http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1011/09/ng.01.htmlNANCY GRACE
Did Zahra Searchers Find More Bones?Aired November 9, 2010 - 20:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, North Carolina. A 10-year-old little girl snatched from her own bedroom in the dark of night. The little girl, Zahra, completely dependent on two hearing aids, can only walk with a prosthetic leg after losing her left leg to bone cancer, vanishes into thin air, bedroom empty, prosthetic leg missing, hearing aids left behind. Last person to see little Zahra alive, stepmommy.
Zahra`s prosthetic leg found, discarded in brush off a county back road, and a
bone believed to be Zahra`s discovered. K9s, police, backhoes swarm the family home to start the digging, ripping out sheetrock from Zahra`s bedroom wall.
We obtain exclusive letters from stepmommy, who writes behind jailhouse walls to say what Adam Baker did to his little girl was quote, "horrifying," admits she`s a pagan worshiper, obsessed with Halloween, vampires, the dark arts, complains about unflattering photos of herself on TV and having to cover up tattoos and beloved body piercings. Stepmommy admits she wants to be a TV star and whines about missing her waterbed.
Then stepmommy changes the story, claiming she found Zahra dead, claiming Zahra was actually sick for weeks, yet stepmommy never took her to the doctor, claiming she was afraid to call 911. As stepmommy breaks down in tears, she says she, stepmommy, was the one beaten, not Zahra. She swears she tells police places to find Zahra. Does that mean the child was dismembered? This as we learn police break apart the Baker bathroom. Did they find blood evidence? And finally, the biological mom surfaces from Australia.
Bombshell tonight. At this hour, as we go to air, police just seize what we believe to be
bones at a remote animal carcass dump site, this part of a new search kept secret from the media, off a gravel road, the same community where stepmommy once lived years ago. Police search the dump, line searching. Fifty cops search shoulder to shoulder as other cops canvass the area, asking residents if their pets have brought home strange
bones, human
bones. Tonight, what happened to 10-year-old Zahra?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A new search is under way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are running a homicide investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Search for 10-year-old Zahra Baker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Homicide investigation.
911 OPERATOR: No one has seen your daughter since 2:30 this morning?
ADAM BAKER, ZAHRA`S FATHER: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Little Zahra Baker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Searching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For 10-year-old Zahra Baker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think your wife might have had some involvement in all (INAUDIBLE)
BAKER: I don`t know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "The cops know where she is and what he has done."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She should just shut up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blaming Adam for everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was in there for something that Adam had done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re not going to solve the crime through anything that she tells them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "There are so many missing kids, but Zahra isn`t missing."
EMILY DIETRICH, ZAHRA`S MOTHER: He had no right to do any of it, to keep her from me and take her from me!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not found her body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do not have her body.
ADAM BAKER: I just hope they just keep looking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, Oklahoma, a beautiful former cheerleader, junior Olympic track star, USC grad, marries her dream man, forms an instant family with his three adult sons, then gives birth to a beautiful baby girl. But after her hubby, a professional poker player and bookie, leaves town, a frantic 911 call from one of the sons reports she`s dead, shot to death in a closet, her 13-month-old baby girl with Mommy in the closet unharmed. In the 911 call, he says mom shot herself, but autopsy confirms no gunshot. She`s beaten to death. Daddy books a private jet home. Tonight, who murdered Julie Mitchell?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The white envelope.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a drainage ditch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a typed letter inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "I am writing this letter to help."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anonymous letter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Hopefully, it will solve the murder for Julie Mitchell."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Filled with the writer`s claims of motive and murder in Julie Mitchell`s death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Julie Mitchell`s death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her adult stepson called 911.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reported that, quote, "Mom shot herself."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The medical examiner`s office says 34-year-old Julie Mitchell died from multiple blunt force trauma.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitchell`s husband, Teddy Mitchell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was out of town the night of the murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has been involved in gambling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bizarre nature of the letter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alleging the state of the Mitchells` family life, how the murder was planned and the instructions to cover up her death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. A 10-year-old little girl, Zahra, snatched from her own bedroom in the dark of night. As we go to air, police seize - - just seize -- what we believe to be
bones at a remote animal carcass dump site.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A frantic search is on to find Zahra Baker.
ADAM BAKER: We checked in there last night about 2:30.
GRACE: Vanishing.
ADAM BAKER: And she was there.
GRACE: Into thin air.
ADAM BAKER: I appreciate everyone -- everyone doing what they`re doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They resumed the search.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Piece of evidence.
DIETRICH: It`s just mean! It felt like somebody was playing a mean game with me!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still searching going on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Search site.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re going to continue going into dumps and draining ditches and digging up garbage piles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`ve got so much police work to do here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zahra`s stepmom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elisa Baker.
GRACE: Thrown behind bars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pitting one person against the other.
GRACE: Crying crocodile tears from behind bars.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "I sure miss my warm waterbed."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s just crying boo-hoo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s told the police where to look.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "I have told the cops everything I know about what`s happened to Zahra."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody`s done her wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody`s leading police anywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is believed to be deceased.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Find the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The truth will come out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Straight out to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." Jean, they have tried diligently to keep this search a secret, but we did find them. This is in the same community where Elisa Baker used to live about 10 years ago. What more do you know, Jean Casarez?
JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": That`s very significant, Nancy. This is a very important search. It has about 30 searchers. They are going line by line. But Nancy, here`s the most important part of all. This is a known area where animal carcasses are dumped, like deer, known area for that. And this is where Elisa Baker, her family tells us, she lived about 15 years ago.
GRACE: Joining us right now, there near the site authorities are searching, is Dean Ford. He is at the search site. Dean Ford, thank you for being with us. What have you observed today?
DEAN FORD, NEIGHBOR OF NEW SEARCH SITE: Just mostly the police and FBI doing a line search, what they call a line search. They walk through the woods, you know, three, four feet apart, and had two lines and they walked through looking through leaves, had leaf blowers, rakes, just basically looking through the leaves and the trash.
GRACE: How big of an area were they searching, Dean Ford?
FORD: Probably, at most, areas like 100 feet wide, 50 to 100 feet wide, and then on both sides of the road. It`s a...
GRACE: Sorry. With us, everyone, is Dean Ford. He`s joining us from Lenore (ph), North Carolina, there at the search site. Back to Dean Ford. Dean, when you say they`re about three or four feet apart and they all go along in basically a line?
FORD: There were two lines. One line -- what I observed, one line and then maybe 50 feet behind, another line. So you know, six, eight men to a line, using leaf blowers and rakes and looking through the leaves. Heavy foliage in this area, so the leaves are quite deep. The leaves just came off the trees.
GRACE: With us is Dean Ford from Lenore, North Carolina, there at the search site, an ongoing search. Mr. Ford, tell me about the area. I have been told that it is a place where people dump trash and animal carcasses.
FORD: Yes, quite a bit. Yes. There are a lot of animals that are dumped, deer carcasses especially. Especially during this time of year when deer season opens, they dump a lot of animals in there. And there are a lot of wild animals, coyotes and stuff.
GRACE: With us, Dean Ford there at the search site. He lives very close to the search site. Back to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." Jean, I understand that cops then started canvassing the neighborhood, the area, asking people door to door have their pets brought home strange
bones -- human
bones, Jean.
CASAREZ: That`s right. Exactly. Nancy, we have learned that there at the scene is a wildlife expert as they go about this search. And your producers learned late today that they have found something. They believe it could be significant. It`s now going for testing.
GRACE: But what we believe tonight to be
bones have been found at this new search site. And they tried to keep the search secret for some time. Back to you, Jean Casarez. Explain to me the connection between Elisa Baker, the stepmommy, and this spot. Where are we talking about?
CASAREZ: Well, let me give you the big picture. First of all, this area right here is 10 miles north of where that prosthetic leg was found. It`s 20 miles north of where the Bakers lived in Hickory. But this, according to the family, is the area that Elisa Baker lived in 15 years ago.
GRACE: Yes. Let`s just think about this very quickly. Joining us is Paul Laska, forensic consultant, search and recovery expert. He`s joining us via Skype from Palm City. Paul, thank you for being with us. Now, I`ve seen this many, many times in the past, but most recently, we saw it in the tot mom case of Casey Anthony, where police say she actually went and dumped her little girl in an area that was behind an elementary school, where she went and would hang out behind the school as a little girl, in a wooded -- a densely wooded area.
PAUL R. LASKA, EXPERT SEARCHING (via telephone): Yes, it`s not unusual. People tend to go to places they know, they`re familiar with, to do these things because they`re more comfortable.
GRACE: You are seeing an aerial shot right now of where the search is taking place. We believe
bones have been found. For those of you just joining us, police doing a line search, 40 to 50 cops practically shoulder to shoulder, one line in front of the other, each looking at the four feet around their feet, their own feet, as they walk forward in this densely wooded area. Then cops canvassing neighbors to find out if their pets have brought home an unusual
bone, a human
bone. They are looking for the rest of Zahra`s
bones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A shocking discovery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re getting closer and closer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bone that could be related to the Zahra Baker case.GRACE: K9s, police, backhoes, search teams.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police believe it`s human.UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) her. She wants to tell her story, she said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news for you right now in the Zahra Baker case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A heart-breaking, horrific story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a homicide investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Hickory Police Department is telling us a
bone has been found in Caldwell County.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never once did I imagine that a member of my family would be in such a tragic situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A gold locket and a few photos are what Emily Dietrich has clung to for most of Zahra Baker`s life. She will cling to them tighter for her daughter`s death.
DIETRICH: It was his responsibility to take care of her! I gave birth to her, would always love her, always in my heart!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten-year-old Zahra Baker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Presumed murdered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A homicide investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Like I said, my lawyers don`t tell me all the world is saying, but if it is anything like these letters, OMG."
DIETRICH: I never got to say good-bye! I barely got to say hello!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You were just hearing Zahra`s biological mother in Australia, who has been missing all these 10 years. We are taking your calls live. For those of you just joining us, what we believe to have been
bones have just been recovered from a new search site police tried to keep it secret.
Out to the lines. Sally in Texas. Hi, Sally.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I love your show.
GRACE: Thank you, dear. Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Did -- Zahra`s mother -- didn`t she say she came in three days before the little girl went missing?
GRACE: Did she say she came into...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Town.
GRACE: ... the U.S.?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Came in to see the little girl three days before she went missing. I think I heard that.
GRACE: OK. Let`s find out. Jean, what is the biological mother saying from Australia?
CASAREZ: She is in Australia. She has not come here. We haven`t heard she`s coming here. I think what she`s saying is that she found out she was in the United States and located her, but Zahra was already missing. Zahra was already dead.
GRACE: Out to John Miller, editor of "The Hickory Daily Record," joining us from Hickory. John Miller, explain to me where this new search site is in relation to everything else we`ve discovered so far, where they lived, where Zahra went missing, where the prosthetic leg was found. Where does this fit into that picture?
JOHN MILLER, "HICKORY DAILY RECORD" (via telephone): This site is in the vicinity, I`d say about 10 to 12 miles from where the prosthetic leg was found and where the
bone was initially found last week this time. What searchers were looking for today along Indian Grave Road was along a three- mile stretch, where they walked shoulder to shoulder right off the side of the road. So the search was more expansive than what your earlier guest talked about because they are apparently looking for some kind of
bone evidence, even though authorities didn`t tell us that specifically. That`s what we have to assume at this point.
GRACE: With me, John Miller, editor of "Hickory Daily Record." And to you, Ellie Jostad. What I don`t understand is they sent the
bone in, you know, when, last week? You can get DNA results in 72 hours or less.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right.
GRACE: In fact, you know, for our government to ID bodies, our soldiers, you could do a field test in the field and get a result. So I don`t believe that they don`t know the outcome of that DNA test. I think they know.
JOSTAD: Well, all they will tell us is that this is a priority. They think that that
bone they found is a key piece of evidence. And they say they have put a rush on those results, but they -- if they have received them, they aren`t sharing those with the media yet.
GRACE: Joining me right now, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, Marc Klaas is with us. Weigh in, Marc.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, you know, the signs were all there, Nancy. First of all, the maltreatment of children with disabilities is as much as 10 times higher than that of kids without disabilities. The friends saw the abuse. Neighbors reported the abuse. Family members either couldn`t or wouldn`t protect her from the abuse. And her biological parents completely failed her.
If it now turns out that these people, these evil people, murdered and dismembered and scattered this child, they don`t deserve to breathe the same air that we do. They need to be tried. They need to be put into prison, and they need to be executed as quickly as is humanly possible, which unfortunately, will probably be 10 or 20 years from now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She puts herself in the midst of it.
911 OPERATOR: Your what`s on fire?
ELISA BAKER, ZAHRA`S STEPMOTHER: The back yard. We`ve got big mulch piles and wood piles.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see her state of mind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "My family has turned pretty much against me and everyone is telling so many lies."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You ought to be in jail! You ought to be hung!
ADAM BAKER: It appears they may have taken my daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Own daughter. Your flesh and blood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don`t believe him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looking for more evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Outside of the gated area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Ninety-eight percent of the media stuff is lies."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She wants to tell her story, she said.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you miss your stepdaughter?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Psychopath.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Narcissistic psychobabble.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Narcissistic psycho.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "I have told the cops everything I know about what`s happened to Zahra."
GRACE: Not one mention.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me, me, me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s ugly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "We really didn`t kill her, but what he did after the fact is kinda horrifying."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. For those of you just joining us, what we believe to be
bones have been discovered in a secret location. Cops tried to keep this search a secret. Anyway, it is in remote Caldwell County. It is in a carcass disposal area. It is a dump commonly used for animal carcass disposal. We know that they did a line search, 40 to 50 cops shoulder to shoulder, told to look down at the four feet around their own feet as they slowly moved forward.
Out to the lines. Regina in Tennessee. Hi, Regina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call. Somebody obviously loved this child, nurtured her, mentored her or something. Where were they when she went missing or when something was going wrong in the family? What happened?
GRACE: Jean Casarez, to you. I believe there`s really been no one loving her since she was wrenched away from her grandmother (SIC) in Australia.
CASAREZ: You know, last night, I was thinking before I went to bed, Who loved this child? Who -- and I can`t find anybody. I really can`t. I can`t find anybody. You know, the video that you have of her being fitted with the hearing aids -- and that, I think, was at a fair -- I think maybe people at school, when she went to school, I think those types of people cared about her. Maybe people she met on the street cared about her.
GRACE: You know what, Jean? It just leaves me wondering, you know, every night that we`ve covered this, what can we do, what can I do, other than cover it? The only other thing that I can think of is to take care of my twins the best that I can and always be on the lookout for abused children.
I mean, Dr. Leslie Austin, psychotherapist, New York, isn`t it a duty on caregivers and teachers to report abuse?
LESLIE AUSTIN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: I absolutely believe so. It`s all of our responsibility to look out for our kids and say something, speak up, ask questions if you think something is wrong. Kids should be happy. If they`re not, there`s a reason. Please speak up.
GRACE: And in this case, DFACS, family and children services, police were called over and over and over! The child was never taken out of the home, and now she`s dead. We believe cops now looking for the rest of Zahra`s
bones.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is dealing with the likely loss of her daughter, a daughter that she`s chased through the years, chasing Adam Baker around Australia and then to America.
EMILY DIETRICH, ZAHRA BAKER`S MOTHER: The prosthesis was the hardest. I want them to find more so we can put her together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our first concern is that Zahra`s body will be found soon, since she is believed to be deceased. And that all of the truth will come out.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Catawba County, 911.
ADAM BAKER, FATHER OF MISSING 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL ZAHRA BAKER: Hey, how you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Did you say that she was handicapped?
A. BAKER: Yes, ma`am. She has above-the-knee amputation.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: First time we`re hearing from the little girl`s mom.
DIETRICH: I never got to tell her I was proud of her. It hurts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My picture they are using on TV sucks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a psychopath.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have told the cops everything I know about what`s happened to Zahra. Have you ever been in jail? It ain`t a fun place to be. I sure miss my warm waterbed.
I`m on the floor at the moment in solitary confinement. I`m climbing the walls literally. I hope to soon be out but who knows what I`m doing when I do. I`m going to miss my favorite holiday, Halloween, the one time of year I don`t get judged. And maybe Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I feel completely alone. Well, I guess I`ve said enough. Hope to hear back from you soon. Dark hearts, Elisa Baker.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: "Dark hearts." What does that mean?
We are taking your calls live. For those of you that have just joining us -- just joined us, we believe
bones have been discovered,
bones of little Zahra, in a remote county area in Caldwell County. You`re seeing an aerial shot of it right now.
Cops tried to keep the location a secret but we discovered where they were doing a line search.
Straight out to Dean Ford, who lives near the site.
Mr. Ford, again, thank you for being with us. Dean Ford joining us from Lenore, North Carolina.
Dean, for the viewers that are just joining us, explain what you have been observing today.
DEAN FORD, LIVES NEAR SEARCH AREA: Basically, they did like they call it a line search. They were like shoulder to shoulder, or maybe two, three, four feet apart, and they come through the area walking one direction, and then two lines of them, and they came through, then they went back the other direction.
So they went through really twice. So they did a real, real good search.
(CROSSTALK)
FORD: There has been some activity --
GRACE: Go ahead, sir.
FORD: They have been in the area for the last week. There has been some activity in the area for the last week or so. They did a lot of search of some kind for something last week. But I imagine that`s what it was for. But they had wildlife officers and some plain clothes officers last week that did some searching.
GRACE: Mr. Ford, I understand cops have also been canvassing the area, asking neighbors, have their pets brought home any unusual
bones.
FORD: Yes. One neighbor mentioned that they did approach her last week and asked her that. But there are a lot of
bones in this area. Your pets bring in a lot of
bones because of the carcasses laying around.
GRACE: Now --
FORD: We do get a lot of that.
GRACE: What did she say the cops said exactly, as you recall it?
FORD: As I recall, she said that evidently it was an FBI agent asked her if she had noticed the dogs bringing home any
bones. But she said she hadn`t at this time.
GRACE: To our understanding, cops and FBI have been going pretty much door to door asking if unusual
bones have been brought home by their pets. They are searching at this hour for the rest of Zahra`s
bones.
How far behind you, Dean, is the search -- was the search?
FORD: About -- they came all the way just about where I`m standing. You know it`s about -- it`s about 20 or 30, 40 feet to the road, so they came all the way down. So they searched the whole road bank. All the way down to the yard here. I`m standing in my front yard.
GRACE: That`s interesting that they were searching along the road bank because Zahra`s prosthetic leg was found basically thrown off the side of the road. It could have been thrown from a car. It was that careless.
So do you get the sense that they are looking for more
bones?
FORD: Evidently, that would be what they were looking for. The way they were looking through the leaves -- you know the leaves have just fallen of the trees so you know they`re several inches deep so you had to dig down or take a leaf blower. They`re taking leaf blower, move the leaves to see anything.
GRACE: Tell me again what the area is like. It`s a gravel road, is it not?
FORD: Gravel road and it`s -- most of the road has real thick underbrush around it. What we call mountain Laurel Rhodendron. A lot of it`s real thick. Sometimes it`s real hard to get through. So they had quite a difficult time, you know, getting through it.
GRACE: How many houses are there?
FORD: Well, there are not a whole lot. There`s 12 on this road, I think. On a three-mile stretch.
GRACE: Everyone, you are seeing behind Mr. Dean Ford the area where cops have been. They came out there a couple of days last week and then today started an all-out line search, shoulder to shoulder, trying to find the rest of Zahra`s
bones.
Unleash the lawyers. Raymond Giudice, defense attorney, Atlanta. Alex Sanchez, defense attorney, New York.
OK. Ray Giudice, we haven`t been able to determine how cops were led to this area, but we do know it`s an area where Elisa Baker lived for some time.
RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, Nancy, if I was law enforcement, I would give the stepmom all the stationery pens and unlimited phone call privileges.
She is leaking out tons of information. Everybody is talking. I think most of the family that she`s reaching out to is actually going to work with law enforcement. They know law enforcement a lot more than they`re releasing.
GRACE: You know, think about it, Alex Sanchez. I`ve got one of the letters right here in my hands, a copy of it, anyway, says most girls want to grow up to be princesses. I want to be a vampire.
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, you know, this woman seems to have the intellect of a 13-year-old and the maturity of a 12-year-old, which raises the question, how can anybody like this outsmart hundreds of police officers?
GRACE: Put him up.
SANCHEZ: So I wonder if she was really --
GRACE: You know, you may say she`s --
SANCHEZ: She`s just as incompetent. I don`t know how she could have -- how could she have done this?
GRACE: She`s not incompetent. She`s not incompetent. You`ve got to have a doctor say she`s incompetent.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
GRACE: And the legal definition of incompetent is you cannot assist your lawyer in your defense.
Believe me, Alex, you got to read all of these letters word for word.
SANCHEZ: I know.
GRACE: She knows exactly what`s going on and she`s playing everybody like a fiddle.
SANCHEZ: I don`t know.
GRACE: Like a fiddle, Sanchez.
SANCHEZ: I don`t believe she has the intelligence to have accomplished any type of criminal act. And another thing, if they find
bones, and if they find evidence, that`s just the beginning. The next hurdle is to determine well, how did this kid get there and who was involved in committing the crime against her?
GRACE: Put Sanchez and Giudice up.
OK. We know this. If they found a
bone at this site and they found a prosthetic leg at another site, that means the body was dismembered. Do I need to know how she died?
SANCHEZ: No, but you need --
GRACE: We`ve got her in letters saying she walked in and suddenly Zahra was just dead.
SANCHEZ: OK, who --
GRACE: Lying there dead.
SANCHEZ: Who are you going to arrest? The wife or the husband?
GRACE: Her and the husband. Both.
SANCHEZ: How do you know which person committed the offense? I mean you have to have --
GRACE: Because I know --
SANCHEZ: You just can`t assume.
GRACE: -- that the husband got on the phone and called 911, Ray Giudice, and lied through his teeth.
GIUDICE: And I agree with you that his affect and the nature of that phone call is unbelievably ridiculously suspicious. However, the state will still --
GRACE: Let`s hear it, Liz.
GIUDICE: The state will still have to prove a cause of death that allows the defendants to, one, point at each other.
GRACE: You don`t have to show cause of death.
GIUDICE: Two, argue action. No, they don`t have to prove it. It`s not an element to the crime. But it`s --
GRACE: You just said it was.
GIUDICE: It allows the -- because they`re going to want to prove it to pre-attack --
GRACE: Put Giudice up. He`s getting all twisted up. I want to see this.
GIUDICE: Yes. Well, let me finish.
GRACE: They don`t have to show cause of death. Number one.
GIUDICE: Yes. But it allows -- it allows the defense to argument accident or natural causes. And they may get --
GRACE: Dismembering a 10-year-old is no accident.
GIUDICE: If that`s done after death, it`s not a murder either.
GRACE: Really?
GIUDICE: And that`s the problem.
GRACE: Well, if your child dies of natural causes?
GIUDICE: Yes. Yes.
GRACE: Why do you dismember them? Please answer.
GIUDICE: These people are sick and crazy. Alex just pointed it out. You think this mom is normal? Dismemberment may be a part of --
GRACE: She`s not crazy in a legal sense.
GIUDICE: And I agree with you.
GRACE: Because they did a cover-up. They knew exactly what they were doing, starting a fire in their yard. The phony ransom note for $1 million that she confesses to. The father going along with the wacky story, calling 911 saying hey, how you doing?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: No one has seen your daughter since 2:30 this morning?
A. BAKER: No. Like I said, we had all that drama last night and me and my wife went back to bed and my daughter is, I think, coming into puberty so she`s hitting that broody stage, so we only see her when she comes out when she wants something and that`s about it.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: And did you say that she was handicapped?
A. BAKER: Yes, ma`am. She has above-the-knee amputation.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. She has one leg?
A. BAKER: One leg. Yes, ma`am.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: That`s partially amputated?
A. BAKER: Yes. She has a prosthetic leg which apparently they`ve taken with her.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Prosthetic leg was taken with her.
A. BAKER: Yes, ma`am.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did she ever do anything, Adam?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Elisa Baker --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would make fun of the child.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Elisa Baker --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Admitted to writing the ransom note.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: f I hadn`t admitted that stupid note I`d be out in three weeks but no, they kept pushing and he did that, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why write a ransom note and then say you`re not involved and you`re a victim?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Zahra`s step mom --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Would taunt her.
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: He`s absolutely complicit.
GRACE: If the stepmommy did do it --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know. I think he`s concern about their own daughter.
A. BAKER: I don`t know.
GRACE: The father sat by and let it happen.
A. BAKER: It appears they may have taken my daughter.
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST, DIR. OF COLD CASE SQUAD AT PINE LAKE P.D.: She`s clearly gone and you`ve got two parents --
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to the lines. Jessica in Maryland. Hi, Jessica.
JESSICA, CALLER FROM MARYLAND: Hi, Nancy. I love your show.
GRACE: Thank you.
JESSICA: The one thing I`ve noticed, this -- Casey Anthony ditched Caylee Anthony and where her
bones were. Misty Croslin she lied through her teeth about the baby. Now this woman lied throughout her teeth, she buried the
bones, and where the
bones were.
Have they done a lie detector on her?
GRACE: I don`t think that they have although she has stated that she has done a lie detector and passed.
I don`t know if that`s true. If that`s true, her lawyer would have said so. It would have given some type of a statement. And we`ve heard nothing except her lawyer keeps telling her to stop writing letters.
I want to go to Tom Shamshak, former police chief, private investigator, instructor at BU, Boston University.
Weigh in, Tom. What do we do now?
TOM SHAMSHAK, FMR. POLICE CHIEF, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR, INSTRUCTOR AT BOSTON UNIV.: Nancy, let me just say that I think they have found something significant at this
bone dump site. They wouldn`t be there with the amount of resources that they have methodically conducting this grid search.
They are right now looking to bring Zahra home,
bone by
bone. Mark my words, they will find more of her remains at that site, based on my experience with these kinds of investigations.
GRACE: And to you, Pat Brown, criminal profiler, author of "The Profiler," it`s nice to see you, Pat. What do you think?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "THE PROFILER": Well, you know, this case I think is going to be solved but I do think there`s going to be a problem on proving that cause of death because they might not be able to ever do that.
But -- so that`s going to be the difficulty because we have a lot of phony stories being put out there by Elisa Baker. She`s trying to shove all the blame on Adam Baker who I`m sure she`s really annoyed is running around getting all the attention on the outside so she`s got to do her bit from the inside.
But I do think they`re going to be able to prove that obviously those two are responsible for whatever happened to that little girl, because even if she was getting sick like Elisa Baker says, if they didn`t ever take her in, they are the cause of that child dying.
GRACE: To Dr. Howard Oliver, former deputy medical examiner, forensic pathologist, joining us out of L.A. welcome, doctor.
Doctor, if the
bone that has been recovered does belong to Zahra, how do you assess the
bone, analyze the
bone? Can you figure out from a
bone how she died?
HOWARD OLIVER, FMR. DEPUTY MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: It was -- it sounds like it`s a small
bone so I don`t believe they`re going to be able to figure out from that
bone how she died.
You can match the DNA from the marrow of the
bone with any DNA material that the little girl might have left behind in her bedroom or bathroom.
GRACE: I want to go back to the lawyers. Raymond Giudice, Alex Sanchez.
Alex Sanchez, do you believe that they have approached the stepmother behind bars and offered to take the death penalty off the table in exchange for evidence? Has that happened yet?
SANCHEZ: I think they have offered it. Matter of fact, the stepmother claims that she`s in fact been cooperating. And I`m sure if she has any information to provide the prosecution, she`s spoken to her lawyers and the lawyers have made some type of representations to the district attorney.
But this woman doesn`t seem to be paying much attention to her lawyers.
GRACE: No. You`re right about that, because she keeps writing letters.
I don`t think they`ve gone to her with any kind of deal yet, Raymond.
GIUDICE: I don`t either. Number one, not having a body. Number two, I don`t think, as Alex said, a lawyer can control this client. She`s certainly not in a position that she`s ready to say yes, I`ll plead guilty to murder one, life in prison, no parole, if you take the death penalty out.
Her letters and communications are adversarial. They`re contentious. She doesn`t think she did anything wrong. That`s going to be hard to turn around.
GRACE: We are switching gears and taking you across the country. A beautiful young mom, a former junior Olympic star and cheerleader, USC grad, found dead under mysterious circumstances.
Her 1-year-old baby girl found in the closet where her mommy`s bludgeoned to death. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The medical examiner`s office says 34-year-old Julie Mitchell died from multiple blunt force trauma. However, the police report indicates the 911 caller had reported that, quote, "mom shot herself."
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And police found her with her 13-month-old daughter in the house.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This anonymous letter, it was found in a drainage ditch alleging how and why Mitchell`s murder was planned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there`s information in there that indicates who possible suspects are, and some of the details of the -- of the homicide.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police tell us Teddy Mitchell, Julie`s husband, was out of town when it happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a case here where an individual has been involved in an illegal activity for quite some time. As a gambler.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Julie Mitchell died from multiple blunt force trauma.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A gambler and a bookie chartered a private jet home when we found out his wife was dead. Out of town the day she was bludgeoned to death. Adults on calls 911 and says mom shot herself.
To Kevin Ogle, anchor CNN affiliate KFOR, his station received an anonymous letter about the murder. He is not at liberty by request of police to release what was in the letter.
Kevin, what can you tell us about this case? The little baby girl was put in closet with the mother?
KEVIN OGLE, ANCHOR, CNN AFFILIATE KFOR: That`s what we understand, Nancy, that the little girl was found inside the closet with her mother`s blood on her. That`s according to one broadcast report.
And again, the 911 call is the thing that`s under suspicion now because it came from a stepson who said mom, shot herself. Medical examiner says mom died from blunt force trauma is what happened.
And you have all these theories going on right now because -- let`s look at it. Some of those you`ve chronicled. You`ve got this all-American cheerleader, 34 years old, married a fellow that`s 20 years her senior who apparently, according to police, makes most of his money from illegal gambling.
He goes out of town, she winds up murdered. And so the theories abound right now about who did it.
This cryptic letter we received says a lot. We hope the police gets something from it that will lead them to the killer.
GRACE: With us, Kevin Ogle from KFOR. We`re taking your calls.
A young mom found bludgeoned to death in her home. Her little 1-year- old baby girl found with her, the closet door shut. Mom dead in a closet with her baby? Why?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The caller`s directions led us right to the white envelope he`d promised would be in a drainage ditch. Indeed there was a typed letter inside, filled with the writer`s claim of motive and murder in Julie Mitchell`s death.
It began, "I am writing this letter to help. Hopefully it will solve the murder for Julie Mitchell." The letter went on in great detail alleging the state of the Mitchell`s family life, how her murder was planned and the instructions to cover up her death.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Kim in Maine. Hi, Kim, what`s your yes?
KIM, CALLER FROM MAINE: Hi, Nancy. Just wanted to let you know that we love you and you`re an angel to everyone. And my question is, is the stepson -- how old is he, is he a suspect?
GRACE: To Alexis Weed, our producer on the story. What do you know, Alexis?
ALEXIS WEED, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: We know that there are three stepsons. We know that their ages are between 20 and 30 but we do not know the exact age of the stepson that placed that 911 call.
GRACE: Tell me again the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the woman`s body. And where the little girl was, Kevin Ogle.
OGLE: The body -- the way we understand it -- was discovered inside the house in a closet. The body -- again, Julie Mitchell killed by blunt force trauma. The little girl, her 13-month-old baby girl, in the closet with her covered in her mother`s blood.
Now apparently they did try to do some kind of medical procedure there, saw that it was going to be probably fruitless, and then the police were called in to that crime scene.
GRACE: Everyone, the tip line in the murder of Julie Mitchell, that baby with its father tonight, 405-297-1200. 405-297-1200.
Let`s stop and remember Marine Lance Corporal Timothy Bell Jr., 22, Westchester, Ohio, killed Iraq. Awarded the Purple Heart, buried at Arlington. Although he came from a celebrated baseball family, including a Kansas City Royals manager, a Phillies star and a Reds outfielder, he wanted to be a Marine since age 6.
With a zest for life, loved rooting for the underdog. Leaves behind grieving parents Timothy Sr. and Jacqueline, stepmother Vivian, three brothers, four sisters.
Timothy Bell, Jr., American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for inviting us into your homes. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
