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NANCY GRACE

Vitale Murder Suspect Set for Arraignment; Maine Woman Missing

Aired October 26, 2005 - 20:00   ET

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


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, the court date is set, tomorrow formal arraignment for the man accused of bludgeoning Pam Vitale to death, the wife of California defense attorney Daniel Horowitz. What will the specific charge be? And what new evidence will be revealed in court? Why did the first defense attorney walk off the case? And tonight, learn more about murder suspect Scott Dyleski.
Also, please help us, help us find a missing 24-year-old girl last seen in Portland, Maine, one of the lowest crime rates in the entire country.

Good evening, everybody. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. Tonight, mystery surrounding a woman missing from Portland, Maine. Help us find this 24-year-old, Lynn Moran, last seen by friends October 10th.

But first tonight, new blood evidence in the bludgeoning and stabbing murder of Pamela Vitale, the wife of California attorney Dan Horowitz. The 16-year-old suspect, Scott Dyleski, behind bars, awaiting his appearance in court tomorrow as investigators search for motive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAROLD JEWETT, CONTRA COSTA ASST. D.A.: The charges are murder. And there is an enhancement for the use of a bludgeon, so the maximum possible penalty is 26 years to life in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to attorney and managing editor of tmz.com, Harvey Levin.

Harvey, bring us up to date, friend.

HARVEY LEVIN, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ.COM: Well, Nancy, the latest is this kid`s lawyer has dropped out of the case. And he cited two reasons. One, he said financial, though apparently didn`t elaborate. The second, this is really ironic, Scott Dyleski`s half-sister was killed in a car accident a couple of years ago. This lawyer, Tom McKenna (ph), represented the person who drove the car and caused the death of this girl. And the father of Scott Dyleski said, you know what, I don`t want this lawyer involved in the case. Apparently, there were some bad feelings there.

So the lawyer is gone, it turned out that Scott himself had hired this lawyer before there was any evidence of this murder business because apparently he was worried about getting prosecuted for the credit card scam.

GRACE: OK. Wait a minute, just stop right there, Harvey. This guy, this lawyer, was -- Tom McKenna, was hired directly by the 16-year-old, correct?

LEVIN: Right, over the credit card issues, Nancy.

GRACE: Now wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. But wasn`t he hired by the 16-year-old after Pamela`s murder and before the arrest?

LEVIN: That`s my understanding. But he.

GRACE And you want to tell me he called a lawyer because he was worried about a credit card?

LEVIN: Yes, it`s kind of like "Basic Instinct" where you`re going to get arrested for smoking.

GRACE: It`s kind of like a lie.

LEVIN: I know, I know, I mean, it seems bizarre but he apparently went on his own without telling any of his relatives or his parents that he was up to no good with his credit card business or worse.

GRACE: OK, remember everybody, let`s get this time frame down: 16- year-old Scott Dyleski behind bars tonight awaiting his arraignment tomorrow in court. We have just learned from the district attorney`s office that arraignment will be 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time tomorrow. We expect that charge to be murder one. Tonight, the attorney has walked off the case. That could mean tomorrow a plea of not guilty or guilty will be entered because there won`t be a lawyer.

Now, let me get this straight, Harvey Levin, you`re telling me that after Pam`s bludgeoning death and before this guy`s arrest, he calls the lawyer about credit cards, right?

LEVIN: Well, that`s the story, Nancy, whether we`re buying the story, that`s another issue.

GRACE: Well, I think he`s got something else to be concerned about. Take a listen to this, Harvey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: You can see at the perimeter of this yard is barbed wire fence but it is not continuous. There are gaps in it. Not that anybody could crawl over that, anyway.

Also here is Pamela and Daniel`s bedroom window. Now, significant, if she had been in there, she may have seen someone coming up from this angle, but not from the walkway that we just walked up. However, on this board terrace, you could easily hear someone coming up. On the other hand, if this air conditioner was running or if they were wearing tennis shoes, maybe not. But again, she clearly answered the door.

It is so quiet and serene here. It`s very hard to take in that a violent crime, a murder, took place here. And what a view. Man, I would live in a shack to look at this view every morning, it`s just stunning. We`re literally on the top of a mountain and while the view is beautiful, as a criminal lawyer, I look at it as an escape route for a killer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: For someone specifically that knew their way around the mountain on which Horowitz`s home sat. To Jason Oshins, Jason, take a look at the items found in Pamela Vitale, Daniel Horowitz`s home. Rosie (ph), could you put that up for me, please? A soup bowl, blood stains. Shower curtain, blood stains. Towel, blood stains. Crown molding, blood stains. Daniel`s legal work and Pamela Vitale`s research on their dream house, blood stains. Antenna on the TV, umbrella, broken pottery, all blood- stained. Hair evidence taken from Pam Vitale, Daniel Horowitz`s home. He`s got a lot more to be worried about than some stolen credit cards.

On a credit card, Jason, let`s get real. He might get a year probation and a little...

(SLAPS WRIST)

JASON OSHINS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: A little spank. Nancy, he certainly does have a lot to worry about. It sounds like based upon what they`ve taken away that has the blood evidence, that there was a violent struggle that took place. That`s what it looks like to me.

GRACE: And also, let me go straight to defense attorney Courtney Anderson, tonight, just in, we have learned that the defense attorney has filed motions asking for a gag order in the case. That means no more reporting, no more evidence released, and we believe the district attorney may be joining in the gag order.

Explain, Courtney.

COURTNEY ANDERSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I certainly think that it could be something advantageous for both sides. If we can kind of close the media coverage and allow this case to work through the legal system and allow both sides, the defense and the prosecution, to present their case, investigate without tainting evidence or without having too much media coverage, so I think the gag order could be an advantage to both sides.

GRACE: The crime scene was a treasure trove of forensics and evidence. Even to the naked eye as I walked around it with Daniel Horowitz, take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: I always like to go to a crime scene myself after police and just review every single thing. But I`ve been inside this trailer and they have Luminoled everything. They have dusted for prints. They even dusted his car. Look at that. Prints, this compared to this. See.

There`s no reason we would think that the killer touched this car. But you don`t know. Yes. There are prints in here. Doesn`t mean anything as it relates to this murder case, but it could.

Whoever killed Pamela Vitale knew exactly where they were going. They knew how to get in. They knew what to do. They knew her car. You can look right down there and see just one car is there. They knew she was alone. Look at that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Back to Harvey Levin, editor of tmz.com. Harvey, what do you expect to go down at the arraignment tomorrow 1:30 p.m. Pacific, everyone?

LEVIN: Well, Nancy, I thought there would have been a plea tomorrow, but I agree with you, I mean, if this kid doesn`t have a lawyer, I`m guessing there`s going to be some kind of a continuance because the kid didn`t say, I`m out of this case. Apparently, his dad did and the lawyer for other reasons wants out, so I`m guessing there could be -- we may not actually see a plea tomorrow.

GRACE: You know what, I think he`s right about that, too. Jason Oshins, why -- have you ever walked off a case before, Jason?

OSHINS: No, I`ve never walked off a case, Nancy, no, I haven`t.

GRACE: And what are your thoughts on why this lawyer has walked off the case?

OSHINS: Well, obviously, there`s a potential conflict and whether it`s the defendant`s family or whether it`s the attorney himself, clearly it`s better in such a high-profile case not to have any conflict to start off.

GRACE: Mm-hmm. Joining me right now a special guest, joining us out of San Francisco, California, Mitch House, he knows Scott Dyleski, and his family.

Mitch, thank you for being with us.

MITCH HOUSE, KNOWS SCOTT DYLESKI & FAMILY: You`re welcome, Nancy.

GRACE: Were you around when apparently Dyleski underwent somewhat of a personality change?

HOUSE: Yes, I`ve known him for a little over two years.

GRACE: What did you observe?

HOUSE: Well, when I first met him, he was kind of into goth, but as later on he started shaving his hair in weird places and just sort of random hair styles and things. And I`d comment to him like, a new look, and he`d say, yes. You know.

GRACE: What do you mean, shaving his hair in weird places?

HOUSE: He would like shave like half his head, I don`t know, a few months ago.

GRACE: OK, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Rosie, put the camera back on Mitch House, please. What do you mean -- where would he shave his head?

HOUSE: Just randomly, like with some clippers or something. You know, he`d have -- usually wear his hair just maybe shoulder length and then died it black and occasionally put some tints in it. But then one day when I saw him, he just shaved different sections of it. Seemed kind of bizarre new look.

GRACE: Now I`m interested in something specifically, Mitch, and that is his habit of wearing gloves. We learned last night that the killer of our friend, Pamela Vitale, was wearing gloves at the time of the killing, or at some point during the killing. Now, did he wear gloves with -- describe.

HOUSE: I saw him wear gloves once, but they had the fingers cut off of them, just part of his uniform.

GRACE: What do you mean, uniform?

HOUSE: You know, the goth uniform, just black overcoat and black clothes and black finger nails, and then the gloves would have the fingertips cut off of them, more like driving gloves.

GRACE: Mitch, what was Scott Dyleski`s bedroom like?

HOUSE: I never saw his bedroom. Elena (ph) saw it. She shared a bathroom with him and she would have to go through his bedroom to get into the bathroom if he accidentally locked her side of the door. But according to her it was dark and just covered with Marilyn Manson posters.

GRACE: Did he ever say anything to raise a red flag with you?

HOUSE: When I first met him, I kind of talked to him about Marilyn Manson and told him that when I was his age, I was into Alice Cooper, which was the beginning shock rock thing. And I didn`t see it as a big to-do. I just -- you know, I think that Marilyn Manson`s just a no-talent guy who screams, and we would have a discussion over the music. I`d ask Scott if he played music or if he wanted me to teach him guitar or piano or something. He didn`t seem to have an interest in that. He was just sort of -- Marilyn Manson was kind of just his hero.

GRACE: What went through your mind when you first learned that Dyleski had been charged with murder?

HOUSE: I was completely shocked. I was completely sad, especially for the family. I was angry, angry for days thinking how could someone do this to all these people, hurt all these people? Especially Scott`s mother, who is this wonderful woman and the Carillos (ph) that took these people in so many years ago, and how could he just be so self-centered. And I was just angry about it and sad and shocked by it. Because he`s a frail little person and it was kind of hard to believe, how can someone so frail, he`s probably 5`5", something like, maybe 100 pounds, 110 pounds, be responsible for this kind of violence?

GRACE: You know, you were mentioning about his personality change. Ultimately, what was his personality just before the killing?

HOUSE: He was always shy. He was also always respectful. He baby- sat for me. I was trying to have him baby-sit for me the weekend of the murder, actually. We just couldn`t get a hold of anyone at the house. And then, following the murder, we wanted him to baby-sit for us Saturday, not knowing he had been arrested Thursday night. And he was someone I trusted, someone that was gentle. He was shy, very introverted, but not someone that you would think would be capable of violence like this.

GRACE: Did he have friends there in the neighborhood? Had he ever been to the home of Daniel Horowitz before? Had they ever been to his home for any reason? I mean, did he know or did he know of Pamela Vitale?

HOUSE: Yes, I met Pamela Vitale at a party that the Carillos had maybe six months ago.

GRACE: So he knew her?

HOUSE: Yes, the Carillos would have the neighbors over, the neighbors helped them build their house. They have an ecologically-correct house, you know, that has hay bails for their walls and that sort of thing. And there was an article about how the neighbors all joined in to help them build this house. I know Scott and the kids and everyone was there at the party, it was just neighbors. That`s when I first met her and that`s how I recognized her in the paper was actually from that party and seeing her a couple times at the gym.

GRACE: Joining us tonight, Mitch House, he not only is familiar with Dyleski and his family, but Pamela Vitale and Daniel Horowitz as well.

Update and breaking news, 1:30 p.m. tomorrow Pacific Time, the formal arraignment goes down for Scott Dyleski, chief suspect in the murder of Pamela Vitale. Also we have now learned not only the defense attorney but joining in with the defense request the prosecutor wanting a gag order in this case.

Switching gears tonight, sad news. Authorities confirm a body found in Mississippi today is Olamide Adeyooye. Dental records used to confirm the identity of 21-year-old Illinois State senior. She disappeared two years ago. She would have graduated from college this December.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL HOROWITZ, HUSBAND OF PAMELA VITALE: I just cried and cried when I can feel her pain or feel her beauty, and then I do business, like a vacation. And then I`m angry, but I know anger does not bring her back. And I remember what you said about the death penalty and I`m not going to back off of that no matter what.

JIMMY LEE, CONTRA COSTA SHERIFF`S SPOKESPERSON: Although we have a suspect in custody, the investigation is still going on. Much more work still needs to be done. As I speak right now, we are still interviewing people. We are still trying to establish the exact motive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: It has just been announced that the formal arraignment for 16- year-old Scott Dyleski, the chief suspect in the murder of Pamela Vitale, the wife of criminal defense attorney Daniel Horowitz, goes down tomorrow, 1:30 sharp Pacific Time.

Also we learned tonight that both sides are joining in requests for a gag order. So no other evidence is released. We have also learned that a defense attorney in this case, Mr. McKenna, has walked off the case. The real reason why we don`t know yet. To Harvey Levin, with tmz.com.

Harvey, I mean, taking a look at this, and we know that there are allegations that Dyleski was trying to start a marijuana enterprise, that he had apparently ordered hydroponic machinery, tools, to grow pot, using other people`s credit cards, drop off, Horowitz`s address. Do you think that he was watching the house? You know, Pamela would have to walk all the way down or drive all the way down the circuitous route to get to a communal mailbox.

LEVIN: Yes, and Nancy, if you think about it, how did -- if the police theory is right, how would he know that stuff was going to be delivered that day? It may be if the police are right here that he had been casing the joint, that he had gone there before, every day, waiting for the postman. And this is a theory, Nancy, but maybe he felt, oh my God, the postman arrived and the goods may be inside and then he approached the house. But it doesn`t seem like if the police are right that this would have been the first day that he would have arrived. He didn`t know when these goods were going to arrive.

GRACE: So you`re saying -- your theory is that he staked Pamela out.

LEVIN: Yes. I mean, he didn`t know. I mean, when you order something by mail, how do you know what day it`s going to arrive? It could be within a week`s span or two-week span. And if he`s involved in this, he has to intercept it before she brings it in the house. So, he`s got to be there every day when the postman gets there. It just seems to me that -- and I watched the clip from your visit there where you talked about somebody knew that area very well, well, he may have known it really well if he had been there five days in a row.

GRACE: Well, he could be in this house. There`s nobody living in there. That`s the house that they were building. Hold that, Rose, if you could. In fact, everybody, this is the dream house Horowitz was working 18 hours a day to help build for Pam Vitale, his wife. This was her dream house. They were living in this little trailer house next to the dream house. There you go.

Now, in the bottom of this, in the basement, which is on floor level, not sub-floor, all type of equipment, machinery, building equipment, tools, it was chock full of it. So it`s not beyond the realm of comprehension, Harvey, for someone else to have been looking around in that house while Dyleski went to the trailer.

LEVIN: Absolutely, Nancy. The cops say this is a wide-open investigation, still. And I don`t think that they`ve ever intimated, even, that they are positive that they believe he is the only person involved in this. There`s just a lot, Nancy, that I find perplexing.

The other weird thing about it, suppose the goods got delivered and Pamela got these goods. Well, you know, he should go to the door and say, oh, I`m sorry, you know what, there was a mistake, it was delivered to you by accident. It`s mine. Why would she necessarily resist?

So, there`s something that`s just not adding up about this marijuana equipment. There`s got to be something more than this and we just don`t know what it is.

GRACE: Or it could have been that he came in, the killing occurred right at the door. At the door you step into the living room of the trailer home. It could have been that he went in without knocking, without asking to come in, without permission, and she tried to stop him. It could be that simple, all of this over that.

LEVIN: That he didn`t know that she was there and suddenly he`s inside thinking he`s alone and she`s standing there and it just escalates out of control.

GRACE: But on the other hand, her car parked right on out front.

LEVIN: That`s true.

GRACE: With me, Harvey Levin with TMZ. We`ll all be right back, but very quickly to tonight`s "Trial Tracking." Police found the hard drive from the computer of a missing Pennsylvania prosecutor, Ray Gricar. A customer in a restaurant thought she spotted Gricar recently at a Texas diner and took these pictures on her cell phone. Gricar himself has not been seen since April 15th. Tonight FBI testing this hard drive for more clues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOROWITZ: I want to believe that she did not suffer. I want to believe that she fought back as hard as she could and that when he struck that blow and she didn`t suffer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We have now learned that the formal arraignment for 16-year- old Scott Dyleski is set down for 1:30 p.m. tomorrow in court. That is 1:30 Pacific. We have also learned tonight recently filed motions by the defense and we believe the prosecution joining in for a gag order, which means we will hear nothing more about this case.

Very quickly to forensic scientist Dr. Larry Kobilinsky, any way to tell whether Dyleski under the influence of drugs at the time?

LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: Good question, Nancy. As you see from his picture, his hair is quite long. There are tests that can detect the presence of drugs over his -- maybe six to 12 months because hair grows about a half an inch a month and you can test the hair millimeter by millimeter to detect illicit drugs. So we can tell his complete history over the past year.

GRACE: What drugs show up?

KOBILINSKY: Well, cocaine, cannabinoids.

GRACE: Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho.

KOBILINSKY: . methamphetamines.

GRACE: You mean pot, right?

KOBILINSKY: Well, I suspect speed is the issue here because this guy pounded and kept pounding. We know that from the blood spatter. This incredible rage and violence sounds to me like somebody on speed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END

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