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NANCY GRACE

Ohio Couple Found Shot to Death in Parked Car

Aired February 24, 2011 - 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, live, Ohio suburbs. A good Samaritan reports a car stranded on the side of the road. Cops find keys in the ignition, engine running, heat still on, and a young couple, both dead in the front seat, the gorgeous young couple ID`d as two nursing students, 25-year-old Betheny Mehall, a young mom of a baby boy, and Cord Cox, working his way through college selling vacuum cleaners door to door.

Bombshell tonight. Police say the young couple both shot execution- style in the back of the head -- absolutely no known enemies, and in fact, were popular, in fact, beloved in their tight-knit community. And now police left wondering who murdered a young couple minding their own business, driving along on a bright Saturday afternoon, leaving behind a 4- year-old boy without a mommy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A young Ohio couple was found murdered in their car, and now police are desperately searching for answers. The bodies of 23-year-old Cord Cox and his 25-year-old girlfriend, Betheny Mehall, were found in a car parked on a remote road in Harpersville township.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The car`s still running when police arrived. Cord was laying over the steering wheel and Betheny slumped over in the passenger seat. Preliminary examination indicated they were both killed from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Cops do not believe they were murdered during a robbery and are still investigating possible motive. Investigators are hoping that surveillance cameras from nearby businesses captured what happened, while the couple`s friends and family just want to know why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, upscale Michigan suburbs. Mommy heads to the bank with her 9-year-old little girl, but then as the teller hands over the money, the little girl slips a note. What was it? The little girl begging the female teller for help, afraid to get back in the car with Mommy. Why? Mommy glassy-eyed, incoherent, reeks of liquor. And what does Mommy do? Puts the pedal to the metal and scratches off, leaving the 9-year-old behind. That`s some deposit, Mommy. Thanks, Mom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I tell you something?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What really shocked me today was when I looked in the closet (INAUDIBLE) I seen a big bottle of liquor! And I was so scared. My mom made me walk out and turn on the car. And it took her two minutes just to get downstairs. And I was really scared because somebody could have came out and snatched me when my mom wasn`t there!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. A good Samaritan reports a car stranded on the side of the road. Cops find keys in the ignition, engine running, heat still on, and a young couple, both dead in the front seat. Police say that couple, 25-year-old Betheny Mehall, a young mom of a baby boy, Cord Cox, working his way through college, both shot execution-style in the back of the head.

Tonight, who murdered a young couple minding their own business, driving along on a bright Saturday afternoon, leaving behind a 4-year-old boy without a mommy?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friends of Cord Cox and Betheny Mehall say the couple were very much in love. The pair, both in nursing school, had dated for about two years, had no enemies and were beloved by all. But that dream life has turned into a nightmare after the bodies of both Cord and Betheny were found Sunday evening. Cops responded to a call about a distressed motorist and found the bodies of Cord and Mehall inside their still-running car. Surveillance cameras, phone records and interviews could all play a role as investigators work day and night to find out who gunned down this happy couple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Phil Trexler, reporter with "The Akron Beacon- Journal." Phil, what happened?

PHIL TREXLER, "AKRON BEACON-JOURNAL" (via telephone): Well, that`s what the police and sheriff`s department in Ashtabula County are trying to find out. What we know is this young couple was brutally killed, single gunshot wounds to the back of the head, as we said, execution-style. Right now, the authorities are scouring cell phone records, social network sites. They`re going to be looking at any sort of e-mails, trying to retrace the last steps of this couple to find out who is responsible for this brutal attack.

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. What we are talking about right now is a search by police. A good Samaritan reports a car stranded on the side of the road. But when cops get there, they find the keys still in the ignition, the car running, the heater still on, and a gorgeous young couple, both dead, shot execution-style in the back of the head, Mommy leaving behind a 4-year-old little boy.

To Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." What do we know, Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Well, Nancy, about 7:30 Saturday night, Cord has called his father and his father said, You know, I`m remodeling the kitchen. I just got the kitchen floor in. Cord said, Oh, well, we`ll be over. We`ll be over to see it. And then Brittany (SIC) called her mother about 7:45 PM, saying, Hey, Mom, I`m going to be home tonight. They both still lived at home with their parents. That was the last time anybody saw them until that hero, 2:30 in the afternoon on Sunday, called police saying they saw a distressed motorist.

GRACE: To David Lohr, crime reporter, AOLnews.com. David, it`s a conundrum. It`s befuddling because you`ve got this couple minding their own business -- this could be anybody driving along the road -- and then suddenly, they`re both dead execution-style. We have looked into their reputations and who they are. You know, the mom, Betheny Mehall, 25 years old, has a 4-year-old child. They`re both nursing students, both very hard-working, no criminal record, no enemies. The young guy, Cord, is actually putting his way through college selling vacuum cleaners door to door in his hopes of becoming a nurse, as well.

Why? Why these two, David Lohr?

DAVID LOHR, AOLNEWS.COM: Well, you know, that`s the big question tonight, Nancy. And if you look at the circumstances of the case, where they were found, it was an industrial park area. But it`s also known as an area where young people would go to hang out, make out, what have you.

And now, the person who committed this crime -- police have said it doesn`t appear to be a burglary. It doesn`t appear to be a carjacking. They know it`s not a murder-suicide. It`s somewhat reminiscent -- you remember the "Son of Sam," that he would strike from outside of the vehicle in those cases in New York. But here you have the individual was in the back seat. He struck them from behind. And it appears the intent was to execute them. So you know, that seems to suggest that they might have known the person who did this to them.

GRACE: To Phil Trexler. Do we know if the car doors were open or closed?

TREXLER: It appears the car doors were closed. The heater was still on. The engine was still running. You saw Betheny -- she was slumped in the front seat. And of Cord, of course, was slumped over the steering wheel. He was in the driver`s seat.

GRACE: To Sergeant Scott Haines, sheriff`s officer, Santa Rose County, Florida. Sergeant, this is where fingerprints could really carry the day because whoever did this crime had to shut the doors either from the inside or the outside. They had to slam the door shut. What do you think? What do we have? What can cops do now?

SGT. SCOTT HAINES, SHERIFF`S OFFICER, SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FLORIDA: That`s very true. The main thing that police are going to able to get from this is the forensic evidence, not only fingerprints on the inside of the doors, those handles, the outside of the doors, different type of fibers, hairs, any type of trace evidence. DNA can be gathered. So that`s going to be the main thing that the police need to do is just totally go through that car and make sure that get every piece of forensic evidence that`s present.

GRACE: Joining us right now is a special guest. It is Cord Cox`s father, Jim Cox, joining us from Austinburg, Ohio. Mr. Cox, thank you for being with us.

JIM COX, VICTIM`S FATHER (via telephone): Thank you for having me.

GRACE: Mr. Cox, I know this was the shock of a lifetime. And I can only imagine putting all your love, all your energy into your child, watching him grow up to be the wonderful son that Cord was, and then this. How did you learn this had happened?

COX: Approximately about 4:30 or 5:00 on Sunday afternoon, I was working on my kitchen. I seen four police cars pull in my driveway. And I went outside to greet them and see what was going on, and they said they needed to talk to me. And I says, Well, fine. And they said, No, we need to talk inside. So I walked in, brought them into my utility room, and I said, What`s up? And they says, We need to sit down. So we went into my dining room, and I says, Go ahead and sit. And they said, No, you need to sit down. I says, OK, and I sat down.

One gentleman said he`s from the coroner`s office and that Cord had been shot in the back of the head. And that`s how I found out. And then my wife pulled in about 10 minutes later, and I had to go outside and tell her. That`s how we found out.

GRACE: Mr. Cox, I just can`t tell you how sorry we are. And our prayers and sympathies go out to you and your family. It`s every parent`s worst nightmare, that the police drive up to your yard and tell you they need to talk to you, to sit down, and then this news. Mr. Cox, where are police headed? I mean, what is their theory of this case?

COX: All I know is they have -- they`re talking to a lot of different people, but they don`t tell me who they`re talking to or what -- as far as that goes on so they don`t jeopardize the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police were called around Sunday about a motorist in distress. When they arrived they found the bodies of 23-year-old Cord Cox and his girlfriend, 25-year-old Betheny Mehall, both found shot in the head in their car. Cops do not believe they were murdered during a robbery and are still investigating possible motive. Investigators are hoping that surveillance cameras from nearby businesses captured what happened, while the couple`s friends and family just want to know why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ohio police are investigating the double homicide of a young couple, both found shot in the head in their car. Police were called around Sunday about a motorist in distress. When they arrived, they found the bodies of 23-year-old Cord Cox, and his girlfriend, 25-year-old Betheny Mehall. The bodies were reportedly decomposing, and cops believe they were killed sometime the night before. Cord was reportedly last heard from around 7:45 PM Saturday night. Surveillance cameras, phone records and interviews could all play a role as investigators work day and night to find out who gunned down this happy couple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. A young couple minding their own business on a bright, sunny Saturday afternoon, they are found the next day by a good Samaritan who calls police. When police arrive, they find the car on the side of the road, the engine still running, the heat still on, keys in the ignition, and this couple, a gorgeous young couple with their life before them, both dead in the front seat, murdered, execution- style.

The young lady, Betheny Mehall, just 25, leaves behind a 4-year-old little boy. The man, Cord Cox -- his father with us tonight -- working his way through school to become a nurse by selling vacuum cleaners door to door, the American dream that if you work hard enough, if you try hard enough, you can succeed -- unless violent crime enters your life.

Out to the lines. Levi in Louisiana. Hi, Levi. I think I`ve got Levi with me. Are you there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Nancy. I was wondering, have they checked all of their friends and family?

GRACE: You know, Levi, a lot of people would take offense at that question, to suggest friends or family involved. But actually, you`re right. I know at first blush, it seems to be an ambush by possibly a hitchhiker. Who knows? But that`s where most investigations start.

To David Lohr, crime reporter, AOLnews.com. What about it, David Lohr? Isn`t that true with most investigations, you start close to home?

LOHR: Yes, that`s correct, Nancy. And the authorities in this case - - they`ve been interviewing his friends. They`ve been trying to determine who these kids were in contact with in the hours leading up to the homicide. According to the mom, she knows the daughter had exchanged some texts with people. So they`re taking all that into consideration. They`re also looking at their cell phone records, trying to determine their last movements.

And this complex where they were found, this industrial area, there`s actually surveillance cameras, and they`re going back and looking at that footage, as well, to see if it gives them any clues in the case.

GRACE: I want to go back to Cord Cox`s father, Jim Cox, joining us tonight from Austinburg, Ohio. Mr. Cox, was it your son`s car? And was he driving the car?

COX: Yes, it was. Both, yes.

GRACE: Where were they headed, that you know of?

COX: I`m not exactly sure where they were headed because when I talked to him about 7:30 on Saturday, I asked him, I says, Cordy, I says, I just finished up the floor in the kitchen. And I says, You need to come over and see it, I says. It looks really nice. And he says, As soon as I get done here at Quick-Fill (ph), at the gas station, he says, I`ll be right over, Dad.

And then -- and I didn`t ask him where he was headed that evening. All I know is he went and got his car out of storage out of one of my garages he had it stored in. And it was a nice afternoon, a nice evening. He said, I just want to take it out for a little while and then I`m going to take it back in and put it back into storage for the rest of the -- until spring. And...

GRACE: Was he the kind of young man that would help somebody on the side of the road, give them a ride?

COX: Cord would help anybody if they needed help. In fact, just a couple weeks ago -- I think it was Beth`s sister -- her car broke down probably about 30, 40 miles away from where Cord was, and Cord went out there and helped her with her stuff so she wouldn`t have to be stranded. It took him about three hours to help her. And Cord would help just about anybody if they needed help, yes.

GRACE: Back to you, Sergeant Haines. What do you make of it, Haines?

HAINES: I don`t think that this has the indicators of a stranger or a hitchhiker or anything like that. For them to be in a trusting position like that, with their back turned towards somebody -- if it was a hitchhiker, they wouldn`t be that vulnerable. I think that this is someone that`s close to them.

GRACE: Somebody they trusted to give them a ride, somebody they trusted to have in their back seat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The couple were very much in love. The pair, both in nursing school, had dated for about two years, had no enemies, and were beloved by all. But that dream life has turned into a nightmare after the bodies of both Cord and Betheny were found Sunday evening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A young Ohio couple was found murdered in their car, and now police are desperately searching for answers. The bodies of 23-year-old Cord Cox and his 25-year-old girlfriend, Betheny Mehall, were found in a car parked on a remote road in Harpersville township. The car is still running when police arrived. Cord was found laying over the steering wheel and Betheny slumped over in the passenger seat. Preliminary examination indicated they were both killed from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.

Cops do not believe they were murdered during a robbery and are still investigating possible motive. Investigators are hoping that surveillance cameras from nearby businesses captured what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Who would this gorgeous young couple allow in the back of their car, as they were heading along, a bright sunny afternoon, minding their own business? Finally, a good Samaritan sees their car and calls 911. Cops get there to find the keys still in the ignition, the heat running, and this couple, both working their way through nursing school, dead, shot execution-style. Why?

We are taking your calls. To Annie in Illinois. Hi, Annie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Thank you for taking my call. I`m wondering if they could have been in trouble with anybody?

GRACE: You know, that`s a good question. And to Phil Trexler with "The Akron Beacon-Journal." We`ve done our homework and we have not been able to find any indication that they were in the middle of a lawsuit, that their neighbors were angry at them, that they had any problems with friends or neighbors, nothing, no problems at work, no ongoing big domestic disputes that we could find. What about you, Phil?

TREXLER: Yes, you`re right, Nancy. It appears these are, you know, two good kids, hard-working kids just going through school, trying to get a degree in nursing and become, you know, productive members of society. There was an indication of a fight, where Cord`s name came up, at a dance hall. But I mean, it`s not clear whether he was a suspect or a victim in that situation. But that`s about it. They appeared to be good kids. They were just, you know, trying to make good lives for themselves.

GRACE: OK, but that scuffle that he had at a dance hall or a bar, that was weeks and weeks ago.

TREXLER: Right.

GRACE: And that`s all it was.

TREXLER: Right.

GRACE: That`s it. That`s not giving anybody any motive to commit a double murder execution-style.

With me from Austinburg, Ohio, is Cord Cox`s father, Jim Cox. Mr. Cox, again, thank you for being with us. I can`t imagine what you went through learning of this incident. And then in order to catch the killer, you`re going on national TV to try to get leads. Tell me, were either of them involved in any kind of dispute, be it work, marital, domestic, anything that you know of, Mr. Cox?

COX: I don`t know of anything that would have brought this on.

GRACE: The tip line, 440-576-0055. This young couple minding their own business.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A young Ohio couple was found murdered in their car, and now police are desperately searching for answers.

The bodies of 23-year-old Cord Cox and his 25-year-old girlfriend Betheny Mehall were found in a car parked on a remote road in Harborsville Township. The car is still running when police arrived. Cord was found laying over the steering wheel and Betheny is slumped over in the passenger seat.

Preliminary examination indicated they were both killed from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Cops do not believe they were murdered during a robbery, and are still investigating possible motive. Investigators are hoping surveillance cameras from nearby businesses captured what happened. While the couple`s friends and family just want to know why.

Friends of Cord Cox and Betheny Mehall say the couple were very much in love. The pair, both in nursing school, had dated for about two years, and had no enemies, and were beloved by all. But that dream life has turned into a nightmare, after the bodies of both Cord and Betheny were found Sunday evening. Cops responded to a call about a distressed motorist and found the bodies of Cord and Mehall inside their still-running car.

Both had been shot once in the back of the head. Cord was reportedly last heard from around 7:45 p.m. Saturday night. And authorities believe the couple was killed sometime soon after. Surveillance cameras, phone records and interviews could all play a role as investigators work day and night to find out who gunned down this happy couple.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: We are taking your calls. Out to Janet in Florida. Hi, Janet.

JANET, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, Nancy. I`m just wondering, why are we seeing there`s only one suspect? Could it be possible that there were two people in the back of the car? I mean, he had to shoot two people, wondering if there was a sign of a struggle, if someone was -- if there`s only one person, and one person would have to be shot while the other person was still alive.

GRACE: You know, Janet, actually, that leads me to my next point. We have just gotten in information that the two were still wearing their seatbelts. They were wearing their seatbelts. Obviously not at all concerned about an ambush attack from the back seat. But your suggestion that there may be more than one shooter, well taken.

Jean Casarez, however, isn`t there evidence of the same caliber bullet?

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Yes. In both. And the coroner investigator said they believed someone was in the back seat. Whether that was just the wordage they used or they specifically have focused in on one person. We don`t know.

GRACE: And we don`t know why they`re getting that.

CASAREZ: No.

GRACE: But that is their thinking.

Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, a felony prosecutor, death penalty qualified joining us out of Washington, D.C., Eleanor Odom. Out of Atlanta, defense attorney Randy Kessler. Out of Atlanta, trial lawyer Peter Odom.

Eleanor, it`s not just that it may be the same caliber weapon, it`s fairly simple to determine if it came from the same gun, which if it does, it would suggest one shooter. Yes, no?

ELEANOR ODOM, FELONY PROSECUTOR, DEATH PENALTY QUALIFIED: Exactly, Nancy. They`ll be able to determine by examining the bullets and doing a forensic examination if it came from the same gun.

GRACE: And the way it`s typically done is you take the known bullet, which was either taken from the body during autopsy or found somewhere in the car. We have no evidence that the windshields were broken in any way by a bullet. So they`ve got the bullets, all right? I can tell you that.

You take the bullet. You fire it. You fire a similar bullet. But the problem is, you`ve got to have the weapon. Then you compare the two bullets under a microscope, and if they have the same markings, the same scrape markings on them, it came from the same gun.

Kessler, what do cops do now?

RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, they`ve got to investigate, they`ve got to talk to everybody.

You know, Nancy, this case sounds a lot like the Tocars case from years ago in Atlanta, where everyone was aghast at how horrible the crime was, shooting someone from the backseat of the car. But then it got even worse when it turns out that a family member or a friend was involved.

We`re not saying that family members are involved. But you talk to the people that know these people, and look on Facebook, did anybody un- friend them, any possible motive whatsoever. Cops have to look everywhere.

GRACE: To Peter Odom, weigh in.

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, the point you made about -- about needing the gun to identify these bullets, they can look at these bullets and tell whether they`re fired from the same gun or not, without having the gun.

Now the caller brought up a very interesting point. It occurred to me, how is it that the person could shoot one person leaving another person alive, and that person would not be able to get away, or get to the backseat or get out of the front seat before they were shot.

I guess it explains all that by knowing that they were still in their seatbelts. They wouldn`t have been able to get out of the front seat.

GRACE: Out to the lines -- you`re right. Out to the lines. John in Ohio. Hi, John.

JOHN, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hi.

GRACE: Hi, dear, what`s your question?

JOHN: It seems like in my experience, these things happen in spurts. Have there been any other activity in the area?

GRACE: You know what? There -- Ellie, wasn`t there another couple about 150 miles away?

OK, Jean Casarez, what do we know about the other couple that was murdered about 150 miles away? That`s only a two-hour car drive.

CASAREZ: You know, Nancy, we covered this a couple Friday nights ago. It was Lisa Straub and Johnny Clarke, a young couple dating. They were in her mother`s house and they were found massacred in that home. Asphyxiated, plastic bags over their heads, duct tape around their neck, and duct tape around their wrists so they couldn`t get out.

GRACE: Back to the father of Cord Cox, Jim Cox, joining us from Austinburg, Ohio.

Mr. Cox, I don`t want them to be another statistic. Please tell us about your boy, Cord Cox, and what you know about his girlfriend, Betheny Mehall.

JIM COX, DAD OF MURDERED NURSE, 23-YR-OLD CORD COX: Cord was the kind of -- is a very hard worker. He`s a good kid. He would do anything for anybody. He would -- he was a member of the church. If he`d ever done anything wrong, he would ask for forgiveness at church.

He would help anybody out at any time. He would -- all of his friends had nothing but good things to say about him. I just don`t know what really activated this kind of a thing that happened to him. He was always in the fast lane, with four-wheelers and stuff. He liked to live the high life as far as -- he had a motorcycle and he had a nice car. He just was a good kid all around. And I never thought something like this could happen.

GRACE: What impressed me, Mr. Cox, is that he`s working his way through school selling vacuum cleaners door to door and putting himself through nursing school all on his own. As was Betheny.

Where is the 4-year-old boy? Who is taking care of him? Mr. Cox?

COX: I believe his dad has got him right now. And Beth`s mom both have him. As far as my knowledge. Cord actually had won scholarships from selling vacuum cleaners door to door. And that helped him go through college. And he --

GRACE: So it was just something about these two, Cord was like a bee to the honey. He had a magnetic personality that everyone just loved.

Everyone, tip line, 440-576-0055.

As we go to break, our thoughts and prayers to the family of one of our stars, Hunter Waters, a "Larry King" producer for years. A dear friend of ours and our producer. Hunter fights the battle of a lifetime against cancer, devoted wife Chris by his side every step.

Hunter Waters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I tell you something?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What really shocked me today was, when I looked in the closet, I seen a big bottle of liquor, and I was so scared, and my mom made me walk out and turn on the car. It took her two minutes just to get downstairs. And I was really scared because somebody could have came out and snatched me and my mom wasn`t there.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Listen, you don`t have to be scared anymore, though, OK? We`re going to get your mom taken care of and we`re going to come and take care of you, OK? We`re going to get your dad could come over there probably and get you, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Do you want me to stay on the phone with you until the police officers get there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re good.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. Where do your sisters live? Do you know?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Is your phone in your mom`s car?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s in her purse. She snatched it away from me.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. You did very good, though, you did the right thing by not wanting to go with her and having them call the police, OK? I just want you to know that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Because my principal said the same thing. He embarrassed me in front of my whole class.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Really? I`m so sorry, honey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: You know, I`m just going to check and see where the officers are at, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. A mom heads to the local bank, toting along her 9-year-old little girl, but then the girl slips a note to the female teller. She`s afraid to get back in the car with mommy. Mommy`s eyes glassy, she`s incoherent, disoriented, wreaks of liquor.

The mom grabs the car, puts the pedal to the metal, and scratches off, leaving behind her 9-year-old little girl.

That`s some deposit. Thanks, mommy.

Straight out to Alexis Weed on the story.

Alexis, what happened?

ALEXIS WEED, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Friday around 5:00, this mother and daughter, they go to a Bank of America location in Southfield, Michigan. They go into the bank, they approach the teller. The little girl writes a note. She passes it to the teller, and says, mommy`s drunk. I`m scared. I don`t want to get in the car.

GRACE: We are breaking into that story. We are hearing right now, breaking news, that an arrest has been in effect, an arrest has gone down in the murder of this young couple. We were just speaking to the young man`s father on the phone with us.

Straight out to Matt Zarrell. An arrest has gone down. One person, two people, who is it? What do we know?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Nancy, we`re just learning the details right now. The sheriff just got of the phone with us. He says an arrest has just been made. We`re waiting the arraignment. We do not know what the charges are at this point.

Don`t know yet if it`s one or two people. We`re still trying to determine that. We`re expecting to have more any minute.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Eleanor Odom, Randy Kessler, Peter Odom.

First to you, Eleanor Odom, in this jurisdiction, Ohio, it is a death penalty state. It`s a one-drug protocol, lethal injection. And what we know right now is that one of the aggravating circumstances for the death penalty in Ohio is more than one dead body. Mass murder. As it is defined under the statute.

E. ODOM: Yes, Nancy, you`re exactly right. And this case screams for the death penalty. I mean somebody is going to get the needle on this one, Nancy. This is a horrific execution style death.

GRACE: To Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "Dealbreakers." Weigh in, Bethany.

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": Well, what really strikes me about this crime is the fish in the barrel quality. It`s like the D.C. sniper. Remember when we had an older sociopath who recruited a younger one and they sort of practiced killing people in an unsuspecting kind of way.

And that`s what we see, that these people were on a highway, perhaps they picked somebody up. Maybe it was even someone they knew. But it`s the unsuspecting in the back of the head quality that really, really strikes me about this situation.

GRACE: And it strikes you how, Bethany?

MARSHALL: Well, it strikes me because it seems to me like you could have a budding sociopath or a serial killer who`s been fantasizing for a long, long time about killing somebody, but has not yet graduated to the point of inflicting cruelty by looking at the person in the eyes when they torture them.

That`s what serial killers do. So that they`re cutting their teeth on this crime. This being their very first crime by climbing into the back of the car and shooting them in the back of the head. And that their first kill thrill is the fact that the victims are unsuspecting, rather than they`re raping and torturing. So this is like the beginning of a graduating process, in my mind.

GRACE: Out to Phil Trexler with the "Akron Beacon Journal." Phil, what do we know, an arrest has just gone down?

PHIL TREXLER, REPORTER, AKRON BEACON JOURNAL: Sheriff William Johnson said an arrest has been made in connection with the execution style murders of Cord Cox and his girlfriend Betheny Mehall. At this point that`s all we know. The arrest is just happening. And details I`m sure are going to be surfacing.

GRACE: For those of you just joining us, this young couple driving along, minding their own business, a Good Samaritan calls in to 911 to report their car stranded on the side of the road. When cops arrive, they find the key in the ignition, the engine running, the heat still on, and the couple dead in the front seat.

Back to Matt Zarrell, in touch with the sheriff`s office. What more do you know, Matt?

ZARRELL: Nancy, the sheriff is telling us it is just one person, one male. They believe he did commit the crime. They`re still wrapping up the case. He`s expected to be arraigned very soon and we`re also expecting a press conference at any moment.

GRACE: And right now we take you straight out to that presser.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The person that we arrested was James P. Leider. It`s L-E-I-D-E-R. He`s a Geneva resident, Nashville County resident. Geneva Township.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-year-old, white male.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. Twenty-year-old white male.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And you said that there was a relationship with the victims?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. There was an ongoing relationship with the people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it`s just -- when you look at the faces of the victims` family, and you look at the faces of the -- Mr. Leider`s family, and when you look at Mr. Leider himself, a young 20-year-old male, good looking, tall strapping guy, your heart just goes out to everybody.

And it really is a significant tragedy for all of those people, for our county, and for just humanity in general.

GRACE: This happy couple working their way through nursing school, could have been any man, every man. Driving while she, a mother of a 4- year-old boy, her dream to be a nurse. He, working his way through college selling vacuum cleaners door to door. His dream, to be a nurse.

Tonight we remember Cord Cox and Betheny Mehall. And tonight, we want justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELL: Friends of Cord Cox and Betheny Mehall say the couple were very much in love. But that dream life has turned into a nightmare. Both found shot in the head in their car.

Cops do not believe they were murdered during a robbery and are still investigating possible motive.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: An arrest goes down in the murder of this gorgeous young couple. Minding their own business. Like all of us. In our car, doing errands, driving back and forth to family, the store, school, work.

Here they are. And now an arrest. Who claimed the lives of this beautiful young girl and her boyfriend, both working their way through school?

To Dr. Gwenn O`Keefe, pediatrician, founder and CEO, Pediatricsnow.com out of Boston.

Doctor, the nature of the gunshot wounds, does it suggest to you it was an immediate death or did they suffer, strapped into their car seats with a gunman behind them?

DR. GWENN O`KEEFE, M.D., PEDIATRICIAN, FOUNDER & CEO, PEDIATRICSNOW.COM: Nancy, it does suggest an immediate death from a close range like that, with gunshot wounds right to the back of the head. People usually die fairly instantly.

GRACE: However, with two victims, one was killed as the other sits there still strapped in in his seatbelt knowing that they are next. It may have been just for a moment, but they knew, Eleanor, whoever died last, knew what was about to happen.

E. ODOM: And, again, Nancy, that`s why this case screams for a death penalty because that mental anguish, even if it was a split second, certainly goes to the death penalty and the fact that two were killed and, again, in the execution style.

GRACE: What about it, Peter Odom?

P. ODOM: Just because this case qualifies for the death penalty doesn`t mean that the person will be given the death penalty or that they`ll be prosecuted with the death penalty.

GRACE: Kessler?

P. ODOM: Prosecutors are going to take a look at it very carefully before they make that decision.

KESSLER: We need to know more details. We need to know, did he turn himself in, how was the arrest made, what was the relationship, what was the motive.

GRACE: OK, you know what, Kessler? You know what, Kessler?

KESSLER: What.

GRACE: Here`s a 4-year-old boy without a mom. They were strapped into their car, in their seatbelts. One was murdered as the other one watched and knew they were next.

KESSLER: Well, what`s the --

GRACE: I say death penalty, but you know what, that`s just me.

Let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Dominic Sacco 32, Albany, New York, killed Iraq. On a second tour. Awarded the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, Meritorious Service Medal.

Loved football, basketball, softball. Ft. Riley naming their softball complex in his honor. Leaves behind grieving parents William and Diane. Sister Lisa. Widow Brandy, son Anthony, daughter Alyssa.

Dominic Sacco, American hero.

Thanks to our guests and especially to you.

And tonight, happy birthday to Georgia friend Mike Lynch, pastor to over 2,000 at North Star Church.

Happy birthday.

And happy birthday to Sam, a senior at Georgia Southern University, majoring in biology, computer science, holds down a job and knows how to cook.

What a guy. Happy birthday, handsome Sam.

And to Fayetteville friend, Jimmy Johnson. Happy birthday. Isn`t he happy?

And happy birthday to our superstar, Liz, the mom of four beautiful children and our backbone.

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END