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NANCY GRACE

Michigan Man Says Home Invaders Killed His Wife While He Hid; Awaiting Verdict on Drew Peterson Murder Case

Aired September 5, 2012 - 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, upscale Dearborn Heights. They`re married 10 years, going strong, raising a young son when a stunning 911 call reports a home invasion.

Bombshell tonight. Police race to the scene to find 35-year-old principal and mom Nytia Dupree face down on the dining room floor in a pool of blood, her husband incoherent with grief. But finally, he gets his story out, that a horrific home invasion went down, his wife murdered.

And where was he at the time she was stabbed? He says after throwing his wallet at the intruders, he runs downstairs to hide in the basement as his wife screams his name and begs for her life upstairs.

But wait a minute, Hubby. Why was there no forced entry, nothing stolen, and why was he drenched in his wife`s blood?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess I`m in shock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stabbed several times.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was stabbed to death in her Dearborn Heights home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) 911 to report someone has broken into the family home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Dupree also told Corporal Barnes he fought his way up the stairs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Threw him down into the basement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does that -- really mean?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That upon conviction, you would spend the rest of your life in prison.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he got to the top, he found both men attacking his wife.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Mr. Dupree told investigators that the intruders knocked him into the basement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When police rushed to the scene to find...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he threw his wall at them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nytia Dupree dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And fought with them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the living room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The evidence at the scene wasn`t consistent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They get away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I lost a great neighbor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, Illinois. We are on a verdict watch in the trial of husband/cop Drew Peterson, prime suspect in the drowning death of wife number three, found bruised and beaten, drowned in a bone-dry bathtub. Now, wife number four disappeared, never to be seen again. But that`s another can of worms. Listen, she tells her friends, If I die, it`s no accident. He did it. Then she turns up dead? What`s taking that jury so long?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She told me all the time, He`s going to kill me. It`s going to look like an accident. Take care of my kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bruises and a gash on the back of her head, and the coroner called it a homicide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First degree murder charges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me and my family always felt that this was foul play.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many a time she told family, friends, anybody she could tell, I`m scared to death of him. He`s going to kill me. It`s going to look like...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are on a verdict watch in the Drew Peterson case.

Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.

Bombshell tonight. First we go live to upscale Dearborn Heights. Married 10 years, going strong, raising a young son, when a stunning 911 call reports a home invasion. Police race to the scene to find a 35-year- old high school principal, the mom, Nytia, face down in the dining room in a pool of her own blood, her husband incoherent with grief, but he finally, gets his story out.

He says a horrific home invasion went down, his wife murdered. But where was he? He says he throws his wallet at the home invaders, runs downstairs and hides in the basement as his wife screams literally bloody murder upstairs.

Straight out to Brett Larson, investigative reporter. We are live and taking your calls not only on the Dearborn Heights murder scenario I`m telling you about, but I`ve also got two veteran reporters standing by there at the Drew Peterson trial to take your calls, right there at the courthouse.

Brett Larson, Dearborn Heights -- what I don`t get is why he would throw his wallet at the intruders and run.

BRETT LARSON, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Right.

GRACE: That why would -- why would they -- if they wanted money, if they wanted more than his wallet, why would they let him hide downstairs in the basement and murder her in the dining room?

LARSON: And further, Nancy, why didn`t he run upstairs and help the wife? Was he completely defenseless? And here`s where it gets a little unusual. So he calls 911 and says...

GRACE: Brett? Brett?

LARSON: Yes?

GRACE: Are you married?

LARSON: No.

GRACE: OK. Just word to the wise. The law -- whether we expect more from married individuals or not, the law does not require you to be a hero. You can stand by and let all sorts of atrocities happen. You don`t have a duty to help. It`s OK under the law for him to hide in the basement as his wife is brutally murdered upstairs -- right upstairs. He said she was begging for her life and calling out his name, and he just hid in the basement.

All right, that`s his story. But what`s with throwing the wallet at them?

LARSON: Well, he says he threw the wallet at them to get them to go away. At least, that`s one of the stories that he told. He tells this different story about being thrown down the stairs when he calls 911 and he`s injured.

But then the cops get there and say, This story doesn`t add up. What they`re finding at the foot of the stairs doesn`t add up, not to mention that he doesn`t look like a gentleman who was thrown down a flight of stairs but able to get back up and throw his wallet.

GRACE: Well, Brett, when you`re saying what`s at the bottom of the stairs is not -- not consistent with his story, I am assuming that nothing was disturbed down in the basement where he said he fell.

LARSON: Correct.

GRACE: At one point, he said he ran down the stairs. At one point, he said they pushed him down the stairs.

LARSON: Right.

GRACE: Everybody, we are taking your calls live in Dearborn Heights, an upscale area where this 35-year-old school principal was found dead in a pool of blood. Her husband, a long-haul trucker, says that a home invasion went down. It was a stunning 911 call.

I want to go out to you, Clark Goldband, just a couple of rapidfire questions. Just go with me. Please do not elaborate. Number one...

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: You got it.

GRACE: ... do they have children?

GOLDBAND: Yes, one...

GRACE: How many?

GOLDBAND: One.

GRACE: How old?

GOLDBAND: Sixteen.

GRACE: But wait. They`ve only been married 10 years, right?

GOLDBAND: Yes, Nancy.

GRACE: OK, is it true that back in the `90s, she sued him in a paternity suit?

GOLDBAND: Based on our legal research, yes.

GRACE: All right, so this is a guy, although they`ve been married and there`s no signs of any infidelity that we know of tonight -- she had to sue him for money or for paternity, to establish paternity? Is that what you`re telling me?

GOLDBAND: That`s what we found in the court docket.

GRACE: Was the child at home?

GOLDBAND: No. He was at home an hour prior to this, according to reports.

GRACE: Now, is it true that the teen son had tweeted out some tweets about his dad was in a rage the night before?

GOLDBAND: Yes.

GRACE: About what?

GOLDBAND: Nancy, we have those tweets. Let me find them here in my records. It was the night before when, in fact, this child tweeted -- have it in just a moment -- here it is -- "Definitely leaving my dad alone for a while. Someone`s stressed out. He`s on rage mode."

This was about 24 hours prior to this alleged incident, Nancy.

GRACE: Isn`t it true, Clark, that he had gotten in his head that his wife of -- they`ve been together over 10 years. She`s a school principal. He got in his head that she was having an affair, isn`t that true?

GOLDBAND: According to reports, the father asked the son to pull up both of his mom`s Facebook pages.

GRACE: She had two Facebook pages?

GOLDBAND: That`s according to reports. And in fact, law enforcement told one local station that she may have switched her status from married to "in a relationship" on one of those pages.

GRACE: Out to Pat Brown, criminal profiler, author of "How to Save Your Daughter`s Life." Pat, I know it sounds unusual right at the very beginning that this woman would have two Facebook pages. But if you think about it, she could be using one as, basically, an principal, an assistant principal at this specialized school, and then the other for personal.

That doesn`t mean that -- there`s no evidence that we have that she`s having an affair or was having an affair before she was stabbed to death. What we do have evidence of is that he was in a rage the night before.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Absolutely. The fact that his son would even go out and say that to his friends that his father was in a rage is concerning, and that only 24 hours later, this happens.

Secondly, he asked his son to go out try to rat out his mother. You know, in other words asked his son to investigate his own mother, obviously telling his son he was suspicious, you know, and that shows -- that`s really not something you should be doing with your son, sharing that kind of stuff. But then 24 hours later...

GRACE: Well, what I don`t understand...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: What I don`t understand, Pat Brown, why didn`t he just friend her? If he wanted to find out what was on her page, just friend her.

We`re taking your calls. Octavia in Florida. Hi, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I was wondering, he ran or ended up in the basement. Was there any type of weapon he could have went upstairs and protected his wife with? Because they stabbed her, so I don`t think he believed they had a gun or anything. He couldn`t pick up anything to go up there and save her? He just huddled (ph) like a little punk?

GRACE: Yes, he just hid out in the basement, according to him. But according to police, that`s not what happened at all. He was drenched in his wife`s blood. Now, I`m sure the defense is going to say he got drenched in his wife`s blood when he reached down to administer CPR. That`s where that`s going to go.

To Alissa Zee, news director at Total Source News, joining us out of Michigan. Hi, Alissa. Thanks for being with us. Was there nothing he could use to fight back? I mean, why did he feel he had to hide in the basement while his wife was murdered?

ALISSA ZEE, TOTAL SOURCE NEWS (via telephone): Well, remember, Nancy -- good evening -- that was just one of the stories he had told. Initially, he said he went down to hide. Now, to speculate why someone does something certainly is beyond my ken.

However, the second story he told police was that he was thrown down the stairs. And he claims that he was thrown down the stairs and injured, although as we now know, there was no evidence to support that.

GRACE: No evidence that he was thrown down the stairs. Unleash the lawyers. Joining me tonight, Sue Moss, victim`s advocate joining me out of New York, Brian Claypool, defense attorney, LA, Randy Kessler, defense attorney joining me out of Atlanta.

All right, Sue Moss, weigh in.

SUSAN MOSS, VICTIM`S ADVOCATE: Hey, murderers! If you tell cops different stories, they`re going to question your mores (ph)!

This guy has built his own coffin! First he told the cops different lies about how he ended up down in that basement. Then he comes up with the concept, Oh, these must have been somehow connected to the drug industry because I had $100,000 in a knapsack, and they must have known and they must have come to try to steal my money. Meanwhile, he`s allegedly throwing a wallet at them.

GRACE: Sue, Sue? You totally blew the ending here. I was going to save that and just shoot that little torpedo at Kessler and Claypool. I guess you didn`t hear that part.

He then told police that maybe the intruders broke in to get the $100,000 in drug money, all right? There`s no evidence at all he had ever dealt drugs, knew nothing about drugs, didn`t have any drugs, no drug dog smelled any drugs, which they can do even after the drugs were taken out of the home.

Bottom line, there was no $100,000 and there were no drugs, Randy Kessler. So that`s his defense, I`m a dope dealer and they broke in, no forced entry, to get the money, Kessler?

RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s the silliest defense. It`s sort of like saying I`m going to call the police and report my marijuana missing. You know -- but it shows that he`s obviously not altogether there. But it`s a long stretch from being jealous of your wife, looking at her Facebook page, to cold-blooded murder. There`s a lot that the prosecution has to prove. There`s due process, and they have to prove it.

GRACE: OK, Kessler, instead of answering my question, you went off about the Constitution. Go ahead, Claypool.

BRIAN CLAYPOOL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Quick (ph) to convict. That`s the theme tonight. Where`s the evidence, baby? I don`t -- I don`t see anything other than this is a -- this is a disgruntled husband.

GRACE: OK, Mr. Claypool...

CLAYPOOL: Where -- where is -- where is the knife? Where`s the knife, Nancy?

GRACE: On this program, you do not refer to ladies as "baby." So I`m going to redirect my question to you and hope for a better answer. Brian Claypool, joining me out of LA -- all right, what about his defense that, Well, really, I`m a dope dealer and they home invaded my house -- no forced entry, I might add, Claypool -- because they wanted my dope money.

CLAYPOOL: Well, Nancy, it`s not out of the realm of possibility that this guy is desperate. He`s probably got a lot of debt. And it`s possible that he did do a drug deal. And these guys show up, he hasn`t given them the money, they show up at the house and they used his wife as a pawn to get to the money. I don`t see that as outside the realm of possibility.

GRACE: A pawn to get to the money. How about one of them holds her down while they get the money and then leave? What about that crazy idea, if they were really after dope money?

Hold on. I`m hearing in my eye -- hold on, Claypool. We`re heading out to the courthouse very quickly. I want to find out what`s the hold-up with this jury. With me, Beth Karas, legal correspondent, "In Session," at the courthouse, Michael Christian, senior field producer, "In Session," at the courthouse.

Michael Christian, this is what I want to know. How long have they been deliberating?

MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, SR. FIELD PRODUCER/LEGAL CORRESPONDENT "IN SESSION": They started this morning. So far, it`s been eight hours and 30 minutes, Nancy. Now, that includes...

GRACE: Eight hours...

CHRISTIAN: ... an hour-and-a-half of readback...

GRACE: ... and 30 minutes?

CHRISTIAN: ... inside the courtroom.

GRACE: All right, how long did they...

CHRISTIAN: Yes. So far, eight hours...

GRACE: ... get lunch, Michael?

CHRISTIAN: ... and 30 minutes.

GRACE: Michael, how long did they have for lunch?

CHRISTIAN: They brought it in and they ate -- they eat in the jury room, so we assume...

GRACE: So we don`t know that.

CHRISTIAN: ... they deliberate through that period. We just don`t know.

GRACE: OK, Michael Christian, quickly. She says, If I die, he did it. She dies. What`s the hold-up?

CHRISTIAN: Well, you know, they heard some testimony today that could have favored the prosecution. They asked for readbacks of the Reverend Neil Shory (ph), who said that Stacy was afraid that -- or Stacy -- Drew had asked Stacy to lie for him to the police. They also heard from Harry Smith (ph), her defense -- excuse me -- a divorce attorney, who said that Stacy told him that she wanted to see if she could get extra money because Drew had killed Kathleen.

GRACE: Beth, I don`t understand...

CHRISTIAN: So they heard some readbacks...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: I don`t understand the hold-up, Beth. Help me out.

BETH KARAS, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Well, you know, there`s a lot for the jury to go through. This is an entirely circumstantial case. And you know what it`s like. We`ve seen juries take days. Like, in Scott Peterson, it took them six days before they found him guilty. And you know, they don`t really know exactly how she died. They know the mechanism was drowning, but how did he do it? How did he get in the house? So they`ve got a lot to work through.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Welcome back. We are live in upscale Dearborn Heights, where this woman, a principal at a specialized school, 35-year-old mom, found dead in her home, multiple stab wounds. Her hubby says he hid in the basement when home intruders murdered her.

We`re also live in Illinois and verdict watch in the case of husband/cop Drew Peterson. And we are taking your call to Michael Christian and Beth Karas there.

Straight out to the lines. Virginia, Ohio. Hi, Virginia. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I just wanted to tell you how wonderful your kids are. They look just like their mama.

GRACE: I`m so blessed. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question was, I know that he threw the wallet at the man, but did he get the phone to call 911 or...

GRACE: That`s good. He`s the one that called 911, Virginia in Ohio. And what is your point?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I -- what was the wrong with the man? Was he afraid? Why didn`t he protect his wife? Who called 911? I mean, did he get the phone to call 911?

GRACE: Do you actually believe him, Virginia in Ohio? Because you`re -- it sounds to me -- not judging -- that you are digesting what he said and you`re thinking, Why did he throw the wallet, and who called 911? Do you really think he got drenched in her blood by performing CPR?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no. I think he`s very innocent -- I mean, he`s very guilty. He`s guilty, I feel, yes.

GRACE: There`s no way I believe this guy right now. Now, the defense attorneys are going to argue that he performed CPR on her. That`s how he got drenched with blood. But Virginia, I don`t believe his story that he hid in the basement, that home intruders came in and murdered his wife but let him live.

And when they asked what did the intruders look like, all he could say was they were brown men.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Welcome back. Man, what a night! Here we are in upscale Dearborn Heights, where this 35-year-old mother -- she`s a principal at a specialized school -- found dead, stabbed to death, in a pool of blood on her dining room floor. At the same time, we`re on a verdict watch in the case of husband/cop Drew Peterson, suspect in his third wife`s death. She`s found drowned in a bone-dry bathtub. Standing by, Michael Christian and Beth Karas.

But back to Dearborn Heights and a question from Deborah in New Mexico. Hi, Deborah. What`s your question?

Everybody, do you believe this guy? Do you really believe there was a home invasion and they murdered his wife and not him? Call me. I want to know!

Deborah, what`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had -- he said he saw two dark-skinned men and -- with masks on.

GRACE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I find it hard to believe. If they were pushing him in the basement, how would he get such a good look at them? And the size of the man, he would have been able to combat with them.

GRACE: I agree with you. And what is disturbing to me is -- let me go out to Dr. Bill Manion, New Jersey medical examiner joining me out of Philly tonight. Dr. Manion, if he had performed CPR on his wife, who sustained multiple stab wounds, would he have been drenched in blood, or would it have been blood transfers?

DR. BILL MANION, NEW JERSEY MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, there would be blood transfers. Presumably, if he stabbed her and hit any arteries, the blood would spurt out upon him and would leave a pattern on him also.

GRACE: Why was she face down, Manion? If he had been performing CPR, why was she still face down?

MANION: That`s a good point. It`s not a very good story. I haven`t heard one good point of the story yet. I haven`t -- I don`t believe one thing about this story so far. And he may have cuts on his own hands from stabbing her. She may have defensive wounds on her hands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess I`m in shock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was stabbed to death in her Dearborn Heights home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) 911 to report someone has broken into the family home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Dupree also told Corporal Barnes he fought his way up the stairs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Threw him down into the basement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does that...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: OK. Let me get this straight. He says that home invaders came into the home, they pushed him down the stairs to the basement where he hid after throwing his wallet at them to make him go away like he`s playing fetch with a dog. And he listens to his wife scream literally bloody murder, calling his name upstairs, as she`s stabbed to death. Then he comes up with a story that he`s not a long haul truck driver, he`s actually a dope dealer, and he had 100 grand, and they must have come in for that.

He`s drenched in his wife`s blood. No forced entry. What, did they come in like the Avon lady? Explain that to me.

At the same time, we are live in Illinois. Joining me is Beth Karas, also Michael Christian, there at the Drew Peterson murder trial, also taking your calls.

Alexis Weed, this whole story that he had come up with that his wife, the school principal and the mom was having an affair -- look, she`s a working mom. How much time does she have to have an affair, number one, just curious? But number, have you ever noticed, Alexis, when men are having an affair, they always try to act like the women`s having an affair?

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: She`s just working like mad and coming home and opening up a can and cooking supper, and they always act like the wife`s having an affair.

ALEXIS WEED, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Nancy. She probably didn`t have too much time. She was just given a new job as an assistant principal at one of the public schools there. So as far as we can tell, she was likely working that day and came home. And then he goes into the story, the husband goes into the story about how these two brown men forced her and him into the home when she arrived home from work. That was story number one when the responding officers arrived.

GRACE: Everybody, we`re taking your calls, Lucille in Florida. Hi, Lucille. What`s your question? Lucille, turn off your TV, love, what`s your question? OK. I can`t hear Lucille.

Let me go down to Chris in Florida. Hi, Chris, what`s your question?

CHRIS, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, Nancy. Have they -- and if not -- won`t they be able to check his clothing and body for blood castoff?

GRACE: You know what? You`re right. Trying to determine, though -- let me go to you, Pat Brown, in a beating death you often have throw back blood where you hit and you come up to hit again and the throw back goes around the room, and it can get on you, but what do you think they`d be looking for as far as blood patterns?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "ONLY THE TRUTH": Well, they`re going to be looking to see whether we have one man involved or there`s two other men involved. And then what are his injuries, because he should have -- she should have some specific ones. But there`s other red flag that are just crazy. One is anytime you have -- a couple gets attacked and the man survives perfectly healthy and the woman is dead, there`s a lie going on.

Secondly, why throw a wallet at the guys when you`ve got $100,000 sitting on the couch? What`s that going to do for him?

GRACE: And why murder the woman? If they`re worried about a witness, why not kill him, too? He`s the one that got a look at them. Why murder her, let him live? It just -- nothing is adding up with this story, do you believe him? Call us, I want to know what your defense of this guy would be.

Out to the lines, to Pat in North Carolina. What`s your question, Pat? I`ve got Lucille back.

All right, Lucille, second chance, what`s your question? OK, please do not put Lucille through again until she cuts off her TV.

OK, Pat, North Carolina, hi, Pat, what`s your question?

PAT, CALLER FROM NORTH CAROLINA: You`re shouting to me?

GRACE: Yes, dear. I`m talking to you. What`s your question?

PAT: Yes, I think he did stab her. I think he`s guilty, I think he stabbed her.

GRACE: I think he stabbed her, too. Did you have a question about Drew Peterson?

PAT: Yes, I want to know, how do they think that those 12 jurors have never heard of Stacy Peterson being gone?

GRACE: You know, Pat in North Carolina, I`ve got the same question.

Let`s go out to Michael Christian and Beth Karas, standing by live there at the courthouse in Illinois.

Beth Karas, how did they get a jury that has never heard of Drew Peterson and Stacy Peterson, his fourth wife -- I mean, Beth, is there anyway, please say yes, although my head is saying no, my heart is saying yes. Did the jury hear that he tried to give away wife number four`s clothes to a girl online?

BETH KARAS, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, IN SESSION: The jury did not hear that but you`re not going to believe this, the jury wasn`t voir dired, they weren`t questioned on what they knew about the missing fourth wife. So we don`t know what they know, they didn`t ask them.

GRACE: OK. Beth, you`re not only reporting on the case, you were a practicing felony prosecutor for many years.

Beth, is that in effect assistance of counsel? I mean they`ve got Pat in North Carolina, she`s several states away, she knows about Stacy Peterson, I know about Stacy Peterson, his wife number four -- let`s see a shot of him with Stacy Peterson, Dana, please.

I mean, everybody knows she went missing and has never been seen again and wife number three was dug up, exhumed and re-autopsied, and determined to be a murder victim. Homicide. There`s wife number four, looks like his daughter, OK, I`m embarrassed for him. So they were never asked if they knew about Stacy Peterson.

KARAS: No. The defense didn`t ask and the state didn`t do an extensive voir dire, and you know, maybe they want to just leave it alone, let the defense ask, we don`t care if jurors know about Stacy. The defense didn`t probe. I was in there, I heard no probing questions about Stacy.

GRACE: Well, you know, it`s like this, Beth Karas. When you got a tiger by the tail, you can`t hold on and you can`t let go. So the state probably didn`t know whether they should bring it up or not, so they let it lay.

All right, in answer to your question, Pat in North Carolina, the jury was never asked.

And very quickly in a nutshell, Beth Karas, Michael Christian was telling me the jury asked for some read back of testimony. What was that that they wanted?

KARAS: Michael?

GRACE: Beth.

KARAS: They wanted to hear -- I`m sorry, I thought it was for Michael. They wanted to hear a pastor`s testimony about what Stacy said about the night that Savio was killed. So this is -- these are the words of the missing wife who one could argue --

GRACE: And what did she say?

KARAS: -- drove Drew Peterson away from his third wife.

(CROSSTALK)

KARAS: She said she woke up and her husband wasn`t in bed, and she looked for her husband, he wasn`t in bed. This is the night Savio died. He came home a few hours later in the early morning hours, dressed in dark clothes, with a bag of women`s clothes, he put in the washing machine, he took his own clothes off, put them in the washing machine. She looked in the washing machine and those women`s clothes were not her own, and then he said to her, the police are going to want to talk to you and they coached her for a couple of hours on what to say.

She admitted that she lied to the police about his whereabouts. And they also heard from the divorce attorney Stacy consulted two or three days before she disappeared. And she said basically, if I tell police how he killed Kathy, do you think I can get more money in the divorce?

GRACE: OK. Now hold on. I want to go back to Michael Christian.

Michael Christian, I started this whole thing off by asking you, what`s the holdup? Now, Michael, based on the read back evidence that Beth Karas just told me about, what do you think? And don`t tell me nobody knows, OK, because we know nobody knows. But from your judging the jury and looking at them, what is the holdup?

MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, SENIOR FIELD PRODUCER, "IN SESSION": Well, it`s interesting, Nancy. You know, Harry Smith`s testimony about Stacy saying, you know, that -- could she get more money if she told that Drew killed Kathy. That`s devastating for the defense. Devastating. And actually Harry Smith was a defense witness. The defense blundered into that and that was a huge coup for the prosecution even though they call Harry Smith.

Now it`s interesting because when they heard the read back today, they got it from a court reporter reading it back, so maybe it didn`t seem quite as devastating on the read back.

GRACE: We are in a verdict watch, standing by at that Illinois courthouse. Will a jury come back with a verdict? They`ve been out for hours in the case of Drew Peterson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When police rushed to the scene to find 35-year-old Nytia Dupree dead, stabbed several times.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Schoolteacher and mother of a 16-year-old died in her home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I`m in shock. I just can`t believe that this happened.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Nytia`s husband called 911 and told them a home invader had stabbed his wife.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Cops also reportedly claim --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are live and taking your calls on both stories. Special guest joining me right now, Althea Wheeler. This is the victim`s friend, a very dear friend of Nytia Dupree.

Miss Wheeler, thank you for being with us. What do you make of the husband`s story?

ATHEA WHEELER, GOOD FRIEND OF MURDERED WIFE, NYTIA DUPREE: I don`t know what to make of it. I`m just still in disbelief because I just actually found out today.

GRACE: I`m stunned at his story that he tried to tell cops that they must have broken into his home to get 100 grand because he was a dope dealer. That`s complete B.S.

WHEELER: Yes, I wouldn`t be able to speak to that not knowing anything, you know, about that, but I`m sure that justice will prevail so.

GRACE: What do you make of their relationship? She seemed so devoted to her teen son.

WHEELER: Definitely devoted to her son. Never, you know, talked to me, of course, about any problems that she was having, you know, with her -- with her marriage. But Nytia was just a very happy -- you know, in general, just a very happy individual. So, you know, if there were, you know, some problems, you know, I`d of course never known anything about any problems existing between her and her husband.

GRACE: You know I noticed that the son, the teen son tweeted the night before that he was, quote, "staying away from dad," who was in rage mode. Isn`t that what he said, Clark Goldband?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: He said, he`s definitely leaving my dad alone, and I`ve got it right here, someone`s stressed out. He`s on rage mode.

GRACE: Athea, did you ever known him to be in a rage before? Had she every mentioned anything like that?

WHEELER: No. No. I don`t know.

GRACE: Right now out to Caryn Stark, psychologist joining out of -- us out of New York.

Dr. Stark, thank you for being with us. With -- his own son stating that he was in rage mode and you and I and Pat Brown and the defense attorneys know that when you have multiple stabbings like this, it`s someone that`s in close contact, physical contact with you, it`s often called a sweetheart murder because there`s a relationship between the killer and the victim with multiple stab wound death.

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: And think about it, Nancy. You could shoot somebody from a distance. But when you`re actually stabbing somebody over and over again, you`re looking at them, you`re feeling what`s going on, it`s extremely intimate. So this was a man who seem to have not only rage but some kind of a bruised ego. Because he just struck out and kept on going.

GRACE: You know, interesting, Caryn Stark, he went on and on and on about her having an affair, have you ever noticed that men go on and on and on and on about the wife having an affair when they`re the ones having the affair?

STARK: Well, that`s like a reaction formation, Nancy. That means that you`re accusing the person of something that you yourself are doing, and it`s an easy psychological thing to do to get yourself out of the situation.

GRACE: What did you call it?

STARK: A reaction formation.

GRACE: Reaction formation. OK, you know what, I`m going to leave that to you. You`re the shrink.

OK, Lisa Lockwood, former police detective author of "Undercover Angel." Weigh in, Lisa.

LISA LOCKWOOD, FORMER POLICE DETECTIVE, AUTHOR, "UNDERCOVER ANGEL": You know what, this isn`t rocket science. This individual reeks deception from the very beginning, from the word go, the night before he`s in a rage, an hour before the women`s murder. The son is there trying to find out if mom is having an affair on Facebook. One hour later she`s dead. As I said before, not rocket science, we know what happened.

GRACE: And when is the jury going to make of it?

Unleash the lawyers, Sue Moss, Brian Claypool, Randy Kessler.

Susan Moss, when the jury hears his defense that he threw his wallet and the intruders ran and hid in the basement and let his wife fend for herself, I convict him on that right there.

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & CHILD ADVOCATE: Absolutely. And what a (INAUDIBLE), that the very day before that happened he was enraged and that one hour before the murder, he calls up his son, has his son come home from school, demands that his son get him on the computer and show him that mom`s two Facebook pages to see if she changed her relationship status and the kid left his father also in rage.

That`s motive. That shows exactly why this was done, when this was done and it would also explain how it was done.

GRACE: Kessler?

RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, thank goodness we don`t try people on sound bites on national TV. We`re going to have due process, we`ve got to prove their case. There are no eyewitnesses, there`s nobody there except for him to say what happened. You`ve got to have somebody there, you don`t have eyewitnesses and you know what, there`s a long way to go from prosecution to guilty.

GRACE: Why don`t you just read out of a criminal procedure book? All right?

KESSLER: OK.

GRACE: Because that speech is better saved for a jury because we are not in a courtroom tonight.

Claypool, weigh in.

BRIAN CLAYPOOL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Miss Grace, is that a little bit better?

GRACE: Yes. A little bit.

CLAYPOOL: First of all -- first of all, why would he call 911 in the first place? He didn`t have to call 911, he could have just taken care of the body and let it go.

GRACE: Well, you know, his son might have had some questions when he came home and found his mom dead in the living room?

CLAYPOOL: Well, we also have an issue with Miranda rights. Were they read? Because the cops showed up within a minute after the 911 call. Now they`ve got this big story, this big admission about what happened. Were his Miranda rights read? Number two. Number three, the million-dollar question here is where is the knife? He didn`t have time to run -- he didn`t have time to run away, Nancy, so the knife has got to either be in that apartment, that house, or close by. I want to know where the knife is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We are back and taking your calls, juggling two cases. Out to Peggy in Alabama, hi, Peggy, what`s your question, dear?

PEGGY, CALLER FROM ALABAMA: Hi, Nancy. I wanted to ask you how old your kids are now.

GRACE: They`re so great. They`re 4 1/2, and I`m trying to figure out what to do for their birthday. All I know is they want a pinata, Peggy.

PEGGY: What`s their names? I never can remember.

GRACE: John David and Lucy, the loves of my life.

PEGGY: I imagine so.

GRACE: I only wish I had them 10 years ago, except then they`d be getting ready to go to college right now. So what`s your question, my love?

PEGGY: I wanted to ask you. In your opinion, do you think (INAUDIBLE)?

GRACE: Do I think what?

PEGGY: That Drew Peterson is guilty of killing his wife?

GRACE: Peggy. My only --

(LAUGHTER)

GRACE: My only question, the only thing I don`t know, is where he hid Stacy Peterson`s body. That`s my big question tonight.

Look, he was rifling through wife number three`s pocketbook just moments after he found her body. He washed her clothes that night. He killed the witness, wife number four. Yes, I think he killed wife number three, Miss Savio. I agree with her family. There`s no doubt in my mind, Peggy in Alabama.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A husband reports a home invasion.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And though he says he could hear his wife screaming, he stayed down --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Vanessa, North Carolina, what`s your question, dear?

VANESSA, CALLER FROM NORTH CAROLINA: Hi, Nancy. I was wondering if indeed there was any evidence that intruders did take his wallet?

GRACE: Is there any evidence? I`m going to go out to Alisa Zee, joining me from Total News Source there in Michigan. Any evidence that his wallet had actually been stolen?

ALISA ZEE, NEWS DIRECTOR, TOTAL SOURCE NEWS: Nancy, police are not saying exactly yet what they have recovered. However, what they do have in hand was obviously enough because this man has been charged with first-degree murder.

GRACE: And then the judge told him the parameters of a potential sentence being life without parole and he goes, do you understand? He goes, no, what does that mean?

I`ve got news for you. It means life forever. You`re not getting out, unless you go ahead and cut a deal with the state. I don`t think that`s going to happen.

Paul, Georgia. Hi, Paul, what`s your question? Carl, Georgia. Hi, sorry. Hi, Carl, what`s your question?

CARL, CALLER FROM GEORGIA: Hey, Nancy, how you doing?

GRACE: I`m good.

CARL: I watch your show every night. I`m finally able to get through. You know, my question is, do you actually -- do you actually think that they was going through a divorce and do you actually think -- do you actually think that the guy was -- do you actually think he was going through a jealous rage and killed her, or do you think -- were they going through a divorce or anything?

GRACE: OK, Carl in Georgia, I know that she changed her Facebook status to "in a relationship." I know her son put out another tweet going, I`ve got to -- I talked to my parents last night. I`ve got to accept what`s happening. Which it sounds like a divorce was in the works. And come on, Carl in Georgia, can you blame her? Even his story that he hid in the basement?

Come on, why didn`t he man up and fight for his wife? OK, she married down. Did he commit murder? The defense attorney says no. I say yes.

And very quickly, very quickly, Beth Karas, the jury has gone home now, right?

KARAS: Yes, they have. They have gone home, not to a hotel.

GRACE: And we`re going to be live tomorrow, everybody.

Beth, yes-no, are they sequestered?

KARAS: No, they are not, at least not for tonight. Doesn`t mean they won`t be tomorrow.

GRACE: Everybody, let`s stop and remember Army Private First Class Doug Cordo, 20, Kingston, New York. Bronze Heart, Purple Heart. Fast cars, he loved them. He loved snow boarding, video games. Leaves behind mom Tracy, stepfather Chris.

Doug Cordo, American hero.

Thanks for being with us, everybody. Before I sign off, I know it`s tomorrow but happy birthday, Caryn Stark.

Dr. Drew coming up next, everybody. See you tomorrow night. Until then, good night, friend.

END