Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Supermarket massacre victim’s family needs help & Bill Cosby verdict watch

Episode Date: June 15, 2017

When a shooter killed Brian Hayes and two other co-workers at Weis Supermarket in Pennsylvania, he stole a father from a 7-year-old girl. Nancy Grace talks to a close relative about the family’s incredible loss and how you can help them. Nancy also discusses the Bill Cosby trial jury deliberations with lawyer Randy Kessler in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. men confirmed dead, including the gunman, along with a woman. This is another senseless act that didn't have to happen. It's a tragedy. 24-year-old Randy Stare of Dallas-Lazerne County used two shotguns to kill three of his co-workers. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Stare reported to work just before 11 o'clock Wednesday night for a regular shift. Investigators think he spent the next 90 minutes blocking the store's five exits before moving his car in front of an emergency door and taking two shotguns back into the building and opening fire. In a journal entry dated Monday, Stare said he was ready to die, claiming to be a girl trapped in a man's body. Imagine the fear. I recall working late, late, late nights at a sandwich shop to put myself through law school, and I would be the only one there late into the

night, and at the time, I didn't think a whole lot about it. I remember sitting at a table in the sandwich shop looking out into the strip center parking lot. It'd be about 10 o'clock at night and it would be almost deserted and most of the stores would be closed but I'd be studying away. Right now I'm talking Talking about a supermarket employee who brings two guns to work overnight, blocks a store's entrance and exit so nobody could flee, and guns down three fellow employees in a suburb of Scranton. Joining me right now is Becky Hayes, the sister-in-law of one of the victims. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Becky, I want to talk about the GoFundMe account you have set up for Brian's family. First, I want to go through the facts of this case.

What happened? Well, Nancy, it was, you know, Brian was working his normal shift, as he always did. He was the manager over at the Weiss local supermarket, and all of the employees wanted to work normally, as in every day that they would do. And about 90 minutes into their shift, one of their coworkers went out on his break and went to his car and proceeded to get a duffel bag, and as you said, he had blocked all of

the exits, got a duffel bag with two shotguns in it, went into the store, and opened fire. He opened 60 rounds. Almost. Yes. There were actually four employees in the store at the time. One woman, by the grace of God, was actually able to escape and call 911. Unfortunately, my brother-in-law, Brian, was in the store with two other co-workers, Victoria and Terry. They were not so lucky and were not able to escape what happened. And the gunfire and all three of them were senselessly

killed by this person. And they knew him, correct? They knew him very well. Absolutely. They worked together for years. You know, from my understanding, they worked together for six or seven years. So this was, you know, they even considered themselves as the Weiss family. A lot of the employees there, it's a very small town, and everyone was very close-knit, and this was someone that they might be at barbecues with, or they knew each other's families. They knew everything that was going on.

People would help each other out, and so this was someone that they never in a million years would have thought would have done this to them. Not that it matters, but what was the motive? Why would he do this? Well, there's no reasoning for what he did other than from what we've been able to surmise, he definitely had mental issues and struggled with depression um and that's really the the only there's no justification for it. Did no one realize

were they hidden I mean what what what what do you believe was he angry what how could mental issues like that be hidden for so long it's um i i i honestly i can't i have no idea i have no idea how how that you know could be going on for so long and i mean i can't speak for anyone else but um you know it seems like it was a problem for years and something with um that you know that he had struggled with and that um you know for problem for years and something that he had struggled with for many, many years. And they probably thought they were helping him or befriending him during all of this. Oh, my stars. I'm just so sorry about this. What time of the day or night did this occur?

It was about 1 o'clock in the morning, actually, that it happened. So this was, what, a 24-hour store? No, it actually was not opened 24 hours. This was the night shift that was, they were in charge of, you know, cleaning the store, restocking the store. So no customers were, you know, present or allowed to be present in the store at the time. This was just strictly the night crew that was working. Brian Hayes, a 47-year-old father, husband, son, brother, was known to be a very quiet guy, a man of few words, with a heart of gold, who desperately loved wife Tina and their

daughter Caitlin. Right after high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, just like my dad, served on the USS Eisenhower, deployed to the Middle East during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He has been in Springfield, Pennsylvania with his family and was employed there, as Becky is telling us, by Weiss Supermarkets. Brian lost his life, leaving his wife and daughter too early. He and two other co-workers gunned down for no reason in the early morning hours there at work. What can we do?

What can we do? There's a seven-year-old girl that's going to bed tonight without her dad. There is yet another wife who will never be able to reach out to her husband again. You know how hard it is to raise children even with your spouse? Imagine without a child support check, without an alimony payment, without every other weekend with dad, with nothing but memories. I just hate it so badly. With me is Becky Hayes and she's trying to do something

about it. Tell me about your GoFundMe account, Beck. well I I felt so hopeless and I felt like there was just you know I wanted to do anything that I could for my niece and for my sister-in-law I just couldn't even imagine the the devastation that they were going through I knew what I felt and I felt like my heart was breaking into million pieces so I couldn't even imagine the pain that they were going through so I know that that finances has always been a bit of a struggle for them. My brother-in-law, Brian, and my sister-in-law, Tina, actually were employed by the same supermarket. They used to work.

Brian worked at the night shift so that Tina could work the day shift so that there was always coverage for their daughter. So he sacrificed and he did the night shift just so he could always make sure that someone was there to be with his daughter and to raise her with both of her parents present. So I know that money has been an issue. I couldn't even imagine how my sister-in-law is ever going to go back into work in that store again, to work in the same place where you know that your husband was brutally gunned down. I don't think that she'll ever be able to return there, and rightfully so. I don't think anyone should even be asked to return there. So I know that the biggest need

that they have right now is for money. My sister-in-law, Tina, has to now think about how she's going to pay her bills and how she's going to support my seven-year-old niece, Caitlin. And, you know, I know that that's been a struggle. So I just decided to start a GoFundMe account where, you know, so many people can relate on some way. You know, just put yourself in that position. And it could have been any one of us. We all watch the news, you know, and you're always, we're all so naive just to think that, you know, it'll never be me. It always seems so far away from home. And, you know, I'm here to tell you that it's not, you know, it could be any one of us. It could have been any one of our brothers or sons or daughters, or it could be any one of us. And I've, you know, I've tried to, you know, throughout this

just kind of realize that there is, there are many, many good people in this world, and there are many people that want to help. And this was just a way that I feel that people have definitely been embracing. And, you know, every little bit helps. Every $5 donation, every $10 donation, you know, it helps to lessen the burden that my sister-in-law now has to carry on her own. And, you know, we so appreciate the love and support that we've gotten from the community. There's been people that have offered to host, you know, the repast, people that never even knew my brother-in-law.

There are so many good people in the world. And, you know, I truly believe in my heart that there's more good than there is evil. And those of us that have the good hearts, we just need to help those that we can and do what we can. And this is just a little part that, you know, that we can do to help. You know, talking about his wife going back to work in the store, the grocery, where he was murdered, people ask me all the time, have you ever been back to where your fiance was murdered? Have you ever read the trial transcript? No, I haven't. The thought of it, just the thought of going there literally makes me physically just shake. No, I have not gone back to do what?

Stand there and look at it and relive when he was murdered by someone he didn't know I mean and put my head in that space again uh into uh such a dark area it's hard to get back out no I hope she never has to go there again how do I find the gofundme account becky um you can just go on to the gofundme page and um the the really fun that is called he's um it's his family really fun h-a-y-e-s hayes family relief fund okay so i go to the go like for instance i'm going to do it right now just so i know exactly how to do it okay so i'm online i'm going to go to google which is what i do every morning about 5 30 and i'm going to go to go fund me page go fund me page all right go fund me page. All right. GoFundMe page.

All right. Let's see here what pops up. Okay. The fundraising site, GoFundMe, it's one word, all together. So then start a fundraiser search. It's up at the top left. I'm going to put H-A-Y-E-S space family. Hayes family. Okay, I just stuck in Hayes family.

Let's see what comes up. Here we go. There it is, top left. Okay. Hayes family relief fund. Okay, now I know how to do it. Mm-hmm. This is how you do it. You go to the GoFundMe page. It's all one word, GoFundMe. And then you go to Hayes Family and you see the Hayes Family Relief Fund. It can't bring him back. We all know that. but it may help his widow and ease some of her

suffering about bills I feel so pitiful that that's all we can do but I will do it and I'm doing it now Becky thank you for being with us and sharing this information thank you so much we truly and sharing this information. Thank you so much. We truly appreciate all of your well wishes and prayers and thoughts. They help to raise us during a time when we're down. God bless you. And please tell her we are praying and praying and praying for her and her daughter, Caitlin. I'm going to pause just a moment and thank someone very special for making today's podcast possible.

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ZipRecruiter.com slash Nancy Grace. ZipRecruiter, thank you for what you are doing in the job market. And thank you for being our partner. Zip, thank you. And right now, Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby's fate is now in the jury's hands. Andrea Constance says that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her January, February 2004. Cosby is charged with felony aggravated indecent assault. Cosby has denied wrongdoing

and says their encounter was consensual. The 79-year-old has been accused by more than 50 women of drugging and or sexual misconduct. I've never seen anything like this. The judge is only allowing one other accuser to take the stand. The comedian left court Monday night without a verdict. But with his spirit still intact. Funny man Bill Cosby, not as funny this morning. Video and photos of him at the courthouse show him not smiling with the typical thumbs up like Dr. Huxtable.

He looks concerned, and he should. 10 years jail time in the alleged rape of Andrea Constant, who worked at Temple University with the women's basketball team. At that time, Bill Cosby, America's former funny man, was a trustee at Temple. Not anymore, that goes without saying. With me right now, veteran trial lawyer and professor of litigation at Emory Law School, Randy Kessler. Randy, what is taking the jury so long? What's their problem? Well, it means it's a difficult case. I mean, there's a lot to consider. Really? What's difficult about it? Well, the law is what's difficult about it. I mean, the facts are pretty clear that he gave her something and he did something to her. But the question is the—

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on, buddy. Let's not put perfume on the pig, okay? He gave her something and did something. My, my, my. That's what you call a euphemism. This is what is alleged specifically that Bill Cosby drugged her with either Quaaludes or, as he says, Benadryl. Right. And that she felt her legs and arms were, quote, frozen as he digitally raped her.

Okay. Now that we put the truth out there what's hard about what's hard to understand about that i understand it bam what i think the question is what's the law on it and first of all what's the law the law that you're not supposed to rape people i think i'm pretty sure that's the law but if people consent to having sex if they consent to things then you are not guilty of rape. And that's what they're considering. How can you consent when you're on a lewd?

Hey, people take quaaludes all the time by consent. People often agree to do things when they are interested in somebody or they want other reasons. They want to say it wasn't my fault. They did things. There are lots of things for the jury to consider. But he admits he gave her drugs. Then why hasn't the jury convicted him already? That's what I'm asking you, man.

Well, that's what I'm telling you. There's a reason that they're not convicting him yet. They're questioning it. Some people don't believe her. Some people think, why did it take her so long? Why did it take so long to prosecute? Why is she now all of a sudden? That I understand.

Okay. Well, that's point one, right? Now, I'm sure they have heard, however, from a sex assault expert as to why sex assault victims very often don't ever come forward, don't ever tell a single soul, or why there is a delay in coming forward, or why there is a memory relapse. It's very common. In fact, I've had more rape victims that I've dealt with that have those problems than don't. I agree with you, Nancy. I think, you know, part of the delay may be that he has so much credibility. You know, the average person that comes in accused of rape, nobody knows who they are. There's somebody who looks maybe like what

we think a criminal might look like, especially if they don't dress nice. This guy had about as much credibility as anybody that's ever been prosecuted in America. And, you know, you got to peel that back and you got to have people in the jury room talking to each other saying, does it matter that it's credible? You can argue all you want that a person is a person is a person. Everybody loved him. Everybody believed him. Everybody wanted him to be the good guy because that was their image. You know, these things take time, and I don't think it's an easy prosecution by any means, and we're seeing that by four days of deliberation. Randy, you're absolutely right, and when you hear Kessler say they may not look like a rapist, they may not dress like a rapist, what he's talking about, I believe, is the stereotypes, whether we recognize them or not, that are buried

deep in our psyche. What you think a child molester would look like, what you think a bank robber would look like, what you think a dope addict would look like, what you think a rapist would look like. You wouldn't think they would look like a movie star you've grown up with, the creator of Fat Albert that my children have watched. I mean, the whole thing, the whole kit and caboodle, this is him. He's got his wife there of many years dressed like an old grandma, coming in, smiling, arm in arm. You've got him sitting there acting like dr huxtable it's almost like somebody comes in and says let me tell you the truth about santa claus it's not that he doesn't exist it's

that he was this bad i mean how long would it take to undo all the good feelings good memories you have about santa claus i mean this guy had that kind of image and that kind of impression it's hard to undo and it may not get undone. This may be the problem with the case. You're right, and I'm not blind to your side. In fact, understanding your side, understanding the defense side, is the only way to defeat the defense and sometimes you can't you cannot defeat decades of believing bill cosby is dr huxtable i mean and we only have one we only have one victim here had any of the

other victims been allowed to prosecute one one other one came in and and that was Johnson, Kelly Johnson, and she was extremely upset, distraught, emotional on the stand as juxtaposed against Andrea Konstat, who was much more calm and even killed. Not totally, but much more. It is day four of deliberations, and I believe it will be a critical day of deliberations to establish whether funny man Bill Cosby committed a rape, whether this jury will be able to reach a verdict.

Now, the jury's reviewed a lot of evidence presented to it during the trial they've had a lot of questions at least for the lady victim who accused Cosby of rape was as I said calm and composed on the stand but the defense spent most of its time on cross trying to establish inconsistencies and mistakes in her account people don't want to believe a rape to start with it's hard to believe it happened especially under these circumstances without hard evidence like dna like bruising we don't have that because it was so much later and she was in denial she tried to keep up appearances with a trustee member at Temple University. So that's all a problem. Right. Well, you know, that's you're exactly right. And that's what the jury

is wondering. And it looks like the defense made some success when the jury comes back and says, we want to know what you mean, Judge, when you say without her knowledge or for the purpose of preventing resistance, that they're questioning her credibility, which is exactly what the defense wants to do. And had there been 20 or 30 victims testifying, you might have been able to peel back that credibility against Bill Cosby. But, you know, it's very interesting that you have the credibility of Bill Cosby versus the credibility of this witness, this victim. But he didn't testify. So, you know, truthfully, how does the jury know that he's a credible person? They have to be remembering things from outside of what was presented in evidence. And that's a real problem for the prosecution.

How do you undo all of that credibility? This judge has been giving them readbacks and everything they've wanted. Some judge would have told them, some judges would have told them to rely on their own collective recollections and their own individual recollections. He also has admonished them to concentrate. The judge, Judge O'Neill, dismissed them at their request around 9 p.m., sending them back to their hotel where they are sequestered about 300 miles away from their home. They were shipped in from Allegheny County to hear this trial. We're waiting. We're on standby. I mean, I wonder if the jury should have heard more of the fingerprint,

which I mean, when I say that, I mean almost identical, similar transactions of nearly 60 women all claiming the same thing. This judge allowed one similar transaction in a prior alleged rape. Well, if there's not a conviction, everybody will be pointing to that as the big fault that let him off the hook. That certainly is how you peel back that credibility. That's how you show there are other people. But I also think it's interesting.

The judge – I agree with you. A lot of judges would have just said you rely on your recollection. Maybe the reason he let them hear the testimony again was because it's a big case. He's bending over backwards to prevent an appeal by either side. But once he did it once, his decision, and I think I agree with him, once he let them hear one bit of testimony a second time, next time they ask, you have to let them do it again. Otherwise, it sounds like that testimony was important, but the next question you ask is not important. Question to you. If there is a conviction, if, do you think Cosby will get jail

time? I think he's got to get jail time. I think that, you know, this is the kind of crime that, you know, how do you not give jail time? If we leave the decision up to the jury, you know, Cosby probably was offered a plea deal, turned down the plea deal. When you turn down a plea deal and you go to court and you lose, you can't get away with not going to jail. Otherwise, who would ever take a plea deal if the chances were that you could not only lose the case, but still avoid going to jail? He's old. I imagine he's going to have on the lighter end of the sentence, but it sounds like five years is the minimum. I think the real question is, as soon as it's pronounced in court, the drama moment

will be, does the judge revoke his bond and say, right now, you're going to jail Mr. Cosby, or does he let him stay out of jail, pending bond, then he could file appeals, you know, it could drag on and on and on. That, to me, is going to be the interesting question. Does he say, right now, remove Mr. Cosby to the custody of the county sheriff? And, you know, and then we have our aha moment where nobody believed this would ever happen and it happens i'm thinking about if he did go to jail what sort of prison what sort of facility he would be in um he's in his 70s now what do you think randy will that weigh into it i think that'll weigh into it i think that's why if I was the judge, I think I would leave him out on bail. He is not a danger to fly.

No one's going to know who he is. Not a danger to a flight. I mean, this guy probably owns a private plane. He could be gone in a New York minute. And not only that, I would be concerned about another offense. I mean, when you don't know a horse, look at his track record. This guy's like the energizer bunny oh well these are allegations from years and years ago but i don't i think if

he was ever going to do something like that again i think right after getting found guilty would probably be the very very last time that he would even think about doing something like that and if he does nancy as you know i don't think he should be treated any differently than any other rape defendant. So I'm voting for jail time. There. I said it. I said it. With us also, Alan Duke.

Duke, I hear you saying something in the background about the Cosby show. Well, it occurred to me. I noticed somebody tweeted a good observation. They've deliberated 28 hours so far, very long days. If they had wanted to, they could have watched the entire first two seasons of The Cosby Show in that amount of time. So just to put it into perspective of how long these jurors in Pennsylvania are considering this case. And you are bringing up The Cosby Show in the middle of Cosby's rape trial because? Well, because that's how we know him.

At least that's the big thing. Dr. Huxtable. Have you not been listening? We're talking about Dr. Huxtable. I mean, what are you doing? What? I'm just saying that it's been good. You're back on your velour sofa on top of your shag carpet and your psychedelic wall paintings. Just down the street from the Playboy Mansion.

Yes. Yes, he was Dr. Huxtable. Get with it, man. Well, my point is, 28 hours. These jurors are going very long days. I think, though, today is the day. I really believe that. Okay, there you have it from the source the expert

alan the duke duke joining us from his penthouse in la okay he has you know a psychic connection to this pennsylvania courtroom and he says today's the day it is actually you know what i think you may be right okay nancy grace Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Kessler, we will meet another day, my friend. Alan, thank you. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.