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Nancy Grace
Missing 26-year-old`s Body Found in Cornfield; Pilot in Deadly Texas Hot Air Balloon Kills 16 on Board. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired August 02, 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. Authorities just identify a body found in a Hays County cornfield, a white Toyota Camry found
abandoned nearby. We`ve confirmed the ID of 26-year-old Brittany Parker. Tonight, her family begging for help to solve this case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body of a missing Texas woman has been found after authorities used GPS coordinates to locate her in a large standing
cornfield. Twenty-six-year-old Brittany Parker was reported missing by her family. Two days later, her car, a white Toyota Camry, was found abandoned
in a cornfield. Reports say the keys were still in the ignition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, Fairhaven. "Go ahead and do it. Do it, babe. Why haven`t you done it yet? You haven`t done it? Get back in your truck and
try again" -- to kill yourself!
These are the tip of the iceberg, just some of the texts honor student Michelle Carter sends her extremely sensitive young boyfriend, 18-year-old
Conrad Roy. After over 1,000 texts, plus e-mails, plus phone calls, she finally convinces this sensitive young high school grad to park his pick-up
in a local Kmart parking lot, turn on the ignition, inhale monoxide deeply until his death. In the last hours, a bizarre twist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "You will die within, like, 20 or 30 minutes, all pain-free."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Text messages, prosecutors say, show Carter convinced her friend to kill himself in text messages like this one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "You can`t think about it. You just have to do it. You said you were going to do it. Like, I don`t get why you aren`t."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Urgent mystery tonight as police search for clues, a boy and girl both found murdered behind a local upscale grocery store.
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Authorities just identify a body that is found in a Hays County cornfield, a white Toyota Camry found abandoned nearby. At
this hour, we confirm the ID of the 26-year-old body. It is the remains of Brittany Parker. And tonight, her family is begging for your help to solve
this case.
When you are out in a cornfield -- I don`t know if you ever saw, for instance, the maze in the Harry Potter movie, or if you`ve been on a farm.
When you`re out in the middle of a cornfield, you can`t see that far in front of you.
Straight out to Jeffrey Boney, associate editor with "The Houston Forward Times." You know, when you`re in the middle of a cornfield, you
can`t see beyond a foot in front of you. And as a matter of fact, Jeff, isn`t it true police had been at this cornfield before. They did an aerial
search. They didn`t see anything, is that right?
JEFFREY BONEY, "HOUSTON FORWARD TIMES" (via telephone): That`s absolutely correct, Nancy. Basically, they did an aerial search as well as
cadaver dogs, and they were unable to find anything in the area where her car was found.
GRACE: That is going to be a problem later on if this ever does to go trial, the fact that the body apparently wasn`t there when they searched
the cornfield. And then suddenly, it is there.
Let`s start at the beginning, Jeffrey Boney, joining me from "The Houston Forward Times." Jeff, she goes missing, and she is reported
missing by her family immediately. What do we know about her disappearance?
BONEY: Well, according to the family, Nancy, Brittany had never gone missing before, always kept in touch with her parents. And her friends and
her family told investigators that her disappearance was highly unusual.
Her telephone had gone dead, and her family was unable to reach her on the phone, and so she went missing. The Hays County sheriff`s office began
-- like you said, began aerial and cadaver searches.
GRACE: Right.
BONEY: And then on July 14th, they found her white Toyota Camry abandoned in Kyle, Texas, which was very unlike her because she had that
car as her pride and joy. And they were unable to find her. She was last seen on July 12th, however, Nancy, at approximately 6:00 AM in South
Austin.
GRACE: You know, what`s interesting, like you said, her car was her pride and joy. She kept in it pristine condition at all times.
Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert joining me out of Raleigh tonight. Ben, you just heard Jeffrey Boney with "The Houston Forward
Times" say that they kept calling. Can you imagine? Her mom and dad were calling and calling and calling her cell phone, and that it would ring, but
they said the phone was dead.
[20:05:12]Now, could they, realistically speaking, Ben Levitan -- could they tell if her phone was dead or if it was turned off?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT (via telephone): Nancy, there`s no way to tell. But if the phone is on, we can use 911 technology
to find that phone within about 100 feet. So that was the opportunity that the authorities may have taken to pinpoint that location. Once that phone
dies, Nancy...
GRACE: Hold on. That`s what I was going to ask you. I jumped the gun, Ben Levitan. Sorry. So what I was going to ask is, if the phone is
turned off or if the phone has gone dead, can they still ping it?
LEVITAN: No. But what they can do, Nancy, is every time you make a call and receive a call or send or receive a text, the phone company keeps
a very detailed technical record. It`ll tell you at a minimum which cell tower you used. And we use this all the time in search and rescue. We go
to the last -- the location of the last cell tower and you start a pattern search for the one mile around that cell tower until they can find the
body.
GRACE: I get it. So you start with that last known ping of a cell tower, and then you go, I guess, in concentric circles, going out --
starting with the tower and then going out, out, out, out, out from that tower until you do find (INAUDIBLE)
LEVITAN: Exactly.
GRACE: But hold on just a moment. Now, you and I have battled over this before. In the past -- and I`m talking specifically about the mom who
-- Missy Beavers, in the -- who was killed in the church, and you talked about how close a ping could be identified. And I didn`t realize you can
identify the location of a ping to as close as 100 feet?
LEVITAN: Well, you know, people are running around doing Pokemon, and they`re being able to identify a location within a couple of feet. When
you`re in an open field like that, the GPS system works very, very well.
GRACE: OK.
LEVITAN: When you call 911, by law, we have to be able to find you within 100 feet, by law. And it works extremely well in an open field like
this cornfield. If you`re inside buildings or in a big city, we have problems with GPS, Nancy, but there`s no reason they couldn`t be able to --
if the phone is on, to pin that phone down to about 100 feet.
GRACE: To Jeff Boney again, "Houston Forward Times," joining us tonight. Jeff, I want to go back to -- she goes missing. Her family knows
she`s gone. I assume she lives with her parents, her family. They report her missing. And they`re concerned because it`s very rare for her phone to
have gone dead, her cell phone, or to be turned off. So what happens then? Let`s pick it up at the timeline.
BONEY: Well, after investigators found Brittany`s car, they, of course, were unsuccessful in finding her body. And Nancy, it wasn`t until
those investigators, like you just talked about, obtained her phone records and were able to pinpoint the location where Brittany could be through GPS
coordinates.
They eventually searched that location multiple times, but it was the investigators who tracked her phone and were able to then pinpoint the
exact location of Brittany`s body within a cornfield...
GRACE: Well, I got a problem. I got another problem now...
LEVITAN: And think about it. We`re talking about an area with about 100 acres of agricultural and unpopulated property, and cornfields as far
as the eye can see. It`s about two miles east of the interstate highway 85 in...
GRACE: I got another problem now, Ben Levitan. If she goes missing on July the 12th, why am I just finding out tonight, August 2, that it`s
her? I mean, if they could ping her cell phone the way they`re saying, why has it taken this long to find her?
LEVITAN: Well, Nancy, we put up cell towers where there`s the most population. If you`re in the middle of a big city, a cell tower -- if I
know you pinged off a cell tower in Times Square, Nancy, you`re probably no more than 50 feet away from that cell tower. But if you`re in the middle
of a cornfield in Texas, that cell tower may go out five miles.
GRACE: OK. I got it.
LEVITAN: And if you remember...
GRACE: I hear you. I hear you, Ben Levitan. I just hate that the family has gone through this since she goes missing July the 12th. I mean,
Ben, can you imagine your child being gone basically whole month of July, and finally, you find out that`s her out in the middle of a cornfield?
You know, to Matt Zarrell. I understand that her body was clothed. She still had on her clothes, is that correct?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, it is correct, Nancy.
GRACE: Was anything stolen from her, such as jewelry or anything out of her car.
ZARRELL: Police will not comment.
GRACE: OK, to Joe Scott Morgan, certified death investigator and professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University. Joe Scott, here`s
an immediate analysis, all right, an instant analysis. Number one, she`s clothed. That`s not a sex assault, probably. Number two, nothing is
stolen, and so it`s not a theft.
[20:10:18]And most important in my mind, as far as criminal profiling goes, a random murder, that killer doesn`t bother to hide the body or stage
a scene. They kill. They`re out of there. They`re gone.
But when you know your killer, that`s when the person goes to so many extremes to hide the body, cover up the body. A random killer, they don`t
care. They`ll leave you right there where they kill you. But no, not somebody who knows you. That`s where staging and cover-ups and hiding the
body comes in.
What do you make of her being in the middle of a cornfield so dense that cops and cadaver dogs couldn`t even find her?
JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Nancy, if her death is at the hand of another, unlike what the popular press and
entertainment tell you, the lion`s share of deaths do not occur stranger- on-stranger. They are personal crimes. This individual took this young lady out into the middle of a field and left her there. Now, whether she
was dead upon arrival or she was killed elsewhere, no one knows at this point in time. But Her body was obscured.
How she got there is the big clue. And tying her back to somebody that has an interpersonal relationship with her that might want to hide the
body from, you know, anybody seeing her is very key.
GRACE: Guys, take a listen to what her father said earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s hard for a dad or mom not to do anything in trying to reach her.
The detective told us that the car was definitely, you know, trying to be hid. The car had the keys in the ignition, and not much else. And it`s
not like her to leave her car because that was kind of her pride and joy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:15:58]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Texas authorities used GPS coordinates to find the body of a woman in a large standing cornfield. The Hays County
sheriff`s office she they found 26-year-old Brittany Parker in the same cornfield where her car was found abandoned just two days after she was
reported missing by her family. Police reportedly told the family the car was hidden near the back of the cornfield. Police say cause and manner of
death are pending and an investigation is ongoing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: What happened to this beautiful young girl, her body found clothed, nothing stolen, in the middle of a cornfield so dense that even
cadaver dogs did not locate her the first time they were taken there?
Another issue is that her car, which was her little baby -- she loved her car -- was found parked not far away. So how did her car get there?
Who killed this 26-year-old girl? We`re talking about Brittany Parker. And tonight, her parents are begging for help in solving this case.
Another issue -- to Joe Scott Morgan, certified death investigator, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University. How did they
identify her? I mean, you can put two and two together. It`s her car near the cornfield. She`s the one missing. But she was very, very badly
decomposed, Joe Scott.
MORGAN: Nancy, I think that probably in this case, the first thing they`re going to try here is going to be dental records. That`s going to
be the quickest way to do this. And even in cases of moderate decomposition, you can still pull fingerprints off of the body. The
friction ridges have not degraded to the point where you couldn`t roll the print, provided that she has a previous record and you can go back into the
database and cross check it. My bet, though, is probably (INAUDIBLE) dental records.
GRACE: Got it. You know, another issue, Jeffrey Boney with "The Houston Forward Times," is this the primary crime scene? In other words,
was she killed in this cornfield or was she killed somewhere else and transported to this cornfield? Is it a secondary or even a tertiary crime
scene?
What do we know, Jeff Boney? Was there any signs of struggle? For instance, was her earring torn off her ear and lying there? Was the ground
around her stomped down? Was there a defensive wound? Were there any defensive wounds on her body, from what they could tell, although it was
largely decomposed? I mean, was she killed there? Because that is going to tell me a lot about who the killer is, Jeffrey.
BONEY: Well, Nancy, the disturbing part about this whole thing is, like you mentioned, she was clothed, and of course, her body was badly
decomposed. But that`s all that the sheriff`s department is actually sharing as far as details on this case. They`re not sharing who last saw
Brittany in South Austin on July 12th. They`re not talking about whether there were any visible injuries to her body. They did say that she had a
roommate but wouldn`t share if it was a male or female, nor would they comment on whether she had a boyfriend or not. So there are a lot of
unanswered questions.
GRACE: Well...
BONEY: And of course, as in any death investigation, they`re proceeding with the possibility of foul play.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Out of Atlanta, Kirby Clements, defense attorney, out of New York, Misty Marris, defense attorney.
Kirby, if there had been a boyfriend or a live-in, that would have emerged by now because the family would have already told police and he
would have already been a prime suspect because that`s where all investigations start. And we`ve heard nothing about that. So my educated
guess is there`s not a boyfriend or a live-in man in this scenario because that`s where the investigation would start.
I`m not saying they`re guilty or innocent, but that`s where investigations start, with the person you`re living with, married to,
dating or romantically involved with.
[20:20:00]My question to you, Kirby Clements -- and you and I, when we were on the same side, of course, had a lot of cases together. When you
don`t have a cause of death yet and you can`t pin down the timeline, that makes it really hard, Kirby.
KIRBY CLEMENTS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, it makes it very hard because as you indicated, the question becomes not just where -- I mean, not just
when, but also where. Was she killed somewhere else and brought here? I mean, her car was found there. They had searched that lot, but the body
wasn`t found at that time by cadaver dogs.
Was the body brought back there after the fact and dropped? There are so many questions that are left for you that it makes this extremely hard.
So I can appreciate in this case why the police are playing it very close to the vest and not letting anything (INAUDIBLE) at this point.
GRACE: Misty, I see you shaking your head yes. Why are you doing that?
MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I`m in complete agreement. I mean, at this point, I`m sure the police are looking into any affiliations,
whether it be boyfriends, friendships up in Austin, people she met in Austin. We don`t know. But the police, because we don`t have that
timeline, we don`t know exactly where the death occurred. We don`t know the circumstances. They`re going to keep that information close at this
point so they can make sure to do the best job to solve this mystery.
GRACE: I`ll tell you one thing, Ben Levitan. You hear Kirby Clements and Misty Marris and the way they`re talking. It sounds like she just went
out there keeled over dead from heart attack or natural causes. I disagree with that. And I`ll tell you a great clue, Ben Levitan. I know her cell
phone went dead or it was turned off, but they can still mine it for texts and phone calls. Yes/no.
LEVITAN: Yes, Nancy, you`re absolutely right. She`s got -- the police are assembling a digital diary of her last three months. They`ll
know everybody she spoke to and all the texts that she sent, and they`ll know where she traveled. There is a clue there, Nancy. The answer is
there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:58]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After cadaver dog and aerial searches failed to reveal any clues, police were recently able to obtain phone
records allowing investigators to pinpoint the location of Brittany`s body through GPS coordinates. Brittany`s cause and manner of death have yet to
be determined.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: What happened to this 26-year-old girl? Her family reports her missing around July 12th, and nobody can find her. Tonight, we can
report local authorities have identified the 26-year-old body of Brittany Parker, found in a standing cornfield, the COD still pending.
Now, my question is how they found the body. What led them there? And another thing. Could there possibly be any witnesses that saw someone
taking her body and planting it in the middle of a cornfield?
To Jeffrey Boney, joining us from "The Houston Forward Times." You know, another issue about her car. I`m very curious about her car. Was
there blood in the car? Has the car been impounded? Have they processed it? I know the ignitions was still in the car. What does that mean, Jeff
Boney?
BONEY: Well, again, Nancy, the police, as been reported, have been very -- playing this very close to the vest. They`re not releasing a lot
of information. And it leaves with us all these questions that we`re trying to get answers to.
GRACE: You know, to Dr. Ramani Durvasula, clinical psychologist joining me out of LA. Dr. Ramani, what do you make of the location where
her body was found?
RAMANI DURVASULA, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I mean, as you`ve astutely pointed out, a cornfield is truly a maze. So it makes me wonder if someone
was somewhat familiar with this and really thought that they would buy time by doing this, that it would take a while, despite the cell phones and the
pinging and all of that.
But there feels like a familiarity, that these things were proximate. They knew that the cornfield would be confusing, and they went there
because it felt like a very deliberate kind of a decision.
As your earlier forensic expert pointed out, likely this is somebody who knows her. That`s the probability here, that people who commit these
crimes know the victim.
GRACE: Dr. Ramani, question. I was pointing out earlier, and it was largely from anecdotal experience -- but what do you make of the fact that
when it is stranger-on-stranger murder, the stranger doesn`t bother with hiding the body, covering up the body, staging the crime scene. They
commit the murder and they leave. They skedadle.
Why are those killers that are intimately involved with or know their victim -- why the elaborate cover-ups in hiding the body?
DURVASULA: Because I think, so often, when they know the victim, it is often a crime of passion, or it`s a crime of "Get out of my way." It`s
love, it`s money, that kind of thing. And then it`s the, I don`t want to get caught. Whereas a random crime, which is so rare and really almost
more evil, I think that there`s an entirely different psychological mindset.
But when they know them, they want what they want or it`s a crime of passion, and then they don`t want to get caught. So thus the cover-up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:00] NANCY GRACE, CNN NANCY GRACE SHOW HOST: ...explain to me why this guy is leaving and he`s headed for San Salvador. They`re not even
going to try and prosecute him. They are not even cutting a deal, Keith Alexander. They are not saying, OK, you plead to 10 years, more and we
won`t retry you and you won`t have a life sentence. They`re letting him walk. They`re practically giving him a set of Louis Vuitton luggage and
saying get the hay out of country man while you can. I don`t like it. It stinks. Something`s wrong.
KEITH ALEXANDER, WASHINGTIN POST COURTS & CRIME REPORTER: You know Nancy, here in D.C., and Bernie Grimm talks about this, prosecutors do not want to
risk double jeopardy. They don`t want to try Guandique and lose this case. So remember, they really don`t have much evidence.
GRACE: Then take a plea. Plead him to something.
ALEXANDER: So, I think -- I think what they are concerned about is this double jeopardy. What they`re going to do is investigate further and get
more...
GRACE: Double jeopardy does not affect a plea. A plea does not invoke double jeopardy, that you can get tried thrice with the same crime.
ALEXANDER: But what the defense attorney -- what the defense attorney is going to encourage their client to plead guilty to something when the
defense already knows, the prosecution has nothing.
GRACE: Well, you know what, maybe not right now they don`t but if they worked the case up again, they will -- I just don`t want to see anything
unjust. Not anything unjust for Gary Condit, not anything unjust for Chandra Levy. Look, if Condit was cleared, he was cleared. I`m not fighting
about that. I`m saying this whole thing doesn`t add up. So Stacey Newman, is this it? Is this all she wrote? Keep walking. We`ll never see him again?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, as Keith said, they are still investigating this case but another wrinkle to the story Nancy, you have to
remember, Guandique did pass an FBI polygraph. He said he had nothing to do with her murder.
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BRAK)
GRACE: The pilot in a deadly Texas hot air balloon crash kills all 16 aboard. He had been arrested for driving intoxicated, was the subject of a
Better Business Bureau warning. Also tonight, was he on probation for drugs? All the passengers, including newlyweds, dead, after the hot air
balloon ignites like a fire ball in the sky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The deadliest hot air balloon crash in U.S. history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The hot air balloon reportedly carrying 16 people crashed in central Texas killing everyone on board.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eight miles into flight, the balloon went down after striking high voltage power lines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We look at the human, the machine and the environment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Devastation. The worst hot air balloon accident in U.S. history and joining me there in Texas, Polo Sandoval, CNN national correspondent. Polo,
thank you so much for being with us. You know, I understand that we really don`t know exactly what happened. That the hot air balloon may have gotten
caught in power lines, not really sure that maybe there was a malfunction when he hit the -- basically it looks like fire that makes the balloon go
up in the air and when you reduce it, the balloon goes back down.
But now we`re hearing, Polo Sandoval, that he had been driving while intoxicated. There was a drug charge. In fact, there were several DUI
offenses. I mean, I didn`t know you could even get a license for a hot air balloon where you take tourist up in the air if you`ve had a DUI. I didn`t
think that was possible.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey Nancy, there are still a lot of questions about this balloon pilot`s history especially as you mentioned
some of that questionable criminal history and some of his convictions as well. I can tell you that investigators here on the ground have no not
addressed it. What they are focusing on is his license, the current status of his commercial pilot`s license.
We are told it was rated for hot air balloon only. That means that this guy could not actually fly a plane, could not fly a helicopter but he was at
least certified to fly these hot air balloons. Now, despite that though, officials here on the ground, they`re focusing on all the evidence that was
recovered just not long from -- not far from where we`re standing here, because as you mentioned, still, there`s a lot of questions to be asked.
But the predominant theory here according this NTSB investigator that I spoke to, is what we continue to hear that this hot air balloon did
essentially made contact with these high tension, high voltage power lines. But until that investigation wraps up, that is just a theory, Nancy.
GRACE: You know, Matt Zarrell, I want know the truth about our investigation into his record. The guy having 16 people, now, all dead --
up in a hot air balloon. Who was this guy?
[20:40:00] MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, records show the pilot was arrested and pled guilty in Missouri to driving while intoxicated four
different times including in 2007, 2000, 1999 and 1989, and we had a 1999 conviction for distribution, delivery or manufacturing other controlled
substance. Now, regarding the Better Business Bureau, Nancy, they have had multiple contact with this guy.
Apparently in 2009, the Better Business Bureau warned customers about doing business with a balloon touring company this pilot used to operate in
Missouri. Apparently, this is the third time since 2000 they had warned him. He has not responded to complaints. There were complaints about
flights getting rescheduled and cancelled. He was not responding and not giving refunds.
GRACE: You know, I want to go to special guest joining us, Jeff Chatterton, spokesperson for the Balloon Federation of America. Jeff, thanks for being
with us. This is something I don`t understand and I`m going to put it right on the doorsteps of the FAA because back in 2014, the NTSB begged the FAA
to help regulate hot air ballooning.
And the FAA basically said, nah, and now this. They did nothing. That`s the sole purpose they`re there Jeff, is to protect us. To protect people like
these 16 victims.
JEFF CHATTERTON, BALLOON FEDERATION OF AMERICA SPOKESPERSON: All I can tell you Nancy is that we have pledged our full and complete cooperation with
both the NTSB and the FAA. And for that matter, any other regulatory authority out there that wants to take a look at this incident. I can`t
comment as to the incident itself. Obviously I`m not going to interfere with an NTSB investigation. The job of the NTSB is to make recommendations.
The role of the FAA is to decide whether or not to implement those recommendations.
GRACE: Let me ask you this then, what are the main safety concerns for balloonists? I mean, are balloons maneuvered differently than airplanes?
When you see a power line, is there a way to maneuver up and over it? It`s all about the wind and the weather, isn`t it?
CHATTERTON: Yeah, and the balloons do go where the wind takes them. The job of any hot air balloon pilot is to understand the conditions that he`s
operating in, and if there are obstructions and whether that`s power lines, buildings, antennas or anything else. Obviously, the job of a hot air
balloon pilot is to make sure that his balloon and his aircraft goes over and goes...
GRACE: Right. You know, with me now, in addition to Jeff Chatterton and Polo Sandoval, joining me is Josh Rowan. His brother, Matt, lost his life,
killed in the crash. Josh, thank you for being with us.
JOSH ROWAN, CRASH VICTIM`S BROTHER: Hi Nancy, thanks for having me on and appreciate the opportunity to tell the wonderful story of Matt and Sunday
and what amazing people they were so, thank you for your time.
GRACE: You know what, I was going to ask you about why -- what you think of the FAA refusing to regulate hot air ballooning, but you know what, you`re
right. I want to hear about your brother. Tell me.
ROWAN: Yeah, I guess what we want people to know is Matt and Sunday were amazing people and they lived an amazing life and they touched so many
people. You know, Sunday was a mother. She had a young son not too much different than the age of my oldest son. Matt was a visiting professor and
lecturer at universities in San Antonio.
He was a researcher and recently the chief of a burn and clinical trials unit at the Army Surgical Institute at Brooks Army Medical Hospital. And
he, you know, he was a brilliant guy and he had the opportunity to work in a variety of different places and he chose to work there. He was passionate
about burn research and things and what that kind of information and knowledge could do for soldiers and servicemen and air members who were
injured.
And you know, having been in the army, having been overseas in Iraq, I think he felt a certain connection to that and he`s going to be sorely
missed, and she`s going to be sorely missed.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A kindergarten teacher, a mother of two little boys gunned down dead in the kitchen floor of her upscale home. Tonight, police are honing in on
none other than her own mother-in-law. And breaking now, in the last hours, police reveal the mother-in-law, online, researching quote, "people who
kill their families."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shot and killed by her own mother-in-law. Elizabeth Betsy Wall.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s really shocking and stunning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More questions surrounding the murder of a 35-year-old Cobb County teacher.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Mike Duffy on the scene. Mike, what can you tell me?
MIKE DUFFY, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, Jenna and Jerrod Wall were allegedly in the midst of a contentious divorce. Elizabeth Wall, Jerrod`s
mother, came to this home here on Powder Springs, Georgia where Jenna was living. According to a police warrant, Elizabeth went inside and retrieved
Jenna and Jerrod`s two young boys, ages 7 and 8 and brought them outside to a waiting vehicle.
Elizabeth returned inside the home where Jenna was and shortly thereafter the boys reported hearing gunshots fired. When authorities arrived at the
scene they found Jenna deceased of an alleged gunshot wound.
GRACE: You know, she is shot down in the kitchen of her own home. Her two little boys outside waiting in the car. We are learning tonight more. We`re
learning she was shot four times. Was there another weapon found in the home? Back out to Mike Duffy at the scene. What more do we know, Mike?
[20:50:00] DUFFY: Jerrod Wall received a call from his mother Elizabeth saying that he needed to come to the home you see behind me. She abruptly
hung up. And when he tried to call her back, she didn`t answer. As he was on his way, he called his son who happened to be sitting in the vehicle
parked just outside this home.
He asked the boy what happened and the boy said that his mother and grandmother were inside and that he heard gunshots fired. When he arrived
at the home, he found his mother sitting in the living room holding a black revolver to her head and his wife dead in the kitchen.
GRACE: So he finds his mother-in-law of what, Scott Kimbler, joining me from 106.7 -- what Scott holding herself hostage?
SCOTT KIMBLER, NEWSRADIO 106.7 REPORTER: Well, from what we understand from the detectives and what we heard earlier in the story, she is sitting in
the living room with a gun in her mouth and doesn`t actually want to be bothered. From what we understand, she actually told the detectives that
she just wanted to be left alone and just wanted to die.
GRACE: Well, you know, that`s interesting because what happened is she kills her daughter-in-law and not herself. Take a listen to what the lead
detective on the case tells us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She made a few statements. She said, "Just let me die. Leave me alone and let me die. I want a lawyer, he`ll let me die." In her
web searches on the cell phone on April 19th, she had researched several articles regarding someone killing their family and themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To Ben Levatan, telecommunications expert, Ben, have you taken a look at the searches this mother-in-law did? What do they reveal?
BEN LEVATAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Nancy, obviously, this is her phone. It`s in her possession and, you know, all the records indicate that
she was making these searches at a time before the murders took place, Nancy. This -- I don`t know how you get around this.
GRACE: What searches? What were they? Wrongful death lawsuits, people who kill their families. What other searches were made, Michael Christian?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: This woman, Elizabeth Wall was sending some derogatory comments on Facebook to the victims Facebook page
and one of those was read in court, and it said, "What God is saying and what you are hearing are two distinctively different things, which is
proven by what you are doing. God have mercy on your soul."
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jenna Wall was a kindergarten teacher at Kemp Elementary. Police say she shot and killed her daughter-in-law, Jenna, at
this Powder Springs home just feet from Wall`s two grandsons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve been able to get a good bit of information from them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I know that animosity can run high during divorces but to shoot your daughter-in-law dead. To Dr. Michelle Dupre, forensic pathologist joining
me out of Columbia. Dr. Dupre, so great to have you on with us tonight. Thank you. How can we tell from the four bullet wounds whether she was
trying to defend herself? Is there way to tell that?
MICHELLE DUPRE, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Nancy, we would look at the trajectory of all the bullet wounds and determine the angle at which they
entered the body, and from that we can draw some conclusions. We also look at how far away the gun was held toward the target to determine if it was
close range or distant or anything like that to see if maybe there was a struggle. So, we can tell a lot of things by actually looking at the wounds
themselves.
GRACE: You know you`re right. For instance, if the bullets are to the back of the head or to the back, then you`ll know that she, the mother-in-law,
was not under attack. You know, to Dr. Tiffany Sanders, joining me in addition to Dr. Michelle Dupre -- Tiffany Sanders, psychologist --this
takes the mother-in-law, the evil mother-in-law to a whole new level.
TIFFANY SANDERS, PSYCHOLOGIST: Right, Nancy. These are stories you just can`t make up. I am concerned that the mother-in-law forgot she was the
mother-in-law. It sounds like a sorted, twisted love affair and that she was hurt that her husband was -- her son was cheating on her. Again, it is
very disgusting and it`s a mess relationship.
Only people with unhealthy boundaries or unhealthy relationships or maybe mentally disturbed do these sorts of thing, and that`s why she was
hospitalized at least two weeks prior to the murder
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Bernie Grimm and Kenya Johnson -- OK, Bernie Grimm, there`s no evidence there was another weapon in that home. So, this
can`t possibly be self-defense just because the daughter may have slapped the mother-in-law. That doesn`t give her a right to shoot her four times. I
don`t even have evidence of a slap.
BERNIE GRIMM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, I mean thank God there`s no weapons this my mother-in-law`s home because I wouldn`t be around to do this
wonderful show now and again. But, yeah, it`s tragic. It`s sad. There are kids in the home...
GRACE: That`s all you got for me? It`s tragic and it`s sad. You`re the defense lawyer Grimm. You`re the defense lawyer. What about it Kenya?
GRIMM: I`m leading up to it. I`m trying to get the jury to hear me, but you got those fancy Loubou shoes. I can`t overcome that.
KENYA JOHNSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Investigators are going to be looking to see whether there were prior difficulties between the parties`s whether
there had been previous threats. And her internet searches goes toward premeditation. We`ve got to look and see if there was some sort of threat
that we can easily translate.
[21:00:00] GRACE: OK, Grimm, Johnson, Dupre, Sanders, Levatan and Kimbler, thank you. We remember American hero Army staff sergeant Christopher
Everet, just 23, Huntsville, Texas. Corrections officer, loved the outdoors. Parents Patrick and Lorraine, sister Dawn, brother, Kyle serving
the Marines -- be on safe. Christopher Everett, American hero. Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. Nancy Grace signing
off. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern, and until then, good night friend.
END
