http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1210/02/ijvm.01.htmlJANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
College Student Murdered by Boyfriend
Aired October 2, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL starts right now.
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Then stunning phone calls revealed. Jurors hear Elizabeth Johnson talk to her ex, missing Baby Gabriel`s father, as he desperately tries to figure out if Elizabeth is capable of finding their child, who disappeared on her watch.
And why was this mom sobbing in court today? Has the pressure finally gotten to her? Is she still holding onto the secret of what really happened to this precious toddler? We`ll have the very latest from inside court.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Johnson`s alleged conspiracy to give away her infant son Gabriel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is Baby Gabriel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The eight-month-old was last seen at a Texas motel back in 2009.
ELIZABETH JOHNSON, MOTHER OF BABY GABRIEL: I don`t exist anymore. I`m a ghost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy`s mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, picks up everything and takes her baby on a two-day journey traveling from Arizona to San Antonio, Texas.
JOHNSON: You`d be surprised what a person is capable of when you push them enough.
LOGAN MCQUEARY, FATHER OF BABY GABRIEL: She told me on the phone you`re never going to see Gabriel again.
Where are you? Where is Gabriel?
JOHNSON: I killed him this morning. Gabriel is in the dumpster. You want to talk to girls -- that`s the price you pay.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: She confessed to strangling the baby, putting him in a diaper bag and throwing him in a dumpster like trash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight the prosecution has rested in the Baby Gabriel kidnapping trial. The courtroom drama hit a fever pitch as Baby Gabriel`s mom has a total emotional breakdown sobbing during her trial for her toddler son`s disappearance -- a disappearance which occurred on her watch -- as cops read the private and personal MySpace exchanges between 26-year-old Elizabeth Johnson and Baby Gabriel`s father, Logan, Elizabeth breaks down into sobs.
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SGT. BRIAN THOMPSON, TAMPA POLICE DEPT: I have done the best for Gabriel. I always have and always will even if that means giving him up. I forgive you. I just want -- I just want this over with and go on with my life. And I don`t wish you anything bad. I hope you get your life together as well and do good. I`m sorry.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Baby Gabriel was last seen three long years ago when he was only eight months old. Elizabeth and her ex-lover, Logan, were locked in a bitter custody battle. And when the judge ruled that they had to share custody, Elizabeth took off with Baby Gabriel and headed to San Antonio.
From Texas Elizabeth called and told her ex, Logan, that she had suffocated the infant and tossed him away in a dumpster. Listen to Elizabeth`s chilling confession.
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JOHNSON: I suffocated him and he turned blue and I put him in a diaper bag and put him in the trash can.
MCQUEARY: You did not hurt Gabriel.
JOHNSON: Yes, I did. I suffocated him. You knew I would do it and you pushed me anyway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Then Elizabeth changed her tune when cops arrested her in Miami. She told police, well, "I gave the baby away to a mystery couple in a park in San Antonio, Texas." She`s charged with kidnapping because nobody`s ever found this little baby of hers.
Do these tears that she`s now shedding in court mean Elizabeth is finally ready to reveal the secret about what really happened on her watch to her son?
What do you think? Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
Straight out to Lina Jacobson from "In Session", you`ve been in court the whole time. You were in court. Tell us about Elizabeth`s tears and why did Elizabeth ask to leave the courtroom, Lina?
LINA JACOBSON, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION" (via telephone): Well, you know, she knew these phone calls were going to be played this afternoon, Jane, of course, that very emotional phone call Logan played to her after she sent the text message to him saying she`d killed their little son. So she knew what to expect.
There was also a call between her and Tammi Smith that was set up by police where the two argue about who instigated what in this whole mess. And she knew she was going to get emotional. She said very honestly to the judge, "Look, I`m not going to be able to sit here through this. I don`t want to be here for the afternoon." He cautioned her. He said, you know, "I`m hesitant to let you do this," but he let her sit out the afternoon, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I thought as I watched her cry that we`re seeing finally a change. This is Tammi Smith, her friend who was obsessed with adopting a child and has already done some time for forging adoption papers. We`ll get to that in a second.
But Elizabeth`s wardrobe -- let`s get back to her wardrobe choices in court because it sparked a lot of controversy. Ok. Now, look at this on the left. She looks like she`s going out to a nightclub, she`s wearing earrings, low cut tops. That was for most of the trial thus far.
But take a look at her now. Hair pulled back. She`s wearing a very conservative shirt with a collar. And no earrings and now she`s finally starting to sob and cry.
My question to Jeff Gardere, clinical forensic psychologist, do you think the enormity and severity of what happened is finally dawning on her that this game she was playing because there`s a fine line between love and hate and she went from loving this guy she had this child with to hating him that the game has finally given way. And there`s the guy. And he`s a good looking guy. So you know how she might have been in love with him.
JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes. Sure.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And then decided I`m going to punish him by using the baby as a pawn. Do you think the severity and the enormity of what has happened here has finally dawned on her?
GARDERE: Yes, absolutely. Look, in therapy what we do is we have someone lay on that couch and go through their lives. Go through it step by step. She`s being forced to do the same thing in this trial. She has to sit there and look at her whole life from A to Z; everything she ever said, how she said she killed the baby, all of those texts or messages that she sent. So now she has to re-experience all of that and do it in a way where she cannot escape. She can`t run away. She can`t use a defense mechanism. So she`s almost being tortured to have to face her life.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And look at this beautiful girl too and this handsome father. The question that we`re all trying to get the answer to including cops and prosecutors, is this precious baby dead or alive?
Elizabeth told her ex-lover, Logan, Gabriel`s dad, over and over that she killed her baby, their baby. Listen to that confession carefully. And then we`ll analyze.
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JOHNSON: I suffocated him and he turned blue. And I put him in his diaper bag and put him in the trash can.
MCQUEARY: You did not hurt Gabriel.
JOHNSON: Yes, I did. I suffocated him. You knew I would do it and you pushed me anyway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Don`t forget about the chilling texts, quote, "U will never see Gabriel again. I made sure of that." And "You can spend the rest of your pathetic life wondering about him."
So T.J. Ward, former police officer, private investigator, listen, I wonder, did she really kill him? Look at this baby. How could you do that? But it is done. So there is a possibility. But there`s also the possibility she gave the child to this mystery couple.
Here`s one thing I noted, she said to Logan, "I suffocated the child until he turned blue." Now, is that -- does that have any basis in fact? Or could that lead you to believe that she`s concocting a story to get at him?
T.J. WARD, FORMER POLICE OFFICER, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: I think she`s probably changing her story so much because she hasn`t said the truth yet what she`s done with the baby. She`s changed her story so many times. And now that the reality`s coming to her in court, I don`t think she knows what to do.
But I think she does know where the child is and who has the child if that`s a possibility. I don`t think at this point that she`s killed the child. I think there`s somebody else that`s playing a part in this picture.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I hope you`re right. Because generally if a child disappears -- and this lady, she is sort of a person who insinuated herself into the situation. She says she`s a good-hearted person. She was desperate to have a kid -- a lot of people are.
She`s done a little bit of time. She was convicted for forging adoption papers, but no indication that she was involved in anything more extensive than that.
But I have to say that I really hope that you`re right. I hope this precious child`s alive.
The question is, and I got to go back to Lina on this. She said that she only got the first names of the couple she gave the child to. This is the other story she told cops. Have we ever heard those first names? Because even though they`re first names, they could provide a real good clue. There`s only --- if it`s a married couple with let`s say John and Mary, there`s only so many John and Marys married together who are in the San Antonio at that time.
JACOBSON: She said the woman`s first name only so far that I`ve heard.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Who?
JACOBSON: And I simply can`t remember what it was because it was something very common like Sheryl, something along those lines. I don`t think that would really provide a clue. That`s all she said she could remember. And the funny thing is even Tammi Smith, the woman who tried to adopt little Gabriel, challenged her on this and said you knew mine and Jack`s names. How could you give him to this couple and not even know their names? So that`s all we know.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Terry, Michigan, your question or thought, Terry, Michigan.
TERRY, MICHIGAN (via telephone): I don`t really have any questions. I just wanted to say that I can`t even believe this type of thing goes on. And it absolutely sickens me to think that a woman can do this in this day and age.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it sickens me too, Mark Eiglarsh. By the way, you can speak to Mark at speaktomark.com. But Mark, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned -- Shakespeare. It`s a stereotype, as a woman I find it offensive, but sometimes, maybe in this case it`s true.
MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No. I believe that.
You know what name she probably gave law enforcement? Zanny. I mean I don`t buy any of what this woman`s telling law enforcement. I think that she probably carried it out. She knows about the blue face because that`s what she witnessed. And who would give a baby away to a couple with no last name? I give clothing away to people. I know their last name.
I`m not buying this, Jane. I would like this baby to be alive, but I don`t know. I don`t feel good about this one.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, we`re going to take more calls on the other side and continue to analyze. So much happened in court.
Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And here`s your "Viral Video of the Day". Take a look at this. A woman born without arms took to YouTube to show potential employers she can do anything anybody else can. And she turned into an inspiration for others.
This gives me such joy. I have a new hero. Way to go, girl.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMPSON: Please don`t fight me on this. I can take care of Gabriel. I can try and give him a good life. And you even said you can`t take care of him right now. I want to see him so bad. Don`t do this because you`re mad at me. I can take care of him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was one of the messages that this beautiful baby`s dad wrote. He wanted to take care of his child, but she didn`t want him to have any part of the child. What about her attitude? One of the last people to see Baby Gabriel alive testified. And it`s the babysitter Elizabeth hired after Elizabeth fled Phoenix and arrived in San Antonio. She hired a babysitter.
Listen to what this babysitter said about Elizabeth`s attitude. Check it out.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She basically said that she needed a babysitter for the following day so she can look for work because she had just moved here. Not here, just moved to San Antonio.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened when you met Elizabeth?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was kind of mad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when you say she was mad at you because you were late, how did you know she was mad?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s obvious by someone`s facial expression and tone of voice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. So, I don`t understand this. T.J. Ward, private investigator, she flees with her child to San Antonio because she doesn`t want the father to have any part in it. And then she hires a babysitter to go out and claim she`s looking for work? What do you make of that?
WARD: Well, that`s why I`m saying I think the baby may still be alive. She`s not going to tell anybody who she gave the baby to. She`s making up names. She`s making up she strangled the baby to cause harm and get arousement from the father of the child to let him know that she`s in control.
I think there`s another person that`s involved in this that we don`t know about yet. And before she gets sentenced or after she gets sentenced, she may come out and find the reality and maybe tell the truth.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Quickly, Jeff Gardere, if you`re going to kill a child, God forbid why do you hire a babysitter first?
GARDERE: Yes. I mean to me this just does not make any sense at all. What it can speak to is that she was very, very confused as to what she wanted to do with this baby; what she was going to do with her life. We know this was a borderline personality this young woman who was very confused, love/hate relationships, everything black and white -- very, very, very disturbed. So this is part of her confusion.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But, Mark Eiglarsh, she`s angry. And that`s what scares me. She hires a babysitter. She`s confused but she`s also very angry.
EIGLARSH: That`s the best thing the defense has working for them. They can say that those are the things said out of anger. They don`t truly reflect how she feels. But I have to go back to that one other issue. In other words, there`s someone else involved caring for this child whose face is all over the media and that person is not concerned that they might get caught? I don`t buy it. That`s why I think unfortunately this child may not be around.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re going to stay on top of this case. Come here to our show for the latest. Prosecution has rested, and then big question, is she going to take the stand in her own defense?
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