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PRIMETIME JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Sandbag killed a motorist in Ohio; Famous vegan chef kills wife and two kids; . Aired 6-8p ET

Aired December 27, 2017 - 18:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:00] JOEY JACKSON, HLN HOST: Hello, everyone, I`m Joey Jackson in for Ashleigh Banfield and this is "Prime And Justice. You know, the snowy icy

conditions plaguing a large portion of the country are being blamed for deaths in Kansas. According to state troopers, they died in a one car crash

on I-70 near Abilene. Now, the report says that the driver hit the guardrail and skidded on an icy patch that was nearly 100 feet before

falling 25-feet off a bridge.

In upstate New York, police are investigating the deaths of four people found in a basement apartment in Troy. A property manager discovered the

bodies, two adults and two kids, 5 and 11 years old. Right now officers say the case is being treated as a homicide and are calling the death

suspicious, but no arrests have been made.

Singer Joy Villa claims the former presidential campaign manager for Donald Trump sexually assaulted her at a party last month. The Trump supporter who

wore a Make America Great Again dress says Cory Lewandowski slapped her bottom that is, twice, mile posing for a picture. Now Lewandowski has not

responded to CNN`s request for comment.

But we begin in Ohio where a young beloved father is dead tonight after something that happened on an interstate near Toledo. It wasn`t a drunk

driver who hit the car he was riding in and his car didn`t hit a patch of black ice, no. What killed 22-year-old Marquise Byrd as you there was a

sandbag that fell from an overpass late at night as he was riding in a friend`s car.

But police say that the sandbag falling was no accident. They say that four teenage boys, one just 13 years old, tossed it off of an interstate

overpass. You can hear the shock in the driver`s voice when she dials 911.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 911. Where is your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, I`m on the side of the road. I`m on 75 South. I was driving my car and I went underneath the road. I don`t know what

happened. My friend -- I don`t know what happened, he`s not moving. I just pulled underneath the bridge and something hit my car, hit my friend and he

is not moving. I`m freaking the (BLEEP) out. Oh my god.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were driving under a bridge?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I was just driving underneath a bridge and something just hit my car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he is not moving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you don`t know what hit him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. My windshield is like smashed out. I just heard this big ass pop and I`m like what the (BLEEP) is going on. What the

(BLEEP). He is laid out on my seat. I think this windshield might have smacked his head.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

JACKSON: Marquise was rushed to the hospital where doctors tried to save him, but he died three days later. Now those four boys are charged with his

murder. But the kicker here, even if they are found responsible, they could go free in just a few years. Joining me now, CNN correspondent Scott

McLean, certified death investigator and professor of forensic at Jacksonville State University Joseph Scott Morgan, JSM, retired FBI agent

Bobby Chacon and defense attorney Margie Mow. So Scott, let`s start with you. Set it up for us, how could this possibly happen?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so we know that Marquise Byrd was traveling southbound at I-75 a little over a week ago when all of a sudden

a sandbag (INAUDIBLE) the passenger seat comes crashing through that front windshield, and then you heard that 911 call there after that. These four

boys, you said it, three of them just 14-years-old, one of them just 13- years-old, that`s who police is eyeing here.

They are still in juvenile detention center. They are going to stay there until the trial starts January 4th. We are learning a little bit more about

Marquise Byrd as well. He was a father of just a one-year-old baby.

JACKSON: That`s heart breaking Scott.

MCLEAN: Absolutely.

JACKSON: Yes.

MCLEAN: He was engaged and you know, also one of the local people there spoke to his cousin and she says she has no sympathy for these four boys.

She wishes that they be charged as adults.

JACKSON: Yes, you know what, it`s such a horrific story. You listen to this and you see kids who are being kids, but how much is it being a kid when

you`re dropping things over an overpass that can kill people. You know, Margie Mow, let me go to you. Let me bring you in on this because from a

defense perspective, have you these children and they are children and we know that the prosecutor is not treating this -- as them as adult. Is that

the right call?

MARGIE MOW, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think in this case it is, as unfortunate as it is that this victim who is a father died. These are children. I don`t

think that they intended to kill anybody. I think that they are being negligent and reckless. And I think that it is appropriate in this

situation to keep them in the juvenile system.

JACKSON: You know the problem though and I get it and I`m an advocate of that, Margie, because I believe that children are children and certainly

they don`t have

[18:05:00] the developed mindset. You know, when you are 14-years-old, you don`t do what you do at 21 or 25. But it`s just heart breaking when you

look at things like this and you see people are dying as a result of this conduct. You know, I just want to set up some sound for you. It`s from

Lillian Diallo, she`s a family friend. Let`s see what she says and let`s talk about it afterwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s four juveniles that are involved in this --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am so mad!

LILLIAN DIALLO, FAMILY FRIEND OF THE VICTIM: I know you`re mad, I know, I know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With a legal backgrounds like yours, are you expecting or hoping the proper kind of justice --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope they get maximum.

DIALLO: OK. The legal system will work that out but there is a lot of responsibility to go around. This is not the first incident on I-75. You

understand? So whoever left those things out there they bear responsibility, too. They were on notice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Heart breaking, indeed. So Bobby Chacon, we have you there, but you know, is there a responsibility to go around, right? I mean, we do have

sandbags that are out in the open. Children are there, you know, we can have access to them. What is law enforcement`s role in this?

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: You know, that`s tough one because there is always going to be something that is a kid like that, a teenager

can pick up and throw off. It`s going to be impossible to police every piece of debris. I think the last incident what she referred to when

someone was killed was a rock. A rock was thrown over. You can`t get rid of all the rock.

There is always going to be some kind of trash or debris to be thrown off. So I mean, I think that, you know, looking at that kind of thing, that

whoever left that sandbag has responsibility, I`m not so sure that`s going to, you know, save the next person.

You know, I think we already had one incident like this recently, as recent as October, where someone was killed by a rock being thrown off on overpass

in that general area and so people would have known about that from the news. You know the legal system has to kind of take a step up and take care

of this kind of behavior.

JACKSON: Yes, they really do. I want to play another sound bite, I mean you know, and when we have this discussion and viewers at home, you know,

children are out there and they do things like that and it`s heart breaking because of the consequences. So, let`s listen to this sound bite asking

about Marquise. He`s dead. You heard Scott McLean earlier said up the story talking about how he has a one-year-old child. But listen to what the

reaction was when she was asked about Marquise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you just tell me something about Marquise? Everybody is asking, what kind of a guy is he?

DIALLO: Well let me ask you this. Why are they asking what kind of guy Marquise is? He`s done nothing. He did nothing wrong. They need to go to

the home of the people that allegedly threw these boulders or rocks or sandbags or whatever (INAUDIBLE). That`s where they need to start. Marquise

was wonderful. Even if he was Satan personified, he had done nothing wrong, but he was a wonderful young man. He was a human being that was slaughtered

in a horrific way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: And you see the impact there, right? I mean you have someone who is really upset about this. And you know, Joseph Scott Morgan, I want to

talk to you about it. You heard Bobby Chacone earlier talk about a prior incident. Well there`s a couple other incidents that I want to take you

through that we`re going to discuss right now because they`re teachable moments.

But what I want to get in with you, Joseph Scott Morgan, is the impact of the death here, right? I mean you look at whether it`s a rock or it`s a

sandbag. It comes down and it comes down pretty hard and there are a couple other incidents that we can talk about. I want to play something for you

now, Joseph Scott. I want to talk about it after we play it. It`s a rock that went through windshield.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have here the rock that went through that windshield on which you can see blood spattering all over the car. The rock lodged in

the pocket there in the door of the car and you can just image what trauma was inflicted upon the individual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: So my friend, Joseph Scott Morgan, JSM, take us through how -- what happens when a rock, or in this case, a sandbag comes through. It`s

not fun and games, right? What happens exactly, when it comes through with impact? What`s the crush impact of it and how does it lead to the death?

JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVSTIGATOR: Yes, this is not just some one-off incident, Joey, as was stated earlier. There is precedent for

this. This has occurred very recently in the same corridor on I-75 and it`s happened all over the nation over the years. I have actually worked a

couple of these cases in my past. And the reality here, Joey, is this isn`t more like a kid throwing just throwing a rock through a stained glass

window and knocking it out.

You have a large object, a sandbag that is just absolutely dead weight that has its own force behind it when it`s dropped from this height. We`re

talking, you know, over 12-feet in height. And then it meets a vehicle that`s traveling, let`s just face it, down 75, probably in excess of 70

miles per hour. You have those two items meeting one another in space.

[18:10:00] The impact is tremendous so much so that you can actually hear it in a 911 call.

When this young lady that was operating the vehicle stated that he was unresponsive, this was almost an instantaneous event. It struck him in the

head and according to what the medical examiners say as the cause of death, this young gentleman suffered from a closed head trauma as well as neck

trauma. It`s a very violent event.

I think that one of the other things we have to consider, they`re very fortunate that this rock did or the sandbag, this object, did not strike

her because she is travelling in traffic. If it had hit her and she lost control of the vehicle, we might be very well talking about more than one

death here, Joey.

JACKSON: Yes. You know, it`s one of those scenarios which you find as you mentioned, Joseph Scott Morgan, as not a one off. It`s something that

occurs far too often. And I want to listen to the 911 tape when she calls in and I mean, just listening to her, well, you be the judge. Let`s listen

to the 911 tape.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 911. Where is your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, I`m on the side of the road. I`m on 75 South. I was driving my car and I went underneath the road. I don`t know what

happened. My friend -- I don`t know what happened, he`s not moving. I just pulled underneath the bridge and something hit my car, hit my friend and he

is not moving. I`m freaking the (BLEEP) out. Oh my god.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were driving under a bridge?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I was just driving underneath a bridge and something just hit my car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he is not moving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you don`t know what hit him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. My windshield is like smashed out. I just heard this big ass pop and I`m like what the (BLEEP) is going on. What the

(BLEEP). He is laid out on my seat. I think this windshield might have smacked his head.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

JACKSON: I mean, the impact obviously of that impacts all of us, certainly impacts you at home. So Scott, going back to you, what`s next for these

children, what`s going to happen?

MCLEAN: So they will stay in juvenile detention center, in juvenile jail until their court date, that`s January 4th, that`s when the trial starts

and that`s when they, you know, see the judge and that`s when ultimately their fate will be decided. But what`s interesting here, Joey, is that

these guys are not being charged in the adult system because the prosecutor says simply there is not enough of a criminal history there in order to

make that case.

And so two of these kids out of the four, they have misdemeanors. The other two have no record at all. And in Ohio as well, the 13-year-old couldn`t be

charged under the adult system regardless. And so they`re going to stay, you know, there is no -- according to prosecutor at least, there is no

option in Ohio to get bail for these guys until the court date and that`s why things are moving fairly quickly here.

JACKSON: So, Margi Mow, we know that it would be a discretionary transfer, right, in terms of getting the case to adult court. I know you don`t favor

that anyway, but certainly you have a community that`s concerned about this and you know, I guess it leads to the question of there are multiple people

there, Margie, but are all of these teens responsible even though it could have been just one that tossed the sandbag leading to the death of

Marquise?

MOW: Well, they`re all responsible but we do have to figure out whose idea it was, how they all acted. Did they all actively participate in throwing

the sandbag over? And I think the one thing that we`re forgetting is they are being punished whether they are in juvenile or in adult court. They are

already incarcerated. They are serving -- if they get convicted, they will be serving a sentence. The issue is what type of sentence will they

receive?

JACKSON: Yes. You know the distinction we should point out, Margie, of course, when you look at the distinction between adult court and juveniles,

it`s about rehabilitation, right? And in the event that juvenile court -- you`re sent to juvenile court, the real focus is rehabilitation whereas

adult court it`s not, it`s about punishment.

You know, in looking at this case, I want to show the viewers something. We have a before and after picture of another rock incident that you really

have to take a look at -- Sharon Budd. You`ll see the picture on the screen of before and after. She was hit, again, in an instance like this. Someone

dropped an object. It hit her and brain damaged, a number of things that happened, and it really is a teachable moment in that regard. Let`s play a

sound bite and have our viewers listen to this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden, if somebody would have put a grenade in that car, that`s what it sounded like. I mean, it just was an explosion. My

daughter started screaming. She goes, dad, what shall I do? What happened? She turned the lights on and saw her mom`s head sideways and saw the most

gruesome thing that probably anybody could ever see -- but she would breathe heavy, it would come out of her brain and it was, oh my god, it was

terrible.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

[18:15:10] JACKSON: Bobby Chacone, I go to you on this issue. What can we do in the law enforcement community as a preventative measure moving

forward so that we don`t hear calls like this or see pictures as were depicted on the screen?

CHACONE: You know, you never want to use an individual as a deterrent for future behavior, but you know, in this case, the punishment has got to fit

the crime. We heard our forensic expert earlier describe the death and how it would take place with cars moving at that speed. These teenagers have to

know what they did was akin to taking a gun and randomly shooting it off in the street.

You may hit somebody, you may not. That rock or that sandbag may have landed on a pavement, a car driven over it or it may pass through a

windshield and violently end someone`s life. So, the fact that it wasn`t a gun that was used -- if it was a gun we would all be having a different

visceral feeling, right? Well heard our forensic expert describe the manner of death that took place in this case.

It was a violent death, a blunt force trauma to the head and neck. I mean, throwing these things off, a rock, a sandbag, these teenagers have to know

that what they are doing could ends someone`s life. And I think that has to be emphasized both through the pre-trial process and the trial process. The

prosecutor has to kind of deal with it that way and they have to treat it that way.

JACKSON: Yes. So well stated, Bobby. And other cases and other jurisdictions where juveniles are treated as adult, I guess the message now

is that this isn`t fun, it isn`t funny, whether it`s a sandbag, whether it`s a rock, whether it`s in Michigan, whether it`s here. It just can`t

happen. So, you know, we hope for the best moving forward.

Panel stay in place, up next, a heart-breaking last look at a father and son on Christmas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better watch out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better not cry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better not pout I`m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town, do, do, do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Now that dad as you see him there is behind bars. He is accused of killing his estranged wife and kids, and at the top of the hour, Missy

Bevers was brutally killed inside a church while setting up for an exercise class. But despite many leads including surveillance video showing her

killer, police have not been able to solve this crime.

Tonight at 7:00 eastern, we talk exclusively to Missy Bever`s husband, that`s Brandon, and their daughters about the mystery that still remains

unresolved, and where is the investigation right now?

[18:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACKSON: A well known vegan chef and motivational speaker recently posted a holiday message with his 11-year-old son on Facebook. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better watch out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better not cry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better not pout I`m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town, do, do, do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: But just hours later, Anthony Ross would be accused of murdering his son, his 10-month-old daughter as well as his ex-wife. Now, on

Christmas day, police say they responded to an apartment complex in phoenix after receiving 911 calls about a woman who was shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN HOWARD, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: They found an adult female, deceased inside the parking lot. The initial officers on scene tracked the

suspects down to one of the specific apartments.

(END VIDEO CLOP)

JACKSON: A standoff followed, hours passed as officers waited outside that home where they believe two children were inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: It wasn`t until shortly after 10:00 where our officers could see inside the apartment and they could see that the 10-month-old was actually

deceased. They were continuing to search from outside for the 11-year-old when the suspect began firing shots at the officers. At that time, still

looking for the 11-year-old, the officers forced entry into the house. They engaged the suspect in a shootout and took him into custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Now, I want to show what you that Christmas day scene looked like as police went inside that apartment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: They found an adult female deceased inside the parking lot. The initial officers on scene tracked the suspect down to one of the specific

apartments.

(GUNSHOTS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Christmas day, no less. Now, Anthony Milan Ross is facing multiple charges including three counts of first degree murder. You`re looking at

him there. Joining me now, Tom Perumean, he`s a reporter for KTAR News 92.3. Also, retired special FBI special agent, that`s Bobby Chacone and

defense attorney Margie Mow. So let`s start with you, Tom Peruvian, and just take us through how this escalated, what do we know happened? When the

children were killed? Just bring us up to speed.

TOM PERUMEAN, REPORTER, KTAR NEWS 92.3 (via telephone): Well this horrific crime is the second to hit phoenix during the Christmas holiday and it`s

then especially shocking as it involves, you know, the killing of a 10- month-old child. That has really stunned the city. We had an earlier killing, about a week earlier where a father killed his son and now this

one.

And this one was especially violent the way the whole way that apparently he chased down his ex-wife, Iris Ross, and shot her in the courtyard of the

apartment. Then shot his 11-year-old son and then his 10-month-old daughter. We just don`t know what sent Anthony Milan Ross off the rails,

but the renowned vegan chef coldheartedly texted his sister-in-law, that he had killed Iris Ross, his ex-wife and their kids.

JACKSON: Now Tom, is there any indication and you just said that we don`t know what sent him off the rails, but do we have any indication of what

went awry?

[18:25:00] Was there a marital dispute? Were they going through a custody battle? Was he in a state of depression? Do police know or have you been

able to determine anything as we look at his children, you know, his wife, who are now dead at his hands?

PERUMEAN: You know, this is what we`re still fighting to try to find out. We know that during the standoff with Phoenix police and this took place in

a relatively nice neighborhood, 16ith and Highland is a nice neighborhood. It`s a nice place to live. It`s on a fairly well-to-do side of town.

And he kept changing his story during the standoff saying, you know, he hadn`t killed the kids. They were trying to find out what the deal was.

They negotiated with him well into the night before they finally send in the robot to go get him an it just -- its baffled all of us and it has

shocked a lot of Phoenix. There really is -- you can you feel it. There really is kind of a pall hanging in the air.

JACKSON: Tom Perumean, this is absolute nightmare. I want to take you through a sound bite involving whether, and you alluded to it, when exactly

these were killed? Was it during the negotiations? So, you know, that`s the unbelievable thing.

I also want to talk about the other issue and that relates to the police doing the forced entry? I mean, do we know anything about the forced entry

of the children? And you know, Bobby, let me ask you about it. Bobby Chacone, I go to you on the issue as to whether or not the police should

have entered the building in the way that they did in order to end the standoff?

CHACONE: Well, this is tough one. This is called a barricaded subject and it`s one of the most tense situation that a tactical team and negotiators

can be involved in particularly when have you children as hostages in there. And the reporter said that he was giving conflicting stories. He

actually said that if they came in, he would kill the children.

Now, other witnesses are saying that the gunshots all happened at the beginning of the standoff where he killed his wife. He ran in there. They

kind of saw where he went in. They heard a succession of several more shots. So, the physical evidence and the eyewitnesses seem to indicate that

he may have killed those children right away. But the police couldn`t be sure.

When they arrived on scene, all they knew was there were children in that house. He went in there with a gun, just kill her. So, it was a very, very

tense situation. The life of the children was paramount so they really couldn`t rush in right away and his conflicting statements, he is saying

down one thing to them. He`s also texting relatives that he already killed the children. So, you know, it was really probably a very, very confusing

situation for the negotiators on the ground there.

JACKSON: Yes. You know, Bobby, and you just never know. Were the kids dead? Were they not dead? If they waited any longer what else could have

happened? Could have other police officer have died? So you don`t know. I just want to play the sound that we have in terms of the rushing ing in

order to bring this matter under control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: It wasn`t until shortly after 10:00 where our officers could see inside the apartment and they could see that the 10-month-old was actually

deceased. They were continuing to search from outside for the 11-year-old when the suspect began firing shots at the officers. At that time, still

looking for 11-year-old, the officers forced entry into the house. They engaged the suspect into a shootout and took him into custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Margie Moq, let me go to you. Obviously he`s facing, you know, these are some significant charges here. What`s the defense?

MOW: We`d have to get him evaluated. There is obviously some mental issues there. Perhaps he was under the influence of a controlled substance. I

mean, this is not normal behavior and it`s very heartbreaking especially when you see the video of him and his son, and they`re singing and it`s

Christmas. You know, we need to get to the bottom of what exactly pushed him over the edge. Was this some sort of heat of passion --

JACKSON: Yes, that`s what gets me because you see the singing to his son and singing with him, singing Christmas carols. We are looking at him

there. He looks pretty well adjusted and then all of a sudden, you know, he`s killing his entire family and you just have to wonder what sets

someone like this off? And so back to you to Tom Perumean, what do we know in terms of what happens next? We know that the suspect is being held

without bond. What`s the next court appearance? What is anticipated to happen at that time?

PERUMEAN: Well, we are still -- he did make his initial court appearance. He is going to face numerous charges and I understand there are 19

aggravated assault charges, that`s stemming from the assaults on the officer discharging firearms, you know of course, three counts of first

degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

So, you know, of course, he`s not going to get bond. I`m certain once he gets a defense lawyer, we don`t necessarily know he`s gotten one as yet,

but of course, there will be an evaluation and someone is going to say sooner or later, you know, what happened? What is his story?

[18:30:00] And what exactly brought him to snap and snap this violently.

JACKSON: Without question.

PERUMEAN: This kind of obliteration is just, you know, incredible.

JACKSON: And Tom, briefly, do we know if this is a capital case if terms of whether they are seeking the death penalty?

PERUMEAN (via telephone): It may very well be.

JACKSON: OK.

PERUMEAN (via telephone): The county attorney here in Maricopa County, he doesn`t -- he really doesn`t mess around in cases like this.

JACKSON: Well, he shouldn`t. Bobby Chacon, what I find very interesting here is that not withstanding him killing his family, a shootout with the

police, they take him alive. That struck me.

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Sure. You know, I mean, we can get that that`s always the motivation of law enforcement. Always the objective

is to take as many people into custody without harm to them, right?

First of all, we have the children. I think that the authorities must have shown extreme measure of caution because once they determined the 10-month-

old was dead by that robot, they`re looking into windows from the outside trying to find the 11-year-old.

They`re still trying to give him every opportunity to give himself up. And then they make entry, and apparently they still gave him every opportunity

without having to kill him. And so, I mean, that`s still always the ultimate objective.

No matter what that person does, they never consider themselves, you know, judge, jury, executioner. They always want to take that person in. And in

this case, you know, the situation allowed that to happen.

JACKSON: Yes, I mean, thank goodness, you know, not more police officers were harmed. And very briefly, we have a sound byte, we have to think about

the community at large. Think about what they were going through, it`s Christmas time, pretty scary Christmas for them. Take a listen to this.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN HOWARD, SERGEANT, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: They found an adult female deceased inside the parking lot. The initial officers on scene

tracked the suspect down to one of the specific apartments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: And Margie, briefly, when all said and done, is this a capital murder case? Will he, do you think, be convicted?

MARGIE MOW, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think that`s where you try to look for motive and try to mitigate the damages and maybe avoid a capital

punishment. And as you discussed earlier, most of these cases end up being a murder-suicide. So, it is quite interesting that he`s still alive and

they were able to take him into custody alive.

JACKSON: Tragic case going, the holiday season for sure. Stay right there, Margie Mow, Bobby Chacon. Now, coming up, there are more questions than

answers tonight about how a flight to Tokyo left Los Angeles with an extra unticketed passenger on the plane.

Model Chrissy Teigen and her husband, musician, John Legend, you see them there, while on that flight, and she began tweeting when the plane was

turned around after four hours to return to Los Angeles.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much for taking me on this awesome vacation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That dinner was so good. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: A little sense of humor there. The LAX round-trip took 11 hours and All Nippon Airways says they decided to bring the plane back out of an

abundance of caution.

Law enforcement sources tell CNN that the mistake involved two brothers, one was booked on an ANA flight that Teigen was on, the other was booked on

a different flight. We are told they have similar sounding names and that somehow they both ended up on the same plane.

Straight ahead, a story about blackmail, underage sex, and a hit man that could land a husband and wife in jail.

[18:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACKSON: A fake heart attack, a stage suicide, a hunting accident. All scenarios are very different, but they`re all scenarios of (INAUDIBLE)

Pennsylvania say a woman discussed with a hit man, attempting to plan the murder of her husband. And investigators say that the marriage of Robin and

Keith Transue were filled with problems.

Robin wanted out, and she believed having her husband off was the only solution. That`s because her hubby, a former police officer, you see him

there, is blaming her or blackmailing her rather over a past affair. Now, get this, the affair involves someone not even old enough to drive. Now,

both of them are facing jail time.

Joining me now, Andrew Scott, a reporter for the Pocono Record. Also Bobby Chacon and Margie Mow. And so let`s get right to it. Andrew, take us

through what in the world happened here.

ANDREW SCOTT, REPORTER, POCONO RECORD (via telephone): To start from beginning, according to what investigators learned, it just began in 2010

when Robin Transue had a sexual encounter with a then 14-year-old boy. Basically, Keith Transue became aware of the the affair. They were married

at the time.

JACKSON: They did?

SCOTT (via telephone): Yes. And instead of immediately reported it to authorities, you know, the reporting would have amounted to statutory

sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor, he kept silent and instead used his knowledge to threaten her into not divorcing him.

Basically, he blackmailed her or committed, you know, what`s called coercion into having her stay with him and not divorce him, threatening to

expose her if she left him.

JACKSON: And so, Andrew, how did all of this unravel? How did it get to the point where ultimately -- I understand the affair with a 14-year-old years

ago, right? That 14-year-old is now 20 years old. So, did it all unravel to get to the point where she got arrested, he got arrested, everyone is being

prosecuted? What happened?

SCOTT (via telephone): Well, she -- after he, you know, basically blackmailed her, she

[18:40:00] became desperate. She approached a mutual friend and basically, you know, asked him to kill her husband and make it look like a suicide or

an accident so that she could be cleared from getting out of the marriage.

That gentleman that she approached went to authorities and said -- told authorities that, you know, he had been coerced to, you know, to commit

murder.

And so authorities agreed to secretly tape or record a conversation between this gentleman and Robin Transue, where she, you know, basically implicated

herself and, you know, this solicitation for murder plot, you know, to kill her husband.

JACKSON: Indeed, she did. So, Bobby Chacon, I have to go to you. I wanted to show all the various ways that she planned to do this. Whether it was an

accident or car accident, a fake heart attack, staged suicide by Valium, a hunting accident, you could see there, a house fire.

So it was great police work obviously that came to this. So take us through the sting operation and how police are able to really find out, and in this

case, she pretty much stated everything that the police needed to know so that they can have a successful prosecution.

CHACON: You know, fortunately, Joey, this is not an uncommon scenario that we`ve seen, the husband or wife hires a hit man to off their spouse. In

this situation, it`s a little odd that, you know, he wanted to stay in the marriage. He was blackmailing her to stay in the marriage, and she wanted

him killed so she can get out of the marriage.

It`s a little bit of a turn of events in this particular case, but, yes, you know, it`s usually an undercover police officer, but in this case, the

friend who she approaches to do the murder or find someone to do the murder, goes to authorities and says, I don`t want any part of this.

They wired him up. He goes back in to talk to her again about the situation. And he gets it all on tape. She laced it all out there. She has

an imagination. All the different ways that she thinks that he can be killed and the cops go with that. She is facing felony charges, now

multiple felony charges.

He is facing a misdemeanor charge for the blackmail, the original blackmail that started six or seven years ago. It`s just a scenario we see often, but

not played out in the way this one played out.

JACKSON: Well, this is certainly good police work. Margie, why not get a divorce? I mean, you know, I understand there is this 14-year-old and there

is blackmail going on, but you plan and you plot to kill your husband, what is her way out now?

I mean, she is pretty -- look, you have her on tape. She`s admitting that she`s doing all of this. She`s being prosecuted. What does she say to get

out from under this, or was this a plea bargain case?

MOW: Well, it`s deeper than that. I mean, this is like a real life soap opera. There is the cheating with the child and then he`s coercing her to

stay married. He finds out about the cheating and the sexual abuse.

He is a cop and has a duty to report but he doesn`t. He coerces her to stay with him. I understand that he was abusive, so then she decides to wait

until she thinks the statute of limitations has run to hire a hit man.

JACKSON: Right.

MOW: I understand they both pled in this case. So, now, you know, it`s time to figure out what sentence they should each receive. I mean, she`s on the

hook not just for hiring a hit man and attempting to murder her husband, but more importantly for having sexual relations with a minor.

JACKSON: Sure, so, Margie, just staying with you for one minute, just a couple things are of interest. Apparently, she would be with him in public

places that she thought were under video surveillance.

She would hug him, you know, get up close to him and kiss him so that if anybody tracked back, it would show how much affection and affinity she had

for him.

I mean, this is -- you mentioned a soap opera, it absolutely is. But just looking at it, you mentioned the issue of punishment. And let me ask you

this, why prosecute him?

MOW: Because he was under a duty to report the child abuse, especially because he was a police officer, and he did nothing to protect the child.

And in addition to that, he blackmailed her into staying married. So he definitely should be punished for lack of his actions.

JACKSON: OK. I guess it sends a deterrent value, obviously, if it is underage, you know, that she`s 14-years-old or the boy, excuse me, was 14-

years-old, who was having sex with the mom, that certainly has to be reported.

I just want to go back to you, Andrew Scott, in terms of what`s next, what do we anticipate? Margie Mow talked about the punishment, the sentencing.

What can we reasonably expect moving forward?

SCOTT (via telephone): OK, so, my understanding is that she will plead guilty to a couple of felony charges. I believe, I`m sorry, she will be

sentenced on that. I believe the sentencing date for both is sometime early next year.

[18:45:00] She pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault and solicitation to committing aggravated assault.

JACKSON: And those are felonies, right, Andrew? We know those are felonies. And in terms of the husband, his is a misdemeanor. What are they looking

at? Do you know?

SCOTT (via telephone): It`s hard to say at this point because I don`t believe even from -- and I -- we need to double check on this, but I don`t

know if either can have significant, you know, criminal records to the point where they would get, you know, extreme sentences.

But just to clarify a couple of things, Mr. Transue is no longer a police officer at this point. He was, I believe, suspended as a result of guilty

plea. But he is, in fact, still a federal councilman in Mount Pocono at this point. He cannot be moved from council until and unless he resigns or

council removes him or his term expires, which would be at the end of next year.

So, you know, with the guilty plea, even if counsel did move to remove him from his seat, you know, they would not be able to do that until after the

sentencing if they wanted to take any action on that at all.

JACKSON: Absolutely. We appreciate your reporting, Andrew Scott. Let`s hope the sentence that he gets and she gets is worthy of exactly what they did

here. He is a mandatory reporter, he should report in the event that things are occurring like underage sex, a 14-year-old.

When your wife is having sex, you want to report that. And certainly, she shouldn`t be plotting these wild strategies to kill her husband.

Wow! All right. Next story, chaos while shopping. You know, when shots are fired outside a Tennessee mall the day after Christmas.

[18:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACKSON: Fighting broke out in the food court and spilled outside the mall. That was just last night. Moments later, gunfire erupted as bystanders ran

for safety. Now, five people were injured in the mayhem. Seven have been arrested on charges including aggravated assault and unlawful weapons

possession.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody just started running. And when it was running, it was like the people didn`t know what to do. We was trying to

get locked -- everybody was getting locked in the back of the stores.

LOUIS BROWNLEE, MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: It`s sad that it took a turn like this, but we just encourage people, you know, to just be alert, be

aware, encourage your children to do the right thing. You know, don`t arm yourselves. You know, solve your problems without violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Now, that`s great advice. Cops say a semiautomatic weapon was found outside the mall. Police think it may be connected to the shootings.

Extra patrols are planned through the rest of the holiday season, thank goodness for that.

Joining me again, defense attorney Margie Mow. Margie, it`s you and I, let`s talk about this. I mean, you know, holidays, of course, are stressful

times. You`re going to the mall, people are aggravated, there are long lines, people are getting hot and bothered, but certainly no need for this

violence, right?

MOW: Absolutely not. It`s interesting to note that they started the fight inside the mall at the food court and the shooting actually didn`t start

until they were outside. So I`m interested to know if the person who was shooting was actually involved with the fight inside the food court or if

it was a bystander outside that decided to make matters into their own hands and be a vigilante.

JACKSON: Yes, that`s always a good thing to know, Margie. Another thing to think about, you know, I mentioned it before, which is that they`re

stepping up patrols, but how do you prevent something like this? You have people who are in the malls. Oftentimes you have a young crowd that`s

there, it spills out.

What can we do in terms of prevention so that we don`t have gunfire erupting and parents going nuts. Can you imagine getting a call, I know

your children are too young to go to the mall at this point, but eventually, Margie, they`ll be going there, and that`s a call you don`t

want to get from them or anybody else, talking about shots being fired.

MOW: Absolutely not. But it goes to the deeper issue of gun control. And how much security do we implement? Yes, there should be more security

around the parameters of the mall, there should be more security inside the mall.

But are we supposed to put weapons detectors and screeners at the entrance of the mall? Because at that point, you are infringing on your freedom and

the ability to enjoy a day at the mall.

JACKSON: Yes, you really are. So, Margie, I have to ask you the question, since you brought up the issue of gun control, great thing to bring up, by

the way, you know what the gun control advocates will say, guns don`t kill people, people kill people. What`s your say to that?

MOW: It depends. I mean, yes, absolutely, people kill people. But I do think that we should have stronger gun control. We should be more cautious

as to who we allow to purchase guns. There should be an extensive background check. And young children, young adults should probably not be

carrying guns.

JACKSON: I think I would have to wholeheartedly agree with you with that, Margie. You know, the reality is that there`s too much gun violence and,

you know, something has to give. And certainly during the spirit of the holiday season, you hate to see things like this happening. We should be

talking about Santa and toys, not gun violence erupting in the mall.

Margie, stay right there, don`t go too far. Speaking of guns and gun violence, gun violence in Chicago dipped down over the holiday weekend. The

Chicago PD reports that there were 18 shootings and four murders between December 23rd and December 25th.

In 2016, there were 27 shootings and 13 murders during that same time. Now, this year, Chicago has recorded 645 homicides as compared to last year,

where there were a total of 771.

You`ll love this one. A routine traffic stop lands an 83-year-old man

[18:55:00] in jail, after cops find he was parked and he was having marijuana and pot in his car. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACKSON: There`s no telling what police will find when they make a traffic stop. In York County, Nebraska, it was 60 pounds of pot with an estimated

street value of more than $300,000. And the driver, well, he was an 83- year-old man.

Cops say they pulled over Patrick Jiron for failing to signal a turn and found when they approached the car, they smelled marijuana, which led them

to search the vehicle.

Jiron and his wife were traveling from California to the east coast and say they intended to deliver the stash to family and friends as Christmas

gifts. Jiron and his wife were cited with possession with intent to deliver.

Over a year and a half has passed since Missy Bevers was found beaten to death in Texas at a church. Tonight, her husband and two of her kids make

an emotional plea for answers. The next hour of "Crime and Justice" starts right now.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The killer is still on the loose.

[19:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New developments in the mysterious 2016 murder of a fitness instructor and mother of three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The officers observed a lot of broken glass on the floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This video by police remain a key piece of evidence. Meanwhile, Beaver`s husband holds out hope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better watch out --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You better not cry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A video showing the father and son singing Christmas songs on Facebook only hours before this. Police say he gunned down his two

children and ex-wife --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anthony Marlin Ross.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man was very unstable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The police officer allegedly held a dark secret, that his wife had sex with a then-14-year-old boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a shock. It was a shock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was also charged with allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill Keith. Investigator say Robin wanted to get rid of him

because he threatened to expose her secret.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOEY JACKSON, HLN HOST: A pleasant good evening, everyone. I`m Joey Jackson in for Ashleigh Banfield and this is "CRIME & JUSTICE."

You know, it`s a murder mystery that we have been following for nearly two- and-a-half years. A beautiful fitness structure and mother found dead inside a church, not long before the exercise class that he was scheduled

to teach was about to begin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CARL SMITH, MIDLOTHIAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: Approximately 5:00 a.m., Midlothian officers and EMS were dispatched to an unresponsive person to

the Creekside church in the 5400 block of east highway 287. Midlothian officers arrived to the location just after fire department medics arrived

on the scene, and the medics were attending an unresponsive female, as officers entered the church. The officer observed a lot of glass, broken

glass on the floor as well as the female. They started the search of the building to make sure there were no other individuals in the facility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Now, after more than a year and a half, no one has been arrested for the murder of Missy Beavers. And police thought this video would help

solve the case, the video of Missy`s killer. And it`s the video that was taken inside the church in the early morning hours of April 18th, 2016,

that investigators asked people to focus on. Notably, the SWAT-type outfit the suspect is wearing and the gait. The video actually reveals a lot,

except the killer`s actual identity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN JOHNSON, ASSISTANT CHIEF, MIDLOTHIAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have also learned some additional information regarding the physical description of

the suspect. Forensic video reconstruction is complete and has given us a height range of the suspect of approximately 5`2" to 5`7". We hope this

information will help us to sift through leads and eliminate, you know, suspects and information that comes in that`s well outside of that range.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: And Missy Bevers` family joins me now. Her husband, Brandon, and their two daughters, Hanna and Allison.

Let me just start. Also with us is retired FBI special agent, Bobby Chacon. Defense attorney Margie Mow. They remain here.

Back to the family. Brandon, here your daughter Hanna, Alisson, we know your 10-year-old is not with you. First, obviously, our condolences here at

"CRIME & JUSTICE." Take us through, Brandon, just tell us how you are doing.

BRANDON BEVERS, HUSBAND OF MISSY BEVERS: We are doing fine. We are just -- we live, you know, day to day. The children are definitely, you know, more

resilient than I have ever given them credit for, despite all of this. But we are doing pretty good in the big picture.

JACKSON: Well, I guess their resiliency is a testament to what you and your wife have done in terms of raising them and, you know, just making them

just wonderful, solid citizens.

Let me -- take us through, Brandon, how you felt when, you know, with the social media circus and how you were treated through social media. How did

that impact you as well as your family?

B. BEVERS: Well, I`m not so -- that didn`t really filter down to my children. You know, I lot of it impact me and me alone. It was just -- you

know, I should have known better than to allow all of the various opinions, theories, you know, circling around my possible involvement percent on this

or anything of that nature. I shouldn`t have allowed that to impact me, but I did. It`s just, you know, I have been pretty soulless and lost throughout

this process. So --

JACKSON: Why do you say that?

B. BEVERS: You know, searching for answers -- well, the investigative process, the interview process, questioning, all of those things, you know,

that put me into, you know, outside of Missy`s murder, that process was very -- had a very negative impact on me. But I felt that the -- I felt the

use of social media or the curiosity within the social media realm was about the only thing I could do to investigate what had happened here on

that level. And that was all I could do.

[19:05:33] JACKSON: Yes. And you know, Brandon, there have been reports about you moving into 2018, you know, wanting to -- I won`t say turn the

page, but at least be there for your children and there`s been some indication that you would stop looking for the killer here. Could you just

clarify what you meant when you talked about that?

B. BEVERS: Well, with respect to looking for the killer, I`m very limited in what I can do. I can only put my faith in the investigators with their

tools, with their facts. So in terms of me being able to look for this person, I don`t really feel that`s realistic. My faith continues to be very

strong with the investigators, with their abilities. I find myself, you know, reaching out to those guys on a weekly basis. I`ve texted them at

1:30 in the morning with my concerns. And in every case, they have always - they have always had an answer for my concerns. And, so, I just have to

relent what it is I think I can do and give it all up to those guys.

JACKSON: Now, that`s heartening to know. And before I turn to Hanna and Allison, let me just ask you as a follow-up to that, involving the

investigation, Brandon. They have regular briefings that you have with them. Do they update you periodically? Or do you just text them in the

middle of the night or at the end of the week to ask for the status of the investigation?

B. BEVERS: Well, the communication that I maintain with those guys is very informal. It`s like I said. When you`re consumed with something like this,

when the thoughts enter your mind and when you have questions, I`ve reached out to them, very informally, and in every case, they`ve been very

respectful of this need to understand what has happened here. So there`s -- no, there`s no briefing sessions in any way, shape, or form.

JACKSON: You know, Brandon, if I could just turn to your daughter, Hanna, to ask you.

Hanna, how has this impacted your dad? I`m speaking to him. He is a pillar of strength being strong for you, your sister, your sisters. What`s the

impact it`s had upon him?

HANNA BEVERS, DAUGHTER OF MISSY BEVERS: Well, I have to say that he`s like a different person that he used to be. Like -- I mean, he never really got

a chance to like, you know, like, emotionally, like be OK with it and like get a grip on like, that, like my mom and his wife of so many years is

gone. And like, I mean, like with all the social media things, like that`s something that he had to focus on more and is like them like attacking us

and attacking him and him being a suspect and like, he just like never got the chance to actually like, just like, no, that ship`s gone. And we never

got to like figure out a new normal for us at the very going, because there was always like media and stuff like that.

JACKSON: I can`t even begin to imagine. And what about your 10-year-old sister? She is not with you tonight, but how has she been, holding up

throughout this whole process?

H. BEVERS: Well, I mean, like, I feel like her being so young, like, she is going to miss out on a lot of stuff that we got to do with our mom. And I

mean, she is like more of like -- she`s like jealous of us, because we got to spend more time with our mom than she was able to. And I just think of

her like growing up and her not having a mom to deal with her and like get married and have kids and, I think of more of like my other sisters and how

they`re going to deal with it than, like, everything else. Just like --

JACKSON: And you know, Allison, that leads me to you. And just, you know, as everyone`s watching this. And obviously, it`s heartbreaking to hear and

to see this. Talk to us about your mom and the type of person she was and what you want people to know about her.

H. BEVERS: I want everybody to know that she was very loving with all of us and a good person and I look up to her every day. And, like, everybody

loved my mom. And, like, everybody loved my mom. And they all, like, everybody now just like tells me that your mom was so wonderful. And she

loved me, Alex, Sarah, my dad. Like my whole family so much and she had so much love in her heart and would do anything for anybody to try to help

them with anything in their life that`s going on. And she was always just that person that put everybody first before herself.

[19:10:23] JACKSON: And Allison?

ALLISON BEVERS, DAUGHTER OF MISSY BEVERS: Yes.

JACKSON: If I could ask you, Allison, you know, just getting you involved in this conversation, this is about, you know, looking for her and about

honoring her. And I know you miss her dearly. What would you want people to know about how special she was?

A. BEVERS: I mean kind of basically just what Hanna said. She was very loving and sweet and she put others before herself.

JACKSON: You know, we have a -- I just want to remind viewers that there was a focus in this investigation. They looked at the family and in looking

at the family, the family was cleared in all respects. I think we have a sound bite in that regard. I just want to point to this sound and I`ll come

back and we`ll have a discussion about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: At this point, none of the family, with friends, or coworkers of Missy Bevers are considered suspects. Despite various theories circulating

throughout social media, none of the people of affidavits are suspects. Several family members seemed to be at the center of the public`s focus. I

just want to be clear that the Bevers family, including Mr. Bevers and his father have been cooperative, forthcoming, and have provided detailed

alibis that have all been corroborated through independent sources. Until Missy`s killer is caught, I will stop short of saying that anyone is

absolutely excluded, but to be clear, none of missy`s family is at the focus of this investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: So Brandon, completely cleared. Do you feel any resentment by the fact that there was a focus on your family in the first instance?

B. BEVERS: I don`t necessarily have any resentment. I mean, as far as the focus on me, I mean, that`s just part of the investigation. That`s just

part of being the husband of a murdered wife. As far as anybody else in my family -- you know, that`s how an investigation starts. When you don`t have

answers, you have to start working, you know, from inside the family, the husband, and work your way out. And eliminate those individuals from the

picture.

JACKSON: What`s your message, Brandon, to whoever may be responsible for this or to the public at large, what do you have to say?

B. BEVERS: Well, I would like for this individual to consider the entirety of what has happened here. The person that they took from us, the

contributions that missy made in my life, in my children`s life, in the future contributions that she should have made to my children and everybody

else, that`s been taken away from us. And regardless of the motive or the reasoning behind this, I don`t feel that whatever that was entirely enough

on any level to -- for this to have happened. It`s -- she doesn`t -- didn`t deserve -- nobody deserves it.

JACKSON: Not at all.

B. BEVERS: And I wish -- I wish you could find it in your heart to understand the grief and the sadness and despair that my family has endured

and find it in your heart to turn yourself over. That`s all I can ask.

JACKSON: Brandon, was there any indication that people who would have wanted her to end up like this, any enemies that you know of, I`m certain

the police have interviewed you exhaustively about these issues. Is there anything you can think of or any lead that you might know of that would

point us to a person who would be as depraved as this, as to take your wife?

B. BEVERS: I`ve exhausted everything in my mind for the reason of any individual to do this. I don`t -- I know the investigators themselves, they

have exhausted every avenue that they can think of. I just don`t know.

JACKSON: Brandon, stay put. Just for one moment with your family. I want to bring in Bobby Chacon. He is certainly from law enforcement perspective. He

may give us some insight in terms of the investigation and what they are look looking at and what they are focusing on.

Bobby, how do you crack this case? How do you get justice for the family? How do you get the killer? There`s surveillance that we see of, you know, a

person. Don`t know who it is, but what are investigators searching and looking at, as we are looking at this surveillance video that I`m sure

they`ve seen a number of times?

[19:15:06] BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Sure. First of all, my heartfelt condolences to Brandon and the children. And no one should ever

have to go through this. This is the absolute we have seen in today`s show, the absolute, you know, worst and best of parenting. And I think that

Brandon and Missy both represent. And you can tell by hearing the girls speak and how well adjusted and mature they are, that they have been just

tremendous parents.

From an investigative standpoint, you know, they have obviously gotten everything they could out of this video. And normally during investigation,

when you get a video like this, you really think it is going to be a linchpin. It is going to be the thing that really can solve the case. It is

early on, I`m sure they thought that. And I`m sure they have pored over this forensically and gotten every bit of thing that they can out of this

video.

I can tell you from my own personal standpoint as an investigator. When I first saw this, when this event first happened, I saw the video. And since

then, I have reviewed it a number of times. The theory that this was a burglar does not sit well with me, because this person is aimlessly

wandering around. Burglars normally case their location. They move quickly and efficiently through there. They want to get what they know is in there

and get out as quick as possible. So they are efficient in their movements.

And this person just didn`t look like a burglar who was in there to steal stuff, because they weren`t moving with purpose, with intent, with an

intention of getting in and getting out, which burglars normally do. This person is wandering around, somewhat aimlessly.

The second thing is, burglars don`t usually go to that length to hide their identity. They usually burglarize places they are not associated with so

their identity can be known because they are going to be away. And then after the associate, no one in that place is going to know them.

So the fact they went to such great lengths to hide their identity also means to me that they weren`t there to burglarize that place. So I`m sure

all the investigators have gone through all of this. And I also think they are probably, you know, extremely frustrated that they haven`t been able to

bring justice yet to this case.

JACKSON: Yes. Well, let`s hope we get justice soon. And to the family, if we could just see them one more time. You know, certainly, our hearts and

prayers are with you, Brandon, Hannah, Allison, your 10-year-old. God bless you and may there be some justice to follow and some justice soon. Thank

you so much for joining us.

B. BEVERS: Thank you.

H. BEVERS: Thank you.

A. BEVERS: Thank you.

JACKSON: Up next, the heartbreaking last look at a father and son on Christmas.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

JACKSON: Now that dad you saw singing and you see there, he is behind bars. He is accused of killing his estranged wife and his children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:00] JACKSON: A well-known vegan chef and motivational speaker recently posted a holiday message with his 11-year-old son on Facebook.

Take a listen.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

JACKSON: But just hours later, Anthony Ross would be accused of murdering his son, his 10-month-old daughter, as well as his ex-wife. On Christmas

day, police say they responded to an apartment complex in Phoenix after receiving 911 calls about a woman who was shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. JONATHAN HOWARD, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: They found an adult female deceased inside the parking lot. The initial officers on scene tracked the

suspect down to one of the specific apartments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: A standoff followed. Hours passed as officers waited outside that home where they believe two children were inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: It wasn`t until shortly after 10:00, where our officers could see inside the apartment and they could see that the 10-month-old was actually

deceased. They were continuing to search from outside for the 11-year-old when the suspect began firing shots at the officers. At that time, still

looking for the 11-year-old, the officers forced entry into the house. They engaged the suspect in a shoot-out and took him into custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Now, I want to show you what that Christmas day scene looked like, as police went inside that apartment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: They found an adult female deceased inside the parking lot. The initial officers on scene tracked the suspect down to one of the specific

apartments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Christmas day, no less. Now, Anthony Milan Ross is facing multiple charges including three counts of first-degree murder. You are looking at

him there.

Joining me now, Tom Perumean. He is a reporter for KTAR News 92.3. Also retired FBI special agent, that`s Bobby Chacon, and defense attorney,

Margie Mow.

So let`s start with you, Tom Perumean. Just take us through how this escalated? What do we know happened? When the children were killed? Just

bring us up to speed.

TOM PERUMEAN, REPORTER, KTAR NEWS 92.3 (on the phone): Well, this horrific crime is the second to hit Phoenix during the Christmas holiday. And it`s

been especially shocking as it involves, you know, the killing of a 10- month-old child. That has really stunned the city.

We had an earlier killing about a week earlier where a father killed his son and now this one. And this one was especially violent. The whole way

that apparently he chased down his ex-wife, Iris Ross, and shot her in the courtyard of the apartment. Then shot his 11-year-old son and then his 10-

month-old daughter. We just don`t know what sent Anthony Milan Ross off the rails. But the renowned vegan chef cold-heartedly texted his sister-in-law

that he had killed Iris Ross, his ex-wife, and their kids.

[19:25:10] JACKSON: Now, Tom, is there any indication, and you just said that we don`t know what sent him off the rails, but do we have any

indication of what went awry? Was there a marital dispute? Were they going through a custody battle? Was he in a state of depression? Do police know

or have you been able to determine anything as we look at his children, his, you know, his wife, who are now dead, at his hands.

PERUMEAN: All -- you know, this is what we`re still fighting to try to find out. We know that that -- during the standoff with Phoenix police. And this

took place in a relatively nice neighborhood, 16th and highland. It`s a nice neighborhood. It is a nice place to live. It`s on a fairly well-to-do

side of town. And he kept changing his story during the standoff saying, you know, he hadn`t killed the kids, they were trying to figure out what

the deal was. They negotiated with him well into the night before they finally sent in the robot to go get him. And it just -- it`s baffled all of

us. And it has shocked a lot of Phoenix. There really is, you can feel it, there really is kind of a pall hanging in the air.

JACKSON: Tom Perumean, this is an absolute nightmare. I want to take you through a sound bite involving whether and you alluded to it when exactly

these kids were killed. Was it during the negotiations? So, you know, that`s the unbelievable thing.

I also want to talk about the other issue, and that relates to the police doing the forced entry. I mean, do we know anything about the forced entry

of the children?

And you know, Bobby, let me ask you about that. Bobby Chacon, I`ll go to you on the issue of whether or not the police should have entered the

building in the way that they did in order to end the standoff.

CHACON: Well, this is a tough one. This is called a barricaded subject. And it`s one of the most tense situation that a tactical team and negotiators

can be involved in, particularly when you have children as hostages in there. And like the reporter said that we -- he was giving conflicting

stories. He actually said that if he came in, he would kill the children.

Now other witnesses are saying that the gunshots all happened at the beginning of the standoff were he killed his wife, he ran in there, and

they kind of saw where he went in. They heard a succession of several more shots. So the physical evidence and the eyewitnesses seemed to indicate

that he may have killed those children right away.

But the police couldn`t be sure. When they arrived on scene, all he knew was there were children in that house. He was in there with a gun, just

killed her. So it was a very, very tense situation. The life of the children was paramount. So they really couldn`t rush in right away. And his

conflicting statements, he is saying one thing to them. He has also texting relatives that he already killed the children. So, you know, it was really

probably a very, very confusing situation for the negotiators on the ground there.

JACKSON: Yes, you know, Bobby, and you just never know were the kids dead, were they not dead? If they wait any longer, what else could have happened?

Could other police officers have died? So you don`t know. But I just want to play the sound that we have in terms of the rushing in, in order to

bring this matter under control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: It wasn`t until shortly after 10:00, where our officers could see inside the apartment and they could see that the 10-month-old was actually

deceased. They were continuing to search from outside for the 11-year-old when the suspect began firing shots at the officers. At that time, still

looking for the 11-year-old, the officers forced entry into the house. They engaged the suspect in a shoot-out and took him into custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Margie Mow, let me go to you. Obviously, he is facing -- you know, these are some significant charges here. What`s the defense?

MARGIE MOW, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We would have to get him evaluated. There`s obviously some mental issues there. Perhaps he was under the influence of a

controlled substance. I mean, this is not normal behavior. And it`s very heartbreaking, especially when you see the video of him and his son and

they are singing and it`s Christmas. And you know, we need to get to the bottom of what exactly pushed him over the age. Was this some sort of heat

of passion?

JACKSON: See, Margie, that`s what gets me. You see the singing to his son and the singing with him, they`re singing Christmas carols. We`re looking

at him there. He looks pretty well adjusted. And then all of a sudden, you know, he was killing his entire family. And you just have to wonder, what

sets someone like this off?

And so back to you, Tom Perumean, what do we know what happens next? We know the suspect is being held without bond, when`s the next court

appearance? What`s scheduled to happen at that time?

PERUMEAN: Well, we are still -- he did make his initial court appearance. He is going to face numerous charges. I understand there are 19 aggravated

assault charges. That`s stemming from the assaults on the officers, discharging firearms. You know, of course, three counts of first-degree

murder and two counts of aggravated assault. So, you know, of course, he is not going to get bond. I`m certain once he gets a defense lawyer, we don`t

necessarily know he has gotten one as of yet, but of course, there will be an evaluation. And someone is going to say sooner or later, you know, what

happened, what is his story and what exactly brought him to snap and snap this violently?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Without question.

PERUMEAN: This type of obliteration is just -- is just in -- just incredible.

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: And Tom, briefly do we know if this is a capital case in terms of whether they`re seeking the death penalty?

PERUMEAN: It may very well be. The county attorney here in Maricopa County, he doesn`t -- he really doesn`t mess around in cases like this.

JACKSON: Well as well he shouldn`t. And Bobby Chacon, what I find very interesting here is that notwithstanding him killing his family a shoot-out

with the police they take him alive. That struck me.

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Sure. And, you know, I mean, we forget that that`s always the motivation of law enforcement. Always the

objective is to take as many people into custody without harm to them, right? So, first of all, we have the children. And I think that the

authorities must have went some extreme, extreme measure of caution. Because once they determined the 10-month-old was dead by that robot

they`re looking in the windows from the outside trying to find the 11-year- old. They`re still trying to give him every opportunity to give himself up. And then they make entry and apparently they still gave him every

opportunity without having to take -- to kill him. And so -- I mean, that`s still always the ultimate objective. No matter what that person does, the

police never considered themselves, you know, judge, jury, and executioner. They always want to take that person in. And in this case -- in this case,

you know, the situation allowed that to happen.

JACKSON: Thank -- yes, I mean, thank goodness, you know, not more police officers were harmed. And very briefly we have a sound bite because we have

to think about the community at large. Think about what they were going through, it`s Christmas time. Pretty scary Christmas for them. Take a

listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN HOWARD, SERGEANT, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: They found an adult female deceased inside the parking lot. The initial officers on scene

tracked the suspect down to one of the specific apartments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: And Margie briefly when all is set said and done, is this a capital murder case and will he -- you think be convicted?

MARGIE MOW, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think that that`s where you try to look for motive and try to mitigate the damages and maybe avoid a capital

punishment. And as you discussed earlier most of these cases end up being a murder/suicide. So it is quite interesting that he`s still alive and they

were able to take him into custody alive.

JACKSON: Tragic case during the holiday season for sure. Stay right there, Margie Mow, Bobby Chacon.

Now coming up there are more questions than answers tonight about how a flight to Tokyo left Los Angeles with an extra unticketed passenger on the

plane. Model Chrissy Teigen and her husband, musician, John Legend, you see them there were on that flight and she began tweeting when the plane was

turned around after four hours to return to Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISSY TEIGEN, AMERICAN MODEL: Thank you so much for taking me on this awesome vacation, babe.

JOHN LEGEND, AMERICAN SINGER: Welcome to Los Angeles.

TEIGEN: Umm, that dinner was so good! Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: A little sense of humor there. The LAX to LAX round trip took 11 hours and All Nippon Airways says they decided to bring the plane back out

of an abundance of caution. Law enforcement sources tell CNN that the mistake involved two brothers. One was booked on an ANA flight that Teigen

was on. The other was booked on a different flight. We`re told they have similar sounding names and that somehow they both ended up on the same

plane. Straight ahead. A story about blackmail underage sex and a hit man that could land a husband and wife in jail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:46] JACKSON: A fake heart attack, a staged suicide, a hunting accident. All scenarios are very different but they`re all scenarios of

prosecutors in the Poconos of Pennsylvania say a woman discussed with a hit man attempting to plan the murder of her husband. And investigators say

that the marriage of Robin and Keith Transue were filled with problems. Now Robin wanted out and she believed having her husband offed was the only

solution. That`s because her hubby, a former police officer, you see him there was blaming her or blackmailing her rather over a past affair. Now

get this. The affair involved someone not even old enough to drive. Now both of them are facing jail time. Joining me now, Andrew Scott. He`s a

reporter for the Pocono Record. Also Bobby Chacon and of course Margie Mow. Excuse me, Margie. And so let`s get right to it. Andrew, take us through

what in the world happened here.

BOBBY SCOTT, REPORTER, POCONO RECORD (via telephone): Well, to start from the beginning according to what investigators learned this began in 2010

when Robin had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old -- then-14-year-old boy. Basically, Keith tend to became aware of the affair -- they were

married at the time --

JACKSON: Her husband did.

SCOTT: Yes.

JACKSON: OK.

SCOTT: And instead -- and instead of immediately reporting it to authorities, you know, reporting what would have amounted to statutory

sexual assault and smother, you know, unlawful contact with a minor. He kept silent and instead used his knowledge to threaten her into not

divorcing him. Basically he, you know, blackmailed her or committed, you know, what`s called coercion -- criminal coercion. Into getting her to stay

with him and not divorce him, threaten to expose her if she ever divorced him.

JACKSON: And so, Andrew how did all of this unravel? How did it get to the point where ultimately because I understand the affair happened with the

14-year-old years ago. That 14-year-old is now 20 years old. So how did it all unravel to get to the point where she got arrested, he got arrested

everyone`s being prosecuted.

[19:40:06] What happened?

SCOTT: Well, she -- after he, you know, basically blackmailed her she became desperate to get out of the marriage. So she approached a mutual

friend and basically asked him to kill her husband. And make it look like either a suicide or an accident so that she could be free of him and get

out of the marriage. That gentleman that she approached went to authorities and said -- told authorities that, you know, he had approached and

solicited to, you know, to commit murder. So authorities agreed to secretly tape or record a conversation between this gentlemen and Robin Transue

where she basically implemented herself in, you know, this solicitation for murder plot, you know, to kill her husband.

JACKSON: Indeed she did. So, Bobby Chacon, I have to go to you. And I want to just show all the various ways that she planned to do this. Whether it

was an accidental or car accident, a fake heart attack, staged suicide by valium, a hunting accident. You could see there, a house fire. So it was

great police work obviously that came to this. So take us through a sting operation and how police are able to really find out. And in this case, she

pretty much stated everything that the police needed to know so that they could have a successful prosecution.

CHACON: You know, unfortunately, Joey, this is not an uncommon scenario that we`ve seen. Wife hire --- husbands or wives hire hit man to off their

spouse. In this situation, it`s a little odd that, you know, he wanted to stay in the marriage and was blackmailing her to stay in the marriage and

was blackmailing her to stay in the marriage and she wanted him killed so she could get out of the marriage. It`s a little bit of a -- a little bit

of a turn of events in this particular case. But, yes, the, you know, they usually -- the -- it`s usually an undercover police officer. But in this

case, the friend who she approaches to either do the murder or find someone to do the murder goes to authorities and says I don`t want any part of

this. They wired him back up, he goes back in to talk to her again about the situation and he gets it all on tape and she lays it all out there. All

that she`s got some imagination. All the different ways that she thinks that he could be killed and the, you know, the cops go with that. She`s

facing felony charges now, multiple felony charges. He`s facing a misdemeanor charge for the blackmail, the original blackmail that started

six or seven years ago. It`s a mess. It`s a -- it`s a scenario we see often but not played out in the way this one played out.

JACKSON: Well, this is certainly good police work. Margie, why not get a divorce? I mean, you know, I understand there`s this 14-year-old and this

blackmail going on but you plan and you plot to kill your husband. What is her way out now? I mean, she`s pretty -- look, you have her on tape. She`s

admitting that she`s doing all of this. She`s being prosecuted. What does she say to get out from under this? Or is this a plea bargain case?

MOW: Well, It`s deeper than that. I mean, this is like a real-life soap opera. There is the cheating with the child and then he`s coercing her to

stay married and he finds out about the cheating and the sexual abuse and he`s a cop so he has a duty to report but he doesn`t. And he coerces her to

stay with him and I understand that he was abusive so then she decides to wait until she thinks the statue of limitations has run to hire a hit man?

I understand that they`ve both pled in this case so now it`s, you know, it`s time to figure out what sentence they should each receive. And I mean

she`s on the hook not just for the hiring a hit man and attempting to murder her husband but more importantly for having sexual relations with a

minor.

JACKSON: Sure. So Margie, just staying with you for one minute, just a couple of things are of interest. Apparently, she would be with him in

public places that she thought that were under video surveillance and she would hug him and, you know, get up close to him and kiss him so that if

anybody tracked back it would show how much affection and affinity she had for him. I mean, this is -- you mentioned a soap opera, it absolutely is.

But just looking at it you mentioned the issue of punishment. And let me ask you this, why prosecute him?

MOW: Because he was under a duty to report the child abuse especially because he was a police officer. And he did nothing to protect the child.

And in addition to that, he blackmails her into staying married. So he definitely should be punished for lack of his actions.

JACKSON: OK. Well, I guess it sends a deterrent value. Obviously, if there`s underage, you know, that she`s 14 years old -- or the boy, excuse

me, was 14 years old who was having sex with the mom that certainly has to be reported. I just want to go back to you, Andrew Scott, in terms of

what`s next? What do we anticipate? Margie Mow talked about the punishment, the sentencing. What can we reasonably expect moving forward?

[19:45:00] SCOTT: OK. So, my understanding is that she`s going to plead guilty to a couple of felony charges. I believe -- I`m sorry, she got to

plead guilty and she`s going to be sentenced on that. I believe a sentencing date for both is sometime early next year. She pleaded guilty to

statutory sexual assault and solicitation to commit aggravated assault.

JACKSON: And those are felonies, right, Andrew? We know those felonies in the -- in the -- in terms of the husband, he is a misdemeanor. What are

they looking at in terms of this time, do we know?

SCOTT: It`s hard to say at this point because I don`t believe either of them and I, you know, I need to -- we need to double check on this but I

don`t know if either of them have significant, you know, criminal records to the point where they would get you know extreme sentences. But --

JACKSON: Got it.

SCOTT: Just to clarify a couple of things. Mr. Transue is no longer a police officer at this point. He was -- I believe his certification he`s

been suspended as a result of his guilty plea but he is in fact still a councilman in Mt. Pocono at this point and cannot be removed from council

until and unless he resigns or council removes him or his term expires which would be at the end of next year. So, you know, with the -- with the

guilty plea even if council did work to remove him from his seat, you know, they would not be able to do that until after the sentencing if they wanted

to take any action on that at all.

JACKSON: Absolutely. Well, we appreciate your reporting, Andrew Scott. Let`s hope that the sentence that he gets and that she gets is, you know,

worthy of exactly what they did here because he is a mandatory reporter. He should report in the event that things are occurring like underage sex. A

14-year-old and your wife is having sex you want to report that. And certainly, she shouldn`t be plotting these wild strategies to kill her

husband. Wow!

All right. Next story. Chaos while shopping. You know, when shots are fired outside a Tennessee Mall the day after Christmas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:16] JACKSON: Holiday shopping turned violent outside a mall in Memphis. Now fighting broke out near the food court and spilled out.

JACKSON: Fighting broke out in a food court and spilled outside the mall. That was just last night. Moments later gunfire erupted as bystanders ran

for safety. Five people were injured in the mayhem. Seven have been arrested on charges including aggravated assault and unlawful weapons

possession.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody just started running saying -- and when it was running it was like the people didn`t know what to do. I was trying to

get locked -- everybody was getting locked in the back of the stores.

LOUIS BROWNLEE, MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: It`s sad that, you know, it took a turn like this but we just encourage people, you know, to just be alert,

be aware and encourage your children to do the right thing. You know, don`t arm yourself. You know, solve your problems without violence.

JACKSON: Now that`s great advice. Cops say a semiautomatic weapon was found outside the mall. Police think it may be connected to the shootings. Extra

patrols are planned through the rest of the holiday season. Thank goodness for that. Joining me again, Defense Attorney Margie Mow. Margie, it`s you

and I, let`s talk about this. I mean, you know, holidays are stressful times, you`re going to the mall, people are aggravated, there are long

lines, people getting hot and bothered but certainly no need for this violence, right?

MOW: Absolutely not. It`s interesting to note that they started the fight inside the mall at the food court. And the shooting actually didn`t start

until they were outside. So I`m interested to know if the person who was shooting was actually involved with the fight inside the food court or it

was a bystander outside that decided to take matters into their own hands and be a vigilante.

JACKSON: Yes. That`s always a good thing to know, Margie. I mean, another thing to think about and, you know, I mentioned it before which is that

they`re stepping up patrols. But how do you prevent something like this? Right? You have people who are in the malls. Oftentimes you have a young

crowd that`s there, it spills out. What can we do in terms of prevention so that we don`t have gun fires erupting and parents going nuts? Can you

imagine getting a call, I know your children are too young to go to the mall at this point but eventually Margie they`ll be going there. That`s a

call you don`t want to get from them or anybody else talking about shots being fired.

MOW: Absolutely not. But it goes to the deeper issue of gun control. And how much security do we implement? Yes. There should be more security

around the perimeters of the mall, there should be more security inside the mall. But are we supposed to put weapons detectors and screeners at the

entrance of the mall? Because at that point you`re infringing on -- infringing on your freedom and the ability to enjoy a day at the mall.

JACKSON: Yes. You really are. So, Margie, I have to ask you the question since you brought up the issue of gun control. Great thing to bring up by

the way. You know, what the gun control advocates will say guns don`t kill people, people kill people. What say you as to that?

MOW: It depends. I mean, yes, absolutely people kill people. But I do think that we should have stronger gun control. We should be more cautious as to

who we allow to purchase guns. There should be an extensive background check and young children, young adults should probably not be carrying

guns.

JACKSON: I think I would have to wholeheartedly agree with you with that, Margie. You know, the reality is that there`s too much gun violence and,

you know, something has to give. And certainly, during the spirit of the holiday season, you hate to see things like this happening. We should be

talking about Santa and toys, not gun violence erupting in the mall. Margie, stay right there, don`t go too far. Speaking of guns and gun

violence, gun violence in Chicago dipped down over the holiday weekend. Now Chicago P.D. reports that there were 18 shootings and four murders between

December 23rd and December 25th.

[19:55:00] Now in 2016 there were 27 shootings and 13 murders during that same time. Now this year Chicago has reported 645 homicides as compared to

last year when there were a total of 771.

You`ll love this one. A routine traffic stop lands an 83-year-old man in jail after cops find he was parked and he was having marijuana and pot in

his car. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACKSON: There`s no telling what police will find when they make a traffic stop. In York County, Nebraska, it was 60 pounds of pot with an estimated

street value of more than $300,000. And the driver? Well, he was an 83- year-old -- he was an 83-year-old man. Now cops say they pulled over Patrick Jiron, you see him there, for failing to signal a turn. And once

they approached the car they smelled the raw marijuana and searched his vehicle. Now Jiron and his wife were traveling from California to the East

Coast and said they intended to deliver the stash to family and friends as a Christmas gift. Jiron and his wife were cited for possession with intent

to deliver.

Thanks for watching everyone. We`ll see you back here tomorrow night at 6:00 Eastern for CRIME AND JUSTICE. "FORENSIC FILES" begins right now.