Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Kidnapped Mom Calls Family From Car Trunk. Aired 8-8:30p ET
Aired September 08, 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 Montana mom of two stops her car in broad daylight just to stretch her legs when she`s knocked
unconscious and forced into a car truck. The young mom, Rita Maze, comes to and manages to make a desperate phone call to her husband, family, even
police from the car trunk.
But as we go to air, Rita`s body has just been found 325 miles away from where she was attacked. Tonight, the search for the killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rita Maze had pulled over at this Montana rest stop and was ambushed by somebody lying in wait.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hit her in the head and put her in the trunk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Using nearby cell phone towers, deputies were able to narrow down Maze`s location, open the trunk, and found Maze`s body inside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Talk show host Danny Mathers (ph) starts a firestorm when she goes to her local L.A. Fitness to work out, but then callously snaps a photo of
a naked woman in the gym ladies` room, and she posts it on line, laughing, making fun of the woman, body shaming the naked woman in the gym, writing,
If I can`t unsee this, neither can you.
In addition to being thrown off her talk show gig, she`s now banned from all L.A. Fitness. But the talk show star and former Playmate of the Year,
Danny Mathers, now says she`s sorry, she posted the photo by accident, says she was new to Snapchat. Tonight, we learn a criminal investigation
launched. Is she really sorry, or is she really sorry she got caught?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Playboy model could now face charges after she sparked outrage by Snapchatting a photo of an unsuspecting naked woman in a
gym locker room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am new to Snapchat. I really didn`t realize that I had posted it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now reports claim the district attorney`s office has the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. A Montana mother of two stops her car in broad daylight just to stretch her legs. She`s knocked unconscious. The mom is forced
into a car trunk. Rita Maze comes to locked in the car trunk, and she manages to make desperate phone calls, a call to her husband, her family,
even to police.
But as we go to air, Rita`s body has been found 325 miles away. And now we join the search for her killer. How did it all happen in broad daylight,
in plain view?
It`s my understanding -- out to Melissa Luck, assistant news director with CNN affiliate KXLY. You`re seeing Rita`s car being towed away right there,
her solid black car. Now, when the police find it, the back window is knocked out. That`s not the way, to my understanding, that Rita was
driving in it.
To Melissa Luck, KXLY. thank you for being with us. I don`t understand how in broad daylight, right there off the interstate, somebody can walk up
to a woman, knock her in the head, make her unconscious and wrestle the woman -- I`m sure it was dead weight at that point -- put her body into the
trunk, and nobody sees anything.
MELISSA LUCK, KXLY: Well, you have to understand this actually happened in a stretch of road in Montana between Great Falls and Helena, Montana. I
grew up in this area. It is a well traveled highway, but it`s also -- it`s not exactly a really busy place. It`s in a canyon. It`s winding road.
The speed limit I believe is 80 miles an hour. People drive very quickly, and not a lot of people stop at rest areas in this area, especially when
there`s a couple of small towns close by.
We know some of these rest areas have cameras at them. We don`t know if the one where Rita was alleged kidnapped from had a camera. But growing up
in this part of the country, I`m not terribly surprised that nobody would have seen this.
GRACE: You know, Melissa Luck, this woman had to be the victim of someone who lay in wait because I`m taking in what you`re saying, Melissa Luck,
that it`s out there. There`s not a lot of traffic. It`s down in a canyon. He had to be sitting there, waiting for a woman to show up at this rest
stop.
I mean, Melissa Luck, you know how many times I stop at rest stops on long trips when I have the children in the car? And we get out and stretch our
legs and walk around, and it`s just the three of us. And that`s probably what this woman, Rita, was thinking. So he had to be laying in wait there.
[20:05:15]LUCK: Well, and Rita Maze is a Montana woman, not unlike myself. She knew how to protect herself. She did carry a gun with her in the car.
But this is not an area that has a lot of crime. Montana in general does not have a lot of crime, specifically this area.
So I think, you know, a lot of us would get out not really thinking of it and just get out and use the restroom or whatever you need to do. It
wasn`t a particularly long drive. She was driving from visiting her mother in Helena to going home to Great Falls. It`s about an 80-minute drive I`ve
been many times in my life.
And you know, the investigators are not saying a lot today about what they think actually happened there. They really haven`t given us much
information...
GRACE: Hold on just a moment.
LUCK: ... there since the initial report.
GRACE: Melissa, hold on. I`m showing everybody shots of Rita. This is a mother of two now dead. Her body has just been found 325 miles away from
where she simply got out of her car to stretch her legs at a public rest stop right there on the side of the interstate.
Joining me right now is a special guest. It is Rochelle Maze. That is Rita`s daughter. Rochelle, thank you for being with us.
ROCHELLE MAZE, VICTIM`S DAUGHTER (via telephone): Thank you for having me.
GRACE: I am so sorry for what you and your family, your brother, your dad are all going through. And when I think about her in that trunk trying to
make contact -- you know, coming to, realizing she`s in the trunk of a car and actually being able to contact her husband, to call police. They
couldn`t get to her fast enough. You have been through so much.
How did you first learn your mom, Rita, was missing?
MAZE: So she had contacted my dad at 11:25 in the morning and had said she was coming home soon. So we had been expecting her, and when she didn`t
show up, it was about 3:40, my dad had called her and she didn`t answer. And he called again an hour later and she didn`t answer.
And I was working, so he had contacted me and asked if I heard from my mom. I hadn`t. So I contacted my aunt that she stayed with there. She
contacted my grandma. I contacted my other aunt and my uncle. So we went through the hoops of contacting people she may have talked to, and no one
had heard from her.
And so it was my uncle and my cousin drove Helena highway and the frontage road, trying to see if she got in a wreck because that was our first
thought, that my mom had gotten in a wreck or she would have been here. And they didn`t see anything. So I knew something was wrong and it was out
of the normal character for my mom. So we filed a missing person report here in Great Falls, and as well in Helena, and...
GRACE: Rochelle, why do you say it`s out of character for your mom? If this happened , it would be totally out of character. Why do you say it
was out of character for Rita?
MAZE: Because my mom was the kind of mom that told you, Hey, you need to text me when you leave. Text me when you get there or call me, let me know
where you`re going. She followed those rules. We had a code. We had rules that we followed. And that`s why she called my dad saying she would
be leaving soon. We had rules that we followed and...
GRACE: And so when you didn`t -- when he didn`t hear from her at 3:40, he calls back at 4:40, no answer. He calls you, Have you heard from you mom?
You said no. Then you start driving the interstate, looking for Mom. Then what happened, Rochelle?
MAZE: It was -- I did not personally drive. It was my uncle and my cousin that did...
GRACE: Yes.
MAZE: ... because they`re from Helena.
GRACE: Yes.
MAZE: And it was -- I knew something was wrong, and I knew she was in danger. And I -- that`s when we contacted the police and filed our missing
person reports.
GRACE: What happened next, Rochelle?
MAZE: We waited. There was a stolen car report made. We waited and we waited, and we actually got the phone call from her at 10:25 PM. She
called my dad and she had said that, Help me, help me.
[20:10:00]I pulled over to go pee. She didn`t say where. But she pulled over to go pee and she was hit, and she was in the trunk. She didn`t know
if it was in the trunk of her car or someone else`s, and that she -- they had been driving for a really long time. And she was terrified, of course.
She -- I then asked to talk to my mom, and I spoke with my mom and she had told me that the guy -- it was a guy and he was massive. She said probably
6-5, black hoodie, maybe darker skin, and he had hit her and she woke up in the trunk.
And she said that he had her gun. She told me, He has my gun, and she was terrified. And she said that she loved me and she told my dad that she
loved him, and we told her we love her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... her cab (ph). There`s no signs of casings or blood or anything in the vehicle that we can see at this point. But we`re not
getting closer (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That supervisor didn`t want to contaminate his crime scene with a lot of people until a patrol dog had a chance to track the
suspect, last detected heading north on foot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:15:22]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The desperate search for a woman in desperate need of help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rita Maze was able to use her cell phone to call her husband and police from trunk of her car, telling them she had been hit on
the head and had been kidnapped.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) later found her dead inside her abandoned car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is from ABC`s "GMA."
A mom of two driving home pulls over to the side of the road at a rest stop, a public rest stop, in broad daylight. She gets out to use the
restroom and stretch her legs when she is attacked, we think from behind, hit in the head. And her dead weight is then put into a trunk. She`s
locked inside.
Hours pass driving, driving, driving. She manages to call her husband and police. The last words she said to her daughter, Rochelle, I love you.
Tonight, we are reporting and confirming her body has just been found 325 miles away from where she was abducted. Still no arrest.
Straight out to Amie Thompson, planning editor with "The Great Falls Tribune." Amie, thank you for being with us. What can you tell us about
this rest stop?
AMIE THOMPSON, "GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE" (via telephone): Well, they`re actually not sure which rest stop it is. There are two rest stops near
Wolf Creek. There`s one south of Wolf Creek and one north of Wolf Creek.
And they believe -- authorities believe that the rest stop that Rita stopped at, based on what she had told police, is the one that was north of
Wolf Creek, which is actually pretty rustic. There`s just one port-a- potty, just one small shack port-a-potty. And there`s nothing else there.
And when we sent the photographer out, there was -- the FBI had gone through and searched, and there wasn`t anybody around. And I suspect that
that was the same case as when Rita was there.
GRACE: We`re showing you this tiny rest area where we believe she was abducted. And typically, there is a lane -- there you go -- that takes you
off the interstate. It`s its own separate lane. She would have driven off right there -- hold that photo -- pulled up to where the little restroom
is, rustic, fitting in with the mountains on either side. Right there, is where we believe, from what we`ve been able to glean, Rita was abducted.
Tonight, we are conforming this mom of two`s body has been found 325 miles away from this public rest stop -- broad daylight.
And with me, in addition to Melissa Luck and Amie Thompson, Rochelle Maze is with us. This is Rita`s daughter.
Rochelle, you were telling us that she managed to make this call. I`m actually amazed that she could get to her cell phone and make the call.
She didn`t know whose trunk she was in, but she was sure the guy that had hit her over the head had her gun that she kept, I think, under her seat,
when she was traveling alone.
So what did her husband -- what did your dad tell her?
MAZE: My dad just asked her, Where are you? Where were you when it happened? I love you. We`re going to get to you.
GRACE: What was she saying? Was she afraid that she wouldn`t see you again? Was she trying to get out of trunk? What was she trying to say
there in the trunk of that car?
MAZE: Honestly, she was so -- what I told you that she told my dad and myself is what she said, but she was saying other things. And she was so
scared. It was really hard to understand her because she was just terrified.
GRACE: To Joe Scott Morgan joining me, certified death investigation, professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University. Joe Scott, I`ve
thought and thought and thought about that car trunk. And I`m pretty sure all cars after around 2001 or 2004 have to have a safety release in the
trunk. Weigh in.
[20:20:04]JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Nancy, I think that probably one of the things that we need to consider in this case
is that this poor woman, who we know was alive for this phone call, was trapped in this trunk.
I`ve had several cases over my career where people are encased in trunks with running engines, and one of the dangers here is this idea of carbon
monoxide asphyxiation. I don`t know if this predator had in her mind to kill her, but he put this woman in a very unsafe environment.
This case is still pending toxicology. One of the things that the medical examiner in Spokane is going to be looking for is for a carboxy-hemoglobin
level. In other words, how much carbon monoxide did she potentially have on board? And was it a lethal level? I suspect that this will have played
into this. This is a horrible death, Nancy, because...
GRACE: You mean as in, Joe Scott Morgan, playing into -- Rochelle, her daughter, is telling us that you couldn`t really understand what she was
saying.
MORGAN: Right. Right.
GRACE: She was like out of her mind. But Melissa Luck, assistant news director, KXLY, what was the actual cause of death?
LUCK: The cause of death released today by the Spokane medical examiner`s office is a single gunshot wound to the chest or abdomen. The manner of
death is pending. The cause of death has been determined to be a single gunshot wound.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:22]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mom was always the playful mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was at a rest stop. A suspect approached her and hit her in the head and put her in the trunk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deputies found Maze`s body inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, a child at heart at all times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, a patrol dog had a chance to track the suspect, last detected heading north on foot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Heading north on foot, but tonight no arrests. To Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert joining me out of Raleigh tonight. The car was
actually found or spotted through a plate reader. What is that? How did that happen, Ben?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT (via telephone): Well, Nancy, if you`ve ever been on a highway where they -- where you have to pay the toll
by mail, there`s a technology which is called license plate readers. Basically, they`re cameras mounted on an arch over the highway, and they
read the license plate of every single car going by. They turn it into digital form, and they send it to a central location.
Now, not only can they use that, for example, for being able to send you a bill as a toll, but police use this to find vehicles. In this case, we
knew her license plate number. And all police had to do was go to the highway authority and say, Hey, we are looking for this specific license
plate. As soon as one of your cameras sees it, notify us. That`s how they were able to track this car across the state, Nancy.
GRACE: Back to Rita`s daughter, Rochelle, Rochelle Maze joining us tonight. Rochelle, did police call you and tell you that her car tag had
popped up?
MAZE: No, they did not.
GRACE: What was the next thing you heard, after she called you and your dad, you talked to her on phone, your dad saying, We`re going to get to
you. We`re going to get to you -- what happened then?
MAZE: We waited. And it was -- I believe we had called the -- my mom`s bank, the after-hour call service, just to see if there had been any
transactions with her card, her banking card, and there was two. There was one that was in Kingston, Idaho, at 4:16 PM for $25 at a Quick Stop (ph),
and then there was another one in Richville (ph), Washington, at a Loves (ph) Travel Stop for $25 at 9:55 PM.
And while we were on the phone with my mom, either one of us was also on phone with the cops because we had already filed a missing person. So when
we found out the information about the card, we called the police, as well.
GRACE: Well, let me understand something then. To Amie Thompson with "The Great Falls Tribune." There should be video of this guy. He`s using her
card at a Quick Stop and a Love`s, right?
THOMPSON: Right. Actually, we`ve been asking about that. We`ve heard that they have video of Rita by herself gassing up before she left Helena,
possibly just before she called her husband, Bob, at 11:25. But we`ve been unable to confirm that or to find that surveillance. And yes, we were also
wondering about the surveillance from...
GRACE: Yes.
THOMPSON: ... and from Richville, which -- Richville`s actually past Spokane, so they sent past (INAUDIBLE) and came back into town.
GRACE: Well, another thing -- to Stacy Newman on the story. If the K9s picked up her killer fleeing on foot, I mean, how far could he go, Stacey?
What`s around that area?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, it`s a very rural area, but we know that there`s businesses about a mile away, including a Denny`s, two
hotels. So you know they`re going to go and get that surveillance video because if he headed north, he might have run into any of those businesses.
And the Spokane International Airport is nearby, as well.
GRACE: Rochelle Maze with me. It`s Rita`s daughter. Rochelle, when did you find out that this guy had killed your mom?
MAZE: Police came and knocked on our door at about 2:00 in the morning. And they asked us to come down to (INAUDIBLE) office just for some
questions regarding the conversation with my mom, and it was then when we arrived there that they had told my dad and I that my mom had been killed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:35:00] NANCY GRACE, CNN HEADLINE NEWS HOST: Exciting news tonight. This week, everybody`s favorite magazine, the "National Enquirer," is featuring
an excerpt from the new Hailey Dean murder mystery, "Murder in the Courthouse."
All of us here at the show, huge fans of the "National Enquirer" because they have joined us on many crusades for justice, the search for missing
people, highlighting unsolved homicides, joining us here on the air.
Well, the "National Enquirer" and a sneak peek of my new novel, "Murder in the Courthouse," is on the stands right now, today, tonight.
And portions of the proceeds from my new book, "Murder in the Courthouse," money goes to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. And
pre-orders come with a gift of an autographed manuscript page. Tonight, I want to say yet again, thank you "National Enquirer."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could a former `Playmate Of The Year` be going from bunny to jailbird?
DANI MATHERS, PLAYMATE OF THE YEAR 2015: I just want to acknowledge the photo that I accidentally posted here on Snapchat earlier today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After she posted a photo of a naked woman from inside a gym locker room on Snapchat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Talk show host Dani Mathers starts a firestorm when she goes to her local L.A. fitness to work out, but then callously snaps a photo of a naked
lady in the gym`s ladies room and she posted it online, body shaming this naked woman trying to change clothes in the gym and she writes on it, if I
can`t unsee this neither can you.
In addition to being thrown off her talk show gig, she is now banned from all L.A. fitnesses, but the talk show star, former "Playmate Of The Year,"
now says she`s sorry. Waah! Waah!
She says she posted it by accident because she was new to Snapchat. Well, tonight, we learned a criminal investigation has been launched. Now, is she
really sorry she got -- is she really sorry or is she just sorry she got caught?
Now, I want to see what she posted. Can I see that? OK. "If I can`t unsee this then you can`t either." OK, hold just a moment.
Now, the lady, it looks like is just getting out of the showers and she`s in there trying to change for Pete`s sake. I`ve seen the actual photo. It
wasn`t as blurred out as we`re blurring it and the lady looked like she was trying to change after working out.
You know, is that one of your worst nightmares? I mean, you`re in the gym for a reason. You want to be healthy or lose weight because there`s
something you don`t like about your body. Maybe your blood pressure is high. Maybe you need to lose weight. Maybe you have a heart problem.
There`s something you`re trying to fix, right? And then to have somebody taking your picture naked and posting it and making fun of you?
OK. Criminal investigation, we understand that the police department at this hour is confirming that they are recommending charges be filed.
Candace Trunzo, senior news editor with dailymail.com, Candace, I may have left out a fact. What happened? Take it from the top.
CANDACE TRUNZO, DAILYMAIL.COM SENIOR NEWS EDITOR: Well, it was implied she went to her L.A. fitness gym, Dani Mathers, who is, as you said, a, you
know, Playboy model if she would be, "Playmate Of The Year" for 2015.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Now, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Candace Trunzo, dailymail.com. The irony of this just hit me. Here is a person with a
perfect body.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Perfect. She`s beautiful. Her body is beautiful. And in the control room, the New York control room, that`s not a license for you to start
showing photos of her Playboy layout. OK, stop.
And for somebody that is so blessed and beautiful in that way, physically, to be mocking or making fun of the rest of us, who are just normal, you
know, that`s not nice. But is it a crime? OK, go. Go ahead with the story.
TRUNZO: OK. She -- she`s clearly going into the dressing room and she sees this older woman in her ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Why do you say she`s old?
TRUNZO: Because it`s confirmed that she`s in her 70s, so - and that`s a little -- I said older and it ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You know what?
TRUNZO: ... Nancy.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Power to her. Power to her, Candace Trunzo. She`s that age and she`s at the gym working out?
(CROSSTALK)
TRUNZO: It`s admirable.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I mean, I should only be that lucky.
TRUNZO: I wonder if Dani Mather`s grandmother goes to the gym and works out or her mother goes to the gym and works out. Anyway, she posted this on
Snapchat, this picture of this woman and then -- you know, totally naked, a picture of her giggling, giggling and then her snotty, snotty remark, "if I
can`t unsee this then you can`t either." I mean, it was really -- it was outrageous. And people were outraged.
[20:40:00] GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Misty Marris, defense attorney, New York; Kirby Clements, defense attorney and author of "How to Keep You`re A-
S-S -- do you really expect me to say that on the air?
KIRBY CLEMENTS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No. That`s why -- that`s why I wrote that title, Nancy.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: It`s not funny.
CLEMENTS: I wrote it so you wouldn`t say it.
GRACE: I`m not even going to -- I`m not even going to say it anymore. I`ll just say "author". Hey, Justin, take that down right now. OK. I`m just
going to say "author". I`m not even going to say the name of your book.
You know what? You know what? I know your mom, OK. I know what she`s thinking, OK, I know what she`s thinking right now from up there. OK. She
did not raise you up and talk that way, but that`s a whole nother can of worms.
What about a Playboy model. How do you go in the gym and you`re being stalked by a talk show host with her cell phone taking your naked photo.
This is close to the age of my mother, Kirby, who you know. You met her in the courtroom when I was trying cases. I don`t know if you remember it or
not. And take a picture of your mother or your grandmother and disseminate it on Snapchat? Why shouldn`t she be put in jail?
CLEMENTS: The law that she is in prosecuting her on they are looking at is the law designed to go against revenge porn. This is just poor taste ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: So?
CLEMENTS: Well revenge porn is not an example of that. This is ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: OK. Just -- just stop right there, OK. Because do you really believe when the founding fathers wrote the constitution and they wrote the Fourth
Amendment that you would be protected in the privacy of your home, in papers, that means nobody can go through your cell phone? No. They didn`t
envision that either, did they? But it works.
CLEMENTS: But this is also a gym ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: But, but, but, but, but, but what?
CLEMENTS: ... she was open, she was -- this woman ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: She was what?
CLEMENTS: ... was open. She wasn`t behind a shower curtain.
(CROSSTALK)
CLEMENTS: It was in poor taste but it`s not a crime.
GRACE: Did you really just say it was out in the open? The woman is behind the closed door in the ladies room.
(CROSSTALK)
CLEMENTS: No. She`s in the -- it`s open.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Misty Marris, how can you even shake your head yes ...
(CROSSTALK)
MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, Nancy.
GRACE: What -- what are you saying?
MARRIS: It`s absolutely in poor taste, no question about that.
GRACE: Bad judgment.
MARRIS: But a crime, six months in jail for this, I mean, at most it`s a misdemeanor and there`s mitigating factors ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Put her back up, please.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I don`t see her. There she is.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: What if she did this to your mother?
MARRIS: Listen, I think it`s a terrible thing to do. Like you said, Nancy, it is mean.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Uh-uh, uh-uh. No, honey.
(CROSSTALK)
MARRIS: But this ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: If she did this to my mother, I would be out for blood.
OK, whoa, whoa, whoa. Matt Zarrell, tell me the statute that they are using to charge her.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: OK. It`s a California Penal Code, it`s actually known as the "Peeping Tom" Statute. It says any person who looks
through a hole or opening into or otherwise views by means of any instrumentality including but not limited to, and camera is listed, the
interior of a bedroom, bathroom, changing room, fitting room, dressing room or tanning booth or the interior of any other area which the occupant has a
reasonable expectation of privacy with the intent to invade the privacy of a person or person inside is guilty of a misdemeanor and can get six months
in jail.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Playboy model could now face charges after she sparked outrage by Snapchatting a photo of this unsuspecting naked woman in a gym
locker room.
MATHERS: I am new to Snapchat. I really didn`t realize that I have posted it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, reports claim that the district attorney`s office has the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know what? I was just hearing some of that. Let`s hear her "apology".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATHERS: I just want to acknowledge the photo that I accidentally posted here on Snapchat earlier today and let you guys know that that was
absolutely wrong and not what I meant to do.
I have chosen to do what I do for a living because I love the female body and I know that body shaming is wrong and that`s not what I`m about. It`s
not the type of person that I am.
That photo was taken to be part of a personal conversation with a girlfriend and because I am new to Snapchat, I really didn`t realize that I
have posted it. And that was a huge mistake.
I know that I`ve upset a lot of people out there, but please, please believe me when I say this is not the type of person I am. I have never
done this before, I will never do this again, you have my word.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Candace Trunzo, senior news editor dailymail.com, how can it be an accident? She actually -- can I see it
please, Justin?
She actually wrote under it. "If I can`t unsee this then you can`t either."
(CROSSTALK)
TRUNZO: Right.
GRACE: I mean, that`s not an accident. You have to type those words in and they`re angled up under the shot of the naked lady. And then the ...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUNZO: The shot of her smirking, right.
GRACE: Yeah. Yeah. And -- that`s no accident. Unleash the lawyers. I`m going to go at it. Round 2. I`m back for a rematch, Kirby Clements and
Misty Marris. Bring it on.
OK, Kirby. Number one, she did it. OK? Number two, she lied about it, saying she`s new to Snapchat. You think we can`t go back and see if she has
ever Snapchatted before that day? She just what, started Snapchat that day?
CLEMENTS: Well, you know what, learning how to use those applications, I appreciate what she said and it`s very probable what you said.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You can appreciate that?
(CROSSTALK)
CLEMENTS: But also ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I bet you can. You probably have her Playboy issue ...
(CROSSTALK)
CLEMENTS: No.
GRACE: ... at home right now, and I`m calling your wife. Yes, I have your home number.
CLEMENTS: You know what, she`s too skinny and too fake-looking for me. But I will tell you this ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: God bless you.
CLEMENTS: I like -- I like normal women.
GRACE: OK. Listen -- listen to me. It`s not her first time on Snapchat, OK.
CLEMENTS: No, it`s not.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Now, what was your next offense? What?
CLEMENTS: The other party -- it has to be with the intent to invade someone`s privacy, and I don`t think that they have established that
particular element (ph). It was ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: The lady is naked. You think a 70-year-old grandma wants to have her backside on Snapchat?
CLEMENTS: But she was not identifiable in that video and that photo as well. So she ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: So?
CLEMENTS: She will have to come in there and say that`s my body. So ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: She has.
CLEMENTS: It wasn`t that woman. The police have tracked her down. My point is that this young lady did not intend to invade that woman`s privacy. It
happened.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: OK. Let ...
(CROSSTALK)
CLEMENTS: It was in poor taste.
(CROSSTALK)
[20:50:00] GRACE: Let me understand something. Misty Marris, can you actually go along with this? Now, remember, you`re on national T.V., OK?
MARRIS: Right.
GRACE: Your credibility will be right down the pooper. Are you actually chiming in with Kirby Clements saying, we don`t know if the woman`s privacy
was invaded?
MARRIS: Nancy, what I`m saying is that Dani Mathers has said she only meant to send that picture to a girlfriend. She did not mean to post it to a
public forum.
I`m not so good with ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Accident.
MARRIS: ... social media. I can appreciate not knowing how to use an app.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: OK.
MARRIS: I also changed at the gym today in a dark corner because I`m a little paranoid.
GRACE: You know what? You know what? After my photo, P.S., when I was pregnant, but nobody knew that yet. I was about two or three months
pregnant. My picture turned up in I guess the "Globe", I can`t remember. And I had gained already, like 12 pounds. And I was leaning over in the
picture, it`s at a break during a show on another network.
Kirby, I was leaning over to get a tissue and, of course, I was pregnant, my tummy was hanging over my -- my jeans. And they put it in the magazine
and underneath it said, anchor`s awe-ay. A-W-E.
CLEMENTS: I`m sorry about that, Nancy.
GRACE: Do you know -- do you know from that day forward, I go swimming fully clothed, like when I go to swim at a pool, I go in my workout pants
and like, I just jump right in.
All the other moms are like, what? I just walk up, I take off my shoes and jump in the water because of that.
OK, Tiffany Sanders, Dr. Sanders, not only did she do it, now she`s lying about it saying it was an accident.
DR. TIFFANY SANDERS, PSYCHOLOGIST: Nancy, Dani Mathers is the epitome of a mean girl. She wanted to laugh, ridicule and humiliate this woman. And the
fact of the matter is, as a woman who is on Playboy magazine, if she loves body image, she wouldn`t be trying to say, hey, look at this woman and blur
out the image. I`m so proud of her that she`s working out. I`m so proud that she`s taking care of her body at age 70. We all need to do that.
But instead, she was trying to ridicule this woman and it was very deliberate, very mean girl. And I`m happy to hear that the police will go
after her and hopefully press charges.
GRACE: Everybody, cancer can strike anyone at any time, but this statistic may surprise you. Each year, over 70,000 young adults are diagnosed. This
week`s CNN Hero has helped thousands of young cancer patients face their fears with a life-changing adventure. Meet Brad Ludden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD LUDDEN, CNN HERO: I`m working with young adults with cancer.
We see a lot of them feeling like they`re the only ones in the world dealing with any of the things they`re dealing with. It`s really important
to get them together to where they can realize that other people are going through the same stuff.
From day one on the river, these guys can`t paddle in a straight line and the last day they are paddling past the white water. We start to see really
beautiful transformation.
GRACE: Go to CNNHeroes.com to hear more about the story or nominate a 2016 hero.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: So this lady is snapped naked in the gym by this woman, a talk show host, former Playboy bunny. Candace Trunzo, senior news editor,
dailymail.com, what more do we know, Candace?
TRUNZO: Well, we know that she will never step one of those little feet of hers into an L.A. fitness facility again. And we know that her L.A. radio
show, the "Heidi and Frank" show has said bye-bye Dani. We don`t want to see you again.
So, I think that her shaming act has gotten her in a heap of trouble not only facing a possible jail sentence but being, you know, banned from gym
facilities and not having her talk show anymore.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, isn`t Tom Mesereau representing her?
ZARRELL: Yes, exactly. When he was confronted with the rumor that criminal charges could come, he said I hope the rumor is not true.
GRACE: And hold on, Matt, didn`t he represent Michael Jackson?
ZARRELL: Yes, he did.
GRACE: All right now, which is a very, very complicated and serious case. So, to Dr. Tiffany Sanders, if you take this, if Mesereau takes this to a
jury, the truth (ph), well look what he did for Michael Jackson. He did a great job. But if he takes this to a jury, what you just said about her
being a mean girl, they better cop a plea.
I`m sorry, I can`t hear you.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Go ahead.
SANDERS: Someone with her publicity, I mean, it really, you know, degrades the woman that she took of and it`s unacceptable.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: It really does. And you know, another thing, to you Misty Marris and Kirby Clements, specifically do you Kirby Clements. You know what? In that
closing argument, you know what I`m going to be screaming? You think about your mother. You think about your grandmother and tell me this woman should
not go to jail. OK? That`s what I`d argue. OK? You know what would happen, right?
CLEMENTS: Yeah, I`d win because I`d object ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Whoa, whoa.
Everybody, let`s stop and remember American hero Army Sergeant John Thomas, just 33, Valdosta, Georgia. Also served Marines. Lost his life serving with
his best friend Ronnie. From a military family. Loved fishing and wanted to be a forest ranger, hiking the Appalachian Trail. Mother, Michelle;
grandparents, John and Manuela; one brother; widow, Tammy. John Thomas, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. Nancy Grace, signing off. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8 o`clock sharp, Eastern. And
until then, good night, friend.
[21:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER THOMAS, "FORENSIC FILES" NARRATOR: Up next, an exotic dancer vanishes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was driving me crazy that she didn`t come home.
THOMAS: Was the jealous ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
END
