disposal and the kind of means they have to do it. So we`re not naive about any of that, and we`re working
every angle with a lot of different agencies across the country trying to get any lead that we can of what might have happened.
GRACE: Joining me right now, special guest Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst, aviation lawyer. Mary, thank you for being with us.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Thank you, Nancy.
GRACE: Mary, how does an airport -- I mean, the TSA checked me out thoroughly, checked my little children out, checked my mother, who`s in her
80s, out like you wouldn`t believe.
So what does TSA do when you`ve got a couple like this? Now, what I`m thinking, Mary, is the way they may have skinned the cat is gone on the lam
before this warrant issued. Once this beer pong video turned up, apparently of Ethan Couch drinking and playing beer pong -- once that
turned up, they had to know things were going south for them. I would guess that`s the time that they left. At that time, there was no warrant.
But what about now? What if they tried to fly now? Would the airports even know about it?
SCHIAVO: Yes, if they tried to fly now, because the county now has a warrant or at least some kind of a court order to detain, that would be
entered into the NCIC, the National Crime Information Computer. And of course, that`s available to the TSA, Homeland Security, Immigration, ICE.
All of those have access to it.
And of course, it would not be and it still wouldn`t be now on the Do Not Fly list because that`s a different kind of a list that the airlines would
check. But any swipe of any kind of real identification, if they`re flying under their own identification, would flag this warrant. And that`s the
key.
I think you`re exactly right, Nancy. At the time they fled, there was nothing in the system because it was a juvenile conviction, juvenile
probation, and there was no warrant. So I think they might have gotten out ahead of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. We all know the family has plenty of money. And I think this was planned and I
believe that they planned to get away, and I believe that they`re going to run far and try to hide. I just don`t think -- I`ll be happy to be wrong
if he`s hiding somewhere locally.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:17:58]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s the kid who killed four people when he was 16, driving drunk, and was only sentenced to 10 years probation and
rehab because his attorney claimed he was influenced by "affluenza." This video, allegedly of the now 18-year-old Couch playing beer pong, was posted
to Twitter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everybody. Tonight, is a young man who is guilty of killing four in a fiery crash, leaving two others totally paralyzed for
life, on the run with none other than his own mother? With me, Robyn Walensky with TheBlaze, R.J. LaSasso, CEO of Jet the World, special guest
Sheriff Dee Anderson, Sheryl McCollum an CNN aviation expert Mary Schiavo.
Robyn Walensky, how can you verify that this is him playing beer pong? Because if it is, that`s enough to have his probation or parole revoked
immediately.
WALENSKY: You know, Nancy, to my eye, when you compare a still photograph of him or any of the video of him coming in and out of court from Tarrant
County from 2013, the video from Twitter that was posted -- it looks like the exact same person to my eye.
And you know what? Here`s the bottom line. He wasn`t supposed to be driving. He wasn`t supposed to be taking drugs. And he certainly wasn`t
supposed to be drinking. The three D`s, the big no-nos. And who knows, there might be a lot...
GRACE: Well, I can only guess -- that`s what I keep hearing, that there are more videos. Sheryl McCollum, I can only guess how the victims` family
is feeling right now.
Hold on. I`ve got Sheriff Anderson back. Sheriff, how did you confirm that that was him playing beer pong?
ANDERSON: We had not yet done that. That`s not our investigation, really. We were brought into it once the detention order was issued. I know they
were working on that and talking to people that were the party and trying to confirm that...
GRACE: OK...
ANDERSON: ... but that is -- that`s not my investigation.
GRACE: You know, Justin Freiman, how much money are we talking about? How much money to do we think his father has?
[20:00:02]JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Nancy, we`re talking in the millions because his father owns an extremely
successful sheet metal business that makes millions of dollars every year, upwards of $15 million, according to reports.
GRACE: And to Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst. If they fly again, is there -- good gravy! Look at this thing! Is there any way, Mary, that
they can be stopped, even if they`re flying under assumed names, if they try to fly commercial?
SCHIAVO: Well, if they they`re flying under assumed names and fake credentials, it`s going to be tough. It`s going to rely upon the TSA to
pick up on the fact that the credentials are fake and seize the credentials. But if they`re flying under their open names and credentials,
yes, that detention order will now be in the crime index, the NCIC, and that is accessed when the identification is swiped.
So the TSA, Homeland Security, all of those entities, particularly if they`ve left the country and try to come back, especially Immigration, ICE,
Border Patrol, et cetera, has access to it, and they`ll be caught at this point. But if they left before, no.
GRACE: What you`re seeing right now -- what you`re seeing right now is just one of the family homes. They had a mountain or lakeside cabin
retreat. This is their second home. They live in a lavish home, and the mother and son are -- have been living at a third rental property when they
go missing.
And so R.J. LaSasso, Jet the World, how can private jets stop these two from flying?
LASASSO: You know, Nancy, they would have to be on the no fly list. What we do is when we get the names, the people that want to charter the jets,
they come to us, they have to give us a passenger manifest or else they can`t get on the plane because once they give us the manifest, they show up
to the airport, and from there, the pilot will get their ID to make sure it matches the names they gave us that we put through the no fly list. And if
it doesn`t add up, they won`t be allowed on the plane. If it does, they`re allowed to go.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:25:49]GRACE: Do you know this guy? I hope you do. Live to Sanford, a Super 8 motel armed robber caught on video. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... Super 8 motel clerk hard at work, texting her friends. But she`s about to become employee of the year. Make that
decade!
Let`s start this epic armed robbery fail from the beginning. An outdoor security camera first captures this wannabe crook nervously pacing in the
motel parking lot. That`s the tough guy ducking behind the car.
It takes a specific kind of stupid to rob a Super 8 motel. I mean, seriously, how much money does this genius think he`ll really get?
After about 20 minutes, the young thug under the hoodie finally works up the courage to rush the counter. Check out the weapon in his right hand.
Looks like a butter knife he stole from his mama`s kitchen drawer.
Instead of quivering in fear, the clerk actually starts laughing at him. The loser then lunges for her laptop, but she yanks it out of his hands.
To amp up the danger, the rookie robber threatens to smash her with a candy dish as she leisurely retreats to a back room.
There`s no audio on the security tape, but if there were, we`re pretty sure we`d have to bleep what she just said to him. He makes a last ditch effort
to swipe a computer screen, but doesn`t have the strength to pull the plug out of the wall.
The moron finally checks out with nothing more than a bruised ego. The almost amused clerk finally calls 911. Cops might want to check the
circuit if they want to find...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: ... that`s just the tip of the iceberg because he apparently has an encounter with a lone female out in the parking lot, where I guess he tries
to rob her, as well.
With me right now, correspondent from "Crime Watch Daily," a syndicated show -- you can find it in your local listings -- Andrea Isom. Andrea,
thank you for being with us.
ANDREA ISOM, "CRIME WATCH DAILY": Absolutely.
GRACE: So is this guy still on the run?
ISOM: He`s still on the run, Nancy, and we don`t like that.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... ID on him?
ISOM: Well, what we think right now is he`s maybe in his 20s, a white male possibly, but you know, you saw the disguise. He`s really covering his
face. But maybe about 6 feet tall, maybe a little under that, and 165 to 185 pounds. We`re working with that right about now.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Randy Kessler, Atlanta, Andell Brown, Miami. So Randy Kessler, if I was presenting this to the grand jury, I could
charge him any which way but loose. Let`s see, aggravated assault with a butter knife, aggravated assault with a candy dish.
You know, here`s my concern. My concern is if he gets his mitts on a gun, you know he`s going to kill somebody. He`s not smart enough not to. Let`s
see the video as we`re talking, Liz. So what about that, Kessler?
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, I thought you said if he gets his meds because, obviously, there`s something wrong with this guy. He`s
not an accomplished burglar. He probably has no history whatsoever. He probably...
GRACE: Yes, he`s an idiot!
KESSLER: Yes, he`s get guilty of being an idiot, I agree, but he didn`t rob anybody. Attempted? I don`t know. Did he really make any attempt to
rob anybody? If he wanted to, he would have jumped over there. There`s so many more ways...
GRACE: Hold on! Hold on!
KESSLER: ... he could have (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Hold on, Kessler!
KESSLER: They`re not going to convict him.
GRACE: Wait one moment. I`m being joined right now by Sanford Police Department detective sergeant Matthew Jones. Detective, thank you so much
for being with us. You know, everybody might laugh at this guy with the butter knife and the candy dish, but you know how easy it is to steal a gun
or get your hands on a gun, legal or illegal? His next step is to get a gun. You know that, Detective, right?
DET. SGT. MATTHEW JONES, SANFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Well, there`s no doubt about that. And robbery`s robbery. Whether you completed
the robbery or not, I mean, that`s still a class A robbery.
GRACE: Look at this guy working up his courage out there. Actually, Detective, what he`s really doing is checking out his appearance in the
side window. When he knelt down beside that car, he was making sure his face isn`t shown. He is a white male, white or Hispanic male. No doubt
about that in my mind.
Detective, did he have a confrontation with a lone female in a parking lot?
JONES: Yes, he had an interaction with a woman who was shopping outside of an adjacent parking lot next door to the Super 8.
[20:30:02] And we were able to reach out to that woman and she described this kind of a tense interaction.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Guys, take a look at this, guys.
Stacey Newman, is it true the clerk at the Motel 8 there all by herself -- I used to work a job like that late at night all by myself. She`s
extremely religious as she was actually watching, what, a telecast of a church service when this guy comes in with a knife?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, she was watching a church service at the church she goes to and when the guy came in and said, give
me the f`ing money, she said, are you serious, and then reached out to him using her ministry because she said he needed help.
GRACE: She reached out to him using her ministry.
Guys, Andrea Isom, CrimeWatch Daily. Give us the tip line, Andrea. Let`s get this guy before he can get a gun. What`s our tip line number, Andrea?
ANDREA ISOM, CRIMEWATCH DAILY: Go to our Website, Crimewatchdaily.com and you can submit a tip. We need to get this guy off the streets right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:35:08] GRACE: Police released suspect pictures in the mystery surrounding a missing 24-year-old woman whose body has just been found.
Now a mystery man has been spotted on grainy surveillance video using her ATM card.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A dozen family members stood ready to resume their door-to-door, lot-to-lot search.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we recovered the vehicle, there was evidence of foul play.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Personal items were left in Kajavia Globe`s vehicle, things she would normally take with her. And there was more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Katrease Stafford, reporter with the Detroit Free Press.
Katrease, thank you for being with us. I`m trying to figure out the vehicle that this perp is driving. Let`s see the scary mask video, please.
He`s actually spotted using her ATM wearing this mask. What do we know, Katrease Stafford? What happened?
KATREASE STAFFORD, REPORTER, DETROIT FREE PRESS: What we know is Kajavia was last seen leaving work between 11:00 and around noon in the city of
Detroit. And she did not reach out to her family members. She was always in contact with them so when they didn`t hear from her, they filed a
missing person`s report with the Detroit police Saturday who then sent out an alert to the media to let us know that she was missing. Her body was
actually found Monday behind an abandoned home in Detroit after police received a call from a citizen who saw her body. And her father identified
her body Tuesday.
GRACE: With me, Michael Christian, also on the story. Do we know the mode of death? You`re seeing shots now of the abandoned home behind which her
body was found. Take a look at her. She`s absolutely beautiful. And look at that smile. Look at that.
This woman has been found dead. Now a mystery man has been spotted. I guess it`s a man because they`re wearing a really creepy mask using her
ATM.
Michael Christian, what is the mode of death?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: We don`t know, Nancy. She has had an autopsy. But the police and medical examiner are waiting for
toxicology reports to come back. That could take two or three weeks. So at this part we don`t know cause or manner of death.
GRACE: To Dr. Bradley J. Marcus, chief medical examiner, Richland County.
Dr. Marcus, thank you for being with us. You know, I don`t believe that for one minute that it`s taking three weeks to get back toxicology. And
also I promise you, this woman did not die of a toxicology reason. She was probably shot, asphyxiated or stabbed dead. So what is the hold up?
DR. BRADLEY J. MARCUS, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, RICHLAND COUNTY: Well, toxicology generally if you send it to a private lab, it takes about two
weeks. If you send to a state lab, it could a take up to six months because they`re based on a budget. So the toxicology does take a little
bit of time depending on where it`s sent.
Now some medical examiners don`t like to release the cause of death until the police do more investigation. And they like to connect their dots
together before they release something because once something is out there, it`s kind of hard to take it back and change the cause and manner of death.
GRACE: You know, Dr. Marcus, you`re absolutely right. They may very well be able to tell the cause of death just by the naked eye, be it stab wound,
asphyxiation, manual or ligature stab wound, shooting. But you can tell that immediately, but I guess to complete the autopsy, they need that
toxicology report.
Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlassKids Foundation. Marc, if you look back over almost every homicide that we have ever covered or the ones
that I personally tried myself where the body is found has a connection to the perpetrator. The perpetrator who left her body behind an abandoned
home knew about that home. Is it his neighborhood? Did he used to live there? Does a friend of his, did they used to live there? Does he drive
by it on his way to work or somewhere else?
You just don`t enter a neighborhood and say, oh, yes, that`s a great place to dump a dead body. He`s got to have some connection to that home. I`m
just telling you, Marc.
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: There is no question about that, Nancy. You know, with murdered children or kidnapped
children that are murdered, they`re usually found within a quarter mile of the perpetrator`s residence. So that could very well carry over to that.
But there is also some other clues that we have. It appears to be -- it appears to be a black individual because of the skin tone on his hand. And
as one of the sisters pointed out he`s not wearing gloves, so he may have left some DNA.
And also it`s a very unique kind of a mask. So people should be thinking about if they know anybody that has such a mask.
[20:40:09] GRACE: Another thing, who knew her pass code. You can`t just stick an ATM and it starts spitting out money. You got to put in some kind
of a pin, a password, a code, to get money out. So be somebody knew her password or was able to extricate it from her before they killed her.
To Dr. Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist joining me, there is also something very telling about abandoning a dead body out in, say for
instance, a field. The fact that the perp would do that. I`m interested, was the body covered up with a sheet or a blanket or leaves or something,
like that? Or was it just thrown in the back of this home?
Leaving a body abandoned, what does that say to you about the identity of the killer?
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: My guess is that he might have known her, but it`s very clear that he`s forensically dumb. He didn`t wear
gloves. We have fingerprint, we can trace his DNA. And he didn`t even bother to cover up the body. Now that might have been a message, look what
I did. We don`t know. But I have the feeling that there is some personal connection and not just a geographic profiling that the perpetrator is
somewhere in the vicinity of the abandoned house.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:45:42] GRACE: Live to St. Augustine. A married high school teacher accused of sex with a boy student. Now at this hour she is on leave from
her job. On leave from her job. What is that? She`s at home sitting on her sofa eating chips. Why isn`t she in jail? And tonight to top it all
off, is she actually pregnant?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A 26-year-old Florida teacher is accused of having sex with a student in the back of her SUV. When police spoke to the
student, he allegedly said he had a flirtatious relationship with Hinckley that later led to nude photos and sex. Now reports emerge the teacher may
be pregnant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to Ray Caputo, reporter with WBDO. Ray Caputo, please tell me I`m wrong. So this teacher is accused of sex with a boy student. OK,
that`s called child molestation, statutory rape, any number of felonies depending on the age of the student. My question to you is, why is she on
suspension? I don`t care if it`s paid or unpaid. Why is she at home eating a roll of Pringles instead of being in jail? Help me.
RAY CAPUTO, REPORTER, WBDO: Well, Nancy, your guess is as good as mine. She was arrested just before Thanksgiving, so if there is any solace, she
wasn`t celebrating turkey day like the rest of us. But she quickly bonded out. She`s obviously not teaching but she -- the worst part of it, well,
she was on paid administrative leave getting paid to sit and eat Pringles, just up until a little over a week ago. Now she is on -- now she has no
paid, but nevertheless she`s still home.
GRACE: Whoa. OK. Hold on. I`m trying to process. I`m trying to digest this, Ray Caputo.
So bottom line, you`re telling me she was on paid live, in other words the taxpayers were paying for her salary, I guess, what, until it went public
and then the board of education went, we better not pay her. Leave her on the sofa eating chips, but just don`t pay her. That will work. Is that
what happened?
CAPUTO: That`s exactly -- that`s exactly what I`m saying, Nancy.
GRACE: OK, Larry Fishelson. In addition to Ray Caputo and Matt Zarrell, help me out. Larry Fishelson, technology expert, co-founder and COO of
Dynalink Communications. That sounds technical.
OK, Larry, how will technology help prove the case against this woman who allegedly has sex with a boy student and is pregnant? We think she`s
pregnant. Go ahead.
LARRY FISHELSON, CO-FOUNDER AND COO, DYNALINK COMMUNICATIONS: What they`re going to do is they`re going to look at the cell phone records, the cell
phone records showing calls back and forth, text messages, looking at the times of the ping locations they were together. On top of that, the phone,
text, pictures really will close the case because you`ll be able to see back and forth physical stuff on the devices that went on between them. So
between the texts and between the cell phone records, you`ll be able to see a full link here of what happened.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, what do you believe the cell phone is going to show?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, there is a couple of things the cell phone is going to show. One is it`s going to show alleged nude photos
of the teacher that she sent the student. It will also going to show text message exchanges between the two and in addition, it`s going to show the
pings showing that she was at the park the day that the teen claims they were having sex.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, you had me at nude photos. I didn`t even need to hear the rest.
Unleash the lawyers. Randy Kessler and Ann Del Brown.
All right, Randy Kessler, why is she at home having chips, preparing for Christmas, maybe decorating a tree? Because if the shoe were on the other
foot, if this were a man charged with sex with a girl student, he`d be under the jail. He would not be at home preparing for Christmas.
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think we have a concept here called innocent until proven guilty. She`s not been proven guilty. She`s not a
threat to run anywhere. She knows -- everyone knows who she is.
GRACE: That`s not what I asked you.
KESSLER: Well, I`m telling you why she`s sitting at home. She`s not going to sit in jail until she`s proven guilty. Why should she be in jail?
She`s not been proven guilty of anything.
GRACE: I could think of a couple of reasons, Andell Brown. One, because she`ll probably tamper with the witness. In other words get in touch with
this boy and try to talk him out of testifying. That happens all the time.
[20:50:04] ANDELL BROWN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, they`re trying to convict this young woman based on some basically locker room talk between
two teenagers that was overheard. If that`s all they`re going to hang their hat on --
GRACE: What about the nude photo?
BROWN: She`s not going to be found guilty. Nude photos are all the stuff they talk about. Triangulation is not an exact science. Just because she
is in the area of the park which happens to be near the school.
GRACE: I don`t even know what you`re saying.
BROWN: And probably near home doesn`t mean what they say happened, actually happened.
GRACE: OK.
BROWN: She is not guilty.
GRACE: OK, you know what I love about you, Andell Brown? It`s all smoke and mirrors and you`re really good at it. Both of you are. Because I
asked about this teacher sending this child nude photos of herself and they`re on his cell phone and you start talking about pings. And that may
work with some juries because they`ll think, whoa, whoa, whoa, OK, yes, the pings. They`re crazy. I asked but nude photos. You responded about
something else.
What I want to talk to you about, Dr. Bradley Marcus, chief medical examiner out of Richland County, is DNA. Now if this teacher is pregnant,
if she`s pregnant, if she`s married, and the state executes a warrant, can you tell from the embryo, if the baby, it belongs to the student or to the
husband?
MARCUS: Sure. Yes, you can.
GRACE: How?
MARCUS: Well, you can get a -- you can do an amniocentesis on the amniotic fluid and that`ll get DNA from the fetus. And then they can run a DNA
profile from sample from the student and from the mom and from the -- this woman`s husband.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:55:57] GRACE: Live to Mission, Texas. Did a mother shave her own 7- year-old little girl`s head and then convince the tot that she, the little girl, is dying of cancer? All part of a cancer hoax by mommy to raise
money for mommy to use on herself?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Garcia had been telling her 7-year-old daughter that she had terminal cancer. She was trying to get donations from people
that would allegedly help pay for her daughter`s cancer treatments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK. I am sick about this.
Michael Christian, Liz, that`s what I wanted to see, Liz. Take that in full if you don`t mind. I want to see the T-shirt that she`s wearing,
Michael. It looks like the T-shirt says. "I am not a boy. I am a girl battling cancer." And if you look at her head, it looks like the little
girl`s hair has been shaved. And I`m sure the little girl did not shave it herself. Mommy going on multiple fundraisers to make money to fight her
daughter`s quote, "cancer," even convincing the little girl she`s got terminal cancer, Michael Christian?
CHRISTIAN: That`s right, Nancy. According to police, they say that not only did she have fundraisers but that literally this woman would approach
people, friends, neighbors, even strangers and ask them for monetary donations to help pay for her daughter`s life-saving cancer treatment.
GRACE: I wonder how far it went? I mean, to what length did she go to convince her little girl that she is dying of cancer.
Unleash the lawyers. Joining me, Andell Brown, Randy Kessler, also with me, clinical psychologist Dr. Patricia Saunders.
OK, Andell Brown, don`t hide the ball this time. Just give me your best defense.
BROWN: Well, Nancy, we have a mother who is doing all she can to take care of her daughter during a difficult economy. We don`t know whether or not
this young lady was sick or what`s going on. All we know is that her mother is doing her best to take care of that child.
GRACE: She`s not sick.
BROWN: And that`s not a crime.
GRACE: We know she`s not sick, Andell. OK, Randy Kessler --
BROWN: Well, that`s what they`re saying now.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: When Andell Brown says --
BROWN: We don`t know when --
GRACE: -- she`s doing all she can to take care of her little girl. Does that include convincing the child she is dying?
KESSLER: No. I was --
GRACE: And allegedly shaving her head? And making her wear a T-shirt that says, I`m not a boy, I`m a girl fighting cancer?
KESSLER: So maybe you have a case for custody. Maybe custody this child should be going somewhere else. Maybe this mother doesn`t understand what
it`s like to have cancer. But to put her in jail? She should spend time paying back people that could use the money for cancer.
GRACE: Yes.
KESSLER: If there is any penalty it should only be for people who have cancer that need the money that she got. Not jail.
GRACE: OK, you know what? The two of you are talking in circles.
Pat Saunders, give it to me in a nut shell.
SAUNDERS: Exploitation of this little girl, the way that it is done is utterly traumatic. And it`s going to affect this kid for the rest of her
life. This is fraud. It`s felony.
GRACE: Yes.
That is the story she`ll be telling around the camp fire one day.
Guys, let`s remember, American hero. Army Sergeant Clarence Floyd Jr. Just 28. Newark, New Jersey. Loved basketball. Helped in Hurricane Floyd
relief operations. Mother, Valerie, stepfather, James, widow, Deidre. Five children.
Clarence Floyd, American hero.
And bombshell, our signature handcuff jewelry available. Special coupon is NancyGrace.com. All proceeds to child abuse victims.
Everyone, as we head into the Christmas season, I want to wish you a very merry Christmas and thank you for all the prayers you gave me and my family
during my father`s illness. He will be wishing us merry Christmas from heaven.
I`ll see you Monday night. 8:00 sharp. Good night, friend.
END
