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Nancy Grace
Model, FBI Dad Plead Not Guilty; Mom Accused of Killing Family Over Money; Catholic Priest Suspected in Murder of Beauty Queen. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired February 11, 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?
Bombshell tonight. Heinous, atrocious, cruel -- cops describe the bludgeoning death of an Irish husband, the husband of a model, and her FBI
dad, who both deny murdering the husband with a baseball bat and a landscaping stone. As we go to air, the two just in court insisting, We`re
not guilty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s hurt. He`s bleeding all over, and I may have killed him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Molly Martens`s husband found with fatal head injuries at his home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hit him in the head.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With an aluminum baseball bat.
911 OPERATOR: What is your name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Molly!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A former FBI agent and his daughter face murder charges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I`m a monster -- we obtained chilling secret interrogation of a mom accused of killing a family over money.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) I felt so bad! Like, what the hell have I done?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michelle (ph) breaks down and admits to killing her parents, her brother Scott, sister-in-law Erica (ph) and their two
children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m a monster! (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A Catholic priest suspected in the murder of a 25-year-old beauty queen, her body discovered face down in a canal just after the priest hears
her confession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Irene Garza (ph) was raped and murdered, and raped, beaten on the head and suffocated. There was a suspect, a Catholic priest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you commit the murder of Irene Garza?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Interesting question. The answer is no.
(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 and a landscaping stone, leaving their
two children orphans? Heinous, atrocious, cruel -- cops describe the bludgeoning death of her Irish husband, the husband of the model, and her
FBI dad. As we go to air, they are just in court, both insisting, We`re not guilty.
Joining me right now, Jordan Howse, crime and public safety reporter with "The Winston-Salem Journal." Jordan Howse, the first thing I want to do is
listen to that 911 call to see what we can learn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Davidson County 911. What is the address of your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Tom Martens. I`m at (DELETED) And We need help.
911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s going on there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter`s husband -- my son-in-law got in a fight with my daughter. I intervened. And I think (INAUDIBLE) 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.
911 OPERATOR: All right. Tell me what happened. Did you hit him in the head or...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hit him in the head.
911 OPERATOR: With what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With a baseball bat.
911 OPERATOR: With a baseball bat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am. He was choking -- he was choking my daughter. He said, I`m going to kill her.
911 OPERATOR: All right, we are sending the paramedics to help you now. Where`s the baseball bat at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s in the bedroom here with me.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Just don`t touch it anymore, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Jordan Howse with "The Winston-Salem Journal." Jordan, he sounds very calm, right? He sounds very, very calm. When
you`re looking at a dead body -- and we find out that the murder weapons are a baseball bat, aluminum baseball bat, and now we learn out of the
courtroom today, a landscaping stone -- how does a landscaping stone get in the bedroom to start with?
That`s a whole other can of worms, Jordan. But doesn`t he sound calm on the phone?
JORDAN HOWSE, "WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL" (via telephone): He does. And later in the call, he talks about how he`s had training with -- his FBI training
kind of kept him calm. But he does sound very calm in the call.
GRACE: Chris Spargo joining us with Dailymail.com. Chris, I`m just listening to this 911 call and he sounds so calm. He also says -- he said,
the husband said, I`m going to kill her. He was choking her. What do the injuries to the body show?
[20:05:05]CHRIS SPARGO, DAILYMAIL.COM (via telephone): Well, neither one, the father or the daughter, have any injuries whatsoever to their body at
all. But his body, lacerations all over the head, abrasions all over himself, and one contusion on his left hand that could be a defense wound.
GRACE: Did you say lacerations on the head?
SPARGO: That`s correct.
GRACE: You know, Chris Spargo, Dailymail.com, I think it`s little more than lacerations on the head. Joe Scott Morgan, and professor of
forensics joining me from Jacksonville State University -- Joe Scott, it`s more than laceration. A laceration is a cut. What more is there?
JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Well, lacerations are generated as a result of blunt force trauma, Nancy. That means that
something heavy slammed or contacted into his skull and the overlying scalp, tore the skin open and created contusions...
GRACE: Joe Scott! Joe Scott, you and Spargo, you`re hung up on lacerations. I`m worried about the skull fractures, the huge skull
fractures that caused him to die. Can you tell me about that?
MORGAN: Yes. This type of beating that this man would have been subject to created a tremendous trauma to the brain, essentially, if you think
about it, large bruises and hemorrhagic areas on the surface of the brain that would have caused him to die.
GRACE: Right. Unleash the lawyers. Joining me out of New York, renowned defense attorney Alex Sanchez. He`s had a couple of homicide defenses
under his belt. And joining me right now, Randy Kessler, attorney out of Atlanta jurisdiction.
First to you, Sanchez. All right, he`s saying that the husband said, I`m going to kill her, he was choking her. Then why, may I ask, Alex, are
there so many blows to the husband`s head?
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, you`re concentrating on the injuries that were suffered by this gentleman.
GRACE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: But the fact of the matter is if you attempt to murder somebody, you are allowed to defend yourself and you`re allowed to defend another
person if they are the victim of an attempted murder. And as a matter of fact, you`re allowed to use deadly force against that person.
So if this person was being victimized by this man, either her or the father is allowed to use deadly force to stop that murder from being
perpetrated.
GRACE: Well, you know what? I hear you, Alex Sanchez. But Randy Kessler, you know, don`t try to pull the wool over my eyes because the self-defense
statute goes on to say that in self-defense, you are allowed to use only enough force to defend yourself.
So why are there multiple blows to the head? His head is crushed in. And another thing. I`ll just put this in your minds to think about. Why is
there a landscaping stone in the bedroom? That bedroom is covered in blood. There`s blood soaked into the floor. There`s blood on the walls.
That`s a lot of blows to this guy.
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. So you get a murder verdict just because there happens to be a landscaping stone in the bedroom? That`s the
whole reason you`re going to convict?
GRACE: No, that`s not the whole reason.
KESSLER: You weren`t there and I weren`t there. We don`t know what the scuffle was. We don`t know who hit who how many times.
GRACE: Randy...
KESSLER: It was a violent...
GRACE: Before I lose this thought, have you ever actually stood in front of a jury and looked over at the prosecutor and said, You weren`t there?
Is that really -- you think I`m really going to go with that, You weren`t there?
KESSLER: It`s a good thing that we`re not front of a jury because if we were in front of a jury, there better be a lot more than your supposition
saying there crushed bones and facial bruises. You need evidence. You need DNA. You need...
GRACE: I`m not saying it, Randy! I`m not...
KESSLER: You just said it.
GRACE: Liz, would you put up the autopsy. The medical examiner is saying it. I`m not saying it.
KESSLER: Yes, but...
GRACE: I didn`t perform the autopsy. Liz, please, put up -- there you go. Thank you -- multiple lacerations, abrasions, contusions to the head.
extensive skull fractures.
Matt Zarrell, how many blows to the head do we have?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): We have at least two very large blows to the head, a number of them. And another thing I should
point out, Nancy, is as far as the evidence is concerned, the investigator himself wrote that he did not think the struggle described was consistent
with the evidence at the scene, particularly the master bedroom.
GRACE: OK, let me understand what you`re saying, Matt. Hold on. Do I have a full screen of this? This is out of the police report. Say that
slowly for me, Matt. This is what the homicide investigator said?
ZARRELL: Yes, what the homicide investigator said is, quote, "Throughout my law enforcement career, I have been in several of what would be
described as uncontrolled fights. In my opinion, the struggle described was not consistent with the evidence at the scene, particularly the master
bedroom."
GRACE: Let`s go back to the rest of that 911 call -- oh, hold on. "Throughout my law enforcement career, I have been in several of what would
be described as uncontrolled fights. In my opinion, the struggle described was not consistent with the evidence at the scene, particularly the master
bedroom," which was drenched in blood.
What more can we learn from the 911 call? Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:10:00]911 OPERATOR: All right, sir, we`re going to start CPR. All right. He is still on his back?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is.
911 OPERATOR: All right, I need you to make sure that his mouth and nose are clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a mess.
911 OPERATOR: I know. You need to clear it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Get me, like, a washcloth or something.
911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. Everything is clear?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As clear as I can get him. He`s covered in blood.
911 OPERATOR: Was he drinking?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he had been drinking during the course of the day.
911 OPERATOR: My partner is dispatching the ambulance and the officer while I get the information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
911 OPERATOR: All right. Are you right with him now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am.
911 OPERATOR: How old is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old is he?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 39.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 39.
911 OPERATOR: All right. Is he conscious at all?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
911 OPERATOR: Is he breathing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t tell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers on the case. Joining me are two very special guests out of Winston-Salem, Walter Holton, the attorney for, as we are
calling her, the model, the attorney for Molly Martens Corbett. Also with me, Jones Byrd, Jr., the attorney for the FBI dad.
Walter Holton, I`ll tell you one thing that`s really helping your client, Molly, as she`s referred to, the model, is the fact that her dad is a very
well respected former FBI agent. And it`s really hard to take in -- the jury is going to look at him and go, Wow, would this guy commit a brutal
murder? But I`ve got to ask you something. Why did she have a landscaping stone in her bedroom?
WALTER HOLTON, ATTORNEY FOR MOLLY MARTENS: Nancy, you`re correct, Tom Martens is a very well respected FBI agent who had an illustrious career in
the FBI and who was trained in self-defense.
And he -- as any -- if a police officer walked into a room and saw a woman being strangled by a 262-pound giant man who says more than once, I`m going
to kill her, I`m going to kill her, I`m going to kill her, that police officer would be justified in drawing his weapon and responding with deadly
force.
GRACE: But the thing is, when you say "drawing his weapon" -- that`s OK. Sir, you just said "drawing his weapon." A baseball bat, an aluminum
baseball bat just happened to be in the room, and a landscaping stone?
It sounds to many people that that was brought in in preparation of beating the husband dead as he lay asleep in the bed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:16:40]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Martens and his daughter, Molly, have both said Corbett was killed in self-defense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I intervened. And I think he`s in bad shape. We need help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the search warrant, the investigating officer writes, "In my opinion, the struggle described by Martens was not
consistent with the evidence at the scene."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: In the last hours, the FBI agent dad and his model -- literally a model daughter, insist in a court of law, We are innocent. But the
prosecution says that this husband from Ireland -- and these children are his bio children. His wife died several years ago of an asthma attack.
This was their third or fourth au pair, and he ends up marrying her long after the wife is dead. He plans to go back to Ireland with the two
children and not her.
There`s been a lot of marital strife over her alleged exorbitant spending. We don`t have records of that. That is just reports out of the courtroom.
But now he is found dead, bludgeoned dead. The father calls in, the FBI agent, stating it was in self-defense, self-defense of his daughter.
To Jordan Howse joining me, "Winston-Salem Journal." What do we know about the condition of that bedroom?
HOWSE: According to search warrants, Nancy, the condition of the bedroom, there was blood just all over the place. It was a lot of blood spatter on
the walls, furniture, on the floor.
GRACE: To James (sic) Byrd, Jr., joining me, the attorney for Thomas Martens, the FBI agent dad. Mr. Byrd, thank you for being with us.
JONES BYRD, JR., ATTORNEY FOR THOMAS MARTENS (via telephone): Thank you for having me.
GRACE: Could you explain to us why there is a landscaping stone in her bedroom, and coincidentally, an aluminum baseball bat? How did that happen
to be there?
BYRD: Well, you know, I -- and I don`t mean to duck your question, but as you -- you know, having been a prosecutor before, you probably are
certainly aware there are certain things in the evidence that we have now that will come out at trial that I`m not at liberty to discuss right now.
You know, those -- just kind of taking a cautious approach, those probably fall within there.
But what I can tell you is that there -- that evidence will be presented at trial as to why those things were present. They were not -- there was
certainly no plan to use them or anything of that nature. You know, all the evidence that we have received so far -- and discovery is ongoing -- is
completely consistent with the fact that Tom and Molly acted in self- defense and in defense of one another.
GRACE: You know, I heard that...
BYRD: And again, I`m not trying to duck the question, it`s just that...
GRACE: OK. I heard it said earlier that the husband had been -- the deceased father of the two children had been drinking all day. But the
reality is, his blood alcohol was only 0.02. That indicates maybe two drinks, maybe one?
BYRD: Well, I think as a general principle, that depends. You know, there certainly will be expert -- I would expect that there will be expert
testimony to extrapolate back what alcohol content from the point in time that it was -- basically, from when it was measured that you`ve read until
earlier in the night.
[20:20:03]GRACE: OK. Matt Zarrell, what do we know about the 0.02 blood alcohol in the husband? He was not drunk. And that does not indicate that
he had been drinking all day, which leads me to wonder, why was that put out there? Who put out there that he was drunk because the blood alcohol
shows that he was not drunk?
ZARRELL: I can tell you that officials, police, prosecutors, no one on the record has said that he was drinking all day. The only thing we know is
the toxicology report, which we have, which shows the blood alcohol level of 0.02 percent, 20 milliliters. It`s far below the limit if he were to
drive a vehicle.
GRACE: And Chris Spargo, what do we know about animosity between him and his new wife over the fact that he was planning to go back to Ireland
without her?
SPARGO: That`s right. He`d apparently become really tired of her exorbitant spending. There are reports of he had actually looking into
transferring $60,000 out of an account that he had in America into an account in Ireland and going back with his 8-year-old and 10-year-old
child.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:05]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.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She served as the family au pair, taking care of his two young children. The couple married. Immediately after her husband`s
death, Martens made several attempts to gain custody of his children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s from ABC`s "Good Morning America."
I want you to hear another portion of the 911 call. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: All right, what I need for you to do is I need someone to roll him onto his back, flat on his back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Hang on. He`s a big, heavy man. I can`t do it.
911 OPERATOR: All right, is there anyone there that can help you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter, and she`s in terrible shape.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Someone needs to get him on his back. We need to verify his breathing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m trying. Hang on.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Just put the phone on speaker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I`ve got him rolled over.
911 OPERATOR: All right. I want you to put one hand under his back, the other hand on his forehead and tilt his head back. Put your ear text to
his mouth and tell me if you can see or hear or feel any breathing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t (INAUDIBLE) no.
911 OPERATOR: All right, I`m sending the paramedics and ambulance to help you now. Stay on the line.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, Chris Spargo, Dailymail.com, you mentioned exorbitant spending. Did you just come up with that, or did you know the wife had
exorbitant spending?
SPARGO: Well, there are -- there have been reports that there have been -- she`s been taking things from the estate since he died, making large
withdrawals from joint accounts they`ve had. This has been a problem, apparently.
GRACE: OK, Chris Spargo, Dailymail.com -- everybody, this is -- these are exclusive photos obtained by Dailymail.com. There`s the daughter, who was
a model, and the father is a former FBI agent.
You know, spending wildly during the marriage and taking things after the marriage are two different animals, but I`m interested in what you said.
Matt Zarrell, what items were allegedly taken by (sic) the home by the wife after he`s dead?
ZARRELL: Yes. So an attorney representing the estate of Jason Corbett said that Molly Corbett essentially cleaned out the house. She took
everything, essentially, except for the doorknobs. She took the washer and dryer. She took holiday decorations, including Christmas decorations and
Halloween decorations. She took the forks, the spoons, the cups, the plates, the bowls. She took a dog bed. She took a pool table. She took
everything.
GRACE: OK, that`s something I don`t really understand. Do I have Walter Holton`s satellite back up, Liz? Walter -- everyone, Walter Holton and
James (sic) Byrd, Jr, joining us, both out of Winston-Salem, two high- profile lawyers in that jurisdiction.
The dog bed, the forks and spoons? I mean, her husband`s dead. This stuff belongs to the children, their stuff, their Halloween decorations. Why?
HOLTON: Nancy, unfortunately, probably 80 percent of what you have just reported is not accurate. It is not supported by the evidence. It is --
they are not...
GRACE: We got it from the court.
HOLTON: ... accurate statements...
GRACE: We got that from the court, Walter!
HOLTON: ... of what the facts are in the case.
GRACE: We got it from the court.
HOLTON: You got it from a court pleading. You did not get it from court evidence, you got it from a court pleading that can allege anything in the
world. That is not evidence, and you know that. Those are allegations.
GRACE: I actually -- hold on.
HOLTON: They have not been substantiated.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, what is the document from which we got that information?
ZARRELL: We specifically asked for these items in the home, and then we actually went back and asked the court clerk, were these the items taken by
Molly Martens specifically. And we were told by the court, yes, they were.
HOLTON: What`s the document? Show us the document you`re talking about. There is no court -- there is no evidence that that occurred.
GRACE: So let me understand something. To Jordan Howse with "The Winston- Salem Journal." These items that are suddenly missing from the home -- they`re little children, they didn`t take them. So who did take them,
Jordan?
HOWSE: I was in court last week when they had that hearing, and according to Molly herself, she said she did take some of those items from the home
because her -- she or her parents paid for them and they belonged to her, was what she said.
[20:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Primetime exclusive. The tough as nails prosecutor who puts Jodi Arias behind bars for the brutal murder of her lover, Travis Alexander,
this coming Monday, 8:00 p.m. sharp eastern, Juan Martinez with us live taking us behind the scenes with an inside look at one of the biggest
trials in history. Author of "Conviction, The Untold Story of Putting Jodi Arias behind bars." Please join us Monday, 8:00 p.m. sharp eastern.
I`m a monster. We obtained chilling secret interrogation of a mom accused of killing family over money.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MICHELLE ANDERSON, ACCUSED: I`m a monster. I`ve turned into a monster.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brewing with anger over money, Michelle says she planned out the Christmas Eve murders for two weeks.
ANDERSON: I shot four shots into Scott with the revolver and two into Eric. I ran out of bullets and that`s why he shot the kids.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
[20:35:00] GRACE: Before we go into the facts of this case, I want to warn you, this is some of the most graphic and chilling facts we have ever seen
and it`s all over money. It includes the murders of two little children. Listen to these interrogation tapes that we have just obtained.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And as soon as I shot the gun, I felt so bad, like what the hell have I done. I`m a monster. I turned into a monster. I told Joe to lie, to
cover up what I did. My brother owes me a lot of money and he refused to pay me back. And he knows we`ve been struggling. He was trying to rip the
gun out of my hand while I was shooting him. I shot four shots into Scott with the revolver and two into Erica. I ran out of bullets and that`s why
he shot the kids. She lunged over the couch, even though she had been shot twice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were the kids doing before they were shot?
ANDERSON: They were clinging to their mom screaming. I just thought if they saw their parents dead, that they would be scarred for life.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Andrea Isom, correspondent with Crime Watch Daily, how did this whole thing unfold? I mean its Christmas Eve and I know there
had been an ongoing battle about some money. Is it true, the allegation if she goes into the home, guns down her mother and father, hides them in a
shed and then waits for the brother, his wife and their two little children, ages 5 and 3. You know, start at the beginning, Andrea Isom, what
happened?
ANDREA ISOM, CORRESPONDENT CRIME WATCH DAILY: You know, sadly Nancy, everything you said is exactly right, which is horrific. Yes, she said, you
know, she`s had some issues with her family. Mad at her brother because she says he owes me money and mad at her parents because they`re siding with
him. Also mad at her parents because they want her to start paying some rent in the mobile home that she and her boyfriend Joe are living in on
that property. She`s mad and doesn`t want to pay up.
She says if things don`t start going her way by Christmas Eve, if people don`t stop stepping all over her, if people don`t stop, you know, just
making her the bad guy, she`s going to kill. And Nancy as you said, every horrific fact is true. She gunned down her mother and father. Together with
her boyfriend, they slid their bodies into the shed then cleaned up the evidence that there was a crime that took place. Cleaned it up.
GRACE: What is really upsetting me, Andrea Isom with Crime Watch Daily, is apparently -- Justin Freiman, I`m going to go to you on this. Oh, look at
this. Look at this. This is at Christmas, Justin. When she gets there, they are -- they`ve got a roast in the oven, they`re wrapping presents, and all
of this is because her mom and dad finally start charging her money for living on their property. She comes in, angry about that, and what happens?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCE: She comes in angry about that. She`s also angry they`re not siding with her over the money that`s owed to her
that she says by her brother. So then, she starts firing her weapon at them and has her boyfriend help. After the parents are killed, they take their
bodies out and clean it up so they can wait for the rest of the family to arrive and ambush them as well.
GRACE: Well, here`s the thing, Justin. I was looking for the documents. Isn`t it true when the 911 call is placed, you can hear the sister-in-law,
Erica Anderson, screaming, "No, no, not the children, not the children." Why did they have to -- why did she have to shoot the children?
FREIMAN: Nancy, that`s right. And she says that call actually is made after she`s been shot and she shoots the children saying that, well, it`s a
horrible thing that the children witnessed and what kind of life are they going to have now so they should be killed and she convinced the boyfriend
to do it.
GRACE: Unleash the Lawyers, Alex Sanchez, New York, -- Randy Kessler, Atlanta. Alex Sanchez, you know this is a death penalty case, okay. Number
one, it meets the first criteria of mass killing. More than one body is mass killing in most jurisdictions. And number two, particularly heinous.
Killing a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old because, as they say, "What is their life going to be now, now that they have witnessed us killing their mom and
dad.
They are going to be messed up for life," so they go ahead and kill them and they apologize to the children before they kill them. Apparently the
children, holding on to their mom`s leg, trying to hide behind their mommy when they are killed. This is a death penalty case, Sanchez.
ALEX SANCHEZ, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It`s no longer a death penalty case because the prosecution has taken that off the table. So she`s not
facing death. She`s facing life imprisonment.
[20:40:00] GRACE: I don`t understand that, Randy Kessler. Of all the cases that we cover, you kill this many people -- the mom, the dad, the brother,
his wife, the two children -- six people dead and this she lied about it, Kessler. It`s not like she`s crazy. She first tried to convince police that
she and her boyfriend had taken off to Vegas for a quickie wedding but her story fell apart. As a matter of fact, listen to this interrogation tape,
Randy Kessler.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did you guys spend last night?
ANDERSON: We were driving.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Michelle Anderson told detectives she and her boyfriend, Joe McEnroe were on their way to Vegas on the night six family members were murdered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you ever harm your family?
ANDERSON: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Yeah, I hear her fading out right there, Kessler. Would you ever harm the family? No. No. I don`t think I would. I mean she`s not insane.
She came up with this cockamamie story about her boyfriend and she were going to Vegas for a quickie wedding and then they came back. And did you
know, Kessler, when they get back to the scene of the crime, there are police everywhere. It`s flooded. There`s helicopters overhead. They never
go, what`s going on?
I mean if you guys drive up to your house and you see police everywhere, you`d want to know what`s happening. Instead, they just go straight back to
where she lives on the property and goes, "why can`t I get in my place?" She never asks what`s going on.
RANDY KESSLER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And yet you`re saying she`s not crazy. Maybe she was temporarily crazy. Maybe there was temporary insanity.
But when she says no to the policeman, of course she says no to the policeman. No, she`s not going to say I admit that I murdered them. So, no
is an okay answer if you`ve murdered somebody. It`s understandable.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A catholic priest suspected in the murder of a 25-year-old beauty queen. Her body discovered face down in a canal just after the priest hears
her confession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has beautiful shiny hair. She had this natural effervescence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After fondling her breast, he took her to the basement.
He put something over her head.
She was saying "I can`t breathe, I can`t breathe."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body of this inspiring woman was found face down in this canal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to CNN, national correspondent Gary Tuchman who interviewed the priest. Gary, thank you for being with us. The facts of the
case are overwhelming. When I first read it, I almost didn`t think I could report on it. From what I understand, the victim, a 25-year-old woman -- a
beauty queen -- goes to confession every single week, never misses, according to her family. She goes, that`s the last time she`s ever seen
alive. A few days later, her body is discovered face down in a canal.
We`ve also learned that she was raped. That her, as it was written, petticoat was up over her head and that nearby was a candelabra from the
church and photographic equipment like a view master belonging to the priest. How do you think, Gary Tuchman, the whole thing occurred? What is
the timeline you believe happened?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. So this guy, Father Feit, who left the priesthood in 1971 after he was sent away after the murder to
a monastery for treatment. We know that he heard confession from Irene Garza. We also know that while this case was all going on, another woman
filed a complaint against him that she was assaulted by him.
He ended up going to trial on that case while they were still investigating the murder case. A jury deadlocked. They eventually reached a plea bargain.
He paid a fine of $500 and he never served any time in jail.
GRACE: All right. Gary, Gary, are you telling me that this priest had been accused before Irene was murdered of assaulting another woman?
TUCHMAN: Not only accused, he was charged. He went on trial for assaulting another woman.
GRACE: What were the facts of that case, Gary?
TUCHMAN: The facts of that case, he came up behind her while she was kneeling inside the church and attacked her. Now, everyone back then said
you`ll never ever convict a priest of anything, whether it`s the murder of Irene Garza or attacking this woman. Indeed the jury came back deadlocked.
Instead of having a second trial, everyone agreed to a plea bargain, he paid $500 and he walked free.
And literally right now, Nancy, he`s behind bars right now in a jail in Arizona about to be extradited to Texas. He`s fighting extradition but he
will eventually end up in Texas. This is the first time this man has been behind bars ever in his life.
GRACE: Gary Tuchman, CNN national correspondent. Let me understand this, I want to go to Arturo Torres joining us along with Gary Tuchman, who was the
boyfriend of the murder victim, Irene Garza. Mr. Torres, thank you for being with us.
ARTURO TORRES, BOYFRIEND OF IRENE GARZA: Okay.
GRACE: Mr. Torres, what was your reaction when you learned that this priest, John Bernard Feit, had already been accused of sneaking up on a
woman praying in church, put cloth over her head, got her down on the floor. She kicked and screamed and bit and he ran away. And he was formerly
charged, but he stayed within the church serving as a priest and was just transferred and, hence, he meets Irene Garza. When you learned he had
already been charged with that, what was your reaction?
[20:50:00] TORRES: Well, I was in law school at the time at the University of Texas in Austin and I didn`t hear about it until several -- about three
or four months after it happened. I wanted to come down here and find out why in the hell this guy wasn`t being prosecuted. Because the evidence at
least in my estimation was very clear. What had happened, nobody else was around her and, you know, I grew up in the Catholic Church, in the same
church.
Irene and I were the same age and we both went to the same church. In fact, today I live in McAllen, I`m an attorney and I still go to the same church.
And every time I go to that church, all I think of is practically is what happened to Irene at the rectory right next door to the church.
GRACE: You know, Arturo Torres is with us, Irene`s boyfriend at the time of her murder. You know, the priest John Bernard Feit says the last time he
saw her, she gave her confession and she left and she was outside on the front steps of the Catholic Church. And this is not about the Catholic
Church. This is not about Catholicism. I am talking about a murder. A murder of a young girl -- an innocent girl, unsuspecting -- going every
week to give her confession to a priest that she trusted. Then found murdered and raped, face down in a canal, and no one does anything.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the day before Easter, Irene Garza disappeared. The apparent abduction of the 25-year-old school teacher frightened the
community of McAllen, Texas. Police still hold the evidence discovered during the search which includes Irene`s petticoat, her handbag. Five days
after she disappeared her body was found in a canal.
GRACE: With me is Linda De La Vina, cousin of the victim, Irene Garza. Looking at Irene`s belongings, it reminds me of when I saw my fiance`s
bloody clothes in the courtroom. Linda, why do you think it has taken so long for justice in Irene`s case?
LINDA DE LA VINA, COUSIN OF THE VICTIM: Well, I think some of the issues were complex at the time. I believe the valley was still in a, sort of
sense of innocence coming from the `50s to the `60s, still believing that sort of a paradigm that the priest was godly. So there were cultural
issues. There were issues involving, I believe, you know, the actual law enforcement at the time and the connection between law enforcement and the
church.
GRACE: Right. You know Linda...
DE LA VINA: Lastly, for the last 30 years quite frankly, it`s because of the district attorney at the time for 30 years in Hidalgo County, would not
pursue the case.
GRACE: I`m being joined right now by Father Michael Manning, the host of "Word in the World" radio show. Father, thank you for being with us.
MICHAEL MANNING, HOST WORD IN THE WORLD: I`m honored, I`m honored to do this, thank you.
GRACE: You know, father, I come from a very, very religious upbringing and it`s very difficult to fathom that your pastor or in your case or in
Catholic`s case, a priest to do anything wrong, that the evidence is so strong. What does he say?
MANNING: He said that he had done it and that was fascinating part as I read the report of what happened, and that didn`t seem to be taken into
account. It was rather mysterious.
GRACE: Why do you think he was just basically moved to a monastery in Missouri?
MANNING: Well, I think that that was wrong. If that would be happening today and the accusation would be made, it would be put directly right into
the hands of the police and that they would be the one that would be in charge of making sure that first, this was clarified whether or not there
was a crime done or not. It would be put in the hands of the police. We have changed a great deal in the Catholic Church.
GRACE: That is true. To Dr. Tiffany Sanders, psychologist, joining us, what do you think was the mindset about not prosecuting this or really fully
investigating it?
TIFFANY SANDERS, PSYCHOLOGIST: You know, back in those days, you look at a priest or a person in charge of the church with a lot of respect and you
would think that they would have the desire to protect their parishioners. So, you wouldn`t necessarily accuse them of doing something like that or
you would try to cover it up because you want to maintain the face of the church. But it clearly is that this priest had emotional difficulties and
he should have been prosecuted and given some sort of punishment to communicate a message to the church that this is not tolerated, Nancy.
GRACE: Everyone, let`s remember American hero, Army Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Wren, 44 of Lorton, Virginia. Third tour, bronze star, purple heart.
Buried Arlington. A George Mason grad from a family of (inaudible), a newlywed. Parents Carol and Thomas, brother Tim, sisters Penny and Jenny,
widow Holly. Five children, three grands. Thomas Wren, American hero. Thanks for our guests and especially for being with us. Nancy grace signing
off. We`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
[21:00:00]
END
