Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Model wife tells hitman feed my hubby's ex to the wood-chipper, prosecutors say

Episode Date: February 23, 2018

Tara Lambert hated her husband's ex-wife so much that she allegedly wanted her murdered and ground up by a wood-chipper. The former model was found guilty in 2016 of trying to hire a hit man to do the deadly deed. That conviction was overturned because of a paperwork mistake, but Lambert is facing a second trial. Nancy Grace goes over the case defense lawyer Joel Brodsky, forensic expert Joseph Scott Morgan, psychologist Caryn Stark, and RadarOnline reporter Alexis Tereszcuk. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Sirius XM Triumph, Channel 132. A fashion model, absolutely stunning, Beautiful home, beautiful family, mother of two gorgeous stepdaughters. What more could this Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. And the beat goes on. Joining me, Jewel Brodsky, a renowned defense attorney out of the Chicago jurisdiction, investigative reporter Alexis Torres-Chuck with RadarOnline.com, renowned New York psychologist joining us, Karen Stark, and forensic expert, professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University, Joseph Scott Morgan.

You know, Alexis, I really don't know where to start with this Tara Lambert. I mean, I'm looking at her right now. She looks like she should be on an ad for like L'Oreal or I would say CoverGirl. But since I used that in high school, I kind of feel like no to the CoverGirl. That's not classy enough for this lady. Although I still use their eyebrow pencils, Alexis. Now back to this woman, Tara Lambert. Stunning. Well, you certainly can't judge a book by its cover. Alexis, help me. Why? This woman was so enraged with her husband's ex-wife that she hired a hitman to kill her, the mother of her stepchildren and the mother of

her husband's children. Wait a minute, Alexis, you said ex-wife. The woman is an ex. She's gone. Why murder her? I don't understand. I mean, if the prize, now I hate to say this with Joe Scott Morgan and Alan Deak listening, but if the prize is the man, sorry, I just chuckled right there. If the prize is the man, she got him. She bagged him. So why does she have to kill the ex? What am I missing, Alexis? Alexis, just start at the beginning because so far I don't really like your answers. Just start at the beginning. Karen, listen, we've got to figure this thing out. Okay, so she is married and she decides that she wants to kill her husband's ex-wife, the mother of her two stepdaughters.

So she decides that she is going to hire a hitman. I don't really know where these people think they can find hitmen as if they're just everywhere. So she finds a man who she believes is going to kill the mother of her two beautiful stepdaughters. Turns out he is an undercover cop and she is busted for trying to have their mother murdered. How did she go about trying to have the woman murdered? Why do we believe she actually went through with it? What's the evidence against her? So police have actual recordings of her on the phone with this man because he's a police officer. Take a listen to secret surveillance footage we have obtained of Tara Lambert. Now, she's undercover right here, and she's actually telling the hitman to use a, quote, lumberjack thingy to put the ex-wife into a chopper.

She says chopper. Her words, not mine. To put the ex-wife in a wood chipper to dispose of the evidence. Now, guys, let's just pause a moment. Alexis and I were yucking it up about the motive is, you know, you're going to kill somebody over a man. And why would she do it? Because the ex is, after all, an ex. ex so what's the issue but this is very real take a listen this is d this is tara hey nice to meet you nice to meet you too what's going on with you i hear

you got a problem i need her away gone okay i community tip. I mean, what do you want done with her? Oh, my God. Just put her in a chopper, like one of those lumberjack chopper things. I don't carry a lumberjack chopper. No, I'm just kidding. Like, that's how much I hate her, though. I don't know. Whatever you...

You want me to just walk up and cap her? I don't know. I don't know. Like, we were kind of to just walk up and cap her? I don't know. Like we were kind of thinking of like a home invasion gone wrong. I'll just walk straight up, shoot her in the grill. You said the dude is gone all the time. So if he's there, you want him to go too? Yeah, I mean...

I really don't mind. It's your grand. Yeah, I mean... I'm gonna be so excited. I just can't even tell you. I'm so happy about you. All right. Sound good?

Okay. So excited. Very, very good. You're the man. I really appreciate this. I hate her. That's how much I hate her. Now, remember, police become suspicious of the cover girl mom, Tara Lambert,

and they bring her in for questioning. Listen to what happened. Am I really, like, arrested? Yes, you're under arrest. Oh, my God. Okay. Did you ever make the comment that you would like to have her killed? No.

I just signed for counseling with her. Like, we are going to counseling together. I understand that. To have Kelly killed? My stepdaughter's mother? Yes. No. No.

Yes. You're the one that wants to have her killed. I don't want her killed. No. Yes. You're the one that wants to have her killed. I don't want her killed. Well. I want her beat up. He said he was going to punch her in the grill. Tara. There is.

Those phone calls that you talked to her about was recorded. What? Yes. They are recorded. And it's you that wanted to have her killed. Of what? And, yes, at first, there is where you talk about, well, if I want to hurt, I want to permanently hurt.

Do you remember saying that? No. Well, I can play it for you, but you said it. It all started out was that you were asking her, how much would this cost to do it, all this. Do you remember saying that? That is not how this started. It isn't? No. No.

In the first phone conversation? No. Explain to me why, so I can understand why you would want to have her killed. No. No. I want her to stop harassing us. I want her to stop making false accusations of me. I want her to stop slandering my name. You're talking about Kelly.

Okay. What did she do that made you so upset? I don't want her to die. I don't understand that because you did don't want her to die. I don't understand that because you did. I want her to stop. You indicated that you hated her on, when you were talking in the conversations. I don't though. You don't mean that now.

I don't hate her. And I am, and that's why we are about to go to counseling. Right. You did hate her. I hate her when she does this stuff. And you talked about having her killed. That came up. That wasn't the agreement.

Okay. It was to deck her in the grill. Okay. That is a punch in the mouth, in the face. Okay. That's it well i guess the the tapes will speak for themselves well i have somebody that might be able to help you out you know how much i would love that he wants to know how much you'll pay him like what do you think is a good amount per se honestly i don't know i know. I mean, you know, it just depends

on what you're wanting done. Oh, obviously, yeah. Um, girl, I mean, the bottom line is, if we're only going to hurt her, then I want her to be hurt, like, more permanently, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Like, just staples. OK. Um. Um, like disabled. Okay.

Um. Um, but if we wanna go all the way, then I want it to look like an accident, obviously because of what I've gone through with her. Yeah. I would be like the first suspect of trouble. Sure, but Tom, what are you doing? Well, I just left my buddy's house

probably about a half hour ago. Yeah? He's wanting to know if you wanna meet tomorrow. Okay, yeah, I can totally do that. I'm not, like, having an orgasm in my car just thinking about it. Oh, yeah. I think you're so bad. I've never hit someone this bad.

Karen Stark, I've done a little bit of investigation into Tara Lambert. This is more information that I've learned. It's not necessarily, in fact, it is not evidence of guilt, but I want to throw it into the pot for you to stir it in and to get your analysis. I know, I mean, she's just 33, that she had suffered from eating disorders and had body issues. She has had over two dozen, over 24 cosmetic surgeries. Wow, that's a lot, Karen. And I'm certainly not one to judge because I don't really care.

If you have surgery, have it. If you don't, fine. It's really none of my business. All I care about is the evidence in this case. But I do think it gives us a glimpse into her psyche, how far she will go to be what she believes is attractive. What do you make of all this? Well, we're talking right now, Nancy, about her insecurity and her disbelief that the way that she is is good enough, the fact that she kept having all these surgeries and has an eating disorder, shows you that she's messed up, but she's not so insane that she didn't know what she was doing when she decided that it was important to get rid of this woman.

And she actually was saying, I feel like I can have an orgasm in the car. She was so excited about the possibility that this could actually happen. She had no idea she was being taped. And when she was interviewed, she was so out of it that she just kept saying over and over again, I didn't want her killed. I just wanted her clipped. You know, I just wanted her punched in the jaw or something. Well, let me understand something. Alexis Tereshuk, RadarOnline.com. What was the ex doing that amounted to harassment

in the mind of cover girl Tara Lambert? What Tara was claiming was that she was really difficult about the custody issues. But the woman had, Kelly Cook was her name, she actually had custody of the daughters, and that she was arguing with her husband over when he could see the girls. But she was trying to have her killed, and then she would have the responsibility of these girls full time. So it wouldn't make her life any easier.

You know, that's really interesting that that's what they were fighting over is arranging visits because pretty much every divorced couple i know that has children there are issues about custody even if the divorce is amicable there there are arguments about, I'm going to pick them up this day and drop them off at this time, and I've got to miss this weekend, and can I have this weekend instead of that weekend? It's difficult. It's very difficult. But in Tara Lambert's mind, that amounted to harassment. To Joseph Scott Morgan, forensic expert and professor of forensics at Jacksonville State, Joe Scott, you know, we were kind of yucking it up

about motive for murder here. And I will say that we're all relieved the victim lived. All right. Because typically by the time we get a hold of cases, somebody is dead. So I guess that is cause for joy. But I want to revisit what Tara Lambert actually said, not when police were questioning her, but when she was alone with a perceived hit man, what she wanted done to this woman, this mother, the mother of her stepchildren. Yeah. You know, it goes to this idea that she apparently has no problem whatsoever of having this woman who is the mother of these children taken out, killed, and then her body being put into a high-speed wood chipper, which, you know, just absolutely destroys and literally disintegrates human remains. I've actually worked cases where bodies have gone into wood chippers. And it's a horrible thing. And she doesn't even know the proper vernacular.

And then, you know, to witness her, that's the creepy thing about this, Nancy. To witness her talking about this on tape with this police officer, she does, in fact, get giddy about this. It's almost like a child unwrapping a present. And very, very, very chilling, you know, to see this, that she can just so easily dismiss another human being like that and just have them utterly destroyed want them want them to be utterly destroyed when asked what she wanted done Tara Lambert tells the would be hit man to throw cook into a lumber shredder now Lambert later said quote when she was under oath, she was just kidding. Just kidding. According to a psychologist, Lambert drinks too much, uses prescription drugs, has eating disorders, body image issues.

When someone commented that she had an ill-fitting sweater, Tara Lambert immediately ran to a plastic surgeon for another of more than two dozen plastic surgeries and procedures. That's very disturbing. The defense attorney in her case reminded the jury of all of that and told them that when Lambert was giggling and laughing with the hitman, when she jokingly suggested a woodchipper as mode of death, it was because she simply doesn't know any better. You know, one of the first things we learned in law school, Alexis Tereschuk, is that mistake of fact is not a defense. In other words,

if you bring a load of cocaine across state lines and you claim you thought it was a load of turnip roots, that really doesn't matter. A mistake of fact does not matter in the eyes of the law. So for her saying, the defense lawyer saying, I just didn't know any better. I didn't know what I meant. No, no, absolutely not. She went to the extent of locating and hiring a hitman, identifying the victim, Kelly Cook, even saying if Kelly's now husband was home, Sean Cook, at the time that Kelly was murdered, if he happened to be home, just shoot him too. He was like collateral damage. Alexis Tereschuk, she was not kidding.

And she cannot now say, oh, that was just a big joke. She sought out and hired a hitman, identified the victim, and made arrangements for the murder or murderers to go down. And she even gave him a down payment. She gave him some of the money. It wasn't like she backed out at the last minute and said, oh, I'm just kidding, which is kind of what she tried to say once she was questioned by the police. She gave the police officer money to kill them. He even was given a picture of her stepdaughters to show him who they were. She was a really vicious criminal, and she planned it out. It wasn't. And we keep talking about this wood chipper.

Did you all see the movie Fargo? Like that was a big deal. And then they had the remake of the television show. Like this is something that she had like a Hollywood fantasy about how she was going to get killed. Well, it's interesting that you say that because her defense attorney says that life is a fantasy to her. Now, many people commented that she wore stiletto heels into the courtroom and her lawyer even commented on it to the jury by saying, don't judge a book by its cover and don't judge her by those shoes. People actually laughed in the courtroom when that was said by, but they were all her supporters. They thought that was funny. The lawyer says, are the shoes inappropriate here?

Maybe. Did I tell her not to wear the stilettos? Absolutely not. Tara Lambert doesn't know what's appropriate for a situation. Life is a fantasy to her. Well, the victim in this case, Jo Scott Morgan, that faced death and being fed into a wood chipper along with her husband, doesn't think life's a fantasy and in fact says that she and her two daughters now live in fear because after Tara Lambert was convicted the conviction was reversed she was charged and convicted on conspiracy to commit murder the case was reversed because her part in the conspiracy was not made clear in the indictment so So now they're planning a retrial. She doesn't think it's funny.

She doesn't think it's all a fantasy, Joe Scott Morgan. She says she's living in fear now that this conviction has been reversed. And cover girl Tara Lambert has escaped justice. Yeah. And, you know, to me, she's got she's she's got every right in the world to feel terrified. Nancy, she's got this experience, this gives me an extra level of fear for this woman being out on the streets. And, you know, the thing about it is, is that you were talking about the stilettos just a moment ago and how people giggled in court that she's wearing these that were her supporters.

I'm thinking, well, you know, what, what kind of crew does she come from? That's, that's actually supporting and giggling about this thing? You know, how do I know that there's not more people in the family that would want to do harm to her, to do harm to this poor woman that's trying to make it on her own out there with these two kids? I'm shocked by it. Hold on. Before I get to Joe Obroski and listen to him spin a yarn, along with Scott, Morgan, Karen Stark, and Alexis Tereshchuk, I want to thank someone, our partner, making our SiriusXM 132 program possible. As we anticipate the retrial of Tara Lambert, it's LegalZoom.

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and the victim in that case is living in fear. Karen Stark, when her defense attorney argues to a jury, don't hold her accountable. Don't judge her by her stiletto heels and her fashion model appearance in court. Even though he told her no flashy clothes in court. Why would a jury believe that she lives in a fantasy world? And it wasn't so much of a fantasy that she couldn't find, locate, hire and pay a hit man, even detailing the mode of a very gruesome death for an innocent mother.

Karen. It's not a fantasy world, Nancy. That's so far fetched. First of all, the lawyer really wanted her to do that so he could make his case. So he pushed for her to wear tight clothes and look outrageous in court. That's the first thing.

Second of all, this is a determined woman. As you said, she had all of these surgeries because she wanted to be a model and look perfect or whatever she felt a model should look like. She wanted these children. And this woman was in the way of her having them. And so this was very calculated and planned. She knew exactly what she wanted and she knew what she was doing. And she was relieved at the thought that she'd be rid of this competition since she couldn't have children of her own.

And now she would have these children. I really don't see the competition aspect of it, though, because her husband married her, divorced the ex, Kelly Cook. Kelly Cook has remarried. Oh, yes. Well, OK, I guess so. Guys, joining me right now, in addition to Joseph Scott Morgan, Karen Stark, and Alexis Tereschuk, is a renowned defense attorney out of the Chicago jurisdiction.

You will know him from defending Drew Peterson, the former cop-turned-murder defendant. Joel Brodsky, you've managed to get welcome number one to Sirius XM 132. Joel, you have managed to get a lot of defendants out of very slippery situations. This woman, she looks like a cover girl. She is a cover girl. She's a fashion model, is caught on tape hiring a hitman to murder her husband's ex-wife and feed her to a wood chipper joel how can you possibly get around a person caught on tape well the thing that struck me to me is that it was for 125 down payment which isn't even the cost of a fraction of the cost of the shoes that she wears. So how serious was the attempt? To me, it's smacks of entrapment because it's a fantasy to believe that you're going to be able to hire a hitman for $125 down.

Well, the down payment may be insufficient, may not be real, but I guarantee you the bullet would have been real. Oh, yeah. I mean, are you actually saying it doesn't rise to a felony because it was a bargain basement hit, man? Well. Is that what you're saying, Joel? met with her and participated in getting all the tapes and all the meetings and everything were trapping her, were dragging her along.

If she had tried to get a legitimate hitman a real hitman and say listen here, I'll hire you to do this here's $125 down the hitman probably would have killed her. Wait a minute, Joel Brodsky. It's a ridiculous amount, and it just shows how, you know,

what that it really wasn't serious. Well, I'm sure she believed that it was working, but she was dragged into it by the officers. Okay, now wait, wait, wait. Brodsky, you can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't say this is a fantasy and it wasn't real, but yet she probably believed it was real. Also, Joel, I'm pretty sure, I'm pretty sure based on your track record at trial

that you did go to an accredited law school. And at that law school, I'm betting that you learned mistake of fact is not a defense. Whether she was wrong about the down payment or not, that doesn't mean she didn't try to hire a hitman to kill her husband's ex. Well, but the question with entrapment is, except for the encouragement of the authorities, would she have done it anyway? You know, I mean, there she seems like she called her friend who immediately went to the authorities and that they got a call back saying, yeah, I got somebody. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute.

Hold on, Nellie. She called her friend and said what? Can we do something else? Can we, you know, how else can we take care of this problem? No, she said she wanted to hire a hitman i think it was a little bit i think the first call was how else can we take care of this problem the first call oh there was a second call was for like a threatening phone call but i think the next time she called her friend or that wasn't your friend it was an old acquaintance

who said how can i take care of my problem? Is there another way? Can we do it the other way? And the friend immediately goes to the authorities. And next thing you know, somebody contacts her and says, yeah, I got somebody here. And then next thing you know, she's with the police or with an undercover officer negotiating for a hitman. Now, if the friend had said, look, this is not possible, or, you know, this is going to cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars if you're really serious, it never would have gone any further. So what I'm saying is if it wasn't for the intervention of the authorities kind of enabling her to do this, it wouldn't have gone any further. I think the $125 down payment really belies that.

And now we see why Joel Brodsky wins so many cases. I was actually going along with him for about 15 seconds. Hold on, guys. I want you to take a listen to the victim in this case, Kelly Cook, the woman that Tara Lambert wanted dead. With the verdict. Relief. Relief.

Yeah. I mean, of course we wish it would have went all the way, but at least the justice system would get to serve some of its, most of its purpose. I mean, we're hoping that she'll stay off the street as long as possible. Now it's in the judge's hand to hopefully make it a stiff penalty. It's made us more aware of our surroundings. We're living in an evil world. I mean, she got caught.

The next person might not. So, I mean, it could be a real home invasion. We're prepared now. I mean, we look for signs. Our kids are prepared? The kids are prepared. I mean, we've got an action plan for the most part. You know what I'm saying?

It's like everything had to change. We turned into basically what I feel like a military family at this point. From somebody that claimed they loved my girls. Right. Or our girls. If it would have been possible for her to get sentenced for both charges for 22 years, the max, we still have, we just had 22 years in my eyes of safety.

So right now, I don't think it's over. Will we always think about it with the day she gets out? Absolutely. I don't know that it will take until the day she gets out. I don't know how manipulative she can be to people while she's gone. She's had plenty of planning over the last six, seven months, too. Who knows? We just have to be alert and be aware of our surroundings and be prepared, I guess.

Alexis Tereszczuk, explain to me more of what you know was caught on tape with the perceived hitman. So she is actually seen handing him money. And I know it's only $125, but money is money. And she was, in her mind, she was paying him to kill the mother of her stepchildren. So she then is, she's also talking with the police officer, although she doesn't know he's a police officer, and she's coming up with ideas about the way to kill him. So she,

then she says, oh, well, gosh, I'm sorry, to kill her. She says, well, stick her in a wood chipper. And then she laughs. Like, she says, oh, no, I'm just kidding. Like, she is... Put her in a wood chipper. Okay, let me ask you this. All those tapes were introduced at trial.

Joel Brodsky, the model accused of murder for hire, claims that her so-called sexy courtroom outfits turned the jury against her. She claims that the clothing and accessories she wore in trial, towering stilettos, a giant diamond ring, influenced the jury's opinion of her. Quote, they were worried about my wardrobe rather than what was really going on. Oh, poor pitiful me. That's what she told Inside Edition. Yeah, juries are strange things. You know, I mean, I've always been amazed how they will look at things like the appearance of the defendant and factor that into their decision when it's probably the least relevant thing that happens. The only thing that's really relevant are the facts and the case and the testimony and the evidence.

But, you know, it's a possibility. You know, I mean, she's wearing the thousand dollar shoes and she hires a hitman for one hundred and twenty five dollars. It's, you know, maybe the jury. Are you still on the one twenty five? It's just I don't care about the one twenty five. I prosecuted a murder over five dollars. It means nothing to me. It's just such a ridiculous amount. But in any just such a ridiculous amount but in any event yeah i mean clearly uh how somebody appears in to a jury the jury's taken into account lawyers are usually very careful about making sure that their clients uh before a jury are dressed appropriately if you have a client who's in custody, he has a constitutional right to not appear before the jury in prison. And for that reason, I always kept a blue jacket and a pair of slacks and hope they fit everybody.

For defendants, the morning of trial would claim they didn't have clothes. The white and black checkered dress got a lot of publicity. That's the dress that actually sold out everywhere because people saw you wearing it in court. Apparently, yes. Do you think the way she was dressed in court every day influenced the jury? Juries pick up on things. And when you're in a court of law, you're not at a discotheque. And you ought to dress accordingly. I want to head straight back to the courtroom. The jury convicted in a very short time, like 45 minutes. The defense immediately said the jury held her good looks against her. Now take a listen to the poor little rich girl who flashed a diamond ring and stiletto heels

at a jury after asking, caught on tape, to have her husband's ex fed to a wood chipper. Kelly, Sean, and your kids, I am truly sorry for the harm that my actions have caused. I never intended for the situation to get so out of control, but it did, and I do accept full responsibility for it. If I could go back to the future, if I had a time machine, I would go back in time, and this obviously would have never happened. But I can't. I can only move forward and prove that I'm not the monster portrayed in this trial.

And I apologize to my husband, Brandon, and to my own family for the hardship that they have endured and will endure because of my actions. While the jury was told not to consider mercy, I hope that this court can consider it. I do humbly request that this honorable court to carefully weigh and consider Dr. Brown's report and the letter to you from Connie Chamberlain. They agree, and I fear that I will not receive proper mental health treatment while in prison. Thank you. To Karen Stark, a renowned New York psychologist joining us,

Kelly Cook, the victim, says that because Tara Lambert's case was reversed, she and her two girls, her two little girls, are living in fear. Do you blame them? Well, I don't blame them at all, because unlike what's being said, I suspect, I mean, she really wanted this woman harmed. So if she hadn't been able to have that happen through the police person, and this had been real, I think that what she would have done was just go on and find somebody who would do it. She's very determined, Nancy, and we have to keep that in mind. This is not a harmless, stupid model who doesn't know what she's doing. She knew exactly what she was doing. But was her motivation really

just uh you know to have that person killed or was it just to end the divorce litigation because domestic litigation is so stressful to people the divorce uh i mean they were the the ex was already remarried she had been married but she wanted custody yeah they were fighting over custody and visitation. Listen to this. Stressful, of course, is stressful. So what? You don't have to feed somebody to a woodchipper, Joel Brodsky. No, but it showed you.

I don't know that her motivation was so much that she wanted to hurt this person. She wanted the custody battle to end. And she didn't care how it ended obviously but i don't know if her motivation was really to hurt the mother of the stepchildren as much as it was just to end the litigation because it's so stressful it's they say that the domestic relations litigation is the second most stressful thing to losing a loved one uh you know and so everybody i'm sure that her motivation wasn't necessarily harm as much as it was just wanting the second most stressful thing to losing a loved one. So everybody should have the control. Her motivation wasn't necessarily harm as much as it was just wanting to get out of court.

Tara Lambert has looks to kill. And according to a jury, that's exactly what she wanted to do. The tall, thin woman had a ponytail and a low-cut T-shirt, opened the passenger door of her Monte Carlo, parked at the KFC, and slid into the front seat. A stranger was behind the wheel wearing sunglasses and an American flag t-shirt, and then he got right to it. What's going on? And I'm quoting from the tapes. I hear you have a problem. Tara Lambert is heard giggling. I've had a problem for seven years.

The problem was named Kelly Cook, the mother of Lambert's two teenage stepdaughters. And as Brodsky points out, years of acrimony came to a head during a hearing over visitation rights and it didn't go well for Lambert and her husband so on that very afternoon one private Facebook message to a high school friend Tara Lambert set into motion a plan like that little town had never seen before. She wanted Kelly Cook dead and was willing to pay an assassin to do it. It's all caught on audio. She says, quote, Oh, my God.

Excuse me, Lord. Just put her in a chopper, you know, like one of those lumberjack chopper things. That's how much I hate her, though. Okay. Right there in the shadow of a Walmart sign with people coming in and out of KFC, she wants to have a murder planned. Joe Scott Morgan, could you remind Joel Brodsky what happens if your body's fed to a wood chipper? Yeah, sure.

Sure, it's not. It's actually very bloody. It's got multiple teeth in it that spend at several thousand revolutions per second. And it literally disintegrates a body, throwing flesh, sinew, bone, blood, obviously, and muscle tissue all over the place. The amount of forensic evidence that's generated in one of these things is quite amazing. I'll tell you something else that really strikes me about this. It seems as though that this pretty little miss didn't want to get her own hands dirty. If she just wanted to go hurt this lady, why didn't she just go get a Louisville slugger on her own and crack her on the

jaw and say, stay away from my family or stop talking bad about me around town. No, this, this woman wanted to absolutely have this woman's body destroyed. And I think that that goes to, uh, it goes to really this kind of narcissistic behavior that she's engaged in.

Hold on, guys. I want you to take a listen to the courtroom. To relay the extremely deep and long-lasting effects this has had on our family is almost impossible. We are blessed to be the parents of a 20-month-old boy as well as three girls ages 5, 14, and 16.

So we hope the court realizes this, that there isn't only one victim. The two oldest children had a relationship with this defendant and the knowledge that she wanted to take their mother's life, as well as their stepfather's, has done irreparable damage. This demon wanted to take innocent children's mommy away from them. To leave two children to grow up without knowing the love and support of their mother. Our families, friends, community have suffered long enough over Ms. Lambert.

Please let the healing begin. It's going to take a very long time. Tara is nothing but a bully, and it's time to take a stand against people like this. Please do not show her compassion or consideration, as she has none for others. Now, listen to this. Here's an odd twist. The targeted couple, the victims, that would be Kelly and Sean Cook, and the police informant have become close friends.

These things happen in the midst of the anxiety, the battle of trial. The trio sat down with Crime Watch daily to discuss it all. Listen. How did the three of you come to be friends? I mean, this is an unlikely friendship. When somebody saves your life, you feel like you owe them that to give it back to them. I think since the day we met, I mean, it's... Yeah, we talk all the time. Right. It's kind of like family.

If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be here, so... And as it turns out, we may not have even seen the worst of Tara's depravity. This is a plot that could have been ripped out of the most extreme Hollywood film. I mean, kill her and throw her in a lumber chopper. It's unbelievable stuff. There is a whole lot to the other videos that they didn't even show on film that she says I mean a lot a lot that would make your body cringe just hearing her say that what is even worse than what we've we've heard I mean, I wouldn't say it was worse than the woodchopper

But she was talking about cutting out her breast implants and gifting them to me. What? Yes Yeah, how does it feel for you now, having done everything that you did, working so closely with police, to really potentially have saved two lives? How do I feel? Yeah. Just grateful. Just grateful that they're family and that they're OK. But in a sad postscript,

Ginny's own life has taken a turn for the worse. I get a lot of, oh, you're a narc, you snitched her out, you set her up, you talked her into doing this. I'm constantly looking over my shoulder and constantly making sure there's no one following me. I hate for her, she'd done the right thing and then people's kind of pointing their finger at her

like you shouldn't have done this. Like, if it wasn't for her, our little boy wouldn't know us. I mean... It's the total opposite of what it should be. We're getting all the praise, and she's feeling the repercussions of being a good guy. Well, let's use this opportunity then to set the record straight. Far from being a snitch, you want the world to see Ginny as a hero.

Absolutely. Absolutely. She don't like that title. She don't like the title. But she is. I mean, she's always going to be our hero. Ginny, why don't you like that title of being a hero? I just did what any decent human being would have done.

I want to remind everybody of something. You may have a cover girl on one side of the courtroom, but on the other side is Kelly Cook, a 32-year-old wife and mother of four, a school bus driver. That's not easy. My grandfather was a school bus driver among many other jobs he did.

And one of her four children was still a baby. Now, I just want to, I know I've got a big time lawyer with me, Joel Brodsky, a forensic expert, a psychologist, an investigative reporter. But for those of you listening, I want you to think about what your mother means to you. And all you mothers out there. Think about how your child would be raised without you and all you fathers, all you sons. Think about it. What your mother means to you, her love. Tara Lambert, if she herself is to be believed,

wanted to tear a 32-year-old mom away from her four children, a mother that drives a school bus to support those children. And now she says, oh, the jury found me guilty because of my good looks. You know what? Have at it second time around as the retrial begins. You're out of control. This is probably the first time in your life, now that you're 33 years of age, you've come in front of somebody who's taken control or will take control of your life and say,

no, you're not going to do that. But the old saying about spare the rod, spoil the child, is come home to roost. And as a result of that, you're going to prison. Be it over the court, be it laments for this offense, that you stand committed to Mary's bill of formatory for Women for a period of seven years, pay the court costs for which execution is hereby awarded. Alexis Terescha, Radar Online, Karen Stark, New York psychologist, Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University, and my sparring partner, renowned Chicago defense attorney, Joel Brodsky.

Thank you. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.