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NANCY GRACE

Woman, Three Children Found Dead in SUV of Gunshots

Aired June 14, 2007 - 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 shocking discovery just off the Illinois interstate, three children and their mom found shot to death in their SUV, a handgun found at the scene, only survivor the dad, who sustained a single gunshot wound to the thigh. Tonight, police on the case.
And tonight: Is there a break in the case of a 3-year-old little girl who vanishes on a luxury resort vacation, her parents at a dinner party? A mystery letter emerges claiming to know the whereabouts of baby Maddy. A massive search by police in scrub land just nine miles from the resort where little Maddy goes missing. And stunning allegations tonight. Is the anonymous tipster the same person who wrote a letter in the location of two little girls found murdered last year?

And tonight, a Kentucky police chief gunned down inside his own police cruiser while making a routine DUI arrest, the murder weapon the police chief`s own gun.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could Madeleine McCann`s body be buried somewhere here in this rugged lonely terrain? It`s the latest twist in an investigation that started more than 40 days ago, when the 4-year-old vanished. This is an area around 10 miles from the resort town where Madeleine was taken from her home. According to a letter sent anonymously to a newspaper, she lies somewhere in this region, beneath branches or stones. This investigation has not been short of tips. Police have received hundreds, many from people claiming to have psychic powers, all of them so far worthless. But this one may be different. The newspaper says the letter is very similar to one it got last year that accurately pointed out the location of the bodies of two missing girls, age 7 and 10. The letter`s writer was never identified. Like the first one, the letter referring to Madeleine includes a map marked with an X.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First, the mystery surrounding a mom and three children found dead in their SUV just feet from an Illinois interstate. What happened?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police have identified the four victims. They are 34-year-old Kimberly Vaughn and her children, 12-year-old Abigayle, 11- year-old Cassandra and 8-year-old Blake. The Will County coroner said Kimberly Vaughn died from a single gunshot wound. Her children were shot multiple times. Their bodies were discovered in an SUV this morning that was parked in a remote area near I-55 near Channahon.

Police say Kimberly`s husband, Christopher Vaughn, had been shot in the thigh. He told a passerby about the incident, and that passerby called police. Police say Christopher Vaughn is not in custody, but he`s still here, being questioned. At this time, we do not know if this is a murder or a murder-suicide, but again, police say Christopher Vaughn is still here, being questioned. They will only say that they are not looking for anyone else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Tonight, no one has been named a suspect and no one has been ruled out, a mom and three children found dead in an SUV just off the Illinois interstate.

Out to Jon Leiberman with "America`s Most Wanted." You want to tell me Dad didn`t have a cell phone?

JON LEIBERMAN, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Well, I`ll tell you, Nancy, that`s -- that`s what he`s claiming right now, but new details are emerging tonight in this case that absolutely breaks your heart, where you have three young children killed for absolutely no reason at all. And what it looks like, at this point, two scenarios police are looking at because the kids had multiple gunshot wounds, the mother had a single gunshot wound, as did the father. The mother, of course, died from her gunshot wound.

And the two scenarios are pretty darn clear, Nancy. One is that the mother kills the children and then kills herself, and the husband tried to intervene at some point and gets a gunshot wound. And the other option, of course, is that the father kills all four of them. Both are scenarios that police are no doubt looking at. The murder-suicide scenario, though, is the more likely one, at this point.

GRACE: OK, a couple of questions, Jon Leiberman. And I know police are being very tight-lipped. They`re playing it close to the vest tonight. Is there gunshot residue on the mom`s hand?

LEIBERMAN: That is something we don`t know. We do know that police have recovered a lot of physical evidence. They do have the gun. We understand they do have some fingerprints. There`s a lot to work with her. But you`re right, they are playing this close to the vest. And as you mentioned, they are still very much questioning the father, the male who was in the vehicle, because, as you said, he claims he didn`t have a cell phone, and he flagged down a passerby who then called 911. And he stayed at the scene the whole time. And when police got to the scene, he apparently, you know, showed them the crime scene and told them everything that he knew, at least.

GRACE: Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police have identified the four victims. They are 34-year-old Kimberly Vaughn and her children, 12-year-old Abigayle, 11- year-old Cassandra and 8-year-old Blake. The Will County coroner said Kimberly Vaughn died from a single gunshot wound. Her children were shot multiple times. Their bodies were discovered in an SUV this morning that was parked in a remote area near I-55 near Channahon.

Police say Kimberly`s husband, Christopher Vaughn, had been shot in the thigh. He told a passerby about the incident, and that passerby called police. Police say Christopher Vaughn is not in custody, but he`s still here, being questioned. At this time, we do not know if this is a murder or a murder-suicide, but again, police say Christopher Vaughn is still here, being questioned. They will only say that they are not looking for anyone else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: With us tonight, a very special guest, trooper Mark Dorencz with the Illinois State Police there in district five, Joliet. Trooper, thank you for being with us.

TROOPER MARK DORENCZ, ILLINOIS STATE POLICE: Good evening.

GRACE: Couple of questions, Trooper. Didn`t the husband notice anything odd when his wife goes down this remote trail?

DORENCZ: At this time, it is being investigated. I cannot -- I cannot make statements in regards to that.

GRACE: OK. Could you tell me about the scene at all? I understand the children were shot multiple times, the mom only once.

DORENCZ: Yes. I was not on the scene, but from what I heard, it was a very gruesome scene.

GRACE: So were the children shot multiple times?

DORENCZ: That is what the coroner is confirming.

GRACE: Did the father have a cell phone?

DORENCZ: I do not have that information at this time.

GRACE: Trooper, could you tell me how you all were alerted to the scene? How did you find out about it?

DORENCZ: Actually, we were informed by a local fire department that was in response to this scene.

GRACE: And how did the fire department find out? Was it a neighbor, a driver by, who?

DORENCZ: I believe a passerby that was asked to call 911 by Mr. Vaughn.

GRACE: Trooper Mark Dorencz with us, the Illinois State Police from district five, Joliet. Is there a person of interest, Trooper?

DORENCZ: Not at this time. We are questioning the husband or father. And that`s all it is right now is just a matter of questioning him.

GRACE: Is he free to go?

DORENCZ: We do not have...

GRACE: Is he free to go?

DORENCZ: ... do not have anybody in custody at this time.

GRACE: So he`s free to go whenever he wants?

DORENCZ: That is correct.

GRACE: But he`s choosing to stay.

DORENCZ: Yes, he is.

GRACE: Are you planning to polygraph?

DORENCZ: I do not have that information. That is being conducted by the investigative unit with the Illinois State Police.

GRACE: Out to Dr. Daniel Spitz, forensic pathologist and medical examiner joining us out of Madison Heights. Doctor, a couple of questions. What would the trajectory path or the angle of the bullets tell you?

DR. DANIEL SPITZ, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST, MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, the one thing you want to know is whether this gunshot wound to the woman`s head is consistent with it being self-inflicted. Is it a contact range shot, which, certainly, you would like it to be for it to be a self- inflicted wound? And is the trajectory consistent with a self-inflicted wound? In other words, does it travel in a right to left or left to right path? So those are the kind of things you want to look at.

You really do not want to make errors in this investigation because errors would potentially allow a suspect to really walk free, and that`s not what you want with this case.

GRACE: Back to Trooper Mark Dorencz with the Illinois State Police. Do we know if the mother was driving the SUV?

DORENCZ: The mother was the passenger of the vehicle.

GRACE: She was the passenger. So that means the dad was driving the SUV. That means that he`s the one that went down this trail. What type of a roadway, access highway, is this trail?

DORENCZ: Actually, it is a short access road to a cell tower, which is just off the frontage road of I-55.

GRACE: I`m sorry, repeat?

DORENCZ: It`s an access road to a cellular tower for cell phones, and it`s just off the I-55, on a frontage road.

GRACE: So why would the father be driving the car down an access road to a cell tower, Trooper?

DORENCZ: That is something that`s still being investigated.

GRACE: Interesting. Back out to Jon Leiberman, producer with "America`s Most Wanted." Jon, why was he driving his family down an access road?

LEIBERMAN: Well, that`s the question. That`s the million-dollar question, at this point. You know, did they have an argument, the husband and wife, and then he decided to drive down this access road so they could discuss further? And frankly, why was there a gun in the car with the family anyway, when they were going out for what they`re describing -- what officials are describing as a social outing of some sort with the kids? So did they always keep a gun in the car? And if so, you know, who was the gun registered to? Who often took the gun out on family outings? I mean, there are many questions here, and I know the good investigators in Illinois are going to get to the bottom of it.

GRACE: Jon, where was the gun recovered?

LEIBERMAN: It`s our understanding that the gun was recovered -- we don`t know exactly. We know either in or right around the vehicle, but it was at the crime scene that the gun was recovered.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Shay in Georgia. Hi, Shay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. I was wondering, Nancy, if there was any signs of a struggle in the car.

GRACE: Good question. Out to Trooper Mark Dorencz. Was there signs of a struggle?

DORENCZ: At this time, I really can`t answer that. It is being investigated. I hate to speculate on what had occurred there.

GRACE: Well, when we do the aerial shot, whoever this (INAUDIBLE) driver was, the mom is still sitting in the front passenger seat in these aerial shots. I don`t know if you could tell within a car, Jon Leiberman, whether there was a struggle or not.

Let`s go out to Don Clark, former head of the FBI Houston bureau. How, in a scene like this, Don, could you determine whether there had been a struggle?

DON CLARK, FORMER HEAD OF FBI HOUSTON BUREAU: Well, I think they`ll be able to do that. This -- you know, there are some speculations that`s going on, but there`s a lot of evidence that`s at the scene, Nancy, and they`re going to be able to pick it out...

GRACE: Like what?

CLARK: They`re going to be able to travel -- to determine the direction of bullets and how they entered into bodies. And then they`re going to put together some things. They`ve got a live person there, too. And whether they`re calling this person a person of interest or not -- I mean, come on. He`s got to be a person of interest unless they are certain that something else happened and haven`t told us. I mean, this murder- suicide thing -- it`s kind of difficult for me to swallow, at this point. But they got bullets. They got the crime scene. They`ve got fingerprints, and they`ve got weapons. And one person only shot in the thigh and the others are dead, shot multiple times, some of them. They`ll figure this one out.

GRACE: Out to Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst and author. Bethany, how often do we see moms use a gun to kill their children, with the father right there?

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: I completely agree with Don Clark. And...

GRACE: I mean, think about it. How many times can you even remember -- I mean, you could break it down by method and assessment of homicide and suicide. It is very rare that a mother, if she kills her children at all, does it with a gun.

MARSHALL: You know, when a mom kills her children and there`s a murder-suicide, usually what she does, she waits until the husband goes to work. She either poisons the children, she suffocates the children, she drowns the children. She chooses a method that she thinks will not be painful. And she doesn`t commit overkill, like multiple gunshot wounds to the child.

When you guys were saying murder-suicide, I was thinking...

GRACE: Oh, Bethany...

MARSHALL: Yes?

GRACE: ... do you see -- did you see the picture of that little boy just then?

MARSHALL: And he`s beautiful. This is so sad.

GRACE: Blake Philip Vaughn, Cassandra Ellen Vaughn, Elizabeth Vaughn, ages 8, 11 and 12.

MARSHALL: What about murder-suicide with the dad contemplating murder-suicide and then being a big, fat chicken and not following through and taking his own life? That is a greater likelihood, in my mind. Or let`s call it what it is, mass murder as a part of a domestic homicide, which is also a great likelihood, I think, in this case.

GRACE: Speaking of domestic, back to Trooper Mark Dorencz of the Illinois State Police. Do we know whether there had ever been any domestic calls in the home before? Had there ever been conflict between the mom and dad?

DORENCZ: I don`t wish to reply to that. I`m not -- I will not elaborate on that.

GRACE: Do you know and you`re not replying, or you don`t know?

DORENCZ: It`s being investigated. And once the investigation`s complete, then we can, you know, further advise. But at this time, I don`t wish to comment on that.

GRACE: Jon Leiberman, what do we know? If they had a clean bill of health, don`t you imagine the police officer, the trooper joining us tonight, would say, No, no disturbances?

LEIBERMAN: You know, probably -- you know, maybe so. But they are trying to keep it close to the vest because they`re in the very early stages, too. I mean, it hasn`t been very long into the investigation.

But I will point out that the mother in this case had just finished a criminal justice degree, too. Just a little tidbit that they have to look at also, what kind of knowledge did she have? You know, did she study criminology? Did she study forensics? Just one other little tidbit that`s interesting that they have to look at. But they`re going to solve this thing and probably pretty quickly.

GRACE: Out to the lawyers. Let`s unleash them. Joining us, back from his extended trial in federal court, Richard Herman is joining us, along with Sandy Schiff, also just out of court.

Come on, Richard Herman, here`s the deal. As long as you say they`re not a person of interest, they`re not a target, they`re not a suspect, their constitutional rights don`t apply. If he`s free go and he`s not in custody, he doesn`t have a right to a lawyer. He doesn`t have a right to remain silent. He can leave if he wants, but they can also continue questioning him, if they want.

RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If you believe he could leave, he`s not going anywhere. This guy has to call a lawyer right away. They`re going to hold him until they gets the ballistics.

GRACE: Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I thought everybody was innocent. Why does he need a lawyer, Richard?

HERMAN: He needs a lawyer to protect himself from ruthless police officers that are going to look to solve this case with one person in one quick fell swoop. He needs to be protected here, have his rights protected. And they`re going to hold him until they finish those ballistics and they find the trajectory. They`re absolutely going to hold this guy. He cannot go anywhere. He needs a lawyer right away, Nancy.

GRACE: Sandy Schiff, weigh in.

SANDY SCHIFF, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I agree with him. There`s nothing else you could say. Quite honestly, he`s got to dummy up and protect himself because you`ve already got him indicted.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Gail in Texas. Hi, Gail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I can`t (ph) say I love your show and what you do. But anyway...

GRACE: Thank you, Gail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... I want to know about this person that survived, the person of fiction (ph), as I call him. I want to know what his social life has been while his wife has been going to school. I bet you she was going to graduate and move on. And what are the financial situations this family`s been going through?

GRACE: Oh, Elvis (ph) said it all, suspicious mind, Gail in Texas. Jon, what do we know?

LEIBERMAN: It seems like this was a pretty typical middle class family. I mean, the husband had a -- some sort of computer security business that he owned, it appears. So these are, you know, middle class people living in a suburb 50 miles southwest of Chicago, I believe, and you know, pretty run-of-the-mill family, from what we can tell so far.

GRACE: And Elizabeth, if you could show me the victims in this case again. Take a look at them. Kimberly Ellen Vaughn, just 34, absolutely -- look at that smile, gorgeous, 8-year-old Blake Philip Vaughn, 11-year-old Cassandra Ellen Vaughn, 12-year-old Abby (ph), Abigayle Elizabeth Vaughn, a picture-perfect American family. These four found dead in an SUV just feet off an Illinois interstate, we now learn on an access road going nowhere but a cell tower. Where was dad taking them?

Very quickly, to tonight`s "Case Alert." Amid bitter protests and complaints of star treatment, celebutante Paris Hilton is finally back in ladies` lock-up. Hilton transferred last night to Century Regional Detention in Lynwood, Hilton with a mystery medical condition, declared stable enough for the transfer, but still, even tonight in a private medical wing inside lock-up. Hilton`s release now in just days, June 25.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has been criticism, as you know, and the sheriff is aware of that. The sheriff, I will tell you, is answering the letters that we`re receiving.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... put pressure on the sheriff (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no. The sheriff -- after he gets consultation and receives the best information available, the sheriff makes the decision.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Will County coroner said Kimberly Vaughn died from a single gunshot wound. Her children were shot multiple times. Their bodies were discovered in an SUV this morning that was parked in a remote area near I-55 near Channahon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back, everyone. A mom and her three children found dead in an SUV just feet away from an Illinois interstate. The dad sustains only a wound to the thigh.

Out to the lines. Who`s our caller, Liz? Paul in New Jersey. Hi, Paul.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy. How`s it going? I was curious...

GRACE: I`m god, dear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just curious, is it known if either of the parents suffered from any mental illness or if they were involved in any counseling or anything like that?

GRACE: I tried to get that out of Trooper Dorencz. He`s staying tight-lipped. What about it, Jon Leiberman? What do we know about their family situation?

LEIBERMAN: Well, you know, the bottom line is we`re not sure. It`s definitely something that is being investigated as we speak right now. And new details are coming up. I mean, they`re emerging, you know, every minute, really. We now know that what we talked about, the children being shot multiple times, but we also know at this point that one thing that is of very big interest to police is this wound on the husband. I mean, this is something that they really want to know the trajectory of that wound on his thigh because that can tell us a lot about, was this a staged murder- suicide, was he protecting the kids, you know, did the wife doing the shooting? So there`s a lot of...

GRACE: Well, I`ve got another question, Jon. Jon Leiberman joining us from "America`s Most Wanted." A nearby resident claims she heard shots around 10:00 PM -- 10:00 PM. When did the husband finally go out and flag down a motorist, Jon?

LEIBERMAN: Well, that`s a good -- that`s a very interesting point. No one was flagged down, it appears, until about 5:30 in the morning.

GRACE: What the hey?

LEIBERMAN: Police arrived about -- we`re told about 5:50. Here`s another scenario, too. We know that the crime scene is the SUV, but do we know if the SUV was moved after the shooting was done? Was it taken further down that access road, you know, after the crime was committed? We don`t know. Did the shooting happen around 10:00 o`clock at night, when this person thinks they heard gunshots, and then -- you know, then the SUV was moved further down (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: Right. To Don Clark. What do you make of the time lapse?

CLARK: Well, here`s what I think, is that the time lack doesn`t really -- it really gives me some doubt about what took place in that situation because this supposedly happened at 10:00 o`clock at night, and not until 5:30 in the morning that somebody got their attention, and yet the person was only shot in the leg? This just doesn`t add up to me.

GRACE: No, it doesn`t. Out to the lines. Jennifer in Tennessee. Hi, Jennifer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.

GRACE: What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I`m interested in knowing the emotional demeanor of the father when the police arrived on the scene.

GRACE: Excellent question. Jon Leiberman, what do we know about how he acted when police got there?

LEIBERMAN: What we know at this point is he was very calm. I mean, look, he stayed with police the whole time. He stayed there until police arrived. He`s been very cooperative, by all accounts, by -- with the police. So this is a guy who`s calm, cool and collected, and that could mean any number of things, obviously, in the psychology world.

You know, it`s interesting, too. A story just came over that Kimberly Vaughn was actually interviewed in "The Chicago Sun-Times" about a month ago in the real estate section about their home. They lived in about a 3,400-square-foot home. So this is a -- you know, an upper middle class family. It`s just...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: The all-American family, at least it looked that way, the mom, three kids found shot to death in their SUV just a few feet off an Illinois interstate.

Very quickly, back to Jon Leiberman with "America`s Most Wanted." You were telling us about their family background?

LEIBERMAN: Yes, it`s very interesting. Actually, a piece just came over. We just found out. This family was actually profiled in the real estate section of "The Chicago Sun-Times" last month. They had moved from Washington state to this suburb of Chicago, even bringing their two dogs with them. And the profile of them in "The Chicago Sun-Times," which I`m looking at right now, paints them as literally an idyllic family, I mean, the perfect family, with the two dogs sitting there, the kids sitting there, the huge four-bedroom home in the suburbs. This is what we see in many of these cases, as you know, Nancy, this facade.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s a potentially disturbing new development in the hunt for a missing 4-year-old girl. Her case has attracted worldwide attention. There she is, little Madeleine McCann. Investigators say now that a newspaper received an anonymous tip claiming that Madeleine was killed and a map also was contained in this material that was given to this paper, showing supposedly where she`s buried.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Is there a break in the case of baby Maddy? Then 3-year-old baby Maddy disappears off a luxury resort vacation, her parents just yards away at an outside dinner party, the children alone when she went missing. Other children left untouched. Out to Phil Black, CNN reporter covering the McCann case, Phil, what can you tell us? What happened?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nancy, this is an intriguing development in this case. It is perhaps some were hoping a breakthrough, but perhaps not. A Dutch newspaper has received a letter. Now, it should be said that many reports, many clues, tip-offs have been handed over to police, hundreds they say, since Madeleine McCann went missing.

Now, this one is different, because this Dutch newspaper received a letter a short time ago, about a year ago, that successfully, accurately identified the location of two missing Belgian girls. Their bodies were found. And this letter that the Dutch paper received knew where they were. This letter, relating to Madeleine`s case, is said to be very similar. It`s said to have a map in the same way that this letter did, and it indicates, points to a location about 10 miles from where Madeleine was taken in the resort area of Portugal, Nancy.

GRACE: To you, Phil Black, CNN reporter on the case, Phil, was the letter regarding the two Belgian girls -- we just showed you their photos. Those two girls who were found dead, as a matter of fact. Was the letter in that case ever publicized? Could someone mimic it?

BLACK: That`s a good question. And the case itself certainly received publicity. We don`t believe that the letter was published in full, and nor has this letter been published in full.

But its content and what we`re told are similarities have been reported, similarities in handwriting, similarities in phrasing, the fact that both letters went to the same newspaper, included a map, and on each map there was an X that supposedly marked the spot. Although in this case, the map -- it`s a big area, and the cross is pretty general, too, so not too specific. So it`s not simply a case for police to follow the map to a very precise location and seeing what`s there, Nancy.

GRACE: Out to Courtney Hazlett, senior reporter with "OK" magazine, also on the case, isn`t it correct that there is a suspect behind bars in the death of the two Belgian girls? So how could he have been involved in baby Maddy`s disappearance?

COURTNEY HAZLETT, "OK" MAGAZINE: Well, what they`re pointing out here is that the psychic, the psychic who`s responsible, they think, for the discovery of these two others girls, could be right on the mark with this. But what I think is appalling about this letter is that this Dutch newspaper held onto it for two whole days, conducted their own search in the field, and did not turn it over to authorities immediately.

GRACE: You said psychic. Where does a psychic fit into this?

HAZLETT: Oh, well, they believe that it was a psychic that wrote the letter, that is predicting where it is, that is not necessarily a person who participated in the crime, but the author of this letter for some reason has some sort of psychic ability or premonition.

GRACE: Back to Phil Black, CNN reporter, it`s my understanding -- you didn`t mention anything about a psychic. You told me police -- and this is what the wires also tell, the research -- police believe or suspect that the same person who wrote the first letter wrote this letter. Go ahead.

BLACK: Sorry, Nancy. Yes, that is perhaps true. The author of that original letter has never been identified, and so the theory here is that it could be the same person. What the connection is, is unclear, because, in that murder of those two Belgian girls, a man has been convicted, although he denies any involvement in that killing. Police have suspected that perhaps there was an accomplice.

Now, it is very difficult at this stage to say there is a precise link between these two incidents. It could be a hoax. That is what, we presume, police are now investigating, Nancy.

GRACE: And question, Phil Black. How were the two Belgian girls killed? There must have been some type of forensic DNA to link the defendant, who has now been convicted, with the bodies?

BLACK: Well, that particular defendant, he was a convicted pedophile, and so had form. He was convicted precisely, as I say, he does maintain his innocence, so -- but he has been convicted there, Nancy.

GRACE: Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: Could Madeleine McCann`s body be buried somewhere here in this rugged, lonely terrain? It`s the latest twist in an investigation that started when the 4-year-old vanished. This is an area around 10 miles from Praia da Luz, the resort town where Madeleine was taken from her home. According to a letter sent anonymously to a newspaper, she lies somewhere in this region beneath branches or stones.

This investigation has not been short of tips. Police have received hundreds, many from people claiming to have psychic powers. All of them so far worthless. But this one may be different. The newspaper says the letter is very similar to one it got last year that accurately pointed out the location of the bodies of two missing girls, aged 7 and 10. The letter`s writer was never identified. Like the first one, the letter referring to Madeleine includes a map marked with an X.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And let me clarify something we were discussing. The guy behind bars, possibly connected to the death of the two Belgian girls, is a convicted pedophile. He is not convicted of their murder. He vehemently denies any connection.

To Don Clark, former head of the FBI Houston bureau, what do you make of it?

DON CLARK, FORMER HEAD OF FBI HOUSTON BUREAU: Well, Nancy, it`s awfully eerie. And it reminds me of the Unabomber case, a person that they were able to compare all the handwritings, and packages, and so forth, and knew that that they were coming from one person, but it took us years to find that one person. I suspect that this is going down that same trail, but they really -- if they have both of the notes, they really should be able to come to a relative degree of certainty as to whether or not this came from the same person or not. And I think that`s what they`ve got to work with right now.

GRACE: It is also my understanding that the perpetrator behind bars regarding -- who`s suspected in the Belgian deaths, many people suspect he had a co-conspirator and that co-conspirator would be free today at the time of baby Maddy`s disappearance. Let me ask another question, Phil Black, CNN reporter, the Belgian girls were found where the letter said, yes, no?

BLACK: Yes, they were. Yes, they were. They were found, though, the same day the letter was received. So they weren`t found because of the letter, but they were found -- the letter proved to be accurate in any event, Nancy.

GRACE: To Bethany Marshall, what do you think of someone sending in this type of letter, not to police, but, as Courtney Hazlett pointed out, to the media?

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: I think you have to think of the deviant arousal pattern of pedophiles. I mean, sometimes they like to molest, sometimes they like to fondle, sometimes they like to have relationships with children, but what all pedophiles like to do, they love to share stories, they have online communities. They love -- they`re very infatuated with the families of the children, so there could be an online community sharing stories that have turned sort of into folklore, and one pedophile has gotten very excited by all this, and has contacted the newspaper as a way to have proximity to the family. That`s my thought about this and that it`s very exciting to have that proximity to the family, because it`s proximity to the child and to the possible act of molestation.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Joey in Tennessee, hi, Joey.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. We love your show.

GRACE: Thank you, dear.

CALLER: I was wanting to know, do they know what country the letter came from or was a re-mailing service used?

GRACE: Excellent question. Phil Black, what do we know about the location of the sender?

BLACK: Yes, details, well, they`re not really revealing that much. All we know is that the letter was sent, so presumably, perhaps from within the Netherlands, if the form is the same as before, but they`re not giving away that much detail, Nancy.

GRACE: OK. And to Courtney Hazlett, with "OK" magazine, what about the parents tonight? Where are they?

HAZLETT: The parents tonight have really -- they`ve been conducting sort of a press tour, if you will. They`re trying to keep momentum alive with this story. They met with the pope. They`re helping to pay for soccer games in places where they think there`s going to be a lot of media. I believe they are back in England right now, if not England, en route back to Portugal. They`ve been keeping vigil in Portugal, hoping that something will come up, hoping that they`ll be able to participate in some way that`s useful to this investigation there on the ground.

GRACE: And back to trial lawyers Richard Herman and Sandy Schiff, to Richard Herman, once you bring in a psychic before the jury, if this information, even if the information is correct, you bring in a psychic, you immediately lose credibility with the jury. I`m not saying psychics are correct or not correct; I just know what happens when you bring them in front of a jury, Richard.

RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Very susceptible, Nancy. You know, jurors always think twice. They`ll wink an eye. You know, it`s just very tough going with a psychic. And you know from your days in law enforcement, they`re getting hundreds of tips in this case. And they`re all worthless. Like in the Natalee Holloway case, the tips keep coming and coming, but, you know, it`s incredible.

GRACE: I don`t know that they`re worthless. Sandy, what about bringing in a psychic?

SANDRA RUTH SCHIFF, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I wouldn`t want to have to rely upon a psychic to make a defense or a case.

GRACE: Very quickly, everybody, when we come back, a Kentucky police chief gunned down in his own cruiser. It all started out as a routine DUI.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifty-five-year old police chief here in Clay City, Randy Lacy. He was just a few months from retiring when he was shot and killed in the front seat of his own cruiser. It happened on the main road through Clay City.

According to police and others, Lacy was transporting a man he just arrested in the back of his cruiser. Somehow 37-year-old Jamie Barnett got a hold of a gun and shot the chief in the back of the head, then broke out the back window of the cruiser and got out of the car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 911 call was received from a citizen that a police cruiser had wrecked on Highway 15 in Clay City.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief Lacy was dead at the scene. Jamie Barnett, the suspect in this case, he has been in and out of the Powell County jail several times since 1993. He was on the loose when he was picked up by the chief, apparently shot and killed by the man he just arrested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The irony, if this is the suspect, if this guy did the deed, the victim actually went to his home at Christmas dressed as Santa Claus to deliver Christmas presents and food to the defendant`s children. The police chief was worried those children would not have a Christmas.

Out to Karyn Czar with 630 WLAP, Karyn, what happened?

KARYN CZAR, NEWS RADIO 630 WLAP: Basically, a 911 call came in, in Clay City. Chief Lacy went out to respond to it. He arrested Jamie Barnett at an apartment complex in the city, was transporting him to the jail. Nobody really knows at that point what happened or how it -- well, we know what happened, but not how. Basically, Barnett was able to get a hold of a second gun that we know Chief Lacy kept inside of his cruiser. Somehow it ended up in his hands, and he was able to shoot Lacy in the back of the head through a screen -- it`s actually a piece of Plexiglas that separates the prisoner from the front of the car -- shot him point-blank range through the head.

GRACE: It`s my understanding that Chief Lacy apparently did the defendant a favor by cuffing him in the front instead of the back, kind of gave him a break. This is a chief just straight out of Mayberry that would stop on the way to the jail to buy an inmate cigarettes, to help them make a phone call, to cuff them in front instead of in back, dressing as Santa and going and visiting families at Christmas.

He lost his life on a routine DUI arrest. He leaves behind three sons and a grieving wife, the community in shock. Joining me right now is Chief Lacy`s brother, Garland Lacy.

Mr. Lacy, thank you for being with us.

GARLAND LACY, BROTHER OF SLAIN POLICE CHIEF: You`re entirely welcome.

GRACE: When did you learn about your brother`s death?

LACY: I`m also a police officer, and I heard it on the scanner, and I went to assist the deputy. I didn`t realize this was what was going on. I thought it was an automobile accident. And when I got there, the subject was on the ground with the deputy holding him down. I said, "What`s going on?" And he said, "Randy`s been shot." I ran over to his cruiser, and there was a lady that was there with him, just supporting his body. And I started helping her hold him up, but he was already dead. There was no signs of life at all.

GRACE: This is a man who has spent over 20 years in the line of duty serving his community in every way he could, Chief Randy Lacy. One day, making a routine DUI stop, his life taken by a man he tried to help, according to police. Garland Lacy, his brother, is with us.

Tell me about your brother. He sounds so much like Andy of Mayberry to me, just a great guy.

LACY: I mean, most of us are here. We`re in a laid-back community, small community. Everyone knows everyone else. We had dealt with this fellow so many times. And you talk about cuffing people in the front to do them a favor. It`s a lot more comfortable that way. And, you know, we try to do the best we can to deal with the situations.

We`re in a big drug war here, trying to stem the problem of drugs, and Randy was a big player in that. But even though these guys have drug problems, they`re still human beings, and we try to treat them as such. And so Randy was...

GRACE: With us is Garland Lacy. This is the victim`s brother.

We`ll be right back, but first "CNN Heroes."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief Lacy was the police chief here since 2004. Prior to that, he had police experience going all the way back to 1985, in the Stanton area, Stanton Police Department, along with the Clay City Police Department. And he will be missed in this community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: He`s talking about Clay County Police Chief Randy Lacy, age 55. He was the only police officer in the city. They`re in the process of filling two vacancies, loved by the entire community. According to police, he loses his life on a routine DUI arrest to a man with at least 30 arrests.

Out to the lines, Tina in Ohio. Hi, Tina.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. Love you, love your show.

GRACE: Thank you, dear.

CALLER: My question is, don`t they have bullet-proof glass between them or a cage? And if not, will they now? Or is it possible that someone else was involved that got the keys or something and got it that way?

GRACE: Very quickly to Karyn Czar with 630 WLAP, it`s very clear no one else was involved, but what can you tell me about that Plexiglas?

CZAR: It`s a piece that`s surrounded by metal that goes all the way around to the floor. But one of the detectives I talked to said it`s possible for something to slip underneath it, and it also has a partition to where you can slide it to one side so that they can get air to the back or talk to the person who is in custody.

GRACE: Tonight, our sympathy and our prayers out to the family of Police Chief Randy Lacy. He leaves behind a wife and three sons.

Let`s stop to remember Army Specialist Clinton Blodgett, just 19, Pekin, Indiana, killed, Iraq. On a first tour, he dreamed of enlisting since age 4, gave his life to save other soldiers from a bombing. Friends and family say a Bible verse tattooed on his arm said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that lay down his life for friends." He dreamed of returning home after the Army as a security Guard. He leaves behind a father, a National Guard vet, his mom, younger brother, and sister, Jessica. Clinton Blodgett, American hero.

Thank you to our guests, but most of all to you, for being with us. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END

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