Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Elvis Presley’s grandkids in foster care

Episode Date: February 17, 2017

Elvis Presley’s twin granddaughters are in foster care until a judge consider their safety in light of a shocking discovery inside their home, according to court documents. Lisa Marie Presley said in a sworn court filing she found “hundreds of inappropriate photos” and “disturbing video” on her estranged husband’s computers. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke discuss the revelations in this explode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Lisa Marie Presley has filed for divorce from her musician husband of 10 years, Michael Lockwood. Elvis's daughter tied the knot with Lockwood in January 2006. Michael was Lisa Marie's guitarist, music producer, and director. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. This was Lisa Marie's fourth marriage. She was also married to Michael Jackson from 1994 to 1996 and wed Nicolas Cage in 2002 before splitting months later. This is just the rediscovering my life. Presley cites

irreconcilable differences in the divorce filing. The couple has seven-year-old twin girls named Harper and Finley. Presley has requested full custody of the girls offering Lockwood monitored shocked, horrified, sick to my stomach. Lisa Marie Presley's quote, shocked, horrified, sick to my stomach. The king is rolling over in his grave right now. I'm talking about Elvis Presley. Because if you look at explosive divorce documents that we have just obtained, Lisa Marie Presley is the only known child of Elvis Presley's twin daughters, just eight years old, are in child protective Services. I'm talking about DFACS, Department of Family and Children's Services,

CPS, Child Protective Services, after Lisa Marie finds, quote, hundreds of indecent photos of children on their father's computer. Now, this is not according to reports. This is according to court papers, documented court papers. Elvis Presley's grandchildren, Finley and Harper, are in the care of California's DFACS, Department of Children and Family Services, according to court documents that we have obtained.

49-year-old Lisa Marie claims she found shocking photos and disturbing videos on her fourth husband Lockwood's personal computer. The divorce papers also state there are pending allegations of sex abuse and neglect. What? Details in the papers were filed as part of the divorce claims. But this goes way beyond any divorce claim. This is about alleged abuse of children. Welcome to Crime Stories. I'm Nancy Grace. This is about alleged abuse of children. Welcome to Crime Stories. I'm Nancy Grace. Thank you for being with us.

And I am reeling. Lisa Marie claims police found 80 of Lockwood's devices during a raid on her home. They probably haven't all even been analyzed yet. Now, these two married in 2006, and they separated last June. They met at about 10 years. Again, this is the only daughter of the king, Elvis Presley. She claims she has to pay for two nannies as chaperones whenever her husband visits the children. And to top it all off, she claims her $300 million fortune is nearly all gone. Now, I don't know what to believe this morning,

but I know that this and more are contained in official court documents. We're talking about Elvis Presley's twin granddaughters. They have been taken, according to reports, taken away from their parents, including away from Lisa Marie, by social workers, after Lisa Marie Presley finds a stash of very upsetting photos and videos of children

on their dad Lockwood's home computer. Now, the eight-year-old little girls are in the care of California's Department of Children and Family Services. I want to thank SimpliSafe for making our podcast, Crime Stories, possible. SimpliSafe gives you peace of mind. I have an alarm system, a home security system. I don't go to bed at night. I don't leave the house.

I'm not here with the children without that system on. It's on 24-7 pretty much because I believe in home security. Now, a lot of people think they can't afford it. That is not true. SimpliSafe not only is effective and easy to install, it's $14.99 a month, including your monitoring services. And if you go to simplysafe.com slash Nancy, you get an additional 10% off. It matters. It matters.

Alan Duke, the Duke is joining me right now. I understand you know about a trial date. What do you know? This is about the custody of the children and if they'll get out of foster care where they're now, that'll be in March. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Elvis Presley's grandchildren are in foster care. Foster care. Now, is there a difference in that jurisdiction between being in the care of Child Protective Services and being in foster care? I don't know.

This is the same. Oh, my stars. What about Priscilla? Why doesn't she take them? Priscilla lives in Los Angeles. She is actually involved in running the Presley estate. So my mom worked and took care of three children. I work and take care of two children.

I mean, come on, please. They don't need to be in foster care or child protective services care, whatever you want to call it. I mean, it's like putting perfume on a pig. That's what I'm saying. You don't want your children away from you. I don't understand this. I'm going to call Priscilla. I know Priscilla.

I'm going to call her and find out what's going on. Maybe she'll talk with us. I'm not so sure of that because it's such a sensitive family thing but yes they're in foster care that means in california sensitive my rear end the children are in foster care or child protective services care you know you take your children away from their mother now why would they do that why would they they take them from Lisa Marie? If this is true, if, if, big capital I, capital F, if this is true about Lockwood, the father, why not limit or disallow any contact with a father? Why did they take them away from Lisa Marie? Let's go back to the history just a few months. Oh, dear Lord. Don't give me ancient history.

Well, you asked me a question, Nancy. What happened? I think I was just screaming. I don't recall a question mark being on the end of it, but go ahead. Okay. Back in June, this couple split up after 10 years. And almost immediately, within about a month, Lisa Marie checked into drug substance rehab. Maybe that's Yeah, well, rehab. And now she's saying that she can't even afford to pay her own attorney, that her fortune that she inherited...

What? Yes. And that she inherited a huge fortune. I tell you what, I sit on the children's college fund like I'm a dragon on top of the golden egg. Nobody's going to touch that college fund come H-E-double-L or high water,

okay? How can you run through a $300 million fortune that your daddy hands you on a silver platter? Now listen, I've always been on Lisa Marie's side. I've always supported her. I love her music. I love her. I've gone through every one of her disastrous marriages rooting for her. But what? Let your children be put in defects care? As far as the money goes, I think that the money that she controls could very well be gone. But keep in mind, she's got a very business savvy mom, Priscilla Presley, who has been running things. They've licensed the Presley brand and

name out to a company that does that and makes a lot of money with it. So they've got income coming in, but I believe Priscilla controls it. So for the purposes of the divorce, keep in mind that this estranged husband of 10 years is asking for spousal support of $40,000 a month. I don't give a flying fig about what he wants and what she wants. I don't care about her frittering array, $300 million. What I care about are these eight-year-old girls in foster care. Haven't you heard what happens to children in foster care? Nothing good, okay? There's some wonderful foster care families and moms out there. True.

And dads. I happen to know some of them out here. It's a pretty good system. It's overburdened, but it's a good system. Maybe it's because by the time I get them, it's always because a crime has occurred. Okay. Yeah. So take that with a box of salt.

Okay. I hear what you're saying. And yes, they're good foster parents. I get it. In fact, I would be willing to bet that the large majority of foster parents are wonderful and loving. I just always hear about them when there's been a felony, for Pete's sake. But I don't care. I don't care if they're angels on earth.

They have been taken away from their mother. I don't get it. This was triggered by the divorce filing and the fight over that $40,000 a month spousal support. Well, they should have thought about that before they put it in the divorce file. It gets pretty ugly when you call it child custody battle and divorce battle. It certainly is in this case. So what Lisa Marie says is that as she was after she kicked him out, she was looking

on his computers and found these incredibly horrible photos and videos. And the investigation started with the child services here. And I guess the conclusion, at least they have to act in the interest, immediate interest of these children. And they're saying if this went on while the mom was around and she didn't know about it, can she be trusted? We need to find out if we can trust her right now well wait now these are not nothing is saying these are pictures of the two little girls let me let me let me say what is in the court papers i mean is that your understanding it says that i discovered that the respondent meaning her estranged husband had taken

lockwood right lockwood had taken disturbing video footage when I discovered the photos on his computer and viewed the videos. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait, wait, wait. We're in paragraph six. Dependency case. Discovered Lockwood had taken as well as disturbing. That doesn't even make sense. I disclosed my concern about the hundreds of inappropriate photos I discovered that Lockwood had taken, as well as disturbing video footage and behavior.

I don't think they're going to say in these documents who the pictures were of, since, of course, these are victims and they're children. So I don't know that they would put that in an uncivil court document. But it says he took them. She says he took them. Let's start at the beginning. Paragraph six. There is a trial set in March in Children's Court regarding allegations of sex abuse and

neglect that originated when I, Lisa Marie Presley, disclosed my concerns about the hundreds of inappropriate photos I discovered Lockwood had taken, as well as disturbing video footage and behavior. When I discovered the photos on Lockwood's computer and viewed the videos, I was shocked, horrified, sick to my stomach. I had no idea he had taken these photos. I will refrain from describing the photos in detail out of respect for the privacy of my family. Now, that certainly makes it seem like it's of the girls, the eight-year-old girls, but it doesn't say that. But when you're not talking about the contents out of respect for my, Lisa Marie's family,

it seems as if it is about family members. Now, I don't know that though. Right. What do you think? Well, they're going to children's court for allegations that he sexually abused the children and neglected them. That's the essence of the child court thing. And that's what triggered the child services to intervene pending that hearing. We could speculate all day, but I don't think it'll get us anywhere.

No, I don't think it will. It's just so sad. What do you know about the nature of the hearing? That's what I want to know. Well, it's in the Children's Court. They call it Edelman Children's Court here in Los Angeles, where they look at these issues. And they have different rules, of course, because we've got kids involved and the privacy and the families and the media is not allowed in there. It's a private court. And it's in March. And I think the outcome,

of course, Lisa Marie wants her kids back. The Beverly Hills PD executed a search warrant removing over 80 of the husband's devices, which they have not analyzed and have not released. My Lisa Marie's computer and telephone were never seized. My understanding is that Tennessee law enforcement is also conducting an investigation related to the photos and videos I discovered. Wow. You're saying that the hearing regarding sex abuse deals with the eight-year-old girl's Elvis Presley's granddaughters. That would be the allegation. Do you see that or are you speculating that? It's a conclusion you make because it deals

with the foster care custody of these children. Well, wait a minute. That doesn't mean that the two little girls are the sex abuse victims. All right. Okay. I'll give you that. I mean, unless we see that, she could be referring to, Lisa Marie could be referring to whomever is in those photos. Let's go to paragraph 16, my financial situation. I receive a monthly income of $100,000 a month from my inheritance, a 15% interest in Elvis Presley Enterprise held in trust set up when I was a minor. The income I receive is based on the anticipated annual taxable K-1 income to Elvis Presley Enterprises.

Hmm. $100,000 a month. That's $1.2 million a year. Paragraph 17. Due to gross negligence unbeknownst to me, my business manager did not pay... What? Did not pay my taxes? Why does this always happen?

Why? It's an old story we've heard before. Okay. I receive a modest salary of $4,300 a month as an employee of Graceland, which allows me to obtain health insurance for myself, Lockwood, and our daughters. I pay for all our health insurance. Well, you know, if she's making $100,000 a month, she doesn't need to be worried about $4,000 insurance. Okay, but forget that. But she's saying she can't pay $40,000 a month in spousal support to Lockwood. Let's go through that.

What are her claims about what he gets? There's a post-marriage or post-marital, post-nuptial agreement. Did you actually just say nuptial? Nuptial. Nuptial. Nuptial, Duke. Nuptial agreement. Did you actually just say nuptial? Nuptial. Nuptial. Nuptial, Duke. Nuptial. It's called a post-nup versus a pre-nup.

You'd think I would know. Get with it. Please. Oh, okay. Go ahead. Back to the money. All right. She's saying that, look, we already worked this out when we were married, okay?

And now he's coming in wanting $40,000 when I just get $100,000 a month. You know, so. when we were married okay and now he's coming in wanting forty thousand dollars when i just get a hundred thousand dollars a month you know so but they were married 10 years he's a musician so probably not a lot of income to support himself listen to this paragraph 19 as lockwood well knows about a year ago i discovered he spent over a million dollars of my separate property funds without my consent. I confronted him. He acknowledged he had spent the money on my credit cards. Oh, that's the worst credit cards. They're terrible. They're awful.

They're the devil. I discontinued his access. I guess that's going to be, I discontinued his access to my credit cards. Now, all of this is in divorce documents. What does that mean? We know she's in tax trouble, but then attached to it are a lot of financial forms with a lot of money being thrown around. Wow. Okay, I'm getting bogged down in their finances. Now there are some claims that this, all of this is really stemming out of a divorce procedure,

but it would be a cold day in Satan's living room that I would let my children go to defects over a divorce procedure. Okay? No. Uh-uh. So, how can somebody really argue that this is a divorce ploy about the money? I don't see that. What do you think, Alan? Well, the money, the saying you don't have the money, I think, is a typical thing in divorces. Either side wants to say they need money or don't have money, can't pay the money. And just like when you do your taxes, you try to make it look like you don't have as much, so your liability isn't as much. You speak for yourself. I'm not getting in trouble

with the IRS. Forget it. Well, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about with Xs. And I wouldn't do, of course, I would never do that. The most disturbing and really the only really disturbing thing about this is what's happening with the kids and what might have happened with the kids. You're the one who brought up the money, Alan, not me. Okay. It's an important subtext to this whole thing because they were fighting over money when this whole thing erupted and she put the, let's say the dirty laundry out there. But, but isn't that good though, that she exposed that to protect other children or other victims?

Yes, it is good. It is good. I think it makes sense that that's when she started going through his computers and his stuff when they're looking at a divorce. But she's saying she cannot even afford to pay her divorce lawyer, Mark Gross. Oh, he'll get his money. I don't understand where is the mom in all this, Priscilla, Elvis Presley's wife. Now, she, Lisa Marie, says she is now forced to move in with her daughter, Riley Keough. Very successful actress, 27 years old. Yeah, she's in TV's The Girlfriend Experience.

She was in Mad Max, Fury Road. She's taken out loans from friends to pay her debts. She says, about a year ago, I discovered he spent, you know, the million dollars. And so she's getting money from her friends. Oh, then she got the double whammy. Her business, former business managers had misused her funds. American Express and other entities are actually considering legal action against her. I don't think he should get a cent. I think he should have to go and make a living like the rest of us and quit living off her. I don't think he should get a cent. I think he should have to go and make a living like the rest of us and quit living off her. And she should quit living off her father and get a job, a J-O-B, like everybody else. She's had a pretty good music career. Music is a tough business these days.

But I mean, the lady, she can sing. And I like her music. Yes, she can sing. But see, it's great to be able to sing. but you have to go out and work. You have to go on the road. You have to cut CDs. You've got to appear on TV and get your stuff on the air. That ain't happening, Alan. No. It's a lifelong story of choices that she's made.

She's been married four times now. This is the end of her fourth divorce. She also says her home, it's a mansion. They call it, I guess, Coe's Hall. That's the one in England. That's the English estate. 11-bedroom, 15th-century manor home in Sussex, England. She, Lisa Marie, claims it is, quote, no longer an asset because she owes $5.4 million, but it's got a value of $2 million.

Oh, she blames that again on her business manager because he failed to make payments. And now the taxes cost more than the value of the property. Her last husband before Lockwood was Nicolas Cage. And how many times have we had to do stories about Nicholas Cage's finances in the same way and his business manager doing this and that to put him into the poor house and his foreclosures and everything. So there's a trend here. Isn't he making a comeback? Well, he's a wonderful actor, but his choices with business and I mates, has not helped him. I just don't know how you can be in so much money trouble when your dad was Elvis Presley.

But forget about that. What I'm worried about is those children and how this whole thing plays out to getting the children back. I'm a little bit in shock, to tell you the truth. She says that the husband, Lockwood, had given their daughters a huge saltwater fish tank, seasons passes to universal, laptop, computer, cell phones, dresses, shoes, toys, blah, blah, blah, blah. All that within just six months. That he is driving

a new car, all sorts of things that he did not tell the court. I really don't know who to believe, but regardless of all their money issues, I mean, when you're sitting on that much money, you don't have a problem, according to me. People that have a problem don't have a home. Most of America, and I've been there, I know, you are one paycheck away from eviction. One paycheck. And I lived that way almost my whole, you know, career as a local prosecutor. I mean, I lived from paycheck to paycheck, working two night jobs, teaching school to make a house note and a car note. And when I finished paying off that car, that was one of the happiest days of my life. And when I finished paying off the student loan, I will never forget it. I wrote the same check every month for 10 years, $177.11. And I didn't know the loan was ended.

And I sent one, they sent it back to me. They wrote me a check back. And that's when I knew I finally paid off my loan. And literally lived paycheck to paycheck. So when you claim you frittered through $300 million, I don't have a lot of sympathy for that. I really don't. What I do have sympathy about is these two little girls. I'm just sick about it.

I mean, how can you wake up in the morning and you don't have your children with you? How do you do that? And the hearing's not until March. I would have to have an emergency hearing, custody hearing, to get them out of defects custody. I mean, I'm just really upset about it. Elvis Presley, say what you want, has given so many people so much joy and so much happiness. I remember before my father passed away, all he would listen to was Sirius Radio, the Elvis Presley channel. You could not get in the car without it being on the Elvis channel. And now guess who does that? I just had to get Sirius installed in my minivan

because I didn't have it. It wasn't equipped. It's so old. It wasn't equipped for Sirius. So my son, John David, could hear Elvis. Nice. So now we listen to it, that and Kidz Bop, on the way to school. Yeah. And he has given so much joy. And then look at his wife, Priscilla. She's kept a low profile and conducted herself like a real lady. And I say that with only the best intentions. A fine person.

All these years. You don't see her out at the nightclubs, drunk, going out without her underwear on like a lot of celebrities, getting in trouble, throwing fits behind on taxes. None of that. None of that.

She has really held it together for Lisa Marie. And now look at this. Look at it. You might as well just lay me out on the train track if somebody took my children away. Just lay me out there and wait for a train to come. That's just, and you know, another thing I don't want to make light of is what it must be like growing up without your dad. And yes, she's a multimillionaire, but I don't, I've never walked in her shoes. I don't know what she is contended with. I know she's been in rehab with some kind of a dependency and you know, that's so hard to beat. It's hell. It's like you're in prison with an addiction. So I'm not going to make light of that.

But all I know is I'd be about the business of getting my children back. And, Nancy, we should note that Michael Lockwood has not been charged or arrested. In fact, all of these allegations that we're discussing arise solely out of the civil divorce and civil child custody filings by Lisa Marie Presley in Los Angeles, California. Since concluding the recording of this podcast, Michael Lockwood issued a statement that was published by the Daily Mail of London. And I quote, I am disgusted that she described unproven allegations about me and a declaration that she filed in this court's publicly accessible records. As I experienced during our more than 10-year marriage, and I believe this court will learn, Presley has great difficulty being honest, and she rarely, if ever, accepts personal responsibility for her own wrongdoing.

It is particularly distasteful that she has placed more value on trying to damage my reputation than on the fact that her false statements may be brought to our daughter's attention. For the time being, I will not say anything else about such statements in her declaration other than that the allegations against both of us have not been proven. Again, thank you, Simply Say, for being with us today and making our podcast possible. Simply Safe, easy to install, and it works. Not only buys you safety, but peace of mind. Nancy Gray signing off from Crime Stories. Again, thank you for being with us we will be there to report on the latest when this goes to court and anything between now and then goodbye friend this is an iHeart podcast