Return to Transcripts main page

ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Zahra`s Prosthetic Leg Found?; Wife of Reality Show Contestant Falls to Death; Convicted Murderer Sought in Woman`s Death; "Ninja" Murder Trial; Outrage over Charlie Sheen Scandal

Aired October 27, 2010 - 19:00:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, devastated family members point fingers in what they say is a horrifying Hollywood homicide. Are cops looking at husband and "America`s Got Talent" contestant Joe Finley in this death investigation? His wife`s battered body found in a stairwell while he was auditioning for the show. Her family claims Laura threatened to leave her husband months before. But his family says they were happy. Is there a connection?

And a terrifying home invasion. Men dressed as ninjas invade a family`s home, gunning down a mother and father in front of their children. Inside the dramatic testimony as the alleged ringleader goes on trial. I`ll show you the bone-chilling newly released surveillance video from inside the house.

Plus, fast-breaking developments as Charlie Sheen breaks his silence. This Hollywood bad boy was allegedly wasted when he trashed his fancy New York hotel room. But today, he`s back in L.A. and back to work. Will this troubled actor face consequences? You won`t believe what Charlie`s saying about his latest scandal.

ISSUES starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But first, breaking news tonight as we learn about a gut-wrenching discovery in the search for missing 10-year-old Zahra Baker. A key piece of evidence has just been found in plain sight, laying [SIC] on the side of the road. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF TOM ADKINS, HICKORY, NORTH CAROLINA, POLICE DEPARTMENT: Investigators had discovered a prosthetic leg consistent with the description of Zahra Baker`s left prosthesis. The prosthetic leg was discovered late yesterday afternoon off Christie (ph) Road in Caldwell County. We are attempting to positively confirm the prosthetic leg as Zahra`s by a serial number inside the outer cover. The prosthetic leg was originally fitted in Australia and will take some time to confirm if it`s hers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This poor child lost her leg to cancer and needed her prosthetic leg to get around. Cops believe she was murdered.

Ten-year-old Zahra Baker has not been seen by anybody outside the family since late September. Her father and step-mom reported her missing on October 9. There`s this pair.

Since then, her step-mom, Elisa Baker, has been jailed on obstruction charges for writing a fake ransom note. And Zahra`s own father, Adam Baker, is in jail on bad check charges.

This poor little girl was living a nightmare, allegedly, enduring endless abuse from her step-mom. Now she`s missing and feared dead. Every single adult in this little girl`s life let her down. Will the discovery of this prosthetic leg be enough to make an arrest?

I am taking your calls on this: 1-877-JVM-SAYS. That`s 1-877-586- 7297.

Straight out to my fantastic expert panel. We begin with Tara Servatius, host of "The Tara Servatius Show" on WBD Radio, Charlotte.

Tara, this leg discovery is a major break, this prosthetic leg. We`ve also heard crews are digging through mulch piles at Zahra`s house. Is there a sense that they are on the verge of finding this child`s body?

TARA SERVATIUS, HOST, "THE TARA SERVATIUS SHOW": Yes, there absolutely is, Jane. Let me tell you what`s going on here.

She got a hot-shot lawyer about Friday. This is a woman who was really famous around here for trying capital cases and doing it well. And then suddenly by Sunday, Elisa Baker wants to talk. And then by Monday, her husband`s in jail, and she`s running around at all these sites. They`re turning up evidence.

I think the word on the street is around here that that lawyer said, "You better turn on your husband. You better start working with them. You better turn him in and turn him up, or you`re going to be in trouble." So all of a sudden she`s cooperating.

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: And Jane, what do we usually see? We usually see here on HLN, "In Session" all the time, usually the first one who turns on the other one, they get the best deal if there`s any criminality involved.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely. So you`re both raising this question. Did Zahra`s step-mom, Elisa Baker, lead investigators to this prosthetic leg? We know that she started cooperating with cops just yesterday, and then all of a sudden they find this major clue.

The police chief had this to say when a reporter asked him about that. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did Elisa Baker -- because she did go into that area and into that scene on Monday -- did she point that out?

ADKINS: I cannot confirm that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. They still have to match the serial numbers, but let`s face it: it`s a child`s prosthetic leg. It`s almost certain to be hers.

I don`t understand discarding something by the side of the road, Mike Brooks. It seems very haphazard. It seems like not very well thought out. What`s your analysis?

BROOKS: Well, again, some people think that, wait, they`ll never get caught. But we see this all the time, people doing this kind of thing.

Now, was it Elisa Baker? Was it Adam Baker who did this? Or was there somebody else involved? That remains to be seen.

But it does sound like the step-mom is cooperating. And that search that they`re doing now with the backhoes, that`s very interesting, too, that they`re back there looking for more evidence. Using the backhoe and then little rakes, that`s the way you work a crime scene when you`re looking for little pieces of evidence.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Landfill workers actually found what`s believed to be little Zahra`s mattress in a landfill after official search crews had left. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADKINS: The mattress was discovered by the landfill workers outside the original search grid. We based that grid on information that we had about the mattress that was placed in the landfill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. That landfill, the mattress is potentially very significant, because police say the child`s parents threw the little girl`s mattress away days before they reported her missing. So they`re doing DNA testing to see what comes up.

But Jayne Weintraub, given that a child with a prosthetic leg would certainly need a mattress to sleep on. If they threw it out, without replacing it, days before they reported her missing, would that tend to indicate that she was killed before the mattress was discarded, and perhaps even killed in her bed?

JAYNE WEINTRAUB, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I don`t know that I`d use the word "killed." I think I would use the word "died." Because we don`t know if it was a killing. We don`t know...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: They say -- the police believe it was a homicide.

WEINTRAUB: Well, homicide just means -- just means an intentional cause of death without knowing what. It could have been an accident gone bad. It could be covering up...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It could have been abuse that got carried away.

BROOKS: Now, Jane, did you hear what he said?

WEINTRAUB: Absolutely. Yes.

BROOKS: Did you hear what the chief said, though? He didn`t say that they were looking at landfill that was possibly where it was dumped. He said where the mattress was placed. So that says to me it was not just discarded at a Dumpster, and a certain Dumpster company, you know, refuse company dumps in a certain area of this landfill.

WEINTRAUB: They don`t know.

BROOKS: But he said, listen to me, be an active listener. He said where it was placed, which says to me that somebody put it there. It wasn`t just dumped there in a trash truck.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, here`s my big issue: will this be enough, this prosthetic leg discovery, to charge more than likely investigators have her prosthetic leg? They`re going to be getting DNA evidence off the mattress. And we know cops are at the home looking for more evidence. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADKINS: Investigators have also uncovered information that led search teams back to the family home in Hickory where technicians are recovering additional pieces of evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tara Servatius, do you think they have enough to charge? You know, the old saying "no body, no case," but if you get a prosthetic leg of a girl who couldn`t function without it, isn`t that almost equivalent to a body?

WEINTRAUB: Who are you charging? Is there blood on the mattress?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tara, go ahead.

Can you hear me?

SERVATIUS: I don`t know what the police are thinking on it. But I`ll tell you, for a prosecutor`s case, the time line is so important. They can`t go tell a jury she disappeared sometime in a two-week period. We don`t know if she went -- we don`t know anything.

And so they got to confirm this time line so they can make an argument to the jury to even justify to the prosecutor putting that kind of homicide charge on her. And that`s what this is about. This is about the time line.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me ask -- let me say this. Let me say this, Jayne. Here`s one possible scenario. OK. OK. The scenario is -- and I had it in my head. So I want to get it right.

She hasn`t been seen by anybody else since September 25. They report her missing October 9 -- October 9. Days before they report her missing, they toss out her mattress. So could it be that she died at the same time that her mattress was tossed or she dies, they throw out the mattress because she`s dead and maybe there`s evidence on it? And then they realized, "Wait, I`ve got to come up with an explanation for why this child is no longer around."

So she admits she wrote a fake ransom note, and then a fire is set in the backyard. And police come or law enforcement, firefighters come and find this fake ransom note. And so, in a sense they`re setting the whole fake story, allegedly, in motion. What do you make of that, Mike Brooks?

BROOKS: You know, it sounds feasible. And because you don`t have spontaneous combustion in the middle of the night of, you know, of a brush fire. And it just is too much of a coincidence.

But I still don`t like Adam Baker`s story when they first -- he first started talking to the press. He said, well, you know, she was reported on Saturday. The last time I saw her was Thursday night because I work shift work.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

BROOKS: When is the real time he last saw her?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and you know what? If you have a child who`s missing a mattress. A child needs a mattress, especially a child with prosthetic legs. So where was he wondering where her mattress was or getting her a new mattress? There`s no report of that.

Leslie in North Carolina, your question or thought, Leslie.

CALLER: Thank you for taking my call, Jane. I just want to know, with the evidence they have -- and it`s obvious there was -- these two are just vile people -- can they go ahead charge both the father and the stepmother and have this as capital murder, where the death penalty will be involved?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Excellent question. Jayne Weintraub.

WEINTRAUB: No, we don`t just charge people without evidence, although I`m sure to say that it happens sometimes, but no, there`s not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that they both did it. And you can`t do that as a squeeze play. You have to have a good faith basis to charge somebody. Those are the rules of the game.

BROOKS: Probable cause.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I got to tell you. We`re just getting started on this. Nancy Grace has a team of reporters on the ground in Hickory, North Carolina. She`s going to have much more on this breaking news story in the Zahra Baker case. Stay right here. Nancy is up at the top of the hour with the very latest.

All right. We`re taking your calls: 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

How about this? A contestant on "America`s Got Talent" auditions for the show, even as his wife is turning up dead. Now her family members are up in arms. Was this woman murdered?

Plus, cops find an unidentified woman`s body in a barrel at a convicted killer`s house. Now he`s on the loose, considered armed and dangerous. Why the...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, an all-out family feud breaks out after the wife of an "America`s Got Talent" contestant falls eight stories to her death just hours before his audition.

Joe Finley was waiting to take the stage and perform with his band when cops showed him a photo of his battered wife. You will hear his stunning reaction to that photo in a moment.

The popular NBC reality show "America`s Got Talent" was auditioning contestants in Los Angeles. Finley reportedly knew his wife was missing when he went to the audition, but he went anyway. And tonight, her family is livid.

Police have not called Joe Finley a suspect or even a person of interest in his wife`s death, and his family says he`s totally innocent. Is this even a homicide? The coroner has not made that determination yet.

But the husband was arrested on drug charges for allegedly having the drug Ecstasy. A published report claims they both -- the husband and the wife -- took Ecstasy that night when she disappeared.

Here he is at a YouTube clip at an L.A. music awards show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE FINLEY, CONTESTANT, NBC`S "AMERICA`S GOT TALENT": I`ve been an independent artist for a long time, self-managed and self-produced. And now she`s on her way up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Finley you just heard from there, says he absolutely had nothing to do with his wife`s death. So tonight, the big question: did Laura Finley fall down that stairwell, dropping eight stories in a drug- and booze-filled haze? Or might she been pushed? And if so, by whom?

Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

We`re straight out to syndicated radio host Carlos Diaz. Carlos, what is the very latest?

CARLOS DIAZ, SYNDICATED RADIO HOST: Well, you know, I mean, there`s so many different angles to this story. You look at Joe Finley and say, well, why in the world would he kill his wife, you know, at an "American Idol" audition, basically. A hotel at an "American Idol" -- why would he do that? Where`s the motive there to say, "I`m going to audition for `American Idol,` but just before I do, I`m going to go kill my wife." So you have to ask yourself that question.

But then, when cops show him the picture, he says to cops, "Oh, she`s dead." Well, they just showed him a picture of his wife with bruises on her face and his first reaction was, "Oh, she`s dead."

So that`s another thing where you say, well, you know, that can go the other way.

And his family right now -- her family, I should say, is livid. They`re saying that she was murdered. They don`t believe a word he`s saying. In fact, they were saying it`s complete B.S. So there are, you know, two versions of this story.

He`s telling TMZ, he`s telling Radar Online, "I didn`t do it. I`m innocent. You know, we took Ecstasy. We partied. She left to get ice. I woke up. She wasn`t there. I went to my audition. I didn`t think anything of it. I thought she was out and just doing her thing."

You have to wonder, though, if your loved one is missing in the morning, wouldn`t you try maybe or...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, maybe if you`re getting over an Ecstasy hangover, your judgment isn`t like 100 percent, which brings me to my big issue tonight. The Ecstasy, or the agony?

Radar Online claims Joe Finley told them that they drank alcohol and did the drug Ecstasy the night she vanished. If true, they`re living it up at this fancy hotel. You see there it`s quite fancy. He`s about to have this big, major audition with "America`s Got Talent" and maybe become famous. They`re both high as a kite. Different people react different ways to drugs and alcohol.

So addiction specialist Howard Samuels, we talked so much about addict nation on this show. What are the range of reactions when somebody is high on Ecstasy and drinking alcohol?

HOWARD SAMUELS, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: Well, Jane, I must say it`s a very dangerous combination. I had one of my patients O.D. last year on Ecstasy and alcohol. So, you know, for someone to be taking Ecstasy and drinking who knows how much in this case can be very dangerous. So doesn`t surprise me at all that this woman is dead. And what`s so unfortunate is the attitude about it. The attitude...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, wait a second. Let me ask you this. Would you, if you were high on Ecstasy -- I know people say you get very loving. I`ve had people -- I`ve never tried Ecstasy, thank God, but people tell me you get really loving. You want to hug and kiss. Do you get angry, too?

SAMUELS: The alcohol makes you unbalanced when you combine the two. So it can have a very dangerous effect because everyone`s chemical make-up is different within the body.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, I hear you.

Joe and Laura Finley were married for 26 years. They have three children, and according to Radar Online, the kids are standing by their dad, saying he`s not responsible.

Now, here`s a YouTube clip of Joe Finley performing with his band. His side of the family says he and Laura were happy and excited about his audition. But his in-laws told TMZ that everything that Joe`s saying is B.S. and there are gaping holes in the story. Your thoughts, Mike Brooks?

BROOKS: I`ll tell you what. I -- I don`t care what you were taking, what kind of Ecstasy -- Ecstasy hangover. She leaves at 3 a.m. He wakes up to go do his audition. She`s still not there. Aren`t you going to worry a little bit? You know, you`re going to take a shower, get ready, she`s still not there. Wouldn`t you want your loved one to be there with you to watch your performance?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but you know, again, Ecstasy is a hand grenade thrown into the equation, because people who are doing drugs do not make smart decisions.

Thank you, fantastic panel.

Dramatic testimony in the Byrd and Melanie Billings murder trial. Tonight you`re going to see the newly-released shocking surveillance video from inside this ninja-style home invasion.

Plus, a convicted killer on the loose. A woman found in a barrel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED HANSON, SUSPECT`S ROOMMATE: It`s not what you expect. It`s not what you can anticipate. There is a sense of unreality about the whole thing.

I`m looking for another place to live. Is that a shock to anybody?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, did a paroled murderer strike again? Right now as we speak, a desperate manhunt underway for Dennis Anderson. An anonymous tip led police to his Houston home last week, where they found a woman`s body stuffed inside a barrel. She was tied up with wire. Investigators are trying to figure out who she is and exactly how she died. But the wire says to me something really awful happened.

Meanwhile, there`s escalating outrage that this guy right there wasn`t still behind bars. This man you`re looking at viciously murdered a woman and her 3-year-old granddaughter by stuffing the girl in a toilet during a store robbery in 1972. He got a life sentence.

But, of course, life doesn`t mean life in our criminal justice system. So he was paroled after just 17 years. That`s not a life sentence. Why not? It`s outrageous.

Anderson told his new roommate that he killed two people years ago during an attempted carjacking. The roommate says he was blown away by Anderson`s callous attitude.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANSON: Basically, that killing somebody wasn`t a big deal to him, to him. And at the time, you know, I thought that was kind of cold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, you think? Cold?

Straight out to Joe Gomez, reporter with KTRH News Radio in Houston.

Joe, what`s the very latest in the manhunt for Dennis Anderson?

JOE GOMEZ, REPORTER, KTRH NEWS RADIO: Well, Jane, right now, police believe Dennis Anderson may be somewhere in the Florida area. As you mentioned, this guy has a very long track record, taking back -- all the way back to 1972, where he apparently bludgeoned to death a 50-year-old antique shop owner, and then slit her throat, and then grabbed her 3-year- old granddaughter and drowned her in the toilet bowl.

This guy then spent about 17 years in prison for those dreadful acts. He was sentenced to two life sentences, but he got out because of an early release program. Apparently, he showed that he had good behavior. He`d earned an associates of arts degree and got 60 hours towards a bachelor`s degree. So after 17 years they let this guy out.

And now he`s still out in the streets, like I say, police think somewhere in Florida. Hopefully, they can catch him before this monster strikes again, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And I`ve got to say, last spring he was accused of theft and hitting a woman during some kind of theft/robbery. And he got about six months behind bars.

At that point, the Texas Parole Board had the option to revoke his lifetime parole and put him back in prison for the initial murders, and make him serve that life sentence, and they chose not to do that, saying, "Well, this is the first time he broke the law in two decades."

Guess what? They were wrong, in all likelihood. There`s a woman in a barrel in his house. This was the first time he got caught -- Joe Gomez.

GOMEZ: That`s right. Yes, this is the first time he got caught, anyway. I mean, as you mentioned, this guy should`ve served 180 days in jail just over the past summer. He only served a month for that robbery charge.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Whoa.

GOMEZ: Police -- yes, just a month. Police just last week went to this guy`s house, found this poor woman`s body, decaying body, and it was several months old, police say, in a rusty barrel in the backyard. The roommate led them to this grisly grave. The roommate had apparently just met Dennis Anderson two weeks ago on Craigslist. Dennis Anderson then takes off. Apparently, he was tipped off the police were looking for him.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Got to leave it right there. But let`s start putting the right people behind bars for life. Not non-violent drug offenders, but killers, double murderers need to go behind bars.

Up next, a hideous...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Terrifying home invasion. Men dressed as ninjas invade a family`s home, gunning down a mother and father in front of their children. Inside the dramatic testimony as the alleged ring leader goes on trial. I`ll show you the bone-chilling newly-released surveillance video from inside the house.

Plus, fast-breaking developments as Charlie Sheen breaks his silence: this Hollywood bad boy was allegedly wasted when he trashed his fancy New York hotel room. But today he`s back in L.A. and back to work. Will this troubled actor face consequences? You won`t believe what Charlie`s saying about his latest scandal.

But first, breaking news in the Zahra Baker investigation: cops believe they have found little Zahra`s missing prosthetic leg. Zahra`s been missing for weeks. She lost her leg to cancer and needed that prosthetic leg to get around. And now it seems somebody just threw it like trash on the side of the road.

Cops found the leg today, on the side of the road literally in a brushy area and in total daylight. Search crews are back at the Baker home with a tractor. You see it right there searching through mulch piles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF TOM ADKINS, HICKORY, NORTH CAROLINA POLICE DEPT: Investigators have also uncovered information that led search teams back to the family home in Hickory where technicians are recovering additional pieces of evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So stay right there at the top of the hour, Nancy Grace, she has got a team on the ground with the latest stunning developments in the Zahra case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did you find Mr. Billings?

APRIL SPENCER, NEIGHBOR: He was in the bedroom in front of the dresser face down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, dramatic testimony, and astonishing new video from inside the ninja murders. Chilling surveillance footage from the victims` home shows the horrific -- and I mean horrific crime in progress. Police say seven thugs -- I call them idiot morons -- dressed as ninjas stormed a Florida home last year and executed Melanie and Byrd Billings in their bedroom.

There are 13 disabled children -- that`s right, these people took care of 13 disabled children because they were good-hearted people -- were home as this nightmare unfolded. The trial for alleged ring leader and moron Patrick Gonzalez Jr. -- you see him right there -- got understood way this week. He pleaded not guilty.

This is video from the family`s living room where Byrd Billings was initially shot in the leg. You can see two of the armed suspects in the upper left-hand corner. Shortly after this was recorded, Melanie and Byrd were taken upstairs and shot to death. A neighbor found their bodies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did you find Mr. Billings?

SPENCER: He was in the bedroom in front of the dresser, face down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Prosecutors say the suspects were after the couple`s safe, which they thought held $13 million. And they were totally wrong about that. The safe they stole turned out to contain medication, family documents, and some jewelry that wasn`t worth a whole lot. Will the suspects` apparent stupidity do them in?

Straight out to "In Session`s" Jean Casarez, who has been monitoring this in the courtroom all week; Jean, what is the very latest?

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": The very latest is the medical examiner took the stand as the very last witness this afternoon. And Jane, some really, really tough testimony to listen to -- there were no autopsy photos that were shown. The family stayed in the room.

But this is what her theory is. The shot to Byrd Billings in the master bedroom that went through his cheek, she believes that the angle of that shot was as such that Byrd Billings was on his knees in the master bedroom. And with that shot, he fell forward, flat, and the last two shots to the base of his neck execution style was while he was already on his stomach in that bedroom.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Again, these are good-hearted people. Look at the children that they`re taking care of. And they were slaughtered.

I want to break down the horrifying surveillance footage from inside the Billings` home. HLN law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks, I understand you`re going to walk us through this astounding surveillance video with a telestrator. Take it away.

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Jane, we look at one -- at four of the first pictures here and we see -- we see these perps start to come in here. Now Richard Thornton, who is one of the co- defendants -- this is Richard Thornton and Rakeem Florence as they were coming in. Here you see -- right there, if we can stop it -- right there for a second. You see -- you see Byrd Billings here, you see Melanie Billings here and over on the side, we could see it a few moments ago is one of the children, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my God.

BROOKS: But this is Richard Thornton right here on your top left, and you see his co-defendant, another co-defendant, Rakeem Florence who also testified today. But Thornton said that the man you see bent over right in the center here of your screen, right here with the gun to his head, that is what he describes as the defendant. That is Mr. Gonzalez Jr., who is on trial.

Now, what happened here apparently, Jane -- apparently while he had him down, he was asking him where`s the safe? Where`s the safe? He wouldn`t tell him.

And then if you could stop it right there, that`s fine. What he apparently did was fire one round into the floor of the living room, then he shot him once in one leg and once in the other. Then they went up to the master bedroom, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you could see him there, he doesn`t have a shirt on, Mr. Billings right there.

BROOKS: Right. Exactly. And there you see -- you see the one foot (ph) right there with the shotgun. Right there. Yes, he has a shotgun. And somewhere between here and here along the couch is where he was shot twice -- once in each leg.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable.

BROOKS: Before being marched up to the bedroom and what jean described as killed execution style by -- allegedly by Gonzalez Jr.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s my big issue. Are these suspects a bunch of dangerous idiots? Of course, they are. How did Gonzalez and his pack of murderous morons think they would get away with this when Gonzalez who once worked with Billings knew the entire Billings property was chocked full of surveillance cameras to keep watch on the disabled kids.

Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s very security-conscious. In his office, he`s got monitors so he can see everything in his house all the time. This guy was well-prepared. I`m surprised this went down like this without a shootout or something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean that`s from Gonzalez` interrogation. I`ve got to ask you, Dr. Dale Archer, how could they be so stupid to invade a house when he knows, the ring leader knows cameras are everywhere. Did they think those ridiculous ninja outfits would protect them?

DR. DALE ARCHER, CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIST: Well, remember, Jane, the motive here is money. And it`s $13 is million. And the story that was going around is that this was Mexican mafia money. So he probably convinced himself and the others that, look, there`ll be no blowback on this. This is mafia money. They can`t even report it as being stolen.

We`re going to go in, get this money, no one will talk about it. And it`ll be ours. So I think that`s what the mind set was going in.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Jean Casarez, why on earth did they think there was $13 million in this safe? Where did they get that idea?

CASAREZ: I`ve asked everybody that question. And Gonzalez Jr. told authorities, originally, this is very deep. It is a very deep situation. He talked about the Mexican mafia. Money laundering, that`s never been proven that Byrd Billings engaged in all of that. But Leonard Gonzalez Jr., if he was the trigger man, if he was the master mind, he was right. There was a safe in that house. In fact, there were two safes in that house. He got the one that didn`t have anything. But the one that had upwards of $160,000 in cash was in the home. So when you look at it, Leonard Gonzalez Jr. may have had some inside information.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This Gonzalez idiot once worked at a car dealership that Byrd Billings owned. Byrd actually made a donation to Gonzalez` karate program. He had a karate school about a year before Gonzalez returned the favor by allegedly gunning him down, proving again no good deed goes unpunished. The karate studio, apparently not very well managed went under, so Gonzalez is broke. Two witnesses testified he tried unsuccessfully to recruit them as accomplices.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY JOSEPH EISA, PROSECUTION WITNESS: He was sweating, looked like he was up doing drugs or something and out of his mind. And so he wanted me to do -- be a get-away driver for him on a robbery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After that conversation, what did you do with it?

EISA: I had put my hand around the back of his neck and escorted him out the door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. And I want to show you some really shocking video. And this is video of one of the little children who was taken care of. And she`s sleeping as the car -- the red car pulls up and the home invasion begins. This is time lapse photography. She eventually wakes up, and terrified she ends up hiding under the covers.

Dr. Dale Archer, the adult children of the Billings have adopted all of these children, but they`ve got to be traumatized for life.

ARCHER: Yes, there`s no doubt the kids are going to be traumatized, Jane. But you know what? There`s a very, very scientific way to be able to evaluate and treat these kids. And number one, you`ve got to be honest with them.

But number two, and even more important, you`ve got to reassure them that they`re going to be safe. Because when kids witness this or experience it and lose their parents in a violent method like this, they`re afraid that something is going to happen to them.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

ARCHER: So if you do those two things, the kids usually come out ok.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, this is just a horrifying trial. We`re going to stay on top of it. Thank you so much, wonderful panel.

Charlie Sheen: speaking out after his bizarre, wild, unbelievable night at the Plaza Hotel; you won`t believe what he`s saying. And also, the woman who was there with him is now speaking out and saying, hey, I`m not a prostitute. How dare you call me that?

You won`t believe the developments and I`m taking your calls -- 1-877- JVM-SAYS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY BONADUCE, ACTOR/RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The humorous one is an allergic reaction. My girlfriend is allergic to shellfish. If she eats a shrimp she breaks out in a rash. I`m pretty sure Charlie Sheen breaks out in a rash fairly frequently, but I don`t think it gives him the right to break up a hotel room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What in God`s name possessed you to talk about pornography?

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: Hey, she started it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wasn`t talking about pornography, she was talking about constitutional law and the preservation of the First Amendment.

SHEEN: Which includes pornography.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You should know, Charlie, you`re the expert. Tonight, breaking news: we now know the identity of the woman who cowered in Charlie Sheen`s hotel suite bathroom during his reported mega-meltdown yesterday. TMZ reports she`s 22-year-old porn star Capri Anderson. She has been in a slew of adult features and she insists she`s not an escort and she is not prostitute and she is offended. Ok. She`s offended by this. "New York Post" this trashed -- Sheen and coke and hooker rampage at the Plaza.

Ok, get it straight, people. She`s a porn star, not a prostitute. Jeez. Meantime, was Sheen high on cocaine when he allegedly went on this rampage and tore apart his fancy Manhattan hotel room? RadarOnline reports Sheen tested positive for cocaine at the hospital after cops who were called to the disaster zone gave him a very nice choice. Do you want to go to the hospital? Or do you want to go to jail?

And, of course, you`re going to choose the hospital. Sources tell the "New York Daily News" that Sheen admitted using coke and booze before he went bizarre. So what did chatty Charlie have to say about his bad behavior? In a text message to RadarOnline he insisted, quote, "The story is totally overblown and overplayed," end quote.

Overblown -- interesting choice of words there. Meantime, we`re outrage cops let Sheen, which as you seen here with his ex-wife and kids on TMZ video, make a choice. Ok. We don`t get to make a choice when we get into trouble. The cops don`t say to the average person, hey, would you like to go to jail? Would you like to go to the hospital? Which would you prefer? Why didn`t they just charge him with drunk and disorderly conduct, and destruction of property, or using cocaine, not for nothing.

He`s on probation for allegedly threatening to kill his estranged wife with a knife. Sheen`s lawyers did not reply to our request for comment on these latest developments. Call me 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

Straight out to Dylan Howard, senior executive editor of RadarOnline.com; Dylan, what`s the latest?

DYLAN HOWARD, SENIOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR, RADARONLINE.COM: Well, Jane, Charlie Sheen is defiant. And in a text message conversation to myself last night and I`ll, in fact quote it to you. I asked him how he was coping after the events of the previous 24 hours. And he said "Oh, my man, I`m fine. The story is totally blown out and overplayed as far as the reality of the scenario. I know what went down and that`s where it will stay -- under wraps." And he finished that text message with a smiling face.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m -- I`m really even beyond outraged. There`s no word to describe what`s going through my mind. So I`m going to toss it out to Mandy Pearson. Mandy Pearson is a recovering heroin addict who has actually seen the inside of a jail cell as a result of her addiction. What`s your reaction to the fact that cops gave him a choice? Oh, you can go to the hospital or you can go to jail?

MANDY PEARSON, RECOVERING HEROIN ADDICT: Personally it pisses me off. I was never given that option, I don`t think anybody is given that option. I`m all about rehabilitation, but he is so full of excuses for as long as I can remember. He doesn`t own up to anything he does. And I`m outraged about it.

I have had to face the consequences. If I have violated my probation, I`d go to jail for 280 days.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

PEARSON: So --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And they`re not even talking about him violating his probation despite the problems he got into with the -- one of his wives now probably his ex-wife in -- during Christmas.

Ok. Here`s my big issue, should they cancel this guy`s show? Should they cancel Charlie?

Prominent "New York Post" columnist Linda Stacy says quote, "CBS should do the right thing and yank him off his show". In my opinion, this guy is a misogynist -- all of his allege attacks are on women. And I`m going to outline them in a moment. But why hasn`t Charlie been treated for example like Mel Gibson who has become a pariah in Hollywood?

Mel has spewed ugly, hateful, racist remarks; he`s been beyond disrespectful in these alleged phone calls. So Mel got dumped from "Hangover 2" after all these ugly incidents.

Carlos Diaz, why is Charlie Sheen still being paid almost $2 million an episode on "Two and a Half Men?"

CARLOS DIAZ, SYNDICATED RADIO HOST: Well, you know, I mean Jane, some breaking news, as far as them dumping Charlie Sheen off of that show or canceling that show, it`s never going to happen. Because that show is making money for CBS and that`s the reason it stays on the air.

But here is the thing and you all agree with this one Jane, we`re not mad at Lindsay Lohan because she does drugs. We`re mad at Lindsay Lohan because she allegedly gets away with doing drugs. I mean the same thing with Charlie Sheen. But see Charlie`s whole persona is hey, man it`s cool, I`m good, you`re good, we`re all good, it`s fine.

He -- he doesn`t try to give you an alternate perception of himself. That`s Charlie Sheen, it`s kind of like whenever you hear this stories people in Hollywood just say well, that`s just Charlie Sheen being Charlie Sheen.

I agree with you. A lot of these -- a lot of these incidents happen with women in the room and how can a guy, you know keep having these incidents happened and then have woman across the country go, hey we love this guy?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think it`s absolutely outrageous. It really is. Every time, I think maybe they will do the right thing this time. Maybe they`ll treat a Hollywood star like everyone else. I am always disappointed.

There`s a two-tiered system of justice in this country, plain and simple. This is a perfect example of it.

Everybody stay right where you are. We are going to have an addiction specialist reaction on the Sheen scandal next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIDWIN CHARLES, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION": We all know that he is Teflon Charlie. Things just don`t seem to stick to him nor does it impact his career.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why not? Tonight, it`s business as usual for Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen. Are you as outraged at how easily he gets off? So to speak? After his New York City meltdown?

Howard Samuels, there had been reports that Charlie Sheen has kind of used a certain Malibu rehab center as a hotel staying there on and off. What the heck does that mean? You`re not supposed to be able to drop in like you`re checking in at a hotel then check out.

HOWARD SAMUELS, FOUNDER & CEO, THE HILLS TREATMENT CENTER: You know what, Jane? I mean this whole situation makes me sick. He manipulates the treatment center because of his money. All Charlie Sheen is, is an active addict alcoholic who manipulates everybody and everything. And you know, because he has money that has been given to him by a network.

What makes me so sick about this case is if he just wanted to use drugs, fine; but he abuses women Jane. He abuses women in a very violent way. That is what really has to stop here. What really needs to happen is that this show needs to be boycotted.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

SAMUELS: I mean the courts failed him. People need to rise up and we need to get rid of this kind of sickness off the TV air waves because this is what`s wrong with Hollywood.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Connie, Ohio, your question or thought. Connie.

CONNIE, OHIO (via telephone): Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi. Your question or thought, ma`am.

CONNIE: oh, I`m sorry. First of all, I love all the characters on "Two and a Half Men". I love the show. But to me I believe Charlie Sheen is living the role or the life of Charlie Harper.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Charlie Harper?

DIAZ: On the TV show.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, I never watch the TV show. So ok. Oh, he`s living the life of Charlie -- does Charlie Harper beat up on women?

DIAZ: Not on the TV show.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean come on. Let me ask you this question. Was Charlie Sheen subconscious talking last year during a red carpet appearance with his then wife Brooke Mueller? Listen to this chilling clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: We love each other and want to hang out until we die. Doesn`t that sound romantic? Yes. Hang out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hang out until we die. Brooke Mueller, just one of several woman who have accused Charlie Sheen of attacking them. In 1991, he allegedly shot Kelly Preston in the arm accidentally. He pleaded no contest to knocking out a girlfriend in `96. His ex-wife, Denise Richards claims he was violent in her divorce filing. And he was busted for allegedly threatening Brooke Mueller while holding a knife to her throat.

The bottom line is -- Charlie Sheen, in my humble opinion, Carlos Diaz is a coward who attacks women.

DIAZ: If you put that time line up there, yes. That`s the thing. The sad thing is that he`s going to be funded, if you will, by CBS because of the fact that he has number one show, the number one comedy on TV. They are not going to let him face the consequences.

You are right. These acts, if you look -- guys across the country will say, yes but you know what, Charlie Sheen is a guy`s guy.

But Jane, you`re making very valid points. He`s not a guys` guy. You can no longer say hey, is this Charlie being Charlie? There are women in danger here and that seems to be the pattern.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is a war on women story. Dylan Howard, five seconds. What do you think is going to happen to Charlie Sheen?

HOWARD: Nothing. Money and fine wins. This woman will come out with more harrowing details about what happened that night, two nights ago.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: When she does, we will report them.

Thank you fabulous panel.

Nancy Grace up next with the latest on Zahra.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END