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PRIMETIME JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD
School Board President Lures Child on Line for Sex; Dentist Allegedly Kills Mistress`s Baby; Mom`s Horror Revealed; Scary Haircut; Terrifying Fireball; Shocking Discovery; Accused Killer Out of Jail; Outrage Tonight. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired May 1, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[20:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even knowing that she`s 12, you told her about (INAUDIBLE)
ROBERT VASHAW, FMR. SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT: Yes, sir.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): Twelve-year-old girls? This is a school board president!
VASHAW: And she contacted me and said that she was underage.
BANFIELD: And what a mess he`s in, caught trying to meet a 12-year-old for sex.
VASHAW: I started telling her about this top secret trick I have, and she got all excited.
BANFIELD: A hotel room, condoms, daddy-daughter roleplay. See the video that shocked the school board.
A mom opens up to Dr. Phil.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His body (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: About the video that shattered her world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then he turned around, and you can see him on camera. He makes a violent kicking motion.
BANFIELD: Her boyfriend, a dentist, holding her dead son`s body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s whenever he picked up Lincoln and -- and carried his body around.
BANFIELD: And grabbing a slice of pizza.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s a monster. There is something wrong with him.
BANFIELD: Mom talks about the man, those moments and what may have led to murder.
A young father breaks down in court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter suffocated in my arms, and I woke up.
BANFIELD: Accused of raping and killing his own infant daughter, he may just be released. Even his own mother says he should be locked up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At times, we create monsters. And I may have created one of those monsters.
BANFIELD: It was the punch seen around the world, college football star Joe Mixon breaks a woman`s jaw, knocks her out cold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Cincinnati Bengals select Joe Mixon, running back, Oklahoma.
(BOOS)
BANFIELD: But how`d he just get hired in the NFL with $2 million coming his way?
JOE MIXON, FOOTBALL PLAYER: I`m blessed to be in this situation.
BANFIELD: Why do players with a record get such a pass when the rest of us would be refused a job?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For a $6 haircut?
BANFIELD: No one likes to wait.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nothing ever like this happened here.
BANFIELD: But this mom whipped out a weapon when she thought her kid`s haircut was too slow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is it. She`s going to shoot.
BANFIELD: Tombstone, Arizona, perfect place to stop and search a hearse. A good thing they did because the only thing dead was the drug dealer`s
future. Find out what he used to try to hide the smell.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
It all began with a simple ad on Craigslist, but ended with the president of a Colorado school district behind bars and charged with trying to hook
up with a 12-year-old girl for things that most 12-year-old girls don`t even know about.
This sounds preposterous, right? How could someone like Robert Vashaw get caught up in something so depraved? He`s a school board president. Could
it all just be a misunderstanding, a false allegation maybe?
Well, let me take you right back to the beginning with the ad that he placed on Craigslist. "Daddy knows you`ve been a naughty girl. I looked
at your computer today, and I saw all the naked pictures of boys. I`m going to tell Mommy unless you do something for me. Would you like to
play? I`m HWP" -- which I had to look up, it`s height-weight proportional -- "and very STD-free." And I think we all know what that means. "I`m
just the fun, average guy twice, HWP" -- you know, twice for good measure. "I`m fun to play with. I will send you a picture if you send me your
name."
But thankfully, a young girl did not answer that ad. Thankfully, an undercover cop did, posing as a 12-year-old girl. And after trailing
Vashaw one morning, officers saw this, and they arrested him because, basically, he had been out getting ready, they say, booking a hotel room,
buying condoms in this store to meet whom he thought was a preteen girl for sex.
And during his interrogation, the detectives peppered him about his actions and why he was sitting in that room in the first place. And wouldn`t you
know it, the floodgates opened up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me why you`re sitting here today.
VASHAW: Well, like I said, I had my ad up. And she contacted me and said that she was underage and I probably wouldn`t want to chat with her. And
dumb me, I started chatting a little bit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. How old did she say she was?
VASHAW: She`s said going to be 13, so I knew she was (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) OK.
[20:05:00]VASHAW: We talked just a little bit. And you know, stupid me, being bored, we started talking more and more and more, and I gave her the
text free phone number and started texting and stuff, and of course, started talking sexual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: PRIMETIME JUSTICE producer Stacey Newman`s been working the story all day. She`s with me now live. Why on earth did he say all of
these things to the police? But let`s start with why on earth would he have done all of these things, allegedly?
STACEY NEWMAN, PRIMETIME JUSTICE PRODUCER: Well, Ashleigh, you know, he kind of had this moment through this hour-and-a-half interrogation where he
tried to make it sound like he really wasn`t trying to reach out to an underage girl. You know, he thought they would just meet up to talk. But
quickly, police discovered he had a sinister plan here to actually lure this 12-year-old girl, and this included him sending a naked selfie at one
point and very graphic e-mails, Ashleigh, that we can`t even share with people.
BANFIELD: OK, so lest anybody watching still thinks what I said at the beginning, when I was laying out this whole story -- could it be a
misunderstanding? Could something have been typed that didn`t really mean what he was saying? I thought I would actually play for you what they
talked about specifically. So have a listen as they talk specifically about him looking for sex.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you ever talk to her about having sex with her?
VASHAW: Yes, I`m sure I did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. So she`s under the impression that you want to have sex with her?
VASHAW: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. So it was like she was just under the impression that you just wanted meet and buy ice cream or something?
VASHAW: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And Stacey, in case our viewers didn`t hear -- ice cream -- he did mention it wasn`t like you thought maybe that she thought you`d be
going for ice cream. We are really talking about a 12-year-old girl. Was he really clearly looking for a 12-year-old girl?
NEWMAN: Yes, and I mean, in this e-mail exchange and text messages, he told this supposed 12-year-old girl to lie about her age and say she was
17. He also talked about things he had done to girls before. So there are many moments where he was obviously talking about a 12-year-old girl and
trying to lure her for sex.
BANFIELD: All right. And I guess the officer, clever as he was, who was conducting that interrogation -- he got super-specific about numbers. I
mean, just so that no stone was left unturned, nothing could be left to sort of confusion later on, specifically about how old this girl was. Have
a listen to this repartee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VASHAW: So I`m telling her about this top secret trick I had, and she got all excited, and you know, and...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What trick is that?
VASHAW: Just a trick with my thumb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the thumb trick involve some kind of sexual contact?
VASHAW: Oh, yes. Definitely. But not -- I mean, I was telling her what I`ve done with other girls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
VASHAW: So that`s -- that`s how that all started.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But knowing that she`s 12, you told her about a sex trick that (INAUDIBLE)
VASHAW: Yes, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So it was pretty clear he said 12 years old. The answer was, Yes, sir. How did they end up finding him? I get the ad on Craigslist,
but there are thousands and thousands of ads on Craigslist. How did they zero in on him?
NEWMAN: Well, it just wasn`t his lucky day. This Internet sting unit was trolling Craigslist for these ads because this is a playground for child
predators. They knew the search words to put in, and all the search words matched the title of his ad. That`s how they found the guy, matched it up
to his license and zeroed in on him. And then on top of that, Ashleigh, (INAUDIBLE) surveillance video on him and followed the trail. And in
between him supposedly meeting this girl at Arby`s and buying those condoms, he parked his truck a quarter mile away so he wouldn`t be seen and
he hid the condoms in the bushes by the Arby`s.
BANFIELD: Eek. Yikes. And I think at one point, when they asked if he was buying condoms, he said no, and then ultimately had to `fess up that
that wasn`t entirely truthful.
And here`s the video. He said I think he was buying Reese`s peanut butter cups at one point. And I`ll give him this. It`s in the same aisle. But
this is pretty clear from the Aurora Police Department, the surveillance video shows buying condoms.
I want to just read, if I can -- and Stacey, God bless you for going through all of the material that was written on line and editing it for us
because the majority of it is not fit for television, even primetime.
So here`s one sort of communication between the two. Vashaw says, "Hi. How old are you?" And the unidentified female says, "I`m almost 13.
Totally understand if you`re not cool with that." And Vashaw`s answer is, "Wow, that`s so hot."
That`s pretty clear. I mean, "I`m almost 13" could not be more definitive.
And then the communication goes on to say -- Vashaw says, "You have me very intrigued about you. Please tell me more." Female says, "What do you want
to know?" Smiley face. Vashaw says, "What have you seen? What have you done with yourself or a boy?" Female says, "Not sure what you`re asking,
but I`m not a tirbo (sic) slut or anything, if that`s what you`re asking." And the response is, "OMG, yes. That`s hot."
[20:10:18]So here`s what I`m not clear on -- extremely forthcoming with his interviewing process in that room, and apparently, extremely forthcoming
with his telephone. He handed it over. He didn`t ask for a lawyer. Why did he -- why did he do that?
NEWMAN: I have no idea. It`s almost like why did he try to lure a 12- year-old girl for sex? He literally signed away, saying he did not want a lawyer in the room and gave this hour-and-a-half-long confession and handed
his phone right over, said, You can search anything, and signed that away, as well.
BANFIELD: OK. Don`t go anywhere, Stacey. I want to bring in David Bruno and Danny Cevallos, two lawyers who have to face these kinds of challenges
when you have a client like this.
For starters, why on earth would someone say, I`m OK, I don`t need a lawyer, I don`t need anyone in the room? Do they think by being nice to
the officer, it somehow mitigates the behavior or makes the officer want to charge them less?
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: They do. And officers will allow them to think that if they just tell them what happened, then they will go
easy on them. The classic line is, I`ll put in a good word with the prosecutor.
Listen, there is no good word.
(LAUGHTER)
CEVALLOS: It doesn`t exist. And that promise is a false promise. Most of this case was made when he sat down and talked to that detective because
some of the e-mails you`re reading, as unpleasant as they are -- number one, remember there was never an actual child involved, but that...
BANFIELD: Right.
CEVALLOS: But remember, that doesn`t matter for the crime. But some of those questions, if you parse them out, you have to wonder, is this a
potential entrapment case without his complete confession that he gives? Did the detective or the undercover officer supplant their own intent for
his bad intent?
BANFIELD: Well, that`s a great question except for the fact that he placed the ad. How can you claim entrapment when you`re going out fishing?
DAVID BRUNO, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Oh, surely, it`s at play until police do what they did, and they did a great job here. You know, they put it all
together. They have a video of him buying condoms. They have the logs (ph). And they have his statement because...
BANFIELD: And he`s at the hotel making sure the room`s ready for later.
BRUNO: Exactly. But like you said, typically speaking, the defense would be, Oh, it wasn`t my intent. I wasn`t going to go through with it, you
know? And when...
BANFIELD: Don`t they always tell Chris Hansen that on "Dateline"?
(LAUGHTER)
BRUNO: Exactly. Exactly.
CEVALLOS: Usually in a kitchen somewhere.
BANFIELD: In a kitchen! Sit down. I want to just have a chat.
BRUNO: But when they do their job, like they did here, it`s a tough defense, and that`s why he`s pled guilty.
BANFIELD: OK.
BRUNO: And that`s why he`s going to be registered (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: So let me ask you this, Danny. If he had not sung like a canary, would he actually have a good defense, with the video and the logs
of the material they e-mailed back and forth -- I mean, they kind of had him red-handed, didn`t they?
CEVALLOS: It`s still a tough case for the defendant. Like you said, he put that ad out there. And he is pushing the conversation, although the
undercover officer is not exactly completely resisting. I`m not a turbo slut, which implies that I`m a slut, just not a turbo slot. I mean, that
language can be good for a defendant.
BANFIELD: Well, when he follows up with, Oh, that`s so hot, I can`t imagine (INAUDIBLE)
CEVALLOS: Overall bad case.
BANFIELD: Stacey, real quickly -- yes...
BRUNO: Problematic.
BANFIELD: ... bad facts. (INAUDIBLE) Stacey, come back for a minute. Look, maybe I`m too square, but I did not know what "HWP" was, and I had to
-- you know, we had to look it up -- height-weight proportional, it turns out. And that`s nice for him.
However, didn`t he say to the officers, This is really my first time doing this, and if it were his first time doing this, would he really know what
"HWP" was?
NEWMAN: Exactly. I mean, he said he`s placed other Craigslist ads before, but the people responding to it were in their 20s. So this is the first
time he`s actually engaged a 12-year-old, and the cop was asking him why, and he said he didn`t know. He was just bored.
BANFIELD: Off the school board, Stace? One answer`s all I need.
NEWMAN: Off the school board. He resigned a few days after he was arrested.
BANFIELD: All right, Stacey, thank you for that. Danny and David, don`t go anywhere. I`ve got some more material for you coming up.
A grieving mother sits down with Dr. Phil to talk about her ex-boyfriend, and the allegation is terrible, that he is the killer of her own infant
son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROXANNE RANDALL, MOTHER: There`s something wrong with him. He`s a monster. There`s something wrong with him. He`s wired wrong or something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And you could call this a very sad sign of the times. A mom just impatient waiting for her son`s haircut to be finished pulls this out
from her purse. Yes, that is a gun in the barbershop.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:18:54]BANFIELD: A grieving mom in Oklahoma is telling a wrenching story about the violent death of her little baby allegedly at the hands of
her own boyfriend, who was a successful dentist, a dentist who was married and leading a double life. And Roxanne Randall doesn`t pull any punches,
suggesting that boyfriend was actually jealous of her 19-month-old son, just wanted that baby out of the way.
Apparently, the prosecutors agree with her, and they say Dr. Bert Franklin murdered that little boy and did so by dropping him on his head and even
kicking him in Roxanne`s home, while she was upstairs, no less. The investigators say there were bits and pieces of what happened that night
recorded on the home surveillance video. And in one now famous part of the video, Dr. Franklin is seen carrying the baby, baby Lincoln, who appears
lifeless, while at the same time helping himself to a slice of pizza.
I want you to listen to what that mother, Roxanne, says she saw that day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:20:00]RANDALL: Bert carried him down the steps. And Lincoln had the pacifier in his mouth. And he walked back into the living room area,
handed Lincoln his bottle on the ground, stepped over him and walked just a couple steps. And then he turned around, and you can see him on camera, he
makes a violent kicking motion, that you can`t see the bottom part of his body, but you can see the top part.
And he walks back into the living room and got a piece of pizza, and then he walks back in the living room and picks up Lincoln and makes, like, a
violent shoving motion to the floor where he (INAUDIBLE) at first (INAUDIBLE) to the floor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Later on, the allegations suggest that that dentist brought that little baby upstairs to his mother and that she slept beside that child
until 2:00 o`clock in the morning when she heard a gurgling noise and then discovered that he was unresponsive.
Baby was rushed to the hospital. And that`s where the baby died. The mom says that the doctors told her that her little 19-month-old`s injuries
looked like the type of injuries a baby would get after going 60 miles an hour getting in a head-on collision but if he weren`t strapped in his
carseat and were ejected from the vehicle.
Scott Mitchell is the host of "Mitchell Talks." He joins me live from Oklahoma City tonight. Scott, first-degree murder is a hell of an
accusation to make, experience when you`re talking about a baby. Why do they think that the doctor planned this? What kind of evidence do they
have about planning?
SCOTT MITCHELL, "MITCHELL TALKS" (via telephone): Well, there`s just so much, Ashleigh, to try to figure out. But there certainly is -- that
camera doesn`t lie. And there are many things involved in this surveillance video, this home security video that makes prosecutors go,
This was planned.
BANFIELD: Well, Roxanne Randall certainly has her theories, and she`s been sharing them at will with Dr. Phil. I want you to hear what she had to say
specifically to the question about planning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDALL: I think that he thought maybe if this happened, I would sleep hard all night long, not -- we wouldn`t wake up until morning. At that
point, Lincoln would probably have already been gone a few hours, so it would probably be harder to pinpoint when it happened. And with him being
a doctor and us just being normal people, maybe it wouldn`t get investigated or something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So Scott, it`s pretty astounding if you think of a dentist who allegedly has this double life, a wife and children in another home.
There`s all sorts of stories about whether either of those women knew about the other, and I`ll get to that in a moment. But I think first and
foremost, the suggestion that this dentist was jealous of that baby -- why do the police think that?
MITCHELL: Well, again, there is just so much evidence, but certainly, the conversations between the doctor and the lady -- the mother of the baby
having to do with what may have been done to the phone, what also had been said in conversations about perhaps having a baby in the future. And then
the whole aspect of the calm, cool demeanor, what you catch on the camera of going around, eating the pizza, carrying that baby around and then
placing that baby in the bed. That all is cool, calm and sure looks premeditated to prosecutors.
BANFIELD: You`re just looking at pictures right now of Lincoln Van (ph) Henry Lewis, 19 months old. I mean, at that age, they are just so small
and so helpless. And this little adorable child just seems, I mean, utterly sweet. You can`t help but look at these pictures and feel sick
knowing what happened to him eventually.
I want you to hear what Roxanne Randall told Dr. Phil about the question what she believed was a jealousy that her boyfriend, Dr. Bert Franklin, had
regarding her love for that little child. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDALL: But I think that he cared about him until he got in his way, until he was an obstacle. And so in his mind, I think that -- just remove
it and carry on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: You know, Dr. Phil also asked specific questions about those surveillance cameras in the house. And clearly, Scott, there are still a
lot of pictures we have not seen. You heard Roxanne earlier refer to pictures that you can see part of the baby as an attack is happening but
not the whole. These are the pictures we`ve now come to know so well -- grabbing a slice of pizza, holding that lifeless, limp -- well, looking
lifeless, limp baby boy in his arms. And this has become the famous picture.
But I want you to hear what Roxanne says about how her boyfriend at the time took a turn as they were rushing out to get that baby to the hospital,
and instead put his attention towards the cameras in the house. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:12]RANDALL: You see me run out with Lincoln. You see him act like he`s coming, following behind me. He looks back. He`s, like, acting like
he`s going in my room, but he doubles back to make sure that -- he behind him to make sure I`m out of line of sight, and then he goes to the control
panel and does something on the control panel, and the clip ends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So Scott, I mean, obviously, this is going to be litigated. This will be in a criminal court. Are we expecting to see the rest of the
videos that exist in that house that may tell a fuller picture of what the prosecutors know that we don`t know?
VASHAW: Certainly, we`re going to have some explanation of what we`ve seen. When you see that clip you just showed, Ashleigh, there`s something
real furtive about that aspect of it. He`s looking very, very concerned, but he does a little double take, runs back over there, and something
happens behind that wall. That`s -- it`s just squirrely, and it looks very, very suspicious. And I`m going to bet that this -- the district
attorney in this county`s going to make an explanation as to what they think was going on in that video.
BANFIELD: Well, Roxanne says the control panel for the video exists behind that wall. And clearly, we now know that the videos stop. I mean, all of
us know that video doesn`t erase when you stop it, so that`s a bit perplexing. And this is a dentist. This somebody who knows a thing or
two.
But there is one more clip I want to play for you, if I can, and this has to do with the whole salacious nature of this relationship in the first
place. She is a girlfriend, and he has a wife and children. And there`s some question as to whether the wife knew anything about Roxanne or what
Roxanne knew about the wife.
And this is how Dr. Phil asked those questions and the answers that he got from Roxanne. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDALL: They were still married. They had, you know, been living their separate lives from what he said.
DR. PHIL, TV HOST: Were you a secret?
RANDALL: I don`t think I was fully. I don`t know.
DR. PHIL: Did his wife know about you?
RANDALL: Yes. Yes.
DR. PHIL: Did she object?
RANDALL: I don`t know. She`s -- after all of this, she said that they`ve never even talked about a divorce, that that`s not ever even been
mentioned.
DR. PHIL: So she now tells a different story.
RANDALL: Yes.
DR. PHIL: So he said they were living separate lives.
RANDALL: They were -- the only -- they had just not finished the divorce process.
DR. PHIL: So you didn`t see yourself as the other woman here.
RANDALL: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: I want to bring in Danny Cevallos and David Bruno into the conversation, as well. One of the perplexing parts of this story -- if the
prosecutors are alleging that this man intentionally beat a baby up to kill the baby -- this is a dentist. This is a medical professional who would
know full well the kind of trauma that he would leave behind. It wouldn`t be something you could keep in secret.
And yet Roxanne tells Dr. Phil that he spirited this children up -- this child up secretly to her bed and put the child to bed beside her hoping
maybe that the child in the morning would be dead and he would be long gone. Does this make any sense for a medical professional?
CEVALLOS: You`re talking about things like motive and opportunity, and I think you`re putting the cart before the horse because everyone out there,
including us, is wondering, What does this video show? If the video convinces a jury that this was an intentional killing, then all that -- you
know, he was creeping around on his wife, he`s a dentist, he knows how to do this or that -- it goes out the window.
But if that video is inconclusive, then the prosecution is going to have a real challenge here, and then they`re going to bring in how he ran around
on his wife and how he`s a dentist and he knows how to kill people better than this.
BANFIELD: Let me ask you something, David. Look, much has been made about the fact that he`s grabbing a piece of pizza. Almost this whole story is
branded by the guy who grabbed the pizza. And you know what we`re talking about. Juries seize on those moments. Juries love or hate people on those
moments. So no matter what Danny has just laid out, the fact that he`s grabbing a piece of pizza and that child is dead just a few hours later --
is that going to really (ph) sink in heavily for them?
BRUNO: It`s probably going to be problematic, probative. But when I first heard of that, I thought to myself maybe a diminished capacity, insanity,
mental defense, you know? But looking at the video, when he`s messing with the video and the panel and things like that...
BANFIELD: That`s more important?
BRUNO: ... that goes to consciousness of guilt. But I do think this is a very aggressive theory of the case for the prosecution.
BANFIELD: Very.
BRUNO: I mean, this is saying that he intentionally deliberately did this. And typically speaking, we see manslaughter, you know, reckless acts...
BANFIELD: Yes.
BRUNO: ... dropping the...
BANFIELD: Baby was crying. I got out of control. I don`t know what I was thinking.
BRUNO: Exactly. Aggressive. And just one last point...
BANFIELD: That`s not what they`re saying here.
BRUNO: ... on the video.
BANFIELD: Real quick.
BRUNO: They had a bond hearing, OK, and the prosecutor in essence put their evidence on the table, and there`s definitely some problems with the
video. There`s obstructions. It`s happening behind the wall, and you can`t actually see the violence. So it could be problematic.
[20:30:00] BANFIELD: Well, we`re going to continue to watch this story.
I got a couple of other ones I want to bring you. Police in Cleveland tonight investigating a case of a woman pulling out a gun when a
hairstylist was taking apparently too much time to finish her son`s $6 haircut. The woman on the left side of your screen growing impatient then
walks back to her seat.
But she returns, opens up her purse, and pulls out a Glock 9 mm. She points it at the staff and according to police, she says, I got two clips, I`ll
pop your ass. Her words, not mine. Police say an employee at the Barber College, again, a college, claimed that the woman or calmed the woman down
and that she finally put that gun away.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
MARILYN MEDINA, INSTRUCTOR, ALLSTATE BARBER COLLEGE: When she took out her gun, she says, I`m about to carry a concealed weapon. I have a license to
carry. But one of the other students says there is no need for you to bring it out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, license to carry doesn`t mean license to pull it out because the haircut is taking too long. The barber actually finished that
haircut. Finished it. No shots fired. Little boy and mom left. Now, all we`re waiting for is a potential arrest and some kind of charge. Don`t
know.
In Ohio, we`re getting a terrifying look at the seconds immediately preceding a fiery crash that shut down interstate 75 in Dayton. You can see
a wrong way driver traveling south in the north lanes, the northbound lanes. Manages not to hit anyone. More than 10 seconds before he collides
instead with a tanker truck. Driver was killed in the resulting fireball. The flames from that explosion, take a look.
Actually crossing the median, impacting traffic on the other side of the interstate where he was supposed to be driving. The semi-truck driver only
sustained minor injuries, thank God. But just remarkable video to see that happen. No word yet on why the driver was going the wrong way. All that`s
left of the wrong way driver`s car you saw on the screen, they haven`t identified that victim yet. They are still investigating how this all
actually transpired.
In Arizona, not exactly the kind of vehicle you`d expect to be seeing stopped by the police. A funeral hearse. Ironically pulled over near a city
called Tombstone. You can`t make this stuff up. It rights itself. Inside the hearse, not what you usually find, not a corpse, not a body, instead 67
pounds of pot. Concealed inside the coffin.
And there were even a few bags of manure that were mixed in with the marijuana, apparently this is an attempt to mask the odor of the weed. The
28-year-old driver of the hearse has been arrested for yeah, narcotics smuggling. The marijuana, if you`re wondering, is said to be worth over
$33,000. Tombstone, Arizona.
A Detroit father facing awful charges for abusing and killing his own 8- month-old daughter and the weirdest part of this, he walked right out of
jail even before the trial. How does this happen?
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: A dad accused of murder and sexual assault is released from jail and his alleged victim is no stranger to him. It`s his own 8-month-old
daughter and you heard me right. He was released from jail, 8 months old. Even though he`s facing first-degree murder for all of this and of course
is, how does this happen? And it`s a very good question. Same question we wondered. His name is James Saltmarshall. This is him.
Very upset in court. He says he was staying at a hotel when he simply found his little baby girl unresponsive and called 911. But the police say his
story changed over and over. First, they say he told them he was sleeping in the same bed as the little girl, found she wasn`t breathing, you know
the rest, called 911. Then they say he reported that baby girl just fell off the bed.
And that he shook her when she didn`t respond. And then investigators say the small girl not only had head trauma, she showed serious signs of sexual
abuse. Again, 8 months old. Despite that, this 22-year-old father is walking free tonight, no jumpsuit, no jail, and even his own mother thinks
this is crazy.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
AISHA SALTMARSHALL, MOTHER OF JAMES SALTMARSHALL: This should not be taken lightly, that he`s out. At times, we create monsters. And I may have
created one of those monsters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: That was his mother and this is Koco McAboy. She is a reporter with CNN affiliate WDIV. She interviewed James Saltmarshall after he was
released on bond. I want to ask you about that awesome interview that you got, Koco. But first, why do I keep thinking this is some kind of a
mistake?
Why do I keep thinking most people who are accused of horrible things like first-degree murder or felony murder, they don`t get bond? And they
certainly don`t get released without having to post any money at all. Tell me what happened.
KOCO MCABOY, REPORTER AT WDIV: Well, Ashleigh, that`s a big question that a lot of people have. As you can imagine, this case outraged a lot of people
because of the heinous crimes that he has committed of doing. But the prosecutor`s office of this case, they say that they ended up letting him
out on a GPS tether because they need to collect more forensic evidence in this case and they say it`s going to take some time. So for now, he is
free, even though he has been accused and charged with these crimes.
BANFIELD: And just still sounds crazy to me. I mean, police officers
[20:40:00] charge people all the time and then they sit there, either not able to make bail or able to make bail, usually having to post the money,
and then they continue the investigation. So before I get to all of that and get into the gritty, I want to play a piece of the interview that you
did as James Saltmarshall actually came out and was sprung and you got a chance to sort of grab the mic and ask him a couple questions. Have a
listen.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES SALTMARSHALL, CHARGED WITH MURDER AND SEX ASSAULT: My daughter suffocated in my arms and I woke up. I realized that my daughter was not
breathing. The first thing I did was call the police. They start naming all these different types of injuries that was new to me. I told her mom they
probably going to arrest me because of it. I seen it happen on TV and that`s exactly what they did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And then he just was gone, right? He just sort of -- he was gone. His brother and some friends just picked him up and off he drove, right?
MCABOY: Yes, it was such an odd day because, you know, I was looking for some kind of remorse from him. But I mean of course, you know, he is
getting out of jail, he was excited about that, and he kept saying that he had to fight for his life in jail. But it was very odd because then his
family and friends drove up to the jailhouse and they are just rejoicing and screaming, thank God for this, thank God for that. But you don`t really
hear much about the 8-month-old baby Janiyah.
BANFIELD: This looks like everyone is heading off to a party or something and there is a baby who, you know, the allegations say this baby was raped
at 8 months old and ultimately is dead. The whole story is just so upside down to me. Help me understand a little context here, too, because his
mother is none too pleased that he`s walking the streets now. She thinks he`s a monster. She said I created a monster. What about the mother of this
little baby girl? What`s her story?
MCABOY: Absolutely. I asked him about that because as you said, his mother says she created a monster, but he responded by saying well, there is a lot
of drama and I won`t get into that drama. But I can also tell you that the mother had been fighting for custody of that baby because she felt like the
baby was not safe with her son or the baby`s mother who is Zuleika Moreno. That mother I can also tell you right now, she is on probation for child
abuse in the third degree.
BANFIELD: Did I also read right, Koco, that the mother of this little Janiyah Saltmarshall has had six children. And little Janiyah is number
six. And she has lost custody of each and every one of her six kids?
MCABOY: Yes, you read that correctly. And I`ve actually been in contact with a few of her family members. They tell me that they don`t talk to her
anymore. That they are very upset about this case. They are also upset about what happened with her other children. And they tell me that she is
quote, an unfit mother. So this is obviously a very sad case and very interesting that the mother was interviewed, but she`s not facing any
charges in this case.
BANFIELD: Koco, hold on for a second. Danny Cevallos, get me off the ledge here. How on earth does this guy walked on something called $2 million but
doesn`t put up any money and gets to hang out while he`s facing felony murder?
CEVALLOS: He`s charged with felony murder, which is first-degree murder in Michigan, but doesn`t appear to be premeditated intentional murder. So that
may be a weakness in the prosecution`s case, but other than that, I really can`t see how he gets out on GPS.
BANFIELD: How does he get out?
BRUNO: It was scheduled for a probable cause hearing and the prosecutor has to present some probable cause. And this is a foreshadowing that maybe
there is not enough evidence to prove this case.
BANFIELD: I`m still confused and on the ledge because.
BRUNO: I hear you.
BANFIELD: . I see a charge like that and I see guys sticking it out and having to sit in jail until they reach trial. We`ll continue watching this.
I have to re-show you a piece of video I showed you sometime ago. A hit that you probably have not forgotten, a hit off the field, probably cost
football star Joe Mixon, yeah, millions and millions of dollars.
Slugging a girl, breaking her jaw. I mean, this was unbelievable. There she is bloody, can barely stand up. That`s a hit. Now he`s got a fresh start
with a Cincinnati Bengals. Hey, how do you feel about that?
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: For a lot of college football players, the NFL draft is an anxiety-filled waiting game. Your financial future in doubt as each
subsequent pick is made. And for one player, this one, Oklahoma`s Joe Mixon, he wasn`t sure he would even be drafted because the day before his
18th birthday, this happened inside a deli in Norman. After words were exchanged between Mixon and his friends, a young woman, tempers flare,
Mixon decided to punch her, slug her, breaking multiple bones in the woman`s face.
Oklahoma for it`s part suspended him for an entire football season, just one. Mixon pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault and he recently
reached a settlement in the civil lawsuit that the victim filed against him. And when I say recent, I mean like a week and a half ago. I don`t know
if that`s coincidental. But just about a week and a half before the draft, surprise, settlement. Not many people expected Joe Mixon to be drafted as
high as he was live on ESPN.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY MUNOZ, OFFENSIVE TACKLE WHO PLAY 13 SEASONS FOR THE NFL CINCINNATI BENGALS: With the 48th pick in the 2017 NFL draft, the Cincinnati Bengals
select Joe Mixon running back Oklahoma.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Didn`t seem like the crowd at the NFL draft was too happy about that pick. You heard all those boos. Even though it was the second round
but Mixon
[20:50:00] had to be ecstatic. Some people actually said they wouldn`t have drafted him because of that violent background. After the draft, he even
briefly touched upon that punch.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
JOE MIXON, CINCINNATI BENGALS: It hurt to really see it. Hurt to talk about it, you know, but at the end of the day, I`m trying to do whatever I can
and move forward past the situation, very unfortunate. And at the end of the day, like I said, I`m blessed to be in this situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: As for the team that drafted him, Cincinnati Bengals, they have been slammed for taking a chance on Mixon, but they have a long history of
drafting troubled stars and giving troubled stars another shot. Their coach, Marvin Lewis, says that`s what the Bengals are doing here.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
MARVIN LEWIS, HEAD COACH, CINCINNATI BENGALS: I don`t know who isn`t disgusted with what they saw, but that`s one day in the young man`s life,
and he`s had to live that since then. He will continue to have to live that. And he gets an opportunity to move forward and write his script from
there on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Right his script from there on. Jim Owczarski is the Bengals columnist for cincinnati.com. He`s with me now live. Jim, am I the only one
who I -- you got to get my jaw off the floor that a guy who has a criminal record who broke a bunch of bones in a girl`s face with a very violent
punch aiming for her, nobody else, wasn`t a mistake, wasn`t an accident, gets $2 million and a nice contract?
JIM OWCZARSKI, BENGALS COLUMNIST FOR CINCINNATI.COM: Well, you`re right, Ashleigh, it is definitely one of those topics in sports, major -- not just
professional but major college sports, you know, considering this happened when he was a would be freshman at Oklahoma University.
BANFIELD: So I`m not the on one? You`re telling me I`m not the only one. All those people booing are just as pissed as I am about this?
OWCZARSKI: Yeah, it has really divided Cincinnati. Yes, you are right there that the Bengals do have a history of bringing in players that they feel,
you know, they can -- that they can vet properly, that they feel good bringing into their locker room and can get them on the right path. But
you`re right, this is something -- you know, look, it was an astonishing act of violence documented on video.
BANFIELD: Yeah, astonishing.
OWCZARSKI: And watching it over and over, yes, and that`s something that is so visceral that, you know, even hardcore whether Oklahoma fans or Bengals
fans or just football fans, sports in general, it can`t.
BANFIELD: All these people are so excited saying well, he suffered enough. He would have had millions and millions more so he lost all this money.
Bull. I look at that and say I say for all you people who say he made a mistake and needed a second chance, a mistake is different than an assault.
I have made plenty of mistakes in may life.
Most people around me have made mistakes in my life. But I do not know one person in my life who assaulted someone and broke someone`s face,
especially a girl and is, you know, gets a second chance and called a mistake. How many people in your business are saying what I`m seeing on my
screen right now is just a mistake?
OWCZARSKI: Yeah, I think honestly, Ashleigh, especially in this instance as well as others with not just domestic violence but violence against women,
at least recently, at least people in journalism and even around the teams have -- the Bengals especially this past weekend have avoided that word
mistake because you`re right, it isn`t one.
BANFIELD: They didn`t avoid the word you`re hired. Ray Rice got fired for laying out his girlfriend in an elevator. He got fired for it. We all kind
of thought maybe the NFL is moving in the direction that Fox News is moving in, when you do bad things to girls, you get in trouble for it.
But this guy got hired. Yeah, he didn`t get the tens of millions that maybe people expected, but he got 2 million. And for the rest of us, that is a
lot of money, it`s more money, you`re in the rich`s 1% of this country. That is a big old gift for a guy who broke a woman`s face.
OWCZARSKI: Right. And that brings up that age-old question, Ashleigh, of winning at all costs and decisions that are made by universities and
professional teams to win games. You know, in whatever sport it may be and at least at this point while maybe there is more -- you mentioned Ray Rice,
that led the league to look at this issue and maybe institute other policies that weren`t there previously. But as you said, there`s clearly
not a policy to avoid. Look, it`s a private business, they can do what they want.
BANFIELD: Yeah, but you just hit the nail on the head. It`s a private business, which means customers.
[20:55:00] We can do what we want as well. We can say uh-uh, no more. This is crap. I would not be hired if I had that in my background check and this
guy doesn`t just get haired, he gets 2 million for it. I got to leave it there, Jim. Thank you so much for being with me on this one. I`m sorry I`m
way out there, but I don`t like seeing women get their faces broke and seeing guys get big paychecks for it. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: We are still arguing about Joe Mixon. I can`t believe it. My thanks to David Bruno and Danny Cevallos. Thanks for watching, everybody.
Thank you for putting up with me, guys.
[21:00:00] We`ll see you tomorrow night.
END
