Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Hoax Crime Reports Hurt Real Victims

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Hoax Crime Reports Hurt Real Victims · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: The thirty four year old was found on the side
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: of the road near Sacramento, nearly a hundred and fifty
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: miles from where authorities believed she was taken while out
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: jogging near her northern California home. This is Crime Stories
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace. Do you believe Mrs Peppini story? Absolutely?
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: She had reported she had been abducted, She was discovered
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: in restraints and had been assaulted. You know, after we
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: first talked about super Mom Sherry Peppini, headlines hit the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: news that I had compared her to runaway bride Jennifer
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: will Banks, and nothing could be further from the truth.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: In fact, I got into it with a veteran investigative reporter,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Alan Duke, who was with me today for a rematch
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: on this. Sherry Peppini is nothing like Jennifer Wilbanks, as
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: we know the facts right now. Jennifer will Banks. It
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: was the night before her wedding. You know, I fell
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: for it. I totally fell for it with Wilbanks. You know,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: I talked to her father. Her father was beside himself.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: I wanted to help find her. I don't know why
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: it didn't raise an alarm in my mind. Ding ding
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: the night before your wedding. Of course, I wasn't nervous
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: the night before my wedding because I had been dating
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: my husband for so many years. But I guess, you know,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: some people get nervous and and you know, crap out,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: I missed that huge red flag. I don't know what
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: was wrong with me, Alan Duke. Six hundred guests and
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: twenty eight bridesmaid for a wedding would scare anybody. Oh,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: dear Lord in Heaven, you got me right in the
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: middle of a cup of tea. I forgotten that detail
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: because you know what David and I did. We one
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Tuesday we said, okay, we're getting married. We got married
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: that Saturday. Yeah, sure. I flew in my sister and
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: her family, my brother and his family, my husband's family
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: all came um and we got a cake pronto. Bam.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: We rented a room, a ballroom as they call it
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: at the Ritz, and lucky for us, the next one
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: was empty, so they opened up. We had a really
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: big space, and I called in my pastor from my youth,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: and we kneeled down right there and I got married. Now,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: I wasn't completely convinced that was for real, so I
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: had to redo about a year later. Yes, funny, Look,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: I don't want another one. No, I've already raised one.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: I don't need another one. Uh how to read you
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: at my my little Methodist church and making Georgia Liberty
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Methodist Church because I just wanted to make sure that
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: I had a church. Laugh if you want so. Yeah,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: I don't know anything about any six hundred guests and
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: how many brides maids eight bridesmaids, dear Lord. No, okay,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: So she takes a powder and police the Feds. Everybody
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: goes on a wild goose chase to find Jennifer Wilbanks. Now,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: I don't know what you said last time to suggest
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: that she was like Jennifer will Banks. But Peppini, to
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: our knowledge, had no big event. She had nothing that
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: would have made her leave her children. There are some
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: circumstantial things here you go, that would reflect on each other. However,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: the end result, of course, is much differ. Friend, the
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: husband for Jennifer, I'm sorry. The fiancee for Jennifer will
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Banks called the police after she failed to return from
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: her evening jog. That's one similarity in that scenario. And
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: then another hold on, hold on evening Jock, So, okay,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: you've managed to uropean a jog, although Peppini's was in
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: the daytime when her children were at daycare. The other
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: similarity is that will Banks accused once she was freed.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Oh I thought you were going to say, is that
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: will Banks was a person and Peppini female, because I
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: don't think you're strategically claimed that she had been kidnapped,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: assaulted by a Hispanic mail and a white woman. The
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: difference is there was the woman involved and one of
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: the people were Hispanic, and of course with Peppini, she
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: says that she knew it to be too Hispanic women,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: which you know, women is an unusual thing to carry
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: out a kidnapping alone. The point that we were talking
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: about in our podcast earlier, don't don't throw me in
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: the pot with you. No, you didn't. The headline on
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: that story was absolutely wrong. But that that's a different issue.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: We can take up the problem what you did. You
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: asked me a question. You said, Alan, why do people
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: think kidnappings like this or hoaxes? Why do we get
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: that in our head Basically you asked me that, and
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: I was recounting, and you said, and then I was saying, well,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: I've covered some sensational stories where it turned out to
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: be hoaxes, and you immediately because you and I both
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: were at CNN, we were the same company at the
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: same time Jennifer Wilbanks was kidnapped. I covered that closely
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: in Atlanta for CNN, talked to the family and all
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: of that, and we were so shocked when it turned
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: out that it was a hoax, and that was what
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: was in my mind. But we both on our podcast
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: agreed that we had no reason to believe that Peppini
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: was a hoax. No, I think I think I wrestled
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: you down and got you to agree. That's the way
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: I remember it. Well, well, that's one thing that we're
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: gonna agree that we agree on. I believe is that
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: the headline was wrong, and I don't think it's fair
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: to compare Peppini to will Banks. You know that brings
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: to mind another woman. It was in Santa Anna, California,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: a Southern calwoman has just been exonerated. I've claimed that
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: she responded to some kind of a rape fantasy ad
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: on Craigslist in order to get men to attack her
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: ex boyfriend's new wife. Now they say it was the
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: new wife who has tried to frame the husband's ex. Okay,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: you gotta have a flow chart for this. Now. The
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: woman's name was Michelle Susan Hadley, just thirty years old.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Now listen to this. First of all, when I hear
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: a woman respond to a rape fantasy ad right there,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: I get suspicious because I don't believe this woman responded
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: to a rape fantasy ad. Okay, it's the other way around.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: It's men who have to advertise for somebody to take
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: part in a rape fantasy. Okay, women, they don't have
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: to advertise for men. For men that are interested in sex.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: You basically just look around. Okay, that's how that works.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: So right, when I read you wisely or not saying anything,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: this woman responded to a rape fantasy ad on Craigslist
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: right there, I'm like, uh huh. But as it turns out,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: this woman, Michelle Susan Hadley, was an innocent victim of
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: this crazy scheme by the new wife. And now, why
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: you you've got the man you're married, why do you
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: go to so much's trouble to frame his ex? Now
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: they've turned their attention on Angela Marie Diaz, and she's
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, and perjury. Do you know
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: about this story? Yes, it's it's right down the round
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: down the road from where I am here in Los Angeles. Well,
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: so far you've claimed every story we've brought up is
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: in your backyard. But all I know is I'm not
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: getting near you with a tent fet pole because everything
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: you should come here to Los Angeles. I'll show you
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: all the crime. Forget it. Everywhere you go, crime follows.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: You remind me of Jessica Fletcher and murder, she wrote,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: I mean, stay away from her, you'll drop like a fly. Okay,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: So in this case, do you do you know what
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: police are reportedly are reporting what happened? Yes, okay, hit me.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: This poor woman was charged she please use Michelle Hadley. Yes,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: he was charged with trying to have her ex boyfriend's
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: new wife raped by responding to the Craigslist ad insane.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: Angela Marie Diaz married Hadley's ex boyfriend. There was a condo,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: a dispute over a condo between Hadley and d s.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Let me get this straight. So you've got Angela Marie
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Diaz the new wife, right, Okay, So we've got the
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: new wife We've got the ex girlfriend and the husband
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: and a dispute over who owns a condo. Okay, let's
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: just go with that ex ex girlfriend, husband and new wife.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Now that the dispute over the condo was between the
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: ex girlfriend and the husband, it's over the yes x.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: And by the way, the husband, you know what he
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: does for a living. He's an agent with the U. S.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Marshall Service. Oh dear Lord in Heaven, I bet he
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: did a backflip? Can we Okay the condo argument. The
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: dispute was between the husband and the ex girlfriend. Is
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: that correct? Yes? Okay. Then the new wife gets into
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: the fray. Is that an Is that right? That's the
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: alleged started to unfold in Jeanne we and Diaz reports
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: to police men arrive at her home to engage in
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: a rape fantasy encounter. Now Diaz is the new wife. Okay,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: So the new wife claims these guys show up for
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: a rape fantasy. Then prosecutors say the men were intercepted
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: by police and told them they thought that. The guys say, well,
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: we thought this was on the up and up. It's
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: just some kind of role play. Dias, the new wife,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: also calls nine one one and reports a man tried
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: to attack her in her garage, ripped her shirt and
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: her neck was red. Okay. The new wife also tells
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: police that the ex a girlfriend had been threatening to
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: have her assaulted and sent threats including graphic photos, that she,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: the new wife, and her unborn child would be killed.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: Now we know the pregnancy was faked. I mean, this
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: lady ate needs to go to jail if this is
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: all true. But be needs a professional team of shrinks,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: not just one, she needs a whole team from Sienna
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: working on her. So what else do you know about this?
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: That the the girlfriend ex girlfriend actually goes to jail,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: she was arrested, and then investigators started doing their work.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: You know that the new wife, according to according to prosecutors,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: also faked cancer, even forging doctor's notes and posed as
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: an attorney. That's just an aside. But but back to
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: the girl for the ex girlfriend actually gets arrested and
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: put in chill. Police did their due diligence and they
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: trace the all of it back to Dias, the wife,
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: and so now she is the one that's charged. I mean,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Michelle Hadley, the victim in this scenario, spoke out and
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: she was just crying about the relief she felt when
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: a judge clears her charges. Do you know that could
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: have put her behind bars? From life? From life? She
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: was three months behind bars? Did you know that? Three months? Yes,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: this is such a tragedy on several levels because of
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: the fact that when we hear of cases like this,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: it causes us to question real victims unfairly, and it
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: causes the police to question real victims unfairly. I think
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: you're right about that, Alan, and there are there are
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: more cases like this. But another thing I wanted to
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: talk to you about is the way that she did it.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: The way the alleged perp did it. She used what
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: is called a virtual network a VP in a virtual
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: private network online. Are you familiar with those? I certainly am.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: You can go to certain websites and you can blindly
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: send things. What are you doing on a VPN? Well,
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm a journalist. I researched these things. I've
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: not personally done this. M h okay, let me get
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: your journalistic x lation of what is a virtual private network.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: It hides your Internet protocol address, you can you can
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: go anonymously. It makes it for example, if you are
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: in Russia and you want to look like you're in Maryland.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: You can go to a virtual private network address and
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: it will it will hide your IP A virtual private
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: network is a method that uses encryption or code to
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: provide a secure access to a remote computer over the Internet.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: It hides your IP address, correct, right, That's the ultimate
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: thing that it does. It keeps you from being seen, found, located.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: That's how she did this. So that's how the police
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: originally didn't really connect her up to it because she
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: used a VPN and that takes that takes a little
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: bit of doing. I mean, I guess if you're used
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: to using a VPN, it's not hard. But just sitting
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: here I would not know exactly how how you would
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: do it. I mean, for instance, there's I P Vanish.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: I mean, when I hear the word vanish, I think, okay,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: who who needs to vanish? Who needs their Internet addressed
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: to vanish? But that's an example of one of them.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: There are many of them, and they're apparently very fast.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: So how would she have done it? Well, she would
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: have found out how by going to Google and researching it.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: And when you do that, you do leave a trail.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Here is express VPN, nord VPN, hide my A S
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: S VPN, I P vanish. I'm just looking along. I mean, well,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: you know, now they don't need to google it, they
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: just need to listen to your podcast know how to
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: do it. Okay, that's fine, So proud of that. So
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: long story short. This woman does three months in jail
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: before she's exonerated. So long story short. Police are saying
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: that in the Pepini case, long circle back the Papini case,
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: the husband passed a polygraph that he voluntarily took. And
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: let's just think about this thing common sense before we
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: start throwing around legal terms and investigative journalist terms to
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: believe she did it. Let's just accept that he passed
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: to polygraph, although they can be beat. So if he
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: passes a polygraph, that means she did it all on
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: her own or with an accomplice. Now, what would her
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: motivation be? You gotta come up with that. You don't
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: have to prove it in a court of law. But
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, we're just talking about did she do it?
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Did she fake it? And she was badly beaten when
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: the police found her. Would she have inflicted a beating
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: on herself? Not only that, she had lost, she was emaciated,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: She lost, according to some accounts, between fifteen and twenty
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: pounds in less than three weeks. So would she have
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: inflicted all of that herself? Shearing? I mean, cutting her hat,
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: hair off, beating herself, starving herself for what. I don't
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: buy it. Really, well, even if she didn't have that
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: evidence on her, you couldn't say that it was a hoax.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: I mean, there are examples of people who are kidnapped
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: and when they are released, they don't have scars on
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: them and they don't have their haircut. True. True, So
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: I guess we're all lying this what at the feet
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: of Jennifer Wilbanks just because she crept out on her wedding?
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: Oh man, well there are historically You're not going to
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Sinatra again, are you? You are? Okay, go ahead and
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: get it out of your system. Sinatra Jr. Was actually
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: kidnapped in December of n when I was a young man. Then, okay,
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: go ahead. Of course, you weren't. A rumor at the
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: time was that his dad, whose career had kind of
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: lagged a little bit. It was a big, highly publicized case,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: and the idea was it he was using this to
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: try to boost his publicity and his singing career. But
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: it turned out it really was a kidnapping and that
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Frank Sinatra Jr. Was released and of course lived. Can
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: we just agree that right now we believe Sherry Peppini
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: was telling the truth and is telling the truth and
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: was kidnapped. Can we agree? Yes, just like we said
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: on our previous podcast, Yeah, you know what we did,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: didn't we another thing? Having been a crime victim on
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: top of everything else. It hurts so much when you're
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: treated like that by other people. I know, that's just
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: another layer of pain. I mean, given our determination that
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: she is telling the truth, just imagine on top of
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: that people questioning her. You know what, I have to
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: go out of town tomorrow, and I am absolutely miserable
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: because I'm going to be away from the Twins. Now. Granted,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: I'm going somewhere I love. I'm gonna go be with
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: my friends at Hallmark UM for the next Haley Dan movie,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: and I'm really looking forward to that, but I don't
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: want to be away from the Twins. Can you imagine
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: being away from your children and not knowing if you
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: would ever see them again ever? I mean, yes, I
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: love my husband. Of course, I do something about your children.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: The thought she lived through that awful much less having
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: people drag her through the mud. Now you know what
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: I mean? Well, I'm a granddad and I know exactly
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: what you're talking about. And in fact, as soon as
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: we finish this podcast, I'm going to go and pick
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: up my grandkids. You know what. I'm gonna go get
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: my children to I'm going to go interrupt their school day.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: They have recess today. The recess is a different time
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: every day. How do I know? Because yes, that's me
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: stalking them in the distance. Um, sometimes they see me.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: Pretend they don't. But I'm going to go get them
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: and get them out of school early and actually put
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: on a formal document that they have an appointment, And
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: they do have an appointment with me at the playground.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: So that's where I'm going. But for right now, Pepini
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: is telling the truth. Until I hear different, I don't
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: want to hear any more discussion that it's a hope.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Can we agree on that, Duke, I've always agreed yeah, right,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: right right, that's your story now and you're sticking to it,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: all right? Goodbye friends,