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NANCY GRACE

Possible Break in Writer`s Murder; Search Continues for Missing 13- Year-Old Girl

Aired April 15, 2005 - 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: Tonight, a murder mystery unsolved for years. A beautiful and internationally known writer murdered in a wealthy enclave off Cape Cod. Her 2-year-old little girl was found clutching her mother`s body. Tonight, is there a break in the case?
And it was hand-to-hand mutual combat in court today in the Michael Jackson child sex trial.

Plus, the search is still on, but hope is dwindling tonight. No sign of Sarah Michelle Lunde. She`s a beautiful 13-year-old Florida girl, went missing six days ago. Police still questioning the mother`s ex-boyfriend, David Onstott, an unregistered convicted sex offender.

Good evening, everybody. I`m Nancy Grace. And I want to thank you for being with us this Friday night.

Thirteen-year-old Sarah Michelle Lunde still missing after six long days. A massive manhunt underway even tonight for the Florida girl. The mother`s ex-boyfriend, David Onstott, a career criminal and unregistered -- repeat, unregistered -- sex offender under questioning by police.

And in the Michael Jackson child sex case, cross-exam of the boy`s mother rages on.

But first, to Cape Cod, where Christa Worthington, a fashion writer and single mom, brutally beaten and stabbed to death. The case lay dormant for three years. Tonight, a suspect in custody, 33-year-old Christopher McCowen.

With us tonight from Cape Cod, Christa Worthington`s former lover, the father of her little girl, Tony Jackett. And Maria Flook, author of "Invisible Eden: A Story of Love and Murder on Cape Cod." It`s a novel based on the murder investigation.

But first, to CNN correspondent Mary Snow.

Welcome, Mary. Bring us up-to-date, friend.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nancy, this, as you said, was a case that really eluded police. And it also prompted a rare dragnet of DNA samples, that is, from one town in Cape Cod. Today, police say they believe that they have cracked this case. They arrested 33-year-old Christopher McCowen.

He is a trash collector. He was arrested and charged with first- degree murder, aggravated rape, and armed assault. He pleaded not guilty. He is being held without bail.

At a press conference this afternoon, the district attorney would not comment on the motive in this case. But he said that he believes that Christopher McCowen and Christa Worthington had no relationship.

As you mentioned, this was such a widely watched case because of its brutality, as you mentioned. Her little daughter had been found next to her body. Police believe that the little girl had been there for more than 24 hours.

And then, back in January, right around the third-year anniversary of Christa`s death, police began taking voluntary DNA samples of men in the town of Truro. It`s a town of about 2,000 residents year-round.

Now, what police did say about the DNA sample that they believe links them to Christopher McCowen, semen had been found at the site. And they say that they first talked to the suspect a couple of months after the murder.

Two years later, they took a sample of his DNA. They said that that sample brought them to the arrest. Only last week did they get a match.

GRACE: Mary Snow, I find it very difficult to believe this guy voluntarily gave his DNA. Was it voluntary or was it pursuant to a warrant? Do we know tonight?

SNOW: Well, according to the police and the district attorney, they say that, a few months after the murder, he agreed to hand over a DNA sample. However, the question is, why did it take two years for police to get this sample and another year to get the analysis on this?

GRACE: Right.

SNOW: And police say that he had been moving around a lot, and that`s one of the reasons why it took them two years to locate him and get that DNA sample.

GRACE: OK, I get it now. So he agreed, then he moved away, and it took them two years to get the sample. Speaking of the district attorney, take a listen, Mary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL O`KEEFE, CAPE AND ISLANDS DISTRICT ATTY.: Last night at approximately 7:15 p.m., detectives from the Massachusetts state police detective unit assigned to my office arrested Christopher A. McCowen, age 33, for the 2002 murder of Christa A. Worthington. On March 18, 2004, Mr. McCowen provided a sample of his DNA by way of a buccal swab to investigators.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I want to go now to the little girl`s father joining us tonight, Tony Jackett.

Sir, first of all, my sympathy to you. It`s got to be so hard with your little girl growing up without her mother. What`s your reaction to the arrest?

TONY JACKETT, EX-LOVER OF MURDERED CHRISTA WORTHINGTON: I think that right now it`s a bit of a surprise that -- you know, we`re to a point now where they actually have made an arrest. I think we had all become resigned that it would have been very difficult to locate this unknown man. So at the same time, a surprise, but we`re all very thrilled that the investigators were able to work diligently in apprehending this man.

GRACE: Tony Jackett, I sympathize with you. As a crime victim myself, it doesn`t make you happy that someone has been arrested in the murder, but on the other hand, at least it provides you some peace. I mean, you can`t be happy that the murder occurred. But at least it`s some step in the right direction.

How is your little girl?

JACKETT: She`s remarkable. She`s very well-adjusted and is being cared for very well by her guardians. We do have a relationship with all the families, the Worthingtons and the guardians that are taking care of her. And we see her every other week. We have family time.

And I would have had her this week, school vacation, but because of all the chaos, we thought it best that we see her next weekend instead. She`s doing very, very well.

GRACE: Tony, who has her most of the time? Who keeps her most of the time?

JACKETT: Amyra Chase and her husband, Cliff O`Connell (ph), and they live in Cohasset.

GRACE: Tony, does your little girl have any recollection of the murder of her mom? Clearly, she was there. The facts surrounding the discovery of the body were horrific, with your little girl clutching her mom`s dead body.

JACKETT: It doesn`t appear that she actually witnessed the crime. But she was there for two days with her mother dead, laying on the floor. And one of the big concerns was how that would affect her as she grew.

And you know, she had been meeting with child psychologists early on. And she was aware that something very bad happened to her mother. I don`t think at that time she knew or understood what blood was. I think she referred to it as like paint. But it`s not something that she talks about.

GRACE: Right. Tony, how did you met Christa?

JACKETT: Well, I had been a commercial fisherman, owned my own commercial fishing dragger for 25 years. And the fishing industry sort of taken a tail spin. And I took a job working as a harbor master at Pamet in Truro. I fished out of Provincetown, a neighboring town.

And Christa had just recently moved to Truro. I didn`t know Christa or the Worthington family really. By working there, though, is how I met Christa, at Pamet Harbor.

GRACE: And very quickly, before we go to break, very quickly, to the author of "Invisible Eden: A Story of Love and Murder on Cape Cod," Maria Flook is with us.

Maria, you have investigated this case very intensely. Why is the neighboring district attorney taking over the case?

MARIA FLOOK, AUTHOR: Well, first of all, you called my book a novel. And it might read like a novel, but it`s a nonfiction account of the murder of Christa Worthington.

And the district attorney, Michael O`Keefe, had to step aside the direct responsibility for the investigation, though he is responsible for everything that happens at the district attorney`s office. I believe he is the bottom-line, and he`s an excellent and very brilliant man.

GRACE: Why did he have to step aside?

FLOOK: Because in the local press, it was painted in that he and I had a relationship that wasn`t entirely professional. But it was never -- that isn`t true. And it was something that local press created.

GRACE: Maria Flook, I thought it had something to do with allegations that he had besmirched the reputation of the victim at some earlier juncture and that the family got up in arms.

FLOOK: You know, well, the family got up in arms because he spoke in the vernacular. He spoke in the vernacular often. He`s a hard-boiled investigator. He`s been at his job for 25 years. And occasionally, he used idioms that were in the vernacular.

GRACE: What do you mean by that? What are you saying? What did the guy say to get thrown off the case? What happened?

FLOOK: I don`t believe he ever was thrown off the case. He very politely agreed to step aside.

GRACE: Maria, Maria, what did he say?

FLOOK: Well, he said that Christa, you know, was an independent woman who probably had relationships that were, you know, very common in American life. And I don`t know why this Puritanical town was so vindictive of her.

GRACE: Why did he suggest that she slept around to the public? What did that have to do with the case?

FLOOK: I don`t believe he ever said anything that was incorrect.

GRACE: Yes, well, there are ways of saying things, and then there are ways of saying things. I can tell you this much, as a crime victim, I hardly think a murder victim`s reputation for a romance in the past has anything to do with the prosecution of the case.

It may be laughable to some people, but it`s not to me. We`ll be right back. Please stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JOHN THOMAS, CAPE COD POLICE: It`s a relief for the community. Now they can rest at night. It was probably another relief that it wasn`t a stranger that just came in and randomly picked a house. And also, it`s a relief that it wasn`t somebody who`s been living in town for the last three years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O`KEEFE: ... that it was a person who knew Christa only in the sense that they were familiar with her comings and goings. They were not personal acquaintances. They were not friends in any way. But if you -- having those factors in mind, understand that to be a crime of opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. I`m Nancy Grace. Thank you for being with us.

Tonight, has a years-old murder case been solved? A single mother and an internationally known writer was brutally beaten and stabbed to death in her home. This is a shot of Christa Worthington.

What made the case even more disturbing is her little 2-year-old girl, Ava, was found clutching her mom`s bloody body. When police got to the scene, they found where her mom`s blood had -- the child had been trying to save her mother by giving her mom her sippy-cup to give her mom something to drink as she lay there dead.

The mom`s blood was found on the little girl`s -- I think it was a "Snow White" or "Sleeping Beauty" Disney video. The girl had tried to put the video -- the little girl had been breast-feeding, and had tried to breast-feed as the mom lie dead on the floor. There could not be a more upsetting crime scene than that regarding Christa Worthington.

Tonight, the father of her little girl, Tony Jackett, is with us. Also with us, author of a factual account of the story, Maria Flook.

Let`s go first to Mary Snow with CNN.

Mary, what happens now? Of course, this is New York. They`ll never ever -- you and I will be in a retirement home before they seek the death penalty in New York, OK? That`s not going to happen. So what is this guy looking at, Mary?

SNOW: Well, he is right now being held without bail in the state of Massachusetts. And this is a person also who has a criminal record, Florida records show that he had been in prison twice before, mostly on grand theft, stolen property charges, burglary charges, as well. But we tried to reach his attorney tonight. He was not available for comment.

GRACE: Let me go to Penny Douglass first. She`s a veteran defense attorney here in the Atlanta area.

Penny, what do you think of this random sampling of DNA? Apparently, that`s how they got the defendant`s DNA. I guess you`re opposed to it, right?

PENNY DOUGLASS FURR, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I`m not necessarily opposed to it, Nancy. I`m curious why he gave up his DNA because, apparently, it`s a very small town. And if he did actually murder her, why did he stay in that town? Apparently, after they got his DNA, it was a year later. And just because he was there does not mean he murdered her.

GRACE: David Schwartz, what do you think? Go ahead, David.

DAVID SCHWARTZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: To go around the entire town, Nancy, and to do the random DNA samples that they -- they went to the local supermarket. They went to the barber shop. They went to the corner. They went to the stadium. They went wherever.

You know, it gives a whole new meaning to the term "round up the usual suspects," as in "Casablanca" at the end of that movie. You know, the usual suspects in this case was the entire town, the entire male population of that town. So to do random DNA samples of an entire town is ridiculous. And it`s also a violation of a person`s civil rights.

GRACE: Well, you know, David Schwartz, you`re keeping company with the ACLU, who have been crying, "Wah, wah," ever since this happened.

SCHWARTZ: Well, I don`t agree with everything that the ACLU says, but certainly, in this particular...

GRACE: Yes, you do.

SCHWARTZ: No, I don`t, Nancy.

GRACE: Yes, you do.

SCHWARTZ: Oh, no, I don`t. But certainly, in this case, to go around the entire city and to take DNA samples from the male population is a real violation. There`s a better way to do investigations, Nancy.

GRACE: Maria Flook, is that the way it went down? I thought it was a random sampling of DNA.

FLOOK: What happened in Truro in January wasn`t as random as that, I don`t think. The D.A. had made a statement that anybody who didn`t submit to a DNA test would be looked at more closely. So I believe there was a little sense of coercion, and a little bit of a threat. And I think it was a scare tactic in a way.

But I talked to somebody at the district attorney`s office last month, or six weeks ago, Robert Welch (ph), who told me they weren`t even going to process all of the samples that they got, and that they took this DNA, really, I think, to shake up the community, to get people talking, to try to get people to remember names and faces.

And I was not so surprised to hear from the district attorney`s office that they weren`t even going to process these samples. And you know, the DNA of the suspect was not taken in the random test. It was taken on purpose by the investigators two years after they had already asked him if he would submit to a test.

GRACE: Let me quickly go to John Etra. He`s a former federal prosecutor.

John, you know what it sounds like to me? It sounds like to me that they did this random sampling of DNA -- I`m speaking with Jonathan Etra, Elizabeth, a former federal prosecutor -- that they did this random sampling of DNA and then somehow came up with reason to support a warrant for this guy`s DNA.

What do you think, Jonathan? I mean, I may be calling it too soon, but if the district attorney is saying, "We`re not even going to protest the random sampling," that says to me, they got this DNA sample either earlier or pursuant to a warrant. What do you think?

JONATHAN ETRA, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: They may have gotten it earlier, and maybe their technology isn`t the way it should be, which is one of the problems with DNA.

You know, law enforcement hasn`t kept up with the technology. And they`ve got to keep up. It`s the most effective means there is to separate the innocent from the guilty. And we`re going to find out what the delay was.

But I`d like to add -- I mean, I disagree with my colleague, Mr. Schwartz. It`s not improper to ask people to submit to DNA, just like it`s not improper to ask them to submit to a polygraph, to get their phone records, to get their bank records. These are accepted useful techniques. They work.

And in fact, DNA works better, of course, than any of those techniques, certainly better than polygraph testing. And it`s an excellent way to separate the guilty from the innocent. And it protects all of us.

I mean, Mr. Jackett is on TV. Other people who knew the victim have all been interviewed again and again. I`m sure they`ve been through all...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: You know, that`s a very good point, Jonathan.

Jeff Gardere, Tony Jackett was once a suspect, of course. You look at the husband. You look at the boyfriend, Jeff Gardere, you look at the lover. I`m just really surprised it took them so long to say, "Hey, the guy that collected the garbage would have seen her, known her, known her routines." So this is not unusual for the boyfriend, husband to be a suspect at first.

JEFFREY GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST: But I think one of the reasons that they didn`t look at the garbage hauler in this case was because they didn`t think he had a relationship. I think what you were alluding to earlier was that a lot of folks thought that Christa Worthington was getting around town, perhaps was sleeping around town.

GRACE: Hey, hey, hey, watch it.

GARDERE: I`m telling you what it is that I read that people thought. And I think it`s wrong. You shouldn`t use that in order to investigate a case such as this one.

Therefore, they felt there was no connection. They were looking for the people who they felt had a motive, those people that she may have been involved with. And I don`t think that -- I think in some ways, it`s, as you say, victimizing the victim in this case.

GRACE: Well, it certainly is.

Quick break, everybody. We are talking about an unsolved murder mystery that may be solved as of tonight. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: This is a shot of a nationally known author Christa Worthington and her little girl, Ava. Christa found bludgeoned and stabbed to death in the kitchen of her home in Cape Cod, a murder mystery that spanned three years, until tonight.

Welcome back. I want to quickly go in our remaining moments to the father of the little girl, Ava, you just saw pictured. Ava was there with her mother, clutching her body when she was discovered dead.

Tony, this has been quite the ordeal for you. You were married at the time you met Christa. Christa had your baby. A lot of people were looking at you as the suspect, but you held up. You cooperated with police. You have been cleared.

What was your theory all along, Tony, as to what happened to Christa?

JACKETT: It certainly was a mystery. I was focused on what was going to happen to the little girl. And very early on, we tried to, as you know, get custody. And it just went right over my head that I`d actually be -- I was going to be looked at as someone that may have killed her. So that was completely disturbing to me, you know, in retrospect.

GRACE: So all along, who did you suspect? You had to ponder it, to wonder what happened.

JACKETT: I must confess, I was guilty of looking at mostly Tim Arnold. It always came back to him. But you want to remember, Nancy...

GRACE: That was the boyfriend, right?

JACKETT: That was the boyfriend. None of us knew, the people of interest, those that were originally written about, that there was going to be an unknown male that had sex with her prior to her death. That was announced as almost a year.

GRACE: I don`t know if it was actually sex, Tony. It sounds more like rape to me.

JACKETT: Well, we`re finding that out now today. It was never indicated to us that that was a possibility. But clearly, we know different today.

What I guess I was trying to say is that it was easy to point the finger because of what was written in the papers and to look at someone that had had a relationship with her. We didn`t know that there was going to be an unknown man that would come into the equation.

GRACE: Right, so that was kind of the rub in the ointment. It confounded everyone.

Tony, thank you for being with us. And our thoughts and our prayers, especially, with you and little Ava tonight. Thank you, sir.

Quick break, everyone.

JACKETT: Thank you, Nancy. Thank you.

GRACE: Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

MICHAEL JACKSON, DEFENDANT: I love climbing trees in general, but this tree, I love the most, because I climb up high and I look down on its branches, and it gives me -- I just love it, so many ideas. I`ve written so many of my songs in this tree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: OK.

David Schwartz, if I saw you up a tree, I would call 911, OK? That goes for you too, Jeff Gardere.

That thought was from the Martin Bashir documentary. That was shown to the Jackson jury tonight in Santa Maria, California.

"Inside Edition" senior correspondent Jim Moret also with us.

And first to "Celebrity Justice" correspondent Jane Velez-Mitchell.

Jane, hand-to-hand mutual combat, huh? The mom on the stand.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": It was a totally ferocious face-off in court, Nancy.

You have this high-powered defense attorney, Tom Mesereau, vs. this feisty mother of the accuser, who said she was waiting two years to tell the story. And they go at it head to head, to the point where the courtroom seemed more like a boxing ring, and the judge seemed really more like a referee.

For example, at one point, she tries to convince the jury that she believed that Michael Jackson didn`t drink alcohol. Then she blurts out, now I know Neverland is all about booze, pornography and sex with boys. There`s a gasp in the courtroom. The comment is stricken from the record. At another point, she says, you know, I`m not a very good actress. And Tom Mesereau shoots back, no, oh, I think you are a good one.

Again, the judge has to admonish both of them. It goes on and on like that. She even turns to the jury and says, he doesn`t want you to know. It was really a wild day in court.

Jonathan Etra, you know, the judge can strike the testimony all he wants to, but the cat`s out of the bag and running wild in the courtroom. The jury heard that.

ETRA: That`s right. That`s right.

Look, the big question about her testimony is not so much what a great job the defense lawyer is doing. And he`s doing a terrific job. The big question is why they even called this witness to begin with. I mean, her direct testimony was rambling, unclear, full of crazy -- the type of things a jury is going to see through and say, who is this person the prosecution is bringing to me?

You really have to wonder what the prosecution was thinking in bringing her on. It`s not the kind of witness the prosecution wants to embrace. And the defense lawyer has a very easy job here. I mean, this is easy pickings.

GRACE: And to you, Penny Douglass Furr, though. The prosecution felt they had to have her to prove the conspiracy count.

FURR: Nancy, I think I would leave out the conspiracy count. I think she can undermine the entire case for the prosecution, because this woman is fighting with a defense lawyer who is also a boxer.

Now, this is a woman who`s afraid to leave Neverland, but she can stand up in a courtroom and fight with this man? It`s not adding up. And it could create a real problem for the prosecution.

GRACE: Quick question to Jim Moret with "Inside Edition."

Jim, the mom of this boy took the Fifth, the Fifth Amendment, right to remain silent and not incriminate oneself regarding, some welfare fraud, in other words, taking more money for welfare than she rightfully should have had. Did she do that in front...

JIM MORET, "INSIDE EDITION": It`s worse than that. Well, it`s worse than that. It`s also for perjury.

GRACE: Did she do that in front of the jury?

MORET: No. But the judge told the jurors exactly what happened. So, in effect, it`s the same thing.

The judge basically said to the jury, outside of your presence, this witness invoked the Fifth Amendment right for alleged perjury and welfare fraud. But I don`t want you to infer anything from that with regard to her testimony. But we heard today on cross-examination that she lied under oath in a deposition.

This was like, Nancy -- and I know you`re not going to like this -- it`s like Tom Mesereau handed her a shovel and said, could you please dig a hole? And she said, sure, how deep would you like me to go? That was the impression that you got sitting in that courtroom.

GRACE: You know what, what I believe about your comment? If the defense was doing such a great job and she was doing so badly, he would not have had to badger her or make comments, derogatory comments, about her...

MORET: She wouldn`t answer questions, Nancy.

GRACE: I would like to finish -- in front of the jury.

So, Jim, I get where you`re heading. You`re right. That is horrible, for a jury to hear this woman took the Fifth on perjury, for Pete`s sake. But when you have to fight with that kind of tactic with a lady witness, you`re struggling. You`re fighting on cross.

Hey, Jim, what was the nature of the perjury?

MORET: The nature of the perjury was a lawsuit she filed against J.C. Penney, alleging that she was beaten up by security guards. She said in that deposition that she had never been the victim of domestic violence and that all of her bruises came from the security guards.

And there was a settlement of $152,000. Now, we learned that she actually had filed numerous claims against her husband and filed a divorce -- filed for divorce five days after filing this lawsuit, because she was, in fact, the victim of domestic violence. Now, it`s understandable that the victim of domestic violence won`t come forward. I understand that.

But she used that situation to make $152000. And she lied. And she admitted she did so. And that hurts her, Nancy.

GRACE: Wait, wait, wait. She used the domestic violence as a way to make...

(CROSSTALK)

MORET: She used the bruises. No, she...

GRACE: As I was saying, she used the violence to make $150,000? I thought it was because J.C. Penney wrongfully dragged her back in for shoplifting.

MORET: That`s what she claims. And it may be true. I can`t tell you.

GRACE: Did they pay the settlement?

MORET: In the deposition -- they did have a settlement, $152,000.

GRACE: Well, you`re right about this, Jim Moret. No matter how you want to look at it, it`s hard to put perfume on a pig.

(LAUGHTER)

GRACE: It`s bad when you have got your state`s witness -- let me go to you, Jeff Gardere.

Jeff Gardere is Dr. Jeff Gardere, psychologist and author.

Jim Moret is right. You know, you got to take your witnesses like you find them.

GARDERE: Yes.

GRACE: You`re not going to have processions of nuns and priests and virgins. OK? This woman had to take the Fifth. It hurts the case. But will it totally counteract all the claims of all the other witnesses? They are so in jibe. They fit hand in hand, all these similar transactions, other little boys making the same kind of claim against Jackson.

GARDERE: I think what the job will be for the jury is to figure out where this woman is really totally off base as far as her reality testing. This is a woman who may be histrionic. This is a woman who`s hysterical at times, maybe a little bit paranoid.

But it doesn`t mean that these things didn`t happen to her son being molested or that other kids may have been molested by M.J. So, I think the jury has to really ferret out where her insanity is not crossing the line as far as the reality of what`s going on in this case and what has happened in the past. And that`s going to be a tough job.

GRACE: Dr. Gardere, when did you get on a nickname basis with Michael Jackson?

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: When did it descend into M.J.?

GARDERE: You know, I`ve written so much about Michael Jackson lately, have done so many interviews, that I feel like I know the man myself.

(LAUGHTER)

GRACE: Hey...

GARDERE: But I think that it really is a situation of where we can`t just totally write off this woman because she`s bizarre and odd.

GRACE: Yes.

GARDERE: And that`s really where the prosecution, you know, they have to bolster her where they can. And the defense has to -- they have to rein in this wildcat.

GRACE: OK, Jeff.

GARDERE: And that`s why Mesereau is fighting with her like this.

GRACE: Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: I love my children. I was holding my son tight and strong. I didn`t want -- why would I throw a baby over the balcony? That`s the dumbest, stupidest story I`ve ever heard. I love my children, and they know I love them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Very quickly, back to Jane Velez-Mitchell with "Celebrity Justice."

Jane, how was Michael Jackson responding to this free-for-all in court today? A, did he have on his pants, or did he wear pajamas? And, B, did he break down crying or throw up or any of that rigmarole?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Black satin pants he was wearing. He was very debonair today in terms of his outfits. I could never criticize him on them, except when he wore the pajamas to court.

I mean, they`re carefully coiffed, and he`s carefully coiffed. He shook his head very strongly when the woman made that comment about booze and sex with boys at Neverland. His mom, Katherine, also in the courtroom, shook her head and said, uh-uh, at one point during the testimony. And so, they are reacting. Obviously, this is crucial testimony.

And, obviously, she`s not a great witness for the prosecution. But I have to say, Nancy, I can`t think the prosecution is so naive to hang their entire hat on her. They`ve got to have something else up their sleeve vis- a-vis this conspiracy. And "Celebrity Justice" even reported that there is a possible star witness who may have been taking a journal during this entire alleged conspiracy and even taped phone calls secretly with some of the alleged unindicted co-conspirators, and that that could come out.

So, I don`t think it`s over. You can`t judge an entire trial or an entire charge by one day`s testimony.

GRACE: Yes.

And believe me, Jane, you cannot handpick your witnesses. It doesn`t happen like that. What I`ve been saying all along, Jane -- I`m going to come right back to you after the break -- is, the state has got to bolster this witness with corroboration. It sounds like what you were talking about.

With us there at the courthouse, Jane Velez-Mitchell and Jim Moret.

But, right now, to trial tracking. Today, Mark Hacking pleads guilty to the murder of his beautiful 27-year-old wife -- remember Lori? -- last July, Lori Hacking thought to have been five weeks pregnant when murdered. Today, Hacking told a Salt Lake City courtroom he -- quote -- "intentionally" shot his wife in the head. Police say it was because she found out her husband had lied to her about getting into medical school.

In fact, his whole life was a lie, a house of cards waiting to fall. Hacking now faces life behind bars. Well, that`s a sweet deal if you take into account the mode of death penalty in Utah was the firing squad. I spoke to Lori`s mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: They had such a beautiful marriage, seemingly. What happened? All this over a lie?

THELMA SOARES, MOTHER OF LORI HACKING: Well, not a lie.

GRACE: A big, long, intricate pattern.

(CROSSTALK)

SOARES: Web of lies that had gone on for many years. Lori never said anything to me about it. I think she was deceived also.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Mark Hacking pleading guilty.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Michael Jackson. Ouch. That`s a move he`s become famous for. Remember, he says, every dance move is inspired by children. Oh, there`s P.J. day, pajamas. Look at the supporters, thousands of them. Oh, there he is again grabbing it. Stop that. That`s rude. Ouch.

Michael Jackson in a court of law.

Let`s go straight back out to the courthouse. Standing by, Jane Velez-Mitchell.

Jane, is the duke fest over with the boy`s mom, or will it continue tomorrow?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It is going to continue on Monday. And expect more fireworks.

I think that Tom Mesereau is probably going to attack her on another front. "Celebrity Justice" actually broke the story of how she went to a local L.A. newspaper and tried to raise funds, saying her son`s chemotherapy cost $12,000 a pop. Come to find out that his father`s medical insurance entirely covered all the chemo and the newspaper felt bilked by this, since they did run a story. He`s probably going to hone in on that kind of behavior.

This woman is what you call a real character. And you`re right. Prosecution cannot choose who they`re going to pick as witnesses.

GRACE: Well, Jim Moret, I think that a real character is Jane Velez- Mitchell putting it nicely.

MORET: Oh, very nicely.

GRACE: He`s going to have a field day tomorrow. The state is going to be cringing, hiding under the table, yes, no?

MORET: Absolutely.

The true shame would be if Michael Jackson committed this molestation and the case is derailed because of this toxic witness and this charge of conspiracy. That would be a crime.

GRACE: And, you know, I think I agree with Penny Douglass Furr, the defense attorney here in Atlanta. I think maybe, in retrospect, they should have dropped that conspiracy count and left the mom off the stand, if it`s going to torpedo the case that much.

To Jim Moret and Jane Velez-Mitchell there at the courthouse, thank you, friends.

MORET: Sure.

GRACE: The rest of the panel is staying on as we switch gears.

We`ll see you guys Monday night.

As you know, the search continues tonight for a 13-year-old Florida girl, Sarah Michelle Lunde.

Elizabeth (ph), can you show a shot of her again? She`s been missing for six days. Under questioning, although not officially named a person of interest, as we had thought, the mom`s ex-boyfriend, his name, David Onstott. Now, Onstott`s attorney denies he`s got anything to do with Sarah`s disappearance.

Tonight, in Ruskin, Florida, church pastor and Sarah`s surrogate dad, Johnny Cook.

Welcome, sir.

PASTOR JOHNNY COOK, SURROGATE FATHER OF SARAH LUNDE: Good to be with you.

GRACE: Do you have Mr. Cook?

Hi, Pastor.

Also with us...

COOK: Hi. How are you doing?

GRACE: I`m fine.

COOK: Good.

GRACE: In Sacramento, California, victim`s advocate Marc Klaas. He endured the kidnap and murder of his little girl.

But, first, to CNN`s Sara Dorsey.

Sara, where do we stand on the search, friend?

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nancy, frankly, much has not changed since she was reporting -- Sarah was reported missing, rather, on Monday.

But what searchers were told today was to look for Bud or Bud Light bottles. Now, the significance of that, police say, is, it could be related to David Onstott. The mother`s ex-boyfriend, as you have already said, is already in custody. But, according to Sarah`s brother, Andrew, the evening that she disappeared, Onstott came to the house asking for Sarah`s mother.

And when Andrew said the mother was not there, Onstott came in the house, grabbed a beer bottle and left. Now, searchers are left to look for this bottle. Authorities are saying that they possibly could do some DNA testing if bottles are found in that quarter-mile area that they`re searching. But, as of now, they say they are getting bottles, but they don`t know that they have anything significant at this point.

GRACE: Let me go to Pastor John Cook. He`s a church pastor and father figure to this little girl.

Pastor, could you tell me a little bit about Sarah Lunde?

COOK: Yes. She`s a very dedicated young lady that came to us about three years ago. And when she came to us, she was needing some good attention and stuff. And we began to show her that.

And I feel like, because what we showed her, she respected us, and she had confidence in us. And we were able to touch her life like nobody else had ever done. And she began to warm up.

GRACE: Pastor, did Sarah seem happy to you? Did she seem happy? Would she run away?

COOK: I believe that she would have contacted us if she had to run away. I believe she would have called us in that. But I can`t imagine her running away and not calling someone at the church to let us know where she`s at, because that`s not like her at all.

GRACE: To victims advocate Marc Klaas.

Marc, what`s your take on the search? It`s fruitless as of tonight.

MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I`m a little concerned that there may not be the kind of organization that`s necessary in this search.

But it seems to me they could very well be looking for the bread crumb trail with these beer bottles. And this guy, if he was drinking heavily and he was in that house, could very easily lead them to wherever this young girl, wherever he may have deposited this young girl in that way in itself. We actually have our search director, Brad Dennis, heading down there day after tomorrow to begin participating in these searches as well.

GRACE: Very quickly to Pastor Cook.

What is your search doing to help find Sarah?

COOK: We are -- we`re doing everything possibly at the church to feed and to give drinks and everything we can provide to help further this investigation for the police department, the sheriff`s department, all those involved, all the community that`s come together.

It`s just been a tremendous time. And we feel like, by feeding them and being a place that they can come and cool their feet and get something to eat...

GRACE: Right.

COOK: We just want to be of help to them. And I feel like the church has done that.

GRACE: Well, Pastor, you are definitely giving them the strength to carry on.

Quick break. The pastor will be right back with us.

To tonight`s all-points bulletin. The FBI and law enforcement authorities across the country looking for this man, John Patrick Addis, once a homicide detective in Alaska, now a fugitive on the run. He fled Las Vegas in `95 after allegedly kidnapping and killing a woman he dated. Take a look, Addis, 6 feet tall, light brown hair, blue-green eyes, Addis considered armed and dangerous.

The FBI offering a reward for information leading directly to the arrest of John Patrick Addis. If you have info, call the FBI, 702-385- 1281.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: I want to thank two of my special guests tonight, Pastor Johnny Cook with the First Apostolic Church of Ruskin, and victims advocate with Beyond Missing, Marc Klaas, a tireless crusader.

Thank you, gentlemen.

What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and, more important, the people who touched all of our lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Stacey Lannert, behind bars after being found guilty of the 1990 murder of her father, sentenced to life without parole.

STACEY LANNERT, CONVICTED MURDERER: He raped me for 10 years. I wasn`t able to say it at the time of the trial. I wasn`t able to say it to the jury. But I have to say it now, so that, someday, I might have a life.

GRACE: In the Michael Jackson child sex trial, the mother of Jackson`s accuser on the stand claiming Jackson cried and begged to let her little boy sleep with him.

And explosive claims Jackson tried to bribe his young accuser.

GRACE: Elizabeth became a widow the night James Gottlieb was gunned down by a man apparently pretending to be a police officer.

How are your children doing?

ELIZABETH GOTTLIEB, WIDOW OF JAMES GOTTLIEB: They can`t get over the loss, especially my daughter, who is 8. She misses her dad terribly. And she doesn`t want to cry. And when she does cry, she`s afraid she`s going to make me cry.

GRACE: For Christa Worthington, a fashion writer and single mom, brutally beaten and stabbed to death, the case lay dormant for three years. Tonight, a suspect in custody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re all very thrilled that the investigators were able to work diligently in apprehending this man.

GRACE: A little 13-year-old girl, Sarah Michelle Lunde, missing tonight. We want your help. Police are questioning her mother`s ex- boyfriend. He`s an unregistered sex offender.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anybody`s heard anything, a rumor, please come forward and let the sheriff`s department know, so we can bring Sarah home. It`s been quite a few days, and we`re all just heartbroken. And we just want to get her home as safely and as soon as possible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: I want to thank all of my guests tonight.

But, as always, my biggest thank you is to you for being with us tonight, inviting all of us into your home.

Coming up, headlines from around the world.

I`m Nancy Grace, signing off for tonight. Hope to see you right here Monday night, 8:00 sharp Eastern.

Please take one last look at Sarah.

Good night, friend.

END


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