Transcripts For WMAR Nightline 20100528

>> good evening, i'm terry moran. and we're going to begin tonight with a tragic murder case that today took another twist. this time, toward justice for a little girl named riley fox. she was 3 years old when she was raped and murdered in 2004. her father, kevin fox, was initially jailed after he confessed to the crime. but he said his confession was coerced, and dna helped clear him of the charges. now, nearly six years after that killing, dna has again led to a major breakthrough, as ashleigh banfield reports. >> reporter: today, justice for 3-year-old riley fox. >> half an hour ago, i appeared before gerald kinney, the chief judge, and obtained a warrant for the arrest of scott eby of five counts of first degree murder and one count of predator sexual assault. >> reporter: the mystery puz finally solved wof who killed riley. a question that's consumed wilmington, illinois, for nearly six years. this man, scott eby, serving in prison, confessed 0 the crime. >> i never dealt with a case, you know, this heart-wrenching, that took so long to get a resolution, but this resolution, i think, has everyone just so gratified that we're able to finally put this to rest. >> reporter: a final vindication for her family, who has been unable to rest since 2004, when riley, who was sleeping on her living room sofa, suddenly vanished. her body was found just hours later in a nearby creek. she'd be sexually assaulted, gagged and drowned. the community rallied around riley's grieving family, until a shocking revelation. kevin fox, her father, had confessed to the crime. >> i just can't believe it. he was a loving father, totally. >> we've been to the ceremonies, the benefits, the -- everything, for the family. it's all been an act. >> reporter: but it turns out the confession was false. coerced by police, as authorities confirmed once again today. >> at this point, it's clear that there's no evidence of any kind that will connect kevin fox to this murder of his 3-year-old daughter. >> reporter: but how could a seemingly doting father confess to such a despicable crime, against his own little girl? fox said police badgered him for 14 hours straight. >> broke me down mentally, physically, emotionally. but i stayed strong. i knew -- i denied everything. say you were -- you were trapped in a burning room and there was only one door, the fire was just flaming around you. it was my only way out. >> reporter: kevin says detectives showed him photos of his own daughter's dead body. >> this is a father grieving over the loss of his daughter, and the way he was handled was so unbelievably cruel that the only way he could see out was to give a confession, hoping he could get out the door on an involuntary manslaughter charge, hire an attorney, and then undo everything. >> reporter: kathleen zellner is the defense attorney who took on kevin's case. fighting for him, even when he had no more strength to fight for himself. but today, she says the fight is finally over. >> the prosecutor made it very clear today that this arrest shows that kevin fox is completely innocent. he had no connection with this person. i don't know what else could happen that could clear him. you've got someone else's dna on the murder victim -- i think it's over. i don't think there's any question that he's not involved. >> reporter: but what happened six years ago is hard for anyone to fathom. >> we were just a happy, young family. >> reporter: they had two children. 3-year-old riley and 6-year-old tyler. until that tragic morning, where it all went wrong. kevin fox was awakened by his son. >> he shook my leg and said, dad, and i said, what's up buddy? and he said, dad, riley's gone. so, then, i started panicking and then i kept telling myself, this can't be. >> reporter: 40 minutes later, kevin called the police. >> i woke up this morning and my daughter's nowhere to be found. >> how old is she? >> 3. >> you're kidding me. >> reporter: the police and volunteers began the search. >> i would never, ever in a million years wish for any parent to go through it. >> reporter: but riley wouldn't be found alive. >> and that's when i saw her. she was face down in -- she was face down in the creek. >> reporter: but who could do such a thing? it didn't take long for police zeroed in on the fox family, interrogating each and every one of them. >> okay. how old are you, tiler? >> 6. >> 6 years old? where were you sleeping? >> on the chair. >> reporter: riley's father kevin became the main suspect. at the time of the crime, his wife was away, and police said there was no sign of forced entry. that turned out to be wrong. they extracted a confession, also wrong. he spent eight months behind bars, facing the death penalty. but a trial never happened, and inexplicably, police ordered the dna tests stopped. >> a horrible mistake was made here. >> reporter: that's where kathleen zellner saw something was wrong. she took the tiny tna sample and made sure it was privately tested. it turned out kevin was not a match. not only was he released from jail, he sued the state and won big. $15 million. an award that was ultimately reduced. but still, doubts in the community remained. >> it's very difficult for people to accept that you confessed to something you didn't do. >> reporter: that is until a major tip came in. a tip suggesting police take another look at this man, scott eby. a neighbor who lived just miles away from the foxes, and a man who was already serving time for sex crimes. and it didn't take long before eby himself confessed. >> this confession has everything in it that kevin fox's confession lacked. >> reporter: and there was something more. a dna match that closed this case. a case that has wrenched this family through grief and fear to a final sense of justice. >> for every evil thing that's happened in a case, there have been 100 things that have been done that are really admirable and good. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm ashleigh banfield in new york. >> what an ordeal. hopefully some peace of mind for this family after so much tragedy. and thanks to ashleigh banfield for that. when we come back, a very different subject. what's that itch? don't look now, it's the attack of, yes, super lice. see how you can protect yourself and your children. ♪ what if one little pop ♪ could open a world of wonder ? ♪ ♪ so sensory ♪ so satisfying ♪ the discovery ♪ never seems to stop ♪ ♪ it's the magic friskies ♪ ♪ makes happen ♪ every day ♪ in so many ways ♪ friskies ♪ feed the senses ♪ friskies okay, we're going to turn now to a story that's not for the squeamish. head lice. that's right. head lice. it's a taboo topic. it a condition that can cause parents and their children sometimes shame, frustration and a whole lot of scratching. but they have evolved, unfortunately, and old remedies are now often ineffective. so, in case of an outbreak, what are you going to do? jeremy hubbard found out. >> reporter: welcome to one of the most expensive children's hair salons in west los angeles. the typical bill, 300 bucks. a steep tap this woman doesn't even bristle at paying. >> reporter: does she understand this? >> no. she thinks she has buggies in her hair. >> reporter: she's not entirely grossed out? >> no, she doesn't get it yet. >> reporter: the traumatized mom brought her daughter here after the school called a few minutes ago saying little gab yell is infested with lice. >> i called her dad and he was like, oh, my god, how did that happen? >> reporter: she is now in the hands of professional nit-pickers. they're lick rally picking nits and eggs in the children. this is called super lice. >> they call it super lice because it's kind of like antibiotics to humans. when a product is misused, a very toxic product is overused consistently on a bug, you're building up a pretty strong bug, hence, super lice. >> reporter: these so-called super lice have developed over the past couple decades, growing increasingly resistant to the $60 million worth of shampoos, creams and chemicals we use every year to combat the parasites. >> everybody is looking for an easy way to do it, take a pill, take one treatment, get rid of them. but it's a story of evolution. very rapidly you're going to evolve resistance. >> reporter: one chemical has been banned in california for health and environmental concerns. several other states have looked into bank it, too. meantime, this scourge thrives in the u.s., up to 12 million school age kids still become infested every year. often kicked out of class until the nits disappear, sometimes missing weeks at a time. and with the school year ending now comes summer camp and the threat of more lice infestation. no one is immune. >> head lice don't discriminate. it's the beverly hills problem, the upper east side problem. is everybody's problem. >> even celebrities and their children get them. >> went online, he's like, she has it. >> reporter: courteney cox arquette talked about her family's lice battle on "the tonight show." >> and then i got it and it wasn't fun. >> you don't have it now. >> i don't have it now, but i tell you. >> reporter: but because there is still such a stigma, there's the hair whisperer. that is what amy goldreyer calls herself. >> my son got lice in kindergarten. the teacher said, women, you know, there's a place you can go to get rid of it. and i'm like, there's a place you can go? you can have a career? i love to pick, that's like my thing. >> reporter: now she gets up to 15 calls a day from panic-stricken parents, quietly slipping into homes and places like beverly hill, without anyone ever knowing. >> i don't know how we get rid of that stigma, because to this day, people say, women, i don't want to tell everyone. and that's how you get more lice. if everyone would come out of the closet, we would be better off. there would be less lice. it's not the end of the world. no one is going to die from it. but it should taken care of. >> reporter: she takes a comb to the bugs and busting out the newest weapon. a heat machine that uses hot air to burn lice to death. total bill, about 300 bucks. she says a single treatment often helps, and much safer than the gasoline some parents desperately dump on their kid's head to kill the bugs. there is, she says, another way to prevent lice in the first place, if you can stomach it. don't wash your hair. >> yeah, better to have dirty hair. >> tell me about that. >> lice like to grab onto clean hair. if your hair is greasy, they can't grab onto one hair because it's stuck together. if you can have really gross hair, it's better. it's gross, but you don't have lice. >> reporter: twice a week, maybe? >> or not at all. >> reporter: theic factor seems to be the most alarming thing. sure, they're ugly and constantly feeding on your blood, but the reality is, they're fairly harmless and this doctor at ucla says you basically need to rub heads to spread them. >> if you had lice or if i had lice, they're not going to jump across from one to the other, so, that's not going to happen. >> reporter: that's why children like daniel here, who play and wrestle and knock heads, are so often infested. >> like little ovals with legs. >> reporter: and they're nasty. this is his third bout with the bugs. >> i guess i have misconceptions about how you get it. i don't know if it's sharing a baseball cap at little league or -- the first time we got it, we made him shower twice a day. but it came back again, so -- i'm just not sure. >> reporter: he's been tortured by them. >> yeah, absolutely. >> reporter: so often the attempts of parents just don't work. this little girl's folks used over the counter remedies for two months, but the bugs are still here, in startling numbers. >> get over the counter, get prescriptions, and they'll be struggling with it at home. usually, they hear about us and en we take care of it for them. >> reporter: and with no shortage of mortified parents and super lice with a stubborn will to live, lice specialists are opening up across the country, at the hair fairies lice salon, business is booming. maria has opened five salons across the country, and hopes to put one in every state. >> we really kind of want to be, like, the starbucks of head lice removal and we're the first to market in this. there are tons of businesses like hours. >> reporter: her success will rely on repeat business. >> are you itching your hair now? >> yes, i am, as a matter of fact. i was just thinking that. like, my head is itching, too. >> reporter: remember lourdes? she'll be back. there's a 90% chance she'll get them, too. is this a parent's worst nightmare? >> i think so. yeah. >> reporter: i'm jeremy hubbard for "nightline" in los angeles. >> so, that's the front lines in the war on head lice. thanks to jeremy for that. when we come back, it is now officially the worst oil spill in american history so, is bp's top kill attempt working? and did president obama silence his critics? we'll have the latest. i was 7 the first ti found my best friend at 13. in college, i got caught up in a love triangle. and then i discovered what true love really is. experience the only ebook reader from the bookstore you've grown up with - nook, by barnes & noble. browse and download over a million titles wirelessly, and take your story wherever you want it to go. find nook at your local barnes & noble or nook.com. also available at best buy. !host: could switching to geico 15% or more on car insurance? host: does charlie daniels play a mean fiddle? ♪ fiddle music charlie: vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. oatmeal cookies! bar bell! hey, hey, hey... what's the problem? we're shipping a package to andy but we can't send everything. it'd be too heavy. bar bell! cookies! never fear civilians! a postal carrier!! you guys need a priority mail flat rate box. only from the postal service. wha.. it's all over the tv. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. thanks, mr. postal carrier! hey, fellas! shouldn't that dog be on a leash? disney pixar's toy story 3 only in theaters. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. >> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with terry moran. >> return now to the environmental crisis in the gulf, which is now considered the worst oil spill in american history. we do not yet know whether the so-called top kill attempt by bp to plug the leak is working. what we do know is that bp is on the hook financially for the response. elizabeth birnbaum the head of the federal ajeb si that oversees offshore drilling, resigned today under pressure. and that president obama is well aware of the scrutiny his administration is facing. ryan owens has our report ch. >> i take responsibility. it is my job. it is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down. >> reporter: more than a month after this country's worst ever oil spill, the leader of this country is still trying to convince americans he's in charge. >> but there shouldn't be any confusion here. the federal government is fully engaged. >> reporter: amid criticism the federal response has been too little, too late that the federal government has been too companies, president obama met a skeptical press corps. >> reporter: how can you say that everything that can be done is being done with all these experts and all these officials saying that's not true? can you respond to all the katrina comparisons? did you really act from day one for a worst case scenario? is your boot on the neck of bp? >> those who think that we were either slow on our response or lacked yourgency, don't know th facts. this has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred. >> reporter: a crisis that continues to grow. today, a panel of scientists picked by the government determined far, far more oil is leaking than bp ever acknowledged. as much as four times the previous estimate. enough that even if the leak is stopped now, it dwarfs the exxon valdez. still, when the president spoke at mid-day, hopes were high it was almost over. that bp was close to capping the well with its latest idea, supposedly its best, called the top kill. beginning wednesday afternoon, they injected drilling mud into the blowout preventer. the mud is heavier than the oil, and if bp can force in enough fast enough, it should drown the oil back into the ground. then, cement can be injected, and the well can finally be s l sealed. while an anxious nation watched, some here along the gulf coast pulled all nighters watching that overnight camera, bp kept saying it was working well. here's the cheap's managing director first thing this morning. >> so they've been at it for about 16 hours now. the procedure is working in the sense that this is a half day to a two-day procedure. >> reporter: but tonight we learned more than six hours before that interview, at midnight, bp had actually stopped pumping mud, had put top kill on pause. something bp's chief operating officer didn't reveal until this evening. >> it's quite a roller coaster. every time we start a new operation, we obviously believe it could be successful. we obviously want it to be successful. but we actually understand where we stand today, which is the well continues to flow. >> reporter: if you feel like you were leaft in the dark most of the day, you're in good company. the man put in charge of the federal response, the tough-talking coast guard commander who is supposed to be holding that boot to bp's neck, didn't seem to have any idea that top kill was on hold. here's admiral thad allen this afternoon. >> they're pumping mud into the well, and as long as the mud is going down, the hydro carbons are not coming up. >> reporter: tonight, bp has started pumping that drilling mud again, and now is considering the so-called junk shot, shooting golf balls and shredded tires into the well. if they do, it's unclear when they will bother to tell anyone what they've done, even those who keep insisting they're in charge. >> when i woke up this morning, and i'm shaving, and malia knocks on my bathroom door, she peeks in her head and she says, "did you plug the hole yet, daddy? ". >> reporter: no, malia, your father didn't. and 38 days later, neither did bp. i'm ryan owens for "nightline" in louisiana. >> president obama announced today that oil exploration in the gulf and off the coast of alaska will be susnded and a six-month moratorium placed on all deep water drifling permits. thanks to ryan owens for that. here's jimmy kimmel with what's coming up next on jimmy kimmel. >> jimmy: tonight, maya rudolph, chris harrison, music from stone temple pilots and "unnecessary censorship."