Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Tex McIver wants out of jail; Millionaire charged with wife's kidnapping; Womb raider suspects in court

Episode Date: August 31, 2017

Tex McIver waits in jail for a judge to decide if the prominent Atlanta lawyer accused of killer his wife can go to his mother's funeral. Atlanta defense lawyer Renee Rockwell and reporter Drew Nelson join Nancy Grace and Alan Duke to update the McIver case. They also look at charges against Louisiana millionaire Michael Handley who allegedly hired men to kidnap his ex-wife and the latest in the Fargo couple accused of killing Savanna Greywind and taking her unborn baby. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Tex MacGyver admits that he shot his wife Diana as they drove near Piedmont Park. He is accused of murdering his wife last September as they drove home from their Putnam County ranch. He says it was a terrible accident when he was sitting in the backseat of his SUV holding a pistol. It just absolutely was an accident. Perhaps the best proof of that is me. I am dying a little bit every day. The longtime friend and confidant of Ms. MacGyver says she's certain that Tex MacGyver had fallen asleep and was asleep while holding his weapon. He had asked Diane for it because he was concerned about them driving down a street where homeless people were hanging out. He says it went off and shot his wife, Diane, in the back.

Atlanta millionaire Tex McGyver says he was in the back seat of his SUV when he fell asleep and woke up startled, afraid he was about to be attacked by protesters in Black Lives Matter. And whoops, pulled the trigger on the gun he had in his lap and shot his wife dead who was sitting in the front seat as the car was being driven along by a family friend. Okay, so many things stink about that story. I mean, I hardly know which way to turn. In addition to that, the wife isn't cold in the gray before he has an estate sale. Looked more like a garage sale to me, where he got rid of all of her clothing, her purses, her designer shoes, you name it, to the tune of about a million

dollars. I wonder if he held on to anything for sentimental reasons. It doesn't seem like it. To top it all off, the prominent Atlanta lawyer makes bond. He's out walking free when a search warrant is conducted in his home for papers relating to the death. And guess what they find? A gun in his home for papers relating to the death. And guess what they find? A gun in his sock drawer. Mm, mm, mm.

So Tex McIver, renowned attorney, goes back to jail. Well, here's the latest. Straight out to defense attorney Renee Rockwell, who practices in that very courthouse. Renee, now he wants out again. What's happening? He is going to ask the court again, may he be released on bond. He asked last week to go visit his mother, who was in hospice, dying in Texas, and now he wants to be released on bond to attend the funeral. Now, many would speculate that Judge McFarney is not going to allow that. But Nancy,

if the funeral is actually held in Georgia, there is a way for the Sheriff's Department to carry him over to the funeral home and at least attend the wake. Okay, hold on. If this was not a rich lawyer who is a partner in a big law firm and rubs shoulders with all the judges and everybody in the Atlanta Bar Association and goes to the right country club and is seen at the right restaurants and get-togethers, if he was just a regular person like everybody else, we wouldn't even be talking about this. It's just, no, N-O. He should have thought about that before he put a gun in his sock drawer, Renee. Well, there's some question as to whether

he put the gun in the sock drawer or if a brother left it there. Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? There's some question as to whether or not his brother may have left the gun in the sock drawer. Renee. That was enough for Judge McBurney to return him to the jail. Renee, now I don't want to get too personal with you, but how often do you change your socks? Daily. Okay, that's good to know. Okay, so if the gun is in his sock drawer, and we can assume he changes his socks at least once a day, you don't think he would see it? What, 38 sitting right there? I believe I would notice if I looked at my underwear drawer, and there was the 38 sitting there. I think I noticed, Renee. Well, it could have been hidden under all the socks, Nancy. Hidden under

the socks. You know what? That's why you're so successful. And I bet even though I can't see you, I bet you said it with a straight face. The gun was hidden under the socks. Okay. Good luck with that. Let's go back to the time of the shooting itself before we fast forward to whether he's going to get out to go to his mom's funeral.

You know what? I don't want to be around this guy. Everybody drops dead around him. He's going to a lot of funerals lately. Let me go out to Crime Stories contributing reporter Drew Nelson. Drew, take me back to the moment that his wife, who was extremely successful, and there's been a lot of speculation that she was the cash cow. She was the moneymaker in that family. Tell me what happened the night she shot dead.

It was September of 2016. They'd just gotten off the interstate in Atlanta. Who is they? They. This is Claude. That's his legal name, Claude McIver. He goes by the name Tex. Tex McIver and his wife, Diane. They're being driven in an SUV limo.

They have their driver with them. And they get off the interstate near a homeless shelter and Tex McIver just he's he's worried about their safety is what he's saying and he's there's been Black Lives Matter. Wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute I cut down by that homeless shelter every day when I would leave the courthouse. Once in a while, there are people standing out front waiting to get something to eat. That's what he was afraid of? That's why he had to pull out his gun? No, they were worried about the many, several Black Lives Matter protests that have been in the area recently.

Well, was there a protest happening that night? Not that night. Oh, okay. All right. But this is what the spokesman said at the time. So he pulls his gun. It's a revolver. Apparently he had it in a grocery bag in the car and he's in the back seat. She's in the front seat. And there he is protected by his revolver, falling asleep in the back seat. She's in the front seat. And there he is, protected by his revolver, falling asleep in the back seat, when he says they hit a bump, the gun discharges. Diane McIver is shot in the back. Now, hold on right there. Hold on. Hold on, Drew. Back to Renee Rockwell. Renee, I will never forget. There's two lines of thought about easy access

to weapons. I will never forget the first time I ever went in your home bathroom, and I came out and went, Renee, you know you got a shotgun by your commode? And you're, uh-huh. I'm like, okay, because up until then, and this was well after I'd been prosecuting, I didn't know about anybody other than dopers that kept a gun by their, and the mob, of course, that kept a gun by their commode in plain view. So apparently, with Tex McIver, it's just fine and dandy to be driving along with a gun in your Kroger bag,

sitting in your lap. To me, what I'm saying is, Renee, that doesn't make sense and it won't make sense to a jury. That's well within his right, Nancy, to be in possession of the gun. He's not a felon. Now, he is someone that, once he was granted bond, I think surrendered approximately 17 firearms to the sheriff down in South Georgia. Okay, hold on.

I was trying to fight back the laughing here. 17 guns? For what? And yes, I know it's your right under the Fourth Amendment right to bear arms under the Constitution. I get that. But, okay, all right, fine. You tell that to a jury full of school teachers and librarians

and accountants and bankers. You go on and tell them that. That he needs a gun in his croaker sack in the backseat of the car with his finger on the trigger. All right, go ahead, Drew. What happened then?

He was in the back seat, and he says he was falling asleep as the gun goes off. Wait, he missed something. Wait, he's asleep, and you act like the gun just went off all on its own. The gun didn't just go off. Guns don't just go off.

Somebody has to pull the trigger. And what he is claiming is that they hit a bump and it went off. Okay, Renee, with me, veteran defense attorney Renee Rockwell. Renee, how many times have I prosecuted and you defended, not on the same case, I might add, never, never, never, where, oh, the gun went off. And nobody knows what happened. How often does that happen in court?

Nancy, it happens all the time. Or at least that's what people say happens all the time. Well, I'm just sitting there minding my own business and whoops, the gun went off. It just went off, Renee. And it happened to hit his wife in the back. That's certainly a coinkydink. That's right, Nancy, and she died from those injuries. But if he's asleep in the back seat with the gun on low ready

or in his lap with his finger on the trigger and falls asleep and the car hits a bump and he accidentally shoots her in the back, that's his defense. But Renee, how can that happen? If he's sitting in the car, in the back seat, and he's asleep with a gun in his lap. How can it be that it is suddenly pulled and pointed upright at his wife, and then the trigger is pulled? If he's sitting, I hope someone is going to do a recreation on this. If he's sitting in the back seat asleep with a gun in his lap,

it seems to me the gun should have shot through the driver's side door, not into his wife's back who was sitting in front of him. That doesn't make sense to me. I mean, the pattern, the travel pattern, the trajectory path of the bullet, that doesn't make sense with his story. It doesn't, gee, it doesn't fit together. So you know what? That's his story, and he's sticking to it. Renee, let me just ask you about the yard sale. Excuse me, the private estate sale for all of his wife's belongings. That's not a good look. Well, Nancy, he apparently sold these items,

and probably in an effort to raise some cash, maybe he thought he would need some money for an attorney down the line, even though he is a lawyer. What is more amazing to me is that he sat down with the possibility of these charges being levied against him and talked and talked and talked to the police. Speaking of money, back to Drew Nelson, Crime Stories contributor. Tell me about the money in the family. Diane McIver was an executive with a large advertising firm in Atlanta. After she was killed, her picture went up on digital billboards, remembering Diane McIver. And as you were saying, Tex McIver may have made money as, you know, he worked for one of the big law firms, but Diane McIver was an executive.

She was bringing in the money. And that's what makes you wonder why he sold all of her stuff all of a sudden. And remember, guys, they are separate. They've always kept their finances separate. And there's some idea that the motive was because he owed her money. The amount of money we're talking about is millions of dollars, and there are reports MacGyver owed his wife nearly a half a million dollars. It's also my understanding, Renee, that they kept their finances completely separate. How does that figure into the scenario? If that's to me, Nancy, I think that the state is

going to put forward as the motive that Tex MacGyver owes his wife allegedly some grand amount of money, half a million, $300,000 to a half a million dollars for some potential improvement on some property that they have, and that that's the reason that he's killed her. I sure hope that the state does not try to put that motive up in front of a Fulton County jury because they are going to have a problem with that as a motive. Well, to me, half a million dollars sounds like a motive, a money motive. But to what we're talking about right now, Renee, give me a yes, no. With the funeral likely occurring in Texas, is Tex McIver going to be released from an Atlanta jail to go to his mom's

funeral? Not likely, Nancy. Not if it's in Texas. That could change if it's in Georgia. What is going on in Cajun country? Right now I'm hearing reports that a multiillionaire allegedly orchestrates his wife's kidnap and has her tortured? What? Don't they know about D-I-V-O-R-C-E? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories Does It Never End. Just get a divorce. This guy is a multimillionaire. Can't he afford to just slice it down the middle? But instead, we are hearing reports that he allegedly orchestrates his wife's kidnapping and has her tortured in the midst of a divorce battle. I'm talking about Lawrence Michael Hanley. He's just 49 years old. This is four days after his wife, who is gorgeous, is allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint. What?

Now we are learning that there are allegations the husband orchestrated the whole thing. Joining me right now is a veteran trial lawyer, my Cajun friend, Renee Rockwell, veteran defense attorney. Also with me is Drew Nelson reporting on the story. Renee, what is going on in Cajun country? I know you all are functioning under the Napoleonic Code still, but don't you have divorce we have divorce down there nancy but apparently 25 million was not enough to split down the middle but we didn't have wait a minute wait a minute wait wait wait wait renee hold on 25 million you certainly turned my head renee do you remember when you and i were working in the Fulton County Courthouse together

and I was prosecuting felonies and you were defending dopers left and right, and we were so broke that we would kind of sneak into the juror cafeteria and we would get a giant cup, like a super slurpy cup, of homemade soup from the cafeteria and all the crackers we could put in our fists and have that for lunch because it was 99 cents. I wouldn't even get a drink. Do you remember that? I think I put that out of my mind, Nancy. But anyway, back to that. That was some good eating, Renee. That soup was homemade.

You don't remember that? I do remember it, and I'm a couple of steps away from that cafeteria as we speak. And they've got $25 million, and they can't split it down the middle? Really? Apparently, he was the owner and CEO of a drug treatment facility, and that facility was sold out. Wait a minute. I couldn't hear you. He was the owner of a what? Drug treatment facility, an opioid treatment facility, and sold that for the grand tune of probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 million. But in Louisiana, which is a community property state, everything belongs to the husband and the wife equally. So I guess he did not want to split that

down the middle and had some fantastic plan to have her kidnapped and not for ransom, Nancy, just kidnapped and allegedly brought. Now, hold on. Tortured, tortured as well. We are looking at just revealed court documents that detail this horrific kidnapping. Two kidnappers allegedly gets the woman. They have bought all the necessary items to kidnap, bind, torture, and abuse her. And this guy, I mean, how dumb can he be, Renee? He charters an airplane to evade capture. Like, talk about leaving a trail a mile wide.

And Nancy. Charter an airplane. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Isn't one of your brothers, don't they fly? Don't they fly private? Yes, he wait a minute. Isn't one of your brothers, don't they fly? Don't they fly private? Yes, he's a pilot. Now, how do you go in and charter a plane without giving ID? You just go to any FBO, any free base operation,

and say, hey, I need to rent a plane to go from here to there. What's also amazing, Nancy, is they now have witnesses that say he was the one that actually rented the van that was used in the kidnapping. Let's start at the beginning. Hold on. With me is veteran trial lawyer out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, but actually tries cases all across the country. Renee Rockwell also with me is reporter, Crime Stories contributor, Drew Nelson. You know what? Start at the beginning. Okay, Drew, what happened? Well, these two guys who were allegedly hired by Mr. Hanley, Lawrence Hanley, this is quite an in-depth, interesting.

You know what? I don't want to hear those words, in-depth. I want to hear it in a nutshell. This is what I know. There's $25 million on the table. They're getting a divorce, and the wife is stripped, tortured, and abused, threatened with rape and murder, in route to be dumped to her husband, butt naked, tortured and abused. If this is true, he's going to jail. Now, did I miss any facts, Drew,

in this very complicated scenario? The new information we've learned is that these two men, the police say they posed as salesmen. The prosecutors are now saying that these two men, the police say they posed as salesmen. The prosecutors are now saying that these two guys posed as salesmen to try to trick, and they ended up tricking Lawrence Handley's wife into letting them take her hostage, take her captive,

as you were saying. Later on in the day, these guys... So wait a minute. Back it up. Back it up. So these two guys that the husband allegedly hires pose as salesmen, and they trick the day, these guys. So wait a minute. Back it up. Back it up. So these two guys that the husband allegedly hires pose as salesmen, and they trick the wife, and they get her in the van. Renee, this is your neck of the woods. What can you tell me about this area? I'm looking at the home, and it looks like a millionaire lives there.

It's huge. What I can tell you, Nancy, is two men in a van, red shirt, dark pants, roll up to the house looking like some salesman. What individuals in the home are able to say is that they hear the wife saying, answering the door saying, no, thank you. I already have a company. I'm not sure what they asked. Is this some kind of a company that's going to exterminate for tests? What is it? At any rate, she tells them no thank you. They kick the door in, force her into the van, handcuff other individuals in the house, everybody but the juvenile was handcuffed, and take off, allegedly down I-10, heading towards Slidell, which is where they are to meet the husband. This is what else I know.

These two guys, two Mississippi guys, were apparently hired by the millionaire, Lawrence Michael Hanley, to kidnap the wife. They posed as salesmen, as Renee is telling you. They gain entry into this millionaire's home. They then force her into the back of this van we're talking about. The van was rented in Baton Rouge, according to documents we have just obtained. Now, the affidavit goes on to say that the husband tried to call his wife two days before the kidnapping,

and they think may be responsible for multiple threatening text messages she received just before the wife is kidnapped. You know, Renee, there was a day and a time that it was very difficult to trace. For instance, ping your cell phone, recover emails, recover texts. But now, any threatening texts this husband sent his wife, they're going to be recovered, Renee. They are, but Nancy, consider this. He's also charged with online impersonation. So he may have had some type of an app where he's disguising himself as actually the one sending the text messages or the threatening

messages. So for that, he's also charged. It's just a misdemeanor. Okay. Can you back it up just a little bit, Renee? What do you mean he was disguising himself online? You can get apps on a cell phone, Nancy, where it does not appear that these text messages are actually coming from your phone. It can be a spoof or another number where he may be threatening her, but she's not actually able to pinpoint that the threats are coming from him. He may have done that in an effort to try to throw the police off to make it look like it was not him that engaged in the kidnap. Well, they're in it now because apparently these two guys, allegedly hired by the husband, used semi-automatic handguns and pointed them at everybody in the home, including the child, including the

wife, before they forced her into a white van. And Renee, it's interesting, the way they, this all came to police attention because everybody was handcuffed in the home and couldn't get to the phone. As you say, police notice the vehicle, the white van, driving along, and they get up on the shoulder of I-10 during a traffic backup. Whoa, that certainly attracts the attention of the police when you're driving on the shoulder. Nothing can make them happier. As I recall, Renee, you and I were very dear friends with a motorman on the APD.

Nothing makes them happier than a blatant violation of traffic rules. It's an easy arrest. Bam! They're up on the shoulder. Of course they're going to get pulled over, Renee. So, Nancy, they weren't thinking. They're probably in panic mode. And obviously, the van gets stuck in the mud.

What do we know about the husband? I understand he had been holed up in a motel for three or four days while all this went down. And that's in Slidell, Nancy, on the way to New Orleans or eastbound. Not far from the New Orleans airport, I might add. Well, the good news for the husband is that the wife lived to tell the tale, because when these two idgits go up on the shoulder of the road, the police go after them, and they manage to save the wife's life. But this has a twist to it, Renee. The two kidnappers, what became of them? Well, Nancy, they were running in an effort to escape.

They jumped into the intercoastal canal, which is not far from the roadway, and they have both drowned. Now, dead men can't talk. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What? They jump into the intercoastal waterway. First, they get the white van stuck in the mud as they're trying to get away from police.

They bail. They leave the woman in there stripped naked, handcuffed, beaten, abused, threatened with rape. She's still in the van. They take off running. They jump into the intercoastal waterway, and they both drown. Am I getting this right? You got it right, Nancy. You know what I see, Renee? That millionaire, Hanley, he better get ready because I see the possibility of two

felony murder charges. He's about to catch two felony murder charges. Now, I know what you're going to say. You're going to say the death of the two kidnappers have nothing to do with him. But he was in the commission of a felony, which is kidnapping, and two deaths occurred. You know the law. Exactly. His co-conspirators.

That's like you and I go in a bank, and nobody's supposed to get hurt, and suddenly I pull a gun and go crazy and you end up getting shot by the security guard, I can be charged with your death, Renee, because I'm in the commission of a felony and a death occurred. I think this guy, I'm not sure about the Napoleonic Code. I don't know what's going on in New Orleans and in Louisiana with the law.

But I know this, in the rest of the country, that's felony murder, Renee. Absolutely party to a crime. But Nancy, he has bonds. Oh, dear Lord in heaven. How did he make bonds? No, no, no. He hasn't made bonds. I have not confirmed that.

But because he's charged with this kidnapping and this online impersonation, he has a $266,000 bond, which is obtainable, and he could probably make it. That's nothing for him. That's $26,000. Oh, he's going to make it. That's $26,000. That's $26,000 large for him. He's out of there. Uh-uh.

Mm-hmm. If he can get a private chartered plane under other circumstances, he can certainly get one now. They better watch him draining his assets and hauling booty out of the country. Right now, the judge was wise enough to put a freeze on the assets, a restraining order on him anyway, that he can't touch it. But I don't put anything past this guy right now. We're on it. A gorgeous young woman, Savannah Graywind, goes missing. She's 22 years old.

At the time she goes missing, she is eight months pregnant. Repeat, eight months pregnant. Then kayakers discover Savannah's body wrapped in plastic, caught in a limb in the water of the Red River. Now, we know, of course, that that is no accident, nor is it a suicide. She can't kill herself or have an accident and then get wrapped in plastic and thrown in the water. So this is clearly a homicide. Now, to complicate matters, her two-day-old newborn baby girl has been found in the possession of 38-year-old Brooke Cruz and her boyfriend, William Hone. They insist this is their baby. The case has now been titled Womb Raider, capitalizing on a once obscure phenomenon of people kidnapping a pregnant mom,

cutting open her stomach to get the baby. That's right. Straight out to Alan Duke on the story. I want to first talk about the woman. I want to talk about Savannah Gray Wynn, the eight months pregnant mom who's discovered in the Red River. What do we know about how she goes missing and how she was discovered? The 22-year-old lived in the same building as these people that you were talking about, the people the baby was later found with. This is what the suspects were telling the police. They say that Gray Wynn came to their apartment and asked for help. She wanted some tips on how to induce labor early and that she got that information. She left and then returned a few hours later with the baby and gave them the baby. So they say this is our baby.

Wait, wait, wait. So you're telling me that these two tell police that Gray Wind, who lived downstairs from them, came over and was trying to self-induce birth. Why in the world would you do that? That she came back two days later at 3.30 a.mm in the morning and handed over her baby girl but now we're getting conflicting reports renee that they're claiming that this is their baby i'm not sure if they're claiming it's their biological baby or not but renee wouldn't it be a simple matter of a medical examination to determine if Brooke Cruz, the upstairs neighbor, had given

birth? Well, obviously, Nancy, if she gave birth to the baby naturally or even, you know, if somebody had some kind of makeshift midwife operation, it would look like one thing. The autopsy would look, could be so shown. Renee, this woman that was Savannah Graywind's neighbor says the baby is hers. Now, one option is that she's claiming she gave birth to the baby. But pursuant to a court order, wouldn't that be a simple matter of a physical exam to determine whether she had just given birth? That's a yes, no. Yes, that be a simple matter of a physical exam to determine whether she had just given birth? That's a yes-no.

Yes, that would be simple. Now, there's the other option that she could be claiming. The mom handed over her newborn baby and just gave it to her. That sounds a little far-fetched, doesn't it? That happens all the time, Nancy. It does? I've never seen it happen. Have you? People giving their children up. Perhaps she didn't feel like she could take care of them. Just handing it over to your next-door neighbor. Okay, and then going missing, and you're found in

the Red River. Okay, all right. According to Savannah Graywind's parents, she visited the neighbor for a dress fitting, a dress fitting, and then suddenly quit answering her phone. Ellen, I don't know if you're familiar with this phenomena of womb raiding, but this is would not be the first time it's ever happened. No, and typically experts say it happens when someone had faked a pregnancy and then wanted to prove that, yes, they were pregnant. And so they go and seek this. We've seen cases where they find a very pregnant woman

and they cut the baby out, just to be blunt about it. And by the way, we have just found out preliminary autopsy results have been handed over to investigators. So very soon we should know if there was some sort of impromptu surgery done to Ms. Graywyn. Well, a case like this just went to trial about one year ago in Colorado. That woman was accused of cutting an unborn baby from the mom's womb. And the jury determined that this attack on the mom, Michelle Wilkins, occurred. I've covered it several times to the point where I had one case where the pregnant mom went online to buy some used baby clothes. And then she went to the seller's home and the seller killed her and got the baby,

cut the baby out of her. And the mother actually lived to tell the tale. So it is not unheard of, Renee. This has happened before. Not unheard of at all, Nancy. Now this idea about a faked pregnancy, I don't know if that's playing into this or not, but the baby in this scenario lived, but Savannah Graywind did not. And I'll tell you what the problem is, even with this story of this couple, the next door neighbors, that she gave them the baby,

even if you choose to believe that, which I do not, the coincidence that she ends up dead within the next couple of days is just, I can't buy that. No, Nancy, and it's going to all come to light when the autopsy is revealed. Take a listen to them in court. Mr. Hayne, you're being charged with three counts. Count one as charged is a double A felony punishable by up to life imprisonment without parole. The state alleges that you conspired with Brooke Lynn Cruz to murder Savannah Marie LaFontaine Graywind. Count two as charged out is a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in jail and a $20,000 fine. The seat alleges that you conspired with Brooke Lynn Cruz to kidnap the infant child

of Savannah Marie LaFontaine Greywind. And then finally, count three, also an A felony punishable by up to 20 years in jail and a $20,000 fine. Excuse me, count three is an A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $3,000 fine. The state alleges that you provided false information to police during an investigation on a missing purchase, which you knew to be false and materially misled the investigation. Do you understand the charges as I've read them as well as the maximum possible penalty? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hayden.

Because two of these charges are felonies, we will not take pleas from you today. Rather, this matter will be set on for a preliminary hearing. That'll be October 4th at 9 in the morning. I've read your application for a public defender, sir. I note that you are now unemployed. You do qualify for a public defender. Mr. Stormy Vickers will be appointed to represent you. You'll get his card from the deputy there in the jail. You should make arrangements to contact him at your earliest convenience.

That is your obligation to find him. Lastly today, Ms. Martínez, we need to make a decision about bail. Do you have a recommendation for the courts? Yes, Your Honor. The state is aware of a prior child neglect and abuse, a B felony, in 2012 out of Grand Forks County. Also in 2011, possession of drug paraphernalia. And finally in 2016, simple assault domestic violence. As indicated in the charging document, the state alleges that Mr. Hain was uncooperative and in fact misled the investigation. In addition,

the state has information that there were internet searches that would lead a reasonable person to believe that they were looking at staying somewhere else. They were searches for things like Travelocity and different locations in which to stay elsewhere. Based on that information, the state is asking for $2 million cash only. Mr. Haynes, to the issue of bears, is there anything you'd like to add? The $50 million cash only is set at such a high level to be unattainable. I would request that we do something along the lines of being able to use a bail bondsman, if that is a possibility. I don't know that that could be a possibility to me, but I know that $2 million is unattainable for any regular person.

That's not a reasonable bail. Ms. Martinez, is yours a cash-only recommendation? It is, Your Honor. At this time, I'm going to set bail at $2 million cash only. I would suggest you talk it over with your attorney and bring the matter back before this court if you wish to add anything else. That concludes the hearing. Again, we'll be back in court on October 4, 2017 at 9 AM.

Brooke Cruz. Stan, North Dakota versus Brooklyn Cruz, 09, 2017, CR 3673. Ms. Cruz appears by way of ITV from the Cass County Jail. Ms. Martinez is here on behalf of the state. Ms. Cruz, will you be present in the room there when the video was played and your rights were read to you? Yes, sir. Do you understand read to you? Yes sir. Do you understand those rights? Yes sir. Thank you. Ms. Martinez I would ask you to read the charges and the penalties associated with them please. And your honor this

information we have the same issue we'll be filing an amended information removing some of the language it does not change the level of offense and I will read the full two-word language as it will be following the amendment. Ms. Cruz, you'll be in charge with three counts. The first one is conspiracy to commit murder. The state alleges that you conspired with William Henry Hain to murder Savannah Marie LaFontaine Graywind. As charged out, this is a class AA felony punishable by life imprisonment without parole. Count two, conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

The state alleges that you conspired with William Henry Hain to kidnap the infant child of Savannah Marie LaFontaine Graywind. As charged out, this is a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in jail and a $20,000 fine. And finally, count three, false information of law enforcement as charged out as a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $3,000 fine. Do you understand the charges as I've read them as well as the maximum possible penalty? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. We will not take pleas from you today, Ms. Cruz, but rather the matter will be

set on for a preliminary hearing before Judge Frank Rasick. That will take place on September 28th, 2017 at 1.30 in the afternoon. I read your application for a public defender and I find that you qualify. I'm appointing Mr. Monty Mertz to appoint you or to represent you in this matter. Please get his card from the deputy there in the jail and make contact with Mr. Mertz. Ms. Martinez, do you have a bill recommendation? Yes, your honor. We're aware of some bad checks, it looks like back in the early 2000s.

And also an assault that occurred over in Minnesota that ultimately conditions were met and the charge was dismissed. Same information applies here. We believe that there were efforts to look for a place to take flight and so the state is asking for $2 million cash only. Ms. Cruz, anything you wish to add on the issue of bail? No, sir. Thank you.

We'll set bail at $2 million cash this time. Again, please remember my admonition and suggestion to you that you get in touch with Mr. Mertz at your early convenience. That's all for today. Thank you. So bail is set at $2 million each for 38-year-old Brooke Lynn Cruz, her boyfriend, 32-year-old William Henry Hone, both charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The case is being investigated in two states, in both Fargo, where Savannah disappeared, and in Cass County, Minnesota, where her body was found in a river. Now let's hear a

part of the police news conference, starting first with Fargo Police Chief Dave Todd. Savannah was the victim of a cruel and vicious act of depravity. Lieutenant Jason Nelson is here to answer questions regarding the investigation. I'll be very limited in what I can answer, but I am willing to take some questions. Jason, what brought you to the farmstead that was being searched simultaneously for the fact that you discovered the mountain? The question was what brought us to the farmstead that may be a crime scene. That area was being searched by citizens after we had asked for help.

We had no indication through the investigation that that may be a crime scene, but after searchers were there, they called with some suspicious items and that's what prompted Clay County to respond to that area. What were the suspicious items? The question was what were the suspicious items? I'm not going to get into that. The question is if this area was the scene of Savannah's death. I can't answer that at this time. Currently, BCA and Clay County and Fargo PD are working together to try to determine that. Was it a crime of fetal abduction or was it a natural birth? The question was, was this a natural birth or fetal abduction?

Again, I can't get into that because of the investigation. Lieutenant Nelson, do you believe there are any other suspects? Are you looking for any other people who might be involved here? The question was, do we believe there's any other suspects? At this point, we have no indication that there's any other suspects involved in this crime. Was there any indication from the state of the victim's body that the baby had been delivered by a cesarean section? The question was whether or not the baby was delivered via C-section. At this point, I can't comment on that. Savannah is down in St. Paul at this time awaiting an autopsy.

Thank you. I'll turn it back over to the chief. Chief? Birch Burdick, one last thing. For a matter of perspective, you have seen Lieutenant Nelson here be rather circumspect about the facts he's sharing with you. I need you to understand that there's a reason for that, which is under the professional rules for prosecutors, we need to be very careful about sharing information with the public other than those things that are required to bring the case to the courtroom and extrajudicial statements are discouraged. We pass that along to the police department as well because that's our responsibility to do it. So there are things that I know that they would like to share with you and things that you would like to know that's understandable,

but there are reasons why we are careful about what we share at this point and I wanted you to understand that thank you like I say what we know we're from that team that we're searching that when they went to the house they saw some things that they thought was very, very suspicious. And that's what brought us there and now the BCA there. We also know that Hone, the man implicated in this, tells cops he comes home to find his girlfriend Cruz cleaning up blood in their bathroom. That she says, this is our baby. This is our family.

And shows him the baby girl. Now, wait a minute, Renee. So he's now pointing the finger at her. The two are clearly turning on each other. He's laying all the blame on the girlfriend, Brooke Cruz. Absolutely. And even tells the bloody details, like he didn't know anything about it.

So, you know what I always like, Renee, is when you get co-defendants, unless you're seeking the death penalty and they've got to be tried separately, I like trying them together and letting the jury just look at them sitting there staring at each other at the same counsel table. Just, you know, you can feel the hatred, the seething animosity in the courtroom.

And then, of course, you know, they're trying to blame each other in front of the jury. I say let them go to trial and stew in the same pot together, Renee. The prosecutor just puts it out there, and then the defense attorneys essentially make the case for the state. Another thing, Renee, and if they put any moms on this jury, because according to this couple, the boyfriend and the woman say that they teach her, they teach Savannah Graywyn how to self-induce birth by breaking her own water. I can only imagine how they did that. You really think anybody on the jury is going to believe that, Renee? Nancy, again, it all is going to go back to the autopsy.

If somebody just slit her throat and then cut her belly open and pulled the baby out, that's going to be hard to explain. They probably didn't count on the body being discovered. Oh, you know it. The way that it was so practically hermetically sealed and thrown into the Red River. Okay, they have had their first appearance in court, and we are waiting to determine whether or not the state will seek the death penalty.

Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.