Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / JUSTICE! Beauty queen teacher Tara Grinstead murdered, body burned on pecan farm - inside the trial of Bo Dukes

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JUSTICE! Beauty queen teacher Tara Grinstead murdered, body burned on pecan farm - inside the trial of Bo Dukes · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:05
Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I'm an eleventh grade history
0:18
Speaker 1: teacher Irwin County High School and I just completed my
0:21
Speaker 1: first year teaching, and I love every bit of it.
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Speaker 1: Tera Grinstead's disappearance from her home in Oscilla, Georgia, in
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Speaker 1: two thousand and five made no sense to her friend's
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Speaker 1: family and police. I knew something was wrong. I knew
0:37
Speaker 1: that it was serious. I knew that something beyond her
0:40
Speaker 1: control had happened. In what became the largest missing person's
0:44
Speaker 1: case in Georgia history, investigators interviewed more than one hundred people, friends,
0:50
Speaker 1: ex boyfriends, anyone who had any relationship with Tera in
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Speaker 1: nearly twenty seven years with a Georgia Beer investigation. I've
0:59
Speaker 1: never encountered under such a complex and difficult case. You
1:02
Speaker 1: are hearing our friends at CBS. That's Peter van Zant
1:06
Speaker 1: talking about one of the biggest missing person's cases ever
1:10
Speaker 1: in the state and a case that has hung over
1:13
Speaker 1: the heads of a small Georgia community when a brilliant
1:18
Speaker 1: high school teacher and beauty queen, Tara Grinstead goes missing
1:22
Speaker 1: seemingly without a trace. I Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories.
1:28
Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us. With a big, big
1:31
Speaker 1: bombshell today the case going forward on the man that
1:35
Speaker 1: police say burned Tara Grinstead's body for days until there
1:42
Speaker 1: was nothing left but ash. And I'm certainly going to
1:46
Speaker 1: be going to a forensics expert about how you burned
1:50
Speaker 1: down teeth and bones until there's nothing but ash with
1:56
Speaker 1: me an all star lineup. Vincent Hill, cop turned PI,
1:59
Speaker 1: author of playbook to a Murder is at the courthouse.
2:03
Speaker 1: Jice Scott Morgan, Professor Forensics, Jacksonville State University, author Blood
2:07
Speaker 1: Beneath My Feet on Amazon, Doctor Maurice god When Special
2:12
Speaker 1: Guests joining us. Private investigator who worked TERA's case thirteen years.
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Speaker 1: Judge lawyer anchor at Ashley Wilcott dot com Joining me,
2:22
Speaker 1: Ashley Wilcot, We're now psychologists out of Manhattan. Karen start
2:26
Speaker 1: at Karen Stark dot com. To Robin Willinsky, Crime online
2:30
Speaker 1: dot com, investigative reporter, author of Beautiful Life CSI behind
2:34
Speaker 1: Casey Anthony Trial, Robin, did you ever think we would
2:38
Speaker 1: finally get to trial? Because there were times I did
2:41
Speaker 1: not watching this case for years, and I agree with
2:44
Speaker 1: you whoever thought we would get to this place? But
2:48
Speaker 1: you know, thank goodness for a glove that was found
2:52
Speaker 1: and DNA that was in sight, and what's so odd?
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Speaker 1: And I'm gonna go straight out to Vincent Hill standing
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Speaker 1: by at the courthouse Vincent Hill, DNA wasn't a glove
3:01
Speaker 1: found in front of a Tera grins Dad's home, which
3:04
Speaker 1: was I recall touring her home with her mother, and
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Speaker 1: it was absolutely beautiful, but there were things out of
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Speaker 1: place in her bedroom. There was a necklace broken on
3:15
Speaker 1: the floor, there was a broken and out of place
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Speaker 1: post on her four poster bed. Things were disarrayed. Her car.
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Speaker 1: She was one of those neat freaks that kept the
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Speaker 1: car perfect like it had just been bought, even smelling new.
3:31
Speaker 1: Was covered in mud on the outside, and the driver's
3:34
Speaker 1: seat was pushed back to allow a man to drive.
3:37
Speaker 1: And even though there was DNA in that latex glove,
3:40
Speaker 1: that rubber glove, they couldn't match it up. The whole time.
3:44
Speaker 1: The alleged killer was right under their noses in the
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Speaker 1: form of a duke d u k e and a
3:51
Speaker 1: duke's d uk e s no relation that were her students.
3:57
Speaker 1: Tell me what's happening in the court Vincent heldre is
3:59
Speaker 1: actually her testimony about that glove that late texts glove
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Speaker 1: that one of the DBI agents said was about five
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Speaker 1: feet from Tara's front porch, and they had a forensic
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Speaker 1: biologist who testified about how she used toothbrush to match
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Speaker 1: her DNA to that glove, as well as they collected
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Speaker 1: an unknown at the time male DNA. And we heard
4:22
Speaker 1: testimony Nancy that over two hundred people were tested for
4:26
Speaker 1: DNA at the Cornhouse. Vincent Hill, cop turned PI and
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Speaker 1: author Vincent Hill tell me about the jury. Who's on
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Speaker 1: the jury, Nancy. The jury's made up of seven women
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Speaker 1: and five men. They're very attentive of what's going on
4:41
Speaker 1: in the case. They're watching bow dukes during the testimony,
4:45
Speaker 1: they're actually watching videos and watching GBI demonstrate Nancy, how
4:51
Speaker 1: they actually went about excavating the fire pit where they
4:55
Speaker 1: believed Tara Grinstead's remains were found. So that was a
4:59
Speaker 1: pretty powerful point in testimony inside that courtroom, Nancy, when
5:04
Speaker 1: they were watching the GBI agent actually demonstrate how he
5:08
Speaker 1: was able to find those bones. Well, yeah, I mean,
5:10
Speaker 1: how was he able to find the bones? Bencent? Yeah, Nancy,
5:13
Speaker 1: So he used a tool, he called it a rod,
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Speaker 1: and that's basically what it looks like and it goes
5:18
Speaker 1: into the ground and it hits on what they believed
5:21
Speaker 1: to be bones. And they actually had buckets inside the
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Speaker 1: courtroom as well as the actual photographs from the scene
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Speaker 1: in the pecan orchard where they had the buckets that
5:32
Speaker 1: were marked, and they showed the buckets that had bones.
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Speaker 1: They actually showed bone fragments and teeth again which they
5:40
Speaker 1: believe belonged to Tera Grinstead. Wow to Jo Scott Morgan
5:44
Speaker 1: forensics expert Joe Scott, how do you match teeth back
5:48
Speaker 1: up to the person for a DNA match, Well, you
5:52
Speaker 1: have to be able to go in and find what's
5:54
Speaker 1: referred to as viable pulp in the tooth itself to
5:58
Speaker 1: drill into it if it is viable. Still, Nancy, you
6:01
Speaker 1: mentioned early on that they had attempted to render down
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Speaker 1: her body through heat over a protracted period of time.
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Speaker 1: And sometimes even though you know the teeth can be
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Speaker 1: the final encasement of DNA, they can be compromised if
6:18
Speaker 1: if the shell of enamel is cracked and the teeth
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Speaker 1: are worn down. So it's a it's a daunting tas.
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Speaker 1: I just don't know if they can get DNA out
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Speaker 1: of it this much later, let me go back to Vincent.
6:30
Speaker 1: He'll joining me at the courthouse. Vincent, could they make
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Speaker 1: a DNA match from TERA's teeth or had they been
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Speaker 1: so badly burned you couldn't do it? From what I
6:40
Speaker 1: understand through testimony, Nancy, it was too badly burned to
6:44
Speaker 1: determine if those remains were actually Tara Grinstead. But I
6:47
Speaker 1: believe the GBI is going on the statements between both
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Speaker 1: Ryan Duke and bow Dukes that hey, we've burned her
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Speaker 1: remains here. Therefore, GBI is pretty certain based on that
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Speaker 1: that those are Tera Grinstead's remains. Well, let me go
7:02
Speaker 1: to Ashley Wilcot, judge lawyer. You can find out Ashley
7:05
Speaker 1: Wilcot dot com. Ashley, here's the thing. Of course, it's
7:09
Speaker 1: Tera Grinstead's teeth. What other human teeth are you going
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Speaker 1: to find out in a pecan orchard in the exact
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Speaker 1: spot where this Let me just say, idiot, who goes
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Speaker 1: along at best? Who goes along with disposing of this
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Speaker 1: teacher's body? And I'd like to know why she was
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Speaker 1: button naked lying there dead at the time he saw her.
7:35
Speaker 1: But of course it's her teeth. Who's who else's teeth?
7:37
Speaker 1: Could it be Ashley, I agree with you completely. And
7:41
Speaker 1: so here's the tragedy in this case, not only that
7:43
Speaker 1: it happened, but when you put all the evidence together,
7:46
Speaker 1: of course it's her teeth. We have statements. Remember they
7:49
Speaker 1: played in court an audio statement made by Bo Dukes
7:55
Speaker 1: admitting to where the body was buried. And like you said, Nancy,
7:59
Speaker 1: it's the same place where they found those teeth, you know.
8:03
Speaker 1: Back to you. Vincent Hill joining me at the courthouse
8:05
Speaker 1: at Tara Grinstead trial underway right now. The man who
8:11
Speaker 1: admitted he helps dispose of the missing teacher's body after
8:15
Speaker 1: his classmate strangles her dead, says it took two days
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Speaker 1: for her remains to burn until there was nothing left
8:23
Speaker 1: but ash. But they did find the remains of teeth.
8:27
Speaker 1: Vincent Hill, How does bow Dukes explain his involvement, Nancy.
8:34
Speaker 1: He says that Ryan Duke called him and said if
8:39
Speaker 1: up and I need your help, I need to use
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Speaker 1: your truck. And then he goes on to say that
8:44
Speaker 1: he saw Tera Grinstead's naked body. He said, the only
8:47
Speaker 1: thing she was wearing what's a felly ring, And he
8:50
Speaker 1: saw bruises around the neck and he and Ryan loaded
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Speaker 1: her body into the truck and took it out to
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Speaker 1: that field to dispose of it. And he talked about
9:00
Speaker 1: in that video statement he gave the GBI that they
9:03
Speaker 1: burned her body for over two days. Okay, you know what.
9:06
Speaker 1: Let me ask some pointed questions, Vincent Hill. When did
9:11
Speaker 1: Jukes say he first saw Tara Grinstead's body? That was
9:16
Speaker 1: after Ryan called him? I believe He said it was
9:18
Speaker 1: on that Sunday evening and he called Ryan called him,
9:25
Speaker 1: he saw the body. The body was naked. He talked
9:28
Speaker 1: about how Ryan told him he had dumped her purse
9:32
Speaker 1: in her identification in a dumpster at a convenience store,
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Speaker 1: and they then loaded her body into his truck, took
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Speaker 1: it out to the pecan field and set it on
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Speaker 1: fire for two days. Take a listen to our friend
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Speaker 1: at WSB, Craig Lucy. That soldier testified that he reported
9:50
Speaker 1: to police multiple times, said Dukes told him that he
9:53
Speaker 1: was involved in hiding the body of Tara Grinstead. He
9:55
Speaker 1: took the stand for a long time today, wiping away
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Speaker 1: tears at times, and said bo Dukes told him during
10:01
Speaker 1: Christmas break that he had messed up and he needed
10:04
Speaker 1: his help. You had made multiple repeated goals to local
10:07
Speaker 1: law enforced. Yes, sir, that is John McColl on the
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Speaker 1: stand Tuesday in a Wilcox County courtroom in South Georgia.
10:14
Speaker 1: He went to basic training with bow Dukes, the man
10:16
Speaker 1: accused of helping Ryan Duke disposed of Taran Grinstead's body
10:20
Speaker 1: in two thousand and five. McColl it testified about a
10:23
Speaker 1: conversation he had with bow Dukes, and he tried reporting
10:26
Speaker 1: it over and over. I couldn't get nobody to listen,
10:30
Speaker 1: I said. He finally called the GBI, which led to
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Speaker 1: this recording. And then you know that dude was upset,
10:38
Speaker 1: you know, accidentally killed her. That's what the buddy told
10:42
Speaker 1: the bow accidentally killed him. Yes, mccollo testified that bow
10:46
Speaker 1: Dukes told him his friend Ryan Duke killed the former
10:49
Speaker 1: beauty queen. He killed that board them. Then he said
10:59
Speaker 1: something even more disturbing it takes. In that interview, Dukes
11:10
Speaker 1: tells investigators that Ryan Duke is the one that killed
11:14
Speaker 1: Grin's dead. Apparently he broke into her house and strangled
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Speaker 1: her on her bed, then used bow Duke's truck to
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Speaker 1: dump her body on a pecan farm owned by bow
11:23
Speaker 1: Dukes his uncle. Here's WMAZ reporter Chelsea beam Four. Duke
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Speaker 1: says that Ryan took him to that site where the
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Speaker 1: body was dumped three days after it happened. Clothes so now.
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Speaker 1: Bo also tells investigators in the interview that he felt
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Speaker 1: compelled to cooperate during their twenty seventeen meeting because he
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Speaker 1: had been keeping this a secret for a long time
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Speaker 1: and it had begun to weigh on him. Duke's denied
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Speaker 1: any involvement in the case during a twenty sixteen interview
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Speaker 1: with the GBI. Now, though Bou told an investigator is
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Speaker 1: that he felt like he couldn't talk to a therapist.
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Speaker 1: He later admits in the interview that he told at
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Speaker 1: least a half dozen people about his involvement in the case,
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Speaker 1: including his ex wife and a cousin. On trial right now,
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Speaker 1: A man admits he helps dispose of a missing teacher,
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Speaker 1: a beauty queen working on her master's degree, naked body
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Speaker 1: after his long ago high school classmates strangles her dead,
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Speaker 1: saying it took two days for Tara Grinstead's remains to
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Speaker 1: burn until there was nothing left but ash. At the courthouse,
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Speaker 1: Vincent Hill joining me now to the expert who's worked
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Speaker 1: on the case for over thirteen years, Private investigator, doctor
12:52
Speaker 1: Maurice Godwin. Doctor Godwin, thank you for being with us.
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Speaker 1: I mean when I look at bou Dukes and Ryan
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Speaker 1: Duke and they're like two idgits there. I mean, and
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Speaker 1: to think after all these years, what it boiled down
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Speaker 1: to was Ryan Duke breaking into Terry Grinstead's home with
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Speaker 1: a credit card. I mean, I can do that for
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Speaker 1: Pete's sake, credit card or driver's license and goes in
13:23
Speaker 1: looking for money for drugs. It was never more complicated
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Speaker 1: than that, Doctor Godwin, that's right. But I believe Bo
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Speaker 1: was there with it. Tell me what you believe happened.
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Speaker 1: I believe Bo is more involved in this murdered. I
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Speaker 1: just don't think, did you be. I can place them
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Speaker 1: into the house, and that's one of the main problems,
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Speaker 1: and they just can't prove it. Well, tell me what
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Speaker 1: you think happened based on the testimony we're hearing. I
13:49
Speaker 1: think Ryan went into the house, I think confining her.
13:53
Speaker 1: And something that's not been mentioned yet is that hers
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Speaker 1: Landline correos Fi was found in the bathroom, along with
14:04
Speaker 1: a pair of panties found in the bathroom. I think
14:07
Speaker 1: that Ryan was chasing her and she was trying to
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Speaker 1: hide hide in the bathroom, and he pushed on the
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Speaker 1: door and got her out of the bathroom and beat
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Speaker 1: her and cured her and then got the trut, got
14:23
Speaker 1: her in the trut and cured back to being Hill County,
14:28
Speaker 1: and then got both. And that's what he said too,
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Speaker 1: Ashley Wilcott, judge, lawyer, anchor Ashley, it's it's I don't
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Speaker 1: really how to say it. How did this stump police
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Speaker 1: and GBI for so long? I mean, they were in
14:46
Speaker 1: her class. They left DNA in a plastic glove in
14:49
Speaker 1: the front yard. Listen, you know I support law enforcement
14:53
Speaker 1: one thousand percent. However, having said that, there's an admission
14:57
Speaker 1: by a GBI agent that says, you know what, these
15:00
Speaker 1: two individuals names were associated with this case some time ago,
15:06
Speaker 1: and he assumed local police had chased it down. They hadn't,
15:10
Speaker 1: and so there were some oversights, and I think that's
15:14
Speaker 1: why this had not been tracked down sooner and solved sooner. Well,
15:19
Speaker 1: what I don't understand to doctor Maurice Godwin, who's been
15:23
Speaker 1: on the case over thirteen years, if their sole intention
15:28
Speaker 1: was to go into steal things to get drug money,
15:31
Speaker 1: why was she naked. I don't think robbery was the motive.
15:34
Speaker 1: I think a sexual assault, and I think her body
15:38
Speaker 1: was destroyed to cover up any forms of sexual assault too.
15:44
Speaker 1: Vincent Hill joining me in the courthouse, What about that, Vincent? Yeah,
15:47
Speaker 1: you know, Nancy, I thought that as well. But however
15:50
Speaker 1: both do. During his video statements of the GBI said
15:53
Speaker 1: he asked Ryan was raped the motive from Ryan said no,
15:57
Speaker 1: it wasn't that he was just going there to get stuff,
16:00
Speaker 1: were drugs, But that could be a viable point, Nancy,
16:03
Speaker 1: that her body was a story to get rid of
16:05
Speaker 1: the evidence of a sexual assault. To Robin Malinski, also
16:09
Speaker 1: on the story Crime online dot com investigative reporter Crime Online,
16:13
Speaker 1: you can find this in all other breaking crime and
16:16
Speaker 1: justice knee. What about it, Robin, Yeah, I personally believe
16:19
Speaker 1: that there was a sexual assault, because why else would
16:22
Speaker 1: you be burning this woman's body. You're you're burning the
16:26
Speaker 1: body to cover up any DNA evidence that was left
16:31
Speaker 1: after he most likely attacked her. Keep in mind, Nancy,
16:35
Speaker 1: you know we talk about her as a beauty queen.
16:38
Speaker 1: Look at her picture, look at her face. She was
16:41
Speaker 1: so beautiful, very fit, very thin, wore always wore program
16:45
Speaker 1: She was meticulous about her things, and she was meticulous
16:49
Speaker 1: about her grooming. Take a listen to opening statements in
16:53
Speaker 1: that courtroom. It's about his secret that he helped Rian destroy,
17:05
Speaker 1: burn the disposed of them, the secret that he kept
17:11
Speaker 1: here in Littlecox Counting when he spoke of ash deel
17:14
Speaker 1: June from sixteen and two thousand and sixteen. This case
17:17
Speaker 1: is about those lies, lies that lasted from two thousand
17:25
Speaker 1: and five to two thousand and sixteen. It's about those
17:33
Speaker 1: cover of It's about those constilled that his best friend
17:39
Speaker 1: Ryan had killed Terry instant and then they both burned
17:44
Speaker 1: about And it's about those economo and his Spanish econo
17:52
Speaker 1: word that burns hot at twelve hundred crews were burned,
18:01
Speaker 1: the balls burns, the flesh burned, the balls dash Matthew's
18:11
Speaker 1: heard you in case saying, improved you beyond the reason
18:16
Speaker 1: that this is its stilull crime stories with Nancy Grace.
18:43
Speaker 1: Did he say that they burned the body? He told
18:45
Speaker 1: you that they burned right, Yes, they burned your lia
18:49
Speaker 1: that drew up the field and they nobody would ever
18:51
Speaker 1: find anything in all this, you know, like talking to
18:55
Speaker 1: it's um. It starts well, I remember and I remember
18:59
Speaker 1: when you called it in you were like, you know,
19:01
Speaker 1: I don't know if this is true or not, you know,
19:05
Speaker 1: you know, I just I need to get this off
19:07
Speaker 1: my chips. And you've been you know. And then because
19:09
Speaker 1: you told me they saw something on the internet and
19:12
Speaker 1: you looked it up and you were like, wow, I
19:13
Speaker 1: thought that case you would have been solved way back
19:15
Speaker 1: then and it wasn't. That's what prompted you to call
19:18
Speaker 1: the first time, you know. I mean, yeah, so I
19:20
Speaker 1: originally I originally called, you know, way or like wait
19:25
Speaker 1: before hey, you know what what's going on with this?
19:30
Speaker 1: And you know, stuff like that, you know, And that
19:33
Speaker 1: was probably any U two shouts at eight or late
19:38
Speaker 1: out and where in two thousand and eighty nine police department?
19:42
Speaker 1: Do you remember who? What police department? Want to say?
19:45
Speaker 1: What's the one? What's that old stealer? They don't do
19:47
Speaker 1: their old Stiller and Fitzgerald. But it was a local
19:50
Speaker 1: police department and I was just asking questions and then
19:53
Speaker 1: it kind of went and got aware and that I
19:55
Speaker 1: was just like, okay, well get things since nobody wants
19:57
Speaker 1: to talk from you there. You you're all the standard
19:59
Speaker 1: for army buddy of bow deeps John McCullough under oath,
20:04
Speaker 1: saying bow Diecks told him about covering up Ary Grinsted's
20:09
Speaker 1: murder back in two thousand and six, and he went
20:12
Speaker 1: to police. Nothing happened. Shout out to Joe Scott Morgan,
20:17
Speaker 1: forensics expert, author of Blood Beneath My Feet way in, Hey, Nancy,
20:21
Speaker 1: let me tell you something. If you're talking about burning
20:23
Speaker 1: a body, this is an intense process that has to
20:28
Speaker 1: take place where individuals have to literally tend the fire
20:32
Speaker 1: for a protracted time. In a crematory. When you talk
20:35
Speaker 1: about bodies being cremated, it takes roughly thirteen hundred degrees
20:42
Speaker 1: to eighteen hundred degrees of sustained burning over a protracted
20:46
Speaker 1: period of time. That's where the natural gas supply in
20:49
Speaker 1: an oven literally where the body is rendered down. Now
20:53
Speaker 1: you've got these guys outdoors in an open pit. Now
20:57
Speaker 1: they're just like the prosecutor, it said a moment ago.
21:00
Speaker 1: They're using pecan wood, and pecan wood burns very hot.
21:04
Speaker 1: But still you've got this open source, so you're bleeding energy.
21:08
Speaker 1: They would have had to stayed out there for a long,
21:11
Speaker 1: protracted time to render her body down. And you know
21:14
Speaker 1: what else, Nancy. This case reminds me of another very
21:18
Speaker 1: very famous case in Georgia criminal history, going back decades
21:23
Speaker 1: and decades mur and Kaleeda County. That's a seminal case
21:27
Speaker 1: where a man had to have his hired men tend
21:32
Speaker 1: to fire for two to three days to burn and
21:35
Speaker 1: render down a body, to get it to the point
21:38
Speaker 1: where they could dispose of it. Another case like this
21:41
Speaker 1: happened in Georgia too. Karen Stark, psychologist. You can find
21:44
Speaker 1: her at Karen Stark dot com. You know, Karen, we're
21:48
Speaker 1: all talking about the temperature to burn a body, the
21:52
Speaker 1: forensics aspect of this. It's really inside baseball two experts.
21:58
Speaker 1: But what this spoils down to is this a beautiful
22:01
Speaker 1: young history teacher who was a mentor to other girls,
22:06
Speaker 1: a beauty queen working on her master's degree, was brutally
22:12
Speaker 1: I believe, raped and murdered in her own home, minding
22:18
Speaker 1: her own business. And Karen, it has upset me no
22:21
Speaker 1: end to hear other people on air, and I will
22:25
Speaker 1: not nay names because it's not about them. It's about
22:28
Speaker 1: her suggesting she had gone to some big party, that
22:33
Speaker 1: she had broken up with her boyfriend and she was single,
22:36
Speaker 1: and ready to mingle and got drunk or high and
22:40
Speaker 1: ended up dead. I hate that. I hate it. I
22:44
Speaker 1: hate it because, on top of everything else that has happened,
22:48
Speaker 1: people are dragging her name through the mud. And as
22:52
Speaker 1: it turns out, she was home alone after barbecue put
22:58
Speaker 1: on by school official, came straight home and went to bed.
23:04
Speaker 1: That is what happened. Karen starts, this is a typical
23:07
Speaker 1: case of blaming the victim. They eliminated being able to
23:12
Speaker 1: do that in court a long time ago, when they
23:14
Speaker 1: used to talk about the way women dressed, remember, and
23:17
Speaker 1: how it was too provocative. And here we go with somebody,
23:21
Speaker 1: a beautiful woman who really was a mentor to other
23:26
Speaker 1: girls who did good deeds, and she was, I believe
23:31
Speaker 1: with you, raped, punished, killed because she was beautiful, and
23:37
Speaker 1: everyone is trying to put the blame on her and
23:40
Speaker 1: her lifestyle, which makes absolutely no sense. It's horrendous. Two
23:45
Speaker 1: Doctor Maurice Godwin, private investigators worked on the case over
23:48
Speaker 1: thirteen years. What's your take on what's happening in court? Well,
23:52
Speaker 1: I don't. I think that is the DNA on the
23:55
Speaker 1: glove touch DNA. As far as Bow is concerned, they
23:59
Speaker 1: can't rule him out. But as far as bows casseron,
24:06
Speaker 1: he admitted to burning the body, so he admitted to
24:09
Speaker 1: being there. So so I don't I think every dance
24:13
Speaker 1: is strong for convicttion in Bow's case. To Robin Wilinski,
24:18
Speaker 1: Crime online dot Com investigative reporter, Robin, who is on
24:22
Speaker 1: the jury, tell me about jury the jury selection. There
24:26
Speaker 1: are seven women who've been selected in five men, and
24:30
Speaker 1: from all accounts, they are paying attention. You and I
24:34
Speaker 1: have been to trials where you have people that are
24:37
Speaker 1: not taking notes. I can remember very clearly at the
24:40
Speaker 1: Casey Anthony trial some of the jurors looked lost in space,
24:45
Speaker 1: if you will. But I really believe that these jurors
24:49
Speaker 1: are paying very close attention to the testimony. They watch
24:53
Speaker 1: that videotape police where he lets it rip, and he
25:03
Speaker 1: you know, details his involvement in the case. And from
25:07
Speaker 1: all accounts, the jury, this particular jury is paying attention
25:12
Speaker 1: and taking notes. Let's take a listen to the GBI
25:15
Speaker 1: confession of Tara Grinsta's former student, Bow Dukes and then
25:25
Speaker 1: where a bottle up in your truck? Did he say
25:28
Speaker 1: anybody else uthing? He stopped at a dumpster behind Roger
25:36
Speaker 1: Man Fisher, yeah, one twenty nine course, sure, anything else close.
25:46
Speaker 1: I can't remember what he said about the class problem.
25:52
Speaker 1: I can't remember exactly. And why do it? I mean,
25:59
Speaker 1: you never never said to this day he never distorts
26:07
Speaker 1: by so sasola before keys purse maybe cloth and rusher
26:16
Speaker 1: and draft a couple of times, Robin Willinski. I mean,
26:21
Speaker 1: he couldn't be more clear about what happened, you know, Nancy.
26:24
Speaker 1: Here's the thing Bo Duke's in this GBI confession. He
26:27
Speaker 1: actually puts himself at the pecan orchard. His uncle owns
26:32
Speaker 1: the property. He had been there a couple of times,
26:35
Speaker 1: and he actually says that he sees Tara's naked body,
26:40
Speaker 1: face up with bugs on it, with actual ants crawling
26:44
Speaker 1: on her. He takes you to and is a body
26:48
Speaker 1: could anything is clothed and not at all and it
26:54
Speaker 1: wasn't covering with anything. Thats okay, but just seeing less
27:03
Speaker 1: and then you get walking by you see it like
27:05
Speaker 1: just oclock every year. You probably didn't need to seeing out,
27:11
Speaker 1: I mean, but if you were, it wouldn't be too
27:13
Speaker 1: fully and see it okay, maybe too a louver. He says, Lan,
27:19
Speaker 1: thanks that did you know about Uh? Yeah, yes, I mean,
27:29
Speaker 1: you know, tell me who want to I guess I'm
27:31
Speaker 1: already expecting, right, But and you go for a class
27:36
Speaker 1: still resembling. Yeah, I mean discolored. I mean, I guess
27:45
Speaker 1: for a dance, all right. Georgian man admits he helped
27:49
Speaker 1: dispose of a beautiful young teacher's body after his long
27:53
Speaker 1: ago high school classmates strangled her dead, saying it took
27:57
Speaker 1: two days for her body to burn until there was
28:01
Speaker 1: nothing left but Ash. That's Bodix gut wrenching testimony, talking
28:07
Speaker 1: about being out in the middle of a pecan orchard
28:10
Speaker 1: and seeing Terror's body face up with aunts crawling on her.
28:17
Speaker 1: I can only imagine what her mother, her wonderful mother,
28:23
Speaker 1: is going through hearing this testimony about her little girl,
28:29
Speaker 1: Because you know, I tell the twins they're not taller
28:31
Speaker 1: than me, but they John David is and Lucy's getting there.
28:34
Speaker 1: But they're my babies. I can't even stand when they
28:38
Speaker 1: get a scrape on their knee, much less hearing this
28:42
Speaker 1: to judge, lawyer and anchor and mom Ashley Wilcott, what
28:46
Speaker 1: about it? Ash? Yeah, I completely agree with you. And
28:49
Speaker 1: here's the thing. Dukes is charged with three different counts
28:52
Speaker 1: two counts of making false statements, one count of hindering
28:56
Speaker 1: the apprehension of a criminal, and one count of concealing
28:59
Speaker 1: a death. I think, and I've been following the trial
29:01
Speaker 1: listening to the testimony. To me, the video that you
29:05
Speaker 1: just played and that the jury has seen would convictim
29:09
Speaker 1: of these things. So it's a really interesting case to hear.
29:12
Speaker 1: What is this defense going to possibly archick Listen to
29:15
Speaker 1: our friends at WFXL Fox thirty one. The Georgia Bureau
29:18
Speaker 1: investigation was called in on day one. Gary Rothwell and
29:22
Speaker 1: his team at the GBI are now handling the investigation.
29:25
Speaker 1: We didn't have any sign of four stantry. There's no
29:27
Speaker 1: sign of struggle, but that's not to say that you know,
29:30
Speaker 1: something could have happened. We once within her residence. Investigators
29:34
Speaker 1: then began trying to account for Terror's movements at Sunday nights.
29:37
Speaker 1: But it culminated in her attending what we would refer
29:41
Speaker 1: to as maybe a barbecue with some friends of hers
29:45
Speaker 1: not too far away from her house. And she left
29:48
Speaker 1: that barbecue shortly after ten thirty and has not been
29:52
Speaker 1: accounted for again. Yeah yet, Before that barbecue, Terror stopped
29:56
Speaker 1: at a beauty pageant. In Fitzgerald. Noah Griffin is one
30:00
Speaker 1: of the pageant organizers. He remembers seeing his friend that
30:03
Speaker 1: day though it was one of the things I was asked,
30:05
Speaker 1: you know, did she seem depressed? Did she seemed upset?
30:09
Speaker 1: Not to me at all. I mean she was very
30:12
Speaker 1: just like everyday Tera. Advising in beauty pageants was one
30:16
Speaker 1: of several responsibilities. Terror juggled on top of being a
30:19
Speaker 1: full time teacher. She done pageants, she coached girls, She
30:23
Speaker 1: done hair, she done makeup, she was a student at night.
30:26
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, she was just always on the game. Question,
30:29
Speaker 1: why do you believe Karen Stark psychologist Karen Stark dot com.
30:34
Speaker 1: Anyone would go along with a scheme to dispose of
30:39
Speaker 1: a lady's naked body, plus a teacher that taught you
30:43
Speaker 1: in high school? Why would you go along with that?
30:47
Speaker 1: Makes you wonder how much she really was involved to
30:51
Speaker 1: me anyway, Nancy, it seems as though maybe she watched
30:54
Speaker 1: his teacher. She watched his teacher, but perhaps he had
30:57
Speaker 1: a crush on her all these years. Maybe both of
31:00
Speaker 1: them were really interested in molesting her or trying to
31:04
Speaker 1: have sex with her, and something went wrong. I just
31:08
Speaker 1: can't imagine that he would just say, sure, let me
31:11
Speaker 1: help the dispose of this body. I'm a good friend.
31:14
Speaker 1: It makes no sense. Take a listen to that GBI
31:17
Speaker 1: confession played for the jury. Exactly what happened, he told
31:24
Speaker 1: me waiting night. Honestly, he trying to try two. He
31:35
Speaker 1: was very way and he's a good guard to getting
31:42
Speaker 1: through the front of her her She was in with
31:47
Speaker 1: it and trying to her right there and then her body.
31:55
Speaker 1: We try. I don't know, yes, okay, well there you
32:22
Speaker 1: hear from the horse's mouth. Because you know, a cop
32:25
Speaker 1: can testify to a witness, can testify to a confession.
32:29
Speaker 1: But in this day and age, so many times juries
32:31
Speaker 1: they just don't believe it. I remember arguing to juries
32:34
Speaker 1: with me my partner in crime, uh Jackie Howard here
32:37
Speaker 1: in the studio, Alan joining me from La Alan. I've
32:40
Speaker 1: argued a million times to a jury, what do you
32:42
Speaker 1: want a video? Well, I don't have a video. But
32:44
Speaker 1: in this case, they had the confession on audio and video,
32:48
Speaker 1: and I believe that that is what turned the time
32:51
Speaker 1: because they could see he wasn't beaten into a confession,
32:54
Speaker 1: shricked into a confession, forced into a confession. He gave
32:57
Speaker 1: the confession freely, and I believe that that's why we
33:01
Speaker 1: have a verdict today. Well, he said that he wanted
33:04
Speaker 1: to get this off of his chest, that it was
33:05
Speaker 1: a big burden for him to carry all that dozen
33:08
Speaker 1: or so years, and so he got the chance to
33:10
Speaker 1: do it with a GBI agent. But I think he
33:12
Speaker 1: was hoping there would be a plea deal that would
33:14
Speaker 1: keep him out of prison. But of course prison spoiled
33:17
Speaker 1: Alan Duke. I mean, what did you drink the defense
33:20
Speaker 1: ko Lake keep him out of prison? What do you
33:22
Speaker 1: mean he spoiled it. He had a plea deal, he
33:24
Speaker 1: told the truth, He was cooperating initially with the GBI,
33:28
Speaker 1: and there was the anticipation he was going to get
33:31
Speaker 1: this deal. But you know, he messed it all up.
33:33
Speaker 1: I mean, good grief. This guy actually went on the
33:35
Speaker 1: run just a couple of months ago on a rape
33:37
Speaker 1: charge and sodomy. I might add list only the sodomy
33:41
Speaker 1: out of that. Yeah, you know what, that messed up
33:43
Speaker 1: his whole deal. He had a deal in the works,
33:45
Speaker 1: he would testify an exchange for a lighter sentence. Then
33:48
Speaker 1: he goes on the run, he jumps bail. He allegedly
33:52
Speaker 1: commits a rape and a sodomy while he's on the run,
33:56
Speaker 1: and so the whole deal was off. And as a result,
34:01
Speaker 1: the deal was off for leneit treatment and estate had
34:04
Speaker 1: this confession. So in my mind that's what turned the tide.
34:07
Speaker 1: Allan Duke. Yes. And what is interesting to me and
34:11
Speaker 1: I know to you, after all of these years of
34:12
Speaker 1: wondering what happened to Tara, we got new information on
34:16
Speaker 1: what happened. And now this is just like the pregame
34:19
Speaker 1: because in two weeks from now we have the Ryan
34:22
Speaker 1: Duke murder trial and it will all come out. Long
34:25
Speaker 1: story short for those of you just joining us, there
34:30
Speaker 1: is a verdict in the Tara Grinstead case. You know,
34:34
Speaker 1: I understand that the head of the government in New
34:39
Speaker 1: Zealand is not saying a word about the name of
34:43
Speaker 1: the mass shooter. I feel the same way about the
34:46
Speaker 1: cases I tried and covered. I never referred to them
34:49
Speaker 1: as the quote A. J. Simpson case. I refer to
34:52
Speaker 1: it as the Nicole Brown case because it's all about
34:55
Speaker 1: the victim. And this is about Tara Grinstead. Well Bo Dukes,
34:59
Speaker 1: who did not take this and to defend himself during
35:01
Speaker 1: his trial, that jury heard plenty of him, including two
35:05
Speaker 1: conflicting conversations with a GBI investigator. After hearing him confess
35:09
Speaker 1: on the standard took that jury lesson one hour to
35:11
Speaker 1: convict Duke on four counts, including two council false statement,
35:15
Speaker 1: hindering apprehension of a criminal, and concealing the death of another.
35:19
Speaker 1: That death the beautiful, the talented Tara Grinstead. And in
35:24
Speaker 1: the last hour, Boat Dukes sentenced to twenty five years
35:28
Speaker 1: behind bars. And can I say number one that's too
35:32
Speaker 1: light and number two that's just a pit stop on
35:35
Speaker 1: his trip to hell. It was a remarkable sentencing hearing
35:39
Speaker 1: two today with Connie Grinstead, that's the stepmother of Tera
35:44
Speaker 1: Grinstead speaking for the family, and let's listen to it.
35:48
Speaker 1: October two thousand and five was the beginning of one
35:52
Speaker 1: of the most painful journeys that I think any family
35:56
Speaker 1: could ever be faced with, and the defendant was right
35:59
Speaker 1: in the middle of it. We know he wasn't charged
36:03
Speaker 1: with TERA's murder, but for over eleven years he watched
36:07
Speaker 1: all of us who loved her suffer unimaginable pain and
36:11
Speaker 1: heartache as we frantically searched for her and prayed that
36:16
Speaker 1: by some miracle, we might find her alive. He watched
36:20
Speaker 1: innocent people's lives turned upside down because they were falsely accused.
36:25
Speaker 1: He watched whole communities in turmoil because Tara was missing Oscilla,
36:31
Speaker 1: where she lived and worked, her hometown of Hawkinsville, and
36:35
Speaker 1: even areas beyond. What he didn't see was the fear
36:39
Speaker 1: in the eyes of the young children in our family,
36:43
Speaker 1: who were afraid to even go outside and play because
36:46
Speaker 1: they thought if somebody took Tara, they might take me to.
36:50
Speaker 1: What he didn't say was my elderly mother, who lived
36:54
Speaker 1: and in assisted living home, and who would sit every
36:57
Speaker 1: day with her face in her hands, worried and upsee
37:01
Speaker 1: it because we couldn't find Tera. When the workers would
37:04
Speaker 1: ask her what was wrong, she would say, I'm just
37:07
Speaker 1: so worried about Tara. My mother had a stroke and
37:11
Speaker 1: died twenty eight days after Tera disappeared. The workers in
37:15
Speaker 1: that home told me they fully believed the stress of
37:18
Speaker 1: TERA's disappearance brought on that stroke that ended her life
37:23
Speaker 1: in a matter of hours. I wasn't even able to
37:26
Speaker 1: be with my mother during the last days of her
37:29
Speaker 1: life to comfort her because we were out looking for Tera,
37:33
Speaker 1: doing everything we need to do to find her, So
37:37
Speaker 1: I have to live with that sadness every day too,
37:39
Speaker 1: that I could not be there for her at a
37:41
Speaker 1: time when she needed me the most. What he didn't
37:45
Speaker 1: see was the days and nights that we were so
37:48
Speaker 1: overcome with grief we could barely function. The sadness that
37:53
Speaker 1: I still see in her. Daddy's eyes over loosing his
37:56
Speaker 1: little girl breaks my heart. And while all of those
38:00
Speaker 1: situations I just described were taking place, he did nothing.
38:05
Speaker 1: He just went on living his life, not caring about
38:08
Speaker 1: the pain he had caused to others. He knew she
38:12
Speaker 1: was never coming back. He could have at least told
38:15
Speaker 1: us that, but he didn't. And the reason he knew
38:19
Speaker 1: she wasn't coming back is because he had put load
38:23
Speaker 1: after load of wood on her body and burned her.
38:26
Speaker 1: He tried to make sure there would be nothing left
38:29
Speaker 1: of her. What kind of person does that to another
38:34
Speaker 1: human being? He underestimated how much she meant to so
38:40
Speaker 1: many people, and he underestimated her family and her friends
38:46
Speaker 1: and the fact that we would never give up. Tera
38:50
Speaker 1: was a wonderful person. She was a great teacher. She
38:53
Speaker 1: always tried to help her students reach their full potential.
38:58
Speaker 1: She was a hard worker, still a student herself. She
39:02
Speaker 1: had accomplished so much in her young life, but she
39:06
Speaker 1: still had dreams and goals that she was working towards. Now,
39:11
Speaker 1: all we can do is hold her dreams in our hearts,
39:15
Speaker 1: because we will never see her fulfill them. His selfish
39:20
Speaker 1: evil acts have hurt so many people and changed our
39:24
Speaker 1: lives forever. But our words here today, and even what
39:29
Speaker 1: the court of public opinion thinks of him should not
39:33
Speaker 1: really be what matters most to him. What should matter
39:36
Speaker 1: the very most is what God sees when he looks
39:39
Speaker 1: into his heart. TERA's dad and I respectfully ask that
39:44
Speaker 1: this court give him the maximum sentence. And then bodukes
39:48
Speaker 1: the man convicted of burning TERA's corpse, then, keeping quiet
39:51
Speaker 1: about who killed her, addressed the court, said, family, I'm
39:56
Speaker 1: truly sorry your long suffering has been unimagined. My actions
40:03
Speaker 1: are cowardly, calloust and cruel. I was more interested in
40:09
Speaker 1: self pity and self preservation than doing the right thing
40:13
Speaker 1: for Tera and for you. I pray for your forgive.
40:22
Speaker 1: I apologize to those who were casting or a cloud
40:25
Speaker 1: of suspicion for so long reputations, but their friends and
40:33
Speaker 1: family destroyed. I can never undo that damage and I
40:38
Speaker 1: sincerely apologize to the local communities. I'm sorry for the
40:45
Speaker 1: years of uncertainty, of suspicion and mistrust placed even on
40:50
Speaker 1: law enforcement community by my actions. I apologize to my
40:55
Speaker 1: own family, to my mother, to Brook shared my actions
41:03
Speaker 1: and failures. I'm responsible for a long I failed Terrogrinceton,
41:11
Speaker 1: I failed her family, I failed the local community. And
41:18
Speaker 1: I hope these proceedings have given some closure to the
41:21
Speaker 1: many people hurt by my actions. And I want to
41:24
Speaker 1: each of you to know that I am truly remorseful,
41:27
Speaker 1: and I expect we'll hear from both Dukes again next month,
41:30
Speaker 1: as the murder trial for Ryan Duke begins in Ocello, Georgia,
41:35
Speaker 1: and as Aland just told you in two weeks, the
41:38
Speaker 1: actual killer in my mind, Ryan Duke, is on trial
41:43
Speaker 1: for murder. May they both rot in hell. Nancy Grace
41:48
Speaker 1: Crime Story signing off goodbye for