Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Sheriff`s Wife`s DU Kills 3-Year-Old; Little Boy Bullied to Death; Mother of Twins Hired Hit Man to Kill Husband; Missing from Farmington Hills. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired September 14, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:00] NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Breaking news tonight. A sheriff`s gorgeous young wife not as gorgeous when she plows down a 3-year-old tot
boy reportedly driving drunk. The sheriff`s wife plows her white Sequoia into a parked Camry with 3 children and their mom inside, all three
children rushed to the hospital, little Elijah left dead.
So why is the DUI wife, Yarenit Malihan, walking free tonight? Where are her criminal charges? And did the judge know she just had a DUI three
months ago? I wonder if she and the judge, the two of them, can go to the tot`s funeral and sit on the front row. No wait, the back row!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A 3-year-old boy is dead after being hit by a driver under the influence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) say this woman is the wife of an Alameda County deputy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hit the driver`s side of the family`s car, killing 3- year-old Elijah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s devastating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, West Virginia, a family struggling tonight with the death of their beautiful 9-year-old little boy bullied to death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine-year-old Jackson Grubb (ph) was found dead in his home, a victim of suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew something was wrong with him, but I couldn`t get to him!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I knew for two days something was wrong with him, and I couldn`t figure out what was going on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His family says bullying is to blame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And to Florida. Did a 35-year-old mother of twins hire a hitman to kill her husband after she decides a plot to have him kidnapped and turned
into a sex slave was unrealistic?
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. A sheriff`s gorgeous young wife not as gorgeous when she plows down a 3-year-old tot boy, reportedly DUI, the sheriff`s young
wife plowing her white Sequoia into a parked Camry with three children and their mother inside, all three children rushed to the hospital, little
Elijah left dead.
So why Yarenit Malihan walking free tonight? Where are her formal criminal charges? And before a judge let her walk free, did he know, because I know
-- did he know she just had another DUI just three months ago? Maybe the two of them, as I said earlier, can go to that funeral and sit on the front
row or maybe the back row.
Straight out to Tom Perumean, editor with TheAdvocacyReport.com. Tom, thank you for being with us. What struck me about this is not only it`s
another DUI. This time, I believe they`re alleging she was under the influence of drugs, not alcohol. The first one I think was alcohol,
reportedly -- but that a 3-year-old is dead in the process. What happened, Tom?
TOM PERUMEAN, THEADVOCACYREPORT.COM (via telephone): Well, what is suspected is that Yarenit Malihan was driving on the I-680 freeway in San
Ramon. And anyone who`s traveled the 680 freeway, this is sort of a -- it goes through Diablo Valley, which is sort of a bypass route around the
congested Oakland Bay area freeway. It`s basically for people to get from the Silicon Valley to Napa.
So this is a freeway that has (ph) a very heavy, heavily trafficked, and traffic is moving very fast.
She struck a car that had run out of gas. The mother of the three children, the driver of the car, had pulled over to the shoulder and they
were waiting, I guess, for AAA or Freeway Assistance to come and bring gasoline, when Ms. Malihan supposedly plowed into the back of them with her
Toyota Sequoia, gravely injuring the mother. She`s got a broken bone in her back. Her 11-year-old child was injured, with cuts and bruises. A 1-
year-old daughter escaped injury, believe it or not, but 3-year-old Elijah Dunn (ph) did die from his injuries in this crash.
GRACE: You know, Tom, you know I have the twins. They`re now 8. I remember them at 3 years old. Their little legs and arms are so little.
And I could pick both of them up at one time and carry them around, just a little bitty baby at 3 years old.
I just don`t understand, Tom. The mom`s car was pulled off the side of the road. It`s striking a fixed object. Do I understand that correctly, Tom?
PERUMEAN: Yes. Yes. Malihan is suspected of hitting a parked vehicle on the shoulder. What she was doing driving on the shoulder, we don`t -- we
don`t know. But like I said, the 680 is a dangerous freeway. Anyone who lives up in the Bay area knows the 680...
[20:05:15]GRACE: Well, Tom...
PERUMEAN: ... and they know everyone just drives too fast on it.
GRACE: Tom Perumean with TheAdvocacyReport, let me understand this. Is she, Yarenit Malihan, free tonight?
PERUMEAN: She is. She bailed out on -- she -- she did make bail and is free on this. She is facing charges of gross vehicular manslaughter and
child cruelty, both stemming from the September 7th crash.
GRACE: Has a grand jury already indicted her?
PERUMEAN: We know that she`s facing charges -- she will be facing charges. I don`t know...
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Has she or has she not been indicted yet?
PERUMEAN: Not yet.
GRACE: Why?
PERUMEAN: The justice is grinding -- this justice system is grinding very slow. It`s the same thing with how she applied for a permit to continue
driving in the first place from the DMV. They`re still waiting for the paperwork to come in. The investigation that`s going on...
GRACE: This is wrong!
PERUMEAN: ... all of the final paper...
GRACE: This is wrong! This is wrong, Tom Perumean!
PERUMEAN: ... work up (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: This is wrong. A 3-year-old child is dead. The mother is horribly, horribly injured, and she`s walking free? Now, I don`t even know
how to address the fact that she is a sheriff`s deputy wife. That`s a whole `nother layer of this.
To Matt Zarrell. Matt, I don`t quite understand how this woman is back on the road after she just had a DUI.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, what I can tell you is, is that she had a DUI in June. Now, in California, if you are
arrested for DUI, the cop revokes your -- he takes you driver`s license and he gives you a temporary driver`s license that lasts for 30 days.
At that point, the DMV offers you the option to have a hearing to contest whether your license should be revoked. Now, what the DMV did is they
didn`t schedule her hearing until October for the June arrest. So between June and her October hearing, she was allowed to continue driving.
GRACE: Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was such a sweet, sweet little boy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the last thing you ever thought you could imagine going through, and it`s -- it`s hard. It`s devastating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me now is spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol, Officer John Fransen. Officer, thank you for being with us. Tell us
specifically about the deadly car crash. And I`m not talking about her DUI three months ago. I`m talking about this one. What happened?
OFFICER JOHN FRANSEN, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL (via telephone): Yes. Unfortunately, we received a call just a little bit before 6:20, right
around 6:20 PM on Friday, that we had a traffic collision on northbound 680 near Bollinger (ph) Canyon. When officers arrived on scene, they saw that
an SUV had collided with a Toyota Camry, and that the mother, who was the driver of that stopped vehicle, sustained major injuries, and the child
that was seated in the left rear, 3 years old, sustained major injuries and had to be airlifted from the scene to the Oakland Children`s Hospital.
GRACE: We are showing shots of him right now, Officer Fransen. With me now back is the grandfather of little Elijah. Sir, you were telling us
that you had been with them that day. What happened?
CHUCK MANIOKI, GRANDFATHER OF VICTIM (via telephone): Yes, I was (INAUDIBLE) baby-sitting him all day, him and my 1-year-old granddaughter,
Eliana (ph). After (ph) Crystal (ph), my daughter, came and picked them up -- they were headed home. An hour later, I get a phone call from my son-
in-law saying that they were in an accident and that they`re airlifting Elijah to Children`s Hospital.
At that time, I jumped up off my couch and rushed out of the house just to get to my grandson. When I`m on my way to the hospital, I was in contact
with a doctor at the hospital telling me that they`re going to take him into surgery and that I needed to get there as soon as possible.
Once I got there, he was in surgery. They told me it was going to be about a three to four-hour surgery. Forty-five minutes later, a social worker
came out and said that the surgeon needed to talk to us.
And that`s when he gave us the news that Elijah died right on the table.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:14:42]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Crystal ran out of gas after leaving her parents` Sunnyvale home (INAUDIBLE) three children, and she pulled off to
the side of the highway. That`s when the driver hit the family`s car, killing 3-year-old Elijah and severely injuring his mother with a fractured
back and six broken ribs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:15:00]GRACE: With me is Elijah`s, grandfather who races, races to the children`s hospital after he gets a call that little Elijah was being
airlifted to try and save his life. With me, grandfather Chuck Manioki.
Sir, thank you again for being with us. When you describe...
MANIOKI: Thank you.
GRACE: ... what happened, it`s everybody`s worst nightmare. Go ahead, sir.
MANIOKI: After we were told that he didn`t make it on the table, I mean, you know, the sadness of all of our hearts. I mean, we just all cried and
cried and cried. At that point, about 15 minutes later, I had to tell my son-in-law, I have to get to my daughter because I have to go tell her this
news. And my daughter was at a different hospital, you know, 45 minutes away from her son. So I rushed out to Walnut Creek to John Muir (ph) to
see my daughter and let my daughter know and gave her the devastating news.
GRACE: And there she is in the hospital with all of her near fatal injuries, and she has to be told that her son, her baby, her 3-year-old,
has passed away.
Sir, what was your reaction when you learned that this woman that plowed into the Camry, your daughter`s Camry, is a sheriff`s wife who just had a
DUI three months before?
MANIOKI: Devastated, angry. And you know, I thought right away, was -- we were under the impression she had no priors at all. That`s what we were
told. And then, all of a sudden, this surfaced up. Now, her being the wife of a high-ranking sheriff officer, by the way, we thought it got
brushed under the rug and we thought this was going to happen, too. But I am so glad that you guys are handling this. The community is all behind
us.
We want justice to be served on this lady. How many more lives has got to be taken away before anything happens? This is just ridiculous.
GRACE: With me right now is the former director of MADD, Georgia, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and crime analyst Sheryl McCollum. Sheryl, you and
I try and take (ph) this together in this pit (ph), and when you and I talk about -- drunk driving is the crime. It`s not an accident. It is not an
accident!
And when you hear the grandfather, Chuck, just talking -- I don`t understand how DUI offenders keep getting out and back on the highway! I
know, Sheryl, that they have a drinking problem, and I know that`s an illness, but they should not be driving! A 3-year-old boy sitting with his
mother is dead, is dead, because of this!
Sheryl, she had a DUI just 90 days before this, and nothing happened. And now she`s back out driving around a huge Sequoia and runs into a car parked
on the side of the street.
I mean, you know how I feel. I mean, what more can I do to protect my children than I`m already doing? You`d think parked in a car, you`re safe,
right Sheryl?
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST (via telephone): Absolutely. She`s parked. She moves over to the shoulder like you`re supposed to. All of her
children are secure in seatbelts. She did everything she was supposed to do to keep them safe.
And Nancy, this woman -- not only does she have two DUIs now, but everybody`s talking about, Well, she had her license back. She had her
license back. Let me tell you something. She didn`t give a damn about whether or not she had her license any more than she cared whether or not
(INAUDIBLE). She was going to continue to, you know, cause these accidents and take people`s lives. Something has got to be done more than just a
misdemeanor, Here`s your ticket.
GRACE: You know, Tom Perumean with TheAdvocacyReport, I want to follow up on something grandfather Chuck Manioki told me, that this isn`t just a
sheriff`s deputy, it is a high-ranking sheriff`s deputy. I didn`t know that until he just told me. Who is the husband?
PERUMEAN: The husband is Alameda County sheriff`s officer Clifford Malihan, and he is -- he is with the sheriff`s department and described as
one of their -- one of their higher-ranking officers. I don`t know if he`s a commander or not. But we do know that he is with the sheriff`s
department.
GRACE: Well, that puts a whole new layer on this for me. Let me understand something, Tom. What was the bond that a judge set for her as
she walks out of jail? What was her bond?
[20:20:08]PERUMEAN: Well, we do know that she bailed out. The bond figure I haven`t been able to uncover, but...
GRACE: Well, wait a minute! Wait a minute, Tom!
PERUMEAN: Just the fact that she was able to get out on bail is pretty amazing.
GRACE: That should be a public record. It should not be hard to get. We should be able to know, as the public, what judge bonded her out and how
much it was set.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This accident was not the first time Yarenit Malihan was arrested for being impaired behind the wheel. The DUI arrest back in
June, a blood alcohol level above the legal limit, her 10-year-old child in the car, This time, it was for drugs, and the consequences were deadly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:00]GRACE: Well, first of all, I take issue with that because this is no accident. First of all, Tom Perumean, you have to make a decision to
take drugs. Then you have to make a decision to get the keys to the car and crank up the car and put it in reverse, and then put it in drive and
then take to the highway. Those are all conscious decisions. When you lift that first drink to your lips, that is a conscious decision. This is
no accident.
What I want to know, Matt Zarrell, on the story, is it true, Matt Zarrell, that you have been trying since early this morning to try and get these
court documents to find out what judge let her out and how much the bond was for? Isn`t that true?
ZARRELL: Correct.
GRACE: And we still don`t know, do we. Why?
ZARRELL: No, we don`t because the court says they don`t have a record of it.
GRACE: OK, that`s not right! Back to Elijah`s grandfather, Chuck Manioki. Sir, that is not right because let me tell you something. I have fought
many a bond, OK, when I wanted somebody to stay behind bars. And that is a public record.
Why isn`t it out there? What judge let this woman walk out? And how low was her bond? That`s what I want to know. Do you know, Chuck?
MANIOKI: I do not know, and I wish I did know. I mean, we can`t understand how she bailed out, either.
GRACE: You know, what`s upsetting -- to John Fransen, Officer John Fransen with the California Highway Patrol. It`s very upsetting for normal people
like me and like Chuck when we think that something is being hidden from us, when we think there`s a two-tiered system of the haves and the have-
nots, that somehow, it`s being kept from us, why this woman is out on bond.
What happened to her first case? What do we know about this one, Officer Fransen? what do we believe the drug that she was on when Elijah was
killed?
FRANSEN: Well, first and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with Elijah`s family, grandfather -- I mean, this tugs at our heart strings, as
well.
We did a drug recognition evaluation on the driver once we believed that she was impaired. And from there, we`ll do a full investigation for this
fatal traffic collision, this horrific traffic collision, and we will...
GRACE: So you -- right now, do you know the drug?
FRANSEN: Right. So once we do -- once we conduct a drug recognition evaluation, we also are running a toxicology test...
GRACE: Right.
FRANSEN: ... so we`re waiting for the results to come back...
GRACE: OK. Why did you think she was...
FRANSEN: ... so we can definitely (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: ... impaired, Officer? So right now, you`re waiting on the tests, I think is the short story of that. Why did...
FRANSEN: Correct.
GRACE: ... did your people think that she was impaired?
FRANSEN: I wasn`t the investigator at the scene, but typically, what we`ll look at is we`ll look for signs of impairment. And different types of
substances cause different signs of impairment, and so in this case, there was no signs of alcohol impairment, but there were still signs of
intoxication.
GRACE: OK. You know, Matt Zarrell, what happened to her first DUI? What became of that?
ZARRELL: Well, the first DUI case is still pending. She had an arraignment on August 31st, and the case is still ongoing right now. And
she`s still allowed to drive, or she was allowed to drive up until this accident.
GRACE: Ridiculous. Ridiculous! You know what? Justin, can you put a picture of Elijah up for me?
Everyone who can hear my voice, you look at him and you imagine your boy or your girl on this screen right now, and you will join me in trying to stop
vehicular homicides and drunk driving!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:00] GRACE: My new book "Murder in the Courthouse" the third in the Hailey Dean murder mystery series. Hailey is at it again. What is it with
Hailey Dean, whenever she shows up, people drop dead like flies? But this time, well, Hailey, the next murder victim.
Portions of proceeds from this book go to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help find missing children. Preorders come with a
signed manuscript page. Go to Amazon, books with million, barns and noble. For that manuscript page go to murderinthecourthouse.com.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The family of Jackson Wyatt Grubb can only describe his suicide as shocking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the ambulance go that way, and I told him turn around, turn around that`s Jack, that`s Jack.
[20:35:03] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The boy was full of energy was often bullied leaving him to take his own life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s telling someone, that someone is being mean to you, you know, somebody stop this.
GRACE: We are live in West Virginia. A family is left struggling tonight with the death of their beautiful nine-year-old little boy that they say
was bullied to death.
Jeff Jenkins at V.P. of News, West Virginia Metro News Radio Network. Jeff, when I first saw this story, I could hardly stand to look at it because it
just hurt me so much. What do we know? What happened?
JEFF JENKINS, WEST VIRGINIA METRO NEWS RADIO NETWORK VP: We know he was somewhat struggling, we`re talking about Jack Grubb of course and he was
somewhat struggling in recent weeks, his grandmother Betsy Beaver had noticed that he was struggling, he was keeping things inside.
And she said that she, if anybody could get anything out of him she could, and she tried and tried and she tried and she was not able to get anything
out of -- get what was bothering him. And then of course last Saturday, they find him dead in the bedroom.
GRACE: Stacey Newman on the story, where was the bullying happening?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, from what we are understanding now that this was happening to him at school and also the family reports
that some of these bullies were waiting for him outside his home. He had recently tried to build that clubhouse to make new friends. But the school
is telling us they had no incidence or anything reported to them about little Jack being bullied.
GRACE: I bet they -- I bet they are saying that, but I have a very hard time, Jeff Jenkins, believing that nobody ever told the school. I find that
very difficult to believe.
JENKINS: The superintendent says there is nothing reported to the school, you know, and so nothing official from them at that time but you`ve got to
believe that there`s going to be more said about this.
GRACE: With me also is Jodee Blanco, bullying survivor and author of "Please Stop Laughing at Me." Jodee, thank you for being with us. What do
you make of this, Jodee, a nine-year-old little boy bullied to death?
JODEE BANCO, BULLYING SURVIVOR & EXPERT: I feel deeply for the family and I feel that it`s a tragic loss and for anyone who is listening to this show
right now, we can`t bring that little boy back and I hope the truth comes to the floor, about whether the school knew or not.
That if there are any parents listening now and you suspect your child is being bullied, do not wait. Go to the school and make yourself heard and if
the school -- if the school stonewalls, don`t stop. Find out from your child. Who else is being bullied at the school?
Go to their parents, form a parental coalition and approach the school as a group. A school can ignore one angry parent but they cannot ignore an
organized coalition of these parents. So, don`t wait.
GRACE: Stacey, question, following on what Jodee is saying. What was the nature of the bullying? I mean, this is such a cute little boy. He`s a
gorgeous little boy. What was the nature of the bullying? What could they possibly have been making fun of?
NEWMAN: While we heard that he had become a little bit introverted, so maybe he had a hard time making friends, but they went verbally assault him
for what the family is saying and even trying to touch him, he would try to use humor to fend off the bullying and to stand up for himself, but
apparently, it was just too much.
GRACE: You know what, Jeff Jenkins, West Virginia Metro News Radio Network, I really think the school should be accountable because they had
to know what was going on in their own classrooms on their own playground.
JENKINS: Maybe they`ll be able to find out more, because, you know, this is just a couple of days` old. I think this is continuing to generate
discussion. The school board will likely meet soon. There probably will be more questions that are -- that are presented at that time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Came straight over here, I saw the ambulance go that way and I told him turn around, turn around, that`s Jack, that`s Jack, turn
around and when here, and then I got to the hospital. When I got to the hospital they wouldn`t let me in. So, I knew right there and I saw the EMT
they were crying and I knew right there that he was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was spending time with him, trying to get it out of him but Jack`s the type that he holds pain in. And I knew something was
wrong but I can`t get to him. That was the type where he didn`t talk. He didn`t want to look little.
And these kids need to know it`s not being little. It`s telling someone, if someone is being mean to you, you know, somebody stop this.
[20:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: To Florida, did a 34-year-old mother of twins actually hire a hit man to kill her husband after she decides her first plot to have him
kidnapped and turned into a sex slave was unrealistic?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Urgent, a young mom decides her ex-husband has to die, and she wants to make certain that it happens. She even tells the
undercover detective posing as a hit man that she`ll pay him $5,000 out of her hubby`s life insurance.
GRACE: Straight to Levi Page, investigative reporter and of the Levi Page Show. Levi, thank you for being with us. I want to start this at the
beginning, who is -- one step at a time. Who is Rachel Leahy? Who is she?
[20:45:06] LEVI PAGE, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER & LEVI PAGE SHOW HOST: Rachel Leahy is a mother of three. And in 2011, she got divorced from her husband,
David, and she is apparently has a past as a working the NASCAR circuit as a Winston girl. I have no idea what that is. But...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Whoa, Hold on, hold on, hold on. It`s like drinking from a fire hydrant, Levi Page. You gave me too much of one. So, hold on. Let me take a
look here at Rachel Natalie Leahy, just 35 years old. Mother of three children ages eight, seven, and six.
Unleash the lawyers, Parag Shah, defense attorney and author of "The Code," Seema Iyer, defense attorney out of New York. First to you, Parag Shah, it
seems pretty clear they have got her red handed, so her first plan is to have him kidnapped, and used as a sex slave abroad.
Now you know she`s leaving a trail a mile wide, right? My question is, why would you do that to your children? Even if you are no longer in love with
the father and you don`t want to be married, why kill him for Pete`s sake?
PARAG SHAH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, child custody battles make mothers do crazy things to protect their children and so she had a couple of screws
loose... GRACE: OK.
SHAH: ... and she just wasn`t thinking clearly, and that`s what happened. Mothers love their kids. My mom, she loves me, she would -- she would do
anything to protect me.
GRACE: So, she was just trying to commit murder in the loving and caring way, I think is what you`re saying. Iyer, are you actually going along with
that?
SEEMA IYER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, I`m going along with the fact that police put this woman in a precarious situation. This is entrapment, OK?
The police set her up. She had some fears, she had some insecurities about this husband about the marriage, and they preyed upon her and that, my
friends, is a defense and it should be illegal.
GRACE: Let me get back to the facts. Michael Christian, are you with me? Michael, just give me the low down on the facts.
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, basically someone went to the local county sheriff`s office and said this woman wants to kill her
husband, you should take a look at her.
So, through that unnamed informant they passed on a number to this woman that she could call and she contacted someone at the police department. She
didn`t know it was an undercover officer and they had meetings with her. And she said several times that these meetings...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: But look him up. What do you mean they had meetings with her?
CHRISTIAN: They met. She was told to go to a certain location, at a certain time. She drove there. She met with this undercover cop that she
thought was a hit man and they arranged how to kill her husband.
GRACE: And what did she say, Michael?
CHRISTIAN: She said basically she wanted custody of the children, that she couldn`t take this anymore. She decided to act. And what`s fascinating,
Nancy, is she was given several opportunities to back down. She was asked have you changed your mind. And she said every time, no, I want to go
through with this.
GRACE: OK. Let me understand. Levi Page, explain to me who was that first called police to say Rachel Leahy is trying to kill her husband?
PAGE: It was an informant that has not been identified by law enforcement.
GRACE: OK. What else do we know, Levi? Give me the facts.
PAGE: Well, we know that she had three separate meetings as Michael said, with law enforcement and her motive was that she wanted custody of her
kids. She was not happy with the arrangement. She claimed that she wanted him dead at any cost.
At first, she wanted him sold into sex slavery, then she said that was unrealistic, then she said that she preferred that he was burned alive or
that he was drowned to make it look like an accident. She also ruled out to having him killed in a car accident because she said that he could survive.
And this is a woman, who according to her LinkedIn profile had that past working as a guardian ad litem. She says protecting women and children. And
this is all caught on tape. Does this sound like a woman you think should have custody of children or be protecting children?
It`s very chilling. And law enforcement claims that she showed no emotion throughout the planning of the killing of her husband.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Oh, man, I wonder how many times -- I wonder how many times she actually meet with the police? But, hold on,
hold on, Levi Page and Parag Shah, Seema Iyer.
Right now, the disappearance of a Farmington Hills woman. Straight out to Kyle Peltz. Who is she? What happened.
KYLE PELTZ, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right, Nancy. Twenty three-year- old Elizabeth Joy Hock, she`s missing from Farmington Hills, Michigan. Now she was last seen by her family on Tuesday, September 6, her sister
reportedly spoke to her that night that hasn`t been able to get hold of her since.
Now just yesterday, her vehicle was found in the parking lot of a pet smart, not far from where she lives, but still no sign of Elizabeth.
GRACE: And Kyle, was there anything left in her car?
[20:50:00] PELTZ: Yes. Inside this abandoned car was reportedly Elizabeth`s purse, money, and I.D.
GRACE: Now, guys, it was a Crown Vic parked outside a pet smart. Did she work there, Kyle?
PELTZ: No. As far as we know she actually worked at a local athletic club, which is where she was scheduled to work on Friday but she never showed up.
And that`s added even more concern to this.
GRACE: Well, just before her disappearance, Kyle, was there anything suspicious, did anyone notice anything?
PELTZ: Well, not that we know of, Nancy. Her dad did say in a local interview that she had recently broken up with her boyfriend. However, her
parents don`t believe he had anything to do with her disappearance.
GRACE: Hold on, then what else do we know about her?
PELTZ: Well, those who know her say running away would be extremely unlike her. And that she was very trustworthy. Her parents are extremely worried,
Nancy. She`s their youngest child, and by the look that had everything going for her, even taking business classes at a local college.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:04:58] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news, a Florida woman allegedly hires an undercover detective to kill her ex-husband. According to the
sheriff`s office, Rachel Leahy said her husband needs to be gone completely after having first considering kidnapping and even turning him into a sex
slave.
GRACE: Straight out to a Dr. Ken Redcross, board certified in internal medicine, concierge doctor. Doctor, one of her plans was to drown him,
allegedly.
KEN REDCROSS, BOARD-CERTIFIED INTERNAL MEDICINE: Right.
GRACE: OK?
REDCROSS: Right.
GRACE: So, Dr. Redcross, when you plan these things and you`re just talking about them, it doesn`t seem real. But what does a person go through
that is held under water? What does that asphyxiation process feel like to someone that is drowned dead?
REDCROSS: Yes. You know, Nancy, there`s really very difficult to figure out a degree of what would be the worst way to go. But I can tell you
drowning is up there at number one. There`s so many things that happen along with drowning. And it`s so slow. It`s so slow as far as water coming
into the lungs, as far as the blood flow being cut off to the brain.
It is a horrible process and actually to deal with and endure. So, obviously, she had this deep seeded hate for this man because she was aware
that he was going to suffer through this particular process.
GRACE: I mean, if you`ve got to plan a murder for Pete`s sake, just let it be a, you know, bullet.
REDCROSS: Yes.
GRACE: It`s over just like that. You don`t know what hit you. But to be so cold as to want your spouse drowned...
REDCROSS: To suffer.
GRACE: ... forcibly drown, I mean, that`s like burning someone alive
REDCROSS: It really is. It`s extremely calculated when you think about drowning. Because everyone knows what really it entails and that`s slow.
That`s slow and you really want that person to feel the pain. So, that is a problem, and obviously on her end, there are a lot of medical mental issues
that definitely have to be worked out with her.
GRACE: Don`t start, Redcross, telling me that she`s insane. Don`t even go there. Because she met with cops over and over and over. She clearly was in
her own mind.
To Dr. Ramani Durvasula, clinical psychologist, are you going to be second verse same as the first and try to suggest to me that this mother was
insane?
RAMANI DURVASULA, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: No, I`m not. She was -- this was all too calculated, it was too well-planned, it was too well-thought out.
Last time I check being entitled is not a psychiatric diagnosis.
This is an entitled selfish woman who doesn`t -- who didn`t stop to think about her kids. I don`t even think she really wanted more custody. I just
think she wanted to remove the inconvenience of her husband. This isn`t insanity. This is malevolence. This is psychopathy. But absolutely this
woman needs to -- needs to face the music for what she`s done.
GRACE: You know, you said something that really intrigued me. You said that she was entitled. Why do you say that?
DURVASULA: Yes.
GRACE: What about the facts make you think that this mother was entitled?
DURVASULA: I think that this idea that she sort of wants what she wants. She wants -- she want the husband out of the way, she wants his money, she
wants her life to look the way she wants it and those -- the most convenient way to do that would not go through a divorce but to get him off
and to get him out of the picture. That is very entitled. Wanting what you want when you want it and expecting to get it.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Seema Iyer, New York, Parag Shah, Atlanta. What about that, Shah?
SHAH: Yes, well, I don`t agree with that mainly because we just don`t have enough facts to back any of that up. That`s a great opinion. But legally
speaking, I don`t think it holds any water.
GRACE: Oh, then what is your defense?
SHAH: Yes, I told you my defense. She is crazy.
GRACE: Oh, OK.
(CROSSTALK)
SHAH: She`s crazy. Come on.
GRACE: You are basing that. Seema Iyer, what are you basing?
IYER: Can we talk about...
SHAH: A sex slave? Come on.
IYER: But, hold on a second. Let`s look at this case. The only source is an unnamed informant.
GRACE: No, that`s not true.
IYER: So, we don`t have -- that -- oh, you`re going to -- you`re going to trust all of the cops that are getting together and saying this?
GRACE: No, no, no. Michael Christian, not only does someone call.
IYER: Unnamed informant. Snitches.
GRACE: Well, I can -- I can tell you something, Michael Christian, when you go and get an arrest warrant or a search warrant; you have to tell the
judge who your unnamed informant is.
The judge knows before they sign a warrant for a search or an arrest. So long story short, they may not want it out there. Hey, for all I know it`s
her sister or her father or her mother, or a close friend and they don`t want to end up dead.
So, of course they want it kept a secret. But aren`t there a lot of cops that were in on this. What I`m not going to forget not believe all of the
cops and believe her instead?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, that`s right, Nancy. This informant may be unknown as -- or unnamed but they`re certainly not unknown.
GRACE: Now let`s stop and remember American hero. Marine Corporal Steven Gill, just 24, Round Rock, Texas, Purple Heart. Post office back home named
in his honor. Dreamed of being a youth minister. Parents Bill and Rose, brother James also served in the army. Steven Gill, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but as always to you. Nancy grace signing off. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8 o`clock sharp Eastern. And until then.
[21:00:01] Good night, friend.
END
