Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / UCLA Grad Student Beauty Stabbed Dead By Fugitive

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UCLA Grad Student Beauty Stabbed Dead By Fugitive · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:05
Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. You know those people that
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Speaker 1: you meet that you instinctively know are going to do
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Speaker 1: wonderful things in life. They're the ones that walk in
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Speaker 1: the room and everybody wants to either be with them
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Speaker 1: or be them. This girl, Brianna Coope Fer twenty four
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Speaker 1: years old, gorgeous UCLA grad student in architectural design and
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Speaker 1: working at some high end furniture store. A guy comes
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Speaker 1: in with a rap sheet as long as I seventy
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Speaker 1: five stabs are dead and this and just calmly and
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Speaker 1: coolly walks out the door. Why is this happening? Why
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Speaker 1: did this beautiful, brilliant young girl have to die? What
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Speaker 1: is going on with? This guy is out walking free
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Speaker 1: to prey on innocent victims? And I gotta tell you
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Speaker 1: something that weighed on my shoulders so heavily as the prosecutor,
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Speaker 1: because I would get you know, just let's just say
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Speaker 1: tea times are that by receiving that means got a
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Speaker 1: guide in stolen car. Can't prove he took it, but
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Speaker 1: you know he received it because he's driving it. So
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Speaker 1: I get a team times are and I think, what's
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Speaker 1: he going to do next? If I let him off?
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Speaker 1: On theft by receiving. When he offends again, will it
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Speaker 1: be with a gun? Will it be my fault because
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Speaker 1: I wasn't harsh enough on a simple theft. The duty
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Speaker 1: of the district attorney and local law enforcement is staggering.
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Speaker 1: And you know what it's worth. It's worth somebody's life.
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Speaker 1: Because this guy, Sean laval Smith thirty one, had been
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Speaker 1: in and out and in and out of the penitentiary
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Speaker 1: and he was out January thirteen when he stabbed Brianna
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Speaker 1: Cooper dead then goes on the right by the way.
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Speaker 1: We've just in the last hours managed to catch him.
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Speaker 1: I mean, see Grace, this is Crime Stories. Thank you
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Speaker 1: for being with us here at Fox Nation and series
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Speaker 1: see eleven. And another thing, since nobody asked, nobody's talking
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Speaker 1: about this guy's rap sheet. Why do we want to
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Speaker 1: pretend that's not real? Have we gone so woke that
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Speaker 1: we don't look at reality? The risk it was? I
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Speaker 1: have this guy out walking free. Well, I'll tell you
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Speaker 1: one thing. I'm looking at it with me an all
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Speaker 1: star panel to trying to make sense of an illogical
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Speaker 1: situation choice lat high profile defense attorney joining me out
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Speaker 1: of LA This is at his backyard with Slayton Lawyers
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Speaker 1: and as his alma mater, you see La. Doctor Sherry Schwartz,
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Speaker 1: renowned forensic psychologists joining us capitalizing m criminal behavior. You
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Speaker 1: can find her at panther Mitigation dot com, author of
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Speaker 1: criminal behavior and where law and psychology intersect. I would
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Speaker 1: say ditter Sherry. They collided in this case. Karen Smith,
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Speaker 1: you know overwell, forensic expert, lecturer University Florida and host
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Speaker 1: of the highly popular Shattered Souls podcast at Barbones Forensic
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Speaker 1: dot com. Doctor Kendall Crown's esteemed chief and medical examiner,
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Speaker 1: Tyrant County. That's Fort Worth. Never a lack of business there,
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Speaker 1: lecturer University of Texas and Texas A and M and
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Speaker 1: University of Texas Medical School. But first I'm going to
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Speaker 1: go to a special guest joining us out of La
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Speaker 1: As Haley Winslow, TV reporter Foxy eleventh there in La Haley,
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Speaker 1: I just you know when I said, this girl is
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Speaker 1: gorgeous from what I understand, she's gorgeous on the inside
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Speaker 1: as well. It's the outside of me. When I first
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Speaker 1: saw the story break, I thought she was a model.
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Speaker 1: But you know, I've represented all sorts of victims the good,
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Speaker 1: the bad, and the ugly, the drunk, the stone, the
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Speaker 1: strung out, the evil. But a crime victim is a
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Speaker 1: crime victim. And I want to hear what happened to
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Speaker 1: Brianna Coopfrey hit me Nancia as you said she was sunshine,
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Speaker 1: her dad said, I mean she was the kind of
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Speaker 1: person who we needed on this earth. She was working
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Speaker 1: alone in this furniture store in the Fairfax District, which
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Speaker 1: is usually I let a guest at least get their
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Speaker 1: first three sentences out. But you said, you said her dad,
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Speaker 1: her father is breaking my heart, Hanley. When I lived
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Speaker 1: out in a la for a period of time, as
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Speaker 1: during Dancing with the Stars, and I will never forget
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Speaker 1: the first night, of course, I was held in jeopardy
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Speaker 1: with Metalworld Peace. I thought I was going to be
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Speaker 1: thrown off my very first night. My mother and father
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Speaker 1: had come all the way across the country and they
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Speaker 1: were living in the apartment of two doors down for
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Speaker 1: me to help me take care of the twins Hilly
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Speaker 1: and I remember getting in jeopardy that night and they
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Speaker 1: were about to throw me off. Luckily I made it
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Speaker 1: on to the nearly the very bitter end. But I
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Speaker 1: looked across that huge stage, and in the crowd, I
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Speaker 1: saw one face, my father's and from across that stage helly,
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Speaker 1: and it was big. It felt like a football fielder,
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Speaker 1: but it wasn't. He looked like he was about to well.
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Speaker 1: I think he was crying because he was embarrassed that
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Speaker 1: he thought I could be upset. Well as it was,
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Speaker 1: I didn't get thrown off, but I still remember that moment.
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Speaker 1: I looked out and I saw my father with me
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Speaker 1: through thick and thin. And when I hear Brianna's father talking,
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Speaker 1: it just it breaks my heart. Okay, go ahead. You
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Speaker 1: couldn't have said it any better. And I did talk
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Speaker 1: to Tud Cooper the morning after his daughter was murdered
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Speaker 1: for about an hour, and I can't even tell you
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Speaker 1: the pain that he and his family are going through.
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Speaker 1: Brianna was such a family person. She was extremely devoted
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Speaker 1: to her family, really close with her mom. Her best
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Speaker 1: friend was her sister. She had two brothers. I mean,
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Speaker 1: she was their sweet angel. As her dad put it,
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Speaker 1: I mean just tons of friends, her whole life ahead
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Speaker 1: of her big dreams. And she's working at this luxury
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Speaker 1: furniture store in the Fairfax district of La which is
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Speaker 1: pretty happy, Haley. Everything in la is luxury everything. But
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Speaker 1: I mean you do call Rodeo Drive Rodeo, right, Troice Lytton,
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Speaker 1: they do. I didn't name it Nancy, but yes, that
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Speaker 1: is the name. I mean, you got to be wearing
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Speaker 1: VERSACEI just to walk down Rodeo Drive. Okay, back to you,
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Speaker 1: he Aley, But yes, you're right, it was the Craft.
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Speaker 1: Isn't that the name of it? Like cr O f
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Speaker 1: T or kr FT Furniture store. It's not really a
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Speaker 1: place for the general public. Her dad kind of put
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Speaker 1: it this way. It's more for interior designers to go.
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Speaker 1: And we met a couple who were there visiting from
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Speaker 1: New York planning to go in the store and didn't
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Speaker 1: know about what had happened. So, yeah, it's a high
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Speaker 1: end store, but it's not something that you would generally
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Speaker 1: go in unless you were an interior designer. Normally she
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Speaker 1: would be working with somebody else. For whatever reason. She
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Speaker 1: was working in the store alone that day. It was
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Speaker 1: the middle of the afternoon, January thirteenth, about one thirty pm,
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Speaker 1: and this guy comes in Sean Laval Smiths thirty one.
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Speaker 1: Police say he's homeless. Definitely seems to have a lot
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Speaker 1: of mental problems, as we know, and for whatever reason,
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Speaker 1: police say, he pulled out a knife and stabbed this
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Speaker 1: poor girl to death. She falls on the floor, and
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Speaker 1: about twenty minutes later, they say, would be customer comes
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Speaker 1: in the store and finds her in a pool blood
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Speaker 1: on the floor, and he goes out the back of
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Speaker 1: the business, casually seen on surveillance walking down the alley
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Speaker 1: like nothing happens, goes into a seven to eleven twenty
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Speaker 1: minutes later and buys a vait pen. I mean, the
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Speaker 1: guy is out of his mind. He had also been
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Speaker 1: in other businesses earlier that dame just a man. It
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Speaker 1: did what Earlier that day he went into the chiropractor office,
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Speaker 1: which is right next door to the Croft House, and
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Speaker 1: asked about orthopedic procedures, what they did there was in
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Speaker 1: there just for a few minutes, and then he went
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Speaker 1: next door to the Croft House and killed Brianna. Can
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Speaker 1: I ask you, is it true that he has a
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Speaker 1: rap sheet as long as I seventy five and it
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Speaker 1: spanned two coasts? Is that correct? Yeah? He had a
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Speaker 1: Warren out for his arrest Davis. All happened, Yeah, he
10:01
Speaker 1: had about twelve arrests, most of them in South Carolina.
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Speaker 1: He had been arrested, most recently for assaulting a cop,
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Speaker 1: for shooting into a car with a toddler, for trespassing,
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Speaker 1: for best I mean, you name it, and he's out
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Speaker 1: on the streets walking around and killed this innocent girl
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Speaker 1: with her whole life ahead of her crime stories with
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Speaker 1: Nancy Grace, you know, I want to talk about the
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Speaker 1: fact that no one seems concerned about his rap sheet
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Speaker 1: and why he was in and out and in and
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Speaker 1: out of jail on two coasts. Now, can I ask
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Speaker 1: you you said mental problem? To your knowledge, has he
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Speaker 1: been diagnosed with any sort of mental infirmity? If you
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Speaker 1: look at his rap sheet, it lists mental problems in
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Speaker 1: several of his prior arrest. Because I'm looking at his
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Speaker 1: charges and I don't say that he has ever been
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Speaker 1: put in a mental facility. I don't know that he's
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Speaker 1: on any types of drugs, but I do know this.
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Speaker 1: Take a listen to our cut double O Sandra Indo
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Speaker 1: Fox eleven Croft House. This is a high end furniture
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Speaker 1: store where twenty four year Brianna Kuffer was working by
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Speaker 1: herself on January thirteenth, when this suspect, who is not
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Speaker 1: known to Brianna, according to detectives, randomly walked into the store,
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Speaker 1: attacked her with a knife, and left through the back door.
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Speaker 1: Twenty minutes later, a customer walked in found her unresponsive
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Speaker 1: on the floor. It called nine one. According to detectives,
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Speaker 1: there's no motive or information on what led up to
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Speaker 1: the attack, and our cut three. This is Lieutenant John Racky, LPD.
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Speaker 1: At one thirty six pm in the afternoon, Brianna was
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Speaker 1: working in this store all by herself. She said a
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Speaker 1: text to a friend letting her know that there was
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Speaker 1: someone inside the location that was given her a bad vibe. Regrettably,
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Speaker 1: that person did not see the text immediately, and at
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Speaker 1: one fifty pm, a citizen who was coming into the
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Speaker 1: store a customer found Brianna lying on the ground, lifeless,
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Speaker 1: covered in blood. That person called nine one. Our officers
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Speaker 1: and paramedics arrived out here quickly, but regrettably, they determined
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Speaker 1: that she was dead. Suspect took off on foot and
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Speaker 1: he was last seen walking through the neighborhood. He walked
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Speaker 1: for miles both north, south, east, and west throughout this neighborhood.
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Speaker 1: Took off, took off why did he take off because
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Speaker 1: he knew what he had done was wrong? Auntie Donna
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Speaker 1: Sherry Schwartz, forensic psychologist joining us specializing in criminal behavior.
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Speaker 1: Doctor Sherry Schwartz, The definition of insanity in our jear'sprudence
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Speaker 1: is whether you know right or wrong at the time
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Speaker 1: of the incident, not whether you dreamed something up for trial,
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Speaker 1: but whether you knew right or wrong at the time
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Speaker 1: of the incident. And the fact that he took off
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Speaker 1: and hid out for days following Brianna's murder tells me
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Speaker 1: he knew what he did was wrong, absolutely right, Nancy.
13:27
Speaker 1: And it's really hard for people to make sense of that.
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Speaker 1: This idea of insanity is a legal concept, not a
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Speaker 1: psychological concept. And he may be he may very well
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Speaker 1: be seriously mentally ill, but that doesn't mean he's legally insane.
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Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm not accepting that anybody is mentally ill.
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Speaker 1: That has to be proven to me before you can
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Speaker 1: tell me that you are not responsible for murdering someone
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Speaker 1: in cold blood. Take a listen to our cut five,
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Speaker 1: our friends at Fox eleven and Alasco's obviously as parents
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Speaker 1: and Brianna, I want to see this leader capture. That's
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Speaker 1: first and foremost. You know, I certainly want him off
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Speaker 1: the streets because he obviously appeared to not show much
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Speaker 1: from worse, and you're worry that he could, you know,
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Speaker 1: put somebody else in harm's way, the father of the victims,
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Speaker 1: speaking out earlier on Fox eleven. US this as brand
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Speaker 1: new video just outgives us a good look at the
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Speaker 1: suspected killer. Chilling video, investigators say, as it chose to
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Speaker 1: prime suspect shopping at a nearby seven eleven just minutes
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Speaker 1: after the killing. He was last seen walking through the neighborhood.
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Speaker 1: He walked for miles both north, south, east, and west
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Speaker 1: throughout this neighborhood. Someone out there knows this man, Someone
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Speaker 1: out there knows what he did. And now we know
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Speaker 1: Brianna felt something was terribly wrong, sending a text to
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Speaker 1: a friend just before the deadly attack quote can you
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Speaker 1: call me? There is someone in the store that is
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Speaker 1: giving me weird vibes. The text wasn't seen un till
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Speaker 1: after Brianna was dead, So got wrenching and obviously horrible.
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Speaker 1: Is her father and her mother and assubling staff go
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Speaker 1: through this. We just pray and hope that no one
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Speaker 1: else will have to straight out to doctor Kendall Crowns
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Speaker 1: joining us the chief medical Examiner Tarrant County. That's Houston.
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Speaker 1: Excuse me, fort Worth, Texas, Doctor Kendall Crowns, thank you
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Speaker 1: for being with us. What did Brianna endure before her death? Well,
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Speaker 1: usually with stab wounds, they often cannot kill the individual
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Speaker 1: with a single stab wound because there's a lot of
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Speaker 1: movement and the person doesn't die immediately from the wounds,
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Speaker 1: so they're usually stabbed multiple times. You get the pain
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Speaker 1: from being stabbed, of course, the fear et cetera, et cetera,
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Speaker 1: and then while you're you're going to take a time
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Speaker 1: period to bleed out, depending on what gets hit. If
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Speaker 1: it's a major vessel, it could take a few minutes.
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Speaker 1: If it's multiple minor stab wounds, it could take even longer.
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Speaker 1: So if she's stabbed in the chest, she'll be gasping
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Speaker 1: for air as she's slowly bleeding to death. So it's
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Speaker 1: not an easy way to go out, doctor channel Crowns.
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Speaker 1: If you're stabbed in the chest, is the blood go
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Speaker 1: into your lungs and make it difficult to breathe. So
16:25
Speaker 1: what actually happens if you're stabbed in the chest. It
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Speaker 1: compromises your chest cavity where your lungs it, and it
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Speaker 1: introduces air into it, and it causes your lungs to collapse,
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Speaker 1: So it actually will make it hard for you to
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Speaker 1: breathe because of that. Also, your lungs, if they're stabbed,
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Speaker 1: you'll be the blood will get into your airway. You'll
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Speaker 1: be coughing up blood, swallowing it and then also bleeding
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Speaker 1: from that as well. And as the blood fills your
16:53
Speaker 1: chest cavity, it'll again make it hard for you to breathe,
16:56
Speaker 1: So you're basically drowning in your own blood. I'm just
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Speaker 1: thanking about this girl. She's twenty four years old. She
17:04
Speaker 1: was a UCLA graduate student in architectural design, which is
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Speaker 1: certainly no easy thing. And I wonder what was going
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Speaker 1: through her mind? Is she lie there on the floor
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Speaker 1: of croft furniture. I wonder if she knew that she
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Speaker 1: was dying. To doctor Kendall Crown's you've worked with so
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Speaker 1: many people when people are dying, do you believe that
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Speaker 1: they know they're dying? I think in certain situations you know,
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Speaker 1: you realize that you are dying. So yes, I mean
17:37
Speaker 1: if you've had a massive stroke or something like that. No,
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Speaker 1: you probably don't realize that you're dying. But I think individuals,
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Speaker 1: and especially in this situation, know that they're dying and
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Speaker 1: there's really nothing they can do because you can't get help.
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Speaker 1: I was just thinking about the logistics of what happened,
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Speaker 1: Karen el Smith, for this guy to be browsing around shopping,
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Speaker 1: going in and out of areas, stores, on video in
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Speaker 1: other places. In after he stabs somebody, he runs then
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Speaker 1: wants to vape and goes into another store to get vape. Well,
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Speaker 1: Karen Smith, hey want to tell you? And also what
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Speaker 1: in the world how did it happen that this guy
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Speaker 1: manages to go on the lamb and out smart at
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Speaker 1: the LAPD for so long? Lots of different questions, Nancy,
18:29
Speaker 1: you know, going into a seven eleven and getting a
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Speaker 1: vape after you've just committed first degree murder. And I
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Speaker 1: say that because it was premeditated. He had the knife
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Speaker 1: with him, He didn't find it at the furniture store,
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Speaker 1: he had it on his person, So that to me
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Speaker 1: is premeditation why he would go in and buy a vape.
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Speaker 1: You know, this goes to a complete psychopath and I'm
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Speaker 1: not saying he's insane as far as the criminal courts
18:54
Speaker 1: are concerned. What I'm saying is is he has no
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Speaker 1: human feeling. He is a monster. He's an absolute. He
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Speaker 1: had a rap sheet from North Carolina to South Carolina
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Speaker 1: to here in California. He fell through the cracks. This
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Speaker 1: is a systemic failure, and it makes me so angry,
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Speaker 1: so angry to know that this young woman's life was
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Speaker 1: snuffed out at the hands of somebody who should have
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Speaker 1: been in prison, and it could happen to anyone, and
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Speaker 1: it should put the fear of God into every single
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Speaker 1: person on this planet. That this young woman was working
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Speaker 1: at a furniture store, trying to better her life and
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Speaker 1: this man comes in and takes her life that quickly.
19:36
Speaker 1: That should put the fear of God in everyone, and
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Speaker 1: everyone should rally around and ask for change, because falling
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Speaker 1: through the cracks like this is inexcusable. This man should
19:48
Speaker 1: have been in prison a long time ago. Prime Stories
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Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace, a lengthy criminal history spanning two coasts.
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Speaker 1: Somehow this guy manages to elude police. Take a listen
20:18
Speaker 1: to our cut six. This is our framp or Thomas
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Speaker 1: at Guma Police say. The suspect, identified last night as
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Speaker 1: Sean Lavelle Smith, can be seen here in the surveillance
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Speaker 1: video casually shopping in a city store. Authority's saying he's
20:31
Speaker 1: wanted in connection with the murder of Brianna Cooper. Police
20:35
Speaker 1: say he should be considered armed and dangerous, is highly
20:38
Speaker 1: likely to be using public transportation, and if spotted, should
20:41
Speaker 1: not be approached. We are topping over two hundred and
20:44
Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars for the capture and conviction of the suspects.
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Speaker 1: This is important to bring more intention to this crime
20:54
Speaker 1: and to get more public response. The reward coming after
20:57
Speaker 1: a tragic case of stranger violence. UCLA grad student was
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Speaker 1: working by herself in the middle of the afternoon at
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Speaker 1: this high end furniture store in Los Angeles. Authorities say
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Speaker 1: the suspect, believed to be homeless and seeing here on
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Speaker 1: surveillance footage, walked in and stabbed her and then left
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Speaker 1: to a backdoor. Cooper's father speaking with us overnight, it's
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Speaker 1: the worst feeling I've ever had in my life. She
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Speaker 1: was genuine, and she was hearing. She's loving, and she
21:24
Speaker 1: wanted things to be better. You were also hearing her
21:28
Speaker 1: father speaking right there, and I also want you to
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Speaker 1: hear our friend Gg Graciet at Fox eleven La R
21:35
Speaker 1: Cut seven. Police believe this was a random murder and
21:39
Speaker 1: that is just another disturbing a fact to this case,
21:43
Speaker 1: and that is why they're desperate to catch this guy.
21:46
Speaker 1: Take a look. They say he's armed, dangerous, and a murderer.
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Speaker 1: Thirty one year old Sean Laval Smith now wanted for
21:54
Speaker 1: the murder of Brianna Coopfer, a young woman police say
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Speaker 1: he didn't even know. Smith a career criminal with arrest
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Speaker 1: spanning the country. He was out on bail on a
22:04
Speaker 1: misdemean or arrest in Los Angeles in twenty twenty. He's
22:08
Speaker 1: also reportedly on bail from a crime he's accused of
22:10
Speaker 1: committing in South Carolina, where in twenty nineteen he was
22:14
Speaker 1: arrested on suspicion of firing a gun into a car.
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Speaker 1: His most recent charges include assaulting a police officer in
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Speaker 1: San Mateo. Police say that Smith entered the Croft House,
22:25
Speaker 1: a high end furniture store on Labria last Thursday, where
22:28
Speaker 1: he stabbed to death as a designer and sole employee inside,
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Speaker 1: twenty four year old Brianna. The murder, police say random,
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Speaker 1: you know, to Troy Slayton joining US high profile lawyer
22:40
Speaker 1: out of LA with the Slayton Lawyers, Troy, there's something
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Speaker 1: about the word random that should strike fear into everybody's heart.
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Speaker 1: For me, it's because I can make sense and connect
22:56
Speaker 1: the dots and analyze other murders. A random murders where
23:02
Speaker 1: there's no pattern, where there's no connection between the victim
23:05
Speaker 1: and the defendant, those are much harder to solve and
23:09
Speaker 1: much harder to make sense of. Of course, try You
23:12
Speaker 1: and I both know that you don't have to make
23:15
Speaker 1: sense of it to prosecute it, to put the bag
23:17
Speaker 1: guye behind bars. It doesn't have to make sense. You
23:20
Speaker 1: don't have to prove motive. There doesn't have to even
23:23
Speaker 1: be a motive. But random acts of such horrible violence
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Speaker 1: to me or even more troubling than when I can
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Speaker 1: figure out on my own two plus twoagles for who
23:35
Speaker 1: did it. This is one of the more gut wrenching
23:38
Speaker 1: cases because the victim here was the definition of southern
23:48
Speaker 1: California beauty, and the suspect here is likely to be
23:55
Speaker 1: represented by the public defenders in Los Angeles County. And
24:00
Speaker 1: when you think about you know, oh boy, a public
24:02
Speaker 1: defender may not be the best lawyer. It's a government lawyer.
24:05
Speaker 1: Oh No, The public defenders here in Los Angeles County
24:09
Speaker 1: that would represent a murder case a murder suspect are
24:15
Speaker 1: some of the absolute best in the country. And we've
24:20
Speaker 1: talked about his insanity or possible mental issues me very well,
24:26
Speaker 1: that may very well be one of his defenses. In
24:29
Speaker 1: California follows the McNaughton rule, which means that they only
24:34
Speaker 1: have to show by preponderance of the evidence. Where a
24:37
Speaker 1: prosecutor normally has to prove things beyond a reasonable doubt,
24:41
Speaker 1: all that he has to show is that it's more
24:43
Speaker 1: likely than not that he either didn't understand the nature
24:48
Speaker 1: of what he did or didn't understand that what he
24:51
Speaker 1: was doing was morally wrong at that moment. And the
24:56
Speaker 1: fact that he just casually walked in to a seven
24:59
Speaker 1: to eleven right after buys a vaypen, uses the change
25:04
Speaker 1: from the leave a penny, take a penny thing that
25:07
Speaker 1: to pay for it, and walks out to his next
25:11
Speaker 1: thing shows that he wasn't in his right mind. Wow,
25:16
Speaker 1: I hear an echo in this room. Oh it's you,
25:18
Speaker 1: because I just said the old McNaughton rule, which is
25:24
Speaker 1: the legal definition of insanity in our country is whether
25:27
Speaker 1: you know right or wrong at the time of the incident.
25:31
Speaker 1: And we call the old McNaughton rule because it's really old.
25:35
Speaker 1: It came over from Great Britain, from whence we took
25:40
Speaker 1: our common law. Common law is case law as opposed
25:44
Speaker 1: to statute, which is codified passed by all these legislatures
25:49
Speaker 1: and assemblies that suck up all our money and do
25:52
Speaker 1: what you can tell me. Don't know, but common law
25:55
Speaker 1: is based on case law, and McNaughton was actually a defendant.
26:01
Speaker 1: They tried to raise insanity and way back when it
26:06
Speaker 1: was determined right from wrong. If you know the difference
26:10
Speaker 1: between right and wrong, then you are not insane at
26:14
Speaker 1: the time of the act now and guarantee you In California,
26:18
Speaker 1: I'm sure they've managed to somehow muddy that definition. But
26:22
Speaker 1: that is the definition of the old McNaughton rule. You
26:25
Speaker 1: know what, Google it while you're listening to reporter Leanne
26:30
Speaker 1: Suitor and our cut eight. This is ABC seven. Go
26:34
Speaker 1: ahead and pull out your phone and google that. TROYE.
26:37
Speaker 1: Layton police know what that suspect looks like. They know
26:41
Speaker 1: his name. Now they are trying to find him. They
26:44
Speaker 1: of course say he is armed and obviously dangerous. Here
26:47
Speaker 1: at the scene of the crime. Take a look a
26:49
Speaker 1: growing memorial to that twenty four year old student. All
26:52
Speaker 1: of these flowers and candles left and tribute. But it
26:55
Speaker 1: is this poster that is the focus tonight at two
26:57
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand dollar reward for the man unwanted
27:00
Speaker 1: for her murder. He's a wanted killer on the loose,
27:05
Speaker 1: so cold and callous. He was seen casually shopping at
27:08
Speaker 1: a nearby seven to eleven just thirty minutes after police
27:11
Speaker 1: say he brutally murdered twenty four year old Brianna Cooper.
27:15
Speaker 1: This individual responsible for this vicious, senseless and brutal crime,
27:22
Speaker 1: It walks amongst us. I'm convinced to that police now
27:25
Speaker 1: know his name, Sean Laval Smith, but not as whereabouts.
27:29
Speaker 1: Investigators say the thirty one year old is homeless and
27:32
Speaker 1: has likely been using public transportation, traveling the state from
27:35
Speaker 1: San Francisco to San Diego, Pasadena to La five days ago,
27:39
Speaker 1: walking into the Hancock Park furniture store where the young
27:43
Speaker 1: UCLA student was working. Speaking of Hancock Park, that's a
27:47
Speaker 1: pretty high end area choice. Late because I remember when
27:52
Speaker 1: we lived in LA Let's say, the children were on
27:55
Speaker 1: Westside the United Methodist Church preschool, and we looked at
28:03
Speaker 1: apartments to stay in for that duration in Hancock Park,
28:06
Speaker 1: and I'm like, WHOA, that's expensive. It's a pretty ritzy area, right, Troy.
28:12
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful area right in the center of LA
28:17
Speaker 1: It's called mid Wilshire. It's got big, old, beautiful homes
28:22
Speaker 1: built in the early nineteen hundreds, mansions, huge estates. It
28:27
Speaker 1: was like the it was like Beverly Hills before there
28:30
Speaker 1: was Beverly Hills. And it borders Koreatown and several Consulates
28:37
Speaker 1: General have their their offices there. It's it's a beautiful place.
28:41
Speaker 1: But what I wanted to say earlier, Nancy No, the
28:46
Speaker 1: victim's father here brings up a very good point, and
28:51
Speaker 1: it's about the prosecutions in Los Angeles. Right now, there's
28:56
Speaker 1: a revolt inside the La County DA office where they
29:01
Speaker 1: recently elected. George Gascone put in certain directives to his
29:08
Speaker 1: deputy district attorneys who are suing him in court because
29:14
Speaker 1: they didn't like the directives that he was giving them
29:18
Speaker 1: regarding bail, regarding their prosecutions in the office, and what
29:26
Speaker 1: are gascons directives? They were to not seek bail in
29:32
Speaker 1: many cases that would allow somebody like this who's charged
29:37
Speaker 1: on lesser offenses to be out without having to post bail,
29:44
Speaker 1: and other directives like not seeking the death penalty even
29:50
Speaker 1: though the death penalty is the law on the state
29:52
Speaker 1: of California. He made the directive that we will no
29:55
Speaker 1: longer seek the death penalty. We're not going to seek
29:58
Speaker 1: life without possibility of parole. What is wrong with him?
30:02
Speaker 1: And I'm not getting into an argument about the death penalty, Okay,
30:06
Speaker 1: I'll leave that to juries. Where the death penalty is
30:09
Speaker 1: presented to them, they can struggle with it. But I
30:11
Speaker 1: am a little concerned about a top prosecutor and a
30:14
Speaker 1: death penalty jurisdiction who doesn't want to seek the death penalty. Okay,
30:19
Speaker 1: say you're morally posed to the death penalty, and I
30:21
Speaker 1: understand that. I get that. What about life without the
30:25
Speaker 1: possibility of parole? He doesn't think that's okay either, Troy,
30:28
Speaker 1: that's right? And what is wrong with him? That's why
30:32
Speaker 1: certain How did he get to be the DA anyway?
30:35
Speaker 1: He's elected, Maybe some daughtering politician named him or appointed
30:42
Speaker 1: him for an interim district attorney. No, he's a former
30:44
Speaker 1: police chief from Los Angeles, he and San Francisco. He
30:49
Speaker 1: was a DA in San Francisco and then came down
30:52
Speaker 1: to LA a couple of years ago and was elected
30:56
Speaker 1: and ousted the long time district attorney of La Jackie Easy. Okay,
31:01
Speaker 1: So you're telling me more than I really wanted to
31:04
Speaker 1: know about Gasca and the current district attorney there, who
31:08
Speaker 1: is known as being weak. And I can tell you
31:12
Speaker 1: this much when you have been a crime victim of
31:15
Speaker 1: victim of violent crime like myself, I mean some people
31:21
Speaker 1: I guess are out for revenge. I was never out
31:24
Speaker 1: for revenge. I wanted the bad guy, whoever she or
31:29
Speaker 1: he may be, to be put behind bars for as
31:33
Speaker 1: long as humanly possible so another innocent victim would not
31:40
Speaker 1: fall prey to a predator like this guy. Crime Stories
31:58
Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace. Let me ask our special guest joining us,
32:02
Speaker 1: Heley wins Life from Fox eleven LA. Why was this
32:06
Speaker 1: guy out? Didn't he just fire into a car where
32:10
Speaker 1: people were in there, including a tot. That's what everybody
32:13
Speaker 1: wants to know. Why was this guy out on the street?
32:15
Speaker 1: There was a warrant out for his arrest at the
32:17
Speaker 1: time for violating probation. But as mister Cooper says, street
32:23
Speaker 1: criminals better than law abiding citizens sometimes, and he says
32:28
Speaker 1: that Bessy said, we need a champion Brianna as a
32:31
Speaker 1: beacon of what's wrong and make sure people recognize that
32:34
Speaker 1: because it could be your child next and it is
32:37
Speaker 1: an impossible price to pay. And then amazingly Karen el
32:42
Speaker 1: Smith joined me forensic expert. He goes on the run.
32:47
Speaker 1: How do they figure out who he was first of all,
32:49
Speaker 1: to start searching for him from that seven to eleven video?
32:52
Speaker 1: Or did he touch a glass door at the furniture store?
32:57
Speaker 1: How do you think they figure out? Yeah, it's Shawn
33:00
Speaker 1: of Al Smith, age thirty one. How they figure that out? Well,
33:03
Speaker 1: they have the surveillance video from the seven to eleven
33:06
Speaker 1: as well as from the streets outside. So they were
33:09
Speaker 1: asking all of the citizens, if you know, somebody knows
33:11
Speaker 1: this man, somebody recognizes him. So I don't know if
33:14
Speaker 1: it was a an ID from someone who called in
33:17
Speaker 1: or if it was forensics. As far as fingerprints, you know,
33:19
Speaker 1: you go to a seven to eleven, everybody and their
33:21
Speaker 1: mothers touched that counter. Gosh, you're so right, Karen el Smith.
33:25
Speaker 1: Of course you're right, And you know what we see things,
33:28
Speaker 1: Doctor Kendel Crown's chief medical examiner and esteemed lecturer at
33:32
Speaker 1: so many universities. It just takes up this whole piece
33:34
Speaker 1: of paper, doctor Kennel Crowns. The public things that law
33:40
Speaker 1: enforcement is like in the movies, like in James Bond
33:43
Speaker 1: or Born Identity. It's not like that. It is not
33:48
Speaker 1: that advanced. And don't trick yourself about the FBI and
33:51
Speaker 1: the CIA. They are a bunch of former investigators and
33:56
Speaker 1: detectives and cops who's made it to the fens and
33:59
Speaker 1: we're all just struggling. We don't have face recognition and
34:05
Speaker 1: everything that the public thinks we've got. Yeah, that is
34:10
Speaker 1: a problem. Often the TV and movies give a perception
34:14
Speaker 1: that law enforcement and medical examiners can solve all these
34:18
Speaker 1: cases and in a heartbeat, and we really can't. It
34:22
Speaker 1: is based on very detailed, in best of gat of
34:26
Speaker 1: work by the law enforcement and the death investigators and
34:30
Speaker 1: then the medical examiners doing their their job as well.
34:34
Speaker 1: So it takes a big team to actually get the
34:37
Speaker 1: cases done. And it's never as pretty and as clean
34:40
Speaker 1: as it is in the movie, and I'm sure you're
34:43
Speaker 1: well aware of the boy. Am I am I Doctor
34:46
Speaker 1: Kendall Crowns, because when you see goes us all in,
34:49
Speaker 1: when you see the cops on TV begging for the
34:51
Speaker 1: public's assistance, I'm like, oh no, they don't have anything. Guys.
34:56
Speaker 1: Take a listen to our cut fifteen. This is Susan.
35:00
Speaker 1: You're a Suna at Fox in La. Today, a man
35:03
Speaker 1: waiting at a bus stop in Pasadena recognized Smith and
35:07
Speaker 1: called police. Our bus are kind of was just just
35:11
Speaker 1: a little bit like that was weird. A busy waitress
35:13
Speaker 1: captured on video the suspect and the stabbing depth of
35:15
Speaker 1: Brianna coop Fur in Pasadena police custody. She worked at
35:19
Speaker 1: this restaurant across the street from the arrest site. Just
35:22
Speaker 1: minutes prior, the suspect had asked to use the restroom.
35:25
Speaker 1: He left the building and crossed the street. He was
35:28
Speaker 1: sitting on this bus bench when the bartender recognized him.
35:31
Speaker 1: That's when everybody just felt like, really like uncomfortable and
35:34
Speaker 1: just a little bit scared, just because of that person.
35:35
Speaker 1: I had just been inside of our workplace, like inches
35:39
Speaker 1: from all of us. I certainly hope it is because
35:42
Speaker 1: that guy neasy to be captured. That was Charlie Selina's's
35:47
Speaker 1: reaction when he stumbled upon the arrest a thirty one
35:50
Speaker 1: year old Shan l All Smith. I was very unsettling,
35:53
Speaker 1: you know. I was, yeah, it's just evil that was
35:57
Speaker 1: just caught from you know that. But and he sensed that, Yeah,
36:02
Speaker 1: it just he had this cold look in his face
36:06
Speaker 1: to you. Hailey Winslow Special Guests joining us from Fox
36:09
Speaker 1: eleven LA. When I hear that witness describe a sense
36:14
Speaker 1: of evil, I wonder if that's what Brianna Cutfer failed
36:19
Speaker 1: when she was all alone in the Croft Furniture store,
36:23
Speaker 1: texting her friend, this guy's given me the worst vibe exactly.
36:26
Speaker 1: That's exactly what the police said that she he creeped
36:29
Speaker 1: her out, and he creeped out everybody who was at
36:31
Speaker 1: the cheesecake factory when they, you know, thankfully caught this guy.
36:37
Speaker 1: There was a guy who was in slacks and a
36:39
Speaker 1: tie about a week after Cooper was murdered who recognized
36:45
Speaker 1: Smith on a bus bench right after he had gone
36:48
Speaker 1: into cheesecake factory to go to the bathroom, recognized him
36:51
Speaker 1: from the news and called police. There is a two
36:55
Speaker 1: or fifty thousand dollars reward out for his arrest, So
37:00
Speaker 1: hopefully this guy gets it. But he just happened to
37:02
Speaker 1: recognize him at the at the bus stop and called
37:05
Speaker 1: it in and after say, Nancy talking to the lead
37:07
Speaker 1: homicide detective on us case yesterday, this guy Smith is
37:12
Speaker 1: so violent that even with him in handcuffs with his
37:16
Speaker 1: rap sheet, they didn't want anyone near him. They didn't
37:18
Speaker 1: want the news near him, They didn't want the general
37:20
Speaker 1: public near him because they didn't know what he was
37:22
Speaker 1: going to do, even in handcuffs, Haley, even in handcuffs
37:26
Speaker 1: jumping Karen Smith. That's the kind of person we're dealing with.
37:29
Speaker 1: What I was going to tell you, Nancy is I'm
37:30
Speaker 1: so glad that the citizens got involved. And that's what
37:33
Speaker 1: the police need. We need the citizens. If you see something,
37:37
Speaker 1: say something, let us know we are cops are a
37:40
Speaker 1: reactive force for the most part, so when citizens get involved.
37:44
Speaker 1: This gentleman recognized him from the wanted posters. He said something.
37:47
Speaker 1: He's in custody, so great work. Take a listen to
37:51
Speaker 1: our cut seventeen Christie biharda Fox eleven. We have since
37:55
Speaker 1: learned that he has an outstanding warrant for his arrest
37:58
Speaker 1: in northern California and an outstanding case against him in
38:02
Speaker 1: South Carolina. As for the case in San Mateo, according
38:06
Speaker 1: to Fox News, court documents show that he was arrested
38:09
Speaker 1: last year. All of those your stations and more failed.
38:16
Speaker 1: They failed to keep this guy behind bars. He walked free,
38:21
Speaker 1: He crossed the country and turns up at the Croft
38:25
Speaker 1: furniture store where he murders innocent Brianna Coopefer. Take a
38:31
Speaker 1: listen again to our cut fourteen Fox eleven. This is
38:36
Speaker 1: a story that has just really rocked the world. And
38:38
Speaker 1: it's such a cygh of release to know that it
38:41
Speaker 1: sounds like police have captured resuspected murderer. I just got
38:46
Speaker 1: word from a police officer in Pasadena and the homicide
38:49
Speaker 1: detective on Brianna cup first case has confirmed that they
38:53
Speaker 1: do believe they've arrested the man who killed Brianna. Do
38:56
Speaker 1: you Troice Layton, high profile criminal defense attorney joining us
39:00
Speaker 1: out of LA. I'm concerned with the elected DA in charge. Yes, Gown,
39:07
Speaker 1: what's going to happen to this case? I'm gonna let
39:10
Speaker 1: him out for what probation? Do a little community service.
39:15
Speaker 1: I don't think so. In this case, Nancy, the entire
39:17
Speaker 1: world is watching, and he's obviously going to be arraigned
39:23
Speaker 1: on the murder charge. His attorneys will likely raise the
39:28
Speaker 1: issue of his mental status. You're the I'm only one
39:33
Speaker 1: talking about that, and so he'll be evaluated. I believe
39:39
Speaker 1: that bail will be set bail. The court has the
39:46
Speaker 1: ultimate discretion, and I believe the court will set high bail.
39:50
Speaker 1: This is a murder charge. Getting out before no bond,
39:53
Speaker 1: r O R released own recognisis blah blah blah. What
39:56
Speaker 1: he's not likely to face is any enhancement because this
40:01
Speaker 1: DA has said that he's will his winning. He needs
40:05
Speaker 1: to go. He's not representing crime victims. I don't know.
40:08
Speaker 1: He must be trying to run for governor. I don't
40:10
Speaker 1: know what he's trying to do, Doctor Crowns. I've seen
40:12
Speaker 1: this throughout my career, individuals being murdered randomly by homeless people.
40:18
Speaker 1: It's not the first time that this has happened. I agree.
40:22
Speaker 1: I's in when I worked in Travis County, there was
40:25
Speaker 1: a University of Texas college student that was kidnapped off campus,
40:29
Speaker 1: murdered and raped. In Chicago, I saw a young lawyer
40:34
Speaker 1: that was kidnapped by a homeless man, murdered, almost beheaded,
40:39
Speaker 1: and then he pawned her VHS machine to buy lottery tickets.
40:44
Speaker 1: So it's it's a very common thing, and it's often
40:47
Speaker 1: very brutal and very random, and you just can't predict it,
40:50
Speaker 1: but it's it's constant. We now wait as justice, God
40:57
Speaker 1: willing unfolds to see your ice cream story. Signing off,
41:01
Speaker 1: goodbye friend,