tv The Last Word MSNBC July 4, 2011 8:00pm-9:00pm EDT
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up running my boyfriend with the car and fleeing and trying to get away. >> a convicted killer with a loyal wife finds a new love. every year, close to 70,000 people are processed through the five facilities that make up the orange county jail in southern california. most have not been convicted but are awaiting trial. charged with everything from minor infractions to murder.
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some will be released or bailed out within hours, others will call the jail home until their cases are resolved in court, a process that can take years. one inmate facing such a prospect is daniel wazniak. >> i want people to know that i'm a good guy. i'm easy going, i enjoy long walks on the beach, i'm an aries. i just want people to know that no matter what, throughout all this, i'm really a good guy. almost everyone in my life would say so. >> what i know of wozniak is he's in here for double murder. >> wozniak has entered a not guilty plea in a case that's
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made headlines in orange county. he's alleged to murder two friends in order to steal money out of their bank accounts. >> they are saying i shot both of them and decapitated one of them. that's not true. >> prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty when he goes to trial. >> the two victims were two of my close friends, sam and julie. sam lived in the same complex that me and my fiance lived at. he helped me out on several occasions, he was there, you know, when i needed him. julie was just a friend in the group, very two of the nicest people. two of the nicest people i've ever known. >> prosecutors say wozniak was motivated to kill because he was broke and needed to pay for his upcoming wedding and honeymoon. he's said to have dismembered and beheaded the male victim. >> body parts, they say, were
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found in the park. >> the victim's torso was found in the storage room of a local theater where wozniak recently performed. >> i played carrie grant's character, a lot of fun. >> less than two weeks after the bodies were discovered, wozniak was arrested for murder. he was at his own bachelor party the night before his wedding. our meal was over, we paid the bill. all of a sudden -- it was a swarm, a swarm of police came in, grabbed me, pulled me up, put me in handcuffs and drove me out of the back of the restaurant. i said okay, hello, how are you, my name is dan. >> wozniak was questioned and taken into custody. a short time later, he attempted
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suicide. >> i was alone in a room and there was a wall, and they are all stone, so i saw the corner, and i said if i jump and hit my head, maybe all this will go away. and i'm still here. >> wozniak went into a coma after the attempted suicide. he said he tried to take his life because of the shame he felt after being arrested only hours before his wedding. >> if i was given the opportunity to talk to my fiance right now, i'd say can i be with you out there, can you be with me in here? my bond, i love her. hardest part of my day is getting through the day without her. absence makes the heart grow fonder, it does, it really does. >> jail has also kept michelle
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kulbeson isolated from her boyfriend for the past 15 months. >> it is very hard, very hard. we miss each other a lot. it's sad when you miss somebody that much and can't reach out and touch him and he's right around the corner from me right now, you know? >> in fact, kulbeson's boyfriend is a short walk away in the men's department. >> oh, my goodness, michelle, that's my love, that's my heart. she has a very outgoing personality, kind, sincering, giving. she's a socialite, sometimes i can be resefshd, but she'll bring me out at times too. like she's the wind beneath my wings, you know?
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>> michelle and bo for life. so i have it right there just to remind me every day that i love him and he loves me. oh, we're in love. i'm all blushing. >> the only time kulberson and de'arborne can see each other is in court. >> we get to see each other and hopefully it will settle isn't the courtroom. yeah, we get to talk and love each other, even if it's just for five minutes, it still means a lot. >> kulberson was pregnant with the couple's baby when they were arrested and nine months ago delivered their son. >> being in jail and having a baby, everybody is like, you know, what the heck, but they made me feel so comfortable.
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the deputies, the nurses. i had nine hours with him. i got to hold him for nine hours total, and it was the best experience ever. they took pictures of him for me, of us together, and the good thing about it is my boyfriend's mom got the baby. >> while their love story might be considered unusual, so are the charges that brought the couple to the orange county jail. >> me and my boyfriend had a threesome with another woman, and she turned around the next day and said that we raped her. >> was this your boyfriend's idea? >> no, it was mine. i regret it completely. best idea, no, he did it to make me happy. too bad i can't take it back. >> culberson and de'arborne have
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pled not guilty and have been fighting the charges in court. >> through the interviews that we've done, it was just very ironic to me that they both pulled a different version of their crime and how it was set up and what happened and some of the details that they each gave us, it was just drastically different. it was supposedly going to be three-way sex act, but in one of them's reference, no, they were trying to help out somebody down in their luck and passed out on the sidewalk. >> i was in the process of just picking my nephews up from a party, and i see a person laid out spread eagle on the asphalt, tried to help them, checked that particular person's pulse and made sure they were all right and okay. then a guy that was under the influence came around the corner from urinating and said hey, get
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your hands off her. i said excuse me, if this is the person you're with, why would you leave them laid out like this like a donut shop on a parking lot if that's your girlfriend. if this is your girlfriend, what's her name? what's her name, come on, fast. something is fishy here. something told me that evidently. >> he says he and culberson then checked the woman into a hotel room and stayed with her. >> i was laid on my back, and one thing led to another, and you know, one night of fun can lead to a whole lot of turmoil. >> prosecutors say de'arborne and culberson drugged, raped, and sodomized the woman, then threatened to force her into a
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life of prostitution. it was only the woman's screams that alerted neighbors to call police. >> kind of reminds me the story of genesis 39, you know, when joseph was in prison and accused falsely, things happen like that. things do happen, it's reality. paris hilton got arrested, come on. coming up -- >> i'm an alcoholic, native american and irish. all the experts say it's in my blood. >> alcohol causes big problems for one inmate.
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any day they receive their commissary order. the jail stocks a variety of snacks, toiletries, and other basics, which inmates can purchase from their own funds from a debit account: >> we have an automated system the inmates will fill out three times a week and fill the orders in commissary. the items we have here, top brand iep tells, not just your mom and pop items. >> i'm out of stamps, you know. stamps, soaps, might be a meal you want to skip out on, believe me. get hot cheetoes. right spice and texture, pretty good stuff right there. >> beau de'arborne likes
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commissary as much as anyone but feels there's room for improvement. >> i recommended a few items that need to be added, not only for our african-american hair types, but i've been using mayonnaise and conditioner with my hair. a lot of breakage involved, please, put some grease on here. de'arborne's girlfriend and co-defendant, michelle culberson is in the women's ring. she and her cell mate, stacy ortega care about their appearance as well. >> me and my bunky make different colors with deodorant, crayola pen kricils and mix the together. then mix it up with our finger. >> only specific types of
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deodorants can do this, though. >> yeah, the good stuff. >> so you get it all good and mixed up, ready to go on the eye. see? just like that, looks like a glob of color. and we're inmates that get up and do this every morning because you stop feeling like a human being. not that mikeup is all important, but it's an egobooster. >> like culberson, ortega has been in the orange county jail for the past 15 months. unlike culberson, she's no longer waiting for trial. instead, ortega pled guilty to a dui hit and run with great bodily injury. >> i'm an alcoholic, native american and irish. all the experts say it's in my blood, but aside from that, i
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black out. the average person is going to drink as much alcohol as i drink and pass out, sleeping, snoring, whatever you do. i get hyper, and i flip into stacie or tracy, what happens, it's a different person. she's usually not happy and she's usually not very nice, and she's usually pretty violent. >> ortega's conviction has resulted in an 8-year sentence, and she's due to transfer to prison any day now. her victim of her crime is her boyfriend. >> basically, i went out with my boyfriend and my best friend. we went out for sunday brunch, which is my favorite. i'm an alcoholic, so i had a mimosa. i thought it would be cool to stop at the bar, so we did that. then i can't tell you what happened after that other than what it states in my police report and plea bargain. when we left the bar, i don't
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remember leaving, which is the tough part, but basically we left the bar and what essentially happened is i ended up running my boyfriend over with the car and then fleeing and trying to get away. he ended up with a broken leg. he has steel or whatever they put in there. he ended up with a subdural hematoma. they put him into a medically-induced coma for purposes of helping his brain heal, things of that nature. >> ortega's boyfriend did recover, although he suffered minor brain damage. and the damage to their relationship was beyond repair. >> mistakes happen, accidents happen, and i apologized, i said i was sorry, and he just -- he's not accepting that. >> oh, you did it too long.
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on any given day, about 400 of the 5200 inmates in california's orange county jail are being held on charges of murder. one of them is daniel wozniak, who because of his notoriety is housed in a single cell at the central jail facility. >> it's small. but yeah, you got the bed, i got the bible, coffee, milk, jesus with me. >> wozniak is accused of
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murdering two friends and dismembering one of them. >> lord, let me know my end, the number of my days, so i can learn how frail i am. you have given my days short span, my life is nothing before you. >> while awaiting trial at the orange county jail, wozniak says he sought comfort from the bible. >> i sworn with you like a passing stranger, a guest like my ancestors. so, it's one of my favorite ones. it just touches home. to me it's just how exactly how short life really is. you know, it's -- it makes it a lot easier in here knowing hour time here is just so short. you know, life is just a short time, but eternity is forever. >> in the state of calm, throw to you like liquid.
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>> jason richardson is also facing the death penalty for another murder that made headlines. >> studying for four or five months now, helps me get my inner energy flowing, my direction through positive channels. >> a jury found richardson guilty of robbing a local home depot store and murdering the manager, a former marine who left behind a wife and young twins. at the time, richardson was on parole for a domestic violence conviction. >> well, considering i didn't kill anyone, it's a hard pill to swallow, real hard pill to swallow. been to prison, done a lot of things wrong in my life, made a
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lot of mistakes, don't do robberies, don't kill people. >> richardson's include rape victims, all, he says, was the result of an abusive upbringing in a drug-riddled home. >> i was pretty much taught to function on a violent, criminal, basically volatile level. >> while all 12 of richardson's jurors believed he was guilty of the home depot murder, 9 voted for the death penalty. it means he'll stay to orange county before a new jury can be reconvened to see if he'll be kwiblgted of life in prison or death. >> caring individual, father, man, husband. >> postcards they send me. we love you dad. love my babies, love them to death. they are my strength.
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>> although richardson was uncertain over how many babies he has actually fathered. >> i have three from my wife of 20 years and a couple few possibilities out there. actually, a few probably for sure out there. six, but three from my wife of 20 years. she's an angel, one of the sweetest, honest, hard-working, if she was not a regular person, she's be a nun. >> richardson spent much of his married life behind bars. >> 15 in, 5 out. enough to make a baby, spend time together, go to disneyland. she didn't deserve all these years. she's such a good-hearted woman. she comes from an old-fashioned family, and she's so loyal. >> but despite his wife's loyalty, richardson has begun a new relationship. he recently reconnected with a
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childhood friend who he says is his true soulmate. >> been back in touch now for a year and a half, haven't touched each other for 21 years, every weekend, loyally and faithfully she comes to visit me, pours our hearts out to each other, tells me how much she has missed me, thinks about me, so special and magical between us. now she's my soulmate, she's my life now. >> richardson hasn't actually married his new girlfriend, but the relationship has caused a serious rift with his legal wife. >> she can't help feel any other way but betrayed and hurt. we have grown apart, and those things just happen. coming up, jason richardson is visited by his girlfriend. esurance instantly compares our car insurance rates
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culberson say they are very much in love, but their relationship has been interrupted by their incarceration at the orange county jail in southern california. their charges include rape and sodomy. they've pled not guilty, but if they are convicted in court, culberson faces up to nine years in prison, and de'arborne could be sentenced to 16. >> honestly, i don't want to hear numbers, i want to hear justice, i want to hear freedom ring to be honest. >> de'arborne and culberson are not allowed to see each other in jail, but they can write letters. >> dear michelle, what it do? my love, i'm still on cloud nine from that ride, i can see how you get them butterflies the same way you make my nature rise. just staring into those gorgeous hazel eyes let you know deep inside my heart is where you'll always reside.
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as you're reading my mind, it's not a surprise you already know i love you for life, forever and ever, love beau culberson. >> oh, how sweet. >> some might keep their spirits up, de'arborne and culberson face serious issues. besides the possibility of going to prison, culberson was four month's pregnant with the couple's baby when they were arrested one year early. she gave birth in a nearby hospital and once recovered, she returned to jail. >> this is my grandson beau james de'arborne ii. and he's here to visit his dad, beau james de'arborne sr. >> my mother is taking care of our son. she's older, so this is hard for her. >> i have applied and attained permanent guardianship.
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as far as it stands now, i'm his guardian, i'm his legal guardian. i will be until he becomes an adult maybe. >> carry over 20 pounds, open heart surgery, had a triple bypass a couple of months ago, still has the heart to come up here, bring him when she can. >> i've had the baby since she was two day's old, little bitty thing. it's good thing too, because being an old nurse and having worked the nursery, it was easy to take care of this little flower. that's my daddy. that's my daddy. yeah, yeah, yeah. >> yeah. >> hello, son. >> hey, mommy. >> love you. >> love you too. >> thank you for coming by. >> that's okay, baby doll.
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>> so good? >> yes, all the time. >> never held my son before. never touched him, never embraced him, nothing. it's hard on both of us when he tries to reach out and grab me, grabbing the fiberglass. i know it's got to be difficult for him. >> say i want to touch you. say how come i can't touch you? >> no, son. you can't hold him, can't help him walk. i haven't had a chance to feed him, change his diaper, all the things i want to do. i'm just grateful he's in good hands right now. >> amen. >> amen. >> love you, son. >> after visiting her son, irish de'arborne will take beau jr. to the women's unit to visit his
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mother. >> we're going to see mommy. seen daddy, going to see mommy. >> this is the ritual we do every weekend, every other weekend. takes awhile getting through the lines and waiting onlines, but i figure it's worth it, because if i was in here and couldn't see my baby, i'd want somebody to bring my baby to me. >> it's a little hard, because i can't touch him. i haven't touched him since he was born. i hope so, i think so. he sees me every weekend, so i hope he does. >> oh, you ready, huh? >> i pray he does. because he smiles and all smiles and stuff. but if not, when i get out, he will. he'll get to know me good. peek-a-boo. peek-a-boo.
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peek-a-boo. he's so happy. >> he is. >> he wakes up happy. >> it's really hard on me, it really is. ever since he was born she's been taking care of him. it's a lot of work, and i thank god for her every day. i hope this is all done and over with so i can get home and help her and be able to be a momny. >> love you. >> love you too. >> bye bye. >> he's doing so good -- getting so big. just seeing him playing and smile is the best part, seeing him smile and laugh and be able to play, knowing he's a happy baby. >> when i visit them, i don't want them to see me cry. i have to stay strong for them, because it's worse for them than it is for me, because i'm out
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here. and i just can't let them see me cry. it's bad. but i'm okay. we're okay. we'll be all right. coming up. >> drain his bakd and possibly use the money. >> daniel wozniak reads news accounts of his alleged crime. >> makes me look like satan himself. >> jason richardson gets a visit from his girlfriend.
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inside orange county's central jail facility, daniel wozniak has found himself in a very different world compared to the stages he used to perform on as a local actor. >> you just get little things around her, got the sink, toilet. it's small, but it is what it is. >> wozniak is accused of killing two friends and dismembering one of them. if found guilty, he could get the death penalty. in the meantime, he makes the best of life in jail. >> bag lunches for dinner every day, sandwiches, hard boiled eggs. most of the time it's bologna or ham. oh, extra bread today, look at that. little carrots like this, and, of course, plenty of mayo. so then what you do is eat your carrots, have the bowl, mix
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everything up, egg salad sandwich, stuff like that. some days, gets really good, vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding, mix it in your milk, you got a milk shake. you learn little secrets like that. bon apetite. >> though wozniak made himself comfortable in jail, he seems to be less knowledgeable of the press reports arnold him. >> i haven't been able to read the paper, i don't know what they are saying. one time i turned on the tv and saw my picture on television. it was a mug shot they got from the police department. they put together some old youtube videos of me, i was in theater. they were flashing that all over the news. >> authorities allowed us to show wozniak some of the reports.
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i cannot. >> if wozniak is convicted of the murders, he could face the death penalty. >> the death penalty is something that they are seeking. whether it happens or not, justice will say. i just have full faith in the truth will set me free and everything will come to be. i just pray daily that's it. and not so much myself but for all the lives that have been shattered through this event. >> just a few miles away at orange county's largest facility, another inmate is also navigating the complexities of a high-profile murder case. >> jason richardson was kind of a famous inmate around here. he's in here for the home depot killings. there was a video released of a guy who broke into a home depot to rob it. he's wearing a paint suit with a mask and got coverings over his
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feet. you can't tell who's in there, but apparently he comes up to the manager, manager is begging for his life just to leave, not hurt anybody. he grabbed the money, shot the manager, and took off. >> jason richardson has already been found guilty of killing the manager of a home depot store, a former marine who left behind a wife and young twins. jurors deadlocked when determining richardson's sentence. >> he was up for the death penalty, there was a hung jury. it's about to restart again so they can find out whether or not he's going to get the death penalty or life in prison. >> but for now, richardson's focus is on his complicated love life. while he has three children with his wife of 20 years, he recently began a relationship with another woman, a childhood friend. >> it's such a blessing. we so know that god brought us back together and created this. it's so powerful and beautiful.
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i can't put it in words. we feel each other so deeply and so powerful and passionately. you're my breath, heart, and spirit. it got to the point where i love you don't cut it. i you. i you. i will be yours forever and ever and ever. i do take you to mine. i you, basically i love you, but on a much deeper level. >> richardson's new girlfriend, santa, ask we do not give her last name, and despite knowing richardson's murder conviction and two prior rape convictions, she says his past is not a threat. >> i don't fear jay soften at all. i don't fear him one little bit. i've known him as a child, i've known his heart, i've known his
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soul, i've known what type of person he is. i know about his troubled past, and i love him anyway. my biggest fear is that he will get the worst, he'll get the row. that's my worst fear. i come on friday and saturday every weekend, and sometimes i get to come on sundays. it's important to keep our closeness and to communicate. we talk on the phone every day, but i actually get to see him, and i feel i get to touch him and kiss him, even though it's through glass. that's actually the hardest part, there's that glass there.
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i you. i love you. came straight here today. >> why do you do that? >> 12 reasons. no one understands. how does somebody as smart as you as, you know, i hate saying that, as beautiful as you, or somebody who can have anybody you want, how do you get involved with a man who's in prison, a man with no future, a man with nothing to offer you? you can't help who you fall in love with, and i love him. he needs me emotionally. he gives me everything that i need. i you.
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unlike many of the inmates at california's orange county jail awaiting sentencing or the resolution of their charges, stacie ortega recently pled guilty to a dui hit and run that seriously injured her boyfriend. >> taking ten females to state prison, 320 miles. >> ortega was sentenced to eight years, and this morning she will be transferred to prison. >> over to your left and stop by the front entry. >> they cannot -- i won't sit in the back of the van, i'll throw up. >> you get motion sickness? >> yeah. >> i'll explain that to them and hopefully they'll take that into consideration.
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relieved to get the rest of my life going. tired. >> glad you're leaving here? >> yeah. yeah. i think spending 15 months here, number one helped me get sober, first time in my life i've been sober 100%. it helped me realize who i am or who i want to be, just comfortable in my own skin. i guess my biggest fear would be someone killing me. to keep it on the real 100%, things can happen up there, and they can happen pretty quickly. i want to be ready for the
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worst. i try to make it the best i can, preerd. so i don't want to go in there rubbing people the wrong way. i don't want to go in there with something to prove. >> in back or wherever you want to go. >> i'm just doing me. i'd rather be happy in the situation and make it that way than grovel and drown in my sorrow and not move forward. i'm not going to move forward unless i'm happy with myself. >> a few days later, michelle culberson received a letter from her former celly. >> i have a letter here from stacie. hey, pretty lady. how are things going in county? i'm doing all right today. i miss you so much, michelle. it's cooled off here, thank god. i have not missed yard since i've arrived, too nice not to enjoy the outdoors.
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i think i'm getting color back and gave myself a haircut. that being said, when will you get here? i'll be waiting, homey, your bff raven. >> whether culberson joins her friend in prison or not depends if her and her boyfriend, beau de'arborne are acquitted on rape and sodomy. they are offered a plea deal, which would greatly reduce the amount of time they could be served in prison versus what they could get at trial. but they turned it down. >> i'm innocent. yeah, it's a risk i'm willing to take. i am willing to take it. the jury, there's 12 people there. yes, they are going to feel sorry for her or feel sorry for me. i don't know which one it's going to be. >> life is a gamble in general. you don't know what tomorrow may
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bring. can't find nothing on this man. all this stuff is inadequate, puffed-up charges. more than likely the jury would be able to see this too. >> for de'arborne, who's been facing an additional charge of false imprisonment, a guilty verdict could equal as much as 16 years. >> faith in god, justice system is man's law. that's a good thing. hopefully they upheld it. i have a great god i serve, he's a miraculous god and righteous god. i put my faith in him, not just in what man can do.
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