Skip to main content
U.S. Edition
Search
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 

Return to Transcripts main page

NANCY GRACE

New Evidence in Phil Spector Murder

Aired April 4, 2007 - 20:00:00   ET

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


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, musical genius, multi-millionaire Phil Spector facing new charges in his murder one trial. Police say he Spector murdered actress Lana Clarkson with a single shot in the mouth there in Spector`s own mansion on their very first date. Right!
But tonight, new evidence emerges that he has threatened multiple women with violence before Clarkson was murdered, even allegedly ranting at a Christmas party thrown by comedian Joan Rivers that women, quote, Deserve to die, they all deserve a bullet in their head. OK, the jury`s going to love that.

And tonight, day 14, a lady 911 dispatcher vanishes, locks up for the day, no one on the force has seen her again, her car found still parked at the home she once shared with her estranged husband, a police sergeant himself, the couple on the verge of divorce. Tonight, we piece together the clues left behind. Where is Theresa Parker? Tonight, is there a break in the case?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Monday night around 9:00 PM, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested a city police officer, Lafayette city police officer, Harpin Ben Chapin (ph). He`s been charged under Georgia code 161020 with giving a false statement to a police officer in an official investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Corporal Harpin Ben Chapin worked the same overnight shift at the Lafayette Police Department as Theresa Parker`s husband, Sergeant Sam Parker, and was Parkers second in command. GBI officials won`t give any details about Chapin`s arrest, what he allegedly lied about. They`ll only say it`s significant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m very fearful that something`s happened to her. She would not just disappear and worry everyone like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First tonight, newly revealed evidence emerges in music legend Phil Spector`s murder one trial. And we`re going to show that to you in just one moment.

Let`s go straight out to Jane Velez-Mitchell, investigative reporter. Jane, what can you tell me about the new evidence in the Spector trial?

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, Nancy, if this stuff gets in, it could be very, very damaging to Phil Spector. Essentially, the prosecution filing two motions, one of them seeking to admit testimony of an ex-girlfriend who purportedly, according to the court documents, claimed decades ago Phil Spector threatened her with a gun on two occasions in his home after a night of partying, one time in the foyer.

And we have to remember it was in the foyer of Phil Spector`s home that Lana Clarkson was found dead. She says specifically on one of these occasions, he put a gun to her forehead and said, If you try to leave, I`m going to blow your expletive brains out, or words to that effect.

They also want to admit the testimony of an ex-cop who was working security at a holiday party in the mid-`90s at the home of Joan Rivers. There was a commotion. Phil Spector was asked to leave, and on the way out, he allegedly says to this ex-cop, who was working security...

GRACE: Jane, Jane...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... terrible things about women.

GRACE: ... Jane! How many times do you have to say "allegedly"? We get it. We get it. We know all of this has to be proven in a court of law. But according to this retired New York City Police Department officer that was working there at Joan Rivers`s Christmas party, what did Spector say?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, on the way out, he said terribly disparaging, awful, expletive-filled things about women, and then went on to say, They should all be dead. I`d like to put a bullet, or a bullet should be put in their head. And he said, That`s why I carry a gun with me and I have permits wherever I go. And that`s paraphrasing, but this was incredibly obscene, expletive-filled language and obviously betrays a tremendous hatred of women, if it`s true.

GRACE: Now, let`s go -- before we get into all the shrinking, OK -- because I don`t know that a lot of that is going to come into evidence, Jane Velez-Mitchell. And we can think he`s got mommy issues or wife issues or girl issues -- don`t care. All I care about is how actress Lana Clarkson managed to get a single gunshot with one of these -- it`s a .38- caliber bullet -- one of these in the mouth allegedly on their first date.

And P.S., Jane Velez-Mitchell, did you know that Phil Spector, not that this matters, had three different dates that night? He went to one place with a date, took her home, went back to the place, picked up a waitress, took her out, took her home, went back to the same place, hooked up with Lana Clarkson. She ends up dead on the floor. Describe the scene for me -- Lana Clarkson.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, so they`re at the House of Blues. She was working as the hostess at the VIP room there, called the Foundation Room, and they leave together. Now, his chauffeur says that he appeared to be stumbling and slurring. She initially didn`t want to go back with him and was persuaded to go back. And she said, I only want one drink.

They go back, they`re there at 3:00 in the morning. They are inside there for a couple of hours. At 5:00 o`clock in the morning, a gunshot rings out. Phil Spector walks out and says to the chauffeur, allegedly -- sorry about that, but allegedly says, I think I killed someone.

GRACE: Well, according to prosecutors today, this is the culmination of a long line of violence toward women -- women and guns. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One evening, driving up to his house, I heard all this commotion in the house. Fussing -- I don`t know if people were actually fussing or -- I know I heard somebody (INAUDIBLE) said, Put the guns away, Phil, somebody`s going to get hurt. Put them away. Stop playing with the gun, man. Come on, now.

And I knocked on the door, and Phil opened the door and he had the gun in his hand. And I went, OK, so what`s going on? And I tried to act like I wasn`t afraid because I really wasn`t afraid. I didn`t think he would hurt me. And I said, OK, what`re you guys doing? This is crazy. Why are you playing with guns, Phil? You know somebody could get hurt. And I said, And I`m not coming into the house until y`all put the guns away. And he went, OK, darling -- I was out the door -- we`re going to put the guns up. We`re just kidding in here. And he put the guns up.

And I used to tell Phil all the time, One of these days -- you know, you shouldn`t play with guns. You have kids in the house, because his sons were living with him at the time. One of these days, you`re going to hurt somebody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shortly after 5:00 o`clock this morning, Alhambra police officers responded to this residence at the 1700 South Ramsey (ph) Drive in the city of Alhambra. When the officers arrived, they discovered that a female had been shot inside the location. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Mr. Philip Spector from Motown Records has been taken into custody and is being detained at Alhambra Police Department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Why has it been so long to get music legend Phil Spector to trial? Joining us now, Eric Leonard, court reporter with KFI 640. Eric, how long has it been since Lana Clarkson was killed with a single gunshot wound to the mouth?

ERIC LEONARD, KFI 640: It`s been just over four years. Almost amazing timing that the trial actually started moving ahead in the courtroom. It was I think four years almost to the month when jury selection began. Jurors filled out those questionnaires a few weeks ago when we talked, and the trial is expected to begin in a couple of weeks.

Of course, part of the delays in this case was the musical lawyer game that was going on for a couple of years. First it was Robert Shapiro. Then he fired Shapiro, moved on to Leslie Abramson. Then those two had some sort of falling out, and now he`s on to his third set of defense attorneys, which of course, includes Bruce Cutler, John Gotti`s former lawyer.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: ... mob lawyer. You know, I was saying the other night, Eric, I recall listening to some of the Gotti tapes -- John Gotti, the mobster, who`s now dead -- where he was on the phone -- this was a federal wiretap I was listening to. He was on the phone, threatening to blow up a man`s home with his wife and family in the home, and the man was crying and practically screaming on the phone. That`s the guy that Cutler represented and actually got acquitted. Finally, the lawyer was taken of the case. So that is his new lawyer.

LEONARD: That`s right. And the interesting development this week, of course, are these new witnesses that the prosecution has asked to call, a former police officer and one of Spector`s former personal assistants, who was briefly his girlfriend.

GRACE: I`ve got it right here. The guy`s name is Vincent Tannazzo? Is that who you`re talking about?

LEONARD: That`s right. He`s as a former New York police officer that was working security for Joan Rivers at her Christmas party sometime in the mid-1990s -- `95 or `96. And at some point during this party, he is asked to escort Spector outside, get him out of the place, because...

GRACE: OK, hold on. Let me hold that thought.

LEONARD: Sure.

GRACE: So at Joan Rivers`s Christmas party, Spector has to be taken out of the party because he`s causing a ruckus.

LEONARD: That`s right. And incidentally, this is only one of several very, very similar stories that will probably unfold at the trial, that will be told by various witnesses at the trial, of Spector being invited to some kind of social gathering of one or another, and something happens, and all of a sudden, Spector is causing some kind of commotion or problem...

GRACE: Something happens! Something always happens. You think it has a little something to do with him having a gun and a bunch of booze?

LEONARD: Well, in fact, according to the motion that was filed by Deputy DA Allen Jackson (ph) yesterday, Spector was saying things that I certainly can`t repeat on television about women at the party...

GRACE: He`s using the "F" word. He was using the "F" word. Here`s a quote. Here`s a quote from a former NYPD detective, retired -- says Eric Leonard, court reporter with KFI 640 -- listen to this. Spector says, in this affidavit -- I`ve got it right here in my hands -- These f`ing, they all deserve to die, they all deserve a bullet in their f`ing head. The defendant went on to say, That`s why I have permits for all over, gun permits. He goes on and on, saying, I ought to put a bullet in her f`ing head right now.

And my big question tonight is to the lawyers, Renee Rockwell and Nicole Deborde. Why has it taken four years and a dead girl before this guy goes to trial, Renee? I mean, I got a list of women here, his former wife, Ronnie Spector, Melissa Grovesnor, Stephanie Jennings, Dorothy Melvin, Diane Ogden, Devra Robitaille. All of these women claim he has pulled a gun on them or threatened them with the use of a gun.

Why, why now, after a dead body shows up, do we finally get some justice, Renee?

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, I don`t know if we`re getting any justice at this point, but delay is the name of the game in the defense world, so he doesn`t care how long it takes. But as far as these other statements come in, this is nothing but trial by ambush, Nancy. Now that they`re all of a sudden bringing in statements that he made 10 years ago, I think they`re just doubling down on him, as far as...

GRACE: I`ve got a little question for you, Miss Rockwell. Who, of everybody in the universe, would know what his statements were the best? Him. This is no surprise to him, that he made all these statements, that he got thrown out of Joan Rivers`s Christmas party. You think he doesn`t remember that?

ROCKWELL: I know that, Nancy, but why now? Why are they all of a sudden bringing...

GRACE: Because he`s going on trial.

ROCKWELL: Well, they could have discussed this years ago. It`s been four years. And now they`re going to ambush him...

GRACE: OK, you`re not...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Let me give you a try, Nicole Deborde. Renee Rockwell`s not even trying to say, Oh, that`s not true, that`s hearsay, nobody can prove that. She`s just complaining that the state didn`t tell him how awful he`s been before now.

NICOLE DEBORDE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well...

GRACE: That`s the best you two have got for me?

DEBORDE: Now he doesn`t have an opportunity to investigate these. And I`ll you another thing, too. It really means, in my mind, that the state doesn`t have a great case because if they did have a great case, they would be relying on the facts and circumstances in this situation, not 10- year-old comments about this man`s character.

GRACE: Hey, you know what, Nicole -- Nicole Deborde, and you, too, Renee Rockwell. Every time I brought in a string of what we call similar transactions, similar bad acts in the past, that`s exactly what the defense says, Oh, you`ve got a week case. That`s not true.

ROCKWELL: Well, because, Nancy...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: ... show pattern and practice, a course of conduct, intent, frame of mind. He does the same thing over and over. Take a look at these, ladies. I`ve got Renee Rockwell, Atlanta jurisdiction, Nicole Deborde, Houston, Texas, jurisdiction.

Hold on. Can we start them all over again? Let`s see here. Number one -- waiting for number one. I think we`re going to put that back up. Spector consumed alcohol that night, and boy, did he. Access to a gun again. Gun pointed at close range. Using gun in threatening manner.

OK, next screen, please. Assault occurs at a domestic setting, usually, his home. Women always attempting to leave. OK, violence usually in the evening hours. Victims were romantic love interests of Spector`s.

Ladies, you don`t see the similarities to that? To you, Renee Rockwell.

ROCKWELL: Nancy, it`s similar, but it confuses the jury because you don`t want to find him guilty of that, Nancy.

GRACE: I`m not confused!

ROCKWELL: We`re talking about what happened that night with Lana.

GRACE: OK. You know what?

DEBORDE: Exactly.

GRACE: Let`s talk about that night. Let`s go back out to Eric Leonard -- hold on. First to Latanya in Texas. Hi, Latanya.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. My mother-in-law, Shirley Park (ph), and I love your show. I just have a quick question, OK?

GRACE: Bless you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does Phil have a -- does he have a criminal background, a criminal record?

GRACE: You mean does he have a record?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

GRACE: Not to my knowledge. Is that your only question? He does? He does. Elizabeth, do we have that to show the viewers?

Let`s go out to Eric Leonard with KFI 640. Oh, you`re right! I was thinking felony. Unlicensed driver, brandishing a firearm -- oh, there he is with a gun again -- possession of a firearm in a public place.

Back out to you, Eric Leonard. The lady lawyers on the show tonight want to talk about this case. Let`s do that. Isn`t it true that Lana Clarkson, beautiful young actress, when they found her stiff, dead body posed there in the entrance hall of his mansion, she had her pocketbook on her shoulder, didn`t she.

LEONARD: Well, that`s what the prosecution says. That`s their scenario of how this all played out is that she was on her way out of the house. And that`s going to be doubly important next week, when there`s a hearing to argue over these new witnesses, because the second new witness they want to bring in, a former personal assistant is, according to the prosecution, going to tell a story that they say is eerily similar to what happened to Lana Clarkson. This former personal assistant was trying to leave the house, Spector pulled out a gun, a rifle or a shotgun, and according to her testimony, or what the prosecution says her testimony will be, put the gun, the muzzle of it, to her forehead. And she kind of joked it away and said, Oh, come on, Phil, I just want to leave, and he moves the gun and she leaves.

The prosecution says, yes, that did happen almost 30 years ago, if not more than 30 years ago, but their argument is, this case and that incident is so similar, it is a common plan or a common design that echoes of what happened to Lana Clarkson. And like you said, her purse was slung over her shoulder -- I`m reading from the motion here -- as if she was ready to leave. The murder weapon came from a bureau immediately next to the chair. And again, that is exactly what the former personal assistant, according to the prosecution, will testify to, if they allow her testimony.

GRACE: Well, another thing, Eric, is I got the autopsy report right here in my hand, and it`s brutal thick. But looking at it, right off the top, they describe the scene, the medical examiner -- as we learned from Dr. Perper over the past few week, the medical examiner sends their own detectives out to the scene, and these detectives find her in that manner.

And what I find really, really interesting -- and I want to go to Dr. Daniel spitz, medical examiner out of Madison Heights, Michigan -- Dr. Spitz, by the time the medical examiner detectives have gotten there, she`s already stiff. And there`s no nice way to say this. There are already depositings of fly eggs on the skin in the right -- near the right clavicle and around the right ear, where blood is draining.

Now, what took so long for Spector to call police? If this was a big accident, Doctor, then -- you know, if you had an accident, Doctor, you fell down the steps, I wouldn`t wait seven hours to call the police. I`d call the police. They`re not showing up for a long time later. She`s already stiff with rigor.

DR. DANIEL SPITZ, MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, you`re exactly right. There is a delay in -- maybe not in calling the police, but certainly in having the medical examiner get to the scene. Now, the medical examiner`s not the first person to get to the scene.

GRACE: True.

SPITZ: These are -- EMS people arrive on scene. Police arrive on scene. Detectives will come to the scene. And oftentimes, unfortunately, the medical examiner investigator may not be called and may not get to the scene for many hours after death occurs.

GRACE: Seven hours. This is at least seven hours. You know, another thing, Doctor, is that her teeth were blown all over the entrance hall of that foyer. And what`s disturbing me, in addition to what could be -- very well be a murder, is that this guy is super-rich. He has created the likes of works by John Lennon, Ike and Tina Turner, Ronnie and the Ronettes, "Let It Be" by the Beatles. It goes on and on and on and on. This guy was handled with kid gloves, and now it`s been four years for this girl to get justice. What are do those teeth say?

SPITZ: Well, the teeth are fractured, and you know, damaged because of the gunshot wounds. There`s much more damage than just from the bullet. You have tremendous pressure from the gunshot going off inside the mouth, such that you have damage involving tissues well away from where the gunshot actually goes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Newly emerging evidence in the murder one trial of musical genius Phil Spector is out in the open today in documents in court. It alleges a long line of violence on women that, according to prosecutors, culminated in the brutal murder of a young actress. This guy, Phil Spector, has remained untouched since that shooting for four years. He`s still not on trial.

Out to Tonya in Michigan. Hi, Tonya.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just wondering, is there any evidence with his ex-wife regarding any domestic situations or any firearms or anything that...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: There absolutely is. I`ve spoken with Ronnie Spector -- she`s the star of Ronnie and the Ronettes -- myself. You tell me, Eric Leonard. Ronnie and the Ronettes.

LEONARD: There was an incident, but again, it was one of these back, I think it`s probably more than 30 years ago. And there were arguments in court last year, perhaps even -- it was in 2005, where the prosecution made arguments and the judge agreed to allow a lot of these incidents, not just this one involving his now ex-wife, but other incidents, that gun incident you mentioned that there was a misdemeanor conviction from in the 1970s. All of that is going to be allowed into the trial. The defense, of course, argues that that was so long ago, there has been no criminal conviction since then, it`s irrelevant. The prosecution is bolstering its case that these are just a pattern of incidents that are all very, very similar, of course, leading up to the murder, they allege, of Lana Clarkson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Music mogul Phil Spector headed to a courtroom, and now newly revealed evidence says that he has a long history of attacks on women.

Back out to you, Eric Leonard with KFI 640. You said that this delay is because he kept switching defense attorneys?

LEONARD: Well, that`s absolutely one of the reasons it`s taken so long for this case to go to trial, is because of the defense attorney shuffle. Each time a new set of defense attorneys takes over, it takes them some time to get up to speed on the case.

Plus, during the first months following his arrest and before charges were filed, and then after he was indicted, word of the prosecution`s case continued to kind of leak out to us and that it kept building over time. So each time new evidence is discovered, of course, it has to be turned over to the defense. They have to be allowed time to investigate it on their own, have their own investigators to look into it, to analyze it. And all of that has dragged on for months and now into several years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL SPECTOR, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER: The actions of the Hitler-like district attorney and his storm-trooping henchmen to seek an indictment against me and censor all means of me getting my evidence and the truth out are reprehensible, unconscionable and despicable.

RONNIE SPECTOR, FORMER WIFE OF PHIL SPECTOR: ... being very self- centered. I also view him as being a great music -- he was a great man in the studio. He did some work in there that I didn`t see how he could do it. He went beyond. That`s why it was the wall of sound, and it was great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That what was his former wife, Ronnie Spector, who also says there was domestic violence in the home. Did it culminate in the murder of a young actress, Lana Clarkson? Now, you just heard Spector giving a press conference, stating about how awful the police are. Well, according to six or seven women, he`s the one with a problem with violence.

Out to Leo in Rhode Island. Hi, Leo.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. First of all, I love your attitude.

GRACE: Thank you, I`ll tell that to the defense bar joining us tonight. What`s your question, dear?

CALLER: My question is, I believe he is one of the -- in one of the toughest states in the union on gun laws. How can somebody with gun offenses be able to even own a gun?

GRACE: You know, that`s a really good question that I had not thought of. You`re absolutely right. Let`s go back out to Eric Leonard. What about that? With his offenses, why did he get to keep having gun permits?

ERIC LEONARD, COURT REPORTER: There`s a few different laws at play. One of them, of course, involves carrying weapons concealed out in public with a permit. And the only way to get that is with the help of a friendly police chief or a county sheriff in Southern California, and it just so happens that people with a lot of money tend to get those favors done for them. Of course, you remember Robert Blake had a gun permit issued by a police chief in a city he`d never lived in. So it is possible...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Please don`t remind me of Robert Blake. So you`re saying strings were pulled. He got a lot of gun permits, as a matter of fact. He`s a gun aficionado, to put it mildly.

LEONARD: I don`t know if strings were pulled. I don`t know exactly what he had, but it is possible, and it has been done.

Now, secondly, to purchase a gun in California, you either have to have a criminal record free of felony convictions, which we know that Spector had no felony convictions...

GRACE: That`s right.

LEONARD: ... plus, you cannot have been convicted -- and this is only a recent, a relatively recent law change -- you cannot have been convicted of any domestic violence-related misdemeanors. And from what we know, Spector was never convicted of a crime like that. So under state law, despite the allegations we`ve heard, nothing in the legal system would prevent him from buying a gun.

GRACE: Let`s take a look at Spector`s changing looks. There you see him over there at the bottom with kind of a Beatle, mop-head look. Then over to the other side you see the crazy Bride of Frankenstein look.

To you, Jane Velez-Mitchell, what`s going to happen when he finally is in front of a jury of 12? He sported a new wig and, believe it or not, he paid money for that. That`s a wig, a new wig and a new wife, who looks a lot like Lana Clarkson to me, in court.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: He is said to be obsessed with not only women, but wigs, and has a lot of them. Now, he appeared during one of the pre-trial hearings looking like a giant light bulb. His hair went all the way out to here, and he got so much flak for it and it so dominated the coverage, obviously, somebody talked to him or he had a moment of clarity and decided to redo his image.

And now he`s coming out with this little pageboy, and he looks so innocent and unthreatening. And I hope that the prosecution shows the picture of him looking like a crazy wild man, because they really have made him over.

GRACE: It kind of looks like someone`s Aunt Patricia at this point.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.

GRACE: Yes, total, complete makeover.

You know, to you, forget the look in court, Detective Lieutenant Steve Rogers, I want to talk about the alleged crime. I want to talk about the fact that it is very, very rare for a woman Lana Clarkson`s age to shoot herself to death on a first date with suicide by gun in the face area, in fact, almost unheard of. Explain.

STEVEN ROGERS, DETECTIVE LIEUTENANT: Indeed, Nancy, it`s very rare, and that`s why how the police processed this crime scene and the preservation of evidence is going to play a major role in this investigation.

The fact of the matter is, when the police went in there initially, I`m sure they took photograph after photograph after photograph, and that`s when you`re going to find out, where were her hands? Where was the weapon? Where was that purse?

So it`s very, very important that that type of investigation proceed as it has proceeded. And you`re going to find that, indeed, that type of evidence that the police have, especially those photographs, are going to play a major role in this investigation.

GRACE: Well, Detective Lieutenant Steve Rogers with us from Nutley Police, I can tell you this much: The scene was staged. That`s one thing, 3,000 miles away, that I can tell you for sure. The scene was staged. The scene was altered before police got there.

Does that mean he committed murder? No. But it means, instead of immediately after this surprise self-inflicted gunshot wound, he didn`t run and call police. He altered the scene, and you have to ask, why? What about the scene stands out in your mind, Detective?

ROGERS: Well, that pocketbook on her shoulder. I mean, here, it appears that an individual, the victim, was walking out of that establishment. So that is going to play a major role. I`m sure, when the jury sees that, they`re going to be scratching their heads, saying, "Wait a minute, this isn`t someone that stuck a gun in their mouth to want to kill themselves. This person may very well have been leaving that establishment."

GRACE: Wait a minute, wait a minute, back to you, Eric Leonard with KFI 640. To my understanding, the scene had been altered. In fact, blood had been cleaned up. There were various things to suggest this is not the way the scene looked immediately after the shooting.

LEONARD: It`s very possible. There were rumors floating around that, in fact, some of that was documented by some of the investigators that were involved in this.

But there might have been, let`s just say, non-malicious reasons for at least some of that to have happened. There was some indication that the furniture in the room had been moved around, perhaps not in any attempt to cover up the crime, but perhaps in the efforts to try and treat Clarkson immediately after the shooting.

GRACE: What? Treat her? I`m sorry, where would you get the idea, Eric, that he tried to treat her? Did he have blood on him?

LEONARD: No, no, no, not Specter, I`m sorry, that the first emergency responders that came into the room may have inadvertently moved some of the things around in the room. It was unclear if that`s how it happened or, perhaps, as you suggested, there was some kind of staging involved. It will be pretty interesting to hear the detectives testify...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: ... found blood in an upstairs bedroom.

LEONARD: I`m sorry?

GRACE: Blood, to my understanding, was found in an upstairs bedroom.

LEONARD: I had not heard that.

GRACE: Out to you, Jane Velez-Mitchell, what can you tell me about the crime scene, if anything?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it seemed pretty obvious that Lana Clarkson was trying to get out of there, which goes back to what the prosecution is trying to prove by bringing these other women, that he seems to have a problem that could erupt into violence when women try to leave, especially when he is under the influence of alcohol.

And, remember, even his own defense team says that he was under the influence of seven prescription drugs, because they said he was suffering withdrawals, and that`s why he gave all those conflicting statements about first it was an accident, then it was a suicide.

GRACE: Didn`t he tell his driver he shot her?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. He said to the driver, according to the driver, "I think I shot someone." Later, he told police, according to police, "Oh, it was an accident. I have an explanation for this." Then later he said, "She sang two of my biggest hits, `Do Do Run Run` (ph) and `You`ve Lost That Loving Feeling,` and then grabbed the gun and shot herself."

GRACE: OK, that makes sense. To you, Jeff Gardere, psychologist and author, this gun fetish, where does that come from?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, certainly, we know that people have described Phil Spector as having a Napoleon complex. We see that with people, like me, I guess, who are very short but try to overcompensate all the time. And in doing that, being a very controlling individual, the gun represents power. It also is a phallic symbol, too, and this is a guy who`s had issues with women and sexual prowess.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Keisha in Louisiana, hi, Keisha.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: What`s your question, dear?

CALLER: My question is, where`s Lana Clarkson`s family in all of this? Because I hardly ever see anything from them.

GRACE: Good question. And I`d like to say hello to all of my Cajun friends tonight.

To you, Eric Leonard, where is her family? Where do they stand?

LEONARD: They`ve been very, very quiet throughout this entire process. They have been to a couple of the court hearings and made a couple of statements shortly after Lana`s murder or, I should say, her death. But since then, they have really remained out of the public eye. In fact, at some point, through an attorney that`s representing them, asked that they essentially be left alone.

There was interestingly recently a public relations person out here who was claiming to speak on the family`s behalf. The attorney has sent out a memo to the media a few weeks ago saying, "Please don`t listen to this person. Nobody`s speaking on the family`s behalf except the family and us, their attorneys."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Corporal Harbin "Ben" Chaffin worked the same overnight shift at the Lafaye Police Department (ph) as Theresa Parker`s husband, Sergeant Sam Parker, Mr. Parker`s second in command.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve heard of him. I knew that they were friends. (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: GBI officials won`t give any details about Chaffin`s arrest, what he allegedly lied about. They`ll only say it`s significant. Theresa Parker`s family, desperate to find her, say Chaffin`s arrest raises more questions than answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: A lady 911 police dispatcher clocks out one afternoon and vanishes. No one on the force has seen her alive again. Her car found still mysteriously parked at the home she once shared with her estranged husband. The husband himself a police sergeant on the same force. The couple on the verge of divorce.

Tonight, we piece together clues. When I heard there had been an arrest today on day 14 of her disappearance, I thought the case had been solved. Not so. To Tim Carlfeldt with the "Walker County Messenger." What happened?

TIM CARLFELDT, REPORTER, WALKER COUNTY MESSENGER: Well, the family had found out about this ahead of the media circus of the announcement, but it was a co-worker of Sam Parker`s. Corporal Ben Chaffin was arrested on a felony charge of making a false statement to investigators in the case, certainly not the development that the family might have hoped for, but definitely taking a step down that road of the suspected foul play that the court of public opinion has kind of been leaning towards in the past two weeks.

GRACE: OK, just hold on. Before we start talking about the court of public opinion, Sam Parker is the estranged husband of Theresa Parker, now missing, day 14. The arrest, let me get this straight. There`s been an arrest of a co-worker of Sam Parker`s?

CARLFELDT: That is correct, yes.

GRACE: For false statement to police?

CARLFELDT: That is correct.

GRACE: What`s the false statement?

CARLFELDT: The authorities are highly tight-lipped about that.

GRACE: Well, I thought that arrests were public knowledge, public information.

CARLFELDT: Well, you know, they`re holding their cards close to their chest because of the sensitive nature of the statements, obviously. I really don`t fault them for that.

GRACE: OK, I understand your sentiment. However, that was not my question!

Let`s go to Sheriff Steve Wilson with the Walker County Sheriff`s Office, been trying his best to crack this case. Day 14 since Theresa Parker went missing under highly unusual circumstances.

Sheriff, thank you for joining us again tonight. What can you tell us about the arrest of the co-worker?

STEVE WILSON, SHERIFF, WALKER COUNTY: Well, as Tim said, Harbin Ben Chaffin, a co-worker, was arrested yesterday. In an arrest warrant that the GBI sought out the night before, he was actually arrested around 9:00 p.m. Monday evening under Georgia code, given a false statement.

However, the GBI, as well as the sheriff`s office, has not went into the details of the statement that brought about this arrest.

GRACE: So they made a formal arrest, but they have not made that document public?

WILSON: Yes. The document was provided to media outlets today who requested it, and copies of the arrest warrant was provided.

GRACE: What was the statement that was allegedly false?

WILSON: Well, we can`t get into that, because of the -- we certainly don`t want to jeopardize the investigation, the investigation we feel like -- and I say we, those agencies that are involved -- is certainly moving forward, maybe at a slow pace, but it is moving forward, and we just can`t talk about the statement itself, other than the fact that it was a false statement, which, under Georgia law, as you well know, is a felony.

GRACE: Yes, I do. Now, you`re saying that you released the police -- that the police report was released, but what you`re really saying is the front page has been released and the supplemental report, which outlines in detail, has not been released.

WILSON: Now, are you referring to the arrest warrant?

GRACE: Correct.

WILSON: OK, that is correct. You are correct.

GRACE: Let`s go out to Jane Velez-Mitchell. Jane, what can you tell us about her actual disappearance?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, well, Nancy, she disappeared on Wednesday, March 21st. She had visited her sister. She left there at about 9:30 at night. Then she went to the new home that she was planning on moving into since they were getting divorced.

She was spotted there by a neighbor at about 10:15. Now, at around 10:30, a mysterious call comes in to the sister at the original home that they shared together as a married couple, and the sister doesn`t pick it up, so that could be a piece of evidence. The next morning, the husband claims that he comes over to the original house where Theresa was still living, sees that the door is closed, assumes she`s sleeping, and decides to go fishing with a friend.

GRACE: Wait a minute, wait a minute. I thought he went over there to get his boat. So he was going to find that in the living room floor? Why was he tromping around in the home?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, this is what he`s saying. I mean, first of all, the idea of going back to the home of somebody that you`re in the process of divorcing at 6:00 in the morning sounds strange to me.

But, nevertheless, he claims that he goes fishing that afternoon with an attorney who says he`s acting very normal and everything`s fine. He comes back to the house at around 3:00 in the afternoon, her car is there, but she`s gone, and her purse is gone, and some sort of overnight bag is also gone.

GRACE: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. When he gets back? I thought he got back, the bedroom door was still closed as it was that morning.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, what I know is that she was not there, and her car was there, but she was, at that point, disappeared.

GRACE: OK, back to Sheriff Steve Wilson with the Walker County Sheriff`s Office. Sheriff, again, thank you for being with us. Sheriff, I thought about this a lot over the weekend. He goes back to take the boat back home, right?

WILSON: Well, he goes over, he says, to get the boat to go fishing. And you have to understand that, even though they were separated from the marital home and the marriage itself, it does appear that both of them had access to and from this marital home.

GRACE: Right. I was asking about when he came back. He had to bring the boat back.

WILSON: Oh, when he came -- yes, when he came back.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Let`s just move it up. He brings the boat back, and her car is still there, and the bedroom door is still shut, and he still doesn`t want to wake her up?

WILSON: Well, I agree with your reporter that was on that he`s saying that she just was not there. They were in the process of separation. He says, "I don`t know where she`s at."

GRACE: But did he go back in the home when he brought the boat home?

WILSON: Yes, he did.

GRACE: And was the door still closed to the bedroom, like you said...

(CROSSTALK)

WILSON: No, the door, -- he`s saying that she was not there and the door was open to the bedroom and she was gone from the home.

GRACE: When we talked last, you told me that you were about to launch a massive search by grid, looking for clues, looking for her cell phone. What happened?

WILSON: Last Saturday, we had almost 230 volunteers that showed up for about an eight-hour-long search of the southern part of Walker County. Walker County is a large county of 445 square miles. And we covered about 35 square miles, utilizing volunteers, had a good day. A lot of people turned out, and we appreciate those that turned out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m very fearful that something`s happened to her. She would not just disappear and worry everyone like this, not if she could help it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: A lady police dispatcher disappears after clocking off from work. Where is Theresa Parker? Out to the lines, Nancy in Florida, hi, Nancy.

CALLER: Hey, Nancy. I just wondering if anybody has investigated the fact that this man was supposedly burning trash the day that she was missing, if they checked into that.

GRACE: I asked that question last week, Nancy, and the neighbors saw the husband burning trash in the front yard. One of my questions, as well.

To you, Dr. Gardere, the fact that police are focusing on the husband -- in fact, the GBI told "The Chattanooga Times" he was a person of interest. That`s not unusual. They always look at the husband first and the boyfriend. Why?

GARDERE: Well, because those are the people who may have motive, especially if you`re tacking about a divorce, and especially if you`re talking about a situation where there`s a history of domestic violence. So the fickle finger of fate always points to those who are closest and involved in that kind of very big history.

GRACE: We don`t have that history in this case. We`ll continue with the story of missing police 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker.

But let`s stop to remember Army Specialist Lance Craig Springer, just 23, Fort Worth, Texas, killed, Iraq. A combat medic dreamed of becoming a soldier since being a boy, he leaves behind a wonderful family, parents Lance and Ivana, sister Michelle, brother Christopher. Lance Springer, American hero.

A special good night here in our New York studio from David, Kay, Haynes and Brad. NANCY GRACE signing off. See you tomorrow night. And until then, good night, friend.

END

CNN U.S.
CNN TV E-mail Services CNN Mobile CNNAvantGo Ad Info About Us Preferences
Search
© 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map.
Offsite Icon External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pipeline Icon Pay service with live and archived video. Learn more
Radio News Icon Download audio news  |  RSS Feed Add RSS headlines