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Nancy Grace
Strange History of Man Charged in Child`s Kidnap and Murder; Schoolboy Kills His Own Grandmother; Man Receives No Jail Time After Molesting Two Teen Girls
Aired August 25, 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. A search for a missing 5-year- old little Minnesota girl comes to a tragic end, her body found in a rural area just 90 minutes from home, little Alayna snatched from her own bed at
night. Cops hone in on a suspect, a family friend that works with Daddy. In the last hours, a bizarre twist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a stranger-type situation -- co-worker, family friend of the child`s father.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officers made contact with Anderson in knee-deep water in a swampy area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her body was found submerged in water and hidden under some brush and other debris.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely I`m offended (ph). They are -- they`re Heartbroken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Live, rural Pennsylvania, a schoolboy takes aim at his grandmother, shooting her dead. Motive? Grandma insisted he go to school that day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixty-year-old Sandra Orten (ph) dead with a single gunshot wound to her head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We developed a suspect who turned out to be a juvenile.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Troopers say 14-year-old Hunter Riley Rieser (ph) fatally shot his grandmother with a .22-caliber rifle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s been having some issues related to discipline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Outrage tonight. A firestorm erupts when a convicted sex attacker walks free, no jail time even after molesting two unconscious teen girls?
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. The search for a missing 5-year-old little Minnesota girl comes to a tragic end, her body found in a rural area just 90 minutes
from home, Laney (ph) -- Alayna -- snatched from her own bed in the middle of the night.
Well, in the last hours, we learn cops not only have honed in on a suspect, a family friend that works with Daddy, but as we go to air, we learn of a
bizarre twist.
Straight out to Pat Lalama, managing editor of "Crime Watch Daily" with Chris Hansen. Pat, thanks for being with us. What can you tell me about
this neighbor?
PAT LALAMA, "CRIME WATCH DAILY": Well, Nancy, it`s stunning and could be possibly a precursor. Let`s go back 10 years. Sources from reports
locally are saying this, that a woman claims incredible allegations that this man, Zachary Anderson, when he was about 16, kept leaving notes on her
car saying, Hey, you know, do you want me? Do you want a boyfriend? I think you`re so hot.
She ignored them. She laughed it off. Then he shows up...
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Wait a minute! So I`ve got a dead 5-year-old little girl, OK?
LALAMA: Yes.
GRACE: And he is apprehended a few feet away from the child`s dead body, hidden, naked, submerged in water under her pink "Frozen" blanket. Can I
see that blanket again, please? And now I learn that this guy had been in serious trouble with the law before and nothing happened?
LALAMA: Well, something did happen because it got worse. He harassed the woman insufferably. But then he shows up drunk in his boxers. Remember,
he`s only 16. This is about 10 years ago. And he`s saying very sexually overt things to her, like, I want to do this to you, I want to do that,
come on, you know you want to.
Then she finds her cigarettes and her cell phone missing in the middle of the night. She finally calls the cops. He gets -- according to this
report, according to these local sources, she calls the cops, he gets arrested for burglary and does community service. That`s what we know that
allegedly happened about 10 years ago, when he was 16.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, I want to go through with a fine-toothed comb what we know about what happened before, what exactly he did, how he tried to break
into the woman`s home, speaking all sorts of foul and offensive language, that he stole from her home, he burgled into the neighbor`s home while she
was in there asleep with her children.
And finally, the woman got so afraid for her little children, about the age of Laney, that they moved. This guy scared the family so much that they
moved.
But right now, we`re developing a brand-new timeline regarding the time little Laney disappears from her own bed in her own home. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Matt Ertl and Zach Anderson arrived together at Riverside Tavern in Forest City on Friday night around 10:30. They came
after a softball game. The team, the River Rats, is sponsored by the bar.
I`m told Matt and Zach are regulars on Friday nights after softball. On the 19th, they played the jukebox and hung out. Zach had two beers in two
hours. He paid in cash. The bar closes at 1:00, and that`s when they left. The two had a driver.
From there, the group arrived at Gordy`s bar in Watkins about 1:30, just blocks from the Ertl home. Alayna`s mom, Kayla (ph), was also there. Zach
bought the Ertls a beer or two. He drank vodka Red Bull (ph). The bar only takes cash.
They joked around and told stories. Zach talked about how he loved to hunt at his family cabin, the same cabin where police found him and discovered
Alayna`s body. The group ordered a pizza and took it to go.
The bar closed at 2:00. They stayed until about 2:30. According to the statement of probable cause, that`s the same time Kayla Ertl moved Alayna
to her bedroom. That`s the last time she saw her.
Matt Ertl got home around 2:30. Anderson arrived between 3:30 and 3:45. He and Matt talked until about 4:00 in the morning, when Matt retired for
the evening. By 8:30 AM, Alayna and Anderson were missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight back to Matt Zarrell. Matt, now we`re getting a very clear picture of what happened to little Alayna. She was found completely
naked. The police that found her said that they were convinced that she had been assaulted, a 5-year-old little girl.
I want to look in depth, Matt Zarrell, at what happened just a few short years ago and try to figure out why this guy, Zachary Todd Anderson, was
not already behind bars. Why was he walking free to allegedly murder a 5- year-old little girl, Matt?
I want to start at the beginning. What are the allegations with the previous neighbor who had little children Alayna`s age?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, Nancy, she did have little children. Just for a frame of reference, the woman was 31
years old. Anderson, as you mentioned, was 16. They were next-door neighbors.
Now, shortly after the woman moved in, so right after she started moving in, she claims that she started receiving notes on her car. The notes said
things like, quote, "You`re super hot. I`d like to be your boyfriend." In fact, one of them said, "And if you want a boyfriend, call this number."
And according to the report, he left his phone number on the note.
The woman says she never called because she said, Who would call that number? Then there were incidents with the cigarettes, where she`d go in
her garage and she`d smoke cigarettes, and then she`d discover moments later, her cigarettes were suddenly gone.
Then we have this significant incident in that December of that year. Anderson shows up, according to this report, in the middle of the night.
He`s completely intoxicated. He`s got no clothes on, just his boxer shorts. He is pounding...
GRACE: OK, wait, wait, wait, wait! Unleash the lawyers. Joining me, Ashley Willcott, certified child welfare law specialist, Alex Sanchez,
defense attorney out of New York, and Margie Mow, defense attorney out of LA. Also with me, psychoanalyst and author Bethany Marshall.
In this case, Ashley, he pled guilty to going into 31-year-old next-door neighbor mom`s home, stealing her cell phone -- he had been in there many
times -- taking cigarettes that she had smoked, very odd behavior, using the F word, Don`t you want to F me, I want to F you, and even tried force
his way into her home through her front door. It was after that, she moves, Ashley.
This guy should have already been in jail!
ASHLEY WILLCOTT, CERTIFIED CHILD WELFARE LAW SPECIALIST: No, I completely agree. And here`s the issue, Nancy. No 16-year-old does that. It`s not
normal behavior. It`s not something you should expect as normal behavior. So if and when this happens, you got to report it right away. If
somebody`s banging on your door at 16 in the middle of the night and saying, Hey, I want to F you and let me in and you want to do it to me,
that`s not normal behavior.
Should have been reported. Should have been investigated. I don`t know what happened, but it`s not normal. It`s perpetrator (ph) behavior.
GRACE: No, it is not normal, and because he didn`t do jail time or get serious treatment then, he`s out walking free to sex assault and murder 5-
year-old Alayna.
Dr. Bethany Marshall, help me out here.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, what I`m concerned about in this case is the stalking behavior alongside the deviance. First of all, it
starts so young. He`s 16 years of age, and there may have been a lead-up stage prior to 16.
He`s preoccupied with this 31-year-old neighbor. And when he knocks on the door drunk and says, I want to F you and I know you want to F me, he`s
confusing what`s in his mind with what`s in the neighbor`s mind.
So there`s confusion between self and other, which is what we see with pedophiles. They feel that the child is as attracted to them as they are
to the child. So we see the genesis of the disorder all along.
GRACE: Also, Dr. Bethany Marshall, the fact that he had been going to the little girl`s home a lot of Friday nights during the summer under the guise
of going over after he and the dad played softball together -- he had been not only been grooming the little girl to trust him, but grooming the
parents to trust him.
MARSHALL: He groomed the entire family. And Nancy, I think it`s significant that he only drank two beers while the rest of the family is
out drinking with him. It told me that he wanted to stay sober enough while everybody else is drinking.
The dad comes home at 2:30 in the morning. He goes over to the house between 3:30 and 3:45, talks to the dad until 4:15 in the morning. To me,
this is this very creepy stalking behavior that comes after a long history of grooming this family. He was determined to get ahold of that little
girl that night.
GRACE: Joining me right now is a family friend and next-door neighbor of the victim, Jenny Rowan. Jenny, thank you for being with us.
JENNY ROWAN, FAMILY FRIEND AND NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR (via telephone): Yes, you`re welcome. Thanks for having me.
GRACE: Jenny, I know that a thousand-plus people -- that`s practically the whole town -- gathered for a vigil for little Laney.
ROWAN: Yes.
GRACE: What can you tell me about her?
ROWAN: Oh, she was such an amazing little girl. She was a fixture in our community. She -- on any given day, you could see her outside riding her
bike. She would always have dirty bare feet because she was playing in the dirt in the back yard, riding down the street on her bike or her scooter
with a sparkly pink dress and pigtails. And she`d play with frogs (ph) and baby dolls.
And you know, she was just the sweetest little thing. We all loved her a ton.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ertl`s parents realize she`s missing from her home, along their house guest, Zachary Anderson. Their truck was also stolen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body of Alayna Ertl was been located. The suspect is in custody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Watkins neighborhood began another devastating chapter of grief, rallying around the Ertl family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s heartbreaking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: What happened the night that this little girl was snatched, kidnapped out of her own home? No alarm went off, no forced entry. No dog
even barked.
She fell asleep watching the TV that night in her own home. Around 2:30, her mom picks her up, doesn`t wake her up, and takes her to her own bed,
covers her up with her favorite pink "Frozen" blanket. She`s alive, 2:30 AM.
When the parents wake up, 7:30 or so, they go in her room, 8:00 AM, Alayna is gone. Also missing, the father`s truck, gone. What do we know?
Matt Zarrell, to you. First of all, we know that the alleged kidnapper and killer, 25-year-old Zachary Todd Anderson, was a co-worker with the father,
and that that night, they had a softball game. They went out after, then they all came back to the home. Is that correct, Matt?
ZARRELL: Yes. So the father comes home at about 2:30 in the morning. Anderson arrives home between 3:30 and 3:45 AM.
GRACE: So they go to sleep. Everything seems normal. Now, isn`t it true, Pat Lalama, that the entire summer, Friday nights -- he had been coming
over almost every Friday during the summer, hanging out with the family and falling asleep at the home in an extra room, right?
LALAMA: Nancy, it was a regular routine. Absolutely. That`s redundant, of course. But yes, he was there many, many times. A lot of neighbors
said they liked him. He told great stories. He was becoming part of the scenery. But one thing I want to mention...
GRACE: Part of the family.
LALAMA: Part of the family, part of the scenery. But very quickly, he was, in fact, drinking more than beer. He was drinking Red Bulls and
vodka. So I think that factors into maybe where he got his...
GRACE: OK. Well, you know what? I don`t care what he was drinking. But what I know is he was there when the body was found and pointed to the
location of this child`s body.
Matt Zarrell -- so they all go to sleep. The father is asleep. The friend is asleep. The mom, the siblings, all asleep. That morning, they wake up.
Was there an alarm? Was there a dog barking? Did anybody hear anything, Matt Zarrell?
ZARRELL: No, nothing.
GRACE: Not a thing. Next question, when did they realize the father`s cell phone was in his vehicle and the vehicle gone?
ZARRELL: About the same time that Alayna was discovered missing, according to the police documents, 8:30 AM.
GRACE: Immediately, cops begin pinging that phone. What happens then, Matt?
ZARRELL: Well, so authorities canvas the local businesses in the neighborhood. They`re looking for video surveillance. They don`t get any
leads. They issue an Amber Alert at 1:12 PM.
GRACE: How is it, Matt Zarrell, they end up 90 miles northeast from the home? How did that happen?
ZARRELL: Well, just 45 minutes after the Amber Alert was issued, cops were contacted by Zach Anderson`s father, who said he believed his son was the
subject of an Amber Alert and that his son had called earlier in the day and wanted to have permission to go to the family`s cabin, that same cabin
where cops went right after.
GRACE: When they arrived there, Pat Lalama with "Crime Watch Daily" with Chris Hansen, what did they first see when they get to the perp`s, the
alleged perp`s, dad`s mountain cabin?
LALAMA: OK. On that property, they see the father`s truck. He tried to conceal it. They go into the cabin, and they find a 12-gauge shotgun.
They find some ammunition. They find a bloody suicide note inside the cabin.
GRACE: But he didn`t kill himself. What did they see next, Matt?
ZARRELL: Officers on the scene were able to observe there had been recent foot traffic leading past the cabin into the woods and in the woods
southwest of the truck. They call in the K9 unit to start searching for the suspect.
GRACE: And the way they see that, Ashley Willcott, child welfare law specialist, is they get to the father`s cabin. They see the victim`s
father`s truck. They`ve pinged -- you know, you can get an immediate ping off your cell phone if it`s on -- little known fact. The cops can get an
immediate ping and follow that ping.
They do that. They find the father`s truck. They look in the window. They see ammo. They see a weapon on the table. They look around the
corner, and they see in the mud and the muck footsteps leading to a stream, a very wet area. But instead of following it, they bring in the K9s.
And can you imagine, Ashley Willcott, seeing that path through all of these trees, through the mud. They see where they think the guy`s headed with
the little girl.
WILLCOTT: No. Can`t imagine at all. And thank God they got there as quickly as they did, but still, why did it take so long to issue -- not to
issue the Amber Alert. That was done fairly quickly. But it took an hour- and-a-half, two hours before she was reported missing. This could have just happened. This might have just happened literally as they see that
path.
GRACE: You know, Matt Zarrell, they see the path. They bring in the K9s. They follow the dogs to a very, very saturated area. And they find what?
ZARRELL: They find Anderson. He is in -- knee-deep in water in a very swampy area. And he has fresh lacerations to his left wrist.
GRACE: Lacerations to his wrist from a failed suicide attempt and possibly from this little 5-year-old girl fighting for her life.
They say, Where`s the girl? And he dares to lie to them and say, What girl? Finally, he points over there. They go, they start -- they start
pulling back trees. They start pulling back dirt. They find her little pink "Frozen" blanket, and under it is her naked submerged body.
One question, Matt Zarrell. This all started 10 years ago with him breaking into the neighbor lady`s house, and he didn`t do a day of jail
time. Is that right?
ZARRELL: No, he did not.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a county jail where Zachary Anderson sits, contemplating the horrors of his crime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Zach Anderson had spent the night at Alayna Ertl`s home before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Utter shock. And senseless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officers drove 80 miles to Cass County and found the missing truck partially hidden on the Anderson compound. They entered the
cabin, where they found an apparent suicide note.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, this guy is behind bars. I wish you could see what his amenities are. Matt Zarrell, tell me about where he is being held
tonight.
ZARRELL: Well, he is being held in the wing -- excuse me, he`s being held in the Crowing (ph) County jail. The jail has over 30 programs, including
-- get this, Nancy -- art classes, blanket tying (ph) and quilting.
GRACE: Wait! That look likes a co-op where I went to school. Art classes, what?
ZARRELL: Art classes, blanket tying and quilting are among their recreational classes.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Alex Sanchez, New York, Margie Mow, LA. First to you Sanchez -- art classes, blanket tying, board games, exercise and
fitness ed, quilting? Quilting? Seriously?
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, Nancy, everybody watching this show should be very troubled that the authorities missed the boat on this
case for the very reasons that you mentioned before. This guy came on target. He came to the notice of the authorities 10 years ago.
You think he should have gone to jail. I think he should have been ordered to go into treatment, whether it`s psychiatric or get medication or
something. Had they done this, perhaps this incident may never have occurred. Those officials should be prosecuted for taking no action at
that time.
GRACE: You know, Alex, I agree with you that he should have done jail time and gotten treatment when he got out of jail. But the system did not
assault this 5-year-old girl. They did not beat and strangle a 5-year-old girl and leave her body naked, submerged in water.
SANCHEZ: Nancy...
GRACE: They, the system, did not take her out of her home in the middle of the night.
Margie Mow, why is he going to art class and blanket tying, enjoying board games, three hots and a cot while this family is devastated?
MARGIE MOW, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That is the way the correction (INAUDIBLE) work, they don`t discriminate against somebody who is a pedophile or
somebody who is burglar. It`s the way the system works. And you don`t necessarily have to like it, but they do give everybody an opportunity to
learn and to better themselves.
GRACE: Well, you got that right. You got that right.
MOW: And I don`t believe that there`s a correlation...
GRACE: I don`t like it! I don`t like it!
MOW: You don`t have to like it.
GRACE: Well, I don`t!
MOW: But it is what it is. And furthermore, I don`t think that there`s a correlation between him being a horny teenage going after an adult woman...
GRACE: OK, first of all...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Close her mic now, Liz! OK? Because I don`t know if you understand this, Margie, but our show is a public service, OK? So we don`t
have potty mouth on our show, OK? Just so you understand that.
To Dr. Bethany Marshall, author of "Dealbreakers," psychoanalyst. Bethany, part of what Margie and Alex are saying is right. They`re right. The
system failed.
What is it about not just burglars but burglars that go into homes with some kind of an obsession, but peeping Toms, burglars that are voyeuristic.
They like walking around in other people`s homes, looking at their stuff, make eating out of their fridge, taking something that really doesn`t even
cost that much, like an old DVD player.
MARSHALL: Right.
GRACE: There`s something about them. And for me, it`s just anecdotal. I would see it over and over. No studies, no statistics exist. But I am
telling you, when you get a peeping Tom or a burglar, there`s something off that they want to go in the homes and look around. Like this guy, he wanted
to be part of their family. He insinuated himself in that family and kept his eye on this little girl.
MARSHALL: Well, let me say for the record, treatment does not help these people. So, Alex Sanchez said to be should have gotten treatment, it would
not have helped. Secondly, they are very voyeuristic. They love to peep, to pry, to go into people`s homes because they like the fact that they have
power and that the victim is unsuspecting, and they organize their whole life around the perversion. This is a perversion, Nancy, so the guy
probably got sexual satisfaction even in just hanging out with the family of this little girl.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Early 911 call for an unresponsive victim.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I figured he had issues but to do this, I didn`t think that he would actually kill his grandmother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sandra Orton fatally shot in a vehicle outside the home. Fourteen year old Hunter Riley Reeser charged as an adult.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Live, rural Pennsylvania where a schoolboy takes aim at his own grandmother shooting her dead. Alleged motive, grandma insisted he go to
school that day. Straight out to Lisa Adams, anchor and reporter with CNN affiliate Erie News Now, Lisa, thank you for being with us. It is almost
more than I can take in. I mean, very often, particularly my son, will go, I don`t want to go to school today. By the time I get him to school, he`s
happy. But that happens all the time. Let`s start at the beginning. What do we know Lisa Adams?
LISA ADAMS, ERIE NEWS NOW ANCHOR AND REPORTER: Hi, Nancy. Well, it wasn`t going to school on a regular school day, we know that. It was going to a
special meeting with a counselor at the Harbor Creek school district. So, we know it was a special meeting and the boy, Hunter Riley Reeser, his
grandmother had gone to work at 5:00 in the morning and she was making a special point of coming home by about 7:30 to take him to this appointment
with the school counselor we know from court papers only as Gem.
Apparently, he did not want to go. The grandmother came into the house. The boy is under the guardianship of his grandparents and they had words. It`s
not characterized in the documents as an argument but they had words. She said she`d be waiting in the car as he needed to finish getting ready and
come out, and apparently, he shot her from the porch with a shotgun through the car window. Then called his grandfather to say grandma`s hurt and she
might be dead in the car and the grandfather said call 911, which he did.
You know, for us as reporters, it sounds like a call for a possibly deceased person in car. You know, we sent crews out there. We had no idea
until later in the day that it was a homicide and that a 14-year-old would be charged.
GRACE: Take a look at this guy. If I didn`t see from the neck down, he`d look like a kid that might be an altar boy or singing in the choir or you
know doing odd jobs around the neighborhood, but then when you see the rest of him, you know this, instead of a school shot, this is a mugs hot. This
boy, just turning 14, actually now accused of gunning down his grandmother.
She gets up in the morning to leave for work at 5:00. The grandfather gets up to go at 6:00. She circles back to the home to take him to school. She`s
out in the car and according to police he shoots a shot from the porch. Shoots his own grandmother dead. Shoots her in the head. It`s almost more
than I can take in. Also with me, Michael Christian. What more do we know?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, as we just heard, this shot was fire from the front porch into the car. It`s approximately a distance
of ten feet. One shot fired straight into this woman, Sandra Orton`s head, right side.
GRACE: He shot her from about ten feet away, shooting her in the head. This is a rural schoolboy. After he shoots her, Michael, what happens?
CHRISTAIN: Well, he called his grandfather and said, "I think grandma`s hurt. What do I do?" And the step -- excuse me -- the grandfather
immediately said call 911. So, he called 911 but according to a police report while he was talking to the 911 operator, he literally took the
phone, which belonged to his grandmother over to the grandmother and the 911 operator could hear her kind of agonal, basically last gasps of breath.
I mean, it`s an awful thought.
GRACE: Dr. Imran Ali, resident physician, joining us from New York. Dr. Ali, thank you for being with us. What was that that the 911 dispatch could
hear as this boy -- he`s a 14-year-old schoolboy -- holds the phone up for them to hear the grandma as she dies?
IMRAN ALI, RESIDENT PHYSICIAN: Absolutely. It`s very devastating to hear but, and you know, once a .22 caliber rifle hit her head, she probably had
some massive intercranial bleeding and she was probably having respiratory difficulties because the area of her brain that was affected was the
respiratory center so, that`s what we see sometimes.
GRACE: To Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "Deal Breakers." Bethany Marshall, I mean, this boy knew full well what he was doing. He was
angry.
MARSHALL: Of course.
GRACE: Angry. It`s not as if he went into some psychotic state. He had a conversation with her that morning saying he did not want to go to the
schoolhouse, and she came back from work to take him to the meeting at the schoolhouse, Bethany.
MARSHALL: Right, and you know, he looks so unwell to me in that mug shot but he does not look psychiatrically challenged. And this alleged
perpetrator fits the profile of somebody who has anti-social tendencies, meaning, unable to attach to maternal and paternal figures, lack of
remorse, lack of regard, only wants his own way, simmering resentment, homicidal rage whenever he doesn`t get his own way or is not gratified in
every respect.
The fact that he had no attachment to this grandmother, I think we would call this in my field, catathymic homicide. That`s when a person has like a
compulsion or an urgency to kill another person that builds over the time and this was just the precipitating event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We developed a suspect who turned out to be a juvenile. We brought the suspect in for questioning. Subsequently, he confessed to
the crime. He was charged with one count of general homicide, one count of aggravated assault and one count of a firearms violation.
We haven`t established a firm motive. We know through the course -- we know to the course of the investigation he`s been having some issues related to
discipline.
(END VIDEEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Outrage tonight. A firestorm erupts when a convicted sex attacker walks free. No jail time, zero. Even after molesting two unconscious teen
girls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David Becker had been charged with two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault. The work (ph) of the judge sentenced
Becker to probation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don`t hear of things like this happening with, you know, people from, you know, less privileged background.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me is Phil Demers, reporter with MassLive.com. Thank you for being with us, Phil. In a nutshell, a party went down at one of the
student`s parent`s home. A lot of booze. A lot of alcohol. Two teen girls go upstairs. They had been drinking and they go do sleep. They planned to
spend the night there.
They can`t drive home in that condition. During the night, prosecutors say that this guy, David Becker, goes upstairs where the girls are asleep, two
teenage girls, and penetrates them both vaginally. First one, and then the other. The judge chooses to give this guy straight probation. Why, Phil
Demers?
PHIL DEMERS, MASSLIVE.COM REPORTER: According to the records that I went through, the judge seems to have agreed with the clinician who spoke with
David Becker after the incident occurred and her recommendation was -- her assessment of Becker was that he has to the low to moderate risk of ever
doing such a thing again and then he would have...
GRACE: You know, that`s really interesting since he`s already had two victims. Unleash the lawyers, Ashley Wilcott out of Atlanta, Alex Sanchez
out of New York and Margie Mow out of L.A. You know, Ashley Wilcott, he actually said from the bench, what college is this kid going to go to? What
about that?
As a matter of fact, if this guy, the defendant, David Becker who pled guilty I might add, to two indecent attacks on these girls. If he doesn`t
have any contact with the two little girls and he`s not caught with booze or dope for two years, the whole thing is dropped. It`s like it never
happened. These girls were penetrated vaginally.
ASHLEY WILCOTT, CERTIFIED CHILD WELFARE LAW SPECIALIST: Isn`t it amazing. It`s like, OK, who cares about the victims and what they`re going to go
through. We`re going focus on let`s not ruin his life and let him get away with it. What message does it send? Who`s going to feel bad when he goes to
college and drinks too much and does worse if not the same to another victim?
GRACE: And not only that Alex Sanchez, he actually texted the first victim and said, wow, I`m so sorry for what I did. It`s all my fault.
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yeah, and she texted back, "yeah, don`t worry about it."
GRACE: Yes she did.
SANCHEZ: By the way, just for clarification purposes the penetration was by hand. It wasn`t -- he didn`t have sex with...
GRACE: Oh, put him up.
SANCHEZ: ...but I`m not saying that`s better but it was by hand.
GRACE: Put him up please. Alex Sanchez...
SANCHEZ: Let`s be clear about this.
GRACE: If somebody comes in your studio and bends you over forward and penetrates you anally, can I ask you do you really care what they`re using?
Think about it. Let`s just think for a moment.
SANCHEZ: I would not like that, but just for accuracy and clarification, and number two Nancy...
GRACE: That`s still rape. That`s still rape.
SANCHEZ: ...the girls -- the two complaining witnesses in this case recommended no jail. Don`t they have any say?
GRACE: And I want to talk about that. Yes, they do. I want to talk to Bethany Marshall about that. Margie, I`ll be right back with you. One of
the girls, Dr. Bethany Marshall, following up on what Alex Sanchez says, that she felt bad about him possibly going to jail. In other words, wow,
was it my fault? Was it my fault because I drank? Was it my fault I didn`t know what to say when he texted me? Was it my fault that I stayed over at
the family home that night? Not his home, somebody else`s home.
Once again, the rape victim feels like, oh, somehow this must have been my fault. The other little girl is in another state and doesn`t even want to
show up. She`s so mortified by this whole thing. And yet you hear it, there you just heard it from Sanchez explaining it all away like it`s okay.
MARSHALL: Nancy, this is the psychology of the victim. Being a victim creates a crisis of boundaries. The victim knows that the perpetrator has a
serious problem, but the victim blames herself. She feels that the problem arises from her, her sexuality and that she gave con sent even when she
didn`t.
But how is an 18-year-old supposed to be clear that it`s not her fault when the judge from the bench is questioning whether or not this young man is
going to go to college. The adults in the situation are re-enforcing the victimhood of these young women.
GRACE: You know what, I`m glad they weren`t there to hear what this judge says, Judge Thomas Estes. There`s a move afoot to have him thrown off the
bench right now. Margie Mow, you think it`s got anything to do with the fact that when he was practicing before he got his lifetime appointment,
that he spent 30 years as a public defender. No wonder all he cares about is the defendant not victim.
MARGIE MOW, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I disagree with that. This has to do with our justice system and sometimes you get a favorable decision as a prosecutor
and sometimes defense attorneys do their job, present mitigating circumstances and justice is served. You don`t have to like the outcome.
Justice has been served.
GRACE: Is that all you can say tonight? You don`t have to like it Nancy because you know what, Margie Mow, I don`t like it. I don`t like it at all.
And as a matter of fact, there are thousands of people I believe -- what`s it up to, Matt Zarrell? How many people have gone online to get this judge
off the bench?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: We have over 17,000 signatures on this petition now Nancy.
GRACE: Everyone in Kenya, terrorism constant threat, attacks by extremist group Al-Shabaab leave many living on remote islands bordering Somalia
struggling to survive. Some communities would be without any medical care if it weren`t for this week`s CNN Hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have about six villages that have absolutely zero access to healthcare. When an individual is in the remote area and has an
absolute emergency, it`s considered a matter of destiny. I feel like there`s no purpose if you don`t challenge your comfort zone and do
something that`s a little bit bigger than who you are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s exactly what Umra Omar is doing. She walked away from a successful life in the U.S. to help those in her homeland. Watch one of her
life saving missions at cnnheroes.com. Nominate someone you think should be a 2016 hero.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David Becker had been charged with two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault stemming from a East Longmeadow house
party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we can`t trust our justice system, what are we supposed to go to?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sure the defense attorney brought out the positive factors about the defendant, the things he`s done that are good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, what else was said in court before this judge, Estes - - Thomas Estes -- let the defendant walk, straight probation?
ZARRELL: Well, the defense claimed that Becker had been punished a enough. They said a number of things including horrendous media coverage, that he
was handcuffed and paraded through a school, ostracized by members of the community. He had to avoid school and miss graduation. He didn`t get --
he`s not getting the college he was accepted to, is no longer accepting him and the judge himself seem to agree.
He said, "while certainly not lessening in any way any crime, there`s a spectrum for the nature of the offense." And he said, "And I think given
Mr. Becker`s position in life to find him guilty at this point would slam a lot of doors." He says, "I agree with the defense attorney. There have
already been significant consequences, collateral consequences to simply being charged of the offense in the first place."
GRACE: You know I`m just stunned. You know, Ashley Wilcott, what went down is the two sides, prosecution and defense, did a blind plea. What they did
is they essentially agreed that plead guilty to two of the charges. The state recommended jail time. The defense said no time. They went in blind,
not really knowing what the judge would do. They found out, didn`t they? Straight probation.
WILCOTT: They couldn`t have expected it. He had no consequences for this crime by our criminal system.
GRACE: Everyone let`s remember American hero Army Sergeant Jerry Ganey, Jr., just 29, Folkston, Georgia. Loved the outdoors, his antique Chevy
pickup. Parents Beth and Jerry Sr., widow Debra. Children Jay and Vanessa. Jerry Ganey, Jr., American hero.
Thanks to our guest but especially to you for being with us. Nancy Grace signing off. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern. Until then, good
night, friend.
END
