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ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Victim Meets Joran; Profile of Perversity; Gary Coleman: Foul Play?; Gulf Oil Catastrophe

Aired June 10, 2010 - 19:00:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight, the meeting that ended in murder. Chilling new developments in the Joran Van Der Sloot murder investigation. New video just released shows Van Der Sloot meeting Stephany Flores inside a casino. She sits next to him. She leaves with him. Hours later, she`s brutally murdered. Tonight, we`ll go inside the last minutes of Stephany`s life. All this as Joran now claims his confession is invalid.

And a frantic family desperately searches for their young son. Little Kyron Harmon vanished from inside his school hallway. He`s only 7 years old. So, where are his parents could his disappearance be connected to a sex predator? Tonight, ISSUES joins the search for this adorable little boy.

Plus, explosive allegations in the tragic death of sitcom star, Gary Coleman. His parents and former manager are now screaming foul play. Doctors say Coleman died from a brain hemorrhage, but could there be a more sinister explanation? ISSUES starts now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (on-camera): Tonight, a slew of unbelievable twists and turns in the Joran Van Der Sloot saga. Chilling new video of Joran`s first encounter with the woman he confessed to murdering. There they are at the top of your screen inside a Peruvian casino. Stephany Flores walks up to the table where Joran is playing poker. They shake hands. She casually sits down at the table. This is just hours before Stephany`s neck was snapped. She plays a few hands before leaving by herself but then she comes back to the table and then she and Joran leave together.

Look at the quality of that video. Here they are, a few hours later entering Joran`s hotel room, that`s where Stephany`s bloody, beaten body was found by a hotel worker. With the whole world watching, a wild out of control mob scene unfolds in Peru today as cops hand Joran over to prosecutors. Just bedlam there. Because the whole world is watching this case. Now, they have until 8:00 tomorrow morning to charge him with murder. If not, they must let him go. What the heck are they waiting for? The private investigator hired by Natalee Holloway`s family told CBS, we could be seeing just the tip of the iceberg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF BO DIETL, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR HIRED BY HOLLOWAYS: This is a homicidal maniac. I`ve met him. I looked in his eyes. This guy, we should be tracked in Interpol, and the FBI should be checking where he`s gone all over this world. You`re got a serial killer here, I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Police say this is a slam dunk case, complete with Joran`s confession. There he is. You`ll see him in a second signing it. But wait. Joran`s attorney now says his confession should be thrown out arguing he did not have the proper representation. Does it even matter? Could the evidences in the case be so strong prosecutors really don`t need Joran`s confession to get a conviction? And is Joran`s maneuvering going to backfire on him enraging Peruvian authorities? Call me. 1-877-jvm-says. That`s 1-877-586-7297. I want to hear your theories.

And I want to welcome my fantastic panel. All of them, experts on this case, but first, to in session correspondent Jean Casarez who is live in Peru, where all of this madness is unfolding. Jean, what is the very latest?

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: It`s been quite a day today. First of all, what was a criminal investigation is now in the hands of prosecutors. Started out as a normal day, we thought there was going to be a press conference, but before you know it, Joran Van Der Sloot is being taken out of the National Peruvian Police headquarters, bound for the prosecutorial office here in Lima, Peru.

He has been there all day. It`s procedural for him to face the prosecutor. He should end up, though, at the building behind me which is the palace of justice. And this is where there are judges, and it will be a judge that will determine what prison, that`s right, that`s what they call it, he will go to as this case progresses.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And it was a mob scene today. We saw the video, right, Jean? I mean, as he`s moved, it seems like every camera in the world is there.

CASAREZ: You know, I was in the middle of it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What was it like?

CASAREZ: Well, I was standing right there. And it was all of a sudden you hear the sirens, you see all the police, you see the guns that are right there if they need them, and all of a sudden, I saw Joran Van Der Sloot. I mean, I was looking at him. He was looking straight ahead. He was in the car. He was in the middle of two police officers by his side, but it looked just like it does on television, but it was real. He seemed pensive, he seemed thoughtful, didn`t seem too nervous, but he was serious. Let`s put it that way. He knew that this country means business because now this case was going for the state attorneys.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yesseree, they do mean business. Joran`s attorney wants his confession tossed out. He claims Jorans wasn`t properly represented. Police gave Joran a public defender, but his current attorney claims Joran never agreed to that particular public defender. Here`s how the Van Der Sloot family attorney described the interrogation on CBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERT DE ROOIJ, VAN DER SLOOT FAMILY ATTORNEY: I`m being interrogated on a very rude way, and he said, I think they are aiming at coerced confession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo. So, what if police were rude? That doesn`t necessarily equal a coerced confession. So, let`s see, Joran`s lawyers are arguing the confession is coerced and also that is inadmissible. To me, it sounds, Jim Moret, like Joran is deeply regretting ever having confessed, but is it going to matter? Don`t they have an open and shut case even without this confession?

JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": It does something with this case that they didn`t have in the Holloway case. They have the body. They`ve also got videotape showing him and the young girl going into a room together. He comes out alone. So, he could say anything. Most murder cases don`t necessarily involve a confession. They involve other physical evidence, and presumably, the police have that evidence. So, with or without this confession, he is in a lot of trouble.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Pat Brown, the hotel room was on the third floor. There`s only video of him and her going out and then him leaving alone. There`s no video of anybody else going in. So, unless Spiderman`s crawling up the side of the wall there on the outside of the building, to me that`s an open and shut case.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, it`s an open and shut case, Jane, for homicide, but I don`t know that that means what kind of homicide. And Joran made one strange statement which he probably did regret. He said, she tried to get out. He should never have said it. He should have said (ph) we had an argument and we got out of hand, but he said, she tried to get out so he stopped her from getting out and then killed her. That`s a big problem right there. I think his lawyer wants that struck down.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dan Conaway, you`re an international law defense attorney. What strikes me is that Joran and his attorney may be making a huge mistake. OK, this is not Los Angeles. They`re also arguing possible evidence tampering that the body was mishandled. OK. This isn`t the O.J. Simpson trial. This isn`t where the kind of place where you can argue garbage in, garbage out, OK? There`s no jury in Peru. There are three judges. And I think he may be really ticking off the Peruvian authorities by now putting up a fuss and really not cooperating the way he was before.

DAN CONAWAY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Jane, I agree. I mean, why fight the confession? You`ve made it. And this confession is going to probably come in no matter what. And even if it doesn`t, there`s overwhelming evidence against Van Der Sloot. And at this point, his lawyers could use the confession to get a better deal for him. And so I agree with you. I think he`s playing with fire, and I think it`s a stupid legal maneuver on his lawyer`s part. There`s no way he`s leaving Peru. It`s not going to work

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And I got to tell you, another thing, we`re talking about Peruvian prisons. I mean, here`s what I don`t understand, Mike Brooks. We had heard that if he had done a, quote, "honest confession", which he started out supposedly doing, and that he had time served and good behavior time, he could literally get out of a Peruvian prison, which is known as hell on earth in about seven years. Now that he`s doing all this and fighting back and making trouble, couldn`t they throw the book at him and stick him in prison for, well, God only knows 35 years?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Absolutely, Jane. You know, Joran, you`re not in Aruba anymore. Your dad`s not there to help you. No, absolutely. In these prisons, we`ve been hearing today on "In Session" that the prisons there are just horrendous, horrible. One person compared the prisons in Turkey to here, said it`s nothing at all. He said it`s like the Ritz in Turkey compared to the prisons there in Peru.

So, Jane, even though if he might be in a maximum security prison, there`s no segregated confinement. They`ll put him with some lesser felons, but still, he`s going to be around other people and down there, as Jean can tell you, is not looking good in the press for him at all.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, yes. Joran could face 35 years in a Peruvian prison. Peru doesn`t have the death penalty or life sentence, but as you`ve been hearing, the prisons are hellish and nightmarish. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He could get 35 years in a prison. One of their prisons is known for having, you know, 3,000 beds for 10,000 prisoners and is a place where conditions are extremely harsh. So, I think he would not face the death penalty, but he would face harsh situation in prison.

(ENDVIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dan Conaway, you`re the international attorney. What are these Peruvian prisons like, and if convicted, would he be thrown into the general population, forced to share a bed with five or ten other guys? And could he be subject to retaliation because the victim`s a Peruvian woman?

CONAWAY: Absolutely. And Jane, it`s interesting, I was talking about this with my partner, Michael Griffith, with international legal defense council earlier today. He`s actually been in this prison, and he will be in the general population. The conditions are terrible. And for 20 bucks, 25 bucks, he can be killed. There are members of the shining path in this prison. And life is cheap in a Peruvian prison.

And Van Der Sloot is not exactly going to be Mr. Popularity in this prison. So, he`s going to be in a lot of trouble. And the real question here is, I think, is will he even survive his prison sentence regardless of the length?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but still, I think he`s --you know what? Keep going, Joran because I think you`re making a big mistake. I think you`re ticking off the Peruvian authorities and that three-judge panel is going to throw the book at you. Everybody, stay right where you are. We`re just getting started. More on Joran and his newest defense and the extortion plot. We`re going to get into that next. We`re taking your calls on this. 1-877-jvm-says.

Plus, was there foul play in the tragic death of Gary Coleman? His former manager definitely thinks so. What does he think happened to the legendary actor? And you won`t believe a horrific photo of him just emerging.

But first, chilling new video. Joaran Van Der Sloot leaving the casino with Stephany Flores. How`s he going to talk his way out of this one?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is someone who is inherently deceitful. That being the case, predicting dangerousness, and certainly predicting that he would go to Peru, take this money and commit this act, is reasonably beyond even the best of our law enforcement forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ENRIQUE FLORES, VICTOM`S BROTHER: Right now, I`ve tried to be strong, and I think my sister, wherever she is, she`s kind of relieved that they got this guy, and I think she helped us too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The heartbroken brother of Stephany Flores speaking out about the arrest of Joran Van Der Sloot.

Meantime, brand new details of Joran`s alleged extortion of Natalee Holloway`s mom, Beth. Here`s the family`s private investigator on CBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIETL: He contacts them says his father had just died in January, and he wants to come clean and he wants to tell everybody where he buried Natalee Holloway.

He admits to pushing Natalee down where she hits her head and she dies. That`s what he states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The FBI affidavit says Joran met a representative of Beth Holloway in Aruba. And, as you just heard, they drove to a house and Joran pointed to the resident and said Natalee Holloway`s body would be found in the foundation, but later, he admitted he was lying. Vinda de Souza, you`re the Aruban attorney for Dave Holloway, Natalee`s father. What is the reaction to this extortion plot that essentially put $25,000 in Joran`s hands which he reportedly used to go to Peru where he`s accused of murdering a woman?

VINDA DE SOUZA, HOLLOWAY`S ATTORYNEY: First of all, why would anybody believe Joran? Every statement that he has given has proven -- or he has said -- was a lie. And it has proven to be a lie. Dave and I spoke about this briefly. He was not aware of this extortion or what happened with the sting on part of the FBI, but simply, Joran Van Der Sloot is not going to be believed.

And you can tell that by his statement now that his confession was supposedly obtained under duress or they`ve coerced it out of him. I don`t believe that. He confessed because he was put under pressure. And even if he doesn`t confess, there`s physical evidence. So, I think that he`s -- his days are numbered.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, there are supposedly private funds used. The $25,000, the FBI made a big point of saying it wasn`t FBI money, it was private funds. So, would that be -- everybody is sort of speculating it`s got to be Beth, her money.

DE SOUZA: Well, then, I would be speculating as well if I would tell you that --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, so Dave hasn`t told you anything?

DE SOUZA: No. He was not aware of it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, anybody have any thoughts? Anybody out there on whose money? Who gave the $25,000?

DE SOUZA: No idea on this part.

BROOKS: I can tell you, Jane, normally -- no, I don`t know who exactly it belongs to, but when the FBI, whether it be an extortion or kidnapping, extortion or kidnapping case, they don`t use government funds. They`ll use the private money of usually the victim`s family or someone who comes forward to help the family of a victim.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. I hope if it`s Beth, she gets that money back. I mean, imagine, imagine the fact that she, if, if she was the one who ended up giving the money, for well-intentioned reasons that allowed him to travel to Peru, it`s got to be very heartbreaking for her. Jackie, California, your question or thought.

JACKIE, CALIFORNIA: Hi, Jane. I have a quick question regarding any of the surrounding rooms in the hotel room. Whether or not that if anybody was interviewed regarding any noise that they heard that may help him point the time of the murder?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jean Casarez, didn`t they an argument, weren`t they heard arguing?

CASAREZ: That`s what Joran said, but there was an argument. Remember, all of these things are coming out of his mouth. Obviously, she was found murdered by someone, right? We haven`t heard about any neighboring people that were staying in the hotel. They have been interviewing people, though, that`s part of their interviewing process and part of the interrogation of all of this. So, we haven`t heard about it, but obviously they -- they looked into that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, here`s my --

MORET: Hey, Jane?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, go ahead.

MORET: Jane, I just want to say really quickly, regarding the FBI, this alleged sting operation. Look, I don`t fault the FBI or the Holloways, Beth, for wanting to get Joran Van Der Sloot on something. You know, that if you can`t necessarily get him on the murder, they were trying to get them on this extortion plot. And I don`t fault them for that at all because this guy has escaped justice for so long that they were doing -- they were making their best efforts to get him on something. And I don`t think anyone could foresee this happening.

DE SOUZA: I agree.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It was a guy who did sex trafficking in Thailand. So, I do think that since they sent a dozen FBI agents to Aruba, if they saw him take off, I`m just saying, why not get on some planes and follow him wherever he`s going?

BROWN: Jane, he could kill somebody any time. So, you know, it was five years since the Natalee disappearance. He could kill anyone, anywhere, any time. This was just coincidental, and I think we can`t blame the FBI for being involved.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More on Joran Van Der Sloot.

First, Gary Coleman, the victim of foul play? That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Heart wrenching new developments in the case of a missing second grader, 7-year-old Kyron Horman vanished Friday after his step-mom dropped him off at his school in Oregon. Could a homeless sex offender had something to do with Little Kyron`s disappearance? A 36- year-old Tony Phipps, there he is right there. Take a good look at him. He was arrested in the same area Tuesday for allegedly trying to abduct an 11-year-old boy.

Police say Phipps followed that boy as he walked home from school and grabbed his backpack. Here`s another picture of him. Thankfully, that boy slipped out of his straps and ran home. Police will not say whether they think foul play was involved in Kyron`s case. How does a child arrive safely at school, though, and simply vanish into thin air?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TANNER PUMALA, KYRON`S CLASSMATE: He walked by the hallway, I was like, hi, Kyron. He`s like, "hi, I`ve never seen this school on (INAUDIBLE), I`m like, "all right, bye," and that`s the last time I saw him. He never did make it back to class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: HLN law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks, back with me and also on the phone, Sheriff Dan Staton from the area in Oregon where all of this is going down. Sheriff, I know you`re busy. Thank you for joining us. What is the very latest in this investigation?

VOICE OF DAN STATON, MULTNOMAH CO. OR SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Right now, we`ve got our investigative teams working on every angle and every possibility. At this point, we`re still focusing on the search. We`ve expanded the search from its original operation. We started out, the basis of the search was 16 law enforcement agencies and over 20 search and rescue units, air, and locally about 532 searchers in the cooperation.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What about this 36-year-old Tony Phipps who was arrested in the same area? The sex predator.

STATON: We got investigators that are tying out with Columbia County Sheriff`s office looking into that matter. At this point, there`s nothing I can really comment on other than we are actively engaged in that end of it also.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What about the family? What about the biological mother versus the stepmother? Nobody`s talking apparently.

STATON: Right now, the family`s been very cooperative with law enforcement. We`ve been working with the family. Our investigators are working with the family. At this point, there`s nothing I can really comment on the course of that end of it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We`re going to go to Mike Brooks now. Your thought, Mike, on the fact that the family hasn`t come out publicly and spoken, which is sort of standard operating procedure in tragedies like this?

BROOKS: Yes, Jane, you know, some people handle tragedies like this differently. You know, and law enforcement, you know, they`re the ones who are out there telling everyone what`s going on. And you heard the sheriff, he said that the parents are cooperating. You know, some people may think it`s odd, but I`ve seen it happen before. So, I don`t really take that much from it.

And again, some people also present better than other folks in front of a camera. Maybe they just decided just go ahead, they didn`t want to take any attention away from the search, but, you know, they did have a statement read through law enforcement today, and, you know, I think, OK, that`s sufficient.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sheriff, I want to thank you, as well as Mike Brooks. Stay with us. We pray and hope that this beautiful, beautiful boy is found safe and sound.

Switching gears, back to Joran Van Der Sloot. When is he going to be charged with murder? And you will not believe the very latest, not only in this case, but we`ve also got the Gary Coleman case, which is absolutely out of control. Shocking stunning developments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: The meeting that ended in murder. Chilling new developments in the Van Der Sloot murder investigation. New video just released shows Van Der Sloot meeting Stephany Flores inside a casino. She sits next to him. She leaves with him. Hours later she`s brutally murdered.

Tonight, we`ll go inside the last minutes o Stephany`s life. All this as Joran now claims his confession is invalid.

Plus, explosive new allegations in the tragic death of sitcom star Gary Coleman. His parents and former manager are now screaming foul play. Doctors say Coleman died from a brain hemorrhage but could there be a more sinister explanation?

And we are following fast breaking developments in the Joran Van Der Sloot murder case. Check out this brand new video of the fateful first meeting between Joran and his alleged victim, Stephany Flores. There she is. What incredible video quality here.

They met up at this Peruvian casino -- you see her shaking his hand -- hours before she was beaten to death and her neck was snapped. Now, Joran is expected to be formally charged any time now. Will Joran`s confession be thrown out? His attorney argues it shouldn`t be admissible in court.

Straight out to my fantastic panel: Dan Conaway, you`re the international specialist in law. Here`s the key -- this is not a jury system in Peru. It`s a three-judge panel. All of these problems that he is now creating by going from an honest confession to, it was coerced, it should be thrown out, I didn`t have the right lawyer, there was evidence tampering, isn`t this just going to enrage Peruvian authorities and inspire them to throw the book at Joran?

DAN CONAWAY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes. I think it absolutely will. And it`s a really just stupid move. There`s so much evidence anyway. The thing about this case is this confession can help him. It can help him if he uses it properly. But this in my opinion is the wrong way to go about doing it.

The Peruvian system, criminal justice system, was reformed in 2006. It gives the prosecution time to do what it needs to do, it gives the judges the power it needs to do and it gives the public the chance to see what`s going on. There is now transparency in the system. It`s not behind closed doors anymore.

And so if he monkeys with his confession and upsets Peruvian authorities, the Peruvian public is going to know about it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got it. I want to go out to Jean Casarez, who is there in Peru, live. You saw Joran Van Der Sloot with your own eyes today. Paint the picture.

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": I did. It was surreal. I felt like I was looking at a television screen, but I said, no, wait a minute, it`s real. I am within feet of him as he`s driving out. And he was between two police officers. There were sirens. There was chaos. I mean, it was like a riot was about to break out because there was so many media and they all wanted to get shots of Joran in the car so the car couldn`t really go anywhere because the media was standing in front of the car.

`It was very surreal, but I saw it and he was on his way to the prosecutor`s office. I knew this was a big day for the case. That the criminal investigation was going into the hands of prosecutors.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s my big issue. Is Joran is a profile of perversity? The Holloway`s private investigator met Joran in person and called him a homicidal maniac.

Here is that PI on CBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BO DIETL, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: The date rape drugs were found in that car -- Flores` car. This guy`s MO was he puts these date rape drugs, has his way, if they don`t cooperate then he uses violence. This is a murderer. I met him, I looked in his eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. "People" magazine says all of Joran`s friends turned their backs on him after he became a suspect in Natalee Holloway`s case. Joran apparently turned to gambling, drugs and more women.

One acquaintance told "People" magazine, quote, "He was always a bully but he got so many girls. A real womanizer," end quote. Privileged youth gone bad.

You know who Joran reminds me of? The so-called preppy killer, Robert Chambers -- remember him. He served 15 years. Let`s see Robert Chambers again and Joran Van Der Sloot. Put up those pictures. There`s a lot of similarities there, all right.

This is the guy, the preppy killer, who got 15 years for strangling a young woman to death during a tryst in Central Park and he blamed it on rough sex. And Joran blaming it, Pat Brown, on the fact that oh, she enraged him because she went on his laptop. They`re never to blame, are they?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, no. And this is a stupid, stupid confession.

Let me look at this, this way. He`s a serial date rapist. I think the reason his confession may be a problem now is maybe there`s evidence to prove that he attempted to have a sexual assault on the girl. Perhaps there was oral sex involved; he was forcing her into that act. Maybe she bit him. Maybe he has trauma to his genitals.

If that were true, they would know his confession is bogus and his lawyer would want to pull this real quick but it`s just another lie he obviously told. They wouldn`t be too happy about him lying to them.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, I have to say one thing. It`s kind of off topic. But I really think it is -- this is an example -- it`s kind of an extreme example of things that we see all the time, to a lesser extent. Why is it that this arrogant jerk was such a lady`s man? Why was he so successful at getting so many women to go with him? What is it that we need to take away from this to tell our young children, our teenage girls, about what to watch out for in a guy?

Jim Moret, you`re a parent. I`m going to throw it to you.

JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": Well, I mean one thing that surprises me about this case is that Joran`s face has been on the air around the world. It`s incredible to me that this young woman would be able to meet him and fall under whatever spell he had so quickly. I mean, look, he -- he comes off like a punk, but he`s clearly got a charm with young girls and he was a danger.

My fear is that it`s not just this one woman and Natalee Holloway. There are five years in between these two crimes and it`s certainly possible he may have committed other crimes that we just don`t know about.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree with you. Thank you, fantastic panel.

And now we`re going to switch gears to the all out war that has erupted in the wake of Gary Coleman`s untimely death. Tonight, his ex- wife is making a play for his estate while his ex-manager is crying foul. Dion Mial told RadarOnline, quote, "I wholeheartedly believe there was foul play here," end quote.

Radar reports Mial, seen here with Gary in a Group W video, claims quote, "Criminal intentions in Gary`s death". But the ex-manager won`t point a finger at any specific individual. Still, he didn`t hold back when it came to slamming Gary`s ex-wife Shannon Price for posing with Gary in this horrific death bed. The photo wound up splashed on the cover of the "Globe" tabloid.

We blocked out the disturbing image of Gary but he has tubes coming out of him, he`s out of it. It`s the most revolting thing I`ve seen in a long.

Well, the oil spill is the most revolting, but this is the second most revolting.

Everybody`s saying that this is really grotesque. Gary`s "Diff`rent Strokes" co-star Todd Bridges; he`s not mincing words about these vile photos. Here`s what he told Radar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BRIDGES, GARY COLEMAN`S CO-STAR AND FRIEND: I could never take pictures of my wife if she`s dying, of her dying, or her dead and, you know, then sell them to somebody or show them to somebody. That`s insane. I couldn`t even imagine doing that.

And poor Gary has no idea what`s going on in his life. He has no idea that he, you know, this is happening to him, because he`s not here to fight back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So how did these pictures end up on the pages of a publication known for buying photos?

Straight out to Bonnie Fuller, president and editor-in-chief of hollywoodlife.com; I have to tell you, I actually cried for a second when I saw this picture, which we`re not sharing because we don`t want to be part of the problem. But this is grotesque to take somebody on their death bed and exploit them while they have tubes coming out of their body.

BONNIE FULLER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, HOLLYWOODLIFE.COM: It`s absolutely grotesque. I was horrified. When I just heard about it, and I, too, don`t want to look at the photos, but the photos were clearly taken when his ex-wife, Shannon Price, was in the room. In fact, she`s in one of the photos. And she was the only person there who had access to him, so she has admitted that she took photos, but that she didn`t want them to get out.

Now, I find this hard to believe and I just find it -- it`s absolutely unforgivable.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And she`s also, according to Radar, filed court papers -- this just in -- to try to take over his estate. Remember, she`s the ex-wife.

Gary`s former "Diff`rent Strokes" co-star Todd Bridges was furious and he also lobbed criticism at Gary Coleman`s parents.

Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIDGES: When you`re gravely ill, when you`re rejecting a kidney and throwing up and your parents are forcing you to work. You know, when you go on hiatus from the show and you should be resting the whole time before the next season starts, your parents send you right out to start working on other movies and stuff. So he never had time to really find out who he was and really have an opportunity to be the kid he always should have been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jim Moret, Gary also sued his parents at one point claiming they squandered all his hard earnings that he made as a child star.

MORET: Yes, that`s true. And Jane I just want to let you know, "Inside Edition" just obtained the papers. I just downloaded them here. I have the papers that Shannon filed with the court.

What she`s claiming is rather interesting. She`s claiming that that even though they were divorced legally, that divorce was kept secret. They continued to live as husband and wife and under Utah law there is a common-law marriage. Therefore, they were holding out as husband and wife. They continued to have relations, sexually, as husband and wife and she should be considered his wife. And also she`s claiming that there`s a will dated September 2007 which supersedes the will that`s already been filed with the court.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, we`re just getting started on this. Stay right where you are.

More on the horrifying final moments of Gary Coleman`s life; you won`t believe some of the details.

Coming up next, the young woman charged in connection with the brutal beating of Josie Ratley breaks her silence. And the shocking words to come out of her mouth, well, you`re just going to have hear for yourself.

Plus, doctors say Gary Coleman died of a brain hemorrhage. But are we getting the whole story? We`re going to take some of your calls on the Gary Coleman saga right on the other side of the break. 1-877-JVM- SAYS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON PRICE, GARY COLEMAN`S EX-WIFE: I`m just panicked. I don`t know what to do. When are they going to be here? Do you know?

911 OPERATOR: They`re on their way. It just depends on where in the city they were when we called them out.

PRICE: Gary? I just don`t want him to die. I`m freaking out, like really bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Was foul play involved in the tragic death of Gary Coleman? That`s next.

But first, "Top of the Block" tonight.

Teen texting turns into attempted murder. The 13-year-old girl charged in connection with the horrifying beating of Josie Ratley breaks her silence.

Here`s a littler refresher course on this case. Cops say 15-year- old Wayne Tracy brutally beat Josie Ratley while she was simply waiting for her bus, stomping on her head with steel-toed boots.

He, the guy in the orange right there, was allegedly enraged because Ratley sent a text message to him earlier in the day regarding his dead brother.

Well, now, enter stage left Kayla Mason, the young girl accused of pointing Ratley out to Tracy just before he attacked allegedly. Today Mason told NBC`s "Today Show" she had no idea he was going to viciously attack Ratley. She apologized for the attack and explained in some pretty graphic language what exactly happened that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were in school with Josie. You heard about the text? You saw them?

KAYLA MASON, JOSIE RATLEY`S CLASSMATE: I only saw two.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You saw two. Did you see the one where he threatened her to kill her?

MASON: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You did not? Which ones did you see?

MASON: The one where he -- she calls him a racist and she calls him a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) -- I mean he calls her (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just have to be careful with our language.

MASON: I`m sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But that`s all right, sweetheart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, boy, that`s quite a mouth for a 13-year-old girl. According to court records, just before the attack, Kayla Mason told a friend, well, Josie`s going to get what she deserves. Well, guess what, young lady? If that`s true, I hope you get what you deserve and that`s locked up in juvy for considerable period of time. And our best wishes to Josie Ratley tonight.

That is tonight`s "Top of the Block".

Now back to the nonstop scandals erupting in the wake of Gary Coleman`s death. The one-time child star fell, suffered a brain hemorrhage and died at the end of last month.

Tonight, his former manager says it was no accident. This after gruesome death-bed photos somehow wind up on the cover of a supermarket tabloid. We`re also learning that Gary`s ex-wife is making a play for his estate; one thing after another with that ex.

Susanne, North Carolina, your question or thought?

SUSANNE, NORTH CAROLINA: Hi.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.

SUSANNE: Thank you for taking my -- thank you for taking my call.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thanks for calling.

SUSANNE: My question is -- well, I have a comment first.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok.

SUSANNE: Money is the root of all evil. I believe that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. You got that right.

SUSANNE: I definitely think it`s just all money. She wants money. And I`d like to know, who is, as of right now, in charge of his estate?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, excellent. Bonnie Fuller?

BONNIE FULLER, CEO, HOLLYWOODLIFE.COM: Right now it`s his ex- manager who`s been appointed. However, his -- his ex-wife who claims to be his common-law wife, Shannon Price, has filed documents saying that it is absolutely wrong that she is not the executor of his estate, she wants to be.

This is despite the fact that it appears that she sold photographs of him on his death bed and also that she has been removing all kinds of furniture and video games and memorabilia from his home and his -- the current executor of the estate is concerned that she will sell these things.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable. I mean, the track record with this woman is astounding. The ex-wife, Shannon Price, you probably remember this. She called 911 when she found him unconscious in their Utah home. Listen to this carefully.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRICE: I heard this big bang. I went downstairs. Blood everywhere. I don`t know if he`s ok. I`m not down there right now because I have seizures. If I get stressed out I`m going to seize.

911 OPERATOR: Ok, is there any way you can go down there at all?

PRICE: I`ll try. I don`t know. I mean -- I can`t deal with that.

911 OPERATOR: How old is your husband?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cops say they don`t believe Gary Coleman`s death was suspicious, but Gary`s ex-manager does believe it was suspicious. Now we have these photos that were sold to the tabloid.

My big issue, should cops re-open Gary Coleman`s case? I mean, a re-enactment, perhaps another autopsy?

Jim Moret, given all the crazy behavior, I mean, this woman, ok, she does the 911 call where she appears somewhat reluctant to administer emergency aid --

MORET: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Then she`s also the one who tells doctors go ahead and pull the plug on him. And then she`s caught posing with him on his death bed; that ends up on the front page of a tabloid. You think they should re-open the case?

MORET: Jane, when she talks about not -- not wanting to go downstairs because she`s going to seize, she has suffered seizures. I talked to Gary`s lawyer, his former lawyer. He says if you didn`t know this couple and you listened to that 911 call, it does sound weird.

But knowing Shannon, knowing Gary, knowing their relationship, it really fits in with their bizarre relationship. Look, the police didn`t find any evidence of foul play. Could there be? Perhaps, they didn`t find anything suspicious. They believe Gary simply went downstairs to make food for his ex-wife, who was upstairs watching TV with him in their bedroom and he fell.

He was not in good health. He could have very easily hit his head and had the accident.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, all right.

MORET: And so that`s where it stands.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Susanne, North Carolina, your question or thought, ma`am? Samantha.

SAMANTHA, NORTH CAROLINA: Hi.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.

SAMANTHA: I am really concerned about this.

And also I wanted to tell you, Jane, that I really appreciate you keeping all these things going and the work that you do.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What is your comment, ma`am?

SAMANTHA: Yes, I am concerned. Ok, was he upstairs or downstairs?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I could tell you this: they were on different floors according to the ex-wife when she called. She said I couldn`t have pushed him we were on different floors.

Thank you.

Oil nightmare next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The Gulf oil catastrophe. Welcome to hell on earth.

Tonight new accusations that BP, big oil, is trying to stop us from seeing sickening images of animals covered in thick, brown sludge.

Check out these appalling photos taken by a reporter who apparently managed to bypass roadblocks that BP has allegedly set up. Look at these animals. Is this enough to make you vomit?

Meantime, as syrupy blobs of gunk and dead marine life wash up on the beaches there are reports of a stench so strong that it burns the nostrils of clean-up workers and residents. Oh, my God.

I want to be sure to mention that BP has denied telling contract clean-up workers not to talk to the media. Of course they have said a lot of things that turned out not to be true. Like, oh, there wasn`t going to be very much environmental damage. The ocean is big. Remember that -- that stunner?

I am honored to be joined by Captain Al Walker. He is a charter boat captain and an underwater photographer who has witnessed firsthand, and documented on video this crime against nature.

Captain Al -- hats off to you for going into the water yourself, diving in. What were some of the most disturbing things you saw underwater, sir?

CAPT. AL WALKER, UNDERWATER AND WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, it`s something I do regularly. I document the eco systems around the platforms naturally. Bo this is nothing different. What I have seen so far is, you know, oil-soaked turtles, dead porpoises, just plumes oil blowing through oil rig that are completely covered in live rock and sponge. A host of many different, you know, many different species.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now those of us watching at home who are horrified, are we getting, by seeing TV, even a -- just even a taste of what it is really like? Or is it far worse when you are up close and personal such as you were?

WALKER: No, you are not getting to see it at home because the camera lens can only show you so much. With the natural eye, when you get to look over the horizon for mile after mile after mile of oil, you are not getting the real picture unless you`re actually are there, see it, smell it, taste it, and -- that`s a fact.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at those birds. When you see those birds completely covered in oil, and obviously they`re drowning in oil, and they -- there is nothing they can do about it. I understand there has been some problems with people who want to pick up the birds. Somebody says you need a permit. You can`t pick up the birds and help the birds.

WALKER: Yes, ma`am.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, tell us about that.

WALKER: Well, what I did, I tried to organize -- well I am organizing a gulf wildlife rescue unit. It consists of all local charter boat captains; some of them have marine biology degrees and environmental degrees so they can help oversee this kind of stuff. At the same time it is a road block to get a permit.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my God.

WALKER: From what I understand -- yes, one of the scientists called me. We are scheduling for a 60-hour class on how to actually --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Please. Oh.

WALKER: By all means, I will do that. But right now --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jeez.

WALKER: Right now I am speaking to NOAA, and I`m speaking to U.S. Wildlife. I am speaking directly to them. We need an exempt -- we need an exempt permit. We need an exempt permit; I`m tired of watching the turtles die.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Yes.

WALKER: I can`t touch them. Our group is the most --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We want you back. We are out of time. It is an obscenity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END