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Nancy Grace
Model and FBI Agent Dad Accused of Murdering Her Husband; Teacher`s Aide Caught on Tape Beating Special Needs Child; 21-Yaer-Old Shot in Her Car. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired January 18, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Breaking news tonight. Did a glamorous model and her FBI agent dad bludgeon her husband dead with a baseball bat, leaving
his two children orphans?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: All right. Tell me what happened. Did you hit him in the head, or...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hit him in the head.
911 OPERATOR: With what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With a baseball bat. He`s in bad shape. We need help.
911 OPERATOR: OK. What do you mean he`s in bad shape? He`s hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s bleeding all over, and I may have killed him.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, why isn`t this woman behind bars? She`s caught on tape, a 26-year-old teacher`s aide beating a special needs child. We have
the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The video begins with a slap. An aide smacks the child hard in the face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 9-year-old is hit and dragged by a teacher`s aide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And a 21-year-old beauty found dead in her silver Kia about 30 minutes from her own home. When local home owners come to inquire,
thinking she`s asleep at the wheel, they realize she`s dead. In the days leading up to her shooting death, Heather Ciccone (ph) complains about a
female stalker. Is there a break in the case?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had just pulled into the driveway, placed it into park. We believe that she was shot from inside the vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She posted on Facebook that she was being stalked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going through all of this evidence, including the threats that she received on social media, as well as on the phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Turn yourself in. We`ll find you. And we`ll get you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Did a glamorous model and her FBI agent dad bludgeon her husband dead with a baseball bat, leaving his two children orphaned?
As we go to air tonight, we obtain significant 911 tapes, where the daughter, the model, and her FBI dad call 911. What do we learn?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Davidson County 911. What is the address of your emergency?
THOMAS MARTENS, CHARGED WITH MURDER: My name is Tom Martens. I`m at (DELETED), and we need help.
911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s going on there?
MARTENS: My daughter`s husband -- my son-in-law got in a fight with my daughter. I intervened, and I think -- he`s in bad shape. We need help.
911 OPERATOR: OK. What do you mean he`s in bad shape? He`s hurt?
MARTENS: He`s bleeding all over, and I may have killed him.
911 OPERATOR: All right. Tell me what happened. Did you hit him in the head, or...
MARTENS: I hit him in the head.
911 OPERATOR: With what?
MARTENS: With a baseball bat.
911 OPERATOR: With a baseball bat.
MARTENS: Yes, ma`am. And he was choking -- he was choking my daughter. He said, I`m going to kill her.
911 OPERATOR: We are sending the paramedics to help you now. Where is the baseball bat at?
MARTENS: In the bedroom here with me.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Just don`t touch it anymore, OK?
MARTENS: Yes, ma`am.
911 OPERATOR: All right. So we`re going to start CPR. All right, he is still on his back?
MARTENS: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: All right. I need you to make sure that his mouth and nose are clear.
MARTENS: It`s a mess.
911 OPERATOR: I know. You need to clear it.
MARTENS: OK. Get me a washcloth or something. OK.
911 OPERATOR: All right. Everything is clear?
MARTENS: Yes, as clear as I can get him. He`s covered in blood.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me right now is Jordan Howse, crime reporter with "The Winston-Salem Journal." Jordan, thank you so much for being with us.
There`s a lot of unanswered questions. Did this go down around 3:00 AM, Jordan?
JORDAN HOWSE, "WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL" (via telephone): Yes, Nancy, it went down on August 2nd, around 3:00 AM. The police were called to Jason
Corbett`s home in Davidson County. And that`s where an altercation led to Jason`s death.
GRACE: Interesting you say altercation because the defense -- the clear defense, according to the lawyers, the defense lawyers, is self-defense.
Jordan Howse, "Winston-Salem Journal," do we know why her father, the FBI agent, was at the home at 3:00 AM?
HOWSE: According to search warrants from the police, they`re saying that Thomas Martens and his wife, Sharon (ph), were visiting Jason Corbett and
Molly at their home. And (INAUDIBLE) they think that was the reason why he was there. They were staying in the guest room in their basement.
GRACE: Isn`t it true, Matt Zarrell, that the so-called visit was not expected? And what time did the visit start, 3:00 AM?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, it actually happened starting the day before because police learned that the Martens
family had suddenly changed plans the day before the death to travel to the Corbett home from their home in Knoxville, Tennessee. And the police say
that their investigation, from what they`ve learned, this would be very unusual for Thomas Martens.
[20:05:04]GRACE: To come unplanned that far to visit? So the dad comes the day before, unplanned. Is it true -- let me ask Garry Frank just
joining us, special guest, Davidson County district attorney joining us out of Winston-Salem. We`re also about to be joined by the defense lawyers.
Garry, thank you for being with us. Is it true that the victim in this case, 39-year-old Jason Corbett, the father of two, was planning to return
home to Ireland with his children and leave his wife?
GARRY FRANK, DAVIDSON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY (via telephone): Under the rules of professional responsibility for district attorneys in North
Carolina, I`m not to speak relative to evidentiary issues, and I`m afraid that falls within that purview.
GRACE: OK. Garry, I had a funny feeling you might say that.
To Matt Zarrell. What do we know about the husband, now dead, Jason Corbett, bludgeoned dead with a baseball bat, making arrangements on line
to fly back home to the U.K. with his two children?
ZARRELL: Yes. OK, so cops say -- we have documents that say this, that Jason Corbett had been planning to move back to Ireland with the kids
permanently just weeks after his death. He was not planning on inviting his wife.
In fact, there are reports that the night before, he was on the Internet looking at flights for him and his children to go back to Ireland. He also
discussed transferring some of his financial assets. He moved $60,000 from his bank accounts in the U.S. to his home bank in Ireland.
And the police say, Nancy, that part of this is that Jason had concerns about the spending habits of his wife. It was something that they argued
about frequently.
GRACE: You know, it`s just a very big leap for me, though -- to Jordan Howse, crime reporter, "Winston-Salem Journal" -- to go from planning to
leave your wife and making tickets on line to threatening to kill her. If you`re trying to leave the situation, why would you then say, I`m going to
kill her?
Jordan, what do we know about the autopsy report as of tonight?
HOWSE: As of tonight, the autopsy report notes that Jason died of two significant head injuries. He died of blunt force trauma and had two very
significant fractures to his skull.
GRACE: Hold that up just a moment, Justin. I see a hand injury, a large contusion to the hand. What does that mean? And it`s pointing to the
interior thumb. It looks like it`s pointing to the inside of the hand.
Also, manner of death, homicide, abrasions and contusions across the chest and stomach, multiple lacerations, abrasions and contusions to the face and
head, extensive skull fractures, and two large full-thickness scalp lacerations.
Now, I`ve spoken to the attorney, the defense attorney for the wife, the model, and for her FBI agent dad. Both of them say that this was self-
defense.
All right, joining me right now, the lawyer for Molly Martens Corbett. That is the wife. Walter Holton is joining us from Winston-Salem. Also
with me, the attorney for Thomas Martens, David Freedman.
First to you, Walter Holton. Did your client know at the time her husband was bludgeoned dead, her husband was planning to leave her? He was not
booking a ticket for her.
WALTER HOLTON, WIFE`S ATTORNEY (via telephone): Nancy, what evidence do you have of that? There is no evidence of that. There`s no evidence in
the search warrant of that. And if you or your reporter have any evidence of that, we would certainly like to see it.
GRACE: OK. Let`s find out. Matt Zarrell, let`s find out exactly where that came from. Where do we find the information that he was looking for
tickets for he -- for himself and his children?
ZARRELL: Well, the tickets is a report that`s out there. We`re working to confirm it with police. But the documents clearly state that he had been
planning to move back to Ireland with his children permanently, and without the wife. He had expressed his intentions to a number of people, and the
wife was not coming with them.
GRACE: And was that in the search warrant, Matt Zarrell?
ZARRELL: Yes, it was. It was the probable cause affidavit to search.
GRACE: To Jordan Howse with "The Winston-Salem Journal." What more can you tell us about Jason Corbett`s plans to move back to the U.K. without
his wife -- with or without?
HOWSE: Just like your previous said, according to search warrants, they have said that he was transferring about $60,000 from his accounts in North
Carolina to his account in Ireland. We don`t have any information of him buying tickets, but to go to Ireland it has -- was said that he was paying
their late -- in late August.
[20:10:05]GRACE: So there is, I think, the answer to your question. David Freedman, the attorney for Molly`s dad, Thomas Martens. You know, he was
an FBI agent for many, many years. It`s going to be very difficult to convince a jury that a law-abiding FBI -- former FBI agent engaged in
outright murder. I think that`s going to be a tough sell.
DAVID FREEDMAN, ATTORNEY FOR FATHER-IN-LAW (via telephone): Well, Mr. Martens is a great family man. He has four children. He has numerous
grandchildren. He was special agent-in-charge for the Knoxville office. He was working as a contractor for Department of Energy. I mean, his
background is impeccable.
And his -- you hear his statements on the 911. I believe everything he said on 911 was consistent with the physical evidence on the scene. So I
believe Mr. Martens has been cooperative from the start, has offered to cooperate ever since, and still stands in that position.
GRACE: You know, another facet to this -- and I`m speaking to the dad`s lawyer right now, the former FBI agent`s lawyer. All of those things can
be true, but when you are in a heated confrontation dealing with your child, that can make a saint pull a gun, all right?
Now, if this evidence is true that we are learning about -- if it is confirmed that he was planning to leave her, take the money and take the
children, that would be a heck of a cat fight.
Let`s see what we can learn, if anything, from the 911 call. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Was he drinking?
MARTENS: Yes, he had been drinking during the course of the day.
911 OPERATOR: (INAUDIBLE) ambulance in the (INAUDIBLE) while I get the information.
MARTENS: OK.
911 OPERATOR: All right. Are you right with him now?
MARTENS: I am.
911 OPERATOR: How old is he?
MARTENS: How old is he? 39.
911 OPERATOR: All right. Is he conscious at all?
MARTENS: No.
911 OPERATOR: Is he breathing?
MARTENS: I can`t tell.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:16:21]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A former FBI agent and his daughter are now facing charges in the death of the woman`s husband, a father of two. The
911 caller, believed to be the victim`s father-in-law, reportedly told responders he had an argument with his son-in-law and struck him with a
baseball bat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: What are we learning tonight? We are combing through that 911 call placed by the defendant. That would be this beautiful young woman, married
to the victim. He was her husband, the father of two children. Reports he was planning to leave to return to Ireland without her and taking a
substantial amount of the money with him, 60 grand that we know of.
That night around 3:00 AM, tragedy. The husband, 39-year-old Jason Corbett, the father of two, bludgeoned dead. There`s no whodunnit here.
Wife Molly Martens Corbett and her father, former FBI agent Thomas Martens, say they`re responsible, but that it was self-defense.
And joining me right now, both of their lawyers, along with the prosecutor on the case joining us. David Freedman joining us. He`s a lawyer for the
father, as I will call Thomas Martens. David, I understand you wanted in last segment. Jump in. What do you want to tell me?
FREEDMAN: Well, I just wanted to say that the -- those accusations in the search warrant are not actually attributed to anybody. And you all keep
referring to that as evidence. We don`t think there`s any evidence there of those things.
GRACE: OK. So the thing you want to tell me is that what is in this search warrant...
FREEDMAN: Yes, it`s...
GRACE: ... which is a sworn affidavit -- you`re saying I can`t prove it. OK, so...
FREEDMAN: Of what I`m...
GRACE: ... I`m taking the cops` word for it, OK?
FREEDMAN: No, but the cops don`t -- the cops attribute it to different sources out there that they don`t name. There`s no sworn affidavit to say
that stuff is true. There`s just a sworn affidavit to say they`ve received some information, and none of that information goes back to any individual.
GRACE: Well, that`s just like you telling me your client acted in self- defense.
FREEDMAN: That`s right.
GRACE: Except that that`s what he says.
FREEDMAN: It`s just like that. That`s not evidence. So what I said to you is not evidence.
GRACE: OK. If that`s the point you want to make, point made. The sworn affidavit and search warrant filed by police, the defense lawyer for the
dad -- he`s saying this is not real evidence. OK.
To Walter Holton, the lawyer for the wife. Walter, what do you make of the husband, now dead, withdrawing 60 grand from his bank account and moving it
back home to the U.K.?
HOLTON: Nancy, I`ve seen no evidence of that.
GRACE: You`ve seen no evidence of that. OK. So let me go to you, Matt Zarrell. What evidence do we have that he had withdrawn 60 grand and moved
it?
ZARRELL: Well, police say in the search warrant that additional information received from business partners of Jason Corbett -- so they
specified business partners -- indicated that in preparation for that trip -- and I`m reading directly from the document -- "Jason Corbett allegedly
discussed transferring some of his financial assets to include large sums of money, $60,000, from his bank accounts here in the United States to his
home bank in Ireland."
GRACE: I`m looking right at it in the search warrant. It reads very clearly that he had transferred at least $60,000 back home. Also, it says
that many co-workers and colleagues of Jason`s said that he was planning to go home to his home -- I`m reading it -- to his home country of Ireland on
August 21, 2015, on or about, for the purpose of moving him and his minor children back to his native homeland permanently.
[20:20:19]To Garry Frank, the district attorney on this case. The two children we keep talking about, they`re Jason`s, the dead father`s,
children. Are they Molly`s children?
FRANK: It`s my understanding they are not.
GRACE: So weren`t these children born before Molly married Jason? They are not her biological children, correct?
FRANK: That`s my understanding.
GRACE: OK. Let me understand something. To Molly`s lawyer -- Walter Holton and David Freedman, both very well-respected defense attorneys in
this area.
Walter, was your client planning to fight for custody of these children?
HOLTON: I think the court records show that she very much wanted -- she was the mother of these children. They called her Mother. He called her
Mother. They said...
GRACE: Stepmother. Stepmother.
HOLTON: No, they called her Mother.
GRACE: Did she want -- right, but she is the stepmother. Did she want to adopt them? That`s my question.
HOLTON: Yes. Yes. She did want to adopt them.
GRACE: Why didn`t the husband let her?
HOLTON: I don`t know. I can`t answer that question.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
[20:25:26]911 OPERATOR: All right. Tell me what happened. Did you hit him in the head, or...
MARTENS: Hit him in the head.
911 OPERATOR: With what?
MARTENS: With a baseball bat. He`s in bad shape. We need help.
911 OPERATOR: OK. What do you mean he`s in bad shape? He`s hurt?
MARTENS: He`s bleeding all over, and I may have killed him.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, a beautiful young woman and her FBI agent dad are charged in the bludgeoning death of her husband, 39-year-old Jason Corbett, found
bludgeoned dead with an aluminum baseball bat.
I`m curious. Back to the lawyer for Molly Martens Corbett. Jason clearly wanted his biological sister to have guardianship. Why? Not your client.
HOLTON: That was made in a will that was drafted prior to the marriage to Molly.
GRACE: Oh, OK.
HOLTON: So it predated the marriage and it was just never changed.
GRACE: OK. Interesting. She wanted to adopt them, wanted custody of them. Why did he not agree to her adopting his children?
HOLTON: I cannot answer that question. I don`t know why he would not let them...
GRACE: OK. Did either your client, Molly, or her father have injuries to their own bodies?
HOLTON: There are -- I can`t address that. It`s an evidentiary matter...
GRACE: Why?
HOLTON: ... which is not a part of the public record at this point, unfortunately.
GRACE: So you can`t tell me if she or her father were injured in any way?
HOLTON: No, I cannot tell you that.
GRACE: OK.
HOLTON: That would be a trial issue.
GRACE: Let me ask David Freedman. Mr. Freedman, you`re the lawyer for her father, the former FBI agent. Was he injured in any way?
FREEDMAN: Well, we can`t get into the evidence, but I don`t believe there`s anything there at the scene that`s inconsistent with the
description that was given by both Mr. Martens and Mr. Corbett -- Ms. Corbett immediately after the police arrived at that scene. Both Mr.
Martens and Ms. Corbett gave statements immediately, and have made themselves accessible and have provided further information over the past
five months.
GRACE: OK, I appreciate that. My question is, were either Molly or her father injured? Because I`m reading from the sworn police document,
neither -- it`s number nine, so you know where it`s coming from, page 2. Neither Thomas Michael Martens nor Molly Martens Corbett suffered any
injuries about their person, not a single injury. And I`m looking at the picture of the dad, and from the Dailymail.com, there`s no injuries.
So how is this self-defense if they`re not injured and he`s bludgeoned dead?
FREEDMAN: Well, when you walk into a room and your daughter is being held by a person who`s three times larger, and he`s got her by the neck and
says, I`m going to kill you -- kill her, and all he wants is for him to let go, I would contend that`s self-defense.
[20:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Why isn`t this woman behind bars? She`s caught on tape. A 26-year- old teacher`s aide beating a special needs child. We have the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two teacher`s aides trying to wrestle the child down. At one point, an aide smacks the child hard in the face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What they did, that -- those aides not only need to be terminated, but they need to go to jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK, I`m going to show you more of this tape, Caught On Video. A teacher`s aide beating a 9-year-old special needs little boy. Look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ooh! Ooh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ooh! Ooh!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey!
GRACE: Straight out to Meredyth Censullo, our investigative reporter, joining us out of Tampa. Meredith, there is one spot in here where one
person holds the boy, and the other one, it looks like beats, him in the face. What happened?
MEREDYTH CENSULLO, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Okay. So, the person that`s holding on to that child, his name is Chad Corbin. He`s 22. He`s a
teacher`s aid at that school, which, by the way, is for kids with emotional disabilities.
Now, the woman who appears to slap that child straight on in the face, her name is Kamaljot Kaur, and she is 26, now charged with a misdemeanor of
child abuse for that act, as well as the other acts you can see in those string of Snapchat videos, where she`s throwing objects at that child. The
child seems to be cowering in fear at one point.
GRACE: Meredith, apparently she`s just charged with a misdemeanor for this. Do we know the nature of the little boy`s disability?
[20:35:00] CENSULLO: No, we don`t. What we do know, though, about that school is they accept students that no other school will. These are
students that are severely emotionally disabled.
GRACE: So the very most vulnerable in our society. A child. And then those that are so severely disabled, emotionally or mentally, to be taken
advantage of. Stacy Newman, where the hey is the teacher?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, also you could see there`s other adults on this video. That`s a great question. But they`re
laughing in this video.
And they seem to be taking part in it. And my question tonight is, why aren`t these additional adults charged as well? You see them on the video
having a good time.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Robin Ficker, renowned defense attorney out of Maryland; Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney, former FBI out of Miami; and
Ashley Willcott, child welfare law specialist.
First to you, Ficker. I think the whole bunch need to be charged with child abuse. That`s a felony, Ficker.
ROBIN FICKER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The child was not injured. The child went to school the next day. We`re overusing this term "abuse" just because you
touched a child that`s very unruly doesn`t mean it`s abuse.
GRACE: Touch a child? They`re beating him in the head, Hugo. Try, you know -- Hugo, it`s going to be very hard for me to believe you`re going to side
with this woman. Come on! This is a disabled child ...
HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Of course I`m going to defend her. Of course I am!
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... ended beating a child in the head!
RODRIGUEZ: She slapped -- beating, slap -- it is what it is! It is what it is.
GRACE: What`s going on?
RODRIGUEZ: But does it rise to the level of child abuse? Under the statute, no!
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Your defense is, it is what it is! Okay. Yeah, it`s a frickin` felony. That`s what it is.
Ashley Willcott, what are these two telling me?
RODRIGUEZ: No, it`s not a felony.
GRACE: I think my head is about to blow off.
RODRIGUEZ: Take off your persecutor hat. Take off your persecutor hat.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Look, I`m about the kid.
RODRIGUEZ: You`re not there any more.
GRACE: Look, I`m about the child.
RODRIGUEZ: They charged him with a misdemeanor because it doesn`t rise -- it doesn`t rise to that level. Look ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You hold a child down like that ...
RODRIGUEZ: ... the child was not injured.
GRACE: ... that is child abuse. Child abuse. Ashley, help me.
RODRIGUEZ: Well, if you`re on a jury, you`ll find that way, but it`s not ...
GRACE: Are you Ashley? No. You`re Hugo. Ashley, go.
ASHLEY WILLCOTT, CERTIFIED CHILD WELFARE LAW SPECIALIST: It is child abuse. This is child abuse. And the fact that this person is beating this child,
if that was a parent, if this was seen - this `parent` would be charged with child abuse. This is clearly child abuse. Now ...
GRACE: Ashley.
WILLCOTT: Yes?
GRACE: Can you even imagine?
WILLCOTT: No. No.
GRACE: If this happened to your daughter ...
WILLCOTT: No.
GRACE: ... or to my daughter or my little boy? They`re about this age. They`re all 8 years old. This little boy just turns 9. He`s getting -- and
he`s disabled, Ashley! He probably doesn`t even know what`s going on! He`s cowering!
WILLCOTT: Not only disabled, severely disabled. And so they have a higher standard. They are hired to care for these children who are severely
disabled, and they have a higher standard to care for these children.
Not only that, there is a protocol that they have on how to handle these children if they do act out or they aren`t behaving and how to handle them
so that they`re not harmed and they`re not abused. And they did not follow that protocol at all.
GRACE: Joseph Scott Morgan joining me, professor of forensics out of Jacksonville State University. I hear what the defense lawyers are saying,
that this is just a simple battery.
You know what? When something feels so terribly wrong, it is wrong, whether you want to admit it or not. This doesn`t look like a simple battery to me.
What do you say?
JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Well, I think as a former investigator, what`s so disturbing about this is that this is one
moment caught in time. I think the question I would have to ask is, what else has been going on that maybe wasn`t documented?
And also, since these children have special needs, there could be potentially a cumulative effect down the road relative to this, where
they`re even further disabled.
GRACE: Yeah, another issue trial-wise. Let`s bring the lawyers back in. Ashley Willcott, Robin Ficker, Hugo Rodriguez.
You know, Robin, I`m not asking you this as a defense lawyer or a prosecutor. When you have a child witness, that`s hard enough, OK? But when
you have a child witness that is extremely emotionally or mentally disabled, it`s going to be really, really hard to unlock what really
happened from that child.
I remember, aggravated sodomy child abuse case. I had the little boy, could hardly speak. He was mentally handicapped, and the perp had been giving him
-- that`s when you used to have to put quarters in the video game -- and he would buy rolls and rolls of quarters to give this little 9-year-old boy,
and then he would rape him, OK?
It was so hard for me to unlock the little boy`s testimony. In the end, you know, I did manage to get him to a point where he could tell his story. But
that`s a real child hurdle here if you take this to trial to get the little boy to be able to testify.
[20:40:00] FICKER: No question about that. One problem is that the actions of a child in such a state are very unpredictable. You can`t train people
to deal with things that are so unpredictable.
GRACE: Also with me, a neuropsychologist out of New York, Sanam Hafeez. Thank you so much for being with us, doctor.
From the child`s point of view, what would they be going through during this beating, a mentally handicapped child being beaten like this?
SANAM HAFEEZ, NEUROPSYCHOLOGIST: I think it would be very confusing for a child like this, because there seems to be some significant psychiatric
issues at play here with this child.
And these aides are really crisis intervention terrors (ph). They`re supposed to know how to deal with a child having a meltdown like this.
There should be a protocol.
GRACE: The child having a meltdown? I mean, I don`t think beating in the face is the "protocol."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:45:00] GRACE: A 21-year-old beauty found dead in her silver Kia, about 30 minutes from her own home. When local homeowners come to inquire,
thinking she`s asleep at the wheel, they realize she`s dead!
In the days leading up to her shooting death, Heather Ciccone complains about a female stalker. Tonight, is there finally a break in the case?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She got shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s every parent`s nightmare.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These burned-out flares mark the road where a resident found heather inside her car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Severe trauma to the upper portion of her body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Homicide by gunshot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, there are so many forensic questions in this scenario. Heather Ciccone found dead in the driver`s seat, we`ve been able to
confirm, looked like she was asleep.
We believe, based on the forensics, that she was shot from inside the car. Apparently, the windows were not blown out, so she wasn`t shot through a
window.
Look at these markings. Police are still trying to put together where she was that night. What exactly happened.
With me, Ted Schubel, WBQB/WFVA news director. Ted, thank you for being with us. What is the very latest in Heather`s death?
TED SCHUBEL, WBQB/WFVA NEWS DIRECTOR: We continue to work. They`re interviewing people. They`re checking DNA evidence. Nancy, when you think
about it, they`ve got a lot of evidence here already. A cell phone, cell phone towers, people to interview, the DNA, text and e-mails. They continue
to work behind the scenes.
GRACE: With me, Ted Schubel, WFVA and WBQB. Also with me, Captain Jeff Pearce, from the Spotsylvania County Sheriff`s Office.
Captain, it`s great to talk to you. I am obsessed with finding out what happened to Heather Ciccone. Now, you told me that her cell phone had been
found. This has got to be somebody that was inside that car. Who? Who? What are you focusing on, Captain?
JEFF PEARCE, SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Well, it`s good to speak with you, too, Nancy. And since we last spoke, we have been following up on
new tips and new leads that we received in this investigation.
We`re still confident that we are going to solve the case, that there will be an arrest made in this case. We are still waiting, of course, on some of
the DNA evidence to be processed at the State Crime Lab.
GRACE: When you say DNA evidence, are you telling me DNA evidence was found in the vehicle?
PEARCE: Well, on anything that was found, evidentiary-wise, in the vehicle -- in and around the vehicle, you can do what`s called "touch DNA", and
that is a very difficult process, that`s very time consuming, and the State Laboratory is equipped and capable of performing such tests for us.
GRACE: Question to you. For those of you that don`t -- are not familiar with touch DNA, could you explain it, Captain?
PEARCE: Sure. Any time the old adage of when you walk through a room, you take something with you, you leave something behind. The same is true on
things that we touch, anything that we handle.
Let`s say you have a cloth that you used to wipe your forehead or you had any kind of a personal item that was left behind. If you handled that item,
you left something behind, and sometimes laboratory analysis can show us if a person touched that particular item, then they leave a DNA marker or
sample behind.
GRACE: I notice that you say, Captain Pearce, that touch DNA may have been left in or around the vehicle, on things outside the vehicle, taking that
to mean that someone may have touched the car to get into it, possibly on the handle. Were there any objects found outside the car? Any objects, not
the car itself.
PEARCE: Right. We have recovered evidentiary items at the scene on that night. However, we`re not at liberty to talk about what it is we found or
where it was located exactly.
I can say that we do have some items that we have processed in the laboratory. We have also found some items inside the car that we are
processing, as well.
[20:50:00] GRACE: Ted Schubel joining us, WFVA/WBQB. Ted, that night she was at home. She had not been feeling well. She never called in sick to
work. But that day she did.
She was called, according to her mom, by a friend girl to come help her with her car -- a flat tire or something to that effect. Heather apparently
goes out to help the friend. Ted, have we been able to confirm she ever made it to help her friend?
SCHUBEL: We don`t know that. We don`t know who the friend is. The friend hasn`t been identified. One thing I think that helped police though, when
they put that picture of the car up and see the car was distinct to have had some writing on the back window, and I know they asked people for help
in trying to find out where that car was at different times after she left home that night.
GRACE: Captain Pearce, did she go? Did she make it to help her friend with a flat?
PEARCE: We do know who the person is that contacted her based on the records we got from the cell phone. And we have interviewed that person. As
far as what occurred that night, we`re still keeping that close to the vest.
GRACE: OK. I take it that that ...
PEARCE: We do know, though, that because of the tips that you, the phone number that you placed on your screen and the picture of the vehicle, we
were able to trace a lot of her steps that night leading up to the time she was found in that driveway.
GRACE: Captain Pearce, we are not letting up, look at the tip line, 800- 928-5822. Joe Scott Morgan, Jacksonville State University Professor Forensics, what do you make of the touch DNA theory?
MORGAN: Oh, I think it`s fantastic in the sense of what -- what we can do now with these DNA. Let`s keep in mind this case is all about relationship
between the perpetrator and the victim. This isn`t ...
GRACE: Why do you say that?
MORGAN: Well, because it`s in a very small, small space, and within this car. So any area, as the investigator mentioned, where you touch within
this car has the ability to yield some type of touch DNA. Also relationship goes back to the firearm that she used and the injury she sustained. When
we talk about things like trajectory, range of fire, all these things put the perpetrator in the same spot with the victim.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had just pulled into the driveway, placed it into park. We believe that she was shot from inside the vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She posted on Facebook that she was being stalked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going through all of this evidence including the threats that she received on social media as well as on the phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Turn yourself in. We`ll find you. And we`ll get you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: She never came home again. A family that lives just a short way away from Heather`s home sees the car parked at the end of their driveway. They
go down to inquire and find her in there thinking she`s asleep and then the family realizes, she`s dead.
We believe, tonight, shot from within her own car. How did it happen? Tonight, still no arrest. Awaiting results from touch DNA and other results
from the Crime Lab and tonight, in the last moments, the Captain of Spotsylvania Sheriff`s Office says that our show and this tip line, I think
you put it up again, is bringing in the tips, please.
Help us piece together the mystery. Who murdered Heather Brianna Ciccone? Captain Jeff Pearce joining us along with Ted Schubel.
Captain Pearce, you say that people calling into this tip line have helped you piece together what happened that night, her movements up to the time
of her death.
Somewhere between her home and that spot, somebody got in that car. And I`m gathering from what you`ve told me, it`s not the person she went to go
help. You`ve already talked to them. If it were them, they`d be behind bars right now.
PEARCE: Well, what we can say is that when she ended up in the driveway of the residence where she died, that a person did end up in the vehicle.
Now, at this point, it`s still an investigated topic or still in process to find out if that person was in the vehicle and rode to the location or
actually met her there at that location and then entered the vehicle.
That`s, you know, the only thing we know for sure, at this point. That we can release is that we know someone was in the vehicle and did fire the
shot that killed her from inside that car.
GRACE: Captain Pearce, was she clothed? Was she completely clothed, and if so, were her clothes in any disarray?
PEARCE: No. We don`t believe that any type of sexual assault occurred or any type of violent struggle. It appears that when she was shot, it came
from someone in the car, and we don`t believe she knew it was coming either
From the angle of the point of entry on the wound, it appears that she was not even facing the person when she was shot.
GRACE: Everyone, tip line 800-928-5822.
Let`s remember, American hero, Army Sergeant Michael Taylor, just 23. Hockley, Texas. Avid reader, loved mysteries and restoring his `69 Chevy.
Parents, David and Stephanie; stepfather, Curtis. Brother, Justin; sister, Davina. Widow, Dusti. Daughter, Sadie. Michael Taylor, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for being with us. Nancy Grace, signing off. See you tomorrow night, 8 o`clock sharp, Eastern, and until
then, good night, friend.
[21:00:00]
END
