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Nancy Grace
Hunt for Killer on Texas Campus. Small Town Mortician Murders Socialite; Man Kidnaps Baby Daughter from Jealousy over Attention She Receives as Cancer Patient. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired April 06, 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, inside the police investigation. A female coed found dead on the University of Texas campus. Bombshell
tonight. The body initially believed to be a freshman theater major. Is her death linked to a series of unsolved attacks?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was the body of a female found.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Crime scene tape cuts across the walkway around Waller Creek on campus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The UTPD found the victim of a homicide on our campus. Our home has been violated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Breaking news tonight. A funeral director in small town east Texas befriends a widow 40 years his senior at her husband`s funeral, the two
taking lavish vacations abroad together, living the high life while he`s giving expensive presents all over town with her money.
But tonight, reports say the friendly mortician shoots her four times in the back with a .22, hiding her body in a freezer next to frozen meat,
pecans and corn. And for the next nine months, he carries on as if she`s still alive.
But is he caught on tape claiming she is evil and then he just snaps? And tonight, he walks free and makes a movie? Why are Hollywood celebrities
raising money for a cold-blooded killer?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A made for Hollywood tale...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The beloved east Texas mortician...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shooting 81-year-old Marjorie Nugent four times in the back, stuffing her body in this freezer under frozen food.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actor Jack Black playing the role of Bernie Tiede in the movie called "Bernie."
JACK BLACK, ACTOR: I will give you such a beautiful funeral, with all the roses in east Texas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is the movie "Bernie" from Millennium Entertainment.
Police fear for a tot`s safety when she is discovered missing from her home. But tonight, did baby Maddux`s (ph) own father kidnap and kill the
tot because he`s jealous over all the attention this baby receives because of her cancer treatments?
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. Thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Breaking, inside the police investigation, a female coed found dead on the University of Texas campus, the body initially
believed to be a freshman theater major. Is her death tonight linked to a series of unsolved attacks on females? We are live at the scene.
Joining us is Erin Cargile with CNN affiliate KXAN. Erin, thank you for being with us. Erin, what can you tell me about how the body was
discovered?
ERIN CARGILE, KXAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that part of this we don`t know,. Police are only telling us that this body was discovered around 10:30
yesterday morning, but they have not come out and said who found the body, who made the call or what shape this body was in, or how this person may
have died. That`s unclear right now.
GRACE: With me on the scene, Erin Cargile with KXAN. Erin, can you tell me what you know about where the body was found? I understand it`s very
close to the theater and liberal arts department there at the university. And there is a walk over a creek leading to the dormitories, is that
correct?
CARGILE: That is correct. The location is right across from the Winship (ph) drama building on campus. Also, the football stadium where the
University of Texas plays at is on one side of this, and the alumni center. We actually saw some people out on the deck on the back of that alumni
center eating yesterday morning around the time that this body was discovered.
The area, though, is along Waller Creek, which is a creekbed, doesn`t have a lot of water in it right now because we just haven`t simply gotten a lot
of rain. There`s a lot of tall grass, and it is wooded.
So you would almost call this area really undeveloped, a ravine, not an area where students walk through, or trample though. Investigators had
that area roped off with crime tape starting at 10:30 yesterday morning. I was out live at the scene last night at 10:00 PM. That area was still
roped off. Investigators were still out there after the sun had gone down. Officers had flashlights out, looking at tree trunks. Another officer was
traipsing through some tall grass.
[20:05:04]And as we speak, the area is still roped off right now, though the university put out a statement at 12:30 this afternoon, and they did
say that the crime scene is processed, so that part of the investigation...
GRACE: Whoa! Hold on, Erin! Just one moment. Let`s see that sex offender map one more time, please? Guys, 487 registered sex offenders in
a 15-mile radius.
To Tony Plohetski, reporter with "The Austin-American Statesman." Tony, thank you for being with us and joining Erin. Tony, I understand the body
is found in this -- near the creek, but it doesn`t make sense to me, and we have investigated the walkover across the creek. This is certainly by no
means -- there`s no indication she could have fallen off the bridge, that she could have died accidentally.
And also, Tony, we understand the body is in the wooded area near the creek, not that she is found in the creek. What do you know, Tony?
TONY PLOHETSKI, "AUSTIN-AMERICAN STATESMAN" (via telephone): Yes, that`s exactly right, Nancy. But one of the things that is so striking to me --
and I`ve also been out here most of the afternoon today -- is that we are talking about an urban campus in the heart of Austin, Texas, 50,000
students, 1,500 faculty and staff. So whoever carried out this crime, carried out this murder, did act brazenly.
Again, the precise location where the body was found, it is off a bit of a path, but at the same time, we`re talking about an area that generally is
very well traveled. There are a couple of also Capital Metro bus stops near this area, as well. So of course, one of the things the police are
going to be looking at, too, is who, of course, was in the area at the time that...
GRACE: You know, you`re bringing up a really good point, Tony Plohetski, because when you think of a university campus, you think of this idyllic,
possibly bucolic setting -- not necessarily true. This was on the bus route. Anybody could be there. That doesn`t mean a student is
responsible.
Now, what we are cobbling together tonight is that there are reports amongst the students we have spoken to that believe this is a freshman
female that was a theater major.
We also know -- isn`t this correct, Tony -- that the theater dance drama department was closed down early and that they have counselors available
for people to speak with. Also we believe, Tony, that a theater student has been missing, a female theater student freshman. What do you know
about that, Tony?
PLOHETSKI: Authorities have not formally confirmed that, but we do understand that a missing persons report had been made and that this --
that this potential victim was last seen -- again, preliminarily, based on information that authorities have not yet confirmed -- but what we are
cobbling together, as you said, is that she apparently was last seen Sunday night here on campus and may have been walking back to her campus residence
sometime in the area around 10:00 PM.
That is the last time she reportedly was heard from from anyone. Of course, as you can imagine, friends and family members...
GRACE: Right.
PLOHETSKI: ... and two (ph) fellow students here on campus were trying to reach her sometime after that and then couldn`t. And then that, of course,
generated...
GRACE: Got it.
PLOHETSKI: ... a missing persons report.
GRACE: And what is so ironic is there was a University of Texas callbox so close -- we`ve circled it for you -- right there at the entrance to the
bridge over Waller Creek, where you just push a button, and the police show up. She never had a chance to do that.
I`m being joined by a UT Austin student that we are calling "Stacy Smith." Stacy, what, if anything, did you smell the morning the body was
discovered?
"STACY SMITH," STUDENT (via telephone): I was with a group of friends, and we were kind of just walking along our normal path, which just so happens
to be going right past Waller Creek, going upstairs (ph) (INAUDIBLE)
And I`ve walked that path several times before, and it never -- I mean, it`s a creek, but it doesn`t have, like, any type of smell to it. But that
morning, there was a stench. I didn`t know what that was, and you know, I kind of thought it was off. But later on, as I saw that plethora of, like,
cops coming in, I kind of thought something was very (ph) suspicious.
GRACE: Joining me right now, Dr. Michael Arnall, forensic pathologist. Dr. Arnall, the smell has been described as bad, foul or like a dead
animal. OK. Let`s talk about the significance of that. That means dating the time of the murder. That`s what I want to talk about. Dr. Arnall,
what do you think?
DR. MICHAEL ARNALL, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): Well, it`s a warm climate down in Texas, if they`re beginning to smell a decomposing
body, then at least that part of the investigation suggests that it may have been there for a day or two. But you have to combine that with the
other cell phone evidence and witnesses.
[20:10:13]GRACE: Also, another thing -- to Erin Cargile joining us on the scene from KXAN. She was so close to her dormitory. She was essentially
between the liberal arts department and the dormitories. All she had to do was make it across this creek, across this bridge. But she didn`t make it.
What more do we know? Were police able to discover DNA? What are they saying about the safety of the campus, Erin?
CARGILE: I wish we were getting answers about what they are uncovering in this investigation. You mentioned the dorm. She lived, we believe,
according to records on line with the university, in one of the dormitories, called Prager (ph) Hall. I was around that dorm yesterday.
It`s very safe and secure.
I talked to a couple students coming out, and none of those students knew this missing person that other students are speaking about. But again, we
know officers spend a ton of time down there in and around the crime scene, but they are just not telling us what they have been able to uncover, if
anything.
GRACE: OK. You know, everyone, tip line, 512-471-4441.
Tony Plohetski joining me, with "The Austin-American Statesman." Tony, we also are hearing from our sources that they are waiting to notify the
woman`s family. What do you know?
PLOHETSKI: Well, that is our understanding, as well. And I know that authorities have been working around the clock to, of course, not only
confirm the identity of this young woman, but notify her family, as well. We had hoped and had frankly counted on learning the identity, the
confirmation of her identity this afternoon.
But even the best sources -- my best law enforcement sources -- are not budging on providing any information about who she is and how she died.
But apparently, it was a grisly death. That`s at least the indications that we are getting right now.
And I`m just being told within the last few minutes that Crimestoppers, the Capitol area Crimestoppers, is putting together a major reward to try to
get information in this case, that, of course, authorities are working around the clock to try to solve at this time and have really left this
campus very jittery.
It`s been years since we`ve seen anything like this happen here on the UT campus.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:16:34]GRACE: A funeral director in small town east Texas befriends a widow 40 years his senior at her husband`s funeral, the two taking lavish
vacations abroad together, living the high life while he is giving expensive presents all over town with her money.
But tonight, reports say the friendly mortician shoots her four times in the back with a .22, hiding her body in a freezer next to frozen meat,
pecans and corn. And then for the next nine months, he carries on as if she`s still alive.
But tonight, is he caught on tape claiming she`s evil and he just snaps? Also tonight, he walks free and makes a movie? And why are Hollywood
celebrities raising money for a cold-blooded killer?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tiede hid Nugent`s body in a deep freezer after shooting her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Taping the lid shut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the movie called "Bernie," a dark comedy about Bernie Tiede.
SHIRLEY MACLAINE, ACTOR: Why are you sticking up for his kind?
JACK BLACK, ACTOR: Marjorie, you`re making it very hard to be your friend.
MACLAINE: Go ahead, desert me, just like everybody else! Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For nine months, he kept up the charade that nothing was wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is "Bernie" from Millennium Entertainment, a box office hit movie.
But in real life, it`s not quite as glamorous as it appears with Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine. Now, true, the two did meet while (ph) the friendly
mortician who everybody in town loves at her husband`s funeral. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Room service. Hi. Just dropping by again, Mrs. Nugent, to pay my respects. Brought you some soaps and a little bubble bath to soothe you in
the tub and some chocolate cupcakes for a late night snack.
SHIRLEY MACLAINE, ACTOR: Come in.
BLACK: Oh, it would be my pleasure. Well, in high school, I wanted to be an evangelist to save the souls of my fellow students. A lot of them were
starting to drink and smoke and ride motorcycles, have premarital sexual experiences, all that. Oh, yes, please!
MACLAINE: Here you go, Bernie!
BLACK: Thank you. Esmeralda. When?
Miss Marjorie?
BLACK: One time, I got four teenagers to rededicate their lives to Jesus. But eventually, I realized I was meant for other equally important things.
MACLAINE: Oh, please, Bernie, touching all those cold, bloated bodies? Don`t you think you were meant to do something more?
BLACK: No, no, no, no, no, Mrs. Nugent, it isn`t that at all. Their souls are already with the Lord by the time I`m involved. It`s just my way to
serve and show respect for the life they lived and comfort all the loved ones that they leave behind. And some day, if I`m lucky, many, many, years
from now, I will give you such a beautiful funeral with all the roses in east Texas. I know it`ll be the event of the season in Carthage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:20:00]GRACE: OK, that is the movie "Bernie" from Millennium Entertainment starring Shirley MacLaine and Jack Black.
But the reality is, a dead body hidden in a freezer next to the corn, the frozen meat and the pecans. Joining me right now, Cody Lillich,
investigative reporter and producer with CNN affiliate KLTV.
Cody, thank you so much for being with us. Can I just fast forward a little bit to talk about the discovery of the woman`s body. Now, how did
police -- because this funeral director that befriended her carried on around town as if she were alive for about nine months. I don`t know how
he pulled that off.
But how did police finally become curious and go to her home and find her in the freezer with the meat and the corn?
CODY LILLICH, KLTV CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, it`s believed, Nancy, that Marjorie died sometime in late 1996, and after here family had
not heard from her in several months, police from the Pinola (ph) County sheriff`s office here in east Texas went to the house. And when they went
there, they discovered Marjorie`s body there in the deep freezer.
Her family says that Bernie was spending that time living comfortably. Investigators say that he was spending that time giving millions to various
community projects around Carthage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:30]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was becoming more possessive of my time, my energies, I felt like I was in prison. Now, I know what that feels like.
I don`t know exactly what caused that morning to happen. She was starting nagging at me about something.
BLACK: No, no, no, no, no! Jesus, no, no, no! What have I done?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You just saw the movie "Bernie" from Millennium Entertainment starring Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine. And when you see it on the big
screen -- it was a blockbuster hit -- it seems so different than the reality of a murder scene, where a woman, an elderly woman, this woman, as
a matter of fact, Marjorie Nugent, who is 81 years old, who was shot four times in the back with a .22 and crammed in the freezer.
All right, let`s take a look at the way this was portrayed on the big screen because now we see the beginning of the end. There is trouble in
paradise! Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: What happened with Carl?
MACLAINE: I got rid of him! I caught him red-handed! God knows what else he`s been stealing from me, Bernie!
BLACK: He says he was going to get it fixed.
MACLAINE: That`s what he said.
BLACK: Well, I don`t think Carl would...
MACLAINE: And those flowers he supposedly planted, they were supposed to bloom two weeks ago. He is a lazy, good for nothing -- the man`s never
done anything!
BLACK: I don`t think that he would ever do anything...
MACLAINE: Why are you sticking up for his kind?
BLACK: Marjorie, you`re making it very hard to be your friend. I`m going to come back some other time.
MACLAINE: Oh, just go ahead, desert me, just like everybody else! Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead! Go, go, go! You hate me!
BLACK: Marjorie, I am not going to take part in this argument.
(CROSSTALK)
MACLAINE: I know you hate me, like everybody else!
BLACK: No!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine in the blockbuster hit "Bernie" from Millennium Entertainment.
And while we`re watching, it`s very easy to forget Marjorie Nugent was a real person, murdered, shot in the back. What explanation is there for
that? Now, we believe that he is arguing that she berated him, she fussed at him. And so he shot her?
Joining me is Cody Lillich, investigative reporter and producer with CNN affiliate KLTV. Could you explain to me, Cody Lillich, why celebrities --
and I`m referring to stars we all love, Matthew McConaughey, Jack Black and others -- are having star-studded parties to raise money for this guy who
shoots an 81-year-old woman in the back and freezes her next to the frozen corn? Help me, Cody!
LILLICH: Well, that`s really a good question that we do not know the exact answer to at this time. We don`t know why they`re stepping up to help his
legal defense at this time, stars like Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey that starred in the movie that was directed by Richard
Linklater that are now helping out his legal defense. But we really don`t know the reason, other than they may have found an interest in this man`s
story.
GRACE: Well, you know, Robyn Walensky is now joining me from The Blaze, senior news anchor. Robyn, thank you for being with us. These two forged
quite a relationship. They meet at the husband`s funeral. It is a very difficult time.
There`s the real freezer with the real body in it.
So he meets her at a very difficult time in her life. Her husband has just died. He`s very solicitous to her, and they befriend each other. What
kind of relationship did they have? I mean, Robyn, I know they took a lot of lavish vacations together. And I`m not suggesting anything sexual. She
is 40 years older than him.
But what is his relationship with her? How often were they together? Did they go on every vacation together? Did they have dinner together every
night? What do we know, Robyn?
ROBYN WALENSKY, THE BLAZE (via telephone): Nancy, let me tell you, they were always together. They traveled together. They shopped together.
They went to musicals together. And he also actually became her full-time business manager. It`s kind of a small town feel.
[20:30:00] And clearly he must have known that her deceased husband was worth 5 million.
GRACE: $5 million - you are seeing the movie "Bernie" from Millennium Entertainment - This is not just a movie, this is a real life murder case.
Why has this guy walked free on bail and makes a movie?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Made for Hollywood tale, the beloved east Texas mortician...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shooting 81 year-old Marjorie Nugent four times in the back, stuffing her body in this freezer under frozen food.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actor Jack Black playing the role of Bernie Tiede in the movie called "Bernie."
JACK BLACK, MOVIE ACTOR: I will give you such a beautiful funeral, with all the roses in east Texas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:35:00] GRACE: That is the movie "Bernie" from Millennium Entertainment. And while we all love Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine, I mean who wouldn`t,
this is a real life murder case with a real life dead body. This guy has walked free on bond and has made a movie. And he has got Hollywood at his
feet throwing parties, raising money for his defense, you name it. What about this dead woman portrayed in the movie by Shirley Maclaine.
Nicole Partin joining me, a funeral director and embalmer. You know, Nicole, at the time when someone dear to you that you love deeply dies, the
people at the funeral home -- they`re there at a very critical moment in your life. Nicole, what do you make of this?
NICOLE PARTIN, FUNERAL DIRECTOR AND EMBALMER: I am completely shocked at this guy`s inability to perform on a professional level. I take this
personal. This is what I do every day. I meet with these families and care for grieving families and for him to prey on a widow during her most
vulnerable time, it is shameless, inexcusable, it`s deplorable and I am completely shocked.
GRACE: What can we learn from the murder scene? Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIRLEY MACLAINE, MOVIE ACTOR: Did you go by the cleaners, pick up my dress?
BLACK: Yes, earlier.
MACLAINE: Did you Lysol my kitchen counters?
BLACK: Uh-huh.
MACLAINE: Did you pick up the preparation H from the pharmacy?
BLACK: No, but I figured we go by there on the way to lunch. Did you still want to go to "Jalapeno Trip"?
MACLAINE: Yes.
BLACK: Still, will you be attending our dress rehearsal tonight?
MACLAINE: No.
(GUNSHOT)
BLACK: Marjorie? Marjorie, are you okay? Marjorie, say something to me. Marjorie, can you touch me? Marjorie, can you say something? Oh, no, no,
Jesus, no, what have I done? Oh god, what have I done? Please tell me what to do? I`ll do whatever you want me to do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, I could tell you what you did. You just committed murder, plain and simple. That was "Bernie" the movie from Millennium
Entertainment. The reality is, crime scenes in the real world, and I can tell you because I`ve been on plenty of homicide scenes, they smell,
they`re horrible, blood coagulates with hair in it, dirt in it, and you smell the death of a human body.
Now, this guy and there are no two ways about it, hid the killing by putting this woman, 81-year-old grandmother, that had forked over tons of
money to him, in a freezer between the frozen meat and the veggies. To Cody Lillich, investigative reporter with KLTV, what can you tell me about the
crime scene? The real crime scene, not an air brushed, anesthetized crime scene in Hollywood. The real murder, Cody please.
CODY LILLICH, KLTV INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well Nancy, it was just as honestly as the deputies discovered it, they had to discover her in the
deep freezer itself. There wasn`t much of a crime scene to be found. They had actually discovered her in the garage deep freezer and before they even
noticed that a crime had been committed.
GRACE: You know what`s interesting, Robyn Walensky with The Blaze, senior news anchor, he must have done quite a cleanup if they didn`t see any more
of the crime scene. You shoot somebody in the back, there is a lot of blood, Robin. And what`s the defense? He got mad because she fussed at him
and he wouldn`t go to his dress rehearsal of the play he was in? Really?
[20:40:00] ROBYN WALENSKY, THE BLAZE SENIOR NEWS ANCHOR: Listen, he`s a murderous gold digger, this guy, but keep in mind what he does for a living
or what he did for a living. He was a mortician so he knew how to clean the body. The sheriff deputy said that the body was cleaned before he stuffed
her into the freezer, like you say with the vegetables and pot pies in there. And then he put duct tape over the freezer. And Nancy, get this, he
even had a party in the house with people in there and she turned 81 while in the freezer.
GRACE: How in the hey did he explain she`s not at her own birthday party?
WALENSKY: That`s a great question. I`m not sure it was a birthday party for her. I`m just saying that, on the day of her birthday.
GRACE: Good gravy. Okay, with me, Cody Lillich and Robyn Walensky. Let`s take a look at the real life Bernie, not the Hollywood Bernie. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE TIEDE, CONVICTED MURDERER: I thought, well, she`s -- I better put her up for some time, so I just froze. I just panicked. So, I thought,
well, I`ll put her in the freezer, you know? Being in the funeral business, you keep the body cool, keep it cold. You tend to it, later on, and that`s
what I did. I just took out some food from the freezer room, right off the main -- the door that goes into the house. People think that she was in the
kitchen and all that kind of stuff. It is right there. It`s just a little pantry, its right by the door leading from the garage into the house. It
was no big deal.
Look, this is really what happened, I mean I did something horrible and I regret that every day for the rest of my life, and if they gave me 3,000
years in here, they could never take that away from me. I have to live with this every day of my life, and Marjorie comes and talks to me all the time
at night, when I`m asleep, and I`m telling you, I have to live with this for the rest of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, good, you should live with it the rest of your life. That is from the Longview News-journal. Stacey Newman, why is this guy, who makes
no bones about it, that he did it, that he snapped when she was fussing at him, as much as an 81-year-old woman can really fuss at you. I mean, what
was he in fear of his life for her? But long story short, why Stacey, why is he walking free?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, evidence has come up that apparently he was sexually abused as a child and that evidence was not in a
trial. So now they`ve determined the jury should have heard this evidence. So now he`s going to have another hearing, bringing in that evidence and
even the former prosecution said he should have gotten a lighter sentence because of his history of abuse.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Police fear for a tot`s safety when she is discovered missing from her home. But tonight, did baby Maddox`s own father kidnap and kill the
tot, jealous over all the attention she receives due to the baby`s cancer treatments?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So many unanswered questions about the disappearance of Maddox Lawrence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes me feel that this is the kind of thing you watch on TV and a crime show.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The family loves you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don`t know how any person could ever harm a child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Matt Zarrell on the story. Matt, I -- how do we realize the baby was missing?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Okay, so what we know is that Maddox`s father, Ryan Lawrence, dropped baby Maddox`s mother off at work in the
early afternoon. Maddox was with them. The mom`s working at a mall at a clothing store. Mom expects them to pick them up at the end of her shift at
10:00 p.m. And the father sends her a text saying the car will be in the parking lot.
But when she goes out there into the parking lot, the car is there, the keys are in it. No sign of the father, no sign of baby Maddox. She arrives
home at 11:00 p.m. to find a note from the father claiming he might harm himself and Maddox.
GRACE: The mom begging for the baby`s return, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN LAWRENCE, MADDOX` MOTHER: Ryan please, just please call. We just want to know that the both of you are safe. The whole family loves you, the
whole family wants you both home and we just want to know that you guys are in a good place and we`d love to see you both --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Matt Zarrell the baby`s body has been discovered, explain?
ZARRELL: Yes, so the baby`s body was found just a couple of days after the alert. It was pulled from an Onondaga creek, the inner harbor section in
Syracuse. Police searched the creek and a small raft was brought out into the water. They actually pulled a small yellow bag from the water that
contained the child`s remains.
GRACE: Okay, what I don`t understand, Matt Zarrell, up until that moment, when mommy gets home from work and she sees the baby is not there, the
father is not. There was no indication anything was wrong. What type of cancer did the baby have, Matt?
ZARRELL: Yes, the baby had retinoblastoma, which is an eye cancer that develops through a gene mutation. It forms in the retina and can spread to
other areas of the body. And Nancy, the parents were bringing Maddox to New York City for weekly treatments constantly up in Syracuse. That`s hours and
hours of driving back and forth every weekend.
GRACE: We`re now being joined by investigative reporter Tammy Rose. Tammy, thank you so much for being with us. So, I understand the mom gets off of
work at the boutique where she works at Destiny Mall. She goes outside, the husband`s not there with the baby to pick her up, it is late, 10:00, she
sees the car, gets to the car, goes home, husband not there, baby not there.
So Tammy, what are we supposed to think it`s a coincidence that the baby and the father are both gone? So Tammy, the body is found in the water, in
this yellow bag. What can you tell me about the father dressing up in a disguise, Tammy Rose?
[20:50:00] TAMMY ROSE, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Yeah, when police found him 24 hours later, he was near a thrift store and apparently he had a
disguise, a hat, and a scarf and sunglasses, he also had some camping equipment with him as well as a book on how to avoid capture.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Brian Claypool out of L.A., Missy Marris out of New York. Okay Claypool, give me your best shot. I mean a book how to avoid
capture, dressed in a disguise.
BRIAN CLAYPOOL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, the fact that he was in a disguise afterwards actually helps either an insanity defense or a diminished
capacity defense. If I`m his lawyer, the first thing I`m going to do is have him examined to determine whether he`s even sane to stand trial, and
then if he is, I`m going to argue diminished capacity. Because this young man had a ton of pressure on him, he`s trying to --
GRACE: Pressure.
CLAYPOOL: ... make enough money to support the family and then he`s dealing with the daughter, a little girl with cancer. That pressure led to this.
GRACE: Okay, you know what? You need to go over to the children`s hospital, because the dearest wish of every parent on that wing is their child lived,
that their child lived. And, Misty, I don`t know if your children have ever been in the hospital, mine have. And I would give my life for them to be
well. So what - Claypool just said it`s a -- that doesn`t mean a hill of beans to me, that he went berserk and killed the child because the child
was having cancer treatment? It`s more like he was jealous because of all the attention she was receiving.
MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, he suffered from extreme emotional distress. He lost self-control. He`s in this stressful situation where he`s
struggling financially. It`s a young family and a young child.
GRACE: Lost self-control? He could control himself to go into the thrift shop and buy a disguise, pick it out and buy it. The guy has on a wig,
sunglasses, a hat, the works and has a book, how to avoid capture?
MARRIS: The letter that he left to his wife shows that he had mental issues, and that`s what the defense is going to raise in this case.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a tough investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police believe she was taken by her father. Police say the family has had no problems in the past that would ever make them worry.
GRACE: Joining me right now is the father of this child, now suspected in her murder, brother, Richard Lawrence III. Richard, I know you`re between a
rock and a hard spot. This is your brother that you grew up with. Let me ask you, has he ever been in a mental facility before?
RICHARD LAWRENCE III, VICTIM`S UNCLE: No.
GRACE: And I know that you must just be totally shocked, but you also know the baby. I know your family is completely torn in half, and i want to tell
you that we have been thinking about you and this little child. Unleash the lawyers, and also joining me, Terry Lyles, psychologist and author of
"Crack the Stress Code."
Terry, you heard the defense that he cracked under stress, but when you crack under stress because your child is sick, it doesn`t make sense to me
that you kill the child. The argument is now being made he was insanely jealous of the child getting all this attention for cancer treatment,
Terry.
TERRY LYLES, AUTHOR AND PSYCHOLOGIST: Yeah Nancy, this really cuts to the core of who I am. I`ve never said this on national television or to you,
but I have a 30-year-old special needs child who has never spoken, never walked a day in his life and was treated daily. It`s one thing to have a
thought about making life better for someone else by ending their life but carrying that out is whole another situation.
So, I understand stress, that`s how I became a stress expert, dealing with my own stress. But when you have -- it seems a motive when you have a
disguise, you have literature telling you how to deal with an issue you need to do to escape the law and to evade this, it sounds like a totally
different animal than just stress. It sounded like a premeditated opportunity to make his life better at the sake of this poor child, and god
bless this family that`s having to live through this right now.
GRACE: Brian Claypool, Misty Marris. I mean Brian claypool, the baby was dead before the search even started. The baby was already dead. There`s no
history of mental illness, Claypool.
CLAYPOOL: Nancy, that`s not true. If you recall, when the Amber alert was issued by the police in Syracuse, they made it perfectly clear that there
were prior mental health issues associated with Lawrence.
GRACE: I investigated that, put Claypool up. Misty Marris, I investigated that because I was concerned about that, and now they are backtracking and
saying that that wasn`t correct, that they thought that, but they cannot confirm it. So, your argument, there`s nothing to base it on.
MARRIS: Even if he wasn`t in a mental facility, he`s going to undergo a mental evaluation. And what matters is his mental state at the time.
[21:00:00] GRACE: Okay, we`re on the case. Let`s stop. We remember American hero Marine Major Gerald Bloomfield II, 38, Ypsilanti, Michigan, third
tour, Purple Heart (inaudible) Eastern Michigan University grad, parents Gerald and Shirley, sisters Paula and Katie, widow Julie, son Ryan. Gerald
Bloomfield II, American hero.
It is Child Abuse Prevention Month and tonight we mark Childhelps National Day of Hope. Please, help children. Go to childhelp.org, Childhelp abuse
hotline, 800-4-A-CHILD.
Forensic Files up next. Thanks to our guests but always to you for being with us. Nancy Grace signing off. I`ll see you tomorrow night at 8:00 sharp
eastern. Until then, good night friend.
END
