Return to Transcripts main page
PRIMETIME JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD
Serial Killer Found Dead, Accomplice in Custody; Customer Shoots, Kills Diaper Shoplifter; Shocking Murder; Psychologist Charged with Poisoning Wife; ATV Accident; Tom Brady`s Jersey Stolen. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired February 7, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[20:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST (voice-over): A serial killer on the loose, armed, dangerous and hunted.
BOB JOHNSON, SANTA ROSA CO. SHERIFF: Do the right thing.
BANFIELD: Police promised they`d get him dead or alive.
JOHNSON: Turn yourself in.
BANFIELD: And tonight, they deliver.
MARCIA ADAMS, VICTIM`S MOTHER: All I want is justice.
BANFIELD: Dead over stolen diapers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pampers, baby diapers.
BANFIELD: A thief is shot to death in a WalMart parking lot while loading up on stolen goods.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn`t get any more serious than this.
BANFIELD: But the shooter wasn`t a cop or a guard. He was another shopper. Did he have the right to pull the trigger?
ADAMS: He could have dialed 911, called the cops.
BANFIELD: A 19-year-old girl`s body is thrown off a 50-foot bridge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorrowful.
BANFIELD: A gruesome crime, a sinister cover-up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s horrible.
BANFIELD: Now her prom date and her friend are facing prison.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`ve been friends for years.
BANFIELD: A psychologist allegedly poisons his wife slowly with antifreeze.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, please. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
BANFIELD: But he says she killed herself.
QUESTION: Did you kill your wife?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, God.
BANFIELD: Now prosecutors say two million reasons prove he`s lying.
Britney Spears`s family tragedy, her little sister`s child nearly killed on an ATV.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!
BANFIELD: But at 8 years old, why was she on it in the first place?
He says he hurt himself playing ping-pong in prison, and now he wants $10 million. Can he really do that?
TOM BRADY, PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK: Hey, did someone take my jersey?
BANFIELD: And who stole Tom Brady`s historic Super Bowl jersey?
BRADY: Did anyone see it?
BANFIELD: Moments after he led the Patriots to that come-from-behind victory, a piece of memorabilia in the making vanishes.
BRADY: I absolutely 100 percent put it in my bag.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: I`m Ashleigh Banfield. Welcome, everyone. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
We`re going to start with breaking news tonight. A serial killer is dead and his suspected accomplice in handcuffs after an all-out manhunt and a
threat from the police that they would take him in dead or alive.
William Boyette, Mary Rice held police off in a standoff for hours after being tracked down at a small motel in western Georgia near the Alabama
border. They`ve been on the run for more than a week, string of four victims leading to a multi-state manhunt involving the U.S. Marshals, too.
Boyette may have pretty tough while on the run, but he felt the heat at that motel because police say he raised the gun on himself and he took a
bullet before he let the police take him in or take him down. Ms. Rice not quite so brave. They hauled her away alive. Warrants were out for both of
them in a seven-day killing spree that took the lives of three women and left a fourth, a pregnant mom, brain dead from a gunshot wound to the head.
In a scene right out of the movie "Natural Born Killers" the entire Florida Panhandle and the state of Alabama were on high alert because this couple
was considered so dangerous. Earlier, the sheriff gave Boyette a very clear choice in all of this and spelled it out in black and white!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB JOHNSON, SANTA ROSA CO. SHERIFF: I`m speaking directly to Billy Boyette or anyone who can get him a message. Mr. Boyette, there are two
places you can end up, prison or a cemetery. The choice is yours. The people coming for you are not the unarmed defenseless victims like you have
been preying on. They`re professional law enforcement officers that will take you off the streets. How it happens is totally up to you. Do the
right thing. Turn yourself in. We will treat you fairly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Want to go live right away now to Westpoint, Georgia, and reporter Elizabeth White from our affiliate WTVM-TV. Elizabeth, take me
there. Tell me how this all went down.
ELIZABETH WHITE, WTVM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ashleigh, good evening to you. Just want to let you know families all over Alabama, Georgia and Florida
breathing a sigh of relief tonight now that investigators have confirmed a week-long terrifying killing spree has come to an end at the Westpoint
Motel just behind me.
Want to let you know around 6:00 o`clock this afternoon, according to Troup County investigators, Mary Rice, 37-year-old Mary Rice walked outside of
her hotel room and surrendered herself to local law enforcement officers. Minutes after she surrenders, they hear a single gunshot. That is when we
understand SWAT and U.S. Marshals rushed into the room and they found 44- year-old William Boyette dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
At this point, we understand the Troup County sheriff`s office -- they have turned this investigation over to the GBI. We understand Mary Rice has
been taken to the Troup County sheriff`s office, where she is being questioned.
[20:05:06]We also understand the Escambia County district attorney is on his way up here to begin the extradition process, whether she will go back
to Florida and face charges in connection with these three murders.
So here`s what we know happened. According to investigators, Mary Rice -- they checked into the Westpoint Motel last night using her credit card
information. So they stayed here at the Westpoint Motel last night.
Then around 2:30 this afternoon, thanks in part to the media and social media, a resident here in Troup County noticed the suspect`s vehicle parked
right in front of their hotel room. It`s the white vehicle just over my left shoulder. That is when that concerned resident called the Troup
County sheriff`s office.
They immediately responded to the scene, confirmed that, indeed, this was the vehicle law enforcement officers all over the Southeast had been
looking for.
And then this is what is hard to imagine. Once investigators arrived, they tell me the suspects -- they threw open the drapes and they actually began
waving at the law enforcement officers on the scene. Immediately, they locked down the hotel room. And there were families and other people
staying inside this hotel room. (sic) They told them to get down on the floor, stay inside as this situation took a dangerous turn.
We do understand they did try to get in touch with the couple, but that did not happen.
Want to go ahead and bring in Sergeant Stewart Smith with the Troup County sheriff`s office. So this all happened around 2:30. Then around 6:00,
what happened?
SGT. STEWART SMITH, TROUP CO. SHERIFF`S DEPARTMENT: Around 6:00 o`clock, the door opened and the female exited the hotel room, and she was
immediately taken into custody by the SWAT team and then taken over for a quick -- you know, just a pat-down, make sure everything was secure on her.
And then very shortly after that, there was a gunshot heard inside the room. Tactical teams entered the room and found the male suspect deceased.
WHITE: What about Ms. Rice? What kind of state was she in? Did she say anything to investigators?
SMITH: I don`t know exactly what was said on the scene. She was immediately taken to our jail facility, where she`ll be questioned from
there at that pint.
WHITE: And what about the room? Have you been able to get inside? Did you notice any other weapons inside the room? And what kind of weapon did
he use, did he turn on himself this afternoon?
SMITH: I do not have that information. I know investigators with the GBI are here. They`re going to process the scene, and we can take it from
there. I do not know what all is in that room at this point.
WHITE: How relieved are you that no law enforcement officer was injured and the families, innocent bystanders that were staying in this hotel, this
motel, nobody was injured, as well?
SMITH: Yes, I mean, any time there`s these type of people who have done these heinous crimes and they come to any area and they`re taken into
custody or the situation ends with no law enforcement injured or hurt or killed, or innocent civilians, you know, it`s certainly a relief to us.
WHITE: Well, this is a massive manhunt that came to an end here at the Westpoint Motel. I understand, Ashleigh, you do have a question for
Sergeant Smith.
BANFIELD: I do want to ask -- if you -- I know he can`t hear us, so Elizabeth, if you would just translate for me, I want to know if he has a
sense of Ms. Rice being an accomplice out of fear or as a willing participant in this string of crimes?
WHITE: Good question, Ashleigh. She wants to know if the female, Mary Rice -- do you believe she was engaged in this out of fear? Was she
possibly a hostage of this suspect, or do you think she was a willing participant in all of this?
SMITH: We were just going by the information that we had, is that she was a participant in these crimes, and so that`s how we treated the situation.
We never got any indication it was a hostage. We were going by what we had, that she was a participant in these crimes and it was treated as such.
WHITE: Well, thankfully, it`s over, and no injuries to law enforcement and the residents here that were staying at that Westpoint Motel. Thank you
very much for a job well done.
SMITH: Thank you.
WHITE: We appreciate it. Again, a massive manhunt that really began five days ago with the murder of three women in Florida has ended here in Troup
County, Georgia. Again, one of the female -- the female suspect turning herself in to police, the Escambia County district attorney on the way to
begin the extradition process for her, and the other suspect, 44-year-old Billy Boyette, dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: Elizabeth White, great reporting out there and all so immediate, this all just happening in the last hour or so. Thank you for that.
Make no mistake, though, there is a big, long story that led up to what you just witnessed and what you just heard about. Joining me now live from
Santa Rosa County in Florida, Sheriff Bob Johnson. You heard Bob Johnson give that ultimatum, You`re coming in one way or the other, dead or alive.
So Sheriff, this must be incredible news for you as you also continue to process three murder scenes and an attempted murder scene.
JOHNSON: Well, Ashleigh, only two occurred in our jurisdiction. It was the double homicide at the Emerald Sands Motel in Milton, and we took care
of that scene. Our investigators did an incredible job, narrowed it down to a suspect almost immediately. And then of course, Ms. Rice came into
the picture.
And this is a great ending. This is a fantastic ending, actually. The citizens of Santa Rosa County now feel safe. We don`t have to worry about
a maniac running around the county. And it was a great day.
[20:10:10]BANFIELD: So Sheriff, you put out the ultimatum to William Boyette earlier on, dead or alive, and he is dead. Did you expect, though,
he`d be dead by his own bullet?
JOHNSON: I kind of had that feeling. He was a coward. He was picking on innocent women, defenseless women. So I didn`t expect him to take a manly
way out. And he did -- he did take care of the job himself, and I embrace that.
BANFIELD: I want to just ask quickly because as Mary Rice is going to be making her way back to Florida to face these charges, it is still curious
what her role in all of this was. Some reports have her as a willing accomplice.
This is a picture of her in the woods, tripping up a hunter`s camera and photographed in the woods as they were on the run, carrying all the
presumed camping gear that they were using. She`s with William Boyette at the time. He was also photographed in the woods.
What her role in all of this might be -- you heard from Sergeant Smith they`re going on the assumption at this point that she was a willing
participant. Are you so convinced that she was a willing participant, or somebody who operated out of fear?
JOHNSON: Ashleigh, we are 100 percent sure she was a willing participant. We have a warrant signed by a judge. We had probable cause, so we got a
warrant signed by a judge. And we have a charge of accessory after the fact on a capital murder charge because we have her on video shopping in a
WalMart just in the county just to the east of us, and Boyette`s nowhere around. And she goes around, she shops through the entire store by
herself, actually buys bullets, and then leaves the store and gets with him.
So if you`re a hostage and you have all that opportunity to make a phone call, to tell somebody, Hey, I`ve been kidnapped, he`s out in the car, out
in the parking lot -- she never did any of that. So she`s a willing participant.
BANFIELD: Sheriff, what`s she going to be charged with, accomplice, or is she going to be charged with first-degree murder, a couple of them?
JOHNSON: Well, now, we have accessory after the fact to capital murder. But now Baldwin County, I spoke to the sheriff today on the phone, Huey
Mack (ph), and he says they have a capital murder charge on her, not accessory but an actual capital murder charge so -- for the murder they
committed over in Lillian, Alabama.
BANFIELD: So she`s going to be coming back to Florida, and ultimately, she`s going to be processed in Alabama for that capital murder charge, or
will she go right to Alabama for that since it`s more serious?
JOHNSON: Well, that`s going to be a -- determined by our state attorney, Bill Eddins (ph). He will get with the state attorney for Alabama and
they`ll discuss that. But I venture to say if they`re going to charge her with capital murder where she could get the death penalty or life in
prison, she`ll probably go to Alabama because our charge carries a maximum of 30 years.
BANFIELD: I just want to mention for our viewers, Sheriff, Alicia Greer (ph), one of the victims, 30 years old, Jacqueline Moore (ph), another
victim, 39 years old, Peggy Brose (ph), a third victim, 52 years old, and the fourth victim, Kayla Crocker, 28 years old, a pregnant mother with a 2-
year-old in the home.
And as I understand it -- correct me if I`m wrong with these details, Sheriff -- she seemed to be quite a random victim in all of this. She was
murdered in a home invasion in her home with that 2-year-old present. Are those facts correct?
JOHNSON: They are. And that tells you what kind of coward this guy is. If you have an unarmed female and you want her car and you point a gun at
her and say, Give me your keys, she`s going to give you the keys. There`s no need to kill her, but yet he did that not only once but twice. He shot
the lady in Lillian, Alabama, a nurse, a hard-working nurse, put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger.
And you know, it`s just senseless. It`s almost like he enjoyed doing it. And so that`s another reason I`m glad the day ended the way it did.
BANFIELD: So frustrating to see his rap sheet, felony battery in `03, assault, guilty in `02, simple battery in `01, aggravated assault in `01,
resisting arrest in 2000, simple batter in `93, goes all the way back to 1992.
Sheriff, one question for you. This guy was in and out of jails on a regular basis. They even have a word for it. I think they call it "catch
and release." This guy should have been behind bars for so many of the domestic incidents that he was involved in. He was accused over and over
again of beating women senseless. And many of them, I believe most of them, if not all of them, ultimately refused to testify against him or
disappeared.
JOHNSON: Yes, he was a very scary individual, and he imposed his will on his female friends. And so yes, it was very hard to prosecute. He did do
a stint in prison, though, for an aggravated battery, where he beat an individual up pretty badly, and he did a stint there. And I also -- it
wasn`t from us, but I heard he did a stint in federal prison, as well. So...
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: ... on that first one you just mentioned, he didn`t do more than a year. He didn`t do more than a year. And that`s what`s so frustrating
to so many of our citizens out there, that a guy like that walks in and out and in and out over and over again, only to ultimately be a thrice (sic)
time murderer.
[20:15:06]And I mean, at this point, Sheriff, Kayla Crocker -- she`s been reported as brain dead. I mean, I don`t believe there`s a lot of hope for
her, is there, tonight.
JOHNSON: I don`t know her status, but I`ll tell you this, Ashleigh. If you think it`s frustrating for you, try being a cop. I`m in year 34. And
we will -- you know, we fight people. We have people who try to kill us, and they go to prison and they get out on good behavior, whatever, and then
they reoffend.
So it`s a process that I think needs to be fixed. We have to do something. People get out of jail every day, and they -- a lot of them need to stay in
there. And this is...
BANFIELD: Sheriff Johnson...
JOHNSON: ... a perfect example.
BANFIELD: Real quick question for you. He may be dead, but are we certain that we have a final victim tally by his hands?
JOHNSON: No, we`re not certain by any stretch of the imagination. I was out last Sunday, and a lady reported hearing six gunshots just after a
woman was screaming in the woods, Please don`t, please don`t. And we had a report he was in the area. And we responded in force. I went out, and so
did a bunch of other deputies, and we didn`t find any trace of him.
So you hear reports like that, and it`s scary. You don`t know why. I hope it`s -- the tally is what it is and it`s over, but you can never tell.
BANFIELD: Well, Sheriff, I`m glad you and your men and women are safe and that this person has been taken out, effectively. I`ll be fascinated to
see about this alleged accomplice, Mary Rice, and what happens with her. Thank you for your time tonight. Appreciate it.
JOHNSON: Thank you, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: Sheriff Bob Johnson joining us live from Santa Rosa County, the sheriff`s office there. What a story and what a resolution. Imagine this
guy, such a coward, just put a gun to his own head, leaving Ms. Rice to fend for herself. She`s going to have a lot of fending to do.
Got another story, Britney Spears asking for prayers tonight for her niece, an 8-year-old, an 8-year-old who was injured while driving an ATV. Driving
an ATV! Should little Maddie have been behind the wheel?
Also tonight, a WalMart customer takes matters into his own hands with deadly results when he sees a thief running from the store. And now that
shooter, not the thief, could actually face charges. We`ll discuss in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:21:17]BANFIELD: A WalMart store near Orlando, Florida, turns into a killing ground when a shopper pulls a gun on a man who was suspected of
stealing diapers. He pulled the gun and he ended up shooting 19-year-old Arthur Adams, was apparently allegedly stealing those diapers with three
other people.
This all happened as they were loading those diapers into a car, and a WalMart employee stepped in and reportedly told the group not to get into
the car with those stolen goods. The shopper turns up in the parking lot. He shoots Adams multiple times, but says that he thought Adams was going
for a gun. So could this be an act of self-defense?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. ANGELO NIEVES, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: What we have at this point is that the individual felt threatened. One of the suspects reached
for something, thought that it was a weapon or a firearm. The individual who was assisting the customer was armed and used that firearm to fire on
the suspect.
Again, the individual acted based on their belief that the individual was armed in order to defend themself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So again, that suspect who was stealing the diapers and ended up shot -- again, his name Arthur Adams -- he was able to make it to a nearby
gas station, but ultimately he couldn`t get further and was pronounced dead at the hospital. There was a second victim in all of this, as well, a
juvenile, a female. She was hit in the leg. And turns out she went to get hospital care and was caught while at the hospital.
Arthur Adams, the dead person -- well, his mother is now struggling to understand how her son could have died just for stealing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIA ADAMS, VICTIM`S MOTHER: Now all I want is justice. I don`t know what happened out here. I still don`t know. They could have dialed 911,
called the cops. I`ve seen many people walk out of WalMart with things and nobody got shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, will the use of deadly force here be justifiable in a "stand your ground" state? Will the shopper-turned-shooter face charges?
Want to start our reporting with Ray Caputo, who`s a reporter at News 96.5 WDBO. Ray, this is a bit confusing, but ultimately, you have a bystander
who`s trying to help out the WalMart employees stop a thief. And then that bystander thinks the thief is about to pull a gun, so the bystander pulls a
gun first and shoots him dead.
Is that bystander going to get charged?
RAY CAPUTO, WDBO (via telephone): We don`t know right now. We`re thinking that it`s likely that`s what police are alluding to, but charging somebody
with shooting could mean a lot of things, Ashleigh. It doesn`t necessarily mean murder, manslaughter right now. There could be other charges that
come because, you know, recklessly discharging a firearm in public is illegal in Florida, as well as, you know, every other state.
So charges are likely. We just don`t know what they`re going to be at this point until they get turned over to the state attorney`s office.
BANFIELD: And there`s a third guy who is apparently still on the loose, right?
CAPUTO: Yes. Yes, he was actually with Adams in the WalMart driving. And right now, police -- you know, they want to get ahold of him, but I think
that they want to get ahold of him as a witness just as much as arresting him for the diaper thing. So they`re saying say they want to talk to him
as a witness, but I`m sure that he`s, you know, going to be charged, as well, for stealing those diapers.
BANFIELD: OK. And the other issue here, Ray, is that Arthur Adams, the thief who was shot dead in the parking lot, had a hell of a criminal
history. He was arrested for 15 felony charges and had 4 felony convictions. He was wanted on three warrants at the time that he was shot.
But does any of that make any difference for that so-called good Samaritan who was helping out the WalMart employee to stop a shoplifting in progress?
CAPUTO: I mean, Ashleigh, it can`t because there`s a lot of people walking around with police records that do things. They don`t deserve to be shot.
[20:25:00]But you know, let`s, you know, be frank. Arthur Adams was no choirboy, you know, arrested 15 times. In fact, the car that he fled in
was carjacked in January. So you know, it shouldn`t make much of a difference. The merits of what happened right here, that`s what makes the
difference in the person who shot Adams being charged.
BANFIELD: All right, I want to bring in my attorneys for a moment here. It`s pretty complicated stuff. Hunter Shkolnik and defense attorney Danny
Cevallos join me live. All right, guys, you know the drill here. There`s a guy who wants to help out what he thinks is a shoplifting in progress,
and then starts to feel threatened, he says, because he says the shoplifter made a move for something.
Does that count? Because police officers get in trouble for that, too.
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Believe it or not, under Florida common law, a private citizen is justified in using even deadly force to prevent
the escape of someone who`s committing a felony in his presence.
Now, I say that with caution because there have been many -- as you know, "stand your ground" has come since then. There`s the issue of his
reasonableness of the belief that this person had a deadly weapon. That will be scrutinized. But I am here to say that this is possibly a
defensible case.
BANFIELD: OK. And the other question I have is that girl who went to the hospital with the gunshot to the leg who was part of this whole thing --
apparently, she`s allegedly the -- could be the driver, the getaway driver. She could be charged in a felony murder, couldn`t she ultimately, because
someone died in the commission of a felony?
HUNTER SHKOLNIK, ATTORNEY: There`s no question. This...
BANFIELD: Even though her friend is the one who got killed?
SHKOLNIK: This can be felony murder. But we have to go back to the beginning. Was this a felony? They were stealing diapers. How much was
that theft?
BANFIELD: It`s a felony for him because he`s got the rap sheet.
SHKOLNIK: Is it a felony? If it was a box of diapers that was under a certain amount of money -- we don`t know that yet. We have to know -- we
hear about boxes of diapers. First you have to become sure it`s a felony.
BANFIELD: Yes.
SHKOLNIK: Then it could be felony murder. On the other hand, stealing diapers is not a felony usually.
BANFIELD: All right, well, let`s leave it there. We`re going to watch this one, though, to see if they ultimately catch that third person who`s
on the loose and what happens with that shopper, if he gets charged in all of this. (INAUDIBLE) fascinating. Certainly a fascinating debate for a
lot of us out there.
Police originally ruled a Nevada woman`s death was a suicide, but what they say they found that caused them to throw the book at her husband? Here`s a
hint. Antifreeze and $2 million.
Plus, a beautiful teenager disappears without a trace, her car found near the Shark River. Why police say two of her lifelong friends, one of them
her prom date, are behind her murder, and a dad who says he cannot believe it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re friends of Sarah`s (ph). They`ve been friends for years. We just don`t understand how this set of circumstances came
about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: When Sarah Stern, a beautiful 19-year-old from New Jersey vanished, the investigators found her automobile on a bridge with the keys
still in the ignition. The authorities say that two classmates of Stern that she grew up with, Liam McAtasney and Preston Taylor, drove her body to
the shark bridge and tossed it over. Early in the morning.
Sarah Stern`s body has not yet been found. And it is thought it never will be. The prosecutors are laying out a case of murder, anyway, against
McAtasney who they say strangled her in her home and then robbed her of thousands of dollars. Then he allegedly got his roommate, Taylor, who had
taken Stern to the prom, to help him dispose of her body.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE STERN, FATHER OF SARAH STERN: Sorrowful. The events. We`re hoping that with the cooperation of the county and the state police and the coast guard
that we can recover Sarah`s body. Which is, you know, it`s important for -- just for closure. Friends of Sarah`s, they`ve been friends for years. We
just don`t understand how this set of circumstances came about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: I want to bring in Christopher Gramiccioni. He is the prosecutor in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Sir, the -- her father just laid it out
perfectly, how this set of circumstances came about. Can you explain to me how lifelong friends and a prom date could have been involved in a murder
of this young woman? How do you allege this happened?
CHRISTOPHER GRAMICCIONI, MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY PROSECUTOR: Yeah, a great question. I think -- we wrack our brains over that every day. And
motive as you know is something that potentially comes up at trial. But what we know so far, what you outlined in addition to that is, charges for
McAtasney was he wanted to rob her.
So she -- we allege that thousands of dollars were stolen from Sarah Stern in the course of her murder. That could be one area. But our investigation
is still ongoing. We`re exploring these things. It`s obviously quite a heinous crime.
BANFIELD: So if I -- if I have the story correct and please tell me where I`m right and where I`m wrong. Mr. Liam McAtasney you allege is the primary
murderer here and that he went to Ms. Stern`s home and strangled her there and then called in his roommate, Preston Taylor, who went to the prom with
Sarah Stern, and said, I have to go to work, so help me get rid of her body.
Ultimately, as you allege, Mr. Taylor, the prom date, stashed her body under some bushes at her home until eight hours later they could both
return and drive her body to that shark river bridge and toss it over. Is that the correct line of facts that you allege?
GRAMICCIONI: It is. It is. And that came out in today`s detention review hearing that was held for Preston Taylor.
BANFIELD: How did you get this information that there were phone calls from Mr. McAtasney to Mr. Taylor? Because we all listen in all phone calls,
texts like I understand if you get a phone, but phone calls where Mr. Taylor says -- Mr. McAtasney told him, I`m at the bank, I`m going to do it
now, I`m going to take her out. And then another phone call later saying, dude, I did it. How did you find out that that phone call happened? And
that it is true?
GRAMICCIONI: You know, about two months ago on December 2nd when Sarah went missing, we launched a massive missing person investigation. But about two
weeks ago with the assistance of seeking a number of leads from the public, by utilizing the Monmouth County crime stoppers, we received some leads and
additional information that caused us to kind of change the direction and re-calibrate our investigation.
And what we ultimately did is we were able to use consensual recordings of somebody that had been in touch with these -- with McAtasney.
[20:35:00] And we captured surreptitiously him explaining in great detail the crime that he committed and how Preston Taylor was involved. So it`s --
that came out at the detention review hearing today. It`s going to be video, audio recording that the state intends to present at trial. And
that`s how we led to where we are now which culminated in these two individuals being charged.
BANFIELD: Wow. So, I mean, you have it on video and audio as Mr. McAtasney describes in detail this crime. What about Mr. Taylor? Is he part of this
or was he also surreptitiously videotaped and audiotaped?
GRAMICCIONI: Taylor came in -- the state alleges that Taylor came in after the fact. We have not charged him with murder or felony murder which is
what McAtasney is charged with. We`ve only charged Taylor with desecration of human remains, conspiring to do that, and then hindering apprehension.
So the state`s case at this point, again, our investigation is still fluid, is that he came in after the fact to help dispose of Sarah`s remains. But
what came out of the detention hearing today is that he knew that McAtasney was contemplating these things. He just didn`t know that he was going to
act on it until after he got the call after the fact from his roommate.
BANFIELD: To his prom date. To his prom date and lifelong friend. Mr. Gramiccioni, I thank you for all the facts that you cleared up and gave me
on this live interview, but I didn`t expect I was going to get it and I understand you don`t know it either, why, why on earth this would happen to
a lifelong friend, a prom date, and a pal. And I don`t know that you`re ever going to get that answer, sir.
GRAMICCIONI: I think you`re right. I mean, so often -- the town where they grew up in, Neptune City, is a small, quiet shore town. This really sent
shock waves throughout the Jersey shore area especially because as you point out the relationships that they had historically.
Good news is at trial, we don`t always have to prove the why. That might come out at the trial. If it goes to trial. But, you know, that`s a
question that we`ve asked ourselves up until this point.
BANFIELD: Sure. Of course. And videotape and audiotape sure is powerful. Even if you don`t have that motive. Mr. Gramiccioni, thank you so much for
being part of the program tonight. Appreciate it.
The wife of a prominent psychologist dies. And police first think it`s a suicide. But now it`s two years later. And her husband has been charged
with murder. The evidence that caused them to change direction and quickly. Next.
[20:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: A woman in Delaware admits to killing her husband, but it`s how she did it that is so bizarre. According to court documents, Jamie Baker
says that she injected antifreeze into her weightlifting husband`s steroid injections. He collapsed and died just three months after starting to take
those injections.
But the medical examiner found that each of those bottles contained small amounts of antifreeze, and if that`s taken in small doses, it can
crystalize in your kidneys and can kill you. Slowly and painfully. Nearly a year after her husband`s death, Baker admitted to doing it. And she reached
a plea deal before the case went to trial. She faces 15 years in life in prison when she is going to be sentenced on the second-degree murder
charges.
And as it turns out, there is another story where antifreeze plays in and supposedly used to kill a spouse. When a woman died just outside of Las
Vegas, her husband led the police to believe that it was a suicide. The coroner even listed her cause of death as a suicide due to a lethal
combination of antifreeze and prescription painkillers.
So the police agreed with all of this until the family of the victim, Susan Winters, got mad, and then they started their own investigation and even
enlisted the help of a former FBI agent. Some pretty interesting details came to light, in fact, as well, about the life of her husband, Greg
Dennis, a psychologist who apparently had some other kind of life going on.
There was his own alleged drug use. Strange visits to a hotel. Completely unexplained. And some spending, serious spending, and more. This might be
the clincher. Police say Dennis was in line to inherit about $2 million including a $1 million life insurance policy on his wife. When he was
arrested at a traffic stop and charged with murder, Dennis` attorneys said that they planned to defend him vigorously. That if he`s convicted, he
could face the death penalty.
I want to bring in Tony Sgro. He is the attorney for Susan Winters` parents. He`s live with me from Las Vegas. Tony, thanks for being with me.
So what was it exactly that you and your clients, the family of the murder victim, were able to turn up that changed the D.A., that changed the
police, that made them look at their own work and say, we got to re-open this case, they might have something here?
TONY SGRO, ATTORNEY FOR VICTIM`S PARENTS: Well, initially the investigation was very, very brief. If you can imagine, this murder investigation,
quote/unquote, lasted a total of 88 minutes. In 88 minutes, it`s difficult to imagine what, if anything, they could have actually investigated. The
one thing that they did do, though, was they got a statement from Brent Dennis and he told them that he had gone to bed that night, woken up, and
saw that his wife was unresponsive and cold to the touch.
So the first thing that we did was we got his cell phone records and the cell phone records reveal that he didn`t go to bed at all. He was texting
and speaking to someone literally throughout the entire evening. Then when we got the cell phone tower records, which are the records that show where
certain calls are being made from, we actually learned that he left his home in the middle of the night
[20:45:00] as his wife lay in bed incapacitated and on her way to literally on her way to death. So as soon as we got those cell records and the tower
information, we knew that he was not being honest with the police and that started to spark a lot of further inquiry.
BANFIELD: So, Tony, you hand over a 49-page investigative report and ultimately the D.A. does a ruh-roh and the police open things back up
again. Were they able to find out anything in addition to what you were able to surmise because they have a lot more tools and a lot more access
presumably than you guys might. Did they find anything more?
SGRO: They actually were able to get a lot of information that we didn`t get or hadn`t gotten to yet as well. They were able to button up a lot of
things relative to text messages that were on Susan`s phone, the victim in the case. There were a lot of details that they were able to provide
relative to allegations of scrubbing the computer that supposedly did the search, you know, how do I kill myself using antifreeze?
BANFIELD: Wow.
SGRO: Brent Dennis had relayed to the police that that search was done by his wife before she went to bed that night. And it turns out very cleverly
Brent Dennis had done that search from a remote location, remoted in through his home computer, and when the police would arrive there the next
day, he showed them a search that he`d done the day before that he actually performed himself.
And records would also reveal that are reflected in the declaration of arrest that a final search was done about antifreeze and how long does it
take at 5:15 in the morning. Now, understanding that 911 would be called in this case at around 6:45 a.m., he, Brent Dennis, the husband is watching
the wife take her last breaths for that 90 minutes because he`s on the computer searching what we believe is how come it hasn`t worked yet?
BANFIELD: Well, he`s got a vigorous defense, of course, and we`re going to watch this one, but amazing sleuthing by you and the family of Ms. Winters.
Thanks so much for being with us, Tony. I appreciate it.
SGRO: Thanks for having me.
BANFIELD: Tragedy has certainly been no stranger to Britney Spears and now it has struck her family as well. Her niece has been terribly injured.
Little 8-year-old in an ATV accident. Are all-terrain vehicles too much for kids to handle safely? Because a lot of kids ride in them.
[20:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Records showing the very public side of Britney Spears. She`s been consumed both publicly and privately for almost her entire life. And
now, her life has a tragedy in it, a family tragedy, because her sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, has a tragedy. Her little daughter, Maddie, got an ATV
for her birthday and she`s had a terrible ATV accident in which she almost died. I want you to see the moment that Maddie got the ATV. Have a look.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Ultimately, I want to bring in Hunter Shkolnik and Danny Cevallos on this. Because this little 8-year-old was riding in that -- she was
driving. She was actually handing the ATV and tried to maneuver and ultimately it turned over in a pond and she was trapped.
She was trapped by the netting of it and the seat belt and her parents had to try to rescue her. But she was under water for quite some time. This is
a tough one. This is a very popular thing for a lot of people in this country, kids or adults alike.
CEVALLOS: These things are dangerous. If you live in a rural area, they`re much more common. City people out there are probably saying, ban them, no
use whatsoever. But, you know, me and my friends, that`s how we used to get around in western Michigan, so it`s something that people use and
admittedly they`re dangerous, but I wouldn`t pass up a chance to drive them around when I was a kid.
BANFIELD: But I tell you what, Hunter, they do say, look, your kids under 10 shouldn`t be operating this. But if a parent believes that child is
mature enough, then the parent makes the decision. Is that enough, though?
HUNTER SHKOLNIK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, it`s not. The problem here is you need to have a proper warning. They know children under 10 years old are
not capable of understanding the danger of these devices. And they should warn about it and they should say don`t do it. Not if you think they can.
BANFIELD: So Britney Spears put on her -- all over social media, her Instagram, her Facebook, her Twitter account, I need all the wishes and
prayers for my niece. And I think she`s getting them. We do have some reports from local affiliates that apparently little Maddie is awake and
talking. But we`re going to continue to watch her progress. We do hope that she pulls through.
There is a very strange mystery that happened after Super Bowl. I`m sure you may have heard something about it. Tom Brady`s jersey, the winning
jersey, vanished. No one knows where that thing is. And that thing is not just a jersey, folks. That is an NFL hall of fame piece. And if it were to
sell on the open market, it could be worth about $400,000. Yahoo! Sports caught a few moments in the locker room for the Patriots when he started to
realize, hey, where`s my shirt?
(START VIDEO CLIP)
TOM BRADY, FOOTBALL QUARTERBACK FOR THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Did anyone see it? Did you see it? Did someone take my jersey? I put it in my bag.
Absolutely 100 percent put it in my bag. I put it in here.
[20:55:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about someone at the door. Check everyone with you.
BRADY: It was just -- if anyone sees eBay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Okay. Danny Cevallos, this is not a small theft. If that thing is worth $400,000, that`s really serious if someone took it.
CEVALLOS: That`s super duper grand larceny, but you know what, it`s about time something bad happens to Tom Brady.
BANFIELD: Oh, don`t you say that.
CEVALLOS: The man leads a charmed life. I mean, I can`t cry a river over that one.
BANFIELD: My son, really, I`m sorry, he`s such a Patriots fan. Danny`s okay. We`ll get him down off the ledge.
CEVALLOS: I`m just jealous like everybody, every other guy in America, I`m just jealous.
BANFIELD: No kidding. Texas rangers are in on this, Hunter.
SHKOLNIK: This is a very big crime.
BANFIELD: Yes.
SHKOLNIK: I mean, they bring in the rangers for this. A half a million -- half a million dollars.
BANFIELD: How can you sell this thing? Unless you`re, like, O.J. memorabilia, how could you sell something like this in the market?
SHKOLNIK: There`s a market for anything.
BANFIELD: I guess there`s a market for anything. Thank you, guys, for being here. Hunter, Danny, good to have you.
CEVALLOS: Take a good look at that jersey. If you see it anywhere, call crime stoppers. They`re offering 5,000 bucks. Thanks for watching,
everybody. We`ll see you back here tomorrow night 8:00 PRIMETIME JUSTICE. Stick around. "FORENSIC FILES" starts right now.
[21:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
