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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Murderous Mom With Psychotic Episodes to Be Released From Mental Hospital; Teen Girl Murdered in Motel; Urgent Manhunt; Deadly Ambush; Mysterious Disappearance; Beyond Reasonable Doubt; Murder-For-Hire Plot Exposed. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired July 05, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[20:00:00] JEAN CASAREZ, HLN HOST (voice-over): Tonight on PRIMETIME JUSTICE, shocking video as a pregnant woman drives her minivan into the
ocean with her three children inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw her bail right out the window, and the kids are still in the car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw a little kid in the back, like, waving his arms around, like, screaming, Help, help us.
CASAREZ: Tonight a Florida judge opens the door for the mother to walk free from a mental hospital. But will this mother soon be allowed to be
with her children again?
A beautiful teen found strangled in a motel room days after her high school graduation. Manhunt tonight for her suspected killer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be a man and face the consequences.
CASAREZ: An Oklahoma woman puts an ad on Craigslist for a hitman. The mission? Prosecutors say to kill her ex-husband with poisonous ricin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve never seen anything like this. This is the darndest thing I`ve ever seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
CASAREZ: And a cold-blooded execution-style killing. A veteran police officer, a mother of three, is assassinated as she and her partner sit in a
police vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My partner is shot!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CASAREZ: Good evening. I`m Jean Casarez, in for Ashleigh Banfield. Thank you so much for joining us.
Ebony Wilkerson, a pregnant mother of three, did the unthinkable. I`m sure you remember this. She packed her children in the minivan and allegedly
tried to drown them in the Atlantic Ocean near Daytona Beach, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had this look on her face. I can`t describe it. It was just an awful blank look, like, spaced-out look. And a kid on her
lap (ph) (INAUDIBLE) for the steering wheel, and the two in the back seat was crying with their arms out, saying, Our mommy`s trying to kill us.
Please help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Now a Florida judge has just ruled Wilkerson is fit to leave the mental hospital. However, Judge Leah Ramsbottom Case (ph) has ruled that
Wilkerson isn`t allowed to have physical contact with her four children, but that may just be a matter of time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like her to see her children, if it`s safe and appropriate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: The judge says that that will be up to a therapist to decide. Meanwhile, Wilkerson is in a transitional facility.
And Ed Dean is a host on WBOB talk radio. He joins us tonight from Jacksonville, Florida. Thank you for joining us. First of all, she was
charged originally with attempted second degree murder of her three children, ages 3, 9 and 10, when they were in that minivan that you saw
there. She pleaded and was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Now, this was just a couple of years ago. What`s happening now?
ED DEAN, WBOB: It`s all over the map here, Jean. The former sheriff, Ben Johnson (ph), of Volusia County sat back and said that this woman, Ebony
Wilkerson, intended to kill her three kids, 10, 9 and 3. Then of course, this goes to court, charges are dropped due to reason of insanity out
there.
And then she`s -- one day, she`s off her meds. She`s not doing well. One day, she`s on her meds, she tells the judge, I am doing well during the
case (ph). Then you have Judith Rischer (ph), who is her mental health counselor, who sits back and says, Well, the patient claims she`s seeing
demons, but I think she`ll be able to reunite with her family. That`s a red flag out there.
And then you`ve got the judge now who sits back and says, Well, maybe she can leave the state-run psychiatric hospital and go to a lower-level
residential treatment facility, but she can`t see her kids yet. You got red flags right there.
The judge, Leah Case (ph), even admitted she (ph) -- that she`s heard different accounts from Ebony Wilkerson. She doesn`t know what`s to be
believed or not. This has got the makings of a TV Lifetime movie here. This woman, according to some, is so whacked out, she could play the next
audition role (ph) for the Joker in another "Batman" movie.
CASAREZ: Well, here`s the thing. This is very real. This is real and this is serious. And what two attorneys found -- two medical professionals
found as they were assessing her was that she was able to go to this transitional facility, that she is not a harm to herself or to others.
However, it`s been determined she can`t take her own medication. It`s got to be given to her at this transitional facility because about a year ago,
she went to a transitional facility, and Ed, tell me if I`m wrong, but she escaped and she went out in the center of traffic where cars were driving.
DEAN: That is correct there, Jean. But here is the other thing, is that is she on her meds? Is she off her meds? You`ve got the judge now saying
that, Well, maybe we might be able to -- according to a psychiatric analyst, she might be able to reunite with her kids.
[20:05:06]What I`m getting at here, Jean, is there`s so many red flags in this case. Even the judge said, quote, "Wilkerson`s given different
accounts of her story." Who knows what to believe.
CASAREZ: Well, Jay Crocker is Ebony Wilkerson`s attorney. He joins us from Daytona Beach, Florida. Mr. Crocker, thank you very much for joining
us. You are her attorney and...
JAY CROCKER, WILKERSON`S ATTORNEY (via telephone): I am. It`s good to be here. Thank you.
CASAREZ: Thank you. Take us back to when the evidence was laid out. What showed that she was not guilty by reason of insanity, that at that moment
that she drove that vehicle into the water with the children with their seatbelts on, that she didn`t know right from wrong?
CROCKER: That`s correct. I believe the -- all of the medical professionals that we had evaluate her came to the same conclusion, is that
she was having a psychotic episode and that she was not mentally responsible. She did not have the mental capacity to form any intent to
commit any criminal offense.
CASAREZ: But is it not true that she drove on the beach in Daytona that allowed for vehicle driving and not every area of the beach allowed for the
vehicles?
CROCKER: That is true. That`s what she did.
CASAREZ: So she was aware of that.
CROCKER: She drove her vehicle, and then she veered off into the ocean. But that was as a result of...
CASAREZ: And the children were seatbelted in.
CROCKER: ... a psychotic episode -- pardon?
CASAREZ: The children were seatbelted in, correct?
CROCKER: I don`t know, but I would imagine any children should be seatbelted in. It was not an intentional act on her...
CASAREZ: That`s what I`ve read from the court records.
CROCKER: She was...
CASAREZ: Now, I see that the hatchback...
CROCKER: ... having a psychotic episode and that`s what caused her behavior.
CASAREZ: Right. No, I understand that. Now, I see the hatchback is up, and that`s how the children were rescued. They survived, although they
believe their mother was trying to kill them at that moment. Where have the children been the last few years? Who`s raising them?
CROCKER: They`ve been with their father. The marriage is intact. Ebony`s married. Her husband has the children at their home in South Carolina.
CASAREZ: In South Carolina. And have they been able to visit their mother and continue a relationship?
CROCKER: They have. While she was in the hospital in Chattahoochie, in the Florida state hospital, the medical professionals deemed that it would
be in her therapeutic interests to initiate contact with the children.
CASAREZ: Right. But now that she`s going to the transitional facility, she can`t see her children anymore? So all of a sudden, the kids aren`t
going to be able to continue a relationship building (ph)?
CROCKER: No, I expect that to be a temporary thing. We`re going to have a psychologist do the evaluations that the judge wanted, and I don`t see any
reason why there`s going to be any impediments to her seeing her children.
CASAREZ: Well, why wouldn`t they allow her to see the children if she`s been able to see the children in the mental hospital?
CROCKER: I can`t answer that. All I can tell you is that we`re going to have the evaluations that the court asked for. We`re going to have them
promptly, and it`s my belief that we`re going to be able to -- she`s going to be able to visit her children very soon.
CASAREZ: Why can`t she take her own medication in the transitional facility?
CROCKER: Oh, she`s on an injectable medication. So she`s going to have the injections applied to her every, I believe, 30 days.
CASAREZ: That`s it? So that`s her anti-psychotic medication?
CROCKER: That`s correct.
CASAREZ: So there`s nothing in pill form at all?
CROCKER: No. Correct.
CASAREZ: OK. Well, that makes sense then, why she couldn`t take her own medication at all. What happened about a year ago that she went to a
transitional facility, but it didn`t work out?
CROCKER: She -- people with mental illnesses for various reasons don`t like to take the medications. I don`t know what her reasoning was, whether
it was bad side effects or whether she felt like she didn`t need it anymore. But for several months, she was having her oral medications given
to her and logged in, and then eventually, she was given the responsibility to do that on her own, and that`s where she dropped the ball.
CASAREZ: So the judge has established a release date, correct, at the end of August. What about a release date from the transitional facility, where
she, again, would be in the care, control and custody of her children?
CROCKER: It`s -- we take it as she progresses. I suspect that after a few months, we`re going to have evaluations done and we`re going to be
requesting that she be given even more leniency -- or more leeway and more freedom..
CASAREZ: More leniency. Mr. Crocker, do you believe that she would be a safe mother for the care of the children?
CROCKER: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, as long as she`s not having a psychotic episode. She`s only had two or three psychotic episodes in her
life. And when she`s not psychotic, she`s just as normal as you or I.
CASAREZ: So what if she would have a psychotic episode?
CROCKER: Well, presumably, the anti-psychotic medications are there to take care of that, and the doctors believe that to be the case.
CASAREZ: All right. And prosecutors have not fought this at all?
[20:10:00]CROCKER: No. They were real -- I believe that they understand the medicine -- they read the reports from the hospital, and I believe that
they were satisfied with the reports that came out of Chattahoochie.
CASAREZ: All right. Joining us now from Los Angeles, attorneys Troy Slaten and Areva Martin. Areva, what are your thoughts on this? Because
it just wasn`t too long that she drove the vehicle into the ocean with the children seatbelted in. The doors are locked, according to the criminal
records that I read. And because the back latch was unlocked, the children were able to be rescued. Is she a safe mother to take her children?
AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: My first impression, Jean, is what`s the rush? This happened just two years ago. Why the rush to send her home,
send her into an environment where she won`t have the structure and the medical supervision that she so clearly needs?
I`m very concerned about the wellbeing of these children. And that should be the primary question here, what`s in the best interests of these
children? And to have the judge be so reluctant to release her and to have there be all of this ambiguity around her medication, whether she`ll be
compliant with respect to the medication -- I think the whole process just needs to slow down, give this woman time to amply heal and to be sure --
everyone to be sure that she`s going to be safe and these kids are not going to be put in danger. I just think they`re moving way too fast.
CASAREZ: Troy, let`s look at the facts for a second. One year ago, she didn`t take her medication in the transitional facility. She went out in
the center of traffic. She went back to the mental hospital. Now they`re giving it to her -- we just learned this tonight -- by injection once a
month. So how is she learning to be in control of her own medication and her own life?
TROY SLATEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jean, the justice system is working here. She was adjudged not guilty by reason of insanity. So if she had problems
with medication compliance, that`s solved by it being injected.
And here the people from the facility that she`s in, that really have a financial interest in her staying there, have said that she`s fit to be
released, that she`s no longer a danger to herself and to others.
And the judge even asked those experts and asked them even in light of her prior medication noncompliance and with her own minimizing of her mental
health condition, do you still have that opinion? And they all agreed that she`s ready to move on to the next level of care.
We don`t keep people involuntarily committed forever. So I think that the entire system is working properly here.
(CROSSTALK)
CASAREZ: ... the children.
MARTIN: Well, there`s a big difference between forever and two years.
SLATEN: Well, you stay psychotic forever. That mental condition will stay with her her entire life. She`s likely to stay on this medication forever.
(CROSSTALK)
CASAREZ: ... take her medication. She has to...
CASAREZ: Given her history, I have real concerns.
SLATEN: ... learn and be on the medication. All right, this story is to be continued, hopefully, very positively.
Tonight in Colorado, an urgent manhunt is on (ph) way right now for the man accused of strangling to death, according to prosecutors and law
enforcement, his 18-year-old ex-girlfriend. And guess what? He just got out of jail not too long ago for assaulting her. It was earlier this year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:17:26]CASAREZ: We do have some breaking news coming in from Aurora, Colorado, tonight. Police are on a manhunt for a suspected killer. They
say Arturo Garcia (ph) strangled his ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Alexandrea Raber. Alexandrea was just out of high school, and she was found dead over
the holiday weekend in a motel room.
The suspect was just released from prison for attacking her earlier this year, and yes, so much for a restraining order.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) that day on graduation with your kids is, you know, one you`ll never forget.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, well, her laughter. It was just infectious. She was a jokester, and she loved to dish it and she was good with taking it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Michael Konopasek is a reporter for CNN affiliate KDVR. He joins us tonight from Denver. All right, there`s so many questions I have. But
first of all, let`s get to the most important thing. Police say that there is a killer on the run right now. His name is Arturo Garcia. And what can
you tell us about him? Where could he be?
MICHAEL KONOPASEK, KDVR: Yes, well, he does also go by the name of Art. He has connections here in Colorado, as well as in El Paso, Texas, from
what we understand, and has family members in Mexico.
Right now, police -- they`re not saying much if they`re getting close to catching him or not. But right now, we do know, of course, that he has not
been caught. There were rumors earlier of a standoff situation in Aurora, a lot of hope that perhaps that could have been him, that police were
getting close to catching him, but then it did not turn out to be him.
CASAREZ: So now he has connections in El Paso. Does that mean family members in El Paso? Or what`s his connection with Colorado and Texas?
Where`s his family?
KONOPASEK: We understand that he does have family down south in Mexico and in the El Paso area. He does have two people who he knows in El Paso, but
he was living here in Colorado. Again, as you mentioned ex-boyfriend of Allie (ph) Raber, the ex-boyfriend of Allie Raber, who he is accused of
killing.
CASAREZ: So first, I want to ask -- I want to make this very clear, Mike. You actually have a familial relationship. You`re a family related member
to this case, to Alexandrea. Just explain for our viewers your connection. It`s ironic, but you are connected.
KONOPASEK: I am, yes, extended family. This is my cousin`s stepdaughter. So I woke up on Monday morning to a message from my cousin, Andy Starrett.
And it was actually a screen grab of an article that we had just put out from our Web team here at KDVR talking about an 18-year-old young woman who
had been strangled in a motel room.
[20:20:08]And he said, That`s my stepdaughter. And it was -- you know, just talk about small world. I don`t have much family here in Colorado.
And do when I found out about that, I mean, I just feel so for my extended family here.
CASAREZ: Wow. That`s really something. And joining us tonight is Andrew Starrett. He is Alexandrea Raber`s stepfather, and Jeff Anderson. He is
Allie`s step half-brother. And they also join us tonight from Denver. We are so sorry what you must be going through right now, the not knowing,
the...
ANDREW STARRETT, STEPFATHER: Appreciate it.
CASAREZ: ... the horrific realization. And how did you realize that something was wrong. She wasn`t calling you back, she wasn`t coming back,
something was wrong.
STARRETT: Yes. She had -- normally, she`d go out every now and then at night and be gone, what typical 18-year-olds will do. Her best friend,
Maddie (ph), contacted us that morning and literally was worried. And we could kind of tell by the phone calls and the text messages she hadn`t been
able to get hold of Allie.
So we started texting. We were out walking the park as a family. And she didn`t answer. So using the iPhone app that was available, we found the
GPS location. We gave it to Maddie. We decided to leave the park, go to where the phone was showing it was. And we came around the corner at the
hotel to the crime scene.
CASAREZ: You did. So were police already there? Did you walk into the room?
STARRETT: We didn`t get into the room, but yes, the police were already there. They`d been there for 15, maybe 20 minutes.
CASAREZ: Oh!
STARRETT: There had been a welfare call from the hotel maid that had opened the door and found her. They immediately called the police. They
showed up. And ironically, one of the sergeants on scene was one that we`d been working with previous, who basically bear hugged me and told me I
couldn`t get into the room and you know, said, Hey, let`s go around the corner and talk, I got some things to tell you, and couldn`t tell me what
was really going on, but I could just see it in his eyes. I knew it was my stepdaughter in that motel room.
CASAREZ: Oh, my goodness! How horrible to find out in that way. We`re looking at pictures of her right now, Alexandrea. And her life was just
starting, just graduated from high school. Did you know this boyfriend? Did you know Art or Arturo? And what did you think of him?
STARRETT: Yes. Originally, when we started out, when we met him, he was a nice guy, you know, clean-cut, seemed like an all-American boy. We could
tell with the two of them that they really had an attraction to one another, that it was kind of like their first teenage love, if you will.
He was always polite, took care of her when she would get in trouble. This was before she was 18, as kids will do.
He`d you know, say, Hey, you know, you`re grounded. Just let it go, do your time and do right by your parents, and talk her out of, you know,
trying to be rebellious, which always seemed like, Hey, this kid`s got a head on his shoulders. And I`d even, you know, had talks about that, of
being young and growing up and what their life wanted to be. And everything seemed normal at the time.
CASAREZ: Andrew or Jeff, what is your gut feeling? Do you believe that he is still in the Colorado area? Do you think that he is traveling to Texas?
Because this just happened. I mean, he could be anywhere. He could be on the road. Where do you think he could be?
JEFF ANDERSON, STEPBROTHER: I believe -- my gut feeling still from everybody that I`ve talked to and just the kind of sense of what he did the
last few times, that he is still here in the area. I believe he hasn`t been on (ph) far (ph). I don`t think he`s too smart and I don`t think he
has the resources to be able to go on the run. So I believe he`s trying to hide out here locally.
CASAREZ: So what`s his connection to the area? If family is in Mexico or El Paso, what`s his connection to Colorado?
STARRETT: He`s still got some friends and possibly one cousin in the area that -- we don`t know all their names. He never really said much. We`d
just hear from Allie, Oh, you know, an uncle`s here and a cousin`s there. He does have those other relatives down in El Paso that are there.
But right now, I still think he`s around, just being fresh out of -- getting out of jail, no money, no car. The car that him and Allie bought
is still sitting where it was left the last time. So we know that`s still there.
CASAREZ: So he`s not in a vehicle. You can confirm he`s not in their vehicle.
STARRETT: The one that they had bought from El Paso and drove back to Denver, yes, that one hasn`t moved yet.
[20:25:00]CASAREZ: All right. Well, we`re going to go to break. We`re going to have more on this in just a minute, though, on an all-American
nightmare, a beautiful teenager found strangled in a motel room on the 4th of July weekend. Family members continue to join us as police lead an
urgent manhunt.
And also this -- a 12-year police veteran is shot in cold blood, assassinated in her command vehicle.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: And breaking news tonight, a manhunt for a suspected killer. Eighteen-year-old beauty Alexandrea Raber, who just graduated from high
school, was found strangled to death in a motel room over the holiday weekend. Family joins us live. But first, I want to go to Michael
Kopernicket (ph) -- Konopasek -- I`m sorry! Konopasek who joins...
KONOPASEK: Konopasek. That`s OK (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: Thank you -- who joins us from CNN affiliate...
KONOPASEK: (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: ... KDVR. Believe me, my name gets that, too, all right?
[20:30:00]
But you join us tonight from Denver. I want to know what are police telling you? I know the family has said that they believe that Arturo Garcia is
still in the Aurora, Colorado area. But people can hitchhike, people can take a bus, people can do anything especially when they`re panicked with
consciousness of guilt. Do police believe he`s still in the area?
MICHAEL KONOPASEK, REPORTER, KDVR: Police unfortunately have not said and of course there are many reasons why they may not have said where they
believe he may or may not be because it is an ongoing investigation. But, I want to thank you for doing this, by showing his mug shot, getting national
exposure.
No matter where he is, his mug shot is making the realm all over social media. The family has been doing a great job of putting that mug shot out
there as well as local news outlets here in Denver. We really want to make sure that this guy is caught.
CASAREZ: Well, let me ask you also, Michael, another question. Is the FBI involved at all? Is this an issue where ICE should be involved at all?
KONOPASEK: Great questions. We have not heard of federal authorities -- at least I haven`t here in the media. Perhaps the family may have heard other
things. But we have not heard of federal authorities being involved at this point.
CASAREZA: Andrew Starrett is Alexandrea Raber`s stepfather and Jeff Anderson is Ali`s half-brother. They join us all tonight from Denver,
Colorado. Andrew, do you believe that law enforcement is doing everything they should and they could? Because if there`s an issue of going to Texas,
if there`s an issue of going into Mexico, the FBI at least should be involved at this point.
ANDREW STARRETT, STEPFATHER OF ALEXANDREA RABER: Like Mike said, from what we know, they haven`t said much, but familiar with the local Aurora PD.
There is a fugitive task force that I know is working diligently on this. I`ve been in touch with a couple of the sergeants from that task force.
They do work with the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and others as needed.
They`re tied in with all the local law enforcement, Denver PD and around the area on a 24-hour basis. So while they`re not going to tell me directly
who they`re working with obviously, I at least have some comfort knowing that they do work with those agencies.
CASAREZ: You know, Andrew or Jeff, what would be the motive for this guy to strangle your daughter and your half-sister? What would be the motive?
Wouldn`t the motive be to take her out of town, go out of town, get away from the family, build your life together?
STARRETT: Yeah, that`s what you kind of thought it would have been in the beginning. I think some of it had to do with maybe jealousy. Where that
rage came from, I`m not really sure. They may have had a breakup. I mean, it`s all speculation right now. We can only sit around and wonder what
actually happened.
There have been instances of this in the past that have happened between these two, lovers` quarrels. He did try to strangle her once before. It was
a minor thing that she did call the Police Department on. But nobody knows. That`s the question of the day that I would love to have answered.
CASAREZ: Right. And Michael, let me go back to you, reporter with our affiliate KDVR. He did have a rap sheet. Only 20 years old. Arrest warrant
now out for first-degree murder which could be a death penalty case, but he just got released from prison a bit ago. Why?
KONOPASEK: That`s a great question. He did his time, from what I understand, and he was released from the Arapaho County Jail. You know,
it`s unfortunate sometimes the way the system works. He was released and now we see what has happened. They should have known, you know, more about
exactly what he`s capable of, but in the end, it appears that really no one saw this coming even though that there were signs of violence before.
I think that this story really can serve as a wake-up call to a lot of young women out there, young men, too, anyone really, if you`re in an
abusive relationship, do all you can to get out of that relationship.
CASAREZ: And when you`re 18 years old, you can be very vulnerable, it can be very difficult. Mike, We have done a background check through the
Colorado Bureau of Investigation and it has shown us that Garcia has really a long criminal history for his young age. Charges have included
strangulation, domestic violence, kidnapping, false imprisonment, stalking, violation of a protection order, retaliation, harassment, and assault.
He pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and extortion, according to those court records. Charges of the second-degree assault, strangulation,
kidnapping, retaliation, they were dismissed by a district attorney`s office according to court records. Andrew, can I ask you, the assault, you
said that he tried to strangle her before.
[20:35:00] What were the circumstances of that?
STARRETT: That from Ali, from what she told us was basically they had a fight. They were in the car sitting out at the park. She tried to get out
and he kind of grabbed her and started strangling her. She did. And that`s where some of the original charges actually came from the first time, and
then of course they had more later on when the kidnapping charge and things that you just read off happened after the fact, which is why he did the
time in jail, which he was just released on.
CASAREZ: Okay. Andrew, it`s making more sense then because conceivably, if something happened again, he didn`t want her to go to the police again and
then there would be an issue. So there`s something in the law called elimination of a witness. So you won`t have to face any charges. Jeff, I
want to talk about your half-sister because she is the victim here. Tell us about her. What was she like as a person?
JEFF ANDERSON, HALF-BROTHER OF ALEXANDREA RABER: As a person, she was one of the happiest people I`ve ever met. I`ve never seen a day where she`s
ever been down or ever been unhappy really. Whenever she ever had any problems, she came to us, she talked about it, she didn`t hid anything. The
one thing about her that really stood out was she was always trying to help other people.
She always looked past people`s flaws, looked past the record, looked past the person that other people thought they were, and she would always try to
help them out and be the best person to them that she thought they deserved. That`s one thing that really made her the person she was. She was
really an outgoing person, really happy go lucky. And that`s I think one thing.
CASAREZ: So, Andrew, do you think that your -- right, I understand exactly what you`re saying. Andrew, do you think your step-daughter was naive in
this situation, that she didn`t realize the capacity of what could happen to her?
STARRETT: I think that naive is part of what happened, but as my son just said, her overwhelming generosity to want to help people I think played
into it where maybe she just didn`t think that would ever happen. There`s probably a point of that that he got out, they got back together, didn`t
tell us about it.
And I honestly believe that her whole intention was maybe the system changed him a little bit and I can come back and finish changing him
because I`ve had the time -- some time while I was gone to grow and think about it and yeah, I can go in and really make this a great thing. Just
didn`t turn out to be that way.
CASAREZ: Well, that makes perfect sense. Please know that our thoughts and our prayers are with you and also that authorities are able to catch who
they say is the prime suspect, Arturo Garcia, because I`m sure you and we would not want this to happen to anyone else. Thank you so much.
In New York City, a police officer and mother of three was assassinated in a police vehicle this morning. Officer Miosotis Familia who was shot in the
head was a 12-year veteran of the force. Her partner witnessed the execution.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-85! 10-85! Shots fired! 183. 183. (inaudible). 10-85! 10-85!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What`s your location for shots fired?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me (inaudible) bus! Give me a (inaudible) bus!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What`s the location?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-85! 10-85! (inaudible). My partner`s shot!
JAMES O`NEILL: Based on what we know right now, it is clear this was an unprovoked attack on police officers who are assigned to keep the people in
this great city safe.
CASAREZ: The suspect was shot and killed after officers spotted him running away from the scene. Police say when they confronted him, he pulled out a
stolen gun. Tonight, no word on a motive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: In California, police have found the remains of 5-year-old Aramazd Andressian, Jr. The boy was last seen in April while on a visit to
Disneyland with his father. Aramazd Andressian, Sr. is back in Los Angeles after being arrested in Las Vegas nearly two weeks ago.
According to police, Andressian spent 47 days in Vegas after his son disappeared. Investigators say Andressian and his wife were in the midst of
a contentious divorce when the child disappeared. He has pleaded not guilty to murder charges but could be sentenced to 25 years in prison if he is
convicted.
This Sunday, the HLN original series "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" takes a closer look at the 1995 murder mystery in Las Vegas after charred bones and
a skull with five bullet holes were found inside a burnt antique trunk in the Nevada desert. Investigators have to determine who the victim and the
killer were. And despite the full arsenal of cutting edge forensic tools at investigators` fingertips,
[20:40:00] it was a method first developed in the era of Sherlock Holmes that helped convict the murder.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guns and drugs and sex and everything that people really want to sink their teeth into like some Hollywood movie. This case had it
all. We received a call. Some fishermen were out at the lake and they found something that scared them. It was a very typical desert scene outside of
Las Vegas. And there was this charred area where someone had built a campfire what it appeared.
There were the outlines and the remains of a humpback trunk, an antique- type trunk. And then as we looked closer into this pit of burnt debris, we also saw a small human remains. Bones, foot bones, finger bones. And 15
feet away was perfectly intact human skull and, in fact, we could see bullet holes on the skull.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: "Beyond Reasonable Doubt: Murder in Vegas" airs Sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. An Oklahoma mother is sitting in jail tonight accused of
trying to hire a hit man to kill her ex-husband on Craigslist.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: For some, Craigslist is the go-to place for goods and services, everything under the sun, right? But an Oklahoma woman is accused of using
the website to hire someone to kill her ex-husband. Prosecutors say Danielle Layman posted a seemingly innocent ad that said, 10-day gig
overseas for amateur, competitive pay. For production overseas, looking for talent, 30 to 45 years old. Doesn`t have to be a professional actor. But
when the unsuspecting applicant showed up, she realized this was no acting gig.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
TINSLEY KEEFE, RESPONDED TO CRAIGSLIST AD: It wasn`t about like acting at all. It was about like murder for hire. I`m like, wow. Basically give him
some Ricin, you know, over a series of days, and to get him poisoned. I was scared from the beginning because right during the meeting she was saying,
look, if you tell anybody, then we`re both going to be dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASATEZ: Tinsley Keefe says Layman gave her instructions to go to Israel to poison Layman`s ex-husband, telling her to hire him to drive her around
each day like a taxi driver and bring him coffee that contained the deadly poison Ricin.
Scott Mitchell is the host of "Mitchell Talk." He joins us tonight from Oklahoma City. This is real. I mean, I`m holding a federal complaint right
here where this woman is charged with solicitation of murder with the intent that a murder be committed in federal court. So she takes out an ad,
Scott.
Yes.
CASAREZ: In Craigslist, and what does she say?
SCOTT MITCHELL, HOST OF MITCHELL TALKS: Well, first, she solicits somebody to accept the part of what looks like a bad B-movie script, and then when
the person gets there, basically they`re in too deep. We`ll both die if you don`t follow my instructions. It was Ponca City, Oklahoma to Tel Aviv,
Israel, to commit a murder.
CASAREZ: That is the thing, Scott, this is Oklahoma. She is in Oklahoma, the heartland of the country. Her husband, ex-husband, is in Israel. Scott,
let`s show everybody a little bit more about what this Craigslist ad said. It said, "Required: Creative, outgoing and friendly positive personality,
boldness and bravery. Some stunts may seem risky, although they are completely safe. Discrete.
You must not disclose any information related to the plot to anyone under any circumstances. Experience in acting, experience in performing in magic
shows, experience as casino dealer." And joining us right now is the woman that responded to that ad believing, as it`s written, that it must be an
acting gig of some kind. Tinsley Keefe. You responded. You`re joining us tonight. Thank you.
KEEFE: Great to be here.
CASAREZ: So Tinsley, when you responded to this ad, what did you think it was?
KEEFE: Well, I was under the impression that this was for like a modeling or acting thing. And I went there, and that`s not exactly what it was by
any stretch of the imagination. It was to go kill somebody.
CASAREZ: So you meet Danielle Layman in person. What was your impression, first of all, of her? Because she`s beautiful. You look at the picture. I
mean, there she is, like the all-American mother, right? What was your impression?
KEEFE: Yeah, I mean, you know, I mean, there was no reason to think otherwise. I mean, she seemed nice enough, you know. I mean, it was a
little discrete and cloak and dagger which is why I wanted to meet in an open, public place, you know, that would be safer. I didn`t want to go to
somebody`s house. But it was fine otherwise, it`s just, you know.
CASAREZ: When did you first realize that this isn`t an acting gig? This is criminal.
[20:50:00] She wants me to do something criminal. When did you realize that?
KEEFE: When she told me. And she told me shortly after we met, like, shortly after the introduction, that this was about like a murder for hire,
I mean, basically. I mean, it was like an assassination but it was of an ISIS member supposedly, not her ex-husband.
CASAREZ: It was who? Assassination of who?
KEEFE: Of an ISIS member that was.
CASAREZ: A member of ISIS?
KEEFE: Right. Yeah. She said that she was with the Israeli Intelligence Agency also known as Mossad, and asked me if I`d ever heard that which I
really hadn`t. I said no. And she started to kind of fill me in. And it was, yeah, about somebody with ISIS.
CASAREZ: So she didn`t tell you that it was for her ex-husband. It was for an ISIS member, a member of ISIS that you`re going to go do vigilante
justice and kill an ISIS member?
KEEFE: Well, I mean, it wasn`t supposed to be like vigilante per se. It was more, you know, I guess, from the way that she was trying to say it, you
know, like acting as a spy, you know, as -- basically working with a government agency. I mean, sort of like Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence
Agency. Yeah, I mean, that was how it was like.
CASAREZ: Tinsley, we have some of the instructions that she gave you which probably made you realize, uh-oh, this isn`t what I signed up for.
Instructions, one, the powder you are carrying is not a drug because she gave you -- she gave you some Ricin powder, am I right? Tinsley?
KEEFE: Well, yeah, I mean, she said that it was Ricin. You know, like I said, I didn`t open it which is good because it would probably be very
dangerous.
CASAREZ: Right. You`d be dead.
KEEFE: Yeah, and so I presumed that it was. Yes, the stuff was found in her house.
CASAREZ: And she said it was made of a plant common in Israel. It`s highly toxic. She told you to prepare two cups of coffee. You add powder to one of
them. As your mark arrives at your hostel to pick you up in the morning, which would be her ex-husband, according to prosecutors, offer him a cup of
coffee. Repeat every morning and monitor the driver`s health.
Reports if he starts showing signs of illness, if he`s vomiting, and if he fails to come pick you up at the hostel. When your mark is hospitalized or
eliminated, move to a different hotel or motel until your flight back home. So you leave her and you realize, Tinsley, I don`t know about this. Did you
call a lawyer by any chance?
REEFE: I had a friend of mine who practiced law, you know, very experienced, very smart. I trust him very much. You know, because I really
didn`t have any experience in this type of thing. You know, it was like, hey, what do you think? You know? So I could seriously use some advice on
this. It`s kind of weird.
CASAREZ: And Tinsley, I also know that you then went to the FBI. You stopped this from happening. You virtually saved a man`s life in all of
that. And I don`t think that you should forget that. I want to ask Troy Slaten and Areva Martin, our attorneys.
First of all, Troy Slaten, what are your thoughts on this? Because this person has now been charged with a very serious federal crime and there was
a search of this woman`s home. They found the makings of Ricin. They found the beans that it`s used to be made from. It`s a pretty clear-cut case,
don`t you think?
TROY SLATEN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Not necessarily, Jean. I don`t think we know all the facts here. This story just doesn`t start here. It goes back
several years to where she was in Israel with her former husband who tried to keep her child from her and to stay in the state of Israel and not come
back to the United States. And so I think that more of the facts need to be developed. Maybe she was trying to protect her child, maybe she felt the
child was in danger and she was taking some sort of heroic effort.
CASAREZ: So, Areva, does that justify committing a federal offense?
MARTIN: Absolutely not, Jean.
CASAREZ: (inaudible) for murder?
MARTIN: If she`s concerned about the welfare of her children, there`s a process in this country by which you report someone who you think is doing
harm to your children. You go to the State Department. You talk to government official. You don`t put an ad on Craigslist and solicit someone
to commit a murder in another country.
I think if we had a show called America`s dumbest criminals, she would be on it. This is just the most ridiculous case I`ve ever heard. Thank God
this woman who responded had enough wits about her to go to the federal authorities to report this and prevent this man from being murdered or
being harmed in any way. I hope these children
[20:55:00] are never reunited with this woman because she doesn`t seem very stable.
CASAREZ: All right. After losing her 8-year-old son to leukemia, this week`s CNN hero, Leslie Morissette, transformed her heartbreak into action.
She`s using 21st century technology to keep her children`s battling life- threatening illnesses connected to their everyday lives.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
LESLIE MORISSETTE, CNN HERO: It`s really difficult for kids to spend a lot of time in the hospital. They get so disconnected from their family and
friends and schools. And when we bring them this technology, we`re able to dial in and be right in the classroom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Phillip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE/UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Phillip.
MORISSETTE: You can just see their face light right up. It brings them such joy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:00:00] CASAREZ: Thank you so much for joining us. I`m Jean Casarez. "FORENSIC FILES" begins right now. Good night, everybody.
END
