Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Killers Amongst Us: Real Life "Hell's Kitchen," Gorgeous Restauranteur Disappears. What happened to Dawn? (part 4)

Episode Date: October 27, 2020

The pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fall into place for detectives, and a new person of interest comes to light. Cops learn hard on good old-fashion street work to figure out what happened to Dawn Viens. The answer may have been right in front of them the whole time. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Hi guys, Nancy Grace here. Welcome back to Killers Amongst Us, a production of iHeartMedia and Crime Online. Have you ever walked the streets of downtown and you're surrounded by a lot of people, or at a mall, or at the grocery store in a parking lot and you just pause and look around. Killers amongst us, it's so extraordinary that they look just like everybody else. They could be innocuous,

or they could be flamboyant and well-liked in their community. What lurks in the hearts of men and women? From the outside looking in, there's no way to tell. I'm Nancy Grace. Thanks for being with us. Killers amongst us.

Right out to Debra Mark, anchor in Talk Radio 790 KABC. Debra, the recent information that we got over this past weekend is that after our show Friday night, cops have now gone out and started re-interviewing people, interviewing friends. We also learn about the possessions being thrown in a dumpster, the Jeep being towed away almost immediately after she goes missing. About a week and a half later, Nancy, after she disappeared, a friend of hers saw her husband's daughter and his new girlfriend taking her stuff. They were in a car. They drove to the restaurant, took stuff out of the car, and started throwing things into the dumpster. Allegedly, you know, there was a few things they decided to keep, but most of the things were just thrown away that's hln and i'm interviewing deborah

mark from kabc in the search for dawn vins what happened to her well of course it aroused suspicion when her clothing and some of her possessions were thrown in a dumpster by her husband's new girlfriend, but that does not evidence make. While it certainly raised the hackles of the family, but what about the mystery text? Finally, a friend named Monica comes to police with a real clue. Hi. What can we do for you? My husband and I have been friends with David and Dawn since they got here. We're regulars at the restaurant.

Anyway, I know that she's disappeared, but I actually just got a text from her. What does it say? It says, I'm okay. I'm in Florida. I'm starting over. Pixie. Can I sit down? Pixie, which is the nickname that David gave Dawn. That text message in of itself would explain where Dawn was. And it should relieve the worry from her friends. But it didn't. And I'll tell you why.

There was a glaring problem with that text. The nickname Pixie was misspelled. How often do you misspell your own name? Again, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Killers Amongst Us. Thanks for being with us. What a panel joining together today in the case of missing Dawn Vins. First of all, crack reporter Larry Altman, crime reporter for Daily Breeze. At the

time, Dawn goes missing. Now freelance journalist, death investigator, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. Now the star of a hit series, Poisonous Liaisons on the True Crime Network network former police chief john's creek chris byers 25 years on the force now private investigator polygrapher at chris byers investigations and polygraph.com psychologist adjunct professor columbia university dr debbie joffie ellis renowned defense attorney former prosecutor joining me today out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, Daryl Cohen, and special guests, the brothers and sister of Dawn Vins, Derek, David, and Dana. To everyone, thank you for being with us. Well, the moment it's pointed out that Pixie is misspelled in that mystery text,

this is what happens. Take a listen to The Perfect Murder. We decided to take it to the next level and do electronic surveillance. We had a pole camera facing the rear of the restaurant. We had GPS trackers on David's car. We also had undercovers that would go into the restaurant occasionally for meals. During the investigation, one of the phone calls

from Don's phone was to Jackie. So we added her phone number to the wiretap. David's daughter has returned home to South Carolina, so detectives divide and conquer. In order to capture the phone calls, we had to stimulate conversation between them. At that point, it was decided that I would fly to South Carolina and confront Jackie just to get the phones ringing. Hi, Jackie. The strategy proves more fruitful than cops ever anticipated. Straight out to Larry Altman, a crime reporter, Daily Breeze at the time that Dawn goes missing.

So investigators start this electronic surveillance on David Vins, Dawn's husband, including GPS trackers, wiretaps. They even go undercover into the restaurant to eat to get a sense of what's going on. But then they fly out to see his daughter, Jackie. She had moved back to South Carolina. What happens when they get there, Larry Altman? Well, while they are interviewing her, and I'll tell you what she said in a moment, they are also utilizing me. And they used me. They gave me a story, which was true, that, and this is all going on at the same time.

They told me that they had gone into the residence where Don and David had lived. They found blood in there. They believed Don was dead and that there was blood and that he was a person of interest in the case. So I wrote a story to put that out to the world. At the same time, they're interviewing her. And during that interview, she apparently admitted that her father had told her that he had killed Don. Constitution protecting people from their statements they make to cops because the Constitution doesn't protect you from blabbing to your own family. There's no protection for that, Daryl Cohen. Did you hear what Altman just said? I heard.

That the daughter, the adult daughter, Jackie, wasn't wasn't she the one that was helping throw out um don vian's clothing larry wasn't she and the new girlfriend doing that yes okay what about it daryl cohen did you hear that what's the problem fancy what's the problem with throwing out clothing if pixie and by the way have you guys ever heard of auto correct it's usually auto non-correct because it constantly changes words and names and spellings. But what's the problem with throwing out Pixie disappeared? She left. So they want to clear out everything. They don't want to think about it because she's gone.

She just took off. Okay, wait, right there. I agree with you. Just because Don Vance, quote, disappeared. on she just took off okay wait right there i agree with you just because don vans quote disappeared yeah i i that's nothing i've got nothing to take to a jury or even a grand jury but then that's like you know telling me go make a cake with nothing but the flour that's not going to work but then I add the butter then I add the milk and the egg and guess what turn on the oven I got a cake now here you've got Dawn Vians suddenly going missing then you have the daughter Jackie and the new mistress that was quick not judging the husband says he fires Dawn and brings

in a new hostess within a few weeks okay that's still no I still don't have a case but then you have a mystery text where Dawn misspells her own name still don't have anything but now i've got david vian's own blood daughter stating oh yeah that that pixie text daddy told me to do that i didn't do that on mine see she thought she was in trouble for sending it which she should have been then she blamed her dad. Take a listen to our friend at 48 Hours, Richard Schlesinger. Did you tell them the truth? I did, yeah. I told them what happened. And then she called her father to tell him what she had done. I said, pops, they're looking for you.

I mean, they just came and talked to me, and I told them what happened. So, you know, beware. They're going to be coming for you. It was an unanticipated extra stimulation. told them what happened. So, you know, beware. They're going to be coming for you. It was an unanticipated extra stimulation. And that next morning, February 23rd, 2011, Vians saw Altman's story. Did you tell them the truth? I did, yeah. I told them what happened. And then she called her father to tell him what she had done.

I said, Pops, they're looking for you. I mean, they just came and talked to me, and I told them what happened. So, you know, beware. They're going to be coming for you. It was an unanticipated extra stimulation. And that next morning, February 23rd, 2011, Vians saw Altman's story on page one. I smell a rat, Daryl Cohen. Well, absolutely, you can smell a rat, but smelling a rat doesn't mean you see the rat. Smelling a rat doesn't mean the rat exists. What it means is it gave you some reason to continue whatever superficial or deep investigation you had. But quite frankly, the fact that this daughter said, yes, I said it, and daddy told me to do it, she doesn't want to throw herself under the bus so she throws her dad under the bus does that mean

he killed dawn no and you know that's exactly why i like trying people together co-defendants i let them boil in the same pot because they always start pointing the finger at each other you know when was it dana pappen this is john's sister, that you found out. When did you find out? The daughter, the grown daughter who hightails it back to South Carolina, says her dad told her to send the text from, quote, Pixie. And she misspelled the name. I don't remember exactly how I found out. There was a lot of information coming in at the time.

I just remember being really sad by it, really upset. When you first learned that the daughter, David Vian's daughter, David Pappin, said she was the one that sent the mystery text, I mean, a lot of people had pinned hopes on that text that your sister was alive somewhere in Florida. I knew that she was not in Florida because I was in Florida, and she would have definitely reached out if she just left with nothing but a Louis Vuitton bag. She would have certainly needed some help. So I knew she wasn't in Florida.

What about it, Derek? Yeah, I agree with David. I think it's just one more wool over the sheep's eye, if you will, to everything that has happened. At this point, police start digging in, digging in. I mean, to you, Chief Chris Byers, former chief of Johns Creek, 25 years on the force. Chief Byers, if you had gotten that much information, what would you think? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, detective work is just like building a puzzle.

You have these little pieces and you figure out how they fit together. And eventually you start to get a sense of what the picture is. And so you're definitely seeing a ton of the puzzle pieces starting to fit together. And it's really starting, that picture is starting to look a whole lot like David. You know what, Chief? You know what? I know that you're just being kind to Daryl Cohen because I don't need every piece of the puzzle to figure out it's a picture of the Eiffel Tower. Oh, absolutely.

I mean, I got enough right now. And when Daryl Cohen attacked my rat theory, I smell a rat. When you smell a rat, that means there is a rat but the rat has gotten away absolutely if you can't see it but there is a rat and that's when you bring in the exterminator so right now the cops know something is horribly wrong. They got a slow start on this investigation. Larry Altman was beside himself trying to figure out what was happening. Finally, he lights a fire under the police rear ends and the case is now in full swing and they start digging. Take a listen to our friend at 48 Hours, Richard Schlesinger. In 2005, Vians was arrested for selling marijuana, and it was not his first arrest.

Manatee County Detective Randy Barnett and DEA agent Derek Pollack worked on the Florida case. He was convicted in Vermont for distribution of cocaine in 1993. The police sat Vians down and asked for his help to break up the drug ring. He was an agent's dream to work with. He returned calls. He was there for every deal that we needed for him to be there for, and he was on time. Vians was sentenced to just one year in prison, and and in 2008 he and Dawn headed to Lomita. What? Dana did you have any idea that Dawn was dating a doper? Yes we found out pretty quickly that he had been arrested and was awaiting jail time.

Yeah. Holy moly. I mean, in the big scheme of things, with the cases that you and I have handled in the past, Daryl Cohen, thank God we're on two different sides of the fence. But, I mean, you know, pot, people don't even sneeze at a bag of pot anymore. But this guy was convicted of selling cocaine. That's a whole other can of worms. Then he turns into a snitch.

A snitch. He was such a great snitch. So convincing as a snitch. They say he was a quote, dream CI, dream confidential informant. He got a sweetheart deal one year behind bars because he was such a great liar, a snitch. You know, snitches get stitches. My son just said that the other day. Fancy. What?

Oh, come on. What? You as a prostitute, you somebody says, okay, come on. You use snitches all the time. You have to. Because without those confidential informants slash snitches, you don't make cases. And we don't know how much cocaine he was convicted or he pled guilty to. Still sold it.

It might have been just a small amount. If he sold from an ounce, there has to be a brick somewhere. Yeah, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's in his hand, his house, his place of business, or his car. He may have gotten it from someone else. All I know is he's convicted of selling cocaine. And Dana, how much of his history did you know about? In the beginning, not as much. It only took a couple of years for more serious things to come to light.

All I know is if my sister were dating a doper, I would try like hell to get her to break up based on just what I know from being in the crime business for so long. But whether Don knew the full extent of his background, we may never know. The investigation goes on. Listen to Richard Schlesinger. David Fiennes was now a person of interest. When you introduced yourself as Sergeant Garcia from the L.A. County Sheriff's Homicide Division, how did he react? He immediately turned white. He was a loss for words. And I called him right over and I was like, you know what, there's something that you need to tell me. David Vienz was now a person of interest.

When you introduced yourself as Sergeant Garcia from the L.A. County Sheriff's Homicide Division, how did he react? He immediately turned white. He was a loss for words. And I called him right over and I was like, you know what? Is there something that you need to tell me? To Joseph Scott Morgan, death investigator, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author and TV star, your resume is getting way too long for me to say the whole thing, Joe Scott. My question is, why do people turn white? I mean, I don't really completely understand why people turn red, but I get that the blood rushes to your face. But why do people, I guess both of those, why do you turn red when

you're embarrassed or flummoxed or your face gets hot? But why do people turn white? Is it the blood drains from their face? Yeah, and that's a literary device that's been used for years and years, isn't it, Nancy? This idea that when you turn red, you become flushed, this vascular reaction that you have. And conversely, this can happen when you're faced with kind of a shocking moment. And we've heard this for years and years. People have a sensation that their blood runs cold. How many times have you heard that over the years? And most of the time, it's almost like it's this physiological response to something very,

very troubling, something horrific. It's almost a primal response, if you will. To you, Dr. Debbie Jaffe-Ellis, psychologist, adjunct professor, Columbia University, I guess you're going to tell me there could be any number of reasons someone's face goes white. That's correct, Nancy. That's correct. It's true that these micro involuntary kind of physical reactions can say a lot and they certainly can indicate at the very least some discomfort within the person but really we can't without solid evidence say for sure this or this or this is the reason maybe you need to go to the toilet and didn't have time. I mean, I'm saying that lightly, but we don't know

unless there's solid evidence. But indeed, there's some discomfort within that person. You know, Dr. Debbie Joffe Ellis, whenever you do, if ever, get tired of being a psychologist, even though you have this incredibly fancy job at Columbia University, you'd make a great defense attorney. Because I've never, ever, and sadly, dear old Cohen, the defense attorney, is going to probably use this in his next closing. Oh, no, no, no. They didn't turn white because they were shocked or afraid. They just had to go take a poop. That's all that was.

So, you know, don't be convinced. Now, let me remind you, Dr. Debbie, that the jury is the sole judge of the facts and the evidence and the law. And I guarantee you, if they heard that David Vian's face went white when a detective knocks on the door. Uh-huh. Okay, now, this is what it's called. And no thanks to you, Joe Scott Morgan. It's called blanching. When you're suddenly frightened or you have some emotional shock, it can cause blanching as the blood is shunted away from the skin, including the skin on the face. I've just learned this in preparation to cross-examine Joe Scott Morgan.

Your face can turn pale in dangerous situations because your body starts sending blood from non-critical areas like your face to where it's needed the most. In other words, fight or flight. from non-critical areas like your face to where it's needed the most. In other words, fight or flight. When you see a dog chasing you, your face could turn pale because your body immediately sends blood to the parts of your body, like your legs and arms, where it's needed so you can run and pump your arms. That is what scientists say.

It invokes the fight-or-flight response in your body and that goes way back to our caveman ancestors Joe Scott have I finally taught you something for once in all the years oh yeah Jackie please save this tape I am so happy. So that's what I learned. When I heard that his face drained white, I investigated. And it brought on fight or flight. And that's not just a term of speech.

Listen. He said, I don't want to talk about it here. We need to leave. he just kept saying i'm sorry i'm sorry and i kept saying you know how how could you let something like this happen and i was just like i can't believe you lied to me i didn't hear that morning monitoring traffic seemed like the cop was right here i started you know like know, like flagging him down. We were just, we were hauling. I immediately pulled out behind them. He was going quite fast.

And had no intention of stopping. I remember coming up on this curb. That's where I said, I don't want to die. If there was any doubt about David Vien's murdering his young wife, Dawn, It doesn't end there. Nancy Grace, Killers Amongst Us, signing off. Goodbye, friends.

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