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PRIMETIME JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Dunkin` Donuts Employee Murders Wife in Store; Strangled to Death in Her Apartment; Cancer Patients Describes Brutal Hammer Attack; Mom Passed Out In Car with Toddlers In Back; Bill O`Reilly Out At Fox News Amid Sex Harassment Scandal; Football Star Found Dead Hanging In Cell, Was It Murder? Aired 8-9p ET

Aired April 19, 2017 - 20:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[20:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The heat has to be kept high on a boil here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patel now finds himself on the list no one wants to end up on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FBI`s top 10 most wanted fugitive list.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators say it all came to a head in the Arundel Mills Dunkin` Donuts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The violence in this case was stark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The security video captures the moments before Bhadreshkumar Patel allegedly slashed his wife to death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s hard for me to even talk about her as though she`s gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tiffany Thrasher was found strangled in her first floor apartment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When she didn`t show up at church Easter Sunday, it was her friends who called police.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was very unusual for her not to show up to church.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police now say the woman may have been sexually assaulted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are learning that another woman has now come forward accusing Bill O`Reilly of sexual harassment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bill O`Reilly would walk by her desk and say, Uh-huh, looking good, girl, hot chocolate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dozens of advertisers have abandoned "The O`Reilly Factor."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many millions of dollars have to get paid before Fox News takes sexual harassment seriously?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the face of Fox News is out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are the last public images of Aaron Hernandez.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Aaron Hernandez has taken his own life in prison.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The timing of this is just very, very curious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attorney Jose Baez says there were no conversations or correspondence from Aaron to his family that would have indicated anything

like this was even possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOEY JACKSON, HLN HOST: Hello, everyone. I`m Joey Jackson, in for my friend, Ashleigh Banfield, and this is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.

He used to make donuts, but now a Maryland man suspected of killing his wife is now on the FBI`s most wanted list. This -- you`ll see him right

there -- is Bhadreshkumar Patel. Investigators say that he slashed his wife to death inside the Dunkin` Donuts where they both worked.

Now, their final moments as a married couple -- you`ll see it there -- is captured on that surveillance tape. You`ll see that they were working

together. You`ll see them go out into the back. He comes back, she doesn`t. Police say during that time, that Patel stabbed his wife multiple

times before he disappeared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY HARDING, ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY POLICE: The scene was very brutal and she died in a horrible way. That`s the kind of person that we`re dealing

with, that he could murder his wife and then the next minute just calmly walk away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Chuck Carroll is an anchor for NBC News radio. He joins us now from Washington, D.C. Chuck, take us through the details in terms of the

specifics of how this occurred. Do we know anything about that? And what do we know?

CHUCK CARROLL, NBC NEWS RADIO: Yes, here`s what we do know. There are still many pieces of this puzzle to put together. But this was April 12th,

2015, not long before midnight. The two, the newlyweds, were working together at this Dunkin` Donuts. They were the only two inside at this

point. And Palak Patel, the wife, she was only 21 years old, apparently she wanted to move back to India.

This was a point of contention between the two. She had called family in India, was talking to them at the time. And a matter of fact, in that

surveillance video that you showed, you can see Bhadreshkumar -- he was holding a cell phone as they go through the back of that store. That

apparently was the phone call that he interrupted between Palak and her family. That was the point of contention.

So he goes around the corner. That`s when the murder occurs, and as you said, he walks away calm as a cucumber. And then a customer enters the

store -- this is sometime in the 10:00 o`clock hour -- notices that absolutely nobody is in the store. There`s a cop nearby. The cop comes in

to investigate after the customer alerted it, and that`s when Palak Patel`s body is found. Now, during this...

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: ... about the cause of death?

CARROLL: The cause of death was she was bludgeoned and she was stabbed. This was an absolutely brutal murder. Authorities say that this was

something -- they see murders on a day-to-day basis, but this was one that was particularly heinous. It was horrendous. The FBI actually said that

they put him on the top 10 most wanted list because they`re concerned that there`s somebody out there willing to commit this level of violence.

JACKSON: And just taking us fast forward -- you said it occurred two years ago. What, if any, investigatory steps have been taken to bring him

further to justice so that he could be in police custody?

CARROLL: Yes, that`s really good question. You know, the bigger question is, is he even back in the United States? This is a guy who immigrated to

the U.S. from India. A matter of fact, a month before the murder occurred, both of their visas expired, so he was in the country illegally at this

point.

And what authorities think is that it would be difficult for him to exit the country, one, because after the murder, he was put on the no-fly list.

And two, it`s difficult to exit the country on an expired visa. But nonetheless, that remains a possibility.

[20:05:02]And that`s also a big part of why he`s on the 10 most wanted list because this puts pressure on him not only here in the United States, but

certainly a heightened sense (ph) profile around the world.

JACKSON: Which is a very good thing. If people see something, they have to say something. Now, Chuck, just stand by for one minute.

First, I want to show a picture of him on the screen so that he could be brought to justice. Anybody out there, if you see the person that you`re

going to see there, we have his hair color, we have his height, we have his weight -- 165 pounds, his eyes are brown, his height is 5-9.

So I want to go now to Bobby Chacon. He`s a retired FBI special agent. If I can just ask you -- of course, he joins us from Palm Springs, California.

He`s put on -- that is, this alleged killer -- this most wanted list. What does that do in terms of deploying resources to get to his capture?

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, first of all, it does two main things. It obviously as been mentioned, it gives publicity. It gives

us exposure of this guy. Some people probably are seeing him for the first time, even though this crime happened, you know, two years ago. So the

national publicity and even the international publicity of going on this list is a massive asset in a fugitive investigation of this type.

The second thing it does, the second major thing it does, also been mentioned, is it comes with an automatic $100,000 reward. So you know, it

provides a financial incentive. And by the way, that award only means that the person has to be arrested. The person accepting the award does not

have to testify, doesn`t have to be a witness, doesn`t have to show up to court, just has to provide the information leading to the arrests. It

doesn`t even have to be a conviction in this case. The person will still get the award, the reward, if the person is, in fact, arrested.

JACKSON: Well, that`s very beneficial. Now, we also have a map of the places where Patel has ties to, which it`s pretty various. I mean, it`s

over the place, as you`ll see on the map momentarily. But the question for you, you see it there. I mean, he has ties to Canada, Illinois, Kentucky,

Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey.

How does the FBI even begin, Bobby Chacon, to parse this out, to determine where he potentially could be?

CHACON: Well, I mean, the one good thing is -- you know, we`re working with Maryland authorities on a case like this. The one good thing is we

that have a vast network of FBI agents in all of those areas. So if it was me and I was doing this, I could cut a lead in one day to all those

different places, send it out with the single hit of a button on my computer, and immediately, the lead would go out to all those places,

including India, by the way, where we have FBI agents permanently stationed full-time in the country of India.

So you know, the FBI has a vast network of worldwide offices now, and you know, very quickly, we can send that information out, particularly -- it

does make it difficult in a fugitive investigation when the subject has so many geographic areas where they can be and a vast family network who could

be giving him support and aid in -- you know, in staying on the run.

JACKSON: So there`s no question about the fact that it makes it difficult. But how do you get through that difficulty to actually get to him? What

specific steps does the FBI take, even coordinating with local authorities, coordinating with perhaps India or Canada in order to get useful

information so that they could capture this guy?

CHACON: I mean, one of the reasons he`s put on the list is that the case has pretty much run cold. In a fugitive investigation, if you have some

hot leads, sometimes, you don`t even want that kind of publicity. So one of the criteria for getting on this list is, you know, you`ve run out of

leads and you need to generate some more.

The second thing is the financial aspect of the reward. If you`ve got family members that you have an idea may be are aiding this guy and you`ve

worked for a year or two to try to pressure them or try to coerce them -- convince them -- not coerce them but convince them to do the right thing

and turn this guy in, and this -- you`re still not getting anywhere, and then, you know, you can try to financially incentivize them to kind of come

forward, if they are, in fact, helping them.

So that`s one of -- that -- these are -- putting him on this list gives you those two investigative techniques to start using. They`ve probably tried

to really get the family to give this guy up and they`ve probably, you know, come to a dead end. And now they`re hoping that the money can

convince some of these people that may be assisting him in staying on the run to come forward.

JACKSON: Stand by, Bobby Chacon. Thank you for that information.

Everybody at home, you see him there. You see how he looks. If you see something, say something.

Joining me now, former prosecutor, great defense attorney Robert Schalk, and of course, defense attorney, also a great attorney, Misty Marris. I

turn to you.

Now, we have this graphic I want to point out, and it shows when this alleged murder occurred, that he traveled some distance. And I think it`s

185 miles. He takes a cab. So I guess I would ask you -- ladies first, Misty -- what does that tell you in terms of consciousness of guilt, if

anything, that a person comes out -- we saw the earlier surveillance video -- and goes 186 miles or 85 miles to another location?

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, here`s the issue, Joey. So we see that video. We know, though, that these are still allegations that...

[20:10:02]JACKSON: Always.

MARRIS: ... everyone deserves a vehement defense. You`re innocent until proven guilty. The issue is, whether or not there are some defenses --

could there be an insanity defense, are there other mitigating factors, perhaps heat of passion...

JACKSON: Right.

MARRIS: ... the fact that he did travel that distance does not speak too well for Patel, and that`s because it shows that he was aware of what he

was doing and it looks like he`s trying to get away. And one thing`s for sure, being on the lam isn`t doing him favors.

JACKSON: And Bob Schalk, quickly, if I could say -- is there any defense for this guy? You see him go back, and she doesn`t come back with him. He

travels this distance. Or do we think we have our man?

ROBERT SCHALK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Innocent until proven guilty, or guilty until they see the video. Once they see that video -- there are only two

people there. Two people go in the back, one person comes out. You have a witness who says he takes a cab 185 miles away. All these things added

together -- he`s not findable at this point in time. I think once he`s found, it`s not a matter of if they get a conviction, it`s a matter of when

they get a conviction.

JACKSON: No doubt about it. So going back to Chuck Carroll, if you`re still with us, if I could ask you the question?

CARROLL: Sure.

JACKSON: Chuck, are you there? What`s the very latest that we know in terms of the ability to get him in? Are we any closer at all?

CARROLL: That`s the thing. It`s -- as was just mentioned, this trail has definitely gone cold. After he took that taxi the 185 miles to New Jersey,

he stayed in a hotel near the airport for seven hours. He got there at 3:00 AM, left at 10:00 AM, took the hotel shuttle to Newark Penn Station,

and that is what authorities say was the last time anybody had seen him.

They have approached family. Family is not willing to come forward and give any sort of leads as to where he is. So right now, this trail is very

cold, and that`s exactly why he was added to this top 10 list.

JACKSON: So Chuck Carroll, just to wrap this up -- so you`re saying when he was seen two years ago, it went cold and no one has heard from him since

that point?

CARROLL: That`s exactly what authorities are saying, since 10:00 AM the morning after the murder. That was the last time anybody has reported

seeing him.

JACKSON: Stand by. Going back to Bobby Chacon and asking you the question -- you know, when you have this two-year gap, is there any hope to get this

person? What now is the FBI`s best chance to bring him out from where he might be hiding?

CHACON: Well, you know, I hate to keep repeating it, but I think the best chance is the family. I think when you look at a case like this and the

culture that you`re operating with, I think the family is important. I think that in many of these cases, family members could be, you know,

sympathetic to him and -- and -- you know, and are trying to, you know, aid him in his fugitive status, so...

JACKSON: Which is a crime, we should add, right? You aid and abet a known felon, that`s a criminal offense. Is the FBI speaking with his family or

known associates?

CHACON: I`m sure that they have done all of that, and I`m sure that they came up with -- you know, against a stone wall. And that`s why they put

him on this list. And you know, and they are hoping maybe that the financial incentive can make, you know, somebody come forward.

I mean, I -- you (INAUDIBLE) you look at all the family members and if they are helping him or they -- you know, you could find a family member with

another criminal charge in an unrelated case against him, and you can possibly offer a deal to that family member for any information. So I`m

sure they`re trying all leads related to his family. I`m sure the family has been under surveillance and I`m sure...

JACKSON: Well, let`s hope they do, Bobby Chacon, and thank you for joining us, retired FBI special agent, and also Chuck Carroll. We appreciate both

of you.

A murder mystery in suburban Chicago. A beautiful young woman is found dead in her apartment -- you see her there -- after she didn`t show up for

Sunday services. Exactly what happened?

And there`s no good way to spin this. Fox News star -- you see him there, Bill O`Reilly -- is out a job amid allegations of sexual harassment. Stay

tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:18:00]JACKSON: The search is intensifying for the killer of a beautiful young woman inside of her apartment in the Chicago suburbs. Now,

police found Tiffany Thrasher on Easter Sunday. You see her there. She`d been strangled to death. They also believe the 33-year-old had been

sexually assaulted. Now, her friends reported her missing when she didn`t show up at church to sing in the choir.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So officers made entry into the apartment unit and found the female victim deceased there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was very unusual for her not to show up to church. She was planning on being there. We`re looking at all leads possible.

We`ve had officers out in the area talking to many residents that lived there and determining any leads possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Now, Tiffany`s friends and family say they last heard from her on Saturday and are trying to piece together exactly what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s hard for me to even talk about her as though she`s gone because this hasn`t -- hasn`t really settled with my soul, as well,

yet. Tiffany was excited and happy about her faith. He loved her church family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was a wonderful, wonderful, happy human being. It was just very shocking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Rob Martier is an anchor for WGN radio. Joins us from Chicago. Nice to have you with us. Can you take us through the specifics of how the

murder occurred?

ROB MARTIER, WGN RADIO: You touched on some of the high points, but police believe that the suspect entered through a cracked window and/or an opened

window. Her condominium was on the ground floor of kind of an upscale complex in the suburb of Schaumberg. That`s when the alleged assault and

then murder took place. That`s what police have to go on right now, and I think that`s kind of where they are as the search intensifies for at least

one suspect.

JACKSON: There`s some indication that there was some sexual assault. Can you tell us how or why the police believe that to be the case?

[20:20:00]MARTIER: I think it was due to the evidence at the scene. They have not concluded or conducted or they are in the midst of conducting an

autopsy right now. As soon as the results are revealed, then we`re going to know a lot more. But because of what they saw initially at the scene of

the crime, that`s kind of why they are leaning in that direction. And so they will continue the investigation and I would probably within --

probably within the week or next week or two at the latest we`ll know exactly what happened.

JACKSON: And Rob Martier, do we have any indication of what evidence has been collected to date and what that evidence is pointing to? Has there

been fingerprints? Is there any DNA that the police have revealed? Is there any indication of who it could be, a friend, a relative, a stranger?

Is there anything like that that you can update us on?

MARTIER: As of right now, no. Things are still pretty much in the dark. They are collecting a lot of evidence, as you can imagine, in and around

the window that the suspect entered in. Any sort of fibers, of course, DNA will have been collected from the scene, as well. That will be analyzed to

determine if this person is someone that she knew.

As of right now, there`s really no indication that it was someone that had, you know, an intimate relationship with or a close relationship with

Tiffany. But it`s -- again, this is still a work in progress for Schaumberg police. It`s a suburban police department that really isn`t

used to this type of investigation, so they`ll be very deliberate in terms of how they approach this investigation.

JACKSON: And Rob, what about this -- what about the forced entry? There`s some indication that that occurred? Is that accurate information? Was the

window left open? Was it forced in?

MARTIER: Yes, it`s -- it`s accurate in terms of we`re not sure if the window was left open or it was cracked open or maybe there was some sort of

struggle. That will all come out in the investigation. But these are all leads and these are all, you know, things that the police are looking at to

try to piece together what exactly happened late Saturday night and into early Easter morning.

JACKSON: And Rob, we`ll get back to you momentarily, but before I let you go, just -- with the timeline, can we clarify specifically what that

timeline was that they believe it occurred on Saturday evening?

MARTIER: Yes, late Saturday night in the 10:00 o`clock hour, and then probably early Sunday morning prior to, you know, the Easter services

getting under way, so 9:00, 10:00 o`clock in the morning, there was a window there that they believe that the death occurred.

JACKSON: Rob Martier, stand by. I want to bring in Jeff Parker. He`s a very close friend of Tiffany Thrasher. He actually had dinner with her the

night before she was murdered. He joins us from Palm Springs. Thank you so much for being here.

You know, I guess I`d like to ask you, tell me about -- is there any indication that she might have had enemies or strangers or someone that you

might know that could have done something like this, Jeff?

JEFF PARKER, FRIEND OF VICTIM: Honestly, none whatsoever. Tiffany was a very happy-go-lucky full person, and it was very difficult not to like her.

So I can`t imagine that she would have had any enemies.

JACKSON: Well, take us through that dinner. I mean, you had dinner with her. Was she acting as you know that your normal Tiffany acts? Was there

any indication...

PARKER: She was...

JACKSON: ... that she was stressed?

PARKER: No, none whatsoever. She talked about a roommate that she was living with, which is her niece, and she -- typical struggles of getting

used to sharing your space with someone. She talked about an ex-boyfriend that she`s had an on and off -- on again, off again relationship with. And

they`d had some struggles recently. She was -- she was her typical normal self-. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. She didn`t have any makeup

on. She was laughing.

JACKSON: Jeff, if I can just stop you there.

PARKER: Just her normal self.

JACKSON: If I can stop -- you said an ex-boyfriend who she was having some difficulty with. Not to cast aspersions at all, but what type of

difficulty was she referring to? Could you be more specific?

PARKER: Well, they had an off again, on again relationship, and it was contentious at times and they would break up and she wouldn`t speak to him

for a few days and tell him, You know, hey, I don`t want to talk to you anymore. And things would be quiet, and then he would contact her again

and they would kind of reconcile. And I think as of Saturday night, they were in one of those periods where they had been -- they were separated and

there wasn`t any communication between them.

JACKSON: Is this a person that you knew, had contact with, had spoken with, the ex-boyfriend...

PARKER: Oh, yes. We knew him very well. He was a nice guy.

JACKSON: OK. And there`s no one else that you know of who she associated with who you think may have meant her harm?

PARKER: Absolutely not. I can`t imagine anybody would want to harm Tiffany.

JACKSON: And when you found out the information, what happened? I understand that the police contacted you?

[20:25:04]PARKER: Yes, I was flying to Palm Springs on Sunday and I had a layover in Denver. And when I landed in Denver and turned my phone on,

that was when I got my first messages from the police. We parted company with Tiffany about 7:15 on Saturday night. And she had liked a Facebook

post of ours a little bit after 8:00. And then I sent her a text message at 8:21 that thanked her for having dinner with us, and I didn`t get a

response to that. At the time, I didn`t think it was anything unusual, but I didn`t, you know, think about it until I guess the police contacted me on

Sunday.

JACKSON: How...

PARKER: And it wasn`t until -- go ahead. I`m sorry.

JACKSON: No, I`m sorry, Jeff. Please continue. It wasn`t until, you were saying?

PARKER: It wasn`t until late Sunday night after I had gotten to Palm Springs that the police told me that she was dead.

JACKSON: How forthcoming have the police been with you? I know that they called you, thankfully, to try to get information. Have they shared

information with you about the attack?

PARKER: Nothing whatsoever. Nothing whatsoever.

JACKSON: Nothing at all. So they just tried to glean information from you.

PARKER: No. Right, we found out -- we actually found out that she had been strangled -- we were told that by the reporter from channel 7 in

Chicago when they called us.

JACKSON: Now Jeff, I`m going to get to the lawyers here in one moment to ask them about theories, potentially, as to who meant her harm. And you

can`t really point to anyone. Do you have a theory as to who this could be? Was it a random person? I`m not asking you to speculate, but you knew

her. Could it have been a random person, someone she knew? Anything that you...

PARKER: From what I`ve read in the media from the different media outlets and whatever, that there was an upstairs neighbor that heard nothing. My

guess is it was probably somebody that she knew.

JACKSON: Was there -- so you believe it`s someone she knew. Did she give you an indication of where she would be heading after the dinner with you?

PARKER: She said she was going home and she was excited about going to church in the morning. I wish I could remember if she said her church had

an early, like a sunrise Easter service. I can`t remember that. But that was -- she was looking forward to going to church on Sunday morning. She

gave me a hug. She said, I love you, and she walked off to her car. And that was the last I saw her.

JACKSON: Jeff Parker, stand by. I want to bring back in Robert Schalk, as well as Misty Marris, defense attorneys and former prosecutors. Jut in

terms of your theory, Misty, do you have any indication -- what are you thinking this could be?

MARRIS: Well, the police are going to follow all leads. So it could be one of two things. We`re talking about a grand floor window in a nice

neighborhood. Sometimes people have a false sense of security. You might leave that window open. Could be random.

But some of the information we heard from your last guest, this could be someone she knew. Let`s not forget she has a roommate, and reports say her

roommate was out of town for Easter. Perhaps it`s somebody that knew that roommate wouldn`t be around.

JACKSON: Could be. Robert Schalk, what say you?

SCHALK: I think it`s going to be a combination of the investigation forensically. Were fingerprints left on the window? Was DNA left behind

at the scene? And then you look at her digital footprint. As Jeff was indicating, in today`s day of investigating with police departments and

DA`s offices, we have the ability to follow someone where they were. They`re checking it on Facebook, Instagram and text messaging. Maybe

there`s text messages between her and someone. Maybe it`s an ex-boyfriend. Maybe it`s a friend at work. Maybe it`s someone who`s made advances on a

dating Web site. You don`t know.

But now we have the opportunity to peel that onion back and see what her life has been like in the past couple of days and weeks leading up to this.

JACKSON: Absolutely. And Jeff Parker, if I could just go back to you to give you the final word on this -- in terms of her social media, was she

very active in that regard, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, if you know?

PARKER: She was pretty active on Facebook, and she did have an Instagram account, but she hadn`t been in that too much. She did tell me she was

looking at a couple of on-line dating sites, but I was left with the impression that it was nothing too serious. But you know, she wasn`t

really following or into it too seriously.

JACKSON: Jeff...

PARKER: You know, I`m speechless.

JACKSON: I know you are. And we thank you very much for joining us. And it`s just such a tragedy. We hope that her killer is brought to justice,,

and soon. Appreciate you being here.

A 62-year-old woman brutally attacked by a man with a hammer at a medical office building is talking about it right now. Now, the woman, who

reportedly is suffering from -- you see her there -- breast cancer says the man broke into her Kansas City, Missouri, building through a side window,

waited and then attacked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did nothing to provoke this, but it didn`t matter who it was.

It seemed like an eternity, but then we heard the front door slam, and he was about to bring down another blow of the hammer, and he took off for the

front door. And all I could remember is the desk I was standing over was just covered in my blood. It was in my eyes. It was everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:30:03] JACKSON: I`m glad she is alive. Police searched but the attacker got away and tonight, he is still on the run.

In south Florida police say that they found a mother of two apparently drunk incoherent on the screen passed out in the driver`s seat of the car

with a nearly empty bottle of vodka nearby, this as her boys ages 2 and 4 allegedly alone in the backseat frightened and needing water and food.

Cops say they were covered in sweat. Now Carolina (inaudible), that is her name and that is her mug shot was arrested and charged with child abuse,

child neglect and resisting an officer.

A major shakeup with Fox News as Bill O`Reilly`s show is cancelled and the cable network cut ties with its well-known star. And a chilling discovery

in an investigation into Aaron Hernandez` apparent suicide, he was found in his jail cell with a bible verse written on his forehead. What exactly

could that mean? Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACKSON: A 21 year career over in an instant. Fox News cancelling the O`Reilly factor which is the highest rated cable news show for nearly 16

years after it was revealed the company had settled several sexual harassment or verbal abuse complaints against Bill O`Reilly. Since then

more than 60 advertises, that is right, 60 had abandoned the show. A woman`s rights group has called for his ouster. Inside Fox, of course,

there were moral problems that were caused by the scandal. So let`s take a listen to see how the conservative talk show host who made a reported 18

million dollars a year defended the former Fox News chief. That is him, Roger Ailes, who left the company after similar allegations and he defended

him on NBC`s "Late night" with Seth Myers. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this country every famous, powerful or wealthy person is a target. You`re a target. I`m a target. Any time somebody

could come out and sue us, attack us, go to the press or anything like that. Until a -- and that is a deplorable situation because I mean, I have

to have body guards. I have to hire body guards, physical body guards, all right? Until the United States adopts the English system of civil law, if

you file a frivolous lawsuit and you lose, a judge can make you pay all court costs. Until we adopt that very fair proposition, we`ll have this

out of control tabloid society that is tremendously destructive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Wendy Walsh accused Bill O`Reilly of sexual harassment in 2013 and we are privileged to have her here. She joins us from Los Angeles.

You were out there and saw that sound bite and he talked about in this country, people filing lawsuits. You didn`t file a lawsuit. Tell us how

you`re feeling right now.

WENDY WALSH, ACCUSED BILL O`REILLY: Well, I`m not here for the money. I in fact, didn`t come forward, "the New York times" called me and I had to

make a moral decision to tell the truth or lie. And I had to be brave and tell the truth. So when I hear this, I always remind everybody that he did

pay for five very expensive confidentiality agreements with women. I`m not sure he would have done that if he thought he could beat them in court.

JACKSON: Wendy, is this a measure of vindication for you? As you told exactly what occurred, happened to you?

WALSH: Absolutely not. I`ve always said I don`t have a dog in this race. This is not a personal thing against Mr. O`Reilly or Fox News. But as a

mother, and as a woman, I felt it was my duty to start this national conversation about what it is to make our workplaces safe for everybody,

for women, for people with disabilities, for ethnic minorities. It`s very important that we all understand that we should be considered only a

competent employee or not and nothing else.

JACKSON: Wendy, specifically, in terms of what occurred to you, I understand you were at a hotel with him I guess speaking or something and

he went one way and you went the other. Can you briefly describe to us what occurred?

WALSH: Yeah, actually, I was invited by him according to a segment producer to come on his show as a guest and then couple weeks later got an

e-mail from his executive assistant asking me to join him for dinner in Los Angeles and I was excited, because I wanted to talk about my career

prospects at Fox but I didn`t have to bring it up. He said he was good friends with Roger Ailes and they would like to make me a contributor.

After dinner he simply said let`s get out of here, I thought he meant to go to the bar, so I walked towards the bar and he walked towards the bedrooms.

And then we are ten feet away from each other and kind of turn around like where you at? He said no, come back to my suite. I said, I`m sorry, Bill,

I can`t do that. He said what, do you think I`ll attack you or something?

I said no, we`re both parents raising teenage girls. Maybe we should model good choices for them. So we went to the bar and soon afterwards he became

hostile and told me forget any career advice I gave to you and slowly weaned me from his show.

JACKSON: My goodness. Stand by Wendy Walsh. We Anahita Sedaghatfar have a great attorney in Los Angeles. She was a frequent guest on the O`Reilly

Factor. She joins us from L.A. now, Anahita, good to see you. Before I get your reaction, what I want to do I want to read bill O`Reilly`s

statement. He did release a statement and of course, what he said is, you know, he didn`t do anything wrong and I just want to have you react to Bill

O`Reilly, specifically what he said. Do we have the statement? There it is.

Over the past 20 years at Fox News I`m been extremely proud to launch and lead one of the most successful news programs in history which is

consistently informed and entertained millions of Americans in significantly contributed to building Fox and to the dominate news network

and television. It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims but that is the unfortunate reality many of us

in the public eye must live with today. I will always look back on my time at Fox with great pride and the unprecedented success we achieved and with

my deepest gratitude to all my dedicated viewers, I wish only the best for Fox News channel. So Anahita, you`ve been on the program a number of

times, great lawyer by your own right. Media commentator, personality, takes us through your thoughts now.

ANAHITA SEDAGHATFAR, ATTORNEY: Full disclosure, I have appeared on the show numerous times throughout the years and met bill O`Reilly and worked

with him and he treated me with nothing but respect and professionalism. He was truly a kind man. Not to discredit the other allegations that is

made against him. Obviously, I can only speak about my own experience. What O`Reilly is saying in the statement is true. Whether you like him or

not and whether or not you believe the claims, he is probably the biggest TV personality we`ve seen in cable news and he has a lot of loyal followers

and I don`t think this is the end of the road for Bill O`Reilly. He is contesting the allegations and saying they are not true. I disagree with

Wendy. The fact that he did settle some of these cases doesn`t necessarily mean that he is guilty of allegations. Again, I`m not making a judgment in

Bill O`Reilly`s case but often times they settle.

JACKSON: Wendy, what is your response to that?

WALSH: I just think when there is smoke there is fire and $13 million was paid to silence women. Let people judge what that means.

SEDAGHATFAR: Absolutely. I`m just saying his position and his statement that he is saying the claims are not true.

SEDAGHATFAR: With respect to them not being true the advertisers became skittish. I understand 60 of them pulled out. Was that not the right

move?

SEDAGHATFAR: Of course. Fox was well within the legal rights to fire him. They had no other choice when you had advertisers pulling out and

organizations and women`s rights groups coming out and demanding he be terminated, I think Fox News really had no choice and I actually commend

Fox News for taking these allegations seriously. Regardless of what happened in the past at Fox News, we`ll no longer turn a blind eye to

allegations of sexual harassment. We`ll take these allegations seriously. We will investigate these allegations and if they turn out to be true, we

would certainly take remedial measures and that is what they did in this case and I think that sends a very loud and clear message on Murdoch`s and

21st century Fox.

JACKSON: Wendy did they do that or did they succumb to public pressure and the pressure of the ol` mighty dollar, just a question, with regard to the

advertisers pulling out? Do you give Fox credit or was it a move they had to make?

WALSH: I do want you to know that four attorneys grilled me for two hours. These were attorneys from Paul Weiss, the firm hired by 20th century Fox to

investigate these claims. They did a thorough investigation. They interviewed my own attorney from 2013 who I told about it, as well as four

other friends and colleagues who I told about it. I was happy to give them a list of 100 people because it was my favorite cocktail party

conversation. So they did a thorough investigation to corroborate the facts. I also had e-mail proof to show them and so it`s not like they did

this lightly. And now we see other alleged victims coming forward and also accusing him.

JACKSON: We do. Well, Wendy Walsh, thank you for telling your story. Anahita Sedaghatfar, thank you. Appreciate both of you being on the

program. Thank you.

Former NFL star, convicted murder, as well, Aaron Hernandez is found dead in his jail cell. Was it a suicide or was it murder? His family wants to

know.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACKSON: Just days after a jury cleared him in a double-murder case, former NFL star Aaron Hernandez was found hanging by a bed sheet inside his

prison cell but not everybody is buying he killed himself. Serving a life sentence for a 2013 murder was alone in the cell. Prison officials say he

attempted to block his door by jamming it with various items. His attorney not convinced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, we are all in shock and deeply saddened by the loss of Aaron Joseph Hernandez. At this time, we`re trying to process

it all. It`s very hard for me to accept the fact he may have committed suicide. We`re keeping an open mind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you don`t think that sounds like Aaron at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Hernandez` death is one of the most significant by an athlete in history. It came on the day many patriots teammates visited the White

House. Susan Candiotti covered both of Aaron Hernandez` murder trials, so good to see you Susan, joining us from Atlanta, so Susan what do we know?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, COVERED HERNANDEZ TRIAL: Well, you know, Joey, this is absolutely stunning. What an end to this very long story that began four

year ago when he was initially arrested for the murder of Odin Lloyd but we learn that overnight, this is just days after he was acquitted on the

double-murder charges, a trial that just wrapped up in Boston only less than a week ago, that about 3:00 in the morning prison officials say that

he was found hanging from a bed sheet that was tied to his window in some fashion and as you just indicated, you know, what is curious about this is

the prison`s do generally check on prisoners at least once an hour. We don`t know at this time about whether there was surveillance around. We

don`t know whether he was -- had become unresponsive or depressed or had this been his plan all along? As you just heard from a defense attorney,

this is someone who had as I watched him during the trial, this trial, he was as he was in the first time, and back slapping his legal team at every

chance he had. Now this was never seen by the jury, of course. But he seemed to be in a very confident upbeat mood until the verdict came in and

he was acquitted. It is the first time, Joey, that we ever saw any emotion on his face. He broke down when he was acquitted of the crimes. So is

this something that he had been thinking about? Will they find a note? Did they find a note? We don`t know these answers.

JACKSON: Susan, briefly, on that issue, you mentioned things completely inconsistent with the person that would want to commit suicide, black

slapping attorneys and seeming to be in the moment. Do you think there is any credence with regard to this theory that it may not have been a

suicide?

CANDIOTTI: You know, Joey, it`s just we don`t have any evidence to indicate that it was anything other than a suicide. I don`t know how

someone else might have been able to pull it off and then somehow put some materials or some -- try to block the cell door as the prison officials had

indicated. So it seemed it would be awfully hard to explain that but let`s see what happens. There will be an investigation.

JACKSON: No doubt there certainly will be. Susan Candiotti stands by. Last week Bill Belichick, he spoke with CNBC on Aaron Hernandez. Take a

listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to play a little word association game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to say a word and I want your immediate snap reaction.

Aaron Hernandez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tragedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Want to bring in Robert Schalk as well as Misty Merris, Misty your thoughts?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There will be investigation. If there was foul play it will be exposed, but right now, there is a lot reasons why Hernandez

could have lost hope in this situation.

JACKSON: Robert Schalk could it have been murder?

SCHALK: I don`t think so, 3:45 in the morning in a cell by himself and locked from the inside. There is no way to get the components to jam a

lock and get out of the cell all without a guard seeing you.

JACKSON: So you`re saying that is not likely.

SCHALK: 99.99 percent sure it`s unlikely.

JACKSON: Ok. Straight ahead, Susan Candiotti will take a closer look at the Aaron Hernandez tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was Hernandez on a slippery slope? He was tearing up the field as a gator but some who knew him were worried, especially when he

was unsupervised away from the game. If you could keep him on one side, he`d be fine. The problem is he couldn`t stay away from the other side,

adding it was a recipe for disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Downward spiral. Aaron Hernandez begins at 9:00 p.m. And that of course was the voice of Susan Candiotti. Who is kind enough to joins us

right there. We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACKSON: Breaking news, this has just in, from Illinois apparently the police do have someone in custody in connection that is one male suspect in

connection with the Tiffany thrasher homicide investigation. You see her there. We certainly will keep you updated.

Thanks so much for watching. I`m Joey Jackson, coming up next, the CNN Special Report, "DOWNWARD SPIRAL" with Aaron Hernandez, good night.

END