Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 'Killer fiance' Patrick Frazee tells mistress to find fiance Kelsey Berreth's bloody teeth; Chicago PD says 'Empire' star Jussie Smollett's a LIAR

Episode Date: February 21, 2019

A police affidavit reveals shocking details about how Patrick Frazee allegedly used a baseball bat to smash the head of finance' Kelsey Berreth on Thanksgiving Day and how he struggled to collect all of the Colorado mom's teeth while cleaning up the crime scene. Nancy Grace explores the newest details with a panel including forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan -- author of "Blood Beneath My Feet," Southern California prosecutor Wendy Patrick, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober, Atlanta juvenile judge and lawyer Ashley Willcott, and CrimeOnline reporter Ellen Killoran. Grace and her experts also discuss the case against Empire actor Jussie Smollett, charged with staging a fake hate crime attack and reporting it to Chicago police. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Let's write that affidavit details what happened in the days leading up to Barrett's death. Frazee's former girlfriend and Twin Falls woman, Crystal Kenny, made a plea deal in exchange for the information outlined in that report. An affidavit from the murder case of Kelsey Barrett revealing more graphic details about her death and the months leading up to her alleged murder. In court Tuesday, prosecutors revealed Barrett's fiance Patrick Frazee blindfolded Barrett on Thanksgiving Day before hitting and killing her with a baseball bat. The information stemming from Frazee's former girlfriend and Idaho woman Crystal Lee

Kenney. Kenney agreed to testify against Frazee as part of a plea deal for tampering with evidence. On Wednesday, the affidavit revealed Kenney told investigators that she traveled to Colorado after Frazee said she needed to clean the murder scene in Barreth's home, removing any traces of blood left on the walls, couch, television, and even on the stuffed animals belonging to the couple's one-year-old daughter. Kenny also told investigators that Frazee was concerned that one of Barreth's teeth were left behind. Kenny says she later found it and got rid of it. The affidavit also shows Frazee wanted Kenny to bring Barrett's body to Idaho,

but she says she refused and instead Frazee burned the body. Our friends at Denver 7 reporting the very latest out of a Colorado courtroom. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. This is what we are learning we are learning that patrick frazee tricks his fiance the mother of his little girl kelly into blindfolding her and asking her to smell different scented candles then rearing back with a baseball bat is striking her in the head and face that he hits her so hard his big concern he didn't find all of her teeth that he knocked out of her head we go on in this affidavit if you comb over it very very carefully we learn

that his mistress, Rodeo Queen, finds the tooth with the root still attached and disposes of it. She is in the thick of this. On her hands and knees, after traveling 13 hours overnight to come to Patrick Frazee at his beck and call. Nobody had a gun to her head. Driving through the night, leaving her two daughters she claims to be so worried about so she could clean up, Frazee calls her and says, Girl, you got a mess to clean up.

And she comes running, complete with a hairnet, a surgeon's smock, surgeon booties worn in ERs, surgical gloves, bleach, Windex. And she spends the next four to six hours on her hands and knees scrubbing. You know what? I'm not buying it. With me, an all-star panel of forensics experts, Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University, and author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, Joseph Scott Morgan.

California prosecutor, Wendy Patrick. Renowned forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Bober. Judge, lawyer, anchor, Ashley Wilcott at ashleywilcott.com and CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, Ellen Killoran. First to you, Ashley Wilcott, when she says she did all of this, cleaned Kelsey Barris' condo, scrubbing. There was blood on the bath mat. That had to be thrown away. Blood on the commode. Blood on the ceiling. Blood in the kitchen. Blood on the bath mat. That had to be thrown away. Blood on the commode. Blood on the ceiling. Blood in the kitchen.

Blood on the oven mitts. Blood on the baby's toys, who P.S. was in the next room in a playpen while Frazee murdered Kelsey Barrett, the baby's mother. Blood on toys. Blood on stuffed animals. Blood on the sofa. Blood on pillows. Blood on books.

Blood everywhere on the rock face of Kelsey's fireplace. Everything soaked in blood on oven mitts, on Kelsey Bear's purse. She cleaned it all up. And then while he, after killing Kelsey, goes and sits down to Thanksgiving dinner with his family. It certainly didn't hurt his appetite. Then after she cleans everything up, she goes with him, and arm in arm, they watch the body burn on a bonfire.

Help me out, Ashley. Yeah, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but two things. The first is, let's talk about him and the fact that it's such a brutal, heinous murder. Of course there's blood on every inch of everything in that home. Of course, there is. He beat her with a baseball bat. Number two, she's complicit in this crime. You don't go clean it up. You don't have information that, oh, we've tried and talked about killing her in the past. These are crimes that you report to the police immediately. She's complicit in this murder. Well, you know, Ashley, you really

hit the nail on the head. Let me go to you, Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor. When you see an attack like this that is so bloody, it's just chaos. Many experts say, oh, that was a crime of passion. B.S., Wendy, that's a technical legal term because he had approached her, I believe, four times. Once to beat Kelsey with a baseball bat. Once he gave her a metal pipe, according to her. Once he wanted her to poison Kelsey's caramel macchiato with Ambien and Valium. And once he tried to get her to come do the deed, but she was in Reno and couldn't get a ticket. This is well planned.

This is no spur of the moment murder. That's right and it's that chronology of sophisticated attempts, prior attempts that really will just blow out of the water some kind of a defense based on passion and I think we see that in cases like this frequently where you have to look at the history of what's going on between this couple of how has it been pre-planned. But given that, one of the things that strikes me about this case, you know, it would have been much, much calmer, let's say, if it were a poisoning or something like this. The brutality of the way the murder was finally committed in this case is shocking, and it no doubt is going to be shocking to people that are now going to be deciding why it happened, how it happened, and who all is culpable for it.

So many horrific details revealed if you carefully come through that arrest affidavit. Not only do I want to thank our guests, Joseph Scott Morgan, Wendy Patrick, Dr. Daniel Bober, Ashley Wilcott, and Ellen Kaloran, along with Jackie Howard and Alan Duke, I want to thank our partner making today's program possible. It's Blink. So when do you want to spot a burglar? When he's casing your home outside or when he's got his foot in your kitchen window? John's Blink camera alerted him a burglar is trying to break in while he and his family are actually home. Or Shannon, her Blink camera caught a thief stealing packages.

Both times, Blink video clips sent to police to get the bad guys. Blink, B-L-I-N-K, motion-activated indoor-outdoor cameras are wire-free. They set up in minutes, run on two AA batteries that last up to two years. If you're traveling, which I have to do a lot, Blink's live feed option lets you monitor your home, check out your children, your pets, your home, from anywhere using Blink'srotect.com slash Nancy. BlinkProtect.com slash Nancy. BlinkProtect.com slash Nancy. Blink's an Amazon company. Thank you, Blink, for being our partner. Prosecutors have met the burden to show there is enough evidence to charge Patrick Frazee with murder. He will stay in jail with no bond pending trial. Central to the case for prosecutors is testimony from Crystal Lee,

a woman we now know dated Patrick in college. The two also had an affair in 2016 and 2017. Prosecutors say Frazee asked her to kill Kelsey Barrett three different times. She sat and said, I can't do this and tells Patrick I can't do this. We also know from court documents, Lee says Frazee told her to lie to the FBI in addition to help make it look like Barrett was in Idaho and may have killed herself. Crystal cleans up blood, but leaves behind some telltale evidence for our investigators to find. Investigators spoke to three other people besides Lee about this case. Each had details revealing the plan prosecutors say Frazee had all along to kill Barrett. It's still unclear exactly why any of them did not come forward sooner and if they could have saved

Barrett's life. That was a question that was asked today. Did she call police? It's not one that was answered on the record. You know, we are constrained that we can only talk about what was put on the record on any particular day. You are hearing CBS Denver's Sean Chitnis talking the very latest after coming through an arrest affidavit that we got out of the courtroom. You know, now she's saying that she left blood behind. I'm talking about the girlfriend, Crystal Lee, Left blood behind on the face of Kelsey's fireplace. The murder occurred in the living room for cops to find. You know, why not just call the cops when he first asked her to commit murder? Straight out to CrimeOnline.com, Ellen Kaloran.

Ellen, I'm not really buying it that she intentionally left blood behind for inspectors or detectives to find. Me neither, Nancy. That's one of my biggest problems with her testimony. I'm really, really struggling with her claims that she said after the fact that she did all of these things to help investigators, that she left the blood on the fireplace but cleaned the rest of it up. If you really wanted to help investigators, maybe don't dispose of the tooth that was dislodged when Patrick Frazee allegedly beat Kelsey Barrett over the head. If you really wanted to help investigators, you would leave something more obvious. We're also learning some things in the arrest affidavit that was released yesterday that I'm not a lawyer

and I'm interested in what you all with legal experience believe, but I'm worried that the defense is going to go after a lot of things that we're learning, including the fact that she lied to police initially. They went to meet her out in Las Vegas where she was on a trip and she said that she didn't have a relationship with Patrick Tracy. She said she'd never heard of Kelsey Barrett and now the prosecution's case seems to be hinging so much on her testimony and there's no body. Well I'll tell you I think that the state is going to have to put on the stand and hold their nose at the time. I mean Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University.

Joe Scott, what about forensics? Will they carry the day? Because here's where I'm coming from, Joe Scott. This is not what I believe happened, but Crystal Lee, the rodeo queen, his other lover, has really set herself up for a claim that she's the killer. She's there on the scene. She cleans up the blood. She gets rid of evidence. She knows where the body is. She knows what happened to it. He can easily claim she did it. Will forensic evidence carry the day, Joe Scott? Let it go. Yeah. Hey, I got to tell you, Nancy, I think that the defense is really going to drill down on this, where they're going to try to pin it to her more than likely. Uh, and look, I would, if, if we could have it in a perfect world, I'd love to have this woman's body, uh, because, uh, I think that, uh, you're going to find out a lot more

information relative to these injuries. She sustained in the power that was involved in bludgeoning her to death with this alleged baseball bat. And, you know, yeah, it's going to be very powerful at the scene relative to what kind of testing they did there. This blood that was allegedly cleaned up in an attempt to, you know, cover this whole thing up. Did they get this to luminous with something like luminol out there? Oh, I know what they used it's in the affidavit they used the blue star regent yeah yeah and what's really great about this do you remember just a few moments ago you were talking about how what was that amount of

time that she drove uh to get there you said something like 13 hours overnight yeah hey get this did you know that the longer you allow these stains to set in place, it's just like anything else, Nancy, a piece of clothing. The harder it is to wipe away, to wipe away, even using bleach, any of trace elements of blood. So they waited a long time before they cleaned this mess up. What does that say to you? Let's go to our forensic psychiatrist joining us today out of the Florida jurisdiction, Dr. Daniel Bober. Dr. Bober, it just is beyond me how he can beat her head in with a baseball bat while she's smelling

a candle he gave her with the baby in a playpen in the next room, have a horribly bloody crime scene, I mean soaked, soaked in blood, and just fold her body up and put it in a tote bag, put it in his pickup truck, drive to his family's house with the baby, I guess wash his hands of the blood like Pontius Pilate, and sit down to turkey and dressing and cranberry sauce like nothing's wrong. Leaving the crime scene sitting there to decompose for two full days for his mistress to come clean it up.

What is that, Dr. Bober? True psychopathy, Nancy. Zero remorse, zero empathy, zero connection with other human beings. But Crystal Lee is very interesting because, you know, she's claiming to be this clueless, hapless victim that was unwittingly led down the path. And clearly she's complicit. Clearly she's involved. She lied. She tried to conceal evidence.

She tampered with the scene. And I think she's, you know, truly responsible. I think she knew exactly what she was doing, and she was intimately involved. Straight out to Ellen Kalora and CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. At CrimeOnline.com, we have this and all other breaking news and crime and justice. To E.K., let me ask you a question. Let's talk about Crystal having a gun in her car. I saw that in the affidavit, especially as it relates to her best friend, Megan Garrison.

That's right. There's a new item in the affidavit that shows that Crystal did a lot to cover up what she was doing. She switched cars with her friend Megan, apparently because she didn't want her very recent ex-husband to know what was going on. So she switched cars with her friend, and the FBI interviewed the friend later in the investigation. And the friend said that she has a gun.

We don't know what type of weapon but she had a gun in her car and the friend megan told investigators that there was it does not sound like it's a gun that she uses very often she said that there was a bullet missing last night i called um spencer curson a friend of crime Online and Crime Stories, who's a security expert, and he explained to me that it's possible for a bullet to discharge from a gun without it being fired. But again, this is something that I worry that the defense is going to look at and say, wait a second, what happened with this gun? And is it too late to get any kind of ballistics from it? To Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor. Wendy, where does this leave Crystal Lee? late to get any kind of ballistics from it to wendy patrick california prosecutor wendy where

does this leave crystal lee the rodeo queen divorced mother of two has been dating patrick frazee since college they reignited their love according to this affidavit in around 2017 or 18. i think that's according to the ex-husband who's living with her under the same roof. Where does this leave her credibility? Because if you carefully read the affidavit, you see that she lied to her best friend, Megan Garrison. She told her best friend that she was going somewhere different. She set up a fake email message that she had to stay that night, and that would be the night she was cleaning up the murder scene with Megan because she was, quote, too drunk to drive, something, some BS like that, in case her ex-husband read the emails. Okay, so she's

setting up a fake email. She goes and gets a new phone to get rid of all the cell phone evidence. She cleans the crime scene. She's been solicited three or four times to commit murder and never calls police. She stands there arm in arm with Patrick Frazee while they watch the black tote bag with silver handles melt with a heap, as she describes it, inside. She won't say it to cops, but she knew that was Kelsey's body. And catch this. You got the mom, too, Frazee's mom, Sheila, who was home at the time of the bonfire. So what's her credibility? What is Crystal Lee's credibility?

Yeah, Nancy, it leaves her in a really bad spot when it comes to being a credible witness. And when we discuss the relationship she had with the defendant, in this case, the killer, you know, I know that it sounds like, oh, it was an affair. They used to be sweethearts back in the day. It's a relationship of power and control to commit a murder and then insist she come over and clean up the mess. No doubt these are the kinds of cases where a woman that's involved often says, I was under the influence of the perpetrator and I feared what would happen if I didn't comply with his requests. If you were to look at it through that lens, she might have more credibility than not.

But again, Nancy, like you just pointed out, this long list of inconsistencies and dishonest statements that are listed in the affidavit, that's got to amount to a huge blow to her credibility, notwithstanding the fact that she kills Kelsey in a horrific manner with a bat in the back of the head as Kelsey is sniffing candles with a blindfold over her eyes. Crystal tells us that Patrick then calls her after he has put Kelsey in a black plastic tote, calls Crystal to come out and help him clean up. She does not come out that day. She cannot come out that day, but she does come out on October 24th. And as Crystal describes, when she walks into Kelsey's condo, the scene is horrific. There's blood everywhere. There are bloody footprints everywhere. And Crystal cleans up blood, but leaves behind some telltale evidence for our investigators to find. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING,

THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING,

THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING,

THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING,

THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE DURING THE SHOOTING, THE BROTHER'S ATTORNEY, GLORIA SCHMIDT. There was a point where this story needed to be told and they manned up and they said you know what we're going to correct this.

That story told in part through surveillance video CBS 2 first obtained. The brother seen at a beauty supply store buying items sources say were used just a day later in a staged attack on Smollett. A plain red hat, ski masks and gloves are among the

items. I've been in touch with mom, I've been in touch with older brother, I've been in touch with the family. This has been very ATTACK ON SMOLLETT. A PLAIN RED HAT, SKI MASKS AND GLOVES ARE AMONG THE ITEMS. I'VE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH MOM, I'VE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH OLDER BROTHER, I'VE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH THE FAMILY. THIS HAS BEEN VERY TRAUMATIZING TO THEM AS WELL AS EVERYONE WHO KNOWS THIS

STORY. A RAID OF THE BROTHER'S HOME TURNED UP SOME OF THE SAME PROPS THE BROTHERS PURCHASED LIKE THAT RED HAT AND BLACK FACE MASK. I THINK JESSE SMOLLETT SHOULD COME CLEAR BECAUSE THE TRUTH

WILL SET HIM FREE. OKAY, DON'T THINK THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN BECAUSE AT THIS HOUR black face mask. I think Jesse Smollett should come clear because the truth will set him free. Okay, don't think that's going to happen because at this hour, Jesse Smollett has just been arrested for faking racist homophobic attack, a racist homophobic attack on himself, then lying to police and creating a police report. He now says he is going to fight the charges. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. You know, in the big scheme of things, when we just finished talking about Kelsey Barrett, who is dead, who has been brutally murdered in a longstanding scheme, leaving behind a baby girl to grow up without her mother, a family having their daughter wrenched away from them in a brutal, brutal way.

Now we've got to deal with, let me just say, a spoiled brat that wanted more attention, according to police. When the fake letters he wrote to himself didn't generate enough publicity, allegedly, he decided to stage an attack on himself. I mean, really. Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor. Have you seen the video of these two brothers? Their faces are in the video. They're looking right at the camera, basically.

This is right before the attack. They're buying the ski masks they wore to cover their face a black a red hat to look like a make a girl america great again hat to kind of like suggest this had something to do with trump long story short they're buying all of these items right down the street from where the attack happened and what is significant is they're friends with jesse smollett the star of the tv hit empire they're his friends one is like his personal trainer one was an extra on the set of empire they're even caught on video getting a ride share to the attack wendy yeah i gotta tell, Nancy, it doesn't seem like it

was very well planned. Given all those facts, let me add to those facts. This occurred during the height of the polar vortex with those plummeting temperatures in the middle of the night with allegedly screaming out, this is MAGA country. That area of Chicago, that is not MAGA country, far from it. So you look at all of the. I don't want to say mistakes. You know we're always happy when police find out who really did and

who really did a crime so we can solve it but this appears to be very poorly planned on what will be interesting now is seeing given the statements that Jesse already gave very publicly during that Good Morning America interview and the statements that the lawyer made how that how they backpedal from here and how this proceeds, given that there's already basically been a position taken by now.

I'm glad you brought up the GMA interview with my friend Robin Roberts, because she was just looking at him as he was talking. I mean, she didn't come outright and call him a liar. She gave him a liar. She, you know, gave him a shred of dignity for Pete's sake. But take a listen to Smollett going on and on about how he decides to go out at 2 a.m. in sub-zero temperature. I believe Alan Duke told me it was nine below with the windchill factor to get, what, a meatball sandwich? You know, at that time of the night with that temperature i would have just eaten something out of the fridge i don't care what it was but he goes out and we're

supposed to believe that these people that have been sending him threatening letters to his said empire this person who's targeting him just happened to know he was going to get the thungries at 2 a.m and go to subway andway, and they're waiting by the Subway with the bleach and the rope. Okay. Take a listen to our friend Robin Roberts. What happened that night, Chessie? When I landed in Chicago, and Frank Gatson, who's like my uncle, and he's also my creative director, and he picked me up, and then we got back to the apartment there was no food and so I went out to Walgreens thinking that they were 24 hours and to have a smoke Walgreens was closed so I called him up and I said hey I'm gonna run to Subway which was across

the street and I'm gonna get a salad do you want anything I went to the Subway and got the order during that time I texted my manager thinking that he was still in australia because he was on an australian tour with one of his other clients i say yo call me when you can he called me immediately and while he was on the phone i heard as i was crossing the intersection i heard empire and i don't answer to empire. My name ain't Empire. And I didn't answer. I kept walking, and then I heard, f***, Empire, n***a.

So I turned around, and I said, what the f*** did you just say to me? And I see the attacker masked, and he said, this MAGA country n***a punches me right in the face. So I punched his ass back. And then we started tussling, you know, it was very icy. And we ended up tussling by the stairs,

fighting, fighting, fighting. There was a second person involved who was kicking me in my back. And then it just stopped. Mm-hmm. That's what he told Robin Roberts to Ellen Kaloran, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter who's been following the case since the very beginning. E.K., what can you tell me about those letters? We know that there was a letter sent to the studio where Empire filmed just a week before the purported hate crime attack on January 29th. It was written, it was created like someone had like a ransom letter with letters cut out of a magazine. And not only does it look now more and

more likely that this hate crime was orchestrated on January 29th, there is a lot of suspicion that that letter also may have been something that was fabricated. And as we've mentioned before, people who work with Smollett on the show have said to reporters that they thought he wasn't happy with the reaction to the letter. So he upped the ante and orchestrated this so-called hate crime against himself. Well, when you, the two brothers who were involved in this, and they've already spoken to police, they've been interrogated, and they were released with no charges. According to reports, they were paid $3,500 and another $500 when they got back to attack their friend, Jesse Smollett, the star of Empire.

They conveniently leave town and fly to visit family in Nigeria. They are American-born. They're American citizens. The day after the attack, attacks at 2 a.m., they head out of the country the next day. When they get back, they're met by cops. They are the ones, the two brothers, Abel and Ola Osidoro, are the ones saying that. Smollett wrote the letter to himself, and when you look at it, I mean, Joe Scott Morgan, please help me.

It looks like a fifth grader was trying to write a crime novel where you cut out the letters from a magazine. And then, of course, I think they found magazines in somebody's apartment that they're looking at. And then it got in red. It's got somebody getting hung with a gun shooting them in very it's like stick figures yeah and you know they're talking about this this uh faux hate crime that took place uh that doesn't that doesn't hold my attention as much as this letter does nancy remember the the the faux hate crime reporting and all that is a fourth-class felony. What you're talking about with this letter, the FBI is involved in this investigation, Nancy,

and from what I'm reading, they have that envelope, they have the letter, they have everything, they're analyzing it, and this is a kicker. Not only did this contain this homemade, you know, whatever this thing was, it looks like some kind of child's rendering, as you put it. But there was crushed white, unidentified powder in this thing. This kicks this up to another level. What's going to be really interesting moving forward is to see how the U.S. attorney and the FBI and the postal inspector pursue this thing. Because, you know, you look at these charges that people have been convicted on these cases where they're sending these letters in the mail.

Nancy, some of these people are getting up to 15 and 16 years on a single count for these things. So that's going to be really interesting. They ran off, and I saw where they ran. And the phone was in my pocket, but it had fallen out, and it was sitting there. And my manager was still on the phone. So I picked up the phone, and I said, said brandon and he's like what's going on and i said i was just jumped and i then i looked down and i see that there's a rope around my neck which i hadn't had noticed it before because it was so fast you know what i'm saying it was so fast how long did

this all it felt like minutes but it probably was like 30 seconds, honestly. I can't tell you, honestly. I noticed the rope around my neck, and I started screaming. And I said, there's a f***ing rope around my neck. Did you get any kind of description of the attacker? I gave a body description, because I saw this right here or whatever. But I didn't see. I can't tell you what color their eyes were. I can't tell you. And I did not see anything except the second person I saw running away. And the first person,

yeah, I saw his stature. I gave the description as best as I could. You have to understand also that it's Chicago in winter. People can wear ski masks and nobody's going to question that. You're hearing our friend at ABC's GMA, Robin Roberts, talking to Empire star Jussie Smollett. He's just been formally charged. He has been taken to the station and booked on charges, basically a false report. In that jurisdiction, that's considered a disorderly conduct charge. It's a class four felony. You get one to three years behind bars unless it's kicked up to another charge because of the white substance that he allegedly mailed himself in his fake threats. To Dr. Daniel Bober, we're getting ready to take you into a presser by the district attorney to Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist. Dr. Bober, do you hear Smollett's voice and the way he tells dramatically, tells Robin Roberts the story?

It gets down very low and then it springs back up and he seems to have an answer for everything. What is that? Nancy, remember Morton Downey Jr., the attack on him? Anyway, no, you know, this is, he needs acting lessons because this is deeply compromising on so many levels. The fact that, you know, he's a celebrity and we're in the B2 movement and we have all this identity politics going on. And the fact that he had 12 detectives working on his case when they could have been out doing something else. There is actually a disorder called a factitious disorder imposed on self

where people do these sorts of things. And I've seen patients in my practice who have claimed to have had cancer and never had it, or they claim to be victims of the 9-11 attack, but they were never there. They just sound like a pack of liars to me, Dr. Daniel Bober. Why are you putting on the pig and pretending they have some kind of personality disorder? They're just lying. Well, I'm not saying they don't know the difference between right and wrong. Obviously, they're volitional, they're willful, they know what they're doing. But the motivation is because purely for attention. There are people that feel very invalidated. They get enough attention. And

this is the only way they could get, you know, recognition. And this is especially prominent in people in the acting profession who are, you know, sort of insecure by nature. Well, this is interesting. Wendy Patrick, I want your take on this. We're going to take you straight into the press in just a moment. Wendy, he's got a high-powered team of defense lawyers, including Mark Geragos, my sparring partner. And I was baiting Geragos by text last night. He did not take the bait, by the way, was very respectful about his new client,

Jesse Smollett, and did not let me egg him on at all. Long story short, I hope Geragos does not take the route of Winona Ry rider that he famously represented for shoplifting and she fought it the whole the tooth and nail and the people saw her going in there with the items they go in there the items are gone except for all the tags cut off and she leaves and is caught with the items and they fight it in court here i think a great thing for smollett to do is say you know what i was afraid i was going to lose my job i tried to drum up pr i tried to bring attention to attacks on gay people on black people and i was wrong and i was stupid and i'm a big idiot please forgive me and don't let what I did reflect on real crime victims.

I'm just a big idiot. That's what I would do. I would get out there, get in front of it, admit it, and take a plea, go pick up trash on the side of the road, and be done with it. Yeah, Nancy, I actually started my career as a criminal defense attorney, and you're right in that part of adequate and competent representation doesn't necessarily always mean fighting a case in court. It often means expressing guilt early on in the process and throwing yourself on the mercy of the court. It might be a sentencing issue. Why do I say that? Had Smollett not gone so public in his denials and given that long interview with your friend Robin, who I thought, I agree with you, she was very nice. She smiled. She basically gave him a platform to lay out exactly what happened. It's

hard to detract from that. It's hard to take that away. So maybe the best offense right now is like you, like you suggested, admitting guilt, professing to move on, making a mistake, being an example to others. However, we've all seen that that is not always what happens, even when there's initially an addiction. What about this? E.K., Ellen Kaloran, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. You know, a Chicago mom, Kenyatta Jones, is angry because she says the Smollett investigation diverted police attention and resources that should be being used to solve her daughter's murder. Her daughter, Oceana, was shot in the back, running from four men, and there's one detective on the case. And let me tell you, I know the deal because I've been there.

You get 150 new cases a week, and you're choking, you're drowning in cases. You're trying your best to give your all to every case. So while everybody's out chasing this non-attack on Jesse Smollett, real victims are suffering. That's right, Nancy. And that's one of the really infuriating things about this. If in fact the charges are true and the allegations are correct, this desperate mother whose daughter was 21 year old daughter was murdered months ago, has been working around the clock to help solve her case because she's not getting the resources that she needs and since this purported hate attack

happened she has found leads herself that she has tried to bring to law enforcement and she hasn't been able to get anywhere and she believes that part of the reason for that is because so many resources have been directed to a crime that may not have happened at all. I can tell you this. I'm looking at a picture of Oceana right now. She's just absolutely beautiful. And to think of a mother out there beating the streets to find witnesses because cops are busy on Jesse Smollett. Shame, shame, shame on him. Guys, let's go to that presser right now. Take a listen to the Chicago police. Before I get started on why we're here, you know, as I look out into the crowd, I just wish

that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention because that's who really deserves the amount of attention that we're giving to this particular incident. But this morning, I come to you not only as the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, but also as a black man who spent his entire life living in the city of Chicago. I know the racial divide that exists here. I know how hard it's been for our city and our nation to

come together and I also know the disparities and I know the history. This announcement today recognizes that Empire actor Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career. I'm left hanging my head and asking why. Why would anyone, especially an African American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol and see an opportunity to manipulate that symbol to further his own public profile. How can an individual who's been embraced by the city of Chicago

turn around and slap everyone in this city in the face by making these false claims? Bogus police reports cause real harm. They do harm to every legitimate victim who's in need of support by police and investigators, as well as the citizens of this city. Chicago hosts one of the largest pride parades in the world, and we're proud of that as a police department and also as a city. We do not know will we ever tolerate hate in our city, whether that hate is based on an individual's sexual orientation, race, or anything else. So I'm offended by what's happened and I'm also angry. I love the city of Chicago and the Chicago police department, warts and all, but this publicity stunt was a scar that Chicago didn't earn and certainly didn't deserve.

To make things worse, the accusations within this phony attack received national attention for weeks. Celebrities, news commentators, and even presidential candidates weighed in on something that was choreographed by an actor. First, Smollett attempted to gain attention by to stage this attack and drag Chicago's reputation through the mud in the process. And why? This stunt was orchestrated by Smollett because he was dissatisfied with his salary. So he concocted a story about being attacked. Now our city has problems, we know that. We have problems that have affected people from all walks of life and we know that. But to put the national spotlight on Chicago for something that is both egregious and untrue is simply shameful. I'm also concerned about what this means moving forward for hate crimes. Now, of course, the Chicago Police Department will continue to investigate all reports of

these types of incidents with the same amount of vigor that we did with this one. But my concern is that hate crimes will now publicly be met with a level of skepticism that previously didn't happen. That said, Smollett was treated as a victim throughout this investigation until we received evidence that led detectives in another direction. I couldn't be more proud of the unrelenting detective work that went into this investigation, and I couldn't be more proud of every investigator that played a part in it. The detective work that we saw in this case is indicative of the work that our detectives do every day in this city. This case in particular involved hours of video evidence, which when combined with old-fashioned police work, uncovered the truth. These detectives deserve

all the credit in the world for carefully analyzing the leads and the evidence for weeks before coming to their conclusion. I'd also like to thank the FBI for their help in this investigation. The FBI's partnership with CPD has been pivotal in this particular case. I only hope that the truth about what happened receives the same amount of attention that the hoax did. I'll continue to pray for this troubled young man who resorted to both drastic and illegal tactics to gain attention. I'll also continue to pray for our city, asking that we can move forward from this and begin to heal. You heard it from the horse's mouth.

We'll see as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.