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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Missing Three-Year-Old`s Dad Just Arrested; Juice Behind the Wheel; Horrifying Discovery; Killer`s New Battle; Caught on Camera; Tampa Serial Killer? Dad of Missing 3-Year-Old Arrested. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired October 23, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST (voice-over): Three different victims in a matter of days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was in the prime of his life and was taken instantly.
BANFIELD: And three different murder scenes in a matter of blocks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would appear to be a serial killer at least by the standard definition.
BANFIELD: Tonight people in Tampa are keeping their lights on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re not going to be held hostage by whoever is doing this.
BANFIELD: To catch a possible serial killer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want him to get caught before anything else happens. Nobody else needs to die.
BANFIELD: After three of their neighbors were shot dead in the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still have no leads. We have no motive.
BANFIELD: But there`s something the victims have in common and someone police want to find.
The body of a child discovered in a drain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was in a culvert beneath the road that we found the body.
BANFIELD: Just as police ramp up the case of this missing little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s no other chance (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: Dad says he sent her out of the house in the middle of the night as punishment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s really hard to see a child abandoned by their own parents came all the way here to be abandoned again.
BANFIELD: But does the discovery of a little girl`s body explain how she got there?
A private eye goes missing, and not long after, human remains are found cemented into a grave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taylor was a good officer. Nobody should be found like that.
BANFIELD: The suspect. a former friend and crime scene technician. Why cops say her story of their final afternoon just doesn`t add up.
Jodi Arias is at it again trying everything she can to get out of jail. Guilty of murder--
JODI ARIAS, CONVICTED OF MURDER: I want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place.
BANFIELD: -- and jailed for life. It seems a technical glitch may be holding up her case. Will we ever have to hear from her again?
Talk about rockin` that bikini.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know why you`re going to jail?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
BANFIELD: A Florida grandma is strutting her stuff. Does the girlie show have any effect on the arresting officers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you do tonight, hit somebody?
BANFIELD: And another milestone for O.J. Simpson. Talk about a trip to the DMV no one will soon forget.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Good evening, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
Tonight people in Tampa are sleeping with one eye open. They are leaving the lights on and police are escorting their kids to school because in the
last two weeks, three of their neighbors have been shot dead at random and it appears they all had one thing in common, they rode the bus.
And now some people are saying a serial killer is on the loose. Victim number one, Benjamin Miller, was gunned down at the bus stop outside of his
home back on October 9th, two weeks ago tonight. Four days later they, found Monica Hoffa, her body in a vacant parking lot near a bus stop, and
she`d likely been dead for days. And now an autistic 20-year-old who accidentally rode the wrong bus after work -- he was shot even as the
police were fanning out across the neighborhood looking for the killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUGAN: We had a third homicide. Our victim`s name is Anthony Aiboa. Our officers were in the neighborhood, heard gunfire. As they canvassed
through the neighborhood, unfortunately, one of our officers was able to find him but it was too late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: All three victims were found within blocks of each other in Tampa`s Seminole Heights neighborhood. And though police don`t know who is
targeting these innocent victims, they do have one thing to go on -- some very curious surveillance video.
Take a close look at this. This was shot right where the first victim was killed, a mysterious figure captured on camera in a hoodie. And here`s
what`s odd. He`s wearing a hoodie but it`s a warm evening, no rain, no reason except a hoodie can keep you anonymous. And even though no one has
been caught for these murders, police are urging these neighbors to go on as life as normal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN DUGAN, RICHARDSON POLICE CHIEF: We`re not going to be held hostage by whoever is doing this. We need everyone to come out of their homes at
night, turn on their porch lights and just not tolerate this type of terrorism in the neighborhood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Tampa police chief Brian Dugan joins me now. He and the mayor, Bob Buckhorn, just had a community meeting with the residents of Seminole
Heights.
Chief, did I pronounce your name right? Is it Duggan or Doogan?
DUGAN (via telephone): It`s Doogan, but that`s all right.
BANFIELD: OK. All right. I want to make sure I get it right because I got lot of really important questions for you with regard to this.
[20:05:00]I know that nobody throws that term out lightly, and I know that the police are holding back on serial killer while others are focused on
saying whatever it takes to get the tips to come in.
Where do we stand right now with that incredible surveillance video and the possible tips it might be bringing in? Because that guy walks with a very
unusual walk. He`s got a real sort of limp to his gait. Is it helpful that you released this video?
DUGAN: Well, you know, it`s generating some interest. It`s generating some phone calls and tips. you know, we`ve talked to a few people that we
thought was in the video, but it ends up not being them. And it`s kind of disappointing because as you mentioned, that was the first thing that stood
out to me. It`s a very unique type of walk. He`s very upright. And I didn`t think it would be that difficult to identify that person, and you
know, the bottom line is that person may not be the suspect. He may not have anything to do with it.
We`re just trying to reach out. We want to know who that person is, if he heard or saw anything that could lead to this. You know, we`re at a point
now where maybe somebody knows something but they don`t realize it. I`m not sure if that really makes sense, but they may have the clue and it`s
right in front of them, but they didn`t even know it.
BANFIELD: Chief, do you have anything other than this particular video? I mean, this is one location where the first person was shot. What about
other cameras in this same location or in the location of victim number two or in the location of victim number three? What else do you have?
DUGAN: Well, what we have done is we have canvassed the neighborhood and we have knocked on doors to see who has video. People have reached out to
us. We actually have a registration program where you can register your home address if you have a camera so we know about it and we can knock on
your door and see what you have.
The problem with reviewing videos, it takes a bit of time just to download the video, and then we have to take it to our devices and review it. And
it`s a very slow, meticulous process to review video. It can`t be done quickly. You can`t fast-forward things. When you`re looking for clues and
people, it`s a very slow, meticulous process.
BANFIELD: Yes, you got to watch it in real time and usually not just once. A lot of times, you got to look over a piece of that tape several times,
slow it down, blow it up. I get it. It is meticulous and it`s difficult.
I do want to ask you about the hoodie, though. I looked back into the records, and it appears that the high that day was 91 degrees. It is rare
that you would see someone in Florida at 91 degrees with a hoodie on. Granted, this is somewhere around 9:00 o`clock at night, but the low that
day is only 75. Is that a real clue to you?
DUGAN: Well, not really because, you know, things -- you know, we`re used to the heat in Florida. And you know, what it is, it`s a hoodie, but we --
you know, makes you question is it a traditional hoodie like a thick sweatshirt material or is it a thin T-shirt material, which is very popular
down here in Florida. You know, and the fashion styles that are out there these days, you just never know. And so I try not to get too focused on
the term "hoodie" and try and look at it as a thin material type of thing.
BANFIELD: OK. And then I`m also just looking at -- in some of the frames, it appears that the figure is on a smartphone of some kind. Is that
providing you with anything?
DUGAN: No. I mean, that`s the same -- you know, we`re drawing the same conclusion that they`re on some type of phone and -- you know, but we don`t
have -- weren`t able to pick up anything with that.
BANFIELD: Chief, it`s weird to hear, you know, Go about your business, you know, have your cookouts, and, you know, walk your dog when someone out
there is shooting people dead at random, men and women. And you know, it appears at this point that the pattern looks like people who ride the bus.
I guess the question is how are people supposed to feel that they can carry on life as usual if this has been going on?
DUGAN: Well, you know -- and I get that. And I -- you know, I hope I`m -- you know, I hope I`m giving everybody the right advice. You know, I want
people outside. We want people to come outside. The commonality of the three is not the bus. The commonality is the fact that they were alone.
These are individuals, these three victims, you know, Benjamin and Monica and Anthony, were all by themselves. And we want people outside so that
they can see what`s going on. We want them out in groups. We`re asking them not to walk alone. But we want people outside so that that`s what
makes the neighborhood safe, so that somebody can`t go out there and do whatever they want under the cover of darkness and no one`s seeing them.
If people are outside--
BANFIELD: Can I ask you--
(CROSSTALK)
DUGAN: -- turn on their porch lights, it will help.
BANFIELD: Sure, Chief. I do want to ask you -- when I started to hear about this pattern, I immediately thought about October of 2002 with the
D.C. sniper, turned out to be two snipers, Lee Boyd Malveaux and John Allen Mohammed, both of them caught, one of them already executed. The other`s
going to spend a lifetime in prison because he was 17 at the time.
[20:10:02]Have you reached out to those local authorities at all, given that it seems slightly similar at least in this very short pattern of
three. They had more victims to go on there and a bigger pattern. But have you reached out to them for any guidance?
DUGAN: What we have done is reached out to the FBI. The night of the third murder with Anthony Naiboa, I reached out -- at the crime scene, I
called the local FBI office. And we sat down with them a few days later -- actually, I believe it was the next day -- and went over some things with
them, and you know, I now have the Hillsborough County sheriff`s office involved. The ATF -- alcohol, tobacco and firearms -- has been engaged
from the beginning of the first murder.
So we`re reaching out. We`re using a whole variety of agencies. We`re not doing this alone. But you know, we`re -- you know, we know we`re better in
groups, and you know, we`re smarter as a whole rather than one individual. And you know, we`re in for the long haul, but it`s going to be a group
effort.
BANFIELD: So the last question I have for you, Chief, is the safety of the citizens and what you`re doing differently right now. We had, you know,
heard that there were more patrols assigned to kids` bus stops, and I`m guessing that in conjunction with trying to find this killer, you`re also
trying to fan out to make sure he doesn`t strike again. So can you just give me an idea of what you`re up against right now with your department?
DUGAN: Well, you know, it`s a small neighborhood. But if you look at, you know, most neighborhood designs, there -- you know, what would it take to
put a cop on every street corner? It`s manpower-intensive. And you know, we`re not able to put somebody on every street corner. That`s why I think
he was able to strike a third time. We were out there in the neighborhood.
And, you know, we`re doing everything we can. We`ve increased our patrols. We`ve asked other agencies to come in and help us with this because we
still have to defend the rest of our city, and that`s where things are right now. It`s a task that we`re up to, but we`re concerned. And you
know, we have a passion about this. I have bonded with these families, and we`re going to get to this person. I`m very careful. I don`t want to say
guy because we don`t know enough. And it could be one person, it could be two.
BANFIELD: Well, since you just mentioned it, this is a frequent problem of mine. I say it`s last question, and I come up with something else as
you`re speaking, and you just mentioned we don`t know if it`s a guy or not. Chief, will you do me a favor? Will you listen along as I play our
audience comment from a -- from a USC -- or USF professor, a former FBI profiler named Bryanna Fox who talks exactly about that and the profiling
of who this person is likely to be. And then I want to ask you about this comment on the other side. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANNA FOX, USF PROFESSOR, FORMER FBI PROFILER: This case is all victims of opportunity. So it wouldn`t seem to fit the pattern of a female serial
killer. So in my estimation, the killer would be male. On top of that, the fact that he`s so comfortable with this area, killing in a rather high-
traffic zone, which suggests to me he`s rather comfortable with this area and could be from here, have lived here in the past, worked here. But in
my estimation, has some knowledge of this area to make him so comfortable to kill in such a brazen way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So Chief Dugan, what do you think of that, the profiler saying that it`s likely it`s a he and not a she? Does this help at all and is
that what your profilers are saying?
DUGAN: No, I don`t think it helps at all. We haven`t wasted our time on that type of stuff because you can get focused on the wrong things. And we
don`t have enough information. It`s, you know, borderline irresponsible for anybody to even say that type of stuff when they have less information
than we have. If we were able to narrow it down to a suspect, we would be releasing that information. In my opinion, if I didn`t, that would be
totally irresponsible on my part. I have an obligation to public safety. And if I knew -- was able to narrow it down to a type of suspect, I would
have done that already and released that information.
BANFIELD: Chief, are you closer tonight to finding this person than you were, say, this morning?
DUGAN: You know, we`re reviewing a lot of video. We`re reviewing a lot of tips and we`re sifting through it. It`s a very slow process.
BANFIELD: I wish you the best of luck. And let`s get you back on here to see how the progress is and hopefully you can find this person and put a
stop to it before anybody else becomes victimized. Chief Dugan, thanks so much for being on.
Bobby Chacon is a retired special FBI agent. He joins me now live from Los Angeles. Bobby, the chief said profiling is not the answer. It`s almost a
waste of time at this point. But isn`t that what the FBI does? I mean, isn`t that immediately what -- even if it`s in concert with other
processes?
BOBBY CHACON, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Absolutely. It is in concert with other things. And sure, their profiling would be, I think, valuable in a
case like this. In fact, today I spoke to a colleague of mine, who was the lead profiler on the D.C. sniper case, and we talked about the
similarities, as you mentioned earlier, between the D.C. sniper case and this case.
[20:15:00]I mean, we know that some serial killers choose a certain type of victim. Some choose a certain type of method. This killer seems to be
setting a trap. He seems to be selecting a geographic killing zone. And then random victims are wandering through his killing zone, and then he`s
taking advantage of that. So he`s not picking these victims because they fit a certain profile to him. He`s using the geographic location as his
profile.
So that`s what he`s using. So I think we have to learn some things from the D.C. sniper case in which we saw it was a mistake to challenge that
killer. This is the type of a killer who`s taking life indiscriminately from afar. He`s not up close and personal with these people, so it`s more
of a God complex type killer. And with those killers, we`ve learned in the past and our profilers tell us not to challenge that person, that--
BANFIELD: Bobby?
CHACON: Yes?
BANFIELD: I only have 10 seconds left, but I got to ask you. There were I think 17 people who were killed in the D.C. sniper case. Does it take a
number more deaths than, say, three, to be able to get more of a pattern and find these guys before they can strike again?
CHACON: Well, I mean, you would hope not and--
BANFIELD: It seems awful to think you need more killings to be able to catch.
CHACON: You would hope not, but the more information you have, the always -- the deeper the profile can go and the more effective it can be. But you
hope it never, ever comes to that.
BANFIELD: Bobby Chacon, thanks so much. Really appreciate it. And our thanks also tonight to Tampa police chief Brian Dugan as they try to track
down whoever it is who`s doing this out there tonight.
We also have some breaking news in the search for that missing 3-year-old girl in Texas. Police have found the remains of a little girl in a nearby
ditch. And Sherin Matthews`s father has now been re-arrested. Find out straight ahead what it is he`s facing now.
And O.J. Simpson smiling for a new kind of shot. This one not a mug shot, a driver`s license shot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:20:12]BANFIELD: They`ve been searching for her for weeks with dogs and drones and helicopters, a 3-year-old girl who captured our hearts the day
she vanished. Little Sherin Matthews went missing from her own back yard at 3:00 o`clock in the morning. That`s when her dad says he put her
outside as punishment for not drinking her milk -- 3:00 o`clock in the morning. He told police that he`d seen coyotes out there earlier, but did
not know what had happened to little Sherin, his sweet adopted daughter.
Now, after a new development over the weekend, a body of a small child found in a drainage culvert not far from the Matthews` home and for the
officers who have worked around the clock to find little Sherin, this was news that was really hard to break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT KEVIN PERLICH, RICHARDSON POLICE DEPARTMENT: It is with heavy heart you have all been called here today. Since the time Sherin Matthews was
reported missing on Saturday morning, October 7th, the Richardson Police Department and several other law enforcement entities have been working
24/7 to locate her. Today at approximately 11:00 AM during one of those search operations, the body of a small child was discovered in the area of
East Spring Valley Road and South Bowser (ph) Road.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And now tonight, an even newer development about Sherin`s dad. He`s been re-arrested and he`s been charged with something else, injury to
a child. Showed up at the police station today with I guess what can only be called an alternate statement of events from the night that Sherin went
missing. You can read through that one.
Still, though, no murder charge for him and still no positive identification that that little body was, in fact, that little girl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERLICH: The indications are that it is most likely her. However, we do not have a positive ID, and until we have a positive identification, we are
not going to say that it is Sherin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: The question is how did that little girl`s body end up in the culvert nearly a mile from the Matthews` home, where all kinds of activity
was happening the night Sherin Matthews vanished. Kate Delaney is an investigative reporter and syndicated radio host and she joins me live from
Richardson, Texas.
So all right, Kate, obviously a big new development happened just before we went to air. Dad was re-arrested, and that charge is fascinating, injury
to a child. What more do we know? Where is he?
KATE DELANEY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, SYNDICATED RADIO HOST (via telephone): Yes, it`s interesting. So yes, he`s been arrested. You
mentioned that he voluntarily went to the police, the Richardson police, late this afternoon, Ashleigh, with his attorney, and he changed his story
is what I was told. So therefore they could arrest him for injury to a child. You mentioned that, $1 million bond. But what they`re also saying
is there could be a modification to perhaps that charge or additional charges or even somebody else could be charged.
And the other part of the story is that Cindy Matthews, the mother of Sherin, is also apparently helping them in trying to identify her body
because the medical examiner so far will not positively ID the body as that of Sherin Matthews, with (ph) saying that the clothing is a big part of
this, and she apparently is helping there, but will not make any other statement.
BANFIELD: OK. So if I can, I just want to bring in Joey Jackson, a defense attorney, CNN/HLN analyst, as well. Joey, here is what is curious.
Originally, he was facing abandoning or endangering a child. Now he`s come in with this alternative version of events from the night that the child
went missing and it`s injury to a child. Does that mean maybe the story is starting to develop that something went wrong in the house? That`s as far
as I`m going to go. I mean, how do you get to injury of a child when we still have a child who`s missing?
[20:25:04]JOEY JACKSON, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, whenever -- put it this way. Moving back. Whenever a story becomes inconsistent, you have to
ask yourself why, right? The truth remains constant, doesn`t it, generally? Right. You picked up this apple. It`s not a banana, it`s an
apple. And the truth is therefore the truth.
So if the story changes, that is an indication that something`s amiss. What I found fascinating, though, is even on the issue of child abuse or
child endangerment, because of the way he left it, who leaves a child out there where, you know, there`s coyotes? If you put them in injury (ph),
it`s 20 years.
Now take it off of that 20-year penalty, which is not even considering what we`re talking about now, now we`re talking about a penalty of life. And so
it starts to seem like if you leave a child out someplace and you know there`s coyotes there, it`s the dead of night and you`re saying, You didn`t
drink your milk, you have to ask yourself why were you motivated to do it? And if the motivation is what we call nefarious, it looks like a long time
in jail.
BANFIELD: And by the way--
(CROSSTALK)
JACKSON: -- but we`ll see.
BANFIELD: -- no one right now is saying that there are coyote marks on this little child`s body, dragging her 0.7 -- put up the map so we can see
how far away her body was found in that drainage culvert, from -- look at it, just 0.7 of a mile away. I don`t think a 3-year-old in the middle of
the night, 3:00 o`clock in the morning, probably absolutely scared out of her wits--
JACKSON: Is not going to wander that amount.
BANFIELD: Yes, she`s not going to wander off that amount, you know, off -- off that distance. But I`m just so curious. It`s so -- the injury of a
child comes the exact same moment that we are trying to process the I.D. on this little baby who police are saying for all intents and purposes --
let`s call a spade a spade. It`s little Sherin. Until we get the DNA, we can`t sign, you know, the dotted line.
JACKSON: Yes, you can`t Ashleigh, but I mean, by all indications, we I think have a good clue of who that is, and again, injury to a child,
punishable by 99 years in jail.
BANFIELD: By the way, dogs---
DUGAN: Pretty bad.
BANFIELD: Dogs and searchers. So dogs, you can ask how did the dogs find that? They`re going off something, right?
JACKSON: Of course.
BANFIELD: They had something they`re given, a sample of--
JACKSON: Absolutely.
BANFIELD: -- maybe her clothing or an item of hers. And if they find, you know, her in the culvert, it`s highly likely.
So I want to do one more thing, if I can. Bobby Chacon is still with us, retired FBI special agent. So Bobby, on Thursday of last week when we
covered this story, we got this treasure-trove of material that was seized from the house, over 40 items seized from the house. And we were sort of
going over each one, wondering what forensic clues could be offered by what was, you know, being taken out of the house. And now as I look at this
list again with this new information about a drainage culvert, I`m thinking that there`s a lot that we might get out of this.
CHACON: Absolutely.
BANFIELD: Let`s put the list up, if we can. I`m going to ask you a couple questions, you and Joey both. The first group was several computers, cell
phones, a digital camera and digital files. And it`s the cell phones, Bobby, I`m thinking are being triangulated to the culvert, yes?
CHACON: Sure. Absolutely. They`ll figure out where he was, you know, that night when that card disappeared for that hour or so.
BANFIELD: OK. So the next group is trash and shopping bags, as well as vacuum cleaner bag contents. Joey Jackson, vacuum cleaner bag contents?
What are they looking for in there now, given the new info?
JACKSON: I mean, what are you doing cleaning something up? Why do you have to have cleaner bags there?
BANFIELD: Dirt from the location?
JACKSON: Absolutely, why else would you need to clean that? And so that`s problematic from a defense perspective, to show that he had clean
hands.
BANFIELD: Yes. There were several documents, marriage certificates, birth certificates, bank documents. They didn`t jump out to me as much as the
next group did, a pink t-shirt, five pairs of shoes, two pairs of boots. So Bobby, are they looking not only for what might be stuck to the bottom
of some of those shoes and boots, but also what prints might have been made close to the culvert?
CHACON: Absolutely - both and they`ve probably taken soil samples from the culvert, and they`ll be able to match if any of those shoes have soil
samples that match the soil from the culvert. They`ll be doing that scientific analysis in the days and weeks to come.
BANFIELD: And I remember we looked at this, was a sad detail that the linen from the change table was also taken from the home. But with regard
to this culvert, the next item was what really stood out, dried grass, twigs, and lawn debris. Joey Jackson, that`s what they took from inside
the home, but now that we`re looking at another location, to match up the flora -
JACKSON: You`ve got it Ashley, we`re in a scientific age, we are in a technological age, and you can match anything nowadays. If that`s the home
and it`s consistent with what`s in the culvert, again, another problem with that.
BANFIELD: And this is the kind of thing you see on forensic files, Bobby. From the vehicle - there`s three vehicles and they seized a lot of
material. One of those vehicles was out at 4 o`clock in the morning for an hour. And this is what they`ve got, the swabs from various interior
portions of all three vehicles, the gas, brake petal, steering wheel, gear shift, seat belt, sun roof slide cover. Especially the gas and brake
petals, but what else are they looking for there Bobby? Now that we have the culvert story entering into the mix?
CHACON: Well clearly you`re looking for blood, other bodily fluids. If you`re going on the assumption - and when you do these searches, you have
to go on an assumption of the worst case. And if the child was harmed in the house and the car was used to transport the child, you have to get that
evidence initially --
[20:30:00]
BANFIELD: Soil on the brake pedal, too, maybe, and the gas pedal, brake pedals? Some of the soil from --
CHACON: You have to be -- you have to be as thorough as you can because you get one shot at doing it right. And if you released that car and you don`t
process it like that, then you lose it forever. So you do as much as you can and you use the widest possible scenario in your mind, in your
investigative mind, that you can, so that you can keep all of that for later processing.
BANFIELD: We`re just beginning this case obviously as this child is going to be I.D.`d. I think if you join us tomorrow night, we may have more
information on that, depends on how fast they can do the science, but I appreciate it.
Bobby Chacon, thank you. Joey Jackson, stay with me.
A trip to the DMV to get a driver`s license, usually not worthy of a headline. Unless O.J. is there when you`re getting your license or unless
of course you`re O.J. Simpson getting a driver`s license for the first time in nine years. That would be a reason to smile.
This ex-con spotted at his local DMV. This would still be in Nevada, right? Because he`s on parole, he can`t leave just yet. He`s also spotted doing
this, the written test. I don`t remember it being a computer, but that`s pretty cool that you can just sort of do it like that.
Smiling for the camera, no need for an inmate number or a profile shot because this will be the first time since the robbery conviction and no way
that he smiled for anything other than a mug shot at least if it has to do with the state.
An absolutely horrifying discoverty to tell you about in Florida. And it`s weird. Human remains. But that`s not so unusual. That happens. But you
don`t often find them covered in cement. That`s weird.
Police are now worried that the missing mom that they`ve been looking for just might be under that cement. And here`s what`s even more bizarre. Her
friend, a former crime scene tech, has actually been hauled in on this crime.
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: She`s been missing for six weeks. And she is the very person who would actually investigate a disappearance like her own disappearance. A
pretty young private eye in Florida named Taylor Wright. Taylor has been described as talented and energetic and outgoing, a mother who just simply
vanished right after meeting a friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD BRAITHWAITE, FORMER SERGEANT, JACSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: When they said she was missing, that wasn`t like Taylor to not contact her family or
her friends. Taylor always used to like to talk to people and so forth. So, I knew there was something wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Yes. Wrong, you`re on the right track. Because one of Taylor`s friends is in the lockup tonight. And the whole thing seems really strange
because the young woman they`re holding right there, Ashley McArthur, she seemed to be a pretty good friend of Taylor`s.
And when I say good, I mean Taylor trust this woman, Ashley, enough to give her $34,000 for safekeeping, $34,000. But something must have thrown a
wrench into that trust because Taylor wanted her money back. And the word is that Taylor was on her way to get it back when, poof, Taylor vanished.
Here is the part that gets really weird. That Ashley McArthur in the lockup, that friend, is now facing murder. She just so happens to be a
former crime scene technician. And Ashley McArthur`s family, they have a property that just became a crime scene, because that`s where police just
found a body.
And what they are calling a secret grave covered in concrete. (INAUDIBLE) Police are saying it`s a sure bet that rotten corpse entombed is Ashley`s
pal. And the right owner of that $34,000, Taylor Wright.
Bryant Clerkley is a reporter with CNN affiliate WKRG. He joins me from Pensacola. Bryant, I know that we have quite a delay. I`m just going to ask
you this question, you take the ball, and help me get to where we need to be tonight with this crime.
It just seems pretty remarkable that the prosecutors told us today that it is likely -- it is more than likely a firearm was used in this case. But
what more do we know about this crime and the connection between these two women?
BRYANT CLERKLEY, WKRG REPORTER: Well, I don`t have information on the firearm used in this yet. I haven`t spoken to anybody that has confirmed
that. But we do know that Ashley McArthur and Taylor Wright were friends, according to deputies. Now, Taylor Wright was going through a divorce and
she trusted her friend Ashley McArthur to hold $34,000 for her for legal reasons.
Now, as Taylor was trying to get this money back from Ashley McArthur, deputies say this was according to the arrest report, that McArthur had
spent that $34,000. And when Wright was trying to get the money back from McArthur, that`s when she disappeared.
Now, cell phone records that deputies have looked into led investigators to land off Britt Road in an area called Cantonment, Florida. That`s -- deputy
say that`s land that McArthur`s family owns. And there were human remains found there last week. And deputies and investigators think that those
human remains belong to
[20:40:00] Taylor Wright. And deputies say that they found a necklace, a specific necklace, that belonged to Taylor near the remains. So that`s how
they think it`s the missing private investigator. Now, like you said, she has been missing since September eight.
A friend reported her missing. And the friend said that the last text message was a mysterious text message that she received from Wright, said
that she just needed some time to think. And, you know, that was very mysterious to this friend.
BANFIELD: Yes, OK.
CLERKLEY: So, we are trying to follow this --
BANFIELD: That is interesting. Bryant, that`s interesting. When someone`s phone sends a text and it`s after the fact more than likely. Hold that
thought for a minute. I want to bring in Joey Jackson, our defense attorney on this.
This is never good. But there`s a couple things that I think have led police to say, we need to pull that Ashley in and hold her, and maybe make
bond real big, because phone records show that she was not where she said she was.
JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, CNN AND HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Aha.
BANFIELD: Riding horses with my good friend Taylor that day. Well, her phone record don`t show her riding horses with the good friend Taylor that
day. They do show her at the place where this body has been found.
JACKSON: Surprise. Surprise.
BANFIELD: That`s not good.
JACKSON: No, it is not.
BANFIELD: That fact?
JACKSON: Yes. Whenever you have an instance where there`s an inconsistency, the question becomes, why is there an inconsistency? We talked about this,
right? The truth remains constant. And therefore, you can only surmise that it goes to consciousness of guilt and you`re trying to invent a story as
you have here.
And then of course the further problem is technology doesn`t lie, right? There could be some mistake, but that whole issue where the cell phone
pings and you`re not pinging where you say you are, but yet you`re with the body, well, would soon be the body, that becomes problematic as well.
BANFIELD: So, we talk about coincidences a lot in these cases. One bad fact, you can maybe explain it away. But when you have two bad facts or
three, four, or five bad facts, it gets way too clinky dinky.
But the second bad fact in this case that the court documents are suggesting also is that Miss Ashley, bless her heart for having that name,
by the way, right?
JACKSON: A beautiful name.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Not in this story.
JACKSON: Not in this story at all.
BANFIELD: So, Miss Ashley, wearing the lovely silver bracelet in this picture, apparently had that $34,000 deposited into her own checking
account and then spent it. Listen. You can`t do that if you think your pal Taylor is somewhere out there.
JACKSON: No. The further problem there, of course, is the issue of motive, right? Why would she want her to disappear? Why would she want to exact
harm upon her? Well, because I have money that I don`t want to return. And we always talk about this, Ashleigh, while motivation is never an element
of the crime, inquiring minds want to know why you engaged in the behavior.
BANFIELD: Yes.
JACKSON: And therefore, it`s an easy explanation as to why she would want her missing.
BANFIELD: How weird, though, is it you have this Taylor Wright, a P.I. -- I think that`s sheriff`s deputy, picture we are showing earlier, I think
that`s sheriff`s deputy, works for the sheriff`s department -- and then the woman who is facing murder for the death of this beautiful young woman is
herself involved in the crime industry as a crime scene technician. It`s like it`s a "Forensic Files" in the making.
JACKSON: It really is. You would think that she would have some better sense of what to do and what not to do.
BANFIELD: If, if she did it.
JACKSON: If, of course.
BANFIELD: You`re the defense attorney here, Joey J.
JACKSON: All allegations at all times. Innocent until proven guilty.
BANFIELD: Jesus, I got to remind you.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Professor, thank you for that.
JACKSON: Judge Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: OK. So, listen. I laugh because if I told you this next story without laughing, I would just cry because I was stuck on this case for
such a long time. Jodi Arias. Makes me shudder to even say it. Convicted murderer. She is now trying to get her conviction thrown out. So what are
the chances that you think she might be walking into a Starbucks anytime near you? The answer in a minute.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Thousands of names pass through our court systems every year. Hardened criminals who make our blood boil, whose heads the public want
from a platter. But few of them carry the weight of Miss Jodi Arias. The woman who played the good girl in court after rocking the bad girl routine
on sexy phone calls with her ex.
He was a once a good Mormon boy who was trying to get out of that volatile relationship before Jodi decided to pretty much hack him and shoot him to
death. Took her a few tries, but Jodi eventually admitted to shooting Travis Alexander in the face at his Arizona home before slitting his
throat, stabbing him 29 times, leaving him like this in the shower. For a lot of people, this moment was sweet justice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The state of Arizona versus Jodi Ann Arias, verdict, count one. We, the jury (INAUDIBLE) above action upon our
oaths do find the defendant as to count one first-degree murder, guilty. Five jurors find premeditated, zero find felony murder, seven find both
premeditated and felony. Signed foreperson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Now, Jodi is paying the price for first-degree murder, life in prison, no parole. She`s kept herself busy behind bars singing in talent
shows, selling her artwork, but not surprisingly Jodi has had enough and Jodi wants out. So, she is appealing her conviction.
She`s going to have to cool her heels a little while longer before she gets to put on another show on the witness stand and it`s all because of a
technicality, again, sweet justice. Apparently the transcripts from her trial which lasted five months are chalk full of errors and omissions,
25,000 pages of them
[20:50:00] from some 22 different court reporters, and apparently no appeal can possibly go forward before all that mess get sorted out. Just so I can
take you back to that moment. How Jodi talked about what it was going to be like to have to spend a lifetime in prison. Just so you can get in her head
space in all of this. You`re welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JODI ARIAS, CONVICTED OF MURDER: The worst outcome for me would be natural life. I would much rather die sooner than later. Longevity runs in my
family and I don`t want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place. You know, I`m pretty healthy. I don`t smoke. And I would probably live a
long time.
So that`s not something I`m looking forward to. I said years ago that I`d rather get death than life, and that still is true today. I believe death
is the ultimate freedom, so I`d rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you`re saying you are actually prefer getting the death penalty than being in prison for life?
ARIAS: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Nice job. Shout out to KSAZ Fox 10 in Phoenix for getting that score. That was the last time we really heard from her, too. CNN
correspondent Jean Casarez covered the Jodi Arias trial has to weather that with me.
She joins me from New York. So, Jean, I guess that -- look, the $64,000 question is, what are the odds? What are the odds once they fix the
transcripts and get through those 25,000 pages that they`re actually going to find something that Jodi can hang her hat on and, you know, bust the
coupe?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, here`s what I`m interested in, they`re not going to file their motions until 2018. I want
to be able to read those. I want to see what they`re really bringing to believe that this verdict should be overturned. And then I think we`ll have
more of our answer.
But, you know, as you know, Ashleigh, we`ve seen cases overturned on things that we can`t believe. I mean, sometimes it`s jury instruction. That`s why
cases are overturned more likely than not because of a jury instruction.
But I remember, Ashleigh, when I sat in that courtroom on the second of January, 2013, little did I know that I was going to be in that courtroom
for months. It wasn`t until May when there was a verdict. And then the month of May, we went through the first sentencing phase.
That involved so many pages, just as you`re saying, 25,000 pages, and they`ve had issues with the stenographers being able to get the transcripts
into solid form, but they have to have that before they can mount their appeals.
BANFIELD: What`s so weird it`s four years. Joey Jackson, real quickly, I get it, everybody tries to appeal until they have no chance.
JACKSON: Always.
BANFIELD: They exhaust them all. But you`ve had four years to go through these transcripts and figure this out. What are the odds they`re actually
going to be able to find something at trial level that actually rises to the appellate level?
JACKSON: You know, it`s problematic and you never know because there are so many rulings that were made in the case. Think about these transcripts.
It`s such a frustrating problem for us attorneys where you order transcripts, you can`t get them.
There`s a court reporter here, a court reporter there. But I just think in this case, there was so much compelling evidence. And, you know, to Jean`s
point, it`s so true. You had jury instructions and other reasons why things overturned.
But there is something else we should talk about and that is harmless error. What does that mean in English? It means the evidence was so
compelling that even if there are a variety of errors at trial, that does not get you out of where you belong.
BANFIELD: By the way, we were all there. We all saw every moment. If there was something that looked like it might actually be an appellate issue, we
would be screaming it from the rooftop at the time. There was pretty much nada (ph).
So I guess we can all rest assured that Miss Jodi Arias is going to be sitting pretty with her commissary items. By the way, I`m going to go real
quick with the list so you know why she is enjoying herself while she`s in the coop. Scissors. That`s what she`s bought. Anti-shank toothbrushes,
moisturizer, lip balm, hair gel.
And then from the food, sardines, ding dongs, refried beans, and of course what would you need if that was your diet, antacid tablets. So if you don`t
Jodi Arias, you can sit pretty and realize she`s not enjoying her time and there is going to be a lot of it.
Grandmother wearing only a bikini gets arrested for DUI. The police video goes viral, but she has no regrets. Kathy Griffin would say, she has a
banging bikini body. That`s a granny. No kidding. Video is next.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: In Florida, this is the field sobriety test that almost broke the internet. Patricia Ebel was on her way back from a sunny day on the water,
clearly, when she accidentally slammed into another car. Nobody was seriously hurt.
But these images of her on the side of the road rocking that bikini rocked the worldwide web. Now speaking for the first time since her arrest, this
granny spoke to Inside Edition about her notoriety and the reaction to her police video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do people react when they see you?
PATRICIA EBEL, ARRESTED FOR DUI: I`ve had a lot of offers to buy the bikini. Marriage proposals from Malaysia. It just got crazy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you think you became this huge internet sensation? Do you think it was because here you are in a bikini and you`re
a grandma?
EBEL: I guess.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you still drive around in your bikini?
EBEL: Yes. With a cover-up.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: I sense a swimsuit illustrated cover coming. Maybe not. But it is fun to watch this kind of crime.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Joey Jackson, one quick question for you as a defense attorney, this is a video you`re going to show a jury, what do you do with that?
JACKSON: Not guilty. It`s hard enough to do those tests under normal circumstances. She is standing on one leg. She did a great job.
[21:00:00] BANFIELD: Adorable.
JACKSON: (INAUDIBLE) easy.
BANFIELD: Thanks, Joey.
JACKSON: Thank you.
BANFIELD: Thanks, everyone, too. By the way, stick around, because coming up next is one of our favorites, "How It Really Happened with Hill Harper."
END
