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NANCY GRACE

Dad Teaches 6-Year-Old to Smoke Pot; Mom of Missing 9-month-old Faces Murder Charges; Young Woman Fakes Cancer to Pay for Lifestyle

Aired October 8, 2010 - 20:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Colorado. A 6-year- old little girl heads to school, but then she`s caught, caught in a bathroom starting a fire with a lighter. Then she tells the principal she`s been lighting up doobies with Daddy.

Bombshell tonight. We learn the 6-year-old girl`s registered sex offender dad teaching his little 6-year-old and 7-year-old girls how to get high on pot, even loading the marijuana pipe for the little girls to take hits. And then -- then there`s Mommy, who also confesses to repeatedly getting high as a kite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack Duke allegedly admitted to police he taught his 6-year-old daughter how to smoke marijuana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smoke pot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A child that is smoking pot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the dad is behind bars, the 6-year-old girl caught in school trying to start a fire with a lighter and toilet paper. The girl tells her school principal she smokes pot with her father.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that her dad taught her how to inhale.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a horrible situation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The girl also allegedly drew a picture for cops that showed her and her dad with a marijuana pipe and a bag of dope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, Pennsylvania. A 26-year-old young woman already down on her luck, losing her job, barely making ends meet, it goes from bad to worse. She reveals she`s diagnosed with deadly ovarian and breast cancer. Her family rallies, raising thousands.

Breaking tonight. After Alicia Tolton (ph) floods the FaceBook for donations, after wheelchair-bound mother and unemployed father scrounge up every penny they can, it`s all a scam, 26-year-old Tolton faking cancer, shaves her head bald, even fakes medical invoices and receipts. Lady, you just won a first class ticket one way to hell!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-six-year-old Alicia Tolton said she was stricken with cancer. Donations and wishes from the community poured in. She solicited money on FaceBook, and a beef and beer fundraiser at the local VFW was even planned. But police say there was one problem, Alicia Tolton didn`t have cancer. She was lying. Reports say Tolton even bilked $10,000 out of her 88-year-old grandfather to pay for non-existent medical treatment. Tonight, Alicia Tolton isn`t fund raising, she`s behind bars on $25,000 cash bail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Live, Colorado, a registered sex offender dad teaching his little 6-year-old and 7-year-old girls how to get high, high on pot, even loading the pipe for the little girls to take hits?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Colorado dad is behind bars. The police say he gave marijuana to his young children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a definite no-no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops arrested Jack Duke on multiple counts of distributing drugs to a minor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s charged with a horrible crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The arrest stems from Duke`s 6-year-old girl after she told her principal she smokes weed with her dad and knows how to inhale.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s heart-wrenching to think an innocent child could be endangered by her own parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police check Jack Duke`s home and are horrified by the living conditions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A child that is smoking pot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 6-foot boa constrictor snake reportedly found in a cage next to the room where all four kids slept.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to the lines, and starting with Nia Bender, news director 710 KNUS Radio, joining us out of Denver. Nia, Daddy teaching the children how to take hits? Take me back to the day the little girl is trying to start a fire in the girls` bathroom.

NIA BENDER, 710 KNUS RADIO (via telephone): Well, this happened on September 24th at about 2:00 o`clock in the afternoon, so they should have been wrapping up towards the end of school anyway, as the little girl was found in the girls` restroom with a lighter, and she`d rolled up toilet paper and she was trying to light that with the a lighter. So then, of course, the principal sat down, and that`s when they found everything out.

GRACE: OK, explain to me, Nia, how she was -- what was she doing with the toilet paper?

BENDER: She was trying to light it up, just like she would, basically, a doobie with Dad. So that`s what she was basically doing in the bathroom was trying to smoke toilet paper.

GRACE: OK, Ellie Jostad, explain what Nia`s saying.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right. Well, so she`s trying to start this fire in the bathroom. The principal starts talking to her. She tells him that she smokes weed at home with her dad. She even demonstrated to the principal how she would inhale. She also told him about how she would waft the smoke into her face. She even drew a picture for the principal showing a pipe and a bag of weed and smoke coming off the cigarette.

GRACE: My next question, Nia Bender, 710 KNUS Radio -- we are taking your calls. Nia, the father is a registered sex offender. What is he doing with two little girls in the home, a 6-year-old daughter, a 7-year- old daughter, a 3-year-old, and a 19-month-old, both daughters -- all of them daughters. Why? Why is a registered sex offender in the home with four little girls?

BENDER: He may be a registered sex offender and he got in trouble in 2004, where he was charged with first-degree sexual abuse on a child, and then three counts of second-degree sexual abuse. He only pled guilty to the three second-degree child abuse charges. They dropped the first-degree count. And you know, he did 180 days in jail. Then he spent three years on probation. He`s well out of the time period where they would have been monitoring. But you know, he`s also in trouble for failing to register now.

GRACE: OK. Wait a minute. You just said he only pled guilty to three counts of child sex abuse? You know, Eleanor, I`ve got a problem with three counts.

ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: That`s a huge problem, Nancy. It says it`s either a victim and he`s abused them three different ways, or there are three different victims. He should not be around any children under the age of 18.

GRACE: You know, I don`t understand, Ellie. Where`s Mommy in all of this?

JOSTAD: Well, the mother was living in the home, and she actually consented to allow the police to search. And she told the police that she regularly smoked pot. She said she`d even smoked pot the night before. But she claimed that she didn`t smoke pot with the daughter, she didn`t allow them to smoke pot. And she said wasn`t aware of the father letting them smoke pot.

GRACE: But Ellie, Ellie -- OK, so the mom is saying, I don`t smoke pot with my 6-year-old.

JOSTAD: Right. Right.

GRACE: I guess I`m going to give her what, a gold star for not smoking pot with her 6-year-old. But is she smoking pot in the home?

JOSTAD: Well, the cop didn`t ask her that, as far as this affidavit sounds. But it sounds like, yes, they were smoking pot in this house regularly.

GRACE: OK. Nia Bender, 710 KNUS Radio, where is Daddy -- dare I call him that -- Jack Dalton Duke, tonight?

BENDER: Jack Dalton Duke tonight apparently is behind bars.

GRACE: But you know, Nia, you said -- you said, quote, "he got in trouble." You don`t just get in trouble with child sex abuse, all right?

BENDER: Oh, absolutely not, Nancy.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: But that was 2004. It`s only 2009. He`s already off probation?

BENDER: He`s off of probation. This happened back in 2004. And obviously, he did his 180 days in jail. He had three years probation. That would have put him out in 2007. But this guy is a habitual criminal. I mean, he has a criminal record that goes back to 2001 for various things, and just about all of them involved either marijuana, if not possession, paraphernalia possession. The guy`s been in trouble since 2001.

GRACE: I saw marijuana. I saw theft, fencing stolen items. And I saw child sex abuse.

Out to the lines. Charlene in Florida. Hi, Charlene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Just wanted to say the babies are just getting so big. But where are these kids at now? And hopefully, the parents aren`t going to get these kids back, are they?

GRACE: Well, I`m afraid the answer`s probably at home getting high with Mommy. But Ellie Jostad, where are the children?

JOSTAD: Well, the good news is the kids were taken into state custody right away when this happened, and they are now in custody of their grandparents.

GRACE: You know, that`s bad. One of them -- one of the children is only 19 months old. Charlene, so the children are out from the home, but they`re with the grandparents.

And very typically, Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst and author of "Deal Breakers," the grandparents give them right back to the offenders.

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Oh, Nancy, they wait until the child protective services -- as child protective services is walking out the front door, they`re moving the parents in through the back door to place those children back with the parents. And the sad thing -- I think the reason this little girl was lighting up in that bathroom -- she may have been craving pot because her dad had already habituated her at 7 years of age.

GRACE: To Dr. Marty Makary, physician and professor of public health at Johns Hopkins, joining us out of D.C. How does that happen? What effect will this have on a 6-year-old little girl and a 7-year-old little girl, not to mention the 3-year-old and the 19-month-old little girl living at home with a registered sex offender?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, JOHNS HOPKINS: Well, there`s obviously the immediate health effects. But the child has learned how to do this behavior. And of course, the next time it comes around in a social setting later, early teens even, they`re going to be very apt to go into that sort of behavior. And they`re going to know the effects of it. They`re going to feel as if they have control over it, that is, they can do it safely, and they`re probably going to be very at high risk to do this sort of thing again and again later in life since they had early experience.

GRACE: You know, Eleanor Odom, felony prosecutor, death penalty- qualified -- Eleanor, everybody knows the theory that pot is the threshold drug. You start with pot, the next thing, you`re doing ecstasy or whatever, you end up with cocaine and heroin. You know, dopers will say, Oh, no, that`s not true. It is true.

ELEANOR ODOM: It is true. And we see it time and again, especially when the children are so young and getting addicted to it like that. It`s just easier to just take other substances later on, and it`s just heart- breaking.

GRACE: To Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney, author of "How Can You Defend Those People?" Give me your best defense, Mickey. And try, just try to keep a straight face.

MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the guy`s a moron. He`s an idiot and he`s going to jail. There`s no question. My problem is the penalty. I know he deserves to go to jail, but 48 years mandatory minimum? That`s like there should be three dead...

GRACE: What`s wrong with that?

SHERMAN: Well, 48 years for marijuana, even though it`s to his own children. There are no dead bodies here. And I don`t necessarily -- and I`m not a doper, but I...

GRACE: OK. Hold on.

SHERMAN: Yes.

GRACE: Three eight-year sentences. OK, three times eight would be 24.

SHERMAN: No, the number counts they have...

GRACE: Where did you get 40?

SHERMAN: The number of counts they have, according to the wire reports, is that he`s looking at a 48-year mandatory sentence.

GRACE: But Mickey, when have you ever seen that run consecutively? Come on, Peter Odom, you know it`s going to run currently, all at the same time.

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I would hope -- I would hope...

GRACE: He`ll get one eight-year sentence and he`ll be out in two.

PETER ODOM: Well, I would certainly hope so because 48 years is way too harsh for this crime, shocking though it may be.

GRACE: At least that would give the children time to grow up without Daddy teaching them how to do any more drugs.

For those of you just joining us, Daddy teaches his 6-year-old and 7- year-old girls how to smoke pot, even how to light a pipe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack Duke allegedly admitted to police he taught his 6-year-old daughter how to smoke marijuana. Now the dad is behind bars. It`s hard to believe, but Jack Duke isn`t the first person accused of providing marijuana to a child.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An Ohio mom is accused of forcing her toddler to smoke pot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mom busted when she sends out a cell phone video of the alleged incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cell phone video of the incident.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a horrible situation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, as adults, are supposed to take care of our children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack Duke behind bars. The girl tells her school principal she smokes pot with her father and that her dad taught her how to inhale. The girl also allegedly drew a picture for cops that showed her and her dad with a marijuana pipe and a bag of dope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Julie in Tennessee. Hi, Julie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a question and a comment.

GRACE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want to thank you. I`ve been watching your show for years. And it`s my birthday, and I just wanted to -- I just want to thank you for taking my call.

GRACE: Julie, happy birthday. And thank you for watching tonight and for calling in. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, was he, the father, predetermined through his parents to do this maybe? Maybe that`s where he got the behavior from?

GRACE: You mean being a pot smoker or a registered sex offender?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pot smoker.

GRACE: Well, you know, I`ve never heard that smoking pot was hereditary. What about it Bethany Marshall?

MARSHALL: It`s not hereditary. And I think the story is much more sinister than that. The fact is that he may have been administering cannabis to these little girls so that he could have sex with them. I think there`s a very real possibility that this house was a house of horrors.

And I`m sorry, Nancy, the problem is not just that pot is a gateway drug. The problem is that it causes psychiatric disorders and the impact on these little girls is profound -- learning problems, inability to attach to other children at school, the effects of possible sexual abuse. If the mother was using pot while pregnant with the 19-month-old, that 19-month- old could have pervasive learning disorders.

And these children are now predisposed to psychiatric disorders, including psychosis, hallucinations and delusions throughout the lifespan. Through the rest of their life, they`re going to be psychiatrically vulnerable.

GRACE: When interviewed, Duke tells authorities he`s used marijuana since he was 4 and used it to cope with bad things. He says he tried to get a doctor`s recommendation for medical marijuana, but the doctor refused to do it. He also says that he does not believe that it is a drug. He said it has helped him do better in school and assisted him getting out of special ed. He also says that he allowed the girl to use it for the past two years because she had thrown up. But in his defense, he says he never allows the girls to smoke pot before going to school in the morning.

OK, Peter Odom, give me your best defense. Go ahead. Hit me!

PEER ODOM: Well, it doesn`t sound like he`s going to be found not guilty, so this isn`t one where you go into court and say this never happened. The kids disclosed it. He admitted it. But you`re certainly going to want to try and mitigate punishment for him. I mean, it`s marijuana, Nancy. We`ve seen kids on this show that have been given, you know, much worse drugs. Marijuana is an organic substance.

GRACE: OK, so tell me, those are my choices, that the children either get what, marijuana or heroin?

PETER ODOM: I`m just saying that...

GRACE: And marijuana`s a good choice?

PETER ODOM: I`m suggesting, Nancy, that in reality, there`s a spectrum. And this is low on the spectrum of drugs. It just is. Many states differentiate and put marijuana in a separate, low category.

GRACE: OK, please stop. Eleanor, what is wrong with him? Why is he saying it`s not so bad to teach your little girl 6 years old to smoke pot and she goes in the public bathroom at school and tries to set the bathroom on fire and then shows the principal how to roll a doobie.

ELEANOR ODOM: I think, typically, defense attorneys say, Oh, marijuana, it`s not that bad, it`s not heroin. But it is bad, Nancy, and it is against the law. And surely, we know how bad it is to give your children!

GRACE: Well, he is right. Take a look at video, Springfield township, Ohio, Jessica Gamble. Mom videotapes 2-year-old baby smoking pot in front of a TV. There. There you go. I`m sure that little girl`s well cared for. Then Pataskela (ph), Ohio, Melvin Blevins. That video shows teen (ph) forcing a 2-year-old baby to smoke pot from a pipe. There you go. Take a look.

I guess that would be your defense, Peter Odom and Mickey Sherman. Keystone Heights, Florida, picture posted on FaceBook, 11-month-old baby with a bong. Nice, Mommy! Watuga (ph), Texas, video, Demetrius McCoy (ph), Yvette Swan Pulty (ph), two teens videotaping, encouraging a 2-year- old and 5-year-old boy to smoke pot. It goes on and on. Does that make it OK? No!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Colorado dad is behind bars after police say he gave marijuana to his young children. Jack Duke isn`t the first person accused of providing marijuana to a child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Melvin Blevins.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Watch as the 2-year-old squirms and tries to escape, but the man repeatedly tries to put a marijuana pipe in the toddler`s mouth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Confirmed to investigators it was him on the video, but no surprise here, he doesn`t even remember it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say a pawnshop owner found the video after Melvin Blevins sold his camera for cash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops arrested jack Duke on multiple counts of distributing drugs to a minor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is charged with a horrible crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: You know, just try to put out of your mind that this guy you`re looking at, Jack Dalton Duke, being held on half a million dollars bond tonight, is a registered sex offender, living with four little girls at Mommy`s behest. Let`s just try to put that off the plate right now, off the dinner plate.

Let`s try to focus on him teaching a 6-year-old little girl to smoke pot out of a pipe. She goes to school, is caught in the bathroom trying to apparently roll up a doobie. She almost catches the bathroom on fire, and then gives a demonstration to the principal. OK, that didn`t help.

Out to the lines. Let`s go to Sandy in Pennsylvania. Hi, Sandy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I wanted to find out, did that guy that was smoking pot with his daughters -- did they question the daughter separately from him?

GRACE: Good question. What do we know, Nia Bender?

BENDER: We know that she was questioned by the principal, and we also know that the Mesa County officials and the drug task force people apparently did interview the girl. And they said they were absolutely taken back by how well she described the art of smoking marijuana.

GRACE: OK, be specific, Nia.

BENDER: She basically sat down and explained to them exactly how you inhale, how you hold your breath, how sometimes you would wave your hand in front of your face so that way, you can inhale more. She discussed the fact that she had also, when she couldn`t -- you know, when she wouldn`t smoke it, he would blow the smoke into her face. And he had taught her how to hold her breath for a short period of time before she exhaled.

GRACE: Ellie Jostad, please just tell me, is there any chance he can stay behind bars for not registering as a sex offender?

JOSTAD: Yes, Nancy, actually, he`s facing those charges, as well, in addition to these drug charges.

GRACE: Thank you, God!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack Duke allegedly admitted to police he taught his 6-year-old daughter how to smoke marijuana. Now the dad is behind bars, the 6-year-old girl caught in school trying to start a fire with a lighter and toilet paper.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We are interrupting now with breaking news. We are hearing that the mother of 10-month-old Lauryn Dickens, who disappeared, her mother stating she gave the baby away to a white female that appeared at her door, is facing charges.

Out to investigative journalist, reporter, Nicole Partin, joining us out of Tennessee.

Nicole, what do you know?

NICOLE PARTIN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Good evening, Nancy.

Breaking news tonight. Nearly a month after 10-month-old baby girl Lauryn Dickens disappeared, we are on watch. Awaiting what could possibly be impending murder charges against the baby`s mother, Shakara Dickens

This coming after she appeared in court facing charges against the disappearance of her daughter. She`s now being held on a $2 million bond while we wait to see if murder charges will be handed down.

GRACE: You are seeing court video of the mom Shakara Dickens. She appeared in court. Investigators at that time indicated they were no closer to finding the location of the 10-month-old body of Lauryn Dickens. But now tonight we hear that murder charges are being handed down.

Nicole Partin, take me back. Tell us exactly what happened.

PARTIN: Well, apparently, you know, Shakara has made up this story -- her story has changed a few times. But she`s saying that she spoke with the father`s -- the father of the child back on September the 7th. And he said I`m sending someone to pick the baby up.

Her story goes that a white female showed up at her home and she gave the baby away. A week later, she called authorities reporting her baby missing. They begin to investigate. Her story didn`t add up. They found a lot of loopholes in her story.

Now she`s behind bars and we`re waiting on what could be murder charges.

GRACE: With us, Nicole Partin, investigative reporter out of Tennessee.

Also with us, Alexis Weed, our producer on this story. Tonight we are awaiting. Will murder charges be handed down?

Alexis, what more do we know about the story? And what if anything has changed?

ALEXIS WEED, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, she recently hired a lawyer. Her lawyer`s name is Murray Wells. And he`s saying, you know what? She shouldn`t be held on this $2 million bond. He says he doesn`t believe that there`s enough evidence to charge her with homicide.

GRACE: You know, that same lawyer, Attorney Wells, is saying the family is in a state of shock. They`re very concerned about the child and about Miss Dickens. But I`ve noticed, Alexis Weed, they continue to avoid making any public statement about Dickens or the missing baby.

Why? Why is the family silent about this little girl`s disappearance?

Take a look. The mom says she no longer wants to take care of her baby girl. Her other child`s already living with relatives, also a toddler. This little girl she says she handed over to complete stranger who appears at her door.

What happened to baby Lauryn? Alexis, what more do we know?

WEED: Well, Nancy, she`s looking at charges right now. The reason she`s being held is for aggravated child neglect and endangerment. Now the homicide charges have not yet been filed. But we -- she is looking at about 42 years right now under those current charges as a possible prison sentence.

GRACE: Again, tell me what the charges are as they stand tonight.

WEED: They`re aggravated child neglect and endangerment as well as false reporting. Both felonies.

GRACE: And what`s the location? Is it Memphis? Is that where the grand jury would meet?

WEED: Yes, Memphis, Tennessee, Nancy.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. We are taking your calls. Eleanor Odom, felony prosecutor. Mickey Sherman, defense attorney, New York. Peter Odom, defense attorney, Atlanta.

Eleanor, if this indictment goes down, and it will be an indictment, not a -- drawn up by a prosecutor. Explain what`s got to happen before we`ll get a formal murder charge in the death and disappearance of 10- month-old Lauryn.

ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Well, Nancy, we don`t have to have a body because you can proceed on a murder charge without a body. And they obviously have some evidence because remember the cadaver dogs did alert near her home.

So there is evidence and there`s probably some other stuff that law enforcement hasn`t let out of the bag yet.

GRACE: You know she`s right, Nicole Partin. Where did the cadaver dog alert?

PARTIN: At the home of Shakara where the baby Lauryn was last seen that we know of. Those cadaver dogs did hit there. We heard a story that they hit something outside, that there was a hit inside. Authorities came in and began to dig where those dogs hit.

But, you know, as we know, these are highly trained dogs. They don`t make mistakes. And so I think that was the thing that caused authorities to rush in and say, hey, we have probable cause, we`re going to make an arrest.

GRACE: To Tom Shamshak, former police chief, private investigator, now instructor at Boston University.

Tom, cadaver dogs do not hit on anything but human remains. Correct?

TOM SHAMSHAK, FMR. POLICE CHIEF, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR, INSTRUCTOR AT BOSTON UNIV.: Nancy, good evening. Yes, the dogs are trained to detect cadaverine which is -- is emitted from the decomposing bones. They`re highly trained animals with that specific purpose.

And I`m sure that they`re also going to be taking -- they have taken articles of clothing and there was a baby seat. And they may be looking for transfer evidence that they may have as Eleanor Odom said earlier. They have a lot of hold-back information. But this was a CSI case.

GRACE: Yes, you`re right. Crime scene investigation will reveal everything the cops have got. And also, don`t expect for Shakara Dickens to break down and give a confession. She`s been behind bars for some time. Nothing. She`s cold as ice. Her whole family staying mum.

OK. Out to the lines. Atlanta, Kentucky. Hi, Atlanta.

ATLANTA, CALLER FROM KENTUCKY: Hey, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

ATLANTA: Shakara Dickens said that she gave her baby to a white female, but what was her excuse for not getting the name of this woman?

GRACE: You know, what about it, Alexis? Give me the description she gave of this woman. And why did this woman allegedly appear at her doorstep? What prompted that?

WEED: Right. Right. Well, no name for this woman, given only a description, a white female, 40 to 50 years old, shoulder-length straight hair with the center part. She said she was wearing eye-glasses with a buttoned-down blouse, khaki Capri pants, white sandals, the list goes on and on, Nancy.

GRACE: You know -- and let`s go out to the lawyers. Eleanor Odom, Peter Odom, Mickey Sherman. If it`s like any other defendant, they weave in bits of truth into their story.

Mickey Sherman, I`ve seen that a million times where little bits of it are true, like possibly a description of a woman, but it`s probably a woman she saw at the mall or at the gas station, not a woman at the front door picking up her baby.

MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "HOW CAN YOU DEFEND THOSE PEOPLE?": Sounds like a total BS story to me. And I think the only way she`s ever going to be indicted for murder or homicide is if, in fact, they find the body or she confesses --

GRACE: No.

SHERMAN: Or she makes a deal. But without that body, I don`t see them going after a homicide indictment or information.

GRACE: No, because, Peter Odom, during a search of her Raleigh apartment, a rescue recovery dog trying to detect the odor of decomposing human remains hits in Dickens` apartment. Now that tells me there`s a dead human.

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: What that tells us, Nancy, is they found some forensic evidence indicating that the child died at her hands. I take issue with Mickey here.

I think what the prosecutors are going to do is charge her with the highest possible form of homicide and let a jury make a decision that her mental state was something less than that. But they`re going to charge her with murder.

GRACE: She looks sane to me. And she came up with this cockamamie story.

P. ODOM: I`m not talking about -- I`m not talking about insanity. I`m talking about, Nancy, the difference between purposely killing a child and maybe killing that child through recklessness or accident. And that`s probably what the child --

GRACE: Really? What -- like what kind of accident?

P. ODOM: Well, we don`t know because --

GRACE: Why was it that she was on the phone telling her husband that day or the baby`s father, Dr. Bethany, that day that she no longer wanted to take care of the baby then suddenly the baby dies by accident?

My, that`s quite a coincidence, Dr. Bethany.

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": Well, not only that, but hadn`t she just moved out of her mother`s house to establish her own life? And what we see with these women who commit infanticide often the grandmothers say to the mothers, you`ve got to step up to the plate and start taking care of your child.

And then out of resentment for grandma, mom kills the child. I think that`s a very real possibility here.

GRACE: Nicole Partin, when is that Tennessee grand jury going to make a move? What`s the problem?

PARTIN: To be honest, we`re on watch every minute expecting murder charges to come down and something to happen before that October --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Cops say she did the unthinkable.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Claim to have cancer, allegedly faked the illness.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A Pennsylvania woman is accused of faking cancer to get donations. Donations that she allegedly used to support her lifestyle.

Twenty-six-year-old Alicia Tolton is facing charges of theft and forgery after a cop say she confessed to the scam.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The whole illness was a sham.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police still trying to figure out exactly how much money Tolton allegedly stole from well-wishers.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Twenty-six-year-old Alicia Tolton said she was stricken with cancer. Donations and wishes from the community poured in. She solicited money on Facebook and a beef-and-beer fundraiser at the local VFW was even planned.

But police say there was one problem. Alicia Tolton didn`t have cancer, she was lying. Reports say Tolton even bilked $10,000 out of her 88-year-old grandfather to pay for non-existent medical treatment.

Tonight, Alicia Tolton isn`t fundraising. She`s behind bars on $25,000 cash bail.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: So she has her parents wheelchair bound, scrounge for every penny they`ve got. She floods Facebook to get money for herself. Thousands and thousands of dollars raised. Shaves her head bald, fakes receipts, fakes doctors appointments, fakes ovarian and breast cancer.

My only question is, Chief Thomas Nestel of Upper Moreland Township Police, joining us out of Pennsylvania, what did she do with all of money?

CHIEF THOMAS NESTEL, UPPER MORELAND TOWNSHIP POLICE: Nancy, she was living a pretty good social life. She was visiting our local bars and going to Eagles games. She also has a drug problem.

GRACE: What kind of a drug problem? What do you mean by that?

NESTEL: She -- she admitted that she spent some of the proceeds on illegal narcotics.

GRACE: Right. When you say illegal narcotics, are we talking about - - I`m guessing it`s not cocaine or heroin or methamphetamine. No, no, no. What? Maybe pot or prescription drugs?

NESTEL: Prescription drugs.

GRACE: There you go. With me special guest Chief Thomas Nestel, Upper Moreland Township Police.

Ellie Jostad, fill me in.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, this started raising some red flags when her parents found out that she`d gotten about $10,000 from her elderly grandfather.

They wanted some proof that she had cancer. She allegedly faked letterhead from a cancer center describing her treatment. They eventually went to police, said that this upcoming fundraiser for her, they were worried, was actually a scam.

But listen to this, Nancy. Police called her -- the suspect. Told her that they wanted to make a big donation and she could come pick it up. And that was how they caught her.

GRACE: You know -- you know what I love? To you, Chief Thomas Nestel? Have you ever heard of rounding up people who had skipped bond by sending them notice that they`ve won the lottery or they`ve won some prize and all the idiots go flooding into like the fellowship hall of the community center where they`re rounded up?

Same thing here. It was brilliant. Explain to me how this went down again?

NESTEL: Well, it`s called greed. We knew by the time we had called her up, we knew what was going on. We had a pretty good handle on what she was doing and who she was fleecing.

And the detective was pretty slick and said, you know, the Police Benevolent Association is involved in a lot of social -- social work in the community. And we`d like you to come in and talk to the PBA. And when she came in, she was brought into -- into an office and the detective had a file on the desk with the Police Benevolent Association folder.

And said, you know, I understand that you have cancer and things are rough and she fed right into it. And the detective didn`t wait too long because when she opened up the folder she started showing her pieces of evidence. And --

GRACE: Chief Thomas Nestel, you have just made me so happy.

Out to the lines, Patricia in Texas. Hi, dear, what`s your question?

PATRICIA, CALLER FROM TEXAS: Hi, Nancy. I just love you and those precious twins.

GRACE: Thank you, Patricia.

PATRICIA: My question is, did she have a doctor that backed up her claim, that she was working with?

GRACE: I don`t think so. I don`t think so. What about it, Ellie?

JOSTAD: No, she didn`t have any doctor. She actually admitted to police, they say, that she never had cancer, she`d never been treated, but she dummied up this fake letterhead from the Fox Chase Cancer Center with their logo and made it look as though she was getting treated there.

GRACE: You know, it is an epidemic. Fake cancer.

Jessica Vega, bride, fakes cancer to get a free wedding. Yes, she looks healthy to me. Carol Schnuphase faked son`s cancer for money. Ashley Kirilow collected faked cancer, shaved hair and eyebrows, collected thousands, charity even sent her to Disney World.

You know what? I would laugh, especially after Chief Thomas Nestel told me how they trapped this one into basically her charges, but to Dr. Marty Makary, for all of the women that have suffered and died as ovarian and breast cancer, what do those patients go through before they die?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, PROF. OF PUBLIC HEALTH, JOHNS HOPKINS: You know, it`s one of the most difficult periods to watch anybody go through. And you have never seen a church or a community or a family come together as you would see them come together to support and financially support somebody with cancer, especially those types of cancers.

It`s -- you know, when a panhandler asks for money, you question their motives. When a cancer patient asks for money for their treatments, you don`t question their motives. And a story like this hurts every other person out there with cancer who needs money to pay the bills.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Twenty-six-year-old Alicia Tolton said she was stricken with cancer. Donations and wishes from the community poured in. She solicited money on Facebook and a beef-and-beer fundraiser at the local VFW was even planned.

But police say there was one problem. Alicia Tolton didn`t have cancer. She was lying. Reports say Tolton even bilked $10,000 out of her 88-year-old grandfather to pay for non-existent medical treatment.

Tonight, Alicia Tolton isn`t fundraising. She`s behind bars on $25,000 cash bail.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The suffering -- to fake the suffering that ovarian and breast cancer patients go through is a felony.

Tonight, CNN Heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIKEMBE MUTOMBO, 2007 CNN HERO: Hello. I`m Dikembe Mutombo. As 2007 CNN Heroes Blue Ribbon panelist, I have recognized the strong (INAUDIBLE) work of everyday people who are changing the world.

As the founder of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation which works to improve the health, education and the quality of life in my homeland of the Democratic Republic of Congo, I see just how much the world needs heroes.

Now I`m thrilled to help CNN introduce one of this year the top 10 nominees.

HARMON PARKER, CNN HERO: What strikes me about this place is the beauty and the feeling of being insignificant. The beauty of this place also becomes dangerous because of these mountains when it rains.

I`ve worked all over Kenya. Every community has the same story of people drowning. Crocodiles and hippos and loved ones lost.

Look at this. Here come some kids helping.

The very first bridge I built I saw how it could change lives and transformed communities so I carried on and I love what I do.

My name is Harmon Parker and I build bridges to transform people`s lives.

The community has to initiate the project. They have to participate and make some sort of financial contribution. It`s hard and it takes a lot of determination. The bridge is a beautiful metaphor for many things.

I feel I`m privileged to do what I`m doing.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Most moms love to show off family photos. Not this Nebraska mother.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This is unbelievable.

GRACE: Mommy and her doper boyfriend torturing the baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just when you think you`ve seen everything.

GRACE: A Connecticut jury brings down the hammer.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This is a day Dr. William Petit has been waiting for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good will overcome evil.

GRACE: We have a verdict.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Guilty, 16 times.

GRACE: Beauty queen gone berserk.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Miss Kentucky Latina.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Now facing felony assault charges.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police fought like crazy.

GRACE: Dethroned after the boozed up beauty goes on a rampage.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Arrested and charged with two counts of assault.

HAMMER: The search for mother of two, 28-year-old Susan Powell, back on.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have any idea what happened to her?

JOSHUA POWELL, HUSBAND OF MISSING MOM SUSAN POWELL: I didn`t. I didn`t. I didn`t. She just went to bed.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He and the two kids were camping.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: On a camping trip.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is that where you were camping?

GRACE: Her 4-year-old little boy says, quote, mommy`s in the mine looking for crystals.

POWELL: She`s somewhere.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The 28-year-old Powell simply disappeared without a trace.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Crowe, 44, Grand Island, New York, killed Iraq, nearly two decades of serving, awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service medal, Army Commendation medal.

A Niagara University grad, from a family of military veterans. Loved hunting, spending time with his children. Leaves behind parents Colonel George and Mary Anne Crowe, brother Barry, sisters Margaret and Molly, children Jeremiah and Clara.

Terrence Crowe, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us and tonight a special good night from the New York control room.

Good night. There you are, Lucas, Liz, Norm. Who`s in the middle? Who is that? Heidi. Uh-huh. Squeaky.

And happy birthday to Colorado friend, Eve. She loves traveling with husband Bill, listening to music, watching HLN show and "SWIFT JUSTICE."

Happy birthday, Eve. You`re beautiful.

Also, lung cancer, number one killer cancer in the world. You don`t have to smoke to get lung cancer. Sunday, October 10th, 8:30 a.m., the Bonnie J. Addario walk/run. Go to Lungcancerfoundation.org.

I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.

END