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Nancy Grace
Interrogation Tape in Sievers Murder Released; Man Busted for Watching Erin Andrews Naked Video Filmed By Stalker; Police Investigating Mystery House Fire After Husband is Only One to Escape; Texas Officer David Hofer Killed in Line of Duty. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired March 03, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, mystery surrounding the murder of gorgeous young doctor Teresa Sievers, bludgeoned dead in the luxury
kitchen of her upscale Florida home. The Lee Count sheriff declares, "We got our man," Teresa Sievers`s husband arrested in the brutal murder of his
wife.
And tonight, we learn why. We obtain secretly recorded interrogation video that leads to the Mark Sievers takedown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything you`d like to say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stoic, no emotion there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bludgeoned to death with a hammer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said that he killed Teresa Sievers, Mark`s wife.
TAYLOR SHOMAKER, CO-DEFENDANT`S GIRLFRIEND: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With a hammer.
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. He didn`t describe the hammer or anything (INAUDIBLE)
SHOMAKER: No, he didn`t. He didn`t give me any detail of...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just said that he killed her with a hammer.
SHOMAKER: Yes, that`s it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Police investigating so-called inconsistencies from a, quote, "loving husband" after his wife and two daughters burn dead in a mystery
house fire where the, quote, "sweet hubby" is the only one to escape. Breaking now, stunning new facts emerging that could crack this case wide
open.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know that life inside the home at 1079 Pointer Ridge (ph) was not always as idyllic as many friends and neighbors assumed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The most incredible family ever!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Long before she died in a blaze with her two young daughters last month, concern for the well-being of the girls was raised by
teachers at the school they attended and others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: "Dad, I`m naked on the Internet" sobs "Dancing With the Stars" favorite, beautiful young sportscaster on the road covering college
football. She checks into a national Marriott. Little does she know, even though she`s behind closed doors, she`s being videoed coming in and out of
the shower, walking around her private room naked, videoed through the door`s peephole. And to her shock, it surfaces on the Internet, racking up
nearly 17 million views.
Sportscaster Erin Andrews, the "Dancing With the Stars" host, breaks down sobbing on the stand. In the last hours, torpedo! Claims a hotel honcho
busted at a local restaurant table actually replaying the Erin Andrews nude video and laughing. This guy is a witness for the Marriott making fun of
Erin Andrews, insulting her naked body!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN ANDREWS, SPORTSCASTER: My naked body was on the front page of "The New York Post." Like, they had put bars over my body parts! I remember
saying to my parents, We`ve got to get it done, we`ve got to get it down. And we can`t get it down! That`s all I was so worried about was, like, We
got to get it off, we got to give it off! And, like, we`re never going to get it off!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) horrible thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For her sake, for my sake, I had to (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Mystery surrounding a gorgeous young doctor, Dr. Teresa Sievers. She was bludgeoned dead in the luxury kitchen of her upscale
Florida home. The Lee County sheriff declares, "We got our man," Teresa Sievers`s own husband, Mark Sievers, arrested in the brutal murder of his
wife. And tonight, we learn why. We just obtained secretly recorded interrogation video that leads to the Mark Sievers takedown.
I`m going to go straight to it. But who you are hearing first on this secretly recorded video is a co-defendant, Jimmy Ray Rodgers, known as "the
hammer." Remember, she`s bludgeoned dead with a hammer -- this is her -- this is his girlfriend, Taylor Shomaker. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHOMAKER: (INAUDIBLE) trying to piece together (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I know. Just Take your time (INAUDIBLE)
SHOMAKER: Just randomly told me stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
SHOMAKER: And it wasn`t, like, a big, long conversation. I was just, like -- like (INAUDIBLE) asked him if he went to Florida. And he told me yes.
And then I asked him what he went down there for, and he said to make money. And then I asked him how he (INAUDIBLE) make money, and it was
murdering Mark`s wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Who is Teresa Sievers, the doctor?
SHOMAKER: Yes.
[20:05:00]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And did he say how he murdered her?
SHOMAKER: With a hammer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And why do you think he would use a hammer? Was that his weapon of choice?
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you were telling me today, they call him "the hammer" or he calls himself "the hammer" or what`s...
SHOMAKER: Everybody calls him (INAUDIBLE) "the hammer." All of his friends call him "the hammer."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you had indicated to me that`s because that`s his weapon of choice (INAUDIBLE) something?
SHOMAKER: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You are seeing Taylor Shomaker, who is the live-in of co-defendant Jimmy Ray Rodgers. Now, as you all know, in the last hours, we have
obtained a secretly recorded video interrogation tape that leads to the takedown of this man, Dr. Sievers`s own husband. His best friend, Curtis
Wayne Wright, Jr., who looks just like him -- they look exactly alike, the two on the left, Sievers and Wright. Jimmy Ray Rodgers`s live-in, who is
caught on these interrogation tapes -- you`re about to hear interrogation video where she describes the killer allegedly hired by Sievers`s husband
laughing, chuckling in bed about how he murdered Sievers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHOMAKER: I don`t remember when it was, but we were laying in bed at my mom`s and I told him that I knew. I didn`t actually know. It was after
you guys came. And I told him that I knew that he had something to do with it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
SHOMAKER: And then he started asking questions, like (INAUDIBLE) And then he said yes. And then I took a guess at Mark`s wife, and he said yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you said Mark`s wife -- you`re talking Teresa Sievers, the doctor that was killed?
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
SHOMAKER: And then I said, did you shoot her? And he said no. And I said, then how did you kill her? And he made a (INAUDIBLE) little chuckle
that he does and then (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said with a hammer?
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, so the second night that he spent the night is when you talk about it.
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you said that you were laying in bed.
SHOMAKER: (INAUDIBLE) I just lied and said that I knew everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
SHOMAKER: And then he admitted to it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And he said that he killed Teresa Sievers, Mark`s wife, with a hammer?
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. He didn`t describe the hammer or anything (INAUDIBLE)
SHOMAKER: No, he didn`t. He didn`t give me any detail of...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just said that he killed with a hammer.
SHOMAKER: Yes, that`s it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Bob Alexander joining us there in Florida with Fox News. Bob, this is a bombshell in this case. Now we can directly link
through the live-in of Rodgers, "the hammer," he`s now connected to Wright and they`re talking about a big payday. And she describes the big payday
that they`re getting from the life insurance money.
Bob Alexander, who was the life insurance beneficiary?
BOB ALEXANDER, FOX NEWS (via telephone): Well, Nancy, the life insurance beneficiary was Mark Sievers, the husband. Taylor Shomaker told police
that Sievers hired Wright, and that Wright in turn hired Rodgers. Shomaker said Sievers didn`t know anything about Rodgers being hired, but they were
both supposed to get $10,000 each. They were going to split the money, and the money was going to come directly from the insurance of the victim`s --
her death. Wright and Rodgers, incidentally, never got paid.
GRACE: You know, it`s not just these videos. And I`ve got a lot more to show you.
For those of you just joining us, we obtain just released secretly recorded video of the co-defendant, the actual killer in this case, according to
police scenario, who murdered Dr. Sievers. This is his live-in. And he is spilling the beans to her one night in bed. She tells police.
But that`s just the tip of the iceberg. Matt Zarrell, loose lips sink ships. Not only this -- not only this, you`ve got Mark Sievers blabbing to
a friend about, for instance -- hey, Liz, let me see the crime scene photos.
Everybody, this is going to be a graphic photo of the kitchen floor. Look at this. See her blood on the floor? Matt, tell us what, according to
this friend, Mark Sievers said about his wife`s deadly attack.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): OK, so one thing to focus on this photo is you see the laundry there in the back?
GRACE: Yes.
ZARRELL: We believe that that is the pantry room. And Mark Sievers told long-time friend Carrie Kain, who then spoke to police, that that pantry
was where the killers were lying in wait and attacked Teresa Sievers from behind.
[20:10:02]GRACE: Bob Alexander, this is a huge, huge deal in this case because how would he know that the killers had been waiting in the pantry
and attacked her from behind? How would he know that unless the killers had told him?
ALEXANDER: That takes it even further, Nancy. Sievers told Kain his wife was struck on the head 17 times and it was the second blow that likely
killed her. He also mentioned that there were no fingerprints left behind.
GRACE: You know what?
ALEXANDER: The Lee County sheriff`s department noted that it was very strange that Mark Sievers would know those details. Kain, in fact, asked
the police, Who is telling him all these details? The police said, It definitely was not us.
GRACE: You know, I`m going to pick up on what you just said, Bob Alexander. In addition to his live-in girlfriend spilling the beans about
what he said in the middle of the night in bed -- you`re right. You`re right, Bob.
To Joe Scott Morgan, certified death investigator, author of "Blood Beneath My Feet: The Journey of a Southern Death Investigation," and also professor
of forensics at Jacksonville University -- listen, can I direct you, Joe Scott, to page six, is what it says at the top of the autopsy report. And
you go all the way down to the bottom. You got to comb through this with a fine-toothed comb.
At the bottom, it says her blow to her head, at least 17 -- 17 blows, crescent shape, which fit with a hammer, irregular lacerations on the
frontal posterior right and left sides of the scalp. That is from behind.
JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Yes. Yes. Very specific, and I find it very interesting that he would know the specific
number, unless these guys recounted to him how they had struck her. And these are crescent-shaped injuries. This is consistent, Nancy, with
something that has irregular edges like a hammer. They`re going to leave these nasty little lacerations, which there`s a multiple of these things...
GRACE: My point, though, Joe Scott...
MORGAN: Yes?
GRACE: ... is that the husband, before anybody`s arrested, said Whoever did this, the second blow is what killed her and it was from behind.
That`s exactly what the autopsy report says.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when we spoke to Jimmy and in your presence, he told us that he had never been to Florida, had never gone to Florida and
had no contact with (INAUDIBLE) Is that correct?
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. But now we came to your house earlier today and we had a search warrant for your house. And speaking with you, you told me
that Jimmy Ray Rodgers, who is your -- your boyfriend, actually did go to Florida with Wayne for the purpose of committing a murder...
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... for a sum of money, correct?
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how much money was he supposed to get for this?
SHOMAKER: Close to $10,000.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:16:42]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were after Mark Sievers. We got our man.
SHOMAKER: ... how he killed (ph) her. And he made his stupid little chuckle that he does, and then said, With a hammer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not 100 percent sure he`s got blood in his veins. I think it might be ice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We reported to you about 72 hours ago that Mark Sievers had been arrested in the murder of his wife, Dr. Teresa Sievers. And tonight, we
know why. We have just obtained secretly recorded video, interrogation tapes taken by police which outline exactly how this whole thing went down
and implicating Teresa Sievers`s own husband in this.
The killers were to receive $10,000 each from insurance proceeds. He is the beneficiary -- Mark Sievers on the left, his so-called brother from
another mother, Curtis Wayne Wright, no relation whatsoever between him -- between them, they`re childhood friends -- and "the hammer," Jimmy Rodgers,
on the right, that apparently wielded the weapon. There`s Sievers right now. Don`t you wish he had never blabbed?
I want to go to Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert. Did you hear what the girlfriend of "the hammer" says about destroying the cell phone, that
he submerged the cell phone in water, then he smashed it, then he tore it apart and had her throw away the pieces, five pieces of the cell phone,
separately.
Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert joining me out of Raleigh, can the cops recover anything from that?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT (via telephone): Nancy, that`s his first mistake. He should have used the hammer. Basically, as soon as a
phone hits water or any device hits water, it shorts out. The battery -- and once the battery is shorted out, all you have is a big piece of
plastic.
So it`s a good lesson for anyone. If you spill anything on your computer or you drop your phone into water, if you take the battery out immediately,
you`ll able to dry it out and it`ll work again. That`s basically what police can do.
But also, he smashed it up. You have to remember that a cell phone is essentially one computer chip. It`s a computer chip that has a computer
and memory on it. Unless you break that individual chip up, police can recover everything because all they have to do is reattach -- you know,
obviously, the keyboard is broken, the screen is broken, but if that chip stayed intact...
GRACE: What about the fact that he took the SIM card out of the phone?
LEVITAN: Doesn`t -- that doesn`t do anything. A SIM card is just small memory card. All that that does is keep your identity. That`s...
GRACE: OK.
LEVITAN: That allows you to reprogram your phone. That has nothing to do with it. So yes, this phone was easily recoverable. Because he dropped it
in water, it saved all the information, Nancy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:23:44]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything you`d like to say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stoic, no emotion there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bludgeoned to death with a hammer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said that he killed Teresa Sievers, Mark`s wife...
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... with a hammer.
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. He didn`t describe the hammer or anything like that?
SHOMAKER: No, he didn`t. He didn`t give me any detail of...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just said that he killed her with a hammer.
SHOMAKER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. For those of you just joining us, Mark Sievers -- a takedown of Dr. Teresa Sievers`s husband occurs. Now we know
why, because of these secretly recorded interrogation tapes that lay it all out. Even a 1st grader can figure out this, much less a jury.
Joining me, Robin Ficker, defense attorney out of Maryland, Riah Greathouse, defense attorney out of Atlanta. Liz, thank you for putting
them up because I want to watch Ficker and Greathouse as I tell them the next big bombshell that we just find out.
The day of his wife`s funeral, the day, he`s at the funeral, the memorial, and he turns to everybody and goes, Hey, pool party, my house.
Put the lawyers up, please! Pool party, my house. He invites people over from the funeral to a pool party. OK. I think I know what you`re going to
say, Ficker, but have at it.
[20:25:12]ROBIN FICKER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Your prosecution is drowning, Nancy. Most of the first degree or second degree murders that are
overturned are overturned because there are lying snitches who fabricate, who exaggerate. And this little sweetheart is trying to keep her boyfriend
snitch from the ditch.
GRACE: OK, you know, I respect you, but Johnnie Cochran you ain`t. So can the rhymes, all right? I hear what you`re saying, but I asked you about
the pool party. And I don`t think, Riah Greathouse, that people are making up the fact that at his wife`s funeral, he says, Hey, put on your man-kinis
and join me at my pool, party hearty. Yes, that`s not right.
RIAH GREATHOUSE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, people react to stress differently. Some people are upset and others, they choose to celebrate
life. This is a funeral. He wants to celebrate it. He has his friends and family there...
GRACE: I`m so happy, celebrate life. OK. You know what? I need to write that down, just celebrating her life, because Matt Zarrell, isn`t it true
that he made a very interesting statement to his friend about letting go? What was it he said, Matt Zarrell?
ZARRELL: Yes, Carrie Kain told police that in the days after the wife`s death, Mark Sievers showed little interest in tracking down the killer.
The quote was, "Mark Sievers told the friend, At some point, we just have to let it go."
GRACE: We have to let it go. Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, joining me out of New York. Dr. Bober, I`m all about getting beyond grief.
But at the moment, as Matt Zarrell tells us, the husband says, We may never catch the killer. We`ve got to just let it go. The killer had not even
been caught yet, and he`s willing to let it go? I mean, his wife was barely cold in the grave, and he`s -- can I see the guest, please? He
wants to let it go?
DR. DANIEL BOBER, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: Nancy, the stages of grief are pretty predictable and most people go through them, but at different stages
and at different timeframes. But this does seem like it`s pretty suspicious and bizarre behavior and it certainly draws attention to itself.
GRACE: Dr. Bober, let me ask you something. In front of your title, it says -- can I see Dr. Bober, please? It says "forensic psychiatrist."
Now, psychiatrist means you`re not only an MD, you have gone on into the field of psychiatry.
But forensic -- forensic. I`m thinking about that. Are you telling me that your answer to what I have just revealed, what Matt Zarrell has just
revealed, is that there are stages to grief?
BOBER: Well, I`m just saying there`s a lot of variability, Nancy. But certainly, this behavior is very suspicious, so I mean, I think it`s common
sense at this point that, you know, something is being hidden, clearly is being concealed, for sure.
[20:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: "Dad, I`m naked on the internet," sobs "Dancing with the Stars" favorite, beautiful young sportscaster on the road, covering college
football.
She checks into Nashville Marriott. Little did she know, even though she`s behind closed doors, she`s being videoed coming in and out of the shower,
walking around naked in her private room, videoed through the hotel door`s peephole.
And to her shock, it surfaces on the internet, racking up 17 million views. Sportscaster Erin Andrews, the "Dancing with the Stars" host breaks down on
the stand, sobbing.
Well, in the last hours, torpedo. Claims, a hotel honcho, busted at a local restaurant table. I guess over their nachos. Actually replaying the Erin
Andrews nude video and laughing. He`s sitting there with his buddies, playing her naked video. This is a witness in the trial, making fun and
insulting Erin Andrews` naked body.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An average Joe was able to stalk and shoot nude video of an ESPN sports reporter in her own hotel room, room 1051 at the
Nashville Marriott.
ERIN ANDREWS, NUDE VIDEO VICTIM: It was my private time. I never thought this would happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I am sick. Polo Sandoval, CNN national correspondent also with me at the courthouse. Oh, everybody, this is ABC`s "Dancing with the Stars." Look
at her, she`s awesome.
Eric Alvarez was CNN affiliate, WZTV in the courtroom. Polo Sandoval, I am disgusted. No, this guy, does not work for Marriott International, but he
is a rep for the people that own the group, the Westin Group that owns this Nashville Marriott.
They own the Marriott and he is sitting at what? Tacos and tequilas? Where is he sitting at a restaurant, somewhere, and all of his friends are
sitting around and he`s actually watching a replay of her naked video, which is, oh, there you go, it`s in Margot`s French and Italian.
Can I see Polo Sandoval, please? They are laughing. This guy, according to people around, apparently it was so loud that people sitting around see
what he`s doing and start tweeting about it.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That includes the waitress, too, Nancy. In fact, that`s how this incident was initially red flagged ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: So ...
SANDOVAL: ... that waitress went online ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... mad.
SANDOVAL: ... and reported that there was this conversation and that this was happening and that these individuals were laughing. Now, eventually,
that representative for Westin Hotels came forward, and his version - his story here, Nancy, is that he ...
(CROSSTALK)
[20:35:00] GRACE: Oh, let me guess. Let -- put him up.
(CROSSTALK)
SANDOVAL: ... he was at his private dinner and meeting with friends ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Polo, let me guess, it`s a lot different, right?
SANDOVAL: When somebody`s friends actually busted out one of their phones and started watching this video that as you mentioned that has already gone
at least 16, 17 million hits or at least views and that`s when he says he asked them to put that video away according to his reports and his version.
It didn`t happen soon enough.
But it really does go to show you, Nancy, there`s drama that`s playing out both inside and outside the courtroom.
GRACE: Let me, everybody, you`re -- again, you`re seeing Erin Andrews, here she is. I think they are doing the tango. Oh, yeah, there they go. That`s
ABC`s "Dancing with the Stars."
Polo Sandoval, no offense, but you seem to be putting perfume on the pig, because sounds to me his story is very different from the waitress`s story
and whoever is tweeting this.
Because they are saying he is laughing and he`s saying, oh, no, no, no, no. My friends at this private meal. Private? They are in the middle of a
restaurant. Can I see that restaurant again, please? That doesn`t look private to me. There`s a lot of tables sitting around. What ` private about
that, Sandoval?
SANDOVAL: We should mention, Nancy, that that waitress eventually did take down most of the tweets that she posted, according to the reports that
we`ve been reading all day.
But she did keep one, which is a very important one, saying that she saw something that she didn`t feel was right, and that`s why she came forward
and she took to Twitter with her version of what happened in that restaurant earlier this week.
GRACE: OK, Eric Alvarez joining me in addition to Polo. Eric Alvarez for WZTV is joining us at the courthouse. Eric, isn`t it true that this hotel
honcho was a witness in this case for defending the Marriott, right?
ERIC ALVAREZ, CNN AFFILIATE, WZTV REPORTER: Well, Nancy, that`s absolutely true. Just a few days ago, he took the stand and basically was trying to
distance the hotel from the actions of Michael Barrett. So, he was here in the courtroom at the time all this started happening.
And once again, we did receive those tweets, several media outlets received those tweets from that restaurant employee and she specifically identified
Neal Peskind who works for the ownership by the hotel. She specifically said it was that individual who had the phone as Mr. Sandoval just said.
A spokesperson later sent out the release saying, no, in fact, it wasn`t him. It was the people he was with at the restaurant. But, yet, he was
here. The jury heard from him and then all of this started to come down a couple of days later.
GRACE: Let -- let me see Eric Alvarez, joining us at the courthouse, WZTV. So Eric, you`re saying -- who said -- who originally reported it was Neal
Peskind who was laughing at Erin Andrews naked video? Who said it first?
ALVAREZ: That was the employee of the restaurant here in Nashville.
GRACE: OK.
ALVAREZ: She took to social media and specifically tweeted that to several media outlets.
GRACE: And now he`s saying it was all of his friend`s fault and that he was actually the good guy in this scenario and he wanted them to take it down
but they didn`t take it down quickly enough.
Unleash the lawyers. Robin Ficker, Maryland defense attorney; Riah Greathouse Atlanta defense attorney. All right, Robin Ficker, could you
give me one good reason, one, why this guy should not be recalled to the stand and cross examined?
ROBIN FICKER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It would be highly prejudicial. Boys will be boys. They are looking at a video that`s widely available on the
internet. What`s wrong with that?
GRACE: Did you say that just to make me crazy? Did you say that on purpose? Riah, I hope you`ve got something a little bit better. I mean, because I
can`t really reach through the screen and like, grab you by your nose and drag you out of your seat.
Greathouse, are you going to actually second verse same as the first, boys will be boys? Because he is a witness in this case and now his credibility
is damaged. But the jury may never know about it.
RIAH GREATHOUSE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, I think it`s irrelevant. It has no relevance on any type of liability that the hotel has. That`s not
really ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I think it`s highly relevant, Riah, and you, too. Because this shows that hotel`s attitude toward this entire incident, it`s joke. Her being
illegally recorded in their hotel is a big joke.
This does affect his credibility. And to you Justin Freiman, is he going to be put back on the stand and cross examined about this?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, the judge has not yet ruled if he will be put back on the stand. So we might see him return and have to
answer to what happened at that restaurant.
GRACE: And Ben Levitan, is there any way I can look at this guy, Neal Peskind`s cell phone or his iPad to determine if he looked at this video on
his device at that time?
[20:40:00] BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Oh, absolutely, Nancy. That part -- that information ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Can they?
LEVITAN: ... would still be on there. And we know the -- we know the internet address of where -- where this video is posted. All we have to do
is go through his I.P. addresses or where`s contacted. We`ll know when and how many times he`s been on that website, Nancy.
GRACE: Oh, maybe he is one of the 17 million that have been downloading it. Eric Alvarez, WZTV, what about it?
ALVAREZ: Well, Nancy, I did want to clear something up now. Just a few moments ago, the judge actually addressed the jury and said they had heard
from all of the witnesses they were going to hear from.
Basically, this case, for now, is closed when it comes to testimony. He sent them home, he said, do not watch any reports about this case. Do not
listen to any reports about this case because when you come back tomorrow, you are going to hear closing arguments from both sides and then this case
will be entirely in your hands.
So, as to whether Mr. Peskind will take the stand, it certainly doesn`t seem that way, but it does seem that he could appear in a separate hearing
about punitive damages that could happen after the ruling in this particular civil case, Nancy.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Police investigating so-called inconsistencies from a "loving husband," after his wife and two daughters burn dead in a mystery house
fire where the "sweet hubby" is the only one to escape. Stunning new facts emerging now that could crack this case wide open.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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: Over two weeks later, the cause of the fire remains under active investigation, something we have known all along.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me is Karyn Greer, investigative reporter with our CNN affiliate, WGCL. Karyn, listen to what the husband said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cause is the couch, the cord behind the couch caught on fire, and then the fire got in the wall. You can see the wall. The fire
got in the wall and when I opened the door, it exploded. It is not (ph) under investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Then you can see the father, the husband, in this scenario, describing what he believes started the fire. That`s a little different or
a little unusual in that he says he came down the stairs, he heard a sound, opened the door, I`m not sure what door, and there was basically an
explosion of sorts.
And I`m just wondering if this had actually been caused by a cord to a sofa, it`s an electric sofa, if they would have already known that. How
could he know that?
KARYN GREER, CNN AFFILIATE, WGCL/CBS46 REPORTER: Well, Nancy, he said that that`s what fire investigators told him. I went back and listened to that
sound again. And he said, I was told. Look at this, this is what happened.
But, you know, we listened to it again and they only said that they believe it started in that room, in that living room area behind the sofa.
GRACE: You know, a lot of questions arising tonight. Will the investigation include things that have happened in the past? We learned that in 2015
alone, 911 was called to the home on several occasions. Karyn Greer, investigative reporter from WGCL, Scott Kimbler joining us News Radio 106.7
and Mike Duffy on the scene.
Scott Kimbler, what do we know about why 911 has been called to the home so many times?
SCOTT KIMBLER, NEWS RADIO 106.7 REPORTER: There`s been a lot of activity in that house. We understand at one point they reported that while one of the
kids had suffered a concussion. And they said that it was a black SUV that had run a stop sign and then run off.
But investigators weren`t able to follow up on that because the father had called the day after. There was limited information that they had to go on,
so that investigation was suspended. But there`s been quite a lot of activity ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Let me understand something. Help me understand something, Scott Kimbler. You`re saying that the little girl is run over by an SUV. She gets
concussion, she hits her head, she`s taken to the emergency room and they don`t call 911 or the police that day?
KIMBLER: Yes, that`s exactly what the ...
(CROSSTALK)
Grace: OK.
KIMBLER: ... report says. (CROSSTALK)
GRACE: All right.
KIMBLER: They did not call until the day after.
GRACE: Let me understand how -- let me just digest that for a moment. What can you tell me about this alleged, and again, the husband is not a
suspect. He may very well be a victim in this scenario.
What can you tell me about domestic relations or a domestic call where police go to the home or there`s a 911 call in 2010? What do we know about
that, Scott Kimbler?
KIMBLER: We understand that they have been to the house many times, primarily because of the alleged behavior of the mom. We have vomiting and
her being ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Oh, wait, wait, wait.
KIMBLER: ... unconscious or ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... vomiting?
KIMBLER: ... disoriented.
GRACE: Vomiting is not really a reason to call 911 unless I`m missing some -- some part of this scenario. I mean, you don`t call 911 because you are
vomiting. You know what, let`s listen to the 911 call.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do you have them on the way. Do not give her nothing to eat or drink, just try to keep her relaxed.
[20:50:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If she continues to vomit or becomes less awake, just lay her on her side.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How far did you fall on those stairs, baby? From the very top of the stairs. That`s about 20 stairs? OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what caused the fall, do you know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What caused the fall? You just lost your footing? She slipped.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Everybody, this year marks the 10th anniversary of "CNN Heroes," and today we introduce the very first "CNN hero 2016."
His work motivated by a troubling statistic. Nearly half African-American children in the U.S. grow up without a steady father figure.
Sheldon Smith was one of them, but now he`s helping young dads, like himself, take a better path.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHELDON SMITH, FIRST CNN HERO FOR 2016: I grew up broken. I was hurt, but I was able to overcome all of those things. What I want for these young men
is for them to be involved and engaged in their children`s lives.
To give their children what I missed as a boy, which was a great father, someone who would be there for me and give me the advice that I need to be
a successful young man today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You can see Sheldon`s story at cnnheroes.com and nominate someone for 2016 CNN hero.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: To Michael Christian on the story, I`m trying to interpret what I`m hearing. Everyone, what we`re talking about is a fire. A horrible house
fire that kills the wife, Kathy Patterson, and two little girls, Kayla and Madeline.
Michael Christian, what is this about a DFCS report generated, Genesis was at school and then after this happened, the children moved to another
school. What do you know about a DFCS report revolving around these two little girls?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yeah. Apparently this was triggered by a school report, Nancy, or a complaint that perhaps Mrs.
Patterson had been drinking -- had been drinking in the presence of her girls, and maybe even had been driving under the influence -- driving her
own daughters and other kids. So, that`s what triggered this report.
GRACE: To Karyn Greer, investigative reporter with WGCL, Karyn, what is the latest? Because the husband is saying the investigation is closed. But it`s
not closed, it`s still open. What does that mean?
GREER: The investigation is still ongoing because they don`t know what the cause of the fire is, at this point, and they`re also saying, all of these
things you`ve just brought up, this DFCS report and different 911 calls, they`re all part of the investigation to give them an idea of what was
going on inside that house before the fire, the fatal fire.
GRACE: But Karyn Greer, some of these reports date back to 2010. So what bearing does that have on the fire that just occurred, killing three, and
another question to you Karyn Greer, somewhere I read that -- in one of these reports, that there was one smoke detector in the home.
I looked up the local law. And if you`ve got a two-story home, every story, except, for instance, an uninhabited attic, must have a smoke detector. But
this smoke detector never went off. Did the father say that?
GREER: The father said he doesn`t remember if the smoke detector went off. And, yes, there was one in that home as far as we know, and fire officials
told us that because of the fire, everything was burned in it, so they can`t tell if it was a working smoke detector at the time of this blaze.
GRACE: Karyn, whatever happened to the DFCS investigation?
GREER: It was closed. There were -- they couldn`t substantiate anything that was claimed in the initial report, they talked to family, they talked
to friends, they talked to neighbors about what type of family, what type of parents the Pattersons were and they felt comfortable at the end of
their investigation that there was nothing to the claims, and the investigation was closed.
GRACE: With me, Karyn Greer with WGCL; Alisa Breneman with me, fire investigator with Robson Forensics. I just want to briefly touch on two
things with you, Alisa. One, the fact that the one fire alarm in the home didn`t go off -- the smoke detector. And, two, every electrical fire I ever
investigated that dealt with an electrical cord, there were warnings ahead. The cord would snap fire or there would be a smoldering smell.
ALISA BRENEMAN, ROBSON FORENSIC, INC. FIRE INVESTIGATOR: Right.
GRACE: Can you address those two concerns, Alisa?
BRENEMAN: Sure, I can. I guess my question as well, was just, you know, one smoke detector, I did not find that it`s stated where the location of that
detector was.
Had it been downstairs and it started to smolder downstairs, it seems likely that that would have activated. So my question is, why didn`t that?
Was it, you know, there -- no batteries were installed? Or was it upstairs? Those are some questions I would look into.
As far as an electrical fire, it does often smolder first. One statement he said the cord was on top of the couch, another one said behind the couch.
Either way, I would expect that he would have smelled something that was hot once he came down the stairs into the living room, he would have seen
some smoke. So it`s just the timeline of the circumstances don`t quite fall together.
GRACE: We remember American hero, Texas Officer David Hofer, just 29, killed in the line of duty. Served NYPD then the Euless Police Department,
an NYU grad dreamed of writing a book about his police experience. Loved his rescue dog, Mickey. Leaves behind grieving parents, one sister, one
brother, fiancee Marta. David Hofer, American hero.
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
