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Nancy Grace
Teresa Sievers`s Husband Arrested for her Murder; Caught on Camera: Preschool Tots Attacked by Teachers on the Playground; Teen Girl Burned Alive; Mystery House Fire Kills Wife and Two Daughters. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired February 29, 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, mystery surrounding the murder of gorgeous young doctor Teresa Sievers bludgeoned dead in the
kitchen of her upscale Florida home. Bombshell tonight. Breaking now, the Lee County sheriff declares, "We got our man," Teresa Sievers`s husband
just taken into custody for the brutal murder of his wife. Just in, courtroom battle over the Sieverses` two little girls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As Mark walked out for the first time in handcuffs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Curtis Wright now changing his plea to guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And cooperating the with investigation, accepting a sentence of 25 years just says before Sievers was arrested at home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were after Mark Sievers. We got our man, and we`re very happy for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That from ABC`s "GMA."
Police and EMTs race to the scene to find a teen girl burning alive in a horrific lighter fluid attack. Just before her death, does the girl
whisper the killer`s name to police?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators say someone set her on fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Evil.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... nineteen -- year-old...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... found burning alive beside her car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was burned 98 percent of her body!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The burning death murder of Jessica Chambers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been the most unusual case that I`ve ever dealt with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Police investigating apparently inconsistencies from a so-called loving husband after his wife and two daughters burn to death in a mystery
house fire where the, quote, "sweet hubby" is the only one to escape. But hold onto your seat! I`m actually on the fence on this one. There`s a
chance this guy may be innocent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators from several agencies work together at the scene of a triple fatal fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything we can do to help determine what causes this fire, how it spread so quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fire killed Cathy Patterson (ph) and her two daughters. Their husband and father, Brent (ph), made it out alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A high-priced progressive Montessori school busted, videos of preschool tots being brutally attacked by teachers on the playground! We
have the video.
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Mystery surrounding the murder of gorgeous young doctor Teresa Sievers, bludgeoned dead on the kitchen floor of her upscale Florida
home. Breaking right now, the Lee County sheriff declares, "We got our man," Teresa Sievers`s husband taken into custody for the brutal murder of
his wife. Just in, courtroom battle erupts over the Sieverses` two little girls.
As you`ll recall, the husband, Mark Sievers, and two little girls were out of town, far out of town when Dr. Sievers flies home in the night to go
back to work on a Monday morning. They were not home when she was bludgeoned dead.
Bob Alexander, anchor, Fox News in Ft. Myers -- this has been a long time coming, Bob Alexander. I think the timing is crucial, that a co-suspect,
Curtis Wright, enters into a plea deal just a few days before this takedown of Dr. Sievers`s husband, Mark Sievers.
What do you think, Bob?
BOB ALEXANDER, 92.5 FOX NEWS (via telephone): Well, Nancy, Wayne Wright pleaded guilty to second degree murder in the killing of Dr. Sievers. The
district attorney`s office says that Wright must provide substantial assistance to the state attorney`s office when it comes to the trial of
Mark Sievers. Wright will not be sentenced until everyone else, including Jimmy Rodgers, the other co-defendant, is tried.
GRACE: For those of you just joining us, breaking news now. Teresa Sievers`s, Dr. Teresa Sievers`s, husband has been taken into custody. It`s
been a long time coming.
I want to warn you the photos you are about to see are graphic in nature. We obtained crime scene photos. Hold that photo. This is the kitchen
floor where Dr. Sievers, we believe, because of the heavy blood pooling in the kitchen, was first attacked.
And we believe she was attacked the night she flies home, leaving her husband and children in Vermont (sic) on a family vacation with her family,
her sisters, cousins, relatives. She comes in and is attacked right there.
Why do I say that? Because in another shot, you will see the shoes, the high-heeled shoes -- she was very short -- she was wearing when she gets
off that airplane there in the kitchen floor.
[20:05:06]But there was something very, very wrong with the scene. Please advance to the next photo, Liz. See that high-heeled shoe right under the
banner, and the thing she had with her, a bottle of water, the things she had in her -- thank you -- the things she had with her on the plane in her
pocketbook strewn on the floor?
And what`s so interesting, Matt Zarrell, is this is one of the photos that show us the scene was staged. That leads to the question, why was the
scene staged? What`s significant about this photo, Matt Zarrell?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, what`s important is that the police believe the entire scene that you`re looking at, all of
these photos, that was staged, that Wright and Rodgers arrived at the house 12 hours before the murder and set the scene by staging the scene.
When the cops arrived and they found the body, they found Teresa Sievers`s open wallet. They found her luggage...
GRACE: Exactly.
ZARRELL: ... had been rummaged through. But nothing, nothing was taken.
GRACE: An open wallet. Matt Zarrell, you`re right, nothing taken from her wallet.
Blood dried on the floor when police get there. That helps time the death because the blood of this nature and in this quantity nearly entirely dry -
- not all of it, but entirely, which leads me to the question, why was the scene staged? What random killer would stage a crime scene? Please
advance.
Joining me right now, a special guest, Kenny Cousins. See? There`s the shoes she was wearing on her trip. That indicates she was attacked
immediately when she comes in the door.
Kenny Cousins is with us. This is Teresa Sievers`s ex-husband. Mr. Cousins, thank you for being with us.
KENNY COUSINS, TERESA SIEVERS`S EX-HUSBAND: You`re welcome.
GRACE: First of all, I know you two had split. But still, you had a lot of times together. And I want to tell you that we`re very sorry about what
your entire family has been through.
For those of you just joining us, in the last hour, courtroom battle erupting over Dr. Sievers`s two little girls. Her little girls now don`t
have a mommy who was murdered and the dad taken into custody.
Kenny Cousins, Teresa Sievers`s ex-husband, how did you discover that Dr. Sievers, Teresa Sievers, was dead?
COUSINS: I received a GoFundMe notice the next day, the day following when she had been found. And this notice was written on behalf of Mark and the
children. I received it through Facebook, as I`m a friend of Mark`s on Facebook.
GRACE: So before you even realized, before you get notice that she`s dead, Mark Sievers is sending out a GoFundMe notice?
COUSINS: Yes, that`s correct. And it was through that that I then did a search. I thought it was a hoax. But having received that, I did a search
and found out, in fact, she had been found dead the day before.
GRACE: Also with me, neighbor of Mark and Teresa Sievers Donetta Contreras. Ms. Contreras, thank you for being with us.
DONETTA CONTRERAS, NEIGHBOR (via telephone): Thank you, Nancy.
GRACE: What is your response to this arrest finally going down?
CONTRERAS: I`m happy. I`m really happy. You know, my daughter lives right next to him. I was worried for her safety, not just for her safety,
but the safety of the neighborhood. I`m ecstatic. It`s been a long time coming.
GRACE: Were you surprised, Ms. Contreras.
CONTRERAS: To tell you the truth, not at all.
GRACE: Why?
CONTRERAS: Not at all. Well, we knew right from the get-go Mark had something to do with it...
GRACE: Why do you say that?
CONTRERAS: ... from circumstantial evidence. Pardon?
GRACE: Why did you think in the very beginning he was responsible?
CONTRERAS: Just by who he is and how he acted, just the circumstantial evidence alone.
GRACE: What do you mean by who he is and how he acted?
CONTRERAS: Well, he`s kind of, for the lack of a better word, eccentry (ph), weird.
GRACE: You know, what do you mean by that? Give me one example.
CONTRERAS: Well, I think this has been reported before about him climbing up on the roof with his children, appearing on my daughter`s patio several
times, just standing around looking, no knocking on the door or anything, just standing around and looking through her windows, walking through three
doors to get onto her patio. Then when he`s confronted, Oh, I was just looking to see what you`ve done to the place.
[20:10:07]GRACE: Ms. Contreras, Mark Sievers was still living in the home where Dr. Teresa Sievers was murdered. How did he appear to you? Because
he was seen out and about in the neighborhood.
CONTRERAS: Like nothing in the world ever happened, cocky, stone-faced. He knew that most of the neighborhood thought or knew that he was guilty.
But he would walk around like nothing has ever happened. As a matter of fact, more cocky.
GRACE: Mark Sievers lived in this home after his wife was murdered there. You had a run-in with Sievers just before his arrest went down. What
happened, Donetta?
CONTRERAS: Yes, ma`am, I did. He likes to play the games with his car. If you get behind him and you happen to be someone who`s been in the news
or had said something to him, he would play this game to where he would get in front of you or behind you, slam on the breaks, speed up, slam on the
breaks. Well, he did this also to me just right before he was arrested.
GRACE: Well, that`s a good way to get shot in our country, to egg on other drivers. So was that happening in your neighborhood?
CONTRERAS: Yes, it was, not just to myself, personally, but others also in the neighborhood.
GRACE: And you had a run-in. What happened? Were words exchanged?
CONTRERAS: No, there was no words exchanged or anything like that but because this was not the first time he had done it, I decided that I would
call the police about it. But unless they seen it themselves, it didn`t happen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:15:37]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Mark Sievers emotionless as he was taken to a south Florida jail for allegedly planning to murder his
wife, Teresa.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Mark, I know you told me not to go to your house, but I don`t know what`s going on. And his words were, Do not tell anyone
the doctor is dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No emotion there. I`m not 100 percent sure he`s got blood in his veins. I think it might be ice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That from ABC`s "GMA."
Mark Sievers, the husband of Dr. Teresa Sievers, has been taken into custody. In the last hours, courtroom battle erupts over who will have
their two little daughters. Sievers and the daughters and Dr. Sievers all out of town in Connecticut. But then Dr. Sievers returns early. This had
been planned for a long time. Mark Sievers knew his wife would be alone in the home that Sunday night, getting ready for work on Monday morning.
The crime scene photos indicate she was killed the moment she comes in from the airport. Airport footage shows her walking through the airport, the
last images known of her before her death.
I want to go straight back to Kenny Cousins. This is Teresa Sievers`s ex- husband. Mr. Cousins, you were at the memorial service for -- oh, there you go, there she is, coming through the airport.
You were at the memorial service for Dr. Sievers. Is it true that Curtis Wayne Wright was there? Did you see him?
COUSINS: Yes, I did see him.
GRACE: What did you observe?
COUSINS: Well, I saw him leaving with Mark. And at that point, I didn`t realize who he was. And coincidentally, he looks so much like Mark, I
thought that it was Mark`s brother and thought that, you know, it was good that Mark had family there. So yes, I did see him.
GRACE: Oh, man! Oh, man! That`s something, Kenny Cousins -- everybody, this is Dr. Sievers`s ex-husband -- that you were thinking, Well, I`m so
glad, you know, he has support from his family. It`s his lookalike co- conspirator! That`s who it was.
So what did you observe them doing at the memorial?
COUSINS: Well, let me give you a little more insight. About halfway through the service -- about halfway through the service, I was struck. I
had a sense of intuition that whoever had done this could actually be in the service because it was an open service. Now, again, at this point, I
had no idea who Curtis Wright was. I had no idea how Dr. Sievers had been taken. I had -- I was really in shock. I hadn`t slept in...
GRACE: You didn`t know she was murdered? You didn`t know she was murdered when you went to...
COUSINS: I did not know.
GRACE: Wow.
COUSINS: I did not know until the follow-up newscast and your show, and so forth. So I only know that she had been killed, but I didn`t -- I knew
nothing about the circumstances.
So halfway through the ceremony, I was overcome with this sense that whoever did this could be in the room. At the end of the service, I was
speaking with Teresa`s mom and stepdad, as well as some other friends of Teresa`s that I hadn`t seen. And I noticed out of the corner of my eye
that Mark was leaving and he was followed by this gentleman.
And this gentleman walked behind him, and he had a very nervous look about him. He was turning his head left and right. And I just -- I made note.
And again, my reaction was, Boy, that must be Mark`s brother. And you know, hey, it`s great that -- to myself -- that Mark has family here.
Well, lo and behold, when Curtis Wright was arrested, I realized who he was, and that, in fact, my intuitions had been unkeenly (ph) accurate,
particularly given Mark`s recent arrest.
GRACE: You know what? Now, the defense attorneys are going to argue with you, Mr. Cousins, that intuitions and feelings don`t amount to a hill of
beans. But I disagree.
Unleash the lawyers, Seema Iyer and Hugo Rodriguez. First to you, Seema Iyer. that doesn`t make sense. At your wife`s funeral, you leave
everybody and go off and huddle with your lookalike off in the corner. That`s not how it`s done...
(CROSSTALK)
[20:20:10]SEEMA IYER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: ... trying to be comforted by your best childhood friend?
GRACE: No.
IYER: What doesn`t make sense, Nancy...
GRACE: No because...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Whoa, whoa! Hold on! Hold on!
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: OK, cut her mike. Cut her mike, please! I`m hearing her.
Seema Iyer, I know you`re joining me from our New York studios. I`m not sure where you`re from, but at funerals, when you have the public there,
you have all the family and friends, you`re being comforted, true, yes, I agree with you on that much.
But you don`t leave the ceremony. You don`t leave everybody standing around, they`re mourning your spouse, and just leave.
I mean, Hugo, please, come on. At trial, you may have to explain that behavioral evidence. So you can`t say that that`s normal you just leave,
Hugo?
HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, I -- I -- whether I agree with you or I don`t agree with you, we need to focus on the crime. I don`t care
about them putting on a videotape of everybody going to the funeral. The defense will be that there was a break-in into the house and she was
bludgeoned during the break-in. Most hitmen do not kill by bludgeoning people. They do it in a different manner.
GRACE: Well, what if the hitman`s...
RODRIGUEZ: And this was a break-in.
GRACE: ... nickname is "the Hammer"?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:34]911 OPERATOR: And then when he walked inside the house, he said the blood was dry, or what did you say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Said half the blood is dry, half is wet and she`s cold. She`s dead cold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All new tonight, this 911 call...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m afraid somebody`s in the house. I mean...
CONTRERAS: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... did somebody kill her?
911 OPERATOR: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, this is a murder. She`s bashed in the back of the head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: For those of you just joining us, Mark Sievers, Dr. Teresa Sievers`s husband, has been taken into custody. In the last hours,
courtroom battle over who will have their two little children while he looks at a murder one charge.
Unleash the lawyers, Seema Iyer, defense attorney out of New York, Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney and former FBI agent joining me out of Miami.
OK, Seema Iyer, got something else to throw at you.
IYER: OK.
GRACE: I don`t know if you`ve got on your catcher`s mitt because here comes a curve.
IYER: I`m ready.
GRACE: Not only did he get up and leave the funeral, the memorial -- everybody`s standing around to comfort him, and he leaves -- but the day of
his wife`s memorial, he goes to her office and starts throwing out computer equipment, hard drives, discs, all sorts of computer evidence, and he`s
spotted.
Thoughts? Is that what you think is normal on the day of your spouse`s memorial?
IYER: We are not one to judge how people cope with death, Nancy. It is my position that Mark Sievers is not guilty. He should not have been involved
or arrested in this case. Let`s not forget that it took the police eight months to arrest him, that the judge, during the initial child services
hearing, sided with Mark Sievers the girls belonged with their father.
GRACE: Not anymore because he was just deciding who else was going to get the girls other than Sievers.
And not only that, Hugo Rodriguez -- I want you both to look at me with a straight face and tell me if they had arrested Mark Sievers in the first
week after her murder, the two of you would have been screaming to high heaven, Oh, rush to judgment, rush to judgment. You`d steal it from
Johnnie (ph) Cochran, and that would be on the front of your T-shirt, "Rush to judgment."
IYER: There is now...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Oh, really?
IYER: There is zero direct evidence against Mark Sievers. All of the evidence points to Wright and Rodgers, and that is simply it. They both
had access and knowledge of the victim, and that is why this crime occurred.
GRACE: Hugo Rodriguez, would you think that maybe $4.3 million life insurance would be motive? You think maybe, Hugo Rodriguez, because...
RODRIGUEZ: Yes, I think that...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Curtis Wright and Jimmy Ray Rodgers were not set to inherit that. He was. Sievers was.
RODRIGUEZ: No, that`s true, but it`s obvious that Wright knew that the family was not there. I don`t know their financial position. I do know
that she`s a doctor. They broke into the house. She confronted them. She was hit, bludgeoned in the back of the head, and she died. The father...
GRACE: For what? They didn`t rape her or they didn`t steal anything. So what`s their motive for murder, Hugo? Let`s just follow through...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I see you, Seema. I can see you!
RODRIGUEZ: They were caught. They were caught.
IYER: Because I have to point out that they were heavily in debt to the IRS. So Mark Sievers knows that if the insurance company decides to pay
out, the first lump sum would go to the IRS.
GRACE: Just $30,000.
IYER: Furthermore -- furthermore...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Hold on! Hold on! Stop that train. Hold on. You`re talking about IRS debt. That`s $30,000.
IYER: But Nancy...
GRACE: That`s a drop in the bucket of $4.5 million.
IYER: Since Sievers was involved...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: The minute my husband takes out $4.5 million on my life, he`s moving out.
IYER: Sievers also knows that an insurance company cannot pay out anyone while a criminal investigation is pending. So he wasn`t going to get the
money anyway.
[20:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A high-priced progressive Montessori school busted after videos of preschool tots brutally attacked by teachers on the playground. We have the
video.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cell phone videos taken from a home nearby captures the abuse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An apparently frustrated worker shoved a 2-year-old down after having trouble putting on the child`s hat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An employee grabbing a crying child by her feet while yelling at her later dragging the girl across the play area.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Holy moly! If someone picked up my children like that -- Liz, let`s see the video. There you go. Look at this. Look at this. Picking the child
up - she`s going to pick the child up by her feet, by her ankles and swing her, throw her over.
Look at her yelling at the child right there. Right in the face. This child is what, maybe 18 months? Maybe.
Look, grabbing her by the neck. Oh, no you didn`t. Look. What? Uh-uh. N-O. Look at this. Caught on video.
Bert Baron, Morning show host WCTC, keep it rolling, Liz. Not only that, there`s a lot more. Are you telling me Bert, that this woman just got 120
days behind bars?
[20:35:00] BERT BARON, WCTC RADIO MORNING SHOW HOST: That`s what I`m telling you, Nancy. It`s an outrage. She pled guilty to third-degree
endangering the welfare of a child. The cap on that is only 120 days.
This woman needs to be made an example of. Put her away for years and send a message that we will not tolerate the abuse of our children any longer.
I was disgusted and angered when I saw this video, Nancy. I know exactly how you feel. I have no pity or sympathy for anybody who hurts a child.
GRACE: You know, with me also, in addition to Bert Baron and Stacey Newman, joining me right now a special guest, Corey Stern, the lawyer for the
victim`s family.
I mean, Corey, this is what was caught on video. What else could be lurking out there? I want to hear your family -- the family`s reaction to all this
but first, Stacey Newman, who is the judge that allowed a 120-day sentence?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, before everybody gets outraged, remember that this is a third-degree child endangerment charge,
which means she didn`t even have to go to jail.
So the judge in this case decided this video was so outrageous he was going to give her jail time.
GRACE: Everybody, you are seeing video we obtained -- secret surveillance video of this woman mistreating a child. You know, Corey Stern, back to
you. What is the family`s reaction?
COREY STERN, ATTORNEY FOR THE VICTIM`S FAMILY: They are -- Nancy, they`re very disappointed that it is only 120 days on the one hand. On the other
hand, on some level, they are happy that they are not going to have to put their daughter through the forensic psychology testing that would be
required in order to determine damages and restitution.
It`s been a nightmare for them. They have been in the courtroom multiple times awaiting the plea deal. They prefer that it be much longer, but at
the same time they`d like to start healing and try and move on.
GRACE: Greg Cason, Psychologist, joining us. Greg, what I don`t get is the desire for a grown adult to treat a child like that. And there`s a whole
lot more. Thoughts?
GREG CASON, PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes, I don`t think it`s just a desire. I think this person has a problem in handling her anger, and she should not be
working with children.
Unfortunately, Daycares have to hire people at very low cost. Even though this is an expensive Daycare who is quite -- who is licensed and really has
a good reputation in many ways, but they hire people who have low cost, they probably don`t put them through adequate testing and then they don`t
monitor them adequately. She should not be working with children because she can`t manage her own temper.
GRACE: Back to you Bert Baron and Corey Stern. First, Corey, what exactly was done to the child?
STERN: The child was lifted up by her ankles, she was screamed at. If you were able to hear the audio from the tape, the teacher says what the "F" am
I supposed to do with her?
She then drags her into the school and she leaves her alone for a period of time. The yelling continues inside the school. So, you know, this was not a
20-second incident.
GRACE: She`s yelling out, what the ...
STERN: "F".
GRACE: ... "F" am I -- in front of the child? Bert Baron, WCTC, is that true?
BARON: That is true. And it`s disgusting, Nancy, it really is. You know, we have the saying in radio, always assume the microphone is on.
Anyone who works with a child, you better assume that someone is watching you and videotaping you because you will be caught. And this is a classic
example.
GRACE: Slamming a small child over a fence, holding her upside down, and she`s just getting 120 days. You know what, Bert Baron, WCTC? I`m not going
to be happy until this judge is lifted up by his ankles and slung over a fence, has his head slammed the way this child did and gets cursed out and
abused by Kelly Dugan. I mean, what do we know about her, Bert?
BARON: Well, let`s take it a step further. When she gets to the Hudson County Lock Up, maybe her fellow inmates will hang her by her ankles and
swing knee (ph), but what do we know about her? She`s a teacher. She has been caught doing this.
When this video was first was submitted to the officials at the school, they were told it would be a 30-day penalty where she`d still get paid and
still be able to work.
So, the people that shot this video put it on Facebook and then the outrage went crazy. Five people were terminated and criminal charges were brought
against this woman.
GRACE: The prosecution pled this down and made it virtually impossible for the judge to give anything more but the reality is, the judge didn`t have
to take this plea.
[20:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Police and EMTs race to the scene to find a teen girl burning alive in a horrific lighter fluid attack. But just before her death, does the
girl whisper her killer`s name to police?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chambers was found engulfed in flames.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and found burning alive on a rural road not far from her house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... lying next to her car that was in flames. The 19- year-old found with burns over most of her body.
LISA CHAMBERS, JESSICA CHAMBERS` MOTHER: How would you like for it to be done to you, your daughter, your mother, your father and with someone in
your family?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not going to stop until justice is served.
BEN CHAMBERS, JESSICA CHAMBERS` FATHER: I`m so glad they found (ph) him, you know. It`s bittersweet but what my whole problem is why was he out on
the street? It should have never been if he`s in jail, you know?
The crime he has committed and the things he done while he was in prison, he should have never been out. He only got out of prison in October and he
killed my daughter in December. But he should have never been on the street. That`s my problem.
[20:45:00] (END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: He is absolutely right. That is Jessica Chamber`s father, Ben Chambers. Martin Savidge, CNN correspondent, who investigated this case,
many people believe when they first saw Jessica Chambers that she had had lighter fluid, and I still believe this, squirted down her mouth and
throat.
Liz, pull up, if you don`t mind, that video surveillance we have of her at the gas station. Tonight, stunning new details about a man we believe is
responsible for the death of this beautiful teen girl.
There she is at the gas station, Martin. And she has no conversation, no interaction with anyone. But I have reason to believe somebody asked her to
give them a ride. Why is it, Martin, that people believe this person squirted lighter fluid down her throat and mouth?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Because of the horrific nature of the burns. And I have to say, you know, this case has always troubled me
because you could tell she is such a lovely young girl, and her death, by every description, was horrific.
Apparently, according to investigators, there say there was no fluid poured down her throat, but they do say the fire in the vehicle in which she was
sitting was so intense, the super heated hair as she was apparently unconscious, she breathed in.
And as a result of that, that`s what triggered the horrific burns, not just on the outside, 98 percent of her body, but on the inside as well, Nancy.
GRACE: Gerry Vaillancourt, joining us, host of the Regional Morning News. Jerry, thank you for being with us, in addition to Martin Savidge, CNN
correspondent.
This guy, Quinton Verdell Tellis, age 27. The father is right. He should have been behind bars.
Let`s see his full criminal history. It dates all the way back to 2010, being in a restricted unauthorized area, it moves on to abusive,
disrespectful, vulgar, obscene, threatening language, it keeps going.
More disruptive behavior, contraband, he`s going no jail time. Failure to comply, hold, that means with the police, failure to comply.
Prison incident, refusing to obey staff order - this is behind bars, he`s committing crimes. Because you back it up one to threatening statements,
now more threatening statements. Refusing to work behind bars.
Is there more? There you go. More prison incidents. It goes on and on. More, 2014, this one guy has all of the entries into his record.
So, tell me, Gerry Vaillancourt, what the father, Ben Chambers, is talking about. He gets out in October. And then, according to police, he murders
Jessica in December?
GERRY VAILLANCOURT, REGIONAL MORNING NEWS HOST: And also, too, the father had said, Nancy -- by the way, thanks for having me on. Also, two burglary
charges and other constraint (ph) from police and he is released from prison and also the involvement in gang activities.
So when you look at the profile of this individual, you are looking at a human being and a seasoned, hard core criminal. And I can see where that is
just breaking the heart of the family for what they complained and also the activities that happened in prison, as you mentioned, and now he is out.
And then what happens in the state of Louisiana when he moved here in the summer of 2015 and they tracked him traveling and they tracked over a
thousand telephone calls and 150 people interviewed. When you connect the dots of this individual, you say to yourselves ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Hold on. I want to follow up on something Gerry Vaillancourt just said. Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert. When they say they tracked
thousands of phone calls and texts, for what?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Nancy, this is a small community. If this suspect was communicating with Jessica, police could easily
determine everybody she was communicating with.
Police could easily determine where that person was located, if they met that night, if that person who called her when she walked out of the gas
station, police knew it.
This is -- these people, what he did is leave himself a digital trail, leading, right, you know, if he is the suspect, we will know if he was with
her, because this is a small community, it`s easy to track those phone calls, Nancy.
[20:50:00] GRACE: Well, I hope everybody is sitting down, because what we have learned in the last hours is that this man, Quinton Verdell Tellis,
age 27, believed to have burned this cheerleader alive, is now a suspect in another murder of a young woman. A woman in Louisiana who`s also found dead
and amazingly he`s using her ATM card immediately after her death. Mandy Hsiao. Mandy Hsiao is found dead. But I want you to see what we`ve dug up.
This is him, Quinton Verdell Tellis on Facebook.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see dead people. I see dead people.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Police investigating apparent inconsistencies from a loving husband after his wife and two daughters burned to death in a mystery house fire
where the "sweet hubby" is the only one to escape the fire. But hold on to your seats. I`m actually on the fence on this one. There is a chance this
guy could be innocent.
[20:55:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fire officials believe the fire started in the living room near an electric-powered reclining couch, but they are still trying to
figure out how it started.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to rule out certain indicators.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fire killed Kathy Patterson and her two daughters. Their husband and father, Brent, made it out alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Scott Kimbler, a reporter joining me. Scott, this is what I don`t quite understand. I know that there are inconsistencies to the
segment, so-called inconsistent statements, in what he said and what we know to be the facts. One of them being, he says the fire was around 10:30
at night when actually the call came in at 8:31 -- the 911 call, which I think was from a neighbor. Other than that, Scott, what do we know about
the fire? How do we believe it started, Scott Kimbler?
SCOTT KIMBLER, NEWS RADIO 106.7 REPORTER: The investigators are fairly comfortable that it did start in the living room, somewhere in the area of
the couch, but the investigators also point out that there was a fire in the fireplace. And if you all know, in Georgia, we do have a creosote and
other things that can lead to fires especially when you leave one smoldering like that. But they are comfortable that it did start in the
living room.
Grace: Well, the fact that it started in the living room, I don`t think it goes one way or the other. Hold that, please, hold that still, toward arson
or accident. The husband ...
Joining me is Rich Meier, fire and explosive investigator with the John A. Kennedy and Associates. Rich, the husband says point blank, and he`s given
a lot of statements to the press on this, that the fire started in the sofa. The fire started in the sofa. It`s an electrical couch. How could
that be, Rich?
RICH MEIER, FIRE AND EXPLOSION INVESTIGATOR AND ANALYST: Well, the -- what we have to look at is, is it in fact the accurate area of origin? Assuming
that he saw the fire early on in and saw the fire in its very early stages, then yes, we can go by his word that it is, in fact, the sofa, or near the
sofa, where the fire started. And then we have to consider what are the fuels in that area, what are the potential ignition sources in the area. If
it`s an electric ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Well, he`s saying it was the electric sofa. Let`s see what we can learn from the 911 call.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gwinnett 911, what`s the location of your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: House on fire. There are kids trapped inside ...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Georgia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. The house is on fire ...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s actually two houses down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the house is on fire?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Everybody is trapped inside. They are not responding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, do you see ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole first floor is on fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you see flames?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baby, Get away. Say what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you see flames?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am. They are way above the house. It`s literally burning down. Everybody`s trapped inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four, at least.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole first floor is engulfed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fire department is on the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honey, get away from there. You`re going to get hurt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are the four people still inside the house?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they are all inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The flames on the roof?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it`s everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you said two houses or one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, but it`s going to catch on fire. The trees are catching on fire. Please, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are on the way, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honey!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: To Dr. Lee Norman, chief medical examiner at University of Kansas Hospital. Dr. Norman, you`re the chief medical officer there at Kansas. How
many arsons or burn cases do you deal with, and how do you know if the person dies from the fire or smoke inhalation?
LEE NORMAN, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HOSPITAL CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, in answer to your first question, we have fire victims that come in pretty
much every day. We are a level one burn center, so with pediatrics and adults coming in. In terms of the mechanism of injury, people are burned
either directly by the flame or the flash as was pointed out, but also sometimes people die in these things without having a mark on their body.
Just from the inhalation injury or from the carbon monoxide poisoning because it does percolate up through the -- through the house.
GRACE: Let`s stop and remember American hero, Army Specialist Joshua Munger, just 22, Maysville, Missouri. Bronze Star, Purple Heart. A memorial
dedicated to him in his hometown. Loved the outdoors and the country life. Parents, David and Terri; brother Jason; sister Mandy; widow, Alysha; son,
Colton. Joshua Munger. American hero.
Drew up next. Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for being with us. Nancy grace, signing off. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8 o`clock sharp,
Eastern, and until then, good night, friend.
[21:00:00]
END
