Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield
January 03 2018
http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1801/03/ptab.01.html
Interview with Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso
STM:Well, the case, as far as the rape and the *advertiser censored* case were not our cases. But the person of interest and the homicide. And we do believe he committed this homicide. He certainly is our main suspect. And you know, in law enforcement, our job is to present all of the evidence. And sometimes, we just don`t have that. And it`s very difficult. It`s obviously very frustrating at times that we can`t do that. But we have to, we have to present what we have. And in this particular case, a grand jury chose not to, not to indict him.And you know, unfortunately, one of the other things I told one of the other reporters that with the laws in the United States, I think we have the best judicial system in the world, but it is not without its hiccups. And sometimes, it gives the criminal, obviously, the benefit of the doubt, that they are innocent until proven guilty. And it`s our job to do that. And unfortunately, sometimes, we just don`t have evidence. And you can`t really bring up their past at any time, until a sentencing phase. So, you can`t go in there and tell them all of the past things and domestic violence he has had in the past. You can only concentrate on the crime at hand, do it`s very frustrating to us sometimes but it`s our system. And we have to
AB:Well, you know, interesting you should say that because often times, you can bring that other evidence in if there`s a pattern which leads me to the next question.
You are in Louisiana. There`s a death of a Pamela Parker that we couldn`t get an indictment on from that grand jury. Now in Texas, we got a Tonya Bates. That is officially a homicide tonight. Are you in contact, working with authorities in Texas? Have you noticed any similarities in the death of these two women? Have you seen a pattern?
STM:Absolutely. And you know, we just had a conviction of like a 1970s murder where that actually happened. And he was just convicted in our parish, you know, 40 years later.
AB:Can you tell me anything about what you discovered? Is there anything you can tell me tonight in terms of details about the killing of Pamela Parker and what you might know about the death of Tanya Bates?
STM:Right. I don`t want to delve into their investigation. Because I know they probably want to keep certain things close to their investigation. And I know in our investigation, there does seem to be some similarities. And I certainly know that our detectives are looking at that aspect now. And we will certainly present that information to our D.A., especially if we can get him or they can catch him and actually file some charges on him. Again, given his background, his pattern, you are exactly on point. That`s kind of what we are thinking right now is once you can show that pattern then there is a moment where you can bring those things up.
