Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Alleged perv arrested in school girl Hania Aguilar kidnap-murder; Beautiful mom stabbed dead giving money to lady panhandler

Episode Date: December 10, 2018

The man charged with kidnapping Hania Aguilar from her Lumberton, North Carolina, home, raping the 13-year-old girl and leaving her body in a pond a few mile away was arrested while he was already in jail for an attempted carjacking. Nancy Grace looks at the case against 34-year-old Michael Ray McLellan. Her expert panel includes Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics expert, Kathleen Murphy, a North Carolina family and divorce lawyer, Dr. Brian Russell, a psychologist and lawyer, and reporter Robyn Walensky. Nancy is also joined by Atlanta juvenile judge & lawyer Ashley Willcott and reporter John Lemley to discuss the murder of a woman who was stabbed by a panhandler who she gave $10 on a Baltimore street. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Crimestopopshere.com Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. They were just turning the truck on right now. She was about to leave to take the kids to go to school. And some black male just came and stole the truck, left in the truck with a child in the car also. What's their name? Ask them what's their address. You are hearing the 911 call reporting that little Hania Aguilar was missing in incredible and

bizarre circumstances. The little girl goes right outside her home to get into the car to get driven to school. And in that short space of time, some perv is standing by, dressed all in black like a ninja and a yellow bandana covering his head and or face.

And takes the little girl. Takes her. Seven o'clock in the morning. How many times have I sent my twins out to go get in the car? Go get in the car. I'll be right there. That's exactly what happened here. And now Hania is gone.

In the last hours, her body has been identified in a body of water. And now, breaking news in the search for Hania Aguilar, a perp, has been arrested. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Straight out to CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Robin Walensky, author of Beautiful Life, the CSI behind Casey Anthony trial. Robin Walensky, just start with the perp.

Who is he? How was he found? And where was he arrested? Okay. Well, his name, Nancy, is Michael McClellan. He is 34 years old, and he has an arrest record, the length of which we're going to run out of paper and have to cut down all the trees, because he, in this case, has been charged with 10 felonies. That's right, 10 felonies, concealment of death, first-degree

kidnapping, first-degree murder, forcible rape, and so on and so on. And in an ironic twist, he was already in police custody. This incident happened on November 5th with the 13-year-old, but on November 13th, he was locked up on another matter for a different arrest warrant from another case. I wonder what that other arrest warrant was. Hey guys, take a listen to WABC-TV's Gloria Rodriguez. Breaking news happening now, an arrest in the kidnapping and murder of 13-year-old Hania Aguilar. She's the girl snatched from her home in Lumberton in early November. It was an all-out search for her that sadly ended with her body being found in a body of water not far from where she disappeared. This is the man now charged. He is 34-year-old Michael Ray McClellan.

The list of charges is long, including first-degree murder, rape, kidnapping, and concealment of death. The FBI telling us when the body was found that they had no persons of interest. However, McClellan has been in custody on other charges since mid-November. McClellan was also the subject of Internet rumors when Aguilar's body was discovered. But the FBI and authorities in Lumberton were adamant that they had no suspect and the community needed to remain on alert. The FBI tells us today that the case at the time, they say McClellan was arrested in the Aguilar case late Friday night and he had not confessed and they continue to gather

evidence. Police do believe McClellan forced Hania into an SUV while she was warming up her family's car to go to school. Details on how Hania was murdered have not been released. The news of the arrest comes on the same day that Hanya is being laid to rest in Lumberton at a funeral happening today at Lumberton High School. You are hearing our friend Gloria Rodriguez reporting. Back to Robin Walensky, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. You know, I'm very curious, Robin Walensky, what the other charge is that he was being held on. This goes down November 5. He's arrested on another charge November 13. And I'm going to go to Dr. Brian Russell. Dr. Brian

Russell, psychologist, lawyer, host of I.D.'s hit series, Fatal Vows. Dr. Brian, now you may know the ins and out of the human mind, but I can tell you anecdotally, there are a couple of type of offenders that can't stop what they do. Surprisingly, one is peeping Tom. They just can't stop. It's something inside of them. That's where they get joy. Second, sex offenses. And third, burglars.

In this case, sex offense. I guarantee you this is not his first offense. Dr. Bryan, why? I agree with you. The only thing that I would say differently is I would replace the word can't with the word won't. These people are not suffering from some kind of disability whereby they cannot control themselves. These people are entitled narcissists who will not control themselves and will satisfy whatever desires they have, regardless of who gets hurt. So people need to understand that. We're talking about evil people, not ill people here. And I think you agree with that, probably. What I would point out here is that we've got a guy who was convicted in 2007 of assault with a deadly weapon, sat in prison for that

until 2016, already had committed another crime, felony breaking and entering, in 2017. So he had been out about a year and he's already committing another felony. And so do we look at him and go, okay, this is a guy who is not about to abide by the law and live in society peacefully under the rule of law. We got to put him away for a long time. No, we lock him up for about one year and he's back out again to do this in 2018. That's our problem. We don't learn what people tell us. He told us what he was. He's somebody who had no intention of following the law and we let him, we had him, we had him. This has happened so many times when you and I talk about

these cases, we had him and we let him loose on Hannah Aguiar and whoever else he's hurt. And I guarantee you, Dr. Bryan, I guarantee you there are others. To Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family lawyer, when I hear this family begging for help and the mom crying, it breaks my heart, especially knowing as Dr. Brian Russell from Investigation Discovery, Fatal Vows, just said, we had him. But yet every time I hear like a symposium or so-called experts on TV, they're talking about what's wrong with the prison system. We keep people behind bars and how wrong it is. This guy should have been locked up, the key thrown away. Instead, Hanya's dead.

It's irreversible. Irreversible. The pain will never go away for her family. Her life is cut short because of this guy and him getting out. Nancy, I could not agree more with Dr. Brian Russell. I mean, he put the words right in my mouth. I have a question, though, Nancy. How far away did this creature live from where Hanya lived? I'm very curious about that. And I want to know, was it a crime of opportunity? Was he following her? Did he know what the family's history was in the morning or their procedures in the morning. What is his backstory as it relates to that

neighborhood? You know, what do we know about that? Robin Walensky, Crime Online investigative reporter. What do we know? You know, I'm not sure where he was living, but it's pretty crystal clear that he was lurking and knew the habits because the crime that took place before this crime with the 13-year-old, the crime on October 15th, why he was being held, is that he pointed a gun at another woman in that area and attempted to steal her car and money. So it's an escalation. And he was lurking in that area. Where he was living, I'm not exactly sure. There is a large amount of both private and public land that we've been searching since November the 5th.

And while law enforcement was making a search on Wiregrass Road, we came upon the area where we found Anya. The FBI now says a neighbor called 911 once she saw Anya being forced into that truck by a man wearing a yellow bandana. The girl's mother not quite ready to talk to media today, but during a press conference, the FBI shared this message from her to her daughter and her kidnapper quote. I just want my daughter back with me. I'm here waiting for you. I love you and only care about you. And I don't have anything against whoever did this to you. I just want you back. You are hearing WTVD-TV Durham reporter Morgan Norwood

reporting and FBI agent Andy DeLaRocha giving the message from Hania's mother. That message was not meant to be. I want you home. My arms are open. I want you home. My arms are open. I miss you. Hania's body was found. This little girl was kidnapped just outside the door of her own home.

As she got into the car to go to school, 7 o'clock in the morning. To forensics expert, Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet, death investigator Joseph Scott Morgan. Joe Scott, I want to talk to you about how they arrested this guy. For those of you just joining us, in the last hours, a perp has been arrested. He's being held without bond and will be making a first court appearance at any moment. McClellan name surfaced in online rumors as a suspect within just hours after Hania's little body battered and abused was found, but authorities did not confirm any connection until the last hours. You know, pictures of Hania and colorful flowers surrounding the stage of her funeral service, purple balloons to honor her favorite color, everywhere you look in that county are memories of Hanya, and it is so painful. The father was out of the country

and could not even attend his daughter's funeral. To Joseph Scott Morgan, all I can do now is look look for justice. How are we going to get a true verdict? How? Tell me. Well, the police have spoken a mouthful of the prosecutor because they've charged this guy with first degree murder, which means that this is an act that is premeditated. They have an indication that he had planned, that he had schemed, and I suspect stalked her for some period of time. And he went with purpose, Nancy. He stole this vehicle and then, you know, took her along on this ride to her death. Another key here, one of the things he's been charged with is concealment of a death. And that means that he specifically took her body. And keep in mind, the body was three miles away from the abandoned vehicle that had been found earlier.

And she was found in a small body of water. They're not calling it a pond. They're just calling it a small body of water. And it was out of view. As a matter of fact, if you remember, the searchers had said we couldn't even find. We, you know, on first blush, we didn't even know there was a little body of water down there and they found her floating. So does that give us an indication that he was trying to put her body in that water in order to try to destroy evidence?

At the end of the day, you look at this guy and I think that what is going to come out is that he is a real real monster monster is one way to put it now i'm trying to figure out speaking of him being a monster as to what kind of person is out waiting at seven o'clock in the morning to abduct a little girl rape sodomizedomize, murder her, hide her body underwater, ripping her away from her family. It makes me just want to run to the twins right now. Whenever I hear a story like this, I want to go stare in their window at school

or go check and make sure they're in bed at night. But who's doing that? And, you know, I was once talking to a strict vegetarian, and they said, just think about it. When you're walking along and you see a fuzzy little rabbit pop by, is your first instinct to attack it and kill it and eat it? As opposed to when you see an apple on the tree, you almost instinctively want to just go pick the apple and eat it. So anyway, I was thinking about that as it relates to this case. Hold it. Wait for it.

Let me make the connection. Who is it? Dr. Brian Russell, you're the shrink that when I see a little girl, I think, oh, look at her hair. Look at the little braid. She's so cute. Look at her little outfit. Or isn't she precious? Or look at all the books. Or look at her hair. Look at the little brace. She's so cute. Look at her little outfit or isn't she precious or look at all the books or look at her soccer outfit or whatever. She's so this or

that. I don't think, oh, let me stuff her in the back seat and murder her at seven o'clock in the morning or anytime. Dr. Brian Russell, whether he had planned it or whether it was a spur of the moment crime, a crime of opportunity, still, who thinks that? As we so often have discussed over the years, totally sociopathic, totally narcissistic, totally entitled to feeling, totally entitled to take what they want. And this is, you got to think this is, this is not somebody who is interested in getting their, you know, sexual needs met by going out and actually getting a job and being a presentable, respectable person and finding somebody who's voluntarily interested in dating them. Oh, that's way too hard.

What's easy is to go after some kid. And one thing I want to point out here is if you look at the charges, it looks like they have charged him both with forcible rape and statutory rape. And what that indicates to me is that they anticipate that he is going to at least say in his defense that initially this thing started as some kind of voluntary thing, which there is no such thing when the person is as young as Hannett, but that's going to be the defense initially. And that everything just got out of control. Right. Kathleen Murphy, Dr. Brian Russell is exactly correct. That's why his fatal vows are such a hit. Kathleen,

yeah, they're going to claim since DNA, according to Joseph Scott Morgan, and I think Joe Scott is correct. Says DNA is going to nail him. DNA on and in the child's body, probably sperm, of course, maybe touch DNA, but it's been submerged in water, so probably sperm. Back up, it was consensual. Right, Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family lawyer. Like at 7 a.m., she goes, okay, mom, I'm going to go get in the car. Hurry up, hurry up. I got to get to school. She goes out to the car and then she says, oh, I'm going to go on a consensual date with this much older guy who's just wandering through my neighborhood. Right. Let me be on that jury, Nancy. Let me be on that jury. And i'm so thoroughly disgusted whoa jackie just reminded me he's

34 years old kathleen murphy please let me be on that jury nancy this is in my neighborhood please let me be on that jury let me be on that jury i am outraged that he was out of prison. I am outraged that this child, I have a 12 year old. And why do we keep doing it? Yeah. Robin Walensky, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, author of Beautiful Life, CSI Behind Casey Anthony Trial. Robin, does anybody, I'm not tired of it. I'll keep screaming it from the mountaintop. So do we ever notice we keep saying, why was he out of jail? Everybody moans and cries and whines about it. But apparently nobody in our government's listening because it keeps happening. Right, because there's all this boo-hoo-hoo and all this sympathy.

And he's going to be rehabilitated, which he's never going to be rehabilitated. Because the guy, simply put, has no moral compass. He has no moral compass. And so you cannot rehabilitate him because every time he gets out— You know what, Robin Walensky? You're so prim and proper. You say he has no moral compass. You know what I say?

He's the devil. The devil. He is evil, pure evil. I'm pretty sure they have a death penalty in that jurisdiction, and I certainly hope that the prosecutor is going to put that out there and seek the death penalty. I know a lot of you disagree with me. That's okay. Let a jury decide. But this is heinous as the child is waiting to go to school in the morning. Mom and auntie right inside the home. I mean, I thought when my fiance was murdered, I knew all about grief. But now that I have my children, there could be nothing like the pain of losing a child.

Right now, our prayers are with Hania Aguilar's family. Hi, Nancy Grace here. Have you ever Googled yourself, your neighbors, somebody at work, a crush? 57% of Americans admit to keeping an eye on their own online reputation. 46% admit to using the internet to look up somebody from their past. But Google and Facebook, the tip of the iceberg when it comes to finding personal information. There's an innovative new website called Truthfinder. It's now revealing the full scoop on millions of Americans. Truthfinder can search through hundreds of millions of public records in a matter of minutes. Members can literally begin searching in seconds for sensitive data like criminal, traffic, arrest records. Before you

bring someone new into your life and around the people you care for, your children, consider using Truthfinder. What you find may astound you. Go to truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy right away to start searching. Truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy. Truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy. Find the truth. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Police say 52-year-old Jacqueline Smith was stabbed to death after rolling down her car window to give a woman money.

This was a good Samaritan. She saw an individual that was holding a sign who appeared to be down on her luck. Police say it was just after midnight Sunday. Smith was with two relatives. The family had attended a gathering in the area. They stopped their car after noticing a woman holding what appeared to be a baby, as well as a sign that read, Please help me feed my baby. Police say Smith gave the woman money. Then a man appeared, first thanking Smith, then lunging for her wallet. That's when the suspect approached and fatally stabbed her.

You are hearing the very latest on a Good Samaritan stabbed dead. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Straight out to John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. John, it's almost too much for me to take in. What happened? Well, this was the end of what had otherwise been just a perfect evening with family. Both Keith and Jacqueline Smith had been dancing and having a really great time with their family at an American Legion hall on Madison Street in Baltimore. They had been celebrating with their daughter, Siobhan, her 28th birthday. The couple were on their way home from the gathering, as we've heard,

around 1230 in the morning when they see a woman holding what appeared to be a baby, an infant, and a cardboard sign that read, please help me feed my baby. Keith says he's never big on slowing down or getting out of the car in certain neighborhoods. But his wife is a different story. She has had the most generous spirit, and she rolled down her passenger side window to give some money to the woman. This is when a man comes out of nowhere, comes up to the car pretending to thank her for the generosity. And just a moment later, he's trying to steal her wallet,

her pocketbook and necklace. And that's when he stabs Jacqueline in the chest. Oh, my stars. I just, I'm so overwhelmed. Her husband, Kevin, rushes her to the hospital, but even though she got there so quickly, she did not live. At this hour, police are still looking for the two responsible. To Joseph Scott Morgan joining me, as well as Dr. Brian Russell, psychologist, lawyer, host of Investigation Discoveries, Fatal Vows, Ashley Wilcott with me as well. Judge, lawyer, you can find her at ashleywilcott.com. To Dr. Brian Russell.

Dr. Russell, what a ruse. I can remember as a prosecutor, there was a hangout I would stop at a lot of times after being on the street or being in court for long stop at a lot of times after being on the street or being in court for long hours that a lot of prosecutors and cops would go to. And out in the parking lot, there was a lady with a little bitty child that couldn't have been over two years old. And she asked me for money. Well, I had practically nothing as a prosecutor. I had to work two night jobs as it was. But I took the cash that I had. I gave it all to her. The next night, she says she needed a ticket to get home, a bus ticket to get home. I'm like,

sure. I'll give you everything I got. All right. The next night, the woman comes up to me and gives me the same story with the baby and says she needs a bus ticket to get home. I said, lady, you took all my money last night and you are nowhere near the Greyhound bus station. So let me let me give you a look at this. And I held up my badge. I said, I'm calling DFAX right now. And I did. I certainly did. Dragging that little baby around, scamming money out in a parking lot at night.

I mean, I was working late. It had to be 839 o'clock. It was working late. It had to be 8.30, 9 o'clock. It was pitch dark. Using a baby to scam, to start with, much less killing your victim. But let's just start with using the baby, Dr. Brian Russell. You're the shrink. Yeah, I think for most people listening, there's something particularly evil, particularly sociopathic about this kind of a ruse for multiple reasons. Not only because it involves the use of a child, but it involves playing upon the best

of somebody else's human nature. And not only that, the fact that we're talking about this now and it's news, while it is protective and helpful for people to see that there are better ways to go about charity than rolling down your window and handing money to people on the street. But it also does inhibit people from being generous because some people

hear this and go, yeah, you know, these people are criminals and they're not really needy. And some of them are. So for all of these reasons, it's just a particularly heinous act. You know, the other night I went in, why was I at, I still call it Eckert's, but I think it's a Rite Aid. Why was I there? What was I getting? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Prescriptions from my mom. So I go in and there's a guy sitting on the sidewalk outside. He said, hey, hey, hey, can you buy me some trail mix? I'm like, sure. And I had this on my mind. So I get him a bunch of packs of trail mix. When I came out, I basically just threw it at him. And he looked at me like, what? I'm like, I'm sorry, man.

I am not getting close to you. I'm going to give you, I'm not going to get close to you. Because I had this lady on my mind to Joseph Scott Morgan, the ruse that was used and the mortal wounds that were sustained after weigh in. Yeah. Did you see how quickly she died? They transported her from the scene to the hospital. And the reason this happened is that she was stabbed in the torso. This is a very up personal, I mean, up close, very personal event. There's more than likely he nicked a major,

a major vessel, or maybe even directly into the heart. She had no chance of living. And that's because she let her defenses down. I'll tell you what, I preach to my wife all the time about this because I'm so callous. I've seen so many things on the street, and she's got a big, open, warm heart. She wants to give everybody and their brother change. And I tell her this is dangerous to do. I'm of the mind that you seek somebody out that needs help as opposed to allowing somebody to seek you out. And you can just be suckered in by this. And unfortunately, that's what happened to this poor woman.

Well, I mean, not helping those in need goes against everything that I believe in. And so it's very hard for me when I, which is rare that I have any money on me, but when I do have money on me, not to try and help somebody. Take a listen to this. Police say the man and woman ran from the scene. Smith died a short time later at a nearby hospital. Tonight, investigators warning other drivers and asking for help solving the case. Maybe you heard something.

Maybe you saw something, whether it was in the front of your house, the rear of your house. You know, Chase Street is a busy thoroughfare, even around 12, 1230 in the evening. Police described the suspect as a man about 30 years old, standing approximately six feet tall with a goatee. Anyone with any information on this case is asked to call police. The last night of Jacqueline Smith's life, she and her husband danced to their wedding song at a party. She was just everything to me, my everything. We call each other soulmates. Hours later, the 52-year-old was murdered on this East Baltimore block near La Trobe Homes. Snatched a necklace before I knew it, and the girl snatched a little pocketbook from the seat, and they both ran. I jumped out the car to run, but I heard my wife screaming,

so I came back to the car. Oh, my stars, that husband, what he is going through. You are hearing our friends at WBFF-TV, Alexa Ashwell and Devin Berlotta reporting on this. John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, what do you know about the ruse they used that they had a baby with them? Well, Nancy, Jacqueline was the type of person that even if there hadn't have been an infant or what appeared to be an infant in the woman's arms, she would have been more than glad to help this woman anyway. But add the factor of that what appeared to be an infant in her arms, and that just broke Jacqueline's heart. She had to help this woman. Keith says,

though, that once the couple started moving around, he is pretty sure that that was simply a doll or something that it was not a real baby that was used to lure them in. And Nancy, listen to this. We've heard that the pair ran away as soon as the stabbing occurred. But Keith says that the woman actually turned. She paused for a moment long enough to say something. The woman, the one that had prayed on Jacqueline's generous spirit, actually said, God bless you after the man stabbed Jacqueline. Ashley Wolcott, I mean, I don't even know how to respond to this woman trying to help someone and being stabbed dead.

I am heartbroken for her husband, for her family, first and foremost. I am in no way blaming the victim when I say what I'm about to say. But I agree with Joe Scott Morgan, and that is you need to pick the people you're going to help. And if you want to help someone who's on the street, a lot aren't going to hurt you or not. They actually need help. But do it safely in daylight hours when there are lots of people around, when everyone can see you. And the other thing I'm going to say, and again, no blaming the victim. This is unacceptable, horrific, killing someone who is a good Samaritan.

But if anyone tries to take your purse, your necklace while you're sitting in a car, give it to them. Do whatever you have to do. That's stuff. It doesn't matter. Pass it over. Doesn't excuse this horrific murder. You know, I just, I think in that moment, Jacqueline, the victim, Jacqueline Smith, didn't think of any of that. She was just trying to help. I want you to hear our friends at WJZ-TV. It's Devin Berlotta. Listen. Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuttle says this crime was likely premeditated and the pair was working together. We also want to caution the public about engaging with panhandlers. Smith, while hoping for their arrest, is now left grieving the loss of his beloved wife. For anybody that's in

Baltimore, be careful when we see these panhandlers out and getting close proximity to your car. OF HIS BELOVED WIFE. FOR ANYBODY THAT'S IN BALTIMORE, BE CAREFUL WHEN WE SEE THESE PANHANDLERS OUT AND GET IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO YOUR CAR. THE LAST THING I THOUGHT, THAT THEY WERE GOING TO TAKE MY WIFE'S LIFE. SO NOW I GOT TO LIVE WITH THAT. I GOT TO LIVE WITH THAT EVERY DAY. WE'RE GOING TO LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED WITH RESPECT TO THIS CASE. INTERIM POLICE COMMISSIONER GARY TUCKLE SAYS THIS CRON WAS LIKELY PRE-MEDITATED AND THE PAIR WAS WORKING TOGETHER.

THEY'RE USING THIS ROUGE AS PANHANDLERS TO GET THE ATTENTION OF THEIR WOULD-BE VICTIM. WAS WORKING TOGETHER. SOT they're using this ruse as panhandlers to get the attention of their would be victim. We also want to caution the public about engaging with panhandlers. POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR A BLACK WOMAN IN HER 20S, MEDIUM BUILD AND ABOUT 5 FEET TALL, A POSSIBLE DRUG USER WEARING A LONG BROWN COAT AND MAY HAVE A BABY. AND THEY'RE LOOKING FOR A BLACK MALE IN HIS 30S, 5'10", AVERAGE BUILD WITH A GOATEE AND WEARING A BLACK HOODIE. brown coat and may have a baby and they're looking for a black male in his 30s 5 foot 10 average build with a goatee and wearing a black hoodie Smith while hoping for their arrest is now left grieving the loss of his beloved wife for anybody that's in Baltimore be careful when we see these panhandlers out and getting close proximity to your car because like me I'm from Baltimore the last thing I thought that they were going to take my wife's life so now I

gotta live with that you're hearing to live with that every day. You're hearing the husband of the so-called Good Samaritan, Jacqueline Smith, dead after being stabbed in the chest. Her husband, Kevin, was driving her home from dinner with their daughter. Jacqueline asked him to stop when she saw a lady panhandler holding a baby in her arms. She, Smith, Jacqueline rolled down her window to give money to the woman begging for help, and then suddenly out of nowhere, a man appears from the side and stabs Jacqueline over and over in the chest. Kevin raced Jacqueline to the hospital immediately, but she died from her injuries. Police now looking for the pair of panhandlers responsible. Joining me, John Limley, CrimeOnline.com, investigative

reporter, Ashley Wilcott, judge, lawyer. You can find her at AshleyWilcott.com. Dr. Brian Russell, psychologist, lawyer, and host of Discovery's hit series, Fatal Vows. John Limley, CrimeOnline.com. What more can you tell me? Well, one thing I can tell you is that, of course, every murder is tragic and senseless, but this was one amazing woman who lost her life that night. We can go back to her high school years when Jacqueline Smith was first interested in science and math. But she was told at classical high school that she couldn't be an engineer. Her mom, Anna Trisfane, has told us some wonderful stories. Anna says she didn't listen, that she was determined. You could even tell her, you could even see it in her walk, that determination in her walk. And true to that

determination, Smith did become an engineer. After she graduated from classical high school, she earned a degree in electrical engineering. Then she worked for the Naval Underwater Systems Center. This is a forerunner of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport. And after a couple of years there, she landed a job at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, that Army research facility in Hartford County, Maryland, about 25 miles northeast of Baltimore. That's where she was working at the time of her murder. The perp snatches Jacqueline's necklace and grabbed her pocketbook. The two fled, leaving her bleeding in the passenger seat right there next to her husband. Now, Keith and his wife had been out with their daughter, Siobhan, to celebrate her birthday, and Siobhan was also in the car when her mother was attacked. To Dr. Brian Russell, so you've got

the husband witnessing his wife's murder and her daughter seeing her mom getting stabbed in the front seat. It's unimaginable what that must be like for that family to go through this. This reminds me, Nancy, of a time in the year 2000. I was in Peru. I was in Lima, Peru. And I was going up from Lima to a town up in the mountains in the Andes. And on the way up there, I noticed that we were kind of going off the road a little bit. We were going around something and there was a

body in the street. And I was saying, oh my God, there's a body in the street. We have to stop and help this person. And we actually had a military police escort in front of and behind the vehicle that I was in. And they did not stop. They went right around that body and they went right on past. And when we got to our destination, I said, you know, should we call somebody? Should we do something? And they said, no, the bandits do that. It might have been a real body or it might have been somebody playing dead, but they do that to get people to stop and then they ambush them. And why do they do that? Because it works. People who don't know that's a tactic will get out to try to help and then they'll end up being

taken hostage or robbed and killed or whatever. And so, of course, we're always telling people on this program to please, if you have any information, if you've seen anything that might help, call the police and let them know. In this case, I just want to double down on that because this cannot work. These people cannot get away with this because we cannot start becoming like that lawless place where I was in the year 2000, where this stuff happens, and it happens increasingly when it works. We can't let this work. You know what? You're right, Brian.

410-396-2100 is the tip line. 410-396-2100. Police desperately working right now to solve this crime. Listen to our friends at WMAR-TV, Nadia Singe. Smith, who was in the front seat, rolled down the window to give the woman money, and when she did, an unknown man reached inside to grab her wallet, and police say there was a struggle. Investigators tell WMAR he took out a knife and stabbed Smith in the torso before running away with the woman holding the sign. It makes you think twice about helping anyone.

I quite look twice, you know, because I go to work early in the morning, and my guards are up. Police echo that advice, saying crimes like these can happen any time. Always be aware of your surroundings, and it doesn't matter if it's the middle of the day or the middle of the night. If you're driving, if you're walking, if you see something or someone that's suspicious, call 911. Our officers work 24 hours a day. The driver of the car Smith was in when she was stabbed took her to the hospital and called police.

She died at the hospital. Tip line 410-396-2100. The irony is it had been a perfect night. Listen to WJZ-TV's Devin Barlotta. We danced a little bit, man. It was just a beautiful night. Outrage over Smith's brazen and brutal murder has gathered national attention. Oprah tweeting, I hope her death gets people woke to change. Along with outrage nationwide comes some questions about the story. Police insisting they're following all leads. WALKED TO CHANGE. ALONG WITH OUTRAGE NATIONWIDE COMES SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STORY. POLICE INSISTING THEY'RE

FOLLOWING ALL LEADS. We can get the information we have is the information that we have and until we can disprove that then that's what we're going to go with. But we're going to leave no stone unturned with respect to this case.

POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR A BLACK WOMAN IN HER 20S WITH A MEDIUM BUILD AND ABOUT 5 FEET TALL, LAST SEEN WEARING A LONG BROWN COAT AND POSSIBLY CARRYING A BABY. THE OTHER SUSPECT IS A black man in his 30s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with an average build and a goatee, last seen in a black hoodie. Police asking residents citywide to be aware and on the lookout.

Please help us solve this horrible murder of a Good Samaritan. 410-396-2100. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.