Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Diddy's $100,000 Bribe to Make Cassie Beating Video Go Away | Crime Alert 6AM 06.04.25

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

DIDDY TRIAL: A hotel guard testifies that the music mogul paid him $100,000 to bury the video of the brutal 2016 beating of Cassie Ventura. A $20,000 transaction could prove Diddy blackmailed Ventura's dad. For more on the trial, join Nancy tonight for Crime Stories on Merit Street Media. Check your local listings for channel number.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace breaking crime news now. Crowds still packing the courtroom to hear testimony in the case against Sean Combs, aka Diddy. Straight out to Drew Nelson for the latest in the courtroom. Drew, what's happening? Nancy, a hotel guard testifies that the music mogul paid him $100,000 to bury the video of the brutal 2016 beating of Cassie Ventura. On day 15, prosecutors led with testimony from Eddie Garcia.

He worked security at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles when Sean Diddy Combs was caught on video punching, kicking, and dragging then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. Garcia told the jury he was approached days later by Combs' team. He said they wanted the footage erased. Combs, chief of staff, called the footage erased. Combs chief of staff called the front desk then showed up in person. Garcia said she asked if there was any way to get

a copy. Garcia told the court he refused and warned her, quote, off the record, it's bad. Garcia said Combs called himself later. He said Combs, quote, sounded very nervous and told him, quote, something like this could ruin him. Garcia testified that Combs promised to, quote, take care of me. Garcia agreeing to help in exchange. His boss arranged to sell the video, Garcia testifying that he delivered the only copy to Combs. Garcia testified that he signed a non-disclosure agreement and a second paper confirming he gave Combs the only copy. He said Combs then returned with a brown paper bag and a money counter. Garcia testified

that he gave $50,000 to his boss, $20,000 to another guard, and kept $30,000 for himself. Derek Ferguson, Combs' former bad boy CFO, walked jurors through Combs' records. Prosecutors showed bank statements from December 2011. On December 14, $20,000 was wired to Ventura. On December 23, Ventura's father wired $20,000 into the same account. Four days later, the same amount was sent back. Ventura's mother had already testified that Holmes demanded $20,000 in exchange for not releasing explicit videos of Ventura after learning she had started dating rapper Kid Cudi. Another woman who will remain anonymous going by the name Jane is expected to testify next. Thanks Drew. More crime and justice news after this. Three young sisters are

found dead in Washington after a visit with their father, and now police are searching for him on murder charges. The bodies of 9-year-old Peyton, 8-year-old Evelyn, and 5-year-old Olivia Decker were found Monday evening near Rock Island campground close to their father's abandoned white 27 GMC Sierra truck. The girls had been missing since Friday when their father Travis Decker picked them up for a court-approved visit. By that night, their mother Whitney Decker reported them missing after Travis failed to bring them back on time. A manhunt began. Decker's truck was found Monday at Rock

Island Campground. Just over an hour later, police found the bodies. The cause of death has not yet been released. By Tuesday morning, prosecutors had filed three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping against Travis Decker. The Wenatchee Police Department warned that he may be armed and dangerous. Authorities say he may be staying in campgrounds or motels. He has a military background and extensive training. Officials advise the public not to approach him. Two inmates in Louisiana remain on the run nearly three weeks after breaking out of a New Orleans jail with eight others, with one of the men posting on social media as he's on the run. Only Derek Groves and Antoine Massey are still at large.

Groves, age 27, had been convicted of killing two men and injuring two others during a Mardi Gras gathering in 2018. He used an AK-47. He was awaiting multiple life sentences when he fled. His escape has raised concerns for witnesses and prosecutors. Officials believe Groves may seek revenge. Massey, age 32, was being held on domestic abuse and car theft charges. He was also wanted in St. Tammany Parish for rape and kidnapping. In a now deleted video posted to Instagram, a man who

appears to be Massey claimed, quote, I didn't break out, I was let out. He said jail officials were out to frame him. In the video, he also asked for help from President Trump and Trump pardon rapper Lil Wayne. Each fugitive now carries a $50,000 reward. Tips can be sent to the FBI. A Texas actor preparing to reprise his voice role in TV's King of the Hill is shot dead outside his burned-down home after a neighbor yells homophobic slurs and allegedly opens fire, ending a long-running feud. Police in San Antonio found 59-year-old Jonathan Joss deceased Sunday night.

Officers arrested 56-year-old Siegfriedo Ceja Alvarez, who lived nearby and charged him with murder. Joss had returned to check his mail with his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzalez. They found what looked like their dog's skull in the ashes, one of the animals they lost in the fire earlier this year. As the couple became hysterical, de Gonzalez says, Alvarez began yelling violent slurs before firing. Jonathan and I had no weapons.

We were not threatening anyone. De Gonzalez believes the killing was a hate crime. Police say they found no evidence it was tied to Joss's sexual orientation. Joss voiced John Redcorn in King of the Hill and had recent roles in TV's Tulsa King and Parks and Recreation. Is Perfect 10 Olympian Mary Lou Retton missing? She was arrested in her hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia, May 17th for DUI. Days later, Retton's home appears abandoned. Neighbors said she has not been home in weeks.

A report in the Daily Mail claimed her family had not heard from her since her arrest and describes her home as, quote, a deserted mess. That has sparked rumors that she vanished. Some had speculated she cut off contact after her DUI. Her relatives in West Virginia said they hadn't spoken to her in nearly a month. Retton's lawyer, though, pushing back. Attorney Edmund J. Rollo tells TMZ the report, quote, did not originate from Mary Lou's family, calling it, quote, grossly inaccurate.

For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. And please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best to find missing people, especially children, and help solve unsolved homicides. With this Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace.