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Nancy Grace
Church Murder Case Developments; Killer Using Tinder App Used to Hunt Victims?; Airline Pilot Busted for Flying Under the InfluenceAired 8- 9p ET
Aired April 28, 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. Mom of three Missy Bevers at Creekside church 4:00 AM to teach aerobics. She`s murdered in the church,
surveillance video catching the killer in what appears to be police SWAT gear arriving just before Missy, kills her and leaves, face hidden.
Tonight, as police try to nail down the husband`s fishing alibi, bombshell tonight. We learn Missy Bevers`s father-in-law brings a blood-stained
shirt to dry cleaners just 96 hours after Missy is murdered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: According to a search warrant, a receipt describes at least one of the four shirts Bevers brought to the Dry Clean Supercenter as
red all over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blood-stained (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The onliest person that had a -- that was trying to hide something would not have done something like this. It`s a non-issue.
It`s a non-issue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The shirt is having DNA analysis conducted on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A Tinder dating app enthusiast lurking the city of Seattle? A 33- year-old Colorado Springs woman, Julie Terfen (ph), found dead at a storage unit after finding what she thought was true love with a man who uses the
highly popular dating app, Tinder. Tonight, police asking any women who have communicated with this man on Tinder, please come forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are investigating this case as a case of premeditated murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops following up on a missing person`s report find the body of a beautiful young woman in a Colorado storage facility. They track
down a man she dated and find out he was very active on the very popular dating app, Tinder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That entirely separate life can be equally important to investigators.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Reports cocktails in the cockpit for a jet pilot busted flying under the influence with a planeload of hundreds of passengers flying
cross-country. And when I say drunk, I mean drunk!
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Mother of three Missy Bevers at Creekside church 4:00 AM to teach aerobics. She is murdered in the church, surveillance video
catching the killer in what we first thought was SWAT gear arriving just before Missy, kills her, leaves, face hidden.
Tonight, as police try to nail down the husband`s fishing alibi, bombshell tonight. We learn Missy Bevers`s father-in-law brings a blood-stained
shirt to dry cleaners just 96 hours after Missy is murdered.
Straight out to Lisa Pineiro, investigative reporter. Lisa, thank you for being with us. How do we know the father-in-law brings a bloody shirt to
the dry cleaner? How do we know that?
LISA PINEIRO, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (via telephone): There was actually an employee, Nancy, who reported it, who saw the shirt come in, thought it
was curious and reported it to police.
GRACE: You know, Robyn Walensky, senior news anchor with The Blaze, I recall prosecuting a murder. And coincidentally, a husband killed a wife.
And when I went to the fire scene, I noticed all of his suits were gone, and his shoes. All of his suits and shoes were gone. And I went to every
dry cleaner all around. I kept going out, out, out until I found about 18 suits and I found the shoes in a storage unit.
And long story short, his response was, What idiot would do that? I mean, no idiot would do that unless he had something to hide. I get it.
But I want to get to the bottom of what exactly we know. When do you believe the father-in-law -- now, this is the husband`s father -- takes
bloody clothes to a dry cleaner? When did it happen exactly?
ROBYN WALENSKY, THE BLAZE NETWORK: It`s exactly, Nancy, four days after the murder takes place. And he drops off four shirts. Three belong to --
is a man`s shirt, like a -- you know, golfing shirt type style.
GRACE: Yes.
WALENSKY: And then there`s this one female shirt, long-sleeved, white, and it has all these blood stains on it.
GRACE: Now, let me ask you something. The female shirt was a size XXL, is that correct?
WALENSKY: That is correct.
GRACE: Something a man could have worn. OK. So it`s not just one shirt, it`s several bloody shirts. OK, let me ask you this, Robyn Walensky. Is
this their regular dry cleaner that they go to all the time?
WALENSKY: Yes, this is the dry cleaner in Midlothian that everyone uses...
[20:05:00]GRACE: OK.
WALENSKY: ... where I guess they do the cheapest dry cleaning.
GRACE: OK, next question -- for those of you just joining us, we learn that Missy Beavers`s father-in-law takes bloody shirts to a local dry
cleaner just 96 hours after Missy is murdered.
All right, Lisa Pineiro, investigative reporter joining me there in Midlothian. Lisa, are you saying one of the employees at the dry cleaner -
- that`s who tipped off police?
PINEIRO: Yes. And Nancy, you know, let`s remember Midlothian is a very small, tight-knit community. So you know, there`s no one there who hasn`t
heard about this case, obviously, and isn`t concerned about this case, concerned maybe about their own safety, too. So yes, this employee saw it,
thought it might be curious and let police know about it.
GRACE: Also, we`re learning that police have taken Missy`s vehicle. It`s her Ford F-150 that she drove to the aerobics class that morning. And they
still have it.
We`re also learning, are we not, Justin Freiman, that in her Ford F-150 is her cell phone, her pocketbook, her iPad and other valuables belonging to
her? Why would they take the pickup truck, and do we believe they still have it, Justin?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): We have no news that it`s been moved out of police custody. But they -- what is important,
Nancy, is that iPad may hold clues to who she might have been communicating with. They might be able to focus on possible suspects with that.
GRACE: You know, Robyn Walensky -- let`s see the mock-up of motorcycle gear. We were so convinced, as were police, that the killer is wearing
SWAT tactical gear. But after we have zoomed in on it, we are now realizing what they`re wearing is really motorcycle gear.
Look at the difference between a SWAT helmet and a motorcycle helmet, SWAT boots and motorcycle boots, also the SWAT vest versus the motorcycle vest,
SWAT gloves versus motorcycle gloves, SWAT jacket versus motorcycle jacket.
This is critical, Robyn Walensky. Tonight, we learned that blood-stained shirts are taken to a local laundry 96 hours after Missy is murdered. And
by honing in on the photos on the video, we learn it`s not SWAT gear, it`s motorcycle gear.
What about it, Robyn?
WALENSKY: You know, I`ll tell you, Nancy, it`s extremely significant because they are looking at the surveillance videos from all the local
businesses. And it`s 3:50 AM. So was it a truck? Was it a car? Was it the motorcycle that`s going by at that hour? It is critical if it`s a
motorcycle or a car that this individual was driving.
GRACE: Another issue -- to Lisa Pineiro, investigative reporter joining me in Midlothian. Lisa, we`ve been told over and over and over that there was
no car, no vehicle -- I guess that would include vans and trucks -- other than Missy`s parked outside the church. If somebody were driving a
motorcycle, that may not have been spotted. Also, a motorcycle would be very easy to hide.
PINEIRO: Yes, that`s very true. And actually, when you said that, that`s the first thing I thought of is, you know, remember what it looks like
around this church, that on the back side of it -- even though it faces a highway, on the back side, it`s a heavily wooded area. So absolutely,
someone could have found another way in, parked a motorcycle or some other kind of small vehicle, you know, there in the woods, and just walked on up
to the church.
GRACE: I also want to clarify something, Lisa. We were told that there was no outside surveillance, but recently, we`ve heard otherwise. What do
you know, Lisa?
PINEIRO: I`ll tell you, Nancy, you know, I walked around the building. I was not able to see any obvious signs of outside surveillance. That said,
you know, it doesn`t mean it`s not there. I just didn`t see it when I was walking around the building.
GRACE: We also are learning tonight that police are still trying to nail down the husband`s alibi.
Oh, thanks, Liz. See that sign Liz just put up for me? Thank you, Charles. "This property protected by video surveillance." Isn`t it true,
Justin, that we have now learned -- sources are saying that no vehicles showed up on surveillance. Now, where would they know that if they didn`t
have outside surveillance?
FREIMAN: That`s right, Nancy. Actually, one of the police documents does now state that they have her vehicle arriving outside, which means there`s
video of it. It says there is video of that vehicle arriving.
GRACE: Tonight, her vehicle, a Ford F-150, still with police. Why? This as blood evidence emerges as Missy`s father-in-law takes bloody shirts to
the local cleaner.
[20:10:12]To Dr. Lee Norman, chief medical officer at University Kansas Hospital -- Dr. Norman, thank you for being with us.
DR. LEE NORMAN, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HOSPITAL: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: How can you look at blood and tell the difference between animal blood and human blood?
NORMAN: Well, they`ll extract the DNA from it because animal blood and human blood are different. Humans have 46 chromosomes, and other animals
don`t have that same number.
GRACE: So that will be what, very simple to do, difficult to do? When will we have the answer as to -- the official answer as to what`s on those
shirts the husband`s father takes to the laundry?
NORMAN: Well, if it`s fresh blood, they will have no difficulty extracting and amplifying the DNA from that shirt. If it`s been washed and laundered
before it went there, then it`s going to be a different ballgame.
GRACE: OK, to you, Robyn Walensky, senior news anchor with The Blaze. Robyn, the husband has stepped forward and stated that he went on a fishing
trip he goes on for the past five years. They go to Mississippi, and then they go out to a series of islands out on the Gulf Coast, Shandileer (ph)
Islands. He says he flew there, that he had a rental car on the way back, that all of this can be confirmed. Is that correct, Robyn?
WALENSKY: That is correct. He says he has the receipts, Nancy.
GRACE: You know, to Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst and aviation attorney joining us tonight out of Charleston. Mary, thank you. I know
you`re going to know the answer to this. How do you confirm whether somebody was on a flight or not? And how do you know that person was the
one that sat in that seat?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, two ways, Nancy. One is, of course, thanks to Homeland Security and the TSA, all the security
checkpoints and all the sterile areas of the airport -- that`s between where you check in and get on the plane -- are covered by video
surveillance. They have to be by law. They can check the tapes.
And the airlines must do a passenger reconciliation. So if you went to the airport, went through security, went to the gate, maybe even got his ticket
scanned but then didn`t board the plane, they would be missing one passenger. And when they do the passenger reconciliation, they would have
to stop and find out who was not on the plane.
If he then left the airport again, that part of the airport is covered with video surveillance. So fortunately, we have a lot of ways to do a check.
Somebody could have used, of course, a fake ID for him, and if the TSA wasn`t vigilant, that person could have boarded the plane.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:16:35]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dad took the shirt to the cleaners and asked if they could remove the blood stains. My wife in the past had done
business at that same dry cleaners. So when he gave her his name, she knew that there was a relationship there and called the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a non-issue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You didn`t think it would look suspicious at all...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... to show up with a bloody shirt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did not.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, we learn that Missy Beavers`s father-in-law, her husband`s father, takes bloody clothes to the dry cleaner just 96 hours after she`s
bludgeoned dead.
To Lisa Pineiro, investigative reporter joining us from Midlothian. We`re also hearing reports that the shirts had attempted to be cleaned before
they came to the cleaners?
PINEIRO: Yes. I mean, that`s what they`re saying, Nancy, that -- you know, and remember, there was a search warrant to obtain these shirts. And
so when they saw them, they looked as if they`ve been already been cleaned, like, you know, if you have a shirt a shirt at home and there`s blood on
it, of course, you`re going to try to get that blood out before you take to it the dry cleaner. And that appears to be what happened here.
GRACE: Also, Robyn Walensky, tonight, we are learning that the cause of death is a blow to the head and that there appeared to be a struggle.
However, police are not embellishing on that at all. They say they`re keeping it secret so they`ll have a tactical advantage. What does that
mean?
WALENSKY: I believe, Nancy, from all the evidence in this case, that it`s very possible that this woman was -- Terri was carrying in and out
equipment that she was using for the class that she was about to hold there at 5:00 o`clock in the morning.
So perhaps -- and I`m just speculating. Perhaps that some of her -- the music or whatever she was using and transferring it in and out from the car
was scattered about inside the church on the floor.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Trinity Hundredmark joining me out of Atlanta, Jason Oshins, defense attorney, out of New York. First to you,
Jason Oshins. I`m sure you recall the case of Scott Peterson, of Robert Blake. It almost seems innate, instinctual, that perps go back to the
scene of the crime.
Did you know that we have learned, Jason Oshins, that there have been detectives and cops at vigils, at the memorial, at the funeral, at the
church services to see if they can spot anyone with that peculiar gait caught on surveillance video?
What is it with your clients, Jason Oshins? Why do they have to go back to the scene of the crime?
JASON OSHINS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, well, it`s a sickness, to some degree. You know, you mentioned Blake and Peterson. But here in such a
small town, I guess the implication for them, for police, is that it`s so tight-knit that it`s local, someone that the victim knew and would reappear
because their absence would trigger something. So they`re focusing in on that. I think that`s proper, you know, detective work.
GRACE: You know, Trinity Hundredmark, it`s almost instinctive. I don`t quite understand it, but I know it to be true anecdotally that people go
back to the scene of the crime. If what Jason Oshins is saying is true, and I believe that it is, that person may very well be sitting on the front
pew of the church there in Midlothian.
[20:20:05]TRINITY HUNDREDMARK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, and it is a small community, Nancy. There`s not that very many people. So it would be
pretty common, I think, for somebody to try to come to this funeral to -- to -- that may know her. And I bet police were looking out to see if
there`s anything that triggered them, that they saw that was odd or if something, you know, caught their eye.
GRACE: That gait. They`re looking for somebody with that unusual gait.
Ari Zoldan is with us, technology analyst, CEO of Quantum Networks. You know what`s interesting, Mr. Zoldan, is that the iPad and the iPhone and
other valuables were still in her Ford F-150. What can we learn from those?
ARI ZOLDAN, TECHNOLOGY ANALYST: Well, we`re going to find out very, very soon who she was communicating with, what social networks was she on, did
she have any kind of location-based services activated. We`re going to find a lot out of that stuff, and I think it`s going to happen very, very
soon.
Look, our cell phones are attached to us. This is the way we communicate. And I think we`re going to find an enormous amount embedded in that stuff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Randy Bevers says he didn`t think twice about getting blood-stained shirts dry cleaned at the same business his daughter-in-law
Missy once used. According to a search warrant, a receipt describes at least one of the four shirts Bevers brought to the Dry Clean Supercenter as
red all over.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:28]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife walked in on a robbery. That`s -- and that`s just an opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s done an about-face on thinking his wife walked in on a burglary that Monday morning at the Creekside church.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that she was targeted, OK? That`s my opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: In a stunning about-face, the husband first says that his wife was not targeted. Now he is convinced she was. Justin Freiman, what can you
tell us about rumors swirling regarding an arrest?
FREIMAN: That`s right, Nancy. There were rumors swirling about an arrest. They were so large, these rumors going around so much, that the family of
the victim gathered together to see what was going on. It got so out of control that police had to issue a press statement saying these are false.
There is no arrest.
GRACE: And tonight, the family is coming out, the father-in-law who takes that bloody shirt to the laundry to get cleaned, saying it`s animal blood.
Listen to the family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife has a small Chihuahua, OK, she`s had for 13 years. That`s her baby, OK? It`s just like a child to us. And we`ve been
staying over at the relatives` house, OK? We`ve been over to his house until late at night.
You know, the relatives have got two dogs. One of them, they got into a fight. The Chihuahua and the big dog got into a fight. The big dog had
the Chihuahua around the throat, OK? And when I got the big dog off of it, the Chihuahua was laying on the ground bleeding. You know, scooped up the
Chihuahua, headed to the animal clinic to see if we could save it. It didn`t make it, OK?
So carrying the dog from the house to the veterinarian clinic, OK, there`s blood, OK? So therefore, the blood on the shirt, OK? So the next day, you
know, we take the shirt and the clothes over to the dry cleaners here in town to, you know, get the blood taken off of it, what they can do. And
that`s the story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK, when I look at the father-in-law, I believe him. I think he`s believable because I`m just telling you -- unleash the lawyers, Trinity
Hundredmark, Jason Oshins. Jason, I find it very difficult to believe that somebody goes on camera, where people are sticking a microphone under your
mouth, under your nose, and you choose to give that statement.
Now, we`re going to know soon enough with a very simple DNA test, according to Dr. Lee Norman, whether this is animal blood. And if it`s human blood,
you know what? They`re all in trouble. You might as well hand over the handcuffs right now. But he seemed believable. And another thing, Jason,
it`s very easily verifiable.
OSHINS: Right. And I think the first thing you said, Nancy, was, you know, in reaction to that -- you know, that video of him, he was just very
matter-of-fact, almost seemingly annoyed about having to give the answer, but understanding the need to to sort of dispel any rumors. He was just
straightforward as can be and totally believable.
GRACE: Yes, I think his dog -- hold on. Trinity Hundredmark, don`t start shaking your head yes because you two aren`t out of the clear yet.
Mary Schiavo, I`m going to feel a whole lot better about this thing once I can put that husband on that flight. And let me tell you something else,
Mary. The husband came out and was talking about how hurt he was when he looked on line at what everybody was saying about him. And I`m sure he was
-- very, very hurtful. I advise him, Don`t look. But that`s the reality. They look at the husband first.
And he seems like a likable guy. So I`m going to just feel better about the whole thing, the bloody shirt, the whole thing when that husband is
verified on that flight to and from Mississippi. I don`t want it to be him, Mary.
So how hard is it to do that? When are we going to know he was on that flight just like he says?
SCHIAVO: Well, hopefully, the feds are cooperating. They`ve got video surveillance at the checkpoint, video surveillance at the gate. And if it
was -- the TSA will say they checked the ticket against the ID, the IDs matched, and we`ve got him on video getting on the plane -- and remember,
they do the passenger reconciliation -- that would be positive, he`s on the plane.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:00] NANCY GRACE, HLN NANCY GRACE SHOW HOST: A Tinder dating app enthusiast lurking the City of Seattle? A 33-year-old Colorado Springs
woman Julie Tureson found dead at a storage unit after finding what she thought was true love with a man who uses the highly popular dating app
Tinder.
Tonight, police asking any women who have communicated with this man on Tinder, please come forward.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A West Coast man known as a Tinder enthusiast is taken into custody in the homicide of his ex-girlfriend and accused of stashing
her body in a storage unit.
Now, investigators are poring through the dating app for clues about the suspect from women he may have contacted.
Straight out to Ari Zoldan, technology analyst and CEO of Quantum Networks, what is Tinder, for those that don`t already know?
[20:34:57] ARI ZOLDAN, QUANTUM NETWORKS CEO: So, hey, Nancy, good to be here. So, Tinder is a dating app. It`s a visual dating app. A lot of people
call it a hook-up platform, a hook-up dating platform.
It`s very visual. It matches male and female, males and males, females to females together and really gives you the ability to meet people very
quickly. You swipe right if you like the picture, you swipe left if you want to pass on the person.
GRACE: Everyone, a Tinder dating app enthusiast now suspected of killing a woman whose body has been found in a storage unit. It`s highly, highly
popular, the Tinder app.
Here`s a storage unit we`ve managed to locate and get video of it for you. Her body inside a van inside the storage unit. John Rush joining me, host
of Rush to Reason KLZ. John, what do we know about how her body was discovered, Julie Tureson?
JOHN RUSH, RUSH TO REASON KLZ HOST: They actually had a tip, a missing person tip. They contacted the police and through them, you know, basically
doing their fact finding, they ended up at this particular storage unit. Got a warrant, went in there and actually found her inside of her own van.
GRACE: John Rush joining me, KLZ. So, a tip led police there. That`s a shot of Julie there. And, tonight, police begging any women who have
communicated in any way with this guy, James Woo, age 38, to please come forward.
Interesting. To Jacqueline Kirby, media relations manager, El Paso County Sheriff`s Office. Jacqueline, thank you so much for being with us. How did
you find out the victim was missing to start with?
JACQUELINE KIRBY, EL PASO COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE MEDIA RELATIONS MANAGER: You know, we received a phone call relatively early that morning that her
victim was missing and so through some investigative efforts of our patrol deputies, we were able to locate her in the 4400 block of East Platte
Avenue which was the public storage facility.
GRACE: Oh, it`s the public? OK. Let me ask you this, Jacqueline Kirby, media relations manager, with El Paso County Sheriff`s, who rented the
storage unit, whose was it?
KIRBY: Mr. Woo was the one who did rent that storage facility.
GRACE: Huh. Can I ask you are police looking into, detectives checking his Tinder activities, how often he used it, when he used it?
KIRBY: Yes. We are actively investigating that aspect of his life and his history in addition to the homicide itself.
GRACE: Joining me, neuropsychologist, Dr. Sanam Hafeez. Sanam, thank you for being with us. Question, when you hear about Tinder app enthusiasts,
not just Tinder, people that guys that are constantly meeting people online and now we know of one of his girlfriend dead in his storage unit, what do
you do about that? You just buy it lock, stock and barrel, whatever is written on Tinder or any other dating app?
SANAM HAFEEZ, NEUROPSYCHOLOGIST: No, I mean, I think you have to be very careful because the less detail there is, the more reason you have to be
suspicious because people can, you know, especially on Tinder, you`re really just swiping.
GRACE: Why do you say especially on Tinder? What is it about Tinder?
HAFEEZ: Because I think like someone said earlier, it`s really a hook-up app. So, I think and I don`t know a lot about these sites. But I think the
information on it is really scant. So, you have every reason to be careful, meet these people in public places. You know, just because there`s just
such little information about them.
GRACE: You know, interesting, Stacey Newman, on a story, I understand he suddenly planned a trip to Hong Kong.
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, he was one hour away from the...
GRACE: One foot on the plane, Stacey, one foot.
NEWMAN: To getting to Hong Kong. He had actually made quite a trek. He went from Denver to Seattle, and then was planning to go from Seattle to
Hong Kong, but homeland security sweep in and scooped him up an hour before the flight took off.
GRACE: You know, I`m really trying to figure out, John Rush, KLZ, who gave the tip, who led police to that storage unit. Because he thought, I
guarantee, had her in the van, the windowed rolled up. He had her in that storage unit locked, and he was hightailing it to Hong Kong probably never
to return until he was nabbed with practically one toe on the airplane.
I`m really curious how they found out her body was in there and also, John, what do we know? Why is this guy so fixated on Tinder?
RUSH: That`s a great question, Nancy. You know, part of it is just in today`s world this guy was leading a double life in social media...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, check it out. Hold on, John. John, unleash the lawyers, Trinity Hundredmark, Jason Oshins. What are you going to do with
that, Trinity?
[20:40:02] There he is. There he is walking into the storage unit.
TRINITY HUNDREDMARK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. It`s definitely not good, Nancy. But we are talking about someone who was active with lots of other
women, lots of other people on Tinder.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Oh, you`re saying who don`t know who...
HUNDREDMARK: We don`t know who had -- who don`t know who had access to anything. I mean, we could have, you know, angry other women and he`s got
all these women out there. I mean, we just don`t know at this point, Nancy. It`s way too soon.
GRACE: Jason, Jason, do you really think that`s going to help him at trial? You put 12 women jurors up there, it`s like, hey, you know, this
proves nothing. He was sleeping with a lot of women.
JASON OSHINS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, we`re in the preliminary phase here. This is fresh. So, now we`re just going to have to take him to trial
right now.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: That`s the duty in the prosecutor.
OSHINS: Who knows what there is involved in between. Let`s just the evidence play out before we`re jumping to a conviction here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:44:58] GRACE: Reports cocktails in the cockpit for a jet pilot busted flying under the influence with a planeload, hundreds of passengers, flying
cross country. And when I say drunk, I mean drunk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re high above the clouds. The only problem is is your pilot high too? Prosecutors say a random breathalyzer test revealed
Dennis Murphy had an alcohol level of 0.111, almost three times the legal limit. But Murphy blamed the high reading on the gum he was chewing.
GRACE: Ray Caputo with WDO, how is this guy busted? I mean, he had already flown cross country with hundreds of passengers unbeknownst to them. But
when he opens up his cockpit, the authorities are waiting and do a breathalyzer on him. How did they know to come to his cockpit?
RAY CAPUTO, WDBO NEWS REPORTER: Well, Nancy, we don`t really know that, but if I had to guess, his co-pilot said that he saw Murphy drinking out of
a cup before and during flight. Somebody might have tipped him off because it seems more than coincidental they were waiting for him after that second
stop ready to take him for a random breathalyzer. Mind you, he`s only been on the job a couple months. So, it`s a kind out of ordinary.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute. Ray, this guy is in his mid-40s. I guarantee you this is not the first pilot`s job he`s ever had
with JetBlue. He`s been with other carriers as well.
A pilot flies a jumbo jet passenger flight cross country several legs drunk as a skunk. To captain Keith Wolzinger, commercial airline pilot and
consultant with the Spectrum Group. Captain, thanks for being with us. How often are pilots actually tested for drugs and alcohol?
KEITH WOLZINGER, COMMERCIAL AIRLINE PILOT: Good evening, Nancy. Pilots are tested, as Ray says, randomly. Now, that can be once, several months, once
per year, couple times per year. It could be more often than that. It really is random. And the randomness is generated by a computer algorithm
that`s sent to all the air carriers.
GRACE: I don`t know if I`m so happy with -- did you say a log rhythms and random checks? I think every pilot should be stone cold sober on every
flight.
And another thing, while I`m on it, did you know I just learned it on this story that pilots can fly in this country at 0.4, that that`s OK. They can
fly after a couple of drinks. And that`s OK.
Mary Schiavo, all right, CNN aviation specialist, aviation attorney, Mary, that`s not OK.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST & AVIATION ATTORNEY: That`s not okay. And most airlines have stricter policies. The federal law is something
called eight hours bottle to throttle. No drink eight hours before a flight and 0.04. Most airlines have...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, wait, wait. Mary, Mary, put Mary up. You kind of said that really quickly at the end of the sentence about all the federal
regulations and 0.04. I heard that. You can fly a plane in this country, a commercial carrier with me and my twins on it when you`re 0.04? What?
SCHIAVO: Sadly, yes, but most U.S. airlines have a zero tolerance policy. So, stick with majors and you`ll have better standards. And they also test
more than the Feds require. But yes, sadly, that`s the federal aviation regulation. Inexcusable as it is.
GRACE: OK, that`s bad. Michael Christian, how many legs had this guy flown?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Two flights, Nancy. He started out at JFK airport. He went to Orlando, and then he flew another flight
back to JFK.
GRACE: Oh, man. And you know -- put Christian up. Michael, you know how bad JFK is. I mean, you can wait two hours just to get your bag.
CHRISTIAN: Yes.
GRACE: Much less take off, land, all of that air traffic at JFK, it`s brutal. Unleash the lawyers, Trinity Hundredmark, Jason Oshins. Jason, he
blamed his chewing gum. What kind of gum is that?
OSHINS: We should sell that gum, Nancy, because then we don`t have to drink.
GRACE: Yes.
OSHINS: We can just chew. But I think the interesting thing about this case the 0.04 as Mary talked about certainly...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Yes. I think Doris Day made a movie about that. There were little candies that got you totally drunk. Yes, that didn`t work.
OSHINS: Chocolate liquors, Nancy. Chocolate liquors.
GRACE: I don`t think the liquor industry would let us go forward with that, Jason.
OSHINS: I don`t think so.
GRACE: But I mean, he should have said nothing instead of blaming his chewing gum. That somehow makes it worse in my mind, he blamed his gum.
[20:50:02] OSHINS: Yes. Well, listen, you know, at that point that he was caught, you know, clearly he thought of something. You`re right. As a good
attorney, say nothing. It`s the best advice.
GRACE: Ray Caputo, WDBO, isn`t it true he started whining about why are you checking me?
CAPUTO: Yes. I mean, he said, quote, unquote, "I`ve been on the job a couple months. Why are you checking me.? Why are you checking me for
alcohol and not drugs?" He was clearly worried. And also a report that his face was red. He was chewing his gum fast. Murphy was probably a little
scared when he got off that plane and had a, you know, he saw right before his eyes.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, Caputo, Caputo, he`s scared? What about me? I`m going to go try to smell the mouth of every pilot from now on. Now that I
know, Mary Schiavo, and you have confirmed it. You can get behind the wheel of a plane in a cockpit on a major carrier in this country at .04 blood
alcohol.
Everybody, one-third of the children in the U.S. grow up without a father figure. In the African-American community, it`s nearly half. Sheldon Smith
was one of them. But today he`s a role model helping young dads in his home town of Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHELDON SMITH, CNN HEROES: 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: See the full story at cnnheroes.com. Nominate someone you think should be a 2016 hero.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One hundred fifty one passengers were on board a flight. Murphy was pick for a random alcohol test. The criminal complaint
states his blood alcohol level was .111, which is over the legal limit. Murphy said the results must have been caused by the gum that he was
chewing.
GRACE: That`s 151 trusting soul on one leg. But there was another leg, wasn`t there, Michael Christian?
CHRISTIAN: You`re right. And that was 119 passengers, Nancy. So, you have 270 altogether.
GRACE: To Dr. Lee Norman, chief medical examiner, chief medical officer, University of Kansas Hospital. Dr. Norman, .04. What does that mean?
LEE NORMAN, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HOSPITAL CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Well, .04 isn`t the legal limit of intoxication in most states but there is no lower
limit...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Oh, wait a minute. Sorry, sorry. That`s the legal limit that you can fly with. But he was .111. What is that?
NORMAN: That`s intoxicated. Well, that`s intoxication.
GRACE: That`s drunk even for driving.
NORMAN: Yes. That`s right. And you know that affects judgment and their motor skills.
GRACE: Now, the legal limit in most jurisdictions is .08. If you are .08 or worse, you`re DUI. You`re busted. He was .111 and .091. Fifteen minutes
later, he flunked two blood alcohol tests.
And then blamed his chewing gum. Hundreds of people, lives at risk. Now, isn`t it true, Michael Christian, that they were concerned about the inner
ear, the balance, the eyesight, and what else? The brain activity?
CHRISTIAN: Yes. Those are the three organs that apparently are the most affected by alcohol and those are the three that are most important to a
pilot. So, this is really serious.
GRACE: You know, I`m really interested in this, Dr. Hafeez. That someone would not just get car drunk but get in a cockpit drunk, .111. Way over the
legal limit. And risk so many lives flying a plane. It`s almost a devil may care. Catch me if you can attitude.
HAFEEZ: I mean, addiction is addiction. So, someone who will get behind the wheel of a car drunk it`s not going to think that much more even though
they should, obviously, but, you know, they will argue it is a disease.
GRACE: Right.
HAFEEZ: And, yes, I mean, this is a responsibility to the absolute max. You`re responsible for so many people.
GRACE: You know, I`m going to captain Keith Wolzinger, consultant with the Spectrum Group. Commercial airline pilot. Captain, what do you make of
this?
WOLZINGER: Well, it`s definitely a serious situation and the legal process is going to run its course. I would like to point out that there has, to my
knowledge not been any incident involving injury or harm to passengers due to intoxicated pilot. So, while these incident -- incidents are very rare
and they`re...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Well, you know, captain, I appreciate that you say they`re rare. But so is the random testing. I don`t know what pilots are flying under the
influence, frankly, with the process is in place with the commercial airlines.
Let`s remember American hero, marine Lance Corporal Anderson III, 21, Canton, Maryland. Bronze star, Purple Heart, buried Arlington. Loved
military history, a scholarship named in his honor. Parents Robin and Norman Jr., sister Brooke, widow and high school sweetheart, Torre. Norman
Anderson III. American hero.
And happy birthday to Mary Cartwright. Here she is with husband Tom. Mary, you`re beautiful. Happy birthday.
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] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
