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NANCY GRACE

George Anthony Denies Reported Affair

Aired March 16, 2010 - 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: Breaking news tonight in the search for a 2-year- old Florida girl, Caylee. Six months of searching culminates when skeletal remains found in a heavily wooded area 15 houses from the Anthony home confirmed to be Caylee. A utility meter reader stumbles on a tiny human skeleton, including a skull covered in light-colored hair, the killer duct- taping and placing a heart-shaped sticker directly over the mouth, then triple-bagging little Caylee like she`s trash.

Bombshell tonight. Torpedo to the defense! Reports surface grandfather George Anthony not only starts an affair around the time little Caylee goes missing -- irrelevant -- but what is relevant is that the alleged other woman insists grandfather George confides little Caylee was killed by accident that, quote, "snowballed out of control." Well, so much for the defense claim somebody else did it. Grandfather George Anthony vehemently denying any affair or any statement, the so-called mistress caught on video leaving Orange County sheriffs after speaking to police.

Tonight, is she telling the truth? And if so, what will it mean to tot mom`s trial on the murder of her 2-year-old little girl?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was sworn under, and I`ve made my statement. And I`ve told the truth. That`s it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Anthony striking back against River Cruz, a woman who claims she had a year-long affair with Anthony. Cruz says George Anthony told her Caylee`s death was an accident that snowballed out of control. But George Anthony through his attorney denies her story.

SKYE BENHAIDA, CRUZ`S SISTER: She was in love with George. She told him, I would never ask you that. And in reply, he said it was an accident that snowballed out of -- out of control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anthony expressly denying any sexual relationship with the woman and denies making the statement about Caylee`s death, quote, being an accident that "snowballed out of control."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This would apparently foreclose any defense that someone outside of the Anthony family is responsible for that child`s death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Anthony`s attorney, Brad Conway, says the woman and her sister have multiple aliases and he keeps trying to do background checks on them.

GEORGE ANTHONY, CASEY`S FATHER: The Zanny that my daughter described to me is 24 to 25 years old, about 5-foot-7, 125, 130 pounds. She has straight white teeth, long brown hair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you have to say about the new theory that Caylee might be dead, it might have been an accident?

GEORGE ANTHONY: Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, Washington state. A beautiful young mom and her 8-year-old boy head out to visit the grandfather. They never make it. Only clue, her gold mini-van found abandoned, Mommy`s wallet still inside, doors unlocked. Tonight, where is 29-year-old Shantina Smiley and her 8-year-old little boy?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks to be an abandoned car or a stolen vehicle on my beach property.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I miss her more than you can imagine!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it`s partially submerged.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only one that knows for sure is God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shantina Smiley and her son, 8-year-old Azriel Carter, are still missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes no sense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baffling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s really bizarre and...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no rational explanation for why Shantina`s van ended up abandoned and stuck on a Puget Sound beach Saturday night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no idea what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The van doors were open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t put it into words.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And no one was inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Empty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shantina and her 8-year-old son were last seen driving all over Olympia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This video shows Shantina and her son at a West Olympia mini-mart about 8:00 PM Saturday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s very intelligent, well read, well spoken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was apparently lost and can be seen on the video looking at a map and getting directions. Workers say her behavior was odd and she fell in the parking lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish I knew or asked the right questions to be able to say this is a person who`s in trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still, search and rescue crews scoured the wooded terrain, looking for clues and answers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want my family back! If you know where she`s at, please get -- please help her get home. Just help her get home. I want (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Torpedo to the defense! Reports surfacing grandfather George Anthony not only starts an affair around the time little Caylee goes missing -- irrelevant to the investigation -- but what is relevant is that the alleged other woman insists grandfather George told her little Caylee was killed by accident, then, quote, "snowballed out of control." Well, so much for the defense claims somebody else did it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE ANTHONY: You don`t want to be knocked down, get out of my way!

I`m done with you guys. Leave me alone!

Do not come past here!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New allegations of an alleged affair surface against the father of Casey Anthony, George Anthony. Alleged mistress River Cruz says she had a year-long affair with George Anthony, allegations Anthony denies. WFTV reports a month before Caylee`s remains were found, Anthony allegedly told Cruz Caylee`s death was an accident that snowballed out of control.

BENHAIDA: She`s loving. She`s caring. You know, she cares about even people that she don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you seen the pictures?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve seen them. I`ve seen them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Naked pictures?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I`ve seen them. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: WFTV also reporting the woman claims she gave George Anthony almost $5,000. But George Anthony through his attorney denies the alleged affair and any sexual relationship. The attorney also denies George Anthony ever said Caylee`s death was an accident that snowballed out of control and also makes clear George Anthony denies accepting any money from River Cruz.

GEORGE ANTHONY: You want sensationalism -- shut up! I`m talking! All you care about is sensationalism!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never laid eyes on anyone named Zanny that was a baby-sitter in your life?

GEORGE ANTHONY: The pronunciation, sir, is Zanny. No, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zanny.

GEORGE ANTHONY: Instead of Zenny, what you`re saying. So I guess you have to pronunciate things a little bit better (INAUDIBLE) understand you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t want to confuse you. So let me give it...

GEORGE ANTHONY: You`re not confusing me, sir. I`m on the ball.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Kathi Belich with CNN affiliate WFTV. What can you tell us, Kathi? What do we know about this woman that claims she had an affair with George Anthony and his confiding to her that Caylee`s death was an accident? That flies in the face of the entire defense.

KATHI BELICH, WFTV: Well, I`m told that he visited her many times at her gated community, that -- I was told that investigators took records from the security gate that would document George`s many visits to her house. I`m told that...

GRACE: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Kathi, would you repeat that? What was documented?

BELICH: I`m told that George made many visits to her home. She lives in a gated community, and that -- I was told that investigators -- by her and her sister, that investigators did go to the security gate and did get records to that effect, to show that George had been -- had visited her on a number of occasions.

GRACE: Do they have surveillance there?

BELICH: I don`t know about that. I don`t know if there`s surveillance video there, but...

GRACE: OK. Go ahead.

BELICH: She says that investigators came to her on February 18th, according to her, out of the blue. And she never wanted to get involved in all of this, and now she`s very afraid of how she will be portrayed, for obvious reasons. But she said that she never pressed George about Casey and Caylee and what happened. She said that during the course of a conversation where he was actually thanking her for that -- and she believes it was sometime around Thanksgiving, maybe a month before...

GRACE: Wait. Thanking her for what?

BELICH: For not pressing him to find out, you know, what happened to Caylee, whether Casey was involved, that he appreciated she wasn`t asking him about that. But she says during the course of thanking her for not pressing him about that issue, that he told her it was an accident that snowballed out of control. And she believes that conversation happened sometime around Thanksgiving, in the fall before Caylee`s remains were found.

GRACE: OK, Kathi, how does the alleged other woman, River Cruz, claim that they met to start with?

BELICH: She says that she actually was grocery shopping in the shopping center where he had one of the early tents, during one of the early searches for Caylee. She saw him in the parking lot. She recognized him after having seen him on television, started talking to him. And she says she wanted to help in the search. So that`s how she met him.

And then she started to come to volunteer helping with the searches, and over time, they talked a little more. And she says that she was donating money that was in a bucket at one of the tents. And according to her, George made it clear that that money would go to a charity and not to him. And it went from there.

GRACE: With us tonight in a primetime exclusive, joining us from Orlando, is the so-called other woman, River Cruz`s family, with her during much of this, Skye Benhaida, the sister of River Cruz. Ms. Benhaida, thank you for being with us.

BENHAIDA: Thank you for having me, Nancy.

GRACE: Ms. Benhaida, you just heard Kathi Belich of WFTV`s brief summary of the affair your sister claims she had with grandfather George Anthony. Is that -- do you agree with those facts so far?

BENHAIDA: Yes, I do.

GRACE: So Ms. Benhaida, what I don`t understand is, during the whole time she allegedly slept with George Anthony -- which he denies -- she never once said, What do you think happened to Caylee?

BENHAIDA: No. My sister never did ask him directly that question.

GRACE: Why?

BENHAIDA: I`m not pretty sure why. You have to -- I`m not -- I`m not sure why she never asked him that question, but she did tell him that she wouldn`t -- would never ask him.

GRACE: Did he, according to your sister, ever reveal what type of accident it was?

BENHAIDA: No, he didn`t.

GRACE: And when he told her it was an accident, she didn`t say, Well, what happened?

BENHAIDA: No. My sister`s not like that. She wouldn`t ask him.

GRACE: I don`t understand. Why?

BENHAIDA: I`m not sure. I really don`t know how to answer that question.

GRACE: OK. Have the defense attorneys contacted your sister yet?

BENHAIDA: Actually, one has today.

GRACE: Really? Now, it`s my understanding she has cooperated with police, Ms. Benhaida.

BENHAIDA: Yes, she has.

GRACE: Has she met with them and spoken with them?

BENHAIDA: Yes. We both have.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY`S MOTHER: I already answered the question. I`m not answering it again.

GEORGE ANTHONY: If you say "the remains" one more time, sir, I`m walking out this door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

GEORGE ANTHONY: How dare you say that about my granddaughter? How dare you?

I`m not going to answer any further questions.

CINDY ANTHONY: Again, I`m not answering those questions.

GEORGE ANTHONY: I`m not going to discuss that with you, sir.

I`m not going to tell you.

I`m not going to discuss anything about my daughter, sir, any further with you.

CINDY ANTHONY: I already answered the question.

GEORGE ANTHONY: You`re trying to badger me here. I don`t appreciate that.

I have no knowledge of that, sir.

CINDY ANTHONY: I`m tired of getting beat up. He asked me a question and he won`t let me finish it. He`s just like everybody else. They want to cut you off...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cindy, let...

CINDY ANTHONY: ... because they don`t want to hear the answer.

GEORGE ANTHONY: You better get this over in five minutes. I`m giving you five minute mores of my time. Otherwise than that, sir, I`m walking out of here.

CINDY ANTHONY: I don`t need to mike anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma`am...

CINDY ANTHONY: I never agreed to have a mike on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Ma`am...

CINDY ANTHONY: I`m not miking up.

GEORGE ANTHONY: I`m over this. I`m over you. I`m over all this other stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where she was...

CINDY ANTHONY: I already answered this question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you believe she was fabricating...

CINDY ANTHONY: I already answered the question. I`m not answering it again.

GEORGE ANTHONY: Do not ask me that again, sir, because I will walk out of here. Do not do that to me again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t mean to make it hard on you.

CINDY ANTHONY: Yes, you are! Yes, you are. I`ve already answered everything about this lady right here, and I`ve done it in the best possible way that I can. And I`ve told you this is not the lady that my daughter described to me. So we can end this right now.

911 OPERATOR: 911. What`s your emergency?

CINDY ANTHONY: I called a little bit ago, the deputy sheriff. I found out my granddaughter has been taken. She has been missing for a month. Her mother finally admitted that she`s been missing.

911 OPERATOR: OK. What is...

CINDY ANTHONY: Get someone here now!

911 OPERATOR: OK, what is the address that you`re calling from?

CINDY ANTHONY: We`re talking about a 3-year-old little girl! My daughter finally admitted that the baby-sitter stole her. I need to find her!

911 OPERATOR: Your daughter admitted that the baby is where?

CINDY ANTHONY: That the baby-sitter took her a month ago, that my daughter`s been looking for. I told you my daughter was missing for a month. I just found her today, but I can`t find my granddaughter. And she just admitted to me that she`s been trying to find her herself. There`s something wrong! I found my daughter`s car today, and it smells like there`s been a dead body in the damn car!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: There`s something wrong, all right. A woman has come forward by the name of River Cruz. She has gone to cops and cooperated with them. She says around the time little Caylee goes missing, that grandfather George Anthony initiates an affair with her, and that during that time, he confides little Caylee was killed by accident that snowballed out of control.

Now, as you all know, the defense has always been some other -- someone other than tot mom kidnapped and brutally murdered this 2-year-old little girl, found her face covered in duct tape, a homemade knockout drug in a syringe nearby. But the theory of an accident, that tot mom had an accident and then staged the remains to be found in this cold and calculated manner, that`s a whole `nother animal. Is she telling the truth? And what does it mean to the trial?

I want to go straight back to River Cruz`s sister, here on her sister`s behalf tonight, Skye Benhaida. Ms. Benhaida, again, thank you for being with us. Now, I understand what you told me a few moments ago, but it seems to me that if your sister were so intimate with George Anthony that they had been sleeping together for some time, and under the theory that tot mom didn`t do it, that she wouldn`t say, George, who do you think took Caylee?

I mean, they met, as you say, at the tent where people were volunteering to look for Caylee, so it wasn`t like she didn`t know about Caylee. I just find it very difficult to fathom her never saying, George, what happened, what do you think, who took Caylee?

BENHAIDA: Well, I`m not saying that that wasn`t said. My sister would have to answer those questions.

GRACE: OK. Because earlier, you said she absolutely never asked him that and that he thanked her for not asking him that.

BENHAIDA: Yes. And in return, after that was said -- in return, that`s when the comment George said it snowballed out of control.

GRACE: OK. Now, your sister also says that he took money from her?

BENHAIDA: Yes.

GRACE: Or she didn`t take it...

BENHAIDA: No, no, no.

GRACE: ... but she gave him money.

BENHAIDA: Right.

GRACE: She gave him money.

BENHAIDA: Correct.

GRACE: Now, would that have been money in the effort to help find Caylee?

BENHAIDA: I`m not sure exactly what it`s for. I know that he -- he told her that he could not find a job because nobody would hire him. His face was plastered all over the news media. And my sister -- the first time, she did offer him some money and he took it. And as far as the rest of the time, I`m not too sure...

GRACE: Yes.

BENHAIDA: ... if he asked her. But it was given to him.

GRACE: Who broke off the affair?

BENHAIDA: I would say he did. He was supposed to meet on -- I`m not sure of the day. He was supposed to meet her, and he actually was supposed to come over to the house for breakfast, and it didn`t happen. And he -- he called her and told her that he would come the next day, and that didn`t happen, either.

GRACE: Does your sister have phone records or texts or e-mails to prove the affair with George Anthony?

BENHAIDA: Yes, she does.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE ANTHONY: I`m not talking to anybody. Stay off my property!

CINDY ANTHONY: He`s been angry every day.

GEORGE ANTHONY: You don`t want to be knocked down, get out of my way!

CINDY ANTHONY: Angry at the fact that Caylee`s not home.

GEORGE ANTHONY: You don`t care about my granddaughter!

CINDY ANTHONY: We are helpless.

GEORGE ANTHONY: You people have no idea what we`re going through. You guys don`t give a -- you don`t care about me. You don`t care about her!

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

I`m talking! I am talking!

Shut up!

CINDY ANTHONY: We`re falling apart.

GEORGE ANTHONY: You don`t care about none of this stuff!

I don`t appreciate you giving me the finger as you`re putting your foot down here...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir -- oh, come on!

GEORGE ANTHONY: Yes, sir, you are!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m pushing my glasses up. I don`t...

GEORGE ANTHONY: No, you`ve done it three or four times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to Kathi Belich, reporter with WFTV. We`re about to start taking your calls. Kathi, are there any -- the sister, Skye Benhaida, is kind enough to join us tonight, says that there are e-mails or texts or photos to prove this relationship, this affair. She claims, the sister had an affair with George Anthony -- irrelevant. What`s relevant is if he stated, if he confided little Caylee`s death was an accident. That torpedoes the defense. What e-mails, what texts, what photos?

BELICH: Well, she says there are a lot of texts, that they texted practically daily. I saw what I was told was a photograph of a text from her phone screen. It appears to have been from George December of `08, claiming that he -- you know, he was thinking about her and he needed her in his life. I saw another picture of her phone screen that showed his cell phone number, a phone number that I have through public documents. It was...

GRACE: Wait! Wait, wait, wait. Wa-wait!

BELICH: ... the same phone number.

GRACE: I`m seeing the photo right now. That looks like a public -- is this at the vigil for Caylee, this photo?

BELICH: I`m seeing things in a delay. There is a photograph of the two of them together, and it`s a photograph from Caylee`s 4th birthday, when the family did a balloon release to honor Caylee`s memory (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: Well, Ellie -- Ellie Jostad -- Ellie, don`t you think that a photo, like, in her home or out on a date might go further to prove a relationship other than at a public vigil?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes. Good point, Nancy. And also, I should point out that Brad Conway, George Anthony`s attorney, denies all the claims this woman is making, says they did not have a sexual affair.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY`S MOTHER: I`m not answering the question.

GEORGE ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY`S FATHER: I`m not going to have you put words in my mouth. No, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not trying to. That`s why --

G. ANTHONY: Oh, yes, sir, you are. And we`ll end it at that. How about that?

C. ANTHONY: I`m not answering it.

G. ANTHONY: I`m telling you the best answer I can give you. So I suggest you go to another question. I`m not going to answer this any further with that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You won`t tell me?

G. ANTHONY: I just answered that to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually not.

G. ANTHONY: I have no idea, sir. I have no idea. I just answered that for you.

C. ANTHONY: I`m done. I`ve already answered the question. She`s not the one. I`m one. Her birthday`s not September 1st. She`s not 25 years old. She`s not 5`7". She`s not 140 pounds. She doesn`t have black hair. She doesn`t have perfect teeth. She`s not a 10. I`m sorry, ma`am. You`re cute, but you`re not a 10.

G. ANTHONY: Be nice now. Be nice. Am I upset, sir? You`re darn right I`m upset being here. Because I think this is just uncalled for.

C. ANTHONY: I`m not answering it.

G. ANTHONY: OK, I`m going to cut to your chase right now so you can get away with all these questions. OK? So let`s just cut to the chase and why don`t we just end this right now, today? The Zanny that my daughter described --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: A woman comes forward -- at first I thought she went to the police, now I learned that`s not true. That her phone number popped up repeatedly in George Anthony`s cell phone.

That`s what I`m learning now. She claims that George Anthony initiated an affair with her around the time little Caylee went missing. That is irrelevant to anyone interested in the murder case. Or the whereabouts of little Caylee.

What does matter is that she also says George Anthony told her, confided in her that little Caylee`s death was an accident that snowballed out of control. Those are his words, not mine. According to her.

Now I find it highly suspect. I haven`t seen any e-mails. I haven`t seen any texts. I`ve seen one photo that was taken in a public place, kind of a vigil on Caylee`s fourth birthday of them together.

But now let`s unleash the lawyers. Bill Sheaffer, former prosecutor, WFTV legal analyst, Orlando. Eleanor Odom, felony prosecutor who has tried many death penalty cases herself, out of the Atlanta jurisdiction.

Raymond Giudice, veteran defense attorney, including defending homicide cases, out of the Atlanta jurisdiction. And Peter Odom, defense attorney, former prosecutor, former felony prosecutor in multiple jurisdictions, now practicing Atlanta.

Welcome.

First to you, Bill Sheaffer. Now you are telling me something brand new. I`ve been extremely skeptical and on George Anthony`s side. Until you`re telling me this woman passed a polygraph.

BILL SHEAFFER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, WFTV LEGAL ANALYST: That`s correct, Nancy. She took a polygraph exam and passed it as to her relationship with George --

GRACE: Put him up. Put up the Sheaffer.

SHEAFFER: And the statements that George made.

GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Says who? Who says she passed a polygraph?

SHEAFFER: River.

GRACE: Who?

SHEAFFER: River.

GRACE: The sister?

SHEAFFER: The sister. The sister says that she took a polygraph and that she passed the polygraph. And I`ll tell you something, the way that the police have conducted this investigation, the polygraph was taken early on.

The police continued to investigate, get the cell phone, get the records, get the photographs, and by the way, there`s a photograph that is more intimate than the one that you saw that depicts George and this young woman. So it would --

GRACE: Wait, have you seen it with your own two eyes?

SHEAFFER: I have not seen it with my own two eyes.

GRACE: Put Sheaffer up!

SHEAFFER: What?

GRACE: Then how do you know it exists?

SHEAFFER: I believe the sister. I have had conversations with the sister. And when she`s not in the glare of the camera, she comes off very, very credible. If her sister is as half as credible as she is, then the prosecution is not going to have a problem with her information. But the police --

GRACE: I can tell you this -- I can tell you this, Mr. Sheaffer.

SHEAFFER: Yes, ma`am.

GRACE: If my sister or brother told me something, I`d take it to the bank. I`d believe them, too. But you know I`m going to go back to Skye Benhaida. She is the sister of River Cruz, who claims she had an affair with George Anthony.

Miss Benhaida, is it true your sister went and took a police polygraph, that police administered the polygraph, and she passed it?

SKYE BENHAIDA, CLAIMS HER SISTER HAD AN AFFAIR WITH GEORGE ANTHONY: Yes. She was given a polygraph, and she`s passed it.

GRACE: Have you seen yourself -- have you seen, Miss Benhaida, photos of them that prove to you they had a loving relationship?

BENHAIDA: Yes. I`ve seen the pictures myself. I`ve seen them --

GRACE: I don`t mean just a photo of them out in public like this one you`ve showed us. I mean --

BENHAIDA: No. He`s been to our house. So I`ve seen them in -- and I`ve seen them together.

GRACE: You`ve seen them together?

BENHAIDA: Yes.

GRACE: When they were together, where were they?

BENHAIDA: At our house.

GRACE: And what were they doing?

BENHAIDA: They were -- most of the time I would leave. Majority of time I was not there because I know that he was -- he would be coming there. So I would either leave or be in my bedroom.

GRACE: OK. Is it true that this story has been sold to the "National Enquirer"?

BENHAIDA: I have no idea where that comment came from.

GRACE: OK. So you would deny it`s been sold to the "National Enquirer"?

BENHAIDA: I`m denying it. She --

GRACE: OK.

BENHAIDA: This situation here has nothing to do with the money. My sister`s not getting anything behind it.

GRACE: In fact, according to her, she`s lost money.

BENHAIDA: She has. She`s turned over five grand in different occasions to Mr. Anthony, and she has not gotten it back.

GRACE: Let`s go back to the lawyers.

Bill Sheaffer, you say that these two sisters are believable. And to me, Skye Benhaida is extremely believable when I`m talking to her right now. I just find -- based on this one text and this one photo I`m not buying it. But if you`re saying that she`s passed a police polygraph, that gives her a lot of credibility.

Out to you, Eleanor Odom, if, if -- big if -- this is true, this statement by George Anthony absolutely will come into evidence because somebody`s going to call him to the stand the state of the defense.

ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Yes. And when he says no, I know nothing, this statement can be used to impeach him. And if they did have an affair, Nancy, it`s an intimate relationship, which would give some credibility to the statement.

GRACE: Or -- to you, Ray Giudice -- if he takes the stand and says, Casey told me she was at Sawgrass Apartments and dropped the little girl off, that was the original story, then this could come in as an inconsistent statement once the foundation, time, location, conditions, circumstances, date -- once all that has been laid.

RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right.

GRACE: It absolutely will come in.

GIUDICE: Right. And let`s just say it`s still an if. However this may --

GRACE: Big if.

GIUDICE: -- cause Casey Anthony`s defense to have then make a sea change in its approach. No longer the stranger and the kidnapping but now maybe go with the accident and use this woman`s witness -- as a witness to bolster George Anthony`s testimony that it was in fact an accident.

It may actually come to help the defense. They`ll take accident any day.

GRACE: It`s going to help the defense? OK --

GIUDICE: Yes, Nancy. Listen to me quickly.

GRACE: Go ahead.

GIUDICE: Does the state really want to take a chance introducing a theory of accident into this capital case? Of course it does not. This is a capital one homicide case.

GRACE: OK. Please put Giudice up.

Ray, let me just remind you that her remains, her bones, her skull, were found --

GIUDICE: Nancy.

GRACE: -- hidden --

GIUDICE: Nancy.

GRACE: -- with duct tape across the face and a syringe and --

GIUDICE: The death --

GRACE: -- homemade knock-out drug --

GIUDICE: They could still argue that the death was accidental. And those are the effects of hiding the body. All I`m saying is that George, who I always thought was Casey`s best witness --

GRACE: You`re right.

GIUDICE: -- is now going cause, potentially, if this is true, a complete reversal in their pretrial strategy.

GRACE: Well, I can tell you this much, I agree with you on, Ray.

GIUDICE: That`s what I`m getting at. I`m not saying it`s a great strategy. I`m saying it`s what they have to do.

GRACE: Throughout this entire thing George Anthony has been sympathetic. He`s had righteous anger. He has seemed believable to me.

GIUDICE: Right.

GRACE: And somebody that a jury is going to like. They`re going to like George Anthony when he takes the stand.

OK, Peter Odom, I agree with Raymond that they can say whatever they want to at trial. They can argue all they want to accident. But given the way the body was found, it`s going to be to the jury that they`re fishing for a defense.

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy.

GRACE: An accident doesn`t ring true based on how she was found. If there had been an accident, why the lies? Why the deception?

P. ODOM: Nancy, we have to step back.

GRACE: OK.

P. ODOM: George is -- let`s assume George made the statement the child`s death was only an accident. That`s only relevant if the source of his knowledge is Casey. If he`s speculating along with everybody else, then it`s absolutely irrelevant.

GRACE: OK, Peter -- Peter Odom.

P. ODOM: If his only source of knowledge is just guessing at, it then it`s never going to come into evidence. And you know that.

GRACE: OK. Eleanor, let`s help them.

Peter, don`t you see what a big booboo that is that you just said? Because if she told her father it was an accident, it admits -- she`s admitting she was there when the child died. It`s even better if it comes from her. Agree or disagree, Eleanor?

E. ODOM: Oh, I completely agree. And we all know she was there. How else do you think the child was murdered?

GRACE: You know criminal procedure, Peter Odom.

P. ODOM: If it`s speculation, it`s not coming in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Straight out to Leonard Padilla, bounty hunter out of Sacramento, California, who got tot mom out from behind bars.

What do you make of all this? Clearly, if it`s true, and George Anthony vehemently denies the whole thing -- if it`s true, what does that mean to you that tot mom told him?

LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER: Well, first of all, I don`t think that that`s any conversation that tot mom had with George along those lines. I think Crystal Holloway is the young lady`s real name. She`s from upstate New York.

And I would tend to believe that George has gotten himself into something that first of all is not of his making. I think it`s all fiction on this lady`s part. The times that we were there and George was around, there was no indication that anything like this was going on.

And I can tell you this, that if Cindy had even got wind of something like this George wouldn`t be around to talk about it today.

GRACE: That is a very good point, Leonard Padilla. Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

(LAUGHTER)

GRACE: I don`t know how I managed to get past that.

PADILLA: Yes.

GRACE: To Andrew Scott, former chief of police, Boca Raton, VP, Scott-Robertson and Associates, out of Miami.

What do you make of it, Andrew? And how do police confirm something like this?

ANDREW SCOTT, FMR. CHIEF OF POLICE, BOCA RATON, VP OF SCOTT-ROBERTSON & ASSOCIATES, LLC: Well, clearly they`re going to be able to confirm some of the accusations made by the young lady by the text messaging

GRACE: Right.

SCOTT: Also any additional photographs that she claims she has. I just find it interesting, Nancy, that this comes to light now as opposed to why not in December? And if in fact this is true, does that make the family a accessory to this as to hiding the incident in and of itself?

So it`s all very interesting but I think it`s very provable by the evidence that may be presented to the detectives.

GRACE: Right. Out to the lines, Cindy, Ohio. Hi, Cindy.

CINDY, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

CINDY: That Roy Cronk is supposed to be reading meters in people`s houses. Why is he out in fields and stumbling over a little girl`s body?

GRACE: Natisha Lance, our producer on the story, what was he doing out in the wooded area?

NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: He actually went back into the wooded area to relieve himself, Nancy, which is when he stumbled upon the bag that -- he kicked it. It was hollow. It made a noise. He went back later on, and then that`s when he discovered that it was Caylee`s remains.

GRACE: Now, Natisha, you have been on the story about the alleged affair from whenever it started. Anthony denies it. Why didn`t the so- called other woman ever ask him about Caylee`s death?

LANCE: Well, Nancy, I can tell you while we were in the show River Cruz did give me a call and she said that she did not want to seem like everyone else and that is why she did not want to ask George Anthony. It seems that she was trying to be a friend to him, she didn`t want to stress him out the way in which the media and the rest of the public was.

GRACE: To psychotherapist out of New York, Lauren Howard.

What do you make of it, Lauren?

LAUREN HOWARD, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: You know, I can`t speak to the legal aspects of this, Nancy, but I can speak to the human perception. What does a jury think if in fact this information is presented to them? What it really does is it casts all of a sudden -- and as you had said, you sort of found George believable for a jury.

There`s all this smoke. There`s all this mess. There`s all this noise. There`s all this, I don`t know, anger, information, allegations. It really creates a reasonable doubt. And that is where -- and when I say reasonable doubt, I mean in terms of believing the family.

Because there`s just too much smoke here.

GRACE: But, Laura, let me ask you --

HOWARD: Something`s wrong.

GRACE: You counsel people that are in horrific grief before.

LANCE: That`s correct.

GRACE: Isn`t it true that during those months and even years immediately following a death or, in this case, a murder, the loved ones do all sorts of things that they wouldn`t do normally.

LANCE: Absolutely right. Absolutely right. But lying would not -- would not be one of them.

GRACE: But I mean an affair.

LANCE: Not a -- I don`t have a -- I don`t have a problem. It`s completely believable. And not that important.

GRACE: I know what you mean. I know you`re not condoning an affair.

LANCE: No. No. But yes --

GRACE: But having death with --

LANCE: Yes. Believable. Yes, absolutely.

GRACE: They do the craziest things.

LANCE: Absolutely.

GRACE: Normally they would never consider doing.

LANCE: Absolutely right. And if in fact George did say to someone who he was having an affair with this was a terrible accident, that does not mean he has knowledge of it. It could be hysterical blindness. What he believes in his heart because it`s too horrific to think otherwise. So --

GRACE: Very quickly to -- I think I`ve got Joan in Pennsylvania.

JOAN, CALLER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Yes, you do.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

JOAN: Oh, listen, thanks so much for taking my call. You`re wonderful. Your babies are super precious. And thanks for putting Bill Sheaffer and Kathi Belich on the top.

GRACE: They`re great.

JOAN: My question is, do you think this passes the smell test? Now I believe that indeed there was an affair because, quite frankly, I don`t know any man who could stay married to Cindy and not want somebody else. But that`s my own opinion.

But the issue is, I believe -- she gave him money, and I think that he viewed her as a friend and was just sort of like this was his thought about this accident. But if it was an accident, it doesn`t pass the smell test.

Why wouldn`t Casey just fess up rather than this whole big, you know, entourage of it with the nanny, it was Blanchard Park, it was Sawgrass Apartments --

GRACE: You know what? Good idea. To Bill Sheaffer, what about it? And another thing, about Cindy Anthony. I know that she has come across harshly on many occasions. But you`ve got to remember the context in which we are seeing her.

Her granddaughter, the joy of her life, is dead, murdered, and her daughter probably did it. And that`s how we meet Cindy Anthony. So you know what? As harshly as she appears sometimes, sometimes I feel like we`ve got to give her a break, a little bit of a break.

Bill Sheaffer, what about Joan`s question?

SHEAFFER: The bottom line is, is that George made this statement, that the child was dead, one month before the body was found, when in public he`s professing that the child has been kidnapped.

That shows that either he had direct knowledge of that death of the child or that the killer confided into -- confided that information to him that the child was dead. And the only person that has that relationship with him is the killer. The mother.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: A beautiful young mom and her 8-year-old little boy missing. Only clue left behind, her gold vehicle. Inside the vehicle, her wallet. The car doors unlocked.

Straight out to her fiance, Robb Simmons, who has been cooperating with the police from the beginning.

Mr. Simmons, thank you for being with us. What can we do to help you? Tell us what`s happening now.

ROBB SIMMONS, FIANCE OF MISSING MOM, SHANTINA SMILEY: You know, last I heard that they called off the search in a local area, and my daughter found that out when we were transitioning over to this location. And she was really heartbroken. I reassured her that, you know, the search in the location they have, you can only turn the rocks over in that area so many times, it`s not going to change.

And that with that -- you know the regrouping that they do in these searches they`re going to be looking all over the place. It`s going to spread out and with the media coverage and seeing the face of Azriel and Shantina on TV that, you know, everybody who sees this is now, you know, involved in this search.

And everybody out there, you know, when you`re walking around that area, you know, if you see something weird out of the corner of your eye, you know, give it a double look, you know? And that`s all I can ask. Everybody`s doing everything they can do. And I`m grateful about that. I mean --

GRACE: Let me give that tip line. 360-493-22. Azriel James Carver is just 8 years old. Shantina "Cat" Smiley, 29, she`s absolutely beautiful. Went to go visit the grandfather. Got lost. Have not been seen again. Their vehicle found behind.

I want to go to Dr. Joshua Perper, chief medical examiner, Broward County.

Dr. Perper, there was no evidence that they went into the water, but the water is being searched. At this juncture could they be identified?

DR. JOSHUA PERPER, MEDICAL EXAMINER, AUTHOR OF "WHEN TO CALL THE DOCTOR": I`m sure that they could because there`s not enough time which lapsed, so there would have been post mortem changes. There`s no question that at this time they could be identified by a variety of feature, including skeleton feature, size, any kind of further condition and DNA fingerprinting.

So if they would be to unfortunately found deceased such an identification would not be a problem.

GRACE: And to Brian Shapiro, KIRO Radio in Seattle, Brian, thanks for being with us. Why would they call off the search so soon?

BRIAN SHAPIRO, REPORTER, KIRO RADIO: Well, those are -- that`s a very, very good question. But what we do know right now is that she did have problems with alcohol and she relapsed last week. These are --

GRACE: I don`t care if she has a problem with alcohol. What about the little boy? Did he have an alcohol problem, too?

SHAPIRO: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. What police are trying to figure out, there were no -- there were no tracks going from that car to anywhere else.

GRACE: OK. Everyone, the tip line for these two missing people. There`s surveillance video of them just before she goes missing. 360-493- 22. We`re staying on the case.

Let`s remember Army Private 1st Class Larry Parks Jr., Altoona, Pennsylvania, killed Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Achievement Medal. Volunteer firefighter. Loved mechanics, racing motorcycles. Four wheeling, fishing, hunting.

Leaves behind parents Larry Sr., Sheryl, sisters Michelle, Hannah, Amanda, brother, Adam.

Larry Parks, Jr., American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END