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Nancy Grace
Teen Girl Murders Dad, Moves Party Pals Into House; Police Say the Murder Case of Missy Bevers is Far From Being a Cold Case Despite any Arrests
Aired October 13, 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. Teen girl Crystal Howell shoots her dad point-blank in the head while he`s taking a nap, drags his dead
body into a storage shed, only to stuff it into a plastic bin. Alleged motive for murder? So she could move all of her friends into her dad`s
eight-bedroom mansion to party hearty, including installing a stripper pole in the kitchen.
She just bought a one-way ticket to hell, people -- one way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say Crystal Howell shot her father in the head with a shotgun and hid his body in a storage shed. Prosecutors say while
her father`s body was rotting away in a storage container, she invited her friends to move in, hosted drug-fueled parties, and even had a stripper
pole installed in the kitchen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A Texas mother of three at Creekside church, 4:00 AM to teach aerobics, stabbed dead in the church by a perp disguised in a black SWAT
gear outfit. Tonight, is there a break in the case, or has the trail gone cold?
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Teen girl Crystal Howell shoots her father point-blank in the head while he`s taking a nap. Then she drags his dead, bloody body
out to a storage shed and stuffs it in a plastic bin.
Alleged motive for murder? So she, the teen, can move in all of her friends into Daddy`s eight-bedroom mansion so they can party hearty
nonstop, including installing a stripper pole in the kitchen -- right in the kitchen floor, a stripper pole! Well, she just bought a one-way ticket
to hell -- one way.
Straight out to Rita Crosby, investigative journalist with WABC. Rita, explain to me, was there any allegation that he had beaten her, that he
abused her? Wasn`t she well nourished? She was taken care of. She lived in a mansion. He apparently rescued her from a mom who was, let me just
say, inattentive. What happened?
RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Yes, you`re absolutely right. There doesn`t appear to be any history of abuse at all, Nancy. And she goes to a
department store with him, Ingles department store. She gets caught for shoplifting. She is with her father. And they then go home back to his
eight-bedroom mansion, and...
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait! That`s something I didn`t know. Her father takes her shopping. He`s buying her stuff at a department store.
COSBY: Yes.
GRACE: Because when I heard Ingles, I thought of Ingles grocery store. I didn`t realize he was out taking her for clothes or jewelry or shoes or
handbags. So he`s out actually buying her stuff at Ingles department store, and she shoplifts?
COSBY: And she gets caught shoplifting. He clearly is not happy about that. And then they go back to his eight-bedroom place, his long -- you
know, big mansion. And then she tells people, The reason you haven`t seen my father around is he suddenly died. He`s a 50-year-old man. And as you
point out, then she invites her friends to move in.
GRACE: I want to hear about this eight-bedroom mansion. Let me see if I have any photos of that. He`s got her propped up in a mansion. The two of
them live there. He basically dotes on her. She`s all he`s got.
And then what happens? They come back -- oh, there we go. This is near Maggie Valley ski resort, Sheepback Mountain. It`s beautiful country.
Very, very -- let me just say wealthy people live in that area, gated community, the whole shebang.
So Rita Cosby, she`s propped up in the mansion. They get home from a department store shopping spree where he`s buying her stuff. And then what
happens?
COSBY: And then she tells people the reason that they haven`t seen the father around is because he died.
GRACE: Well, wait a minute! Whoa, whoa! Who asked? Who wanted to see the father?
COSBY: Different people, different friends. And she would basically say, Well, my father suddenly passed away. And that was the last thing they
knew about him for some time. She invites friends over, Nancy, as you point out. They move in, and she even sets up a stripper pole in the
middle of the kitchen. She starts using his vehicles, starts spending his money...
GRACE: Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop! Unleash the lawyers. Joining me tonight, veteran prosecutor Eleanor Odom joining me out of Washington,
D.C., Randy Kessler, defense attorney out of Atlanta, Renee Rockwell joining us out of Atlanta, and Peter Odom, veteran trial lawyer, former
defense attorney out of Chicago. OK, Kessler...
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes.
GRACE: Stripper pole in the kitchen?
KESSLER: Yes, Nancy, isn`t it you that always says motive is irrelevant? You don`t have to prove motive to prove murder? This is all after the
fact. You`re trying to prejudice the jury, the jury pool, by saying, Look what she did. The question is, did she do it? Why did she do it? Was it
self-defense? Was there something going on?
GRACE: OK, so let me just...
KESSLER: Those are the questions we should ask.
GRACE: ... make a note. So you want me to forget that while her dad`s body is out in the storage bin in the shed bleeding, you want me to forget
she installed a stripper pole?
KESSLER: No, because that makes people angry, and that`s what you want to do. But the bottom line...
GRACE: Yes, it does. It does make me angry.
KESSLER: It doesn`t mean she killed him any more or any worse or any harder. She killed him or she didn`t.
GRACE: Let`s actually -- put up Kessler. Randy Kessler, let`s talk about what the law really is...
KESSLER: OK.
GRACE: ... not what the law is in Randy Kessler dreamland, OK, because Eleanor...
KESSLER: Or Nancy Grace dreamland.
GRACE: OK, you tell me if I`m wrong.
KESSLER: All right.
GRACE: And Peter, as much as it`s poison in your mouth, I bet you`re about to agree with me.
Eleanor, isn`t it true that the fact scenario leading up to the murder and immediately after in the weeks, the months following the murder, can be
taken into account to determine course of conduct, frame of mind, motive? All of that can be taken into account by a jury. Isn`t that true, Eleanor?
ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Of course it`s true. And Randy Kessler is just dead wrong, Nancy, because juries want to hear about motive. Sure, we
don`t have to prove it, but in this case, you`ve got motive all over the place.
GRACE: OK, Odom, jump in.
PETER ODOM, VETERAN TRIAL ATTORNEY: Let me inject some reality into the little fantasy world that all you prosecutors are living in. This was a
17-year-old emotionally disturbed girl. No one is using the phrase "shopping spree" before the murder except the prosecutors. The police
never used that. No one has ascribed the motive to her as wanting to have parties and put in a stripper pole. She did those things afterwards. But
this is an emotionally disturbed 17-year-old.
GRACE: Can I ask you a question?
P. ODOM: We don`t know what her motive is.
GRACE: Can I ask you a question, Peter?
P. ODOM: Of course.
GRACE: And consider this cross-exam, so please answer yes or no. Peter, isn`t the law -- doesn`t the law state very clearly that the law assumes
that you intend the natural consequences of your act? Isn`t that true?
P. ODOM: Nancy, I`m not saying...
GRACE: Isn`t that the law?
P. ODOM: ... that she didn`t mean to kill him.
GRACE: Isn`t that the law?
P. ODOM: It`s the law in most states.
GRACE: OK, so going on...
P. ODOM: It`s law in every court of my practice, as a prosecutor and defense attorney.
GRACE: A simple yes would have been great.
P. ODOM: But that`s irrelevant here. She`s still emotionally disturbed.
GRACE: OK, you know what? We`re not...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You can go ahead and cut his mike.
Eleanor, so ergo, if the law assumes you intend the natural consequences of your act, she shoots him in the head while he`s asleep, and within a week
installs a stripper pole, immediately moves all of her friends to party into the home, where they party nonstop around the clock including with
drugs and alcohol, wouldn`t that suggest to you that the motive for murder is so she can live a lifestyle her father disapproved of?
E. ODOM: Exactly, Nancy. And then you look at the choices she made. Was she upset that her dad died? No, she was glad because she wanted that
lifestyle!
GRACE: Let`s see some shots of the home. And I want to see this young girl.
Back to Rita Cosby. Rita -- joining me right now is Brenda Ennis. Brenda Ennis is the aunt of Crystal Howell, this young girl, a teen who guns down
her father while he`s asleep. Ms. Ennis, thank you for being with us.
BRENDA ENNIS, AUNT (via telephone): You`re welcome.
GRACE: Now, I understand that you think there`s a very different story, and I want to hear it. What do you think about this?
ENNIS: I think this is, you know, great sensationalism you`re putting out right now. First of all, Mike did not live in a mansion. He lived in a
modest mountain house, probably a $200,000, $300,000 house.
GRACE: Can I ask you something, Ms. Ennis? Is it true that it was an eight-bedroom home?
ENNIS: That I don`t know, but it was far from a mansion.
GRACE: Well, it is. It`s an eight-bedroom home and it`s near Maggie Valley, the ski resort. So it may not be a mansion to you, but I
guarantee...
ENNIS: But if you look up the...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: That`s really not my concern. My concern is, why would she do this?
ENNIS: Why would she do it? Because she had -- was a product of a very bitter, ugly divorce that -- a very bitter, ugly divorce, and -- and poor
parenting, basically.
I mean, she had grown up and had lots of problems. Prior to the divorce, she was a happy, sweet, innocent little girl. And the divorce -- it was
one of the bitterest you would ever witness. And she...
GRACE: Can I ask you a question? How old was she at the time of the divorce?
ENNIS: I would say 11 or 12.
GRACE: 11 or 12, OK.
ENNIS: And at this age, at not long before this, my mother was in the hospital, her grandmother -- her dad was my nephew -- and she was in the
hospital in the bed. And -- in the hospital bed and Crystal come in and sang to her and climbed up in the bed and snuggled with her.
I mean, that`s the kind of girl Crystal was. And she still is like that. Crystal suffered from lack of mothering and mother -- and then -- getting
that nurturing from a mother. And that`s something that -- you know, and when the divorce happened, she was pretty much rejected. Therefore, the
father, you know, ended up with Crystal.
And he was (INAUDIBLE) ill-equipped, you know? Michael was a very frugal man. He didn`t have a lot of money. He didn`t work. He hadn`t worked
since -- for a while, and...
GRACE: Well, I appreciate that, that you`re telling me he`s frugal and wasn`t working at the time of the shooting, at the time of his murder.
And I hear you saying that up until the time she was 11 or 12 years old, she didn`t have any problems. She was happy. She was sweet. She was
innocent. She got up into her grandmother`s -- her relative`s bed and sang to her. And then after the divorce, something went sideways.
You know what? Let`s go to psychologist Caryn Stark joining me out of New York. You know, Caryn, I hear what she`s saying, that after age, say, 12,
the mother influence was no longer there.
Sadly, in our country, about 50 percent or more marriages end in divorce. And if this young girl was happy, sweet, innocent, with no mental or
emotional problems up to the time of the divorce, it`s very difficult for me to believe that somehow, the divorce gave her a mental illness. It may
have given her anger, it may have given her sadness, frustration, but not a bona fide mental illness.
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: It certainly would not have given her the ability to kill her father without any kind of thought or consequence,
Nancy, that there`s no conscience there. So there are so many children that go through divorce, and they do have problems. But they don`t kill
people. And that takes a whole different kind of psychological personality.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A teenage girl charged with killing her own father. Police say Crystal Howell shot her father in the head with a shotgun and
hid his body in a storage shed. Prosecutors say while her father`s body was rotting away in a storage container, she invited her friends to move
in, hosted drug-fueled parties, and even had a stripper pole installed in the kitchen! Prosecutors also say she tried to cover her tracks after
hiding his body by getting rid of the couch and selling the shotgun.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A North Carolina woman is in court today facing charges of first degree murder for killing her own father. Crystal Howell was only
17 when cops say she fatally shot her father in the head with a shotgun while he was napping.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Michael Christian joining me along with Rita Cosby, investigative journalist with WABC. Michael, an interesting thing we were just talking
about was how happy and innocent this young girl was just a few short years before she murders her father.
Now, let me understand something, Michael. Isn`t it true that this girl, Crystal Brooke Howell, a teen girl, after she shoots her father in the head
at point-blank range as he`s taking a nap following a shopping trip to Ingles department store, she sells the shotgun, the murder weapon, and gets
rid even of the shotgun shell casings?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right, Nancy. Not only did she move the body, as you say, dragging it out to the storage shed, she
dumped the couch that presumably was a mess...
GRACE: Wa-wait! What did you say about the couch?
CHRISTIAN: She dumped it. She got rid of it somehow. Presumably, it was a mess. She collected the spent shotgun shell...
GRACE: (INAUDIBLE)
CHRISTIAN: ... and according to reports, she did sell the gun.
GRACE: OK. Joining me as a special guest is the aunt of Crystal Howell, Ms. Brenda Ennis. Ms. Ennis, thank you again for being with us. You were
talking about at a young age, around 12, the family had a divorce and the mother basically left a life...
ENNIS: Right.
GRACE: ... let her life. You know, I hear you...
ENNIS: Not necessarily left her life, but the mother never -- was never a nurturing mother. She had another child by another man that was claiming
to be Crystal`s dad, which she did not even know until the divorce came up...
GRACE: What I`m trying to figure out is not her family tree. What I`m trying to figure out is this. If she had a problem with her mother, why
not shoot the mother? Why shoot the father who`s trying to take care of her? And why be so cunning as to dump the sofa to get rid of the evidence,
to sell the shotgun and destroy or get rid of even the shotgun shell casings? That`s pretty sophisticated.
ENNIS: Well, this child has been through a bad divorce, and I`m -- I know you`re saying that a divorce -- but also a mother that basically disowned
you, and every time you saw her, you were -- you know, you were into trouble. You did something wrong, even if you didn`t. She was torn
between her mother and her father, completely torn, and it destroyed her. I mean, those (INAUDIBLE) facts.
GRACE: OK. So to Dr. William Morrone, forensic pathologist joining me out of Madison Heights. Dr. Morrone...
DR. WILLIAM MORRONE, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Good evening.
GRACE: ... It`s always such a pleasure to have you with me.
MORRONE: Thank you.
GRACE: Dr. Morrone, question. Did he ever know what hit him?
MORRONE: He never knew what hit him. We don`t know exactly how close, but if he was shot within one foot of his head with the tip of a shotgun and it
was a 12-gauge, it would have blown his head off and he would have looked look like a chocolate cherry blizzard from Dairy Queen. There wouldn`t
have been much left. Two or three feet out...
GRACE: OK, Dr. Morrone...
MORRONE: ... you might have a hole.
GRACE: ... I really didn`t expect that graphic. I`m surprised you didn`t bring on a DQ blizzard. But I`m wondering if he woke up at any point
before she pulled the trigger -- back to Ms. Ennis, the aunt of Crystal Howell. I`m sure you just heard Dr. Morrone`s description of what happened
to the victim in this case, Michael Joseph Howell.
I still don`t quite get the stripper pole and inviting all the friends to live with her and party with drugs and alcohol.
ENNIS: Are you waiting for me to reply?
GRACE: Yes, I am.
ENNIS: OK. I`ll tell you, this is a very sensationalized (INAUDIBLE) does not really care about the true issues...
GRACE: I want to know the truth. Is that not true?
ENNIS: ... the true issues...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Did somebody say that to just get a headline?
ENNIS: ... back into her background as to how she was raised, what really took place in her life, and what took place during her formative years
between her mother, her dad and her, and her sister.
(CROSSTALK)
ENNIS: ... nobody cares about...
GRACE: No, I do care. I do care, and I do want to know. But what I care the most about is this father getting shot in the head. Now, if there`s
some kind of explanation -- was she abused in some way, was she beaten...
ENNIS: No, she loved her dad very much.
GRACE: ... was she sex abused?
(CROSSTALK)
ENNIS: She loved her dad very much. He loved her very much. There was no issues there. And he was not taking her on a shopping spree.
GRACE: OK, great. Forget the shopping spree.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Forget it. The shopping spree did not happen, OK?
(CROSSTALK)
ENNIS: ... would be to take her on a long walk with the dog, and they would have a long talk. So the idea that she was after all this money is
bogus because...
GRACE: That`s not even what I`m asking you, ma`am! I am not asking you that. And you know what? If he was taking her to a department store and
it was not a shopping spree, I give you that. Forget the spree. It never happened, OK? The facts were wrong.
I`m asking you, is it a lie, is it not true that she did, while his body is out in the shed, install a stripper pole?
ENNIS: If you read up on most any young person that kills their family member, they go -- I looked into it after she -- after this happened.
Every one I read about, the same scenario. There`s a reason that this happened. Why, what triggers in these young people`s heads, I don`t know.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: To Rita Cosby. Rita, I want to be sure that we know what we`re talking about. Did she, while her father`s body is out in a shed, did she
invite a lot of friends over? And I don`t want just a sensational headline, I want to know the truth. Did she invite friends to come in and
live 24/7, 365? Was there booze? Was there alcohol? And did she, right after her father`s murder, install a stripper pole in the kitchen floor?
COSBY: She absolutely did. And they believe the father never saw it coming, that he was napping the whole time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: You know, to Michael Christian. I want to explore what her aunt, Brenda Ennis, is telling us. I`m trying to figure out, is there a reason,
is there a motive this girl would have murdered her father as he`s laying there napping? Now, I think I heard Ms. Ennis say there was no abuse,
there was no sex abuse, nothing like that. The most he would do when he was reprimanding her would be take her out, take her on a long walk and
then talk about whatever she had done wrong and try to sort it out.
But were there any calls from DFACS, Department of Family and Children Services, CPS, Child Protective Services, anything like that at all that we
know of?
CHRISTIAN: No, not that we`re aware of at all, Nancy. According to prosecutors and police, the motive basically here was greed, that she
wanted to able to have access to her father`s property, his car, his money, and didn`t want to be under supervision.
GRACE: The motive the prosecutor put forward was greed. Rita Cosby, why are they saying that?
COSBY: They`re saying that because right away, after the father died, according to her, then suddenly, she moves in, she starts spending his
money. She`s using his car. In fact, she is found with his Land Rover and with a U-Haul packed with his items and did not seem upset that he was
missing, didn`t seem concerned even when she was telling the story that her father suddenly had died. She didn`t seem overwhelmed, didn`t seem
emotional at all about it.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Eleanor Odom, Randy Kessler, Renee Rockwell, Peter Odom. To you, Eleanor. You know, Eleanor, you and I both recently -
- me recently -- lost our fathers. And to this day, I don`t like to talk about it because it`s too upsetting.
How could she talk about it and not shed a tear, not even a quiver of the lip, nothing? In fact, she told people very casually he moved to Georgia
and then he killed himself.
E. ODOM: Especially seeing that there were no problems between them, that she clearly loved him, according to her aunt. So that is very unusual,
Nancy.
GRACE: OK, Renee Rockwell, what`s your defense?
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It`s a mental defense, obviously, Nancy.
GRACE: A mental defense.
ROCKWELL: No matter what she did after the death does not mean that she had lost her mind.
GRACE: Put her up, please.
ROCKWELL: . at the time of the death.
GRACE: Just so you know, Renee, Odom and Kessler (ph) have already said that, and we established that the law is, that acts following the incident
can be brought in as evidence in front of the jury. I just got two words to say to you, Renee, stripper pole, okay?
ROCKWELL: So stripper pole, that in itself is crazy, but it doesn`t mean at the time of the death that she knew the difference between right and wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was well known that Bevers taught an early morning fitness class at Creekside Church of Christ.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect broke into the church before Bevers arrive and roamed the church`s hallways, then assaulted her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who is this cloaked killer? And why Missy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is a suspect, okay? Everybody is a suspect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A Texas mother of three little children at Creekside Church at 4 a.m. to teach aerobics stabbed dead by a perp disguised in black SWAT gear.
Is there a break in the case or has the trail gone cold? To Jeffrey Boney, associate editor, Houston Forward Times. I still can`t believe that whoever
did this has managed to elude police capture. What is happening, Jeffrey?
JEFFREY BONEY, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, HOUSTON FORWARD TIMES: Well, it`s been nearly six months, Nancy, since fitness trainer Missy Bevers was found
murdered at the church. And although no arrests have been made, police say it`s far from being a cold case. But there have been a lot of dead ends in
spite of the fact that there have been about more than 1200 leads that have poured in.
GRACE: Hold on, Jeffrey. Let`s see the video of the perp walking around just as bold as you please, inside the Midlothian church. Look at this. A
lot of people think this is a woman. I can tell you this, we`ve compared, haven`t we, Stacey Newman? This is not the husband, okay? It`s not the
right size to be the husband, Stacey.
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, all we`ve heard so far is that they believe that the person in the video is somewhere between 5`2" and
5`7", which is making people more believe that it`s a woman, and also the way the gait is, the way the suspect is walking around the church.
GRACE: I don`t think it`s a woman. I don`t think it`s a woman. Jeffrey Boney, I don`t think it`s the husband because the husband is much taller
than that. You always think the husband first, but the husband is taller than that. I am almost convinced because I`ve seen him giving statements.
What are police doing right now, Jeff?
BONEY: They`re still, Nancy, looking into all of the leads that they`re getting. In July, of course, homicide detectives from Dallas and Forth
Worth started taking a fresh look at the new evidence that was coming in. They`ve given countless man hours spent chasing down those leads, many of
them coming from social media, but nothing at all has come from any of the leads and they`re still at a dead end.
GRACE: You know, Dr. William Morrone, once they started attacking her, they had to kill her, because she knew who her killer was, I guarantee you.
MORRONE: Right, you`re right.
GRACE: Why?
MORRONE: When it comes down to -- I do believe it`s a woman because female pelvises, because of the need to give birth, the hip sockets are rotated
out more, and male pelvises have hip sockets that are more straight on. And that.
GRACE: I think what you`re trying to say in regular people talk is that the hips look like a woman and make her walk like a woman. I still think it`s a
man. Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert, what can we do regarding digital?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Well, Nancy, the Midlothian police are doing a great job. They have subpoenaed every social media and
electronic piece of data that they can get. They`ve ordered a cell power dump. They`ve asked some cell phone carriers to give them the phone number
of every cell phone that was within five miles of this church on April 18th between 3:00 and 5:00.
GRACE: Everybody, very quickly, Matthew Kaplan realized his little brother was being bullied. He took action even though he`s only in the 8th grade.
For five years, he`s shared his free anti-bully program with over 4,000 middle school students. That`s why he`s this week`s CNN hero.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW KAPLAN, TACKLING BULLYING IN SCHOOLS, STARTED BE ONE PROJECT: The term peer pressure is thrown around a lot. Usually when it is, it`s meant
as a negative thing. I believe that can we actually harness peer pressure for good. What if it was cool to be kind? That`s what positive peer
pressure is all about. Creating a culture where being inclusive and being kind is the norm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Go to cnnheroes.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: For many, many years, I have wrote for victim`s rights and for justice. Along the way, I`ve been blessed, not only to be here, but to
start my own family. That`s the best work I`ve ever done. And I want to thank you for being with me from the beginning. Take a listen.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. Thank you for being with us. I`m Nancy Grace. I never get tired of reporting on these cases, because I feel that maybe we can
make a difference. For fear, pain, and sexual exploitation at the hands of a man, we now know to be a virtual clearinghouse for the most horrific
child pornography I`ve ever laid my eyes on.
Everybody in the country was trying to find out who was this little girl who has been posing for these photos at Disneyland in a hotel room. And
people were searching for you desperately. Do you remember being at Disneyland?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.
GRACE: Do not tell me about research, sir. One of my best friends on the Atlanta PD was gunned down for no reason on a traffic stop, for nothing! He
asked for a driver`s license and he`s dead. We are getting reports that your son has been found alive in your basement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
GRACE: How could your son be alive in your basement? A registered sex offender was basically AWOL where he was not supposed to be, and nothing
was done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s a pathological liar.
GRACE: I got my umbrella, I got my pajamas, I got my entourage. What were you saying? I got busy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I was a woman and I was in her situation, I certainly wouldn`t have stood around asking that question. I would have got out.
GRACE: You, sir, are a fool. And what you have said sets victim`s rights back maybe a couple hundred years. Take him off the screen. I don`t want to
look at him anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just said he shot him dead. The person is dead.
GRACE: A band-aid? All he needed was a band-aid?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury find George Zimmerman not guilty.
GRACE: We want justice. Let me just say these three names. Orenthal James Simpson, Casey Anthony, Robert Blake. Everybody thought those were she was
to. She`s till trying to play the victim. That`s what she`s doing. She looks like Cousin Itt, because she pulls her hair down over the front of
her face and hides from the jury.
He was seeing his lawyers. Why I speak for him? You told me that. Why do all the guys have on regular clothes and the women have on these clothes? I
don`t know the answer to that. He`s 25 years old. Of course he wants sex every night. He probably wants sex every hour. He had a band-aid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy.
GRACE: I`m just going to open it up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy.
GRACE: I`m going to put it in the FedEx. I`m going to send it you. A band- aid. I`ve seen video of you smoking a big, fat doobie. Luckily, we have the power to cut their mikes. Please cut the mike. Cut his mike. Cut his mike.
Don`t make me cut your mike in the first three minutes of the show please. You can go ahead and cut his mike. Don`t make me cut your mike.
I`m happy to report that plans for my life has made a u-turn. This past April, I married David, and tonight announced that we are expecting twins.
And tonight, meet two very special guests. Two of the tiniest crime fighters, Lucy and John David. You know they stayed in the hospital a lot
longer than I did. And they`re just miracles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: I have been so blessed to be here with you every night, and together, we have done so much. You have helped find missing people. You
have given tips for unsolved homicides. You have given victims a voice in seeking justice. This journey has opened many doors for me. Many of them I
couldn`t even begin to imagine.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please welcome Nancy Grace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Legal guru.
GRACE: Run to your mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow! Thank you, Nancy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s something about Nancy Grace.
GRACE: We know about your skills.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here`s one of T.V.`s most respected legal experts, Nancy Grace.
GRACE: But it`s a flamingo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. The flamingo is a bird. The Flamenco.
GRACE: Co -- Flamenco.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought I heard flamingo.
GRACE: I can`t believe I`m here tonight. The twins are my whole world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This woman is the best I`ve ever seen. Center screen is Nancy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like it or not, I`m Nancy Grace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can play all the glitz you want to, and it won`t change a thing. Hey, hey, I never miss a "Matlock" or "Murder, She Wrote"
or Andy or Mayberry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the time this trial is over, you`re going to look like this.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happy birthday, Nancy Grace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy grace.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said flamingo -- flamingo.
GRACE: I`m from Georgia, I said Flamenco. I object.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flamingo, flamenco.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry, the judge overrules your objection.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we come back, we`re going to play my favorite game, where in the world is Joran van der Sloot?
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I grew up on your music.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy Grace, all you`re saying has scared prince. He has decided to hide.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is this about? Is this a weapon?
GRACE: No, it`s my lucky pen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m talking to my producer. Has someone been messing with my lucky show pen? It feels lighter, like someone has been using it.
Yeah, it`s light.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have got a sneaking suspicion you`re pro-pot and I don`t like it.
GRACE: I got a sneaking suspicion that you are pro-pot and I don`t like it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, Nancy, wait.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A big fat doobie.
GRACE: You showed a very unusual interest in my handcuff necklace. Or, Anderson, was it just this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a reputation as a bit of a bulldog.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you help me? Justice is frozen.
(LAUGHTER)
GRACE: The baby`s hair is, I guarantee, my children`s hair is not in a car trunk, all right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand that.
GRACE: If superman was not involved, if he`s not nothing to hide, why hasn`t he been seen since the day of this tragedy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look like a tough cookie to me.
GRACE: Thank you. My husband is out there somewhere. I don`t expect to go home crowned Ms. Sweet Potato.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you trying to tell me this photo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you actually look to Nancy Grace to inspire the character?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. She`s a bad-ass lady.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`ll express moral outrage at my parking ticket.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Officer, were you just outside the studio giving me a parking ticket?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy Grace.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know how.
GRACE: What`s so funny, Mandy, are you high, yes, no?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good night, friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy Grace, everybody. Thanks so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We remember American hero navy petty officer first class Regina Clark, 43, Centralia, Washington. Third tour, military family, corrections
officer back home. Mother Malita, one brother, son Kerry. Regina Clark, American hero. Tonight is the end of a wonderful chapter. My time hosting
our program here on HLN. I want to thank HLN, the guests that joined me every night, many who, believe it or not, are very dear friends.
And my wonderful staff, many of whom have been with me since my court T.V. days. But most important, you. For nearly 12 years, you invited me into
your home every night. You stopped me on the street, in the grocery store. You send me cards, recipes, baby booties, letters. You were there when I
married, when I had the twins, and raised them.
You were there when Lucy was fighting to live and John David was rushed to the hospital. When both my parents fell ill and when sorrow came, and my
father passed away. No matter what was going on, I had you with me. Thank God, every weeknight, 8:00 sharp eastern. Your kind words, your thoughts,
your prayers have kept me going many, many times.
It`s been a privilege and an honor to speak for those that could not always speak for themselves. Please visit me, find me at nancygrace.com as I
continue to do my very best to do all the good I can, and to always seek justice. A new chapter is waiting, a new journey lies ahead. I hope you
come with me. Nancy Grace signing off. Thank you. And tonight, it`s not goodbye. So, good night, friend.
END
