Transcripts For WPVI Nightline 20140614

So what happens when it drops off a cliff . But first, the nightline 5 dont stop now come on money i say yeah yea yeah you make me feel like like a pony so good the sentra, spread your joy. Innovation that excites. Good evening. Tonight a gripping crime story that involves a Church Youth Group on a crosscountry trip and ends up it one man dead and another a pastor now about to be tried for murder. Exactly what happened and how remains in dispute. But even prosecutors appear to have changed their minds about the evidence. Its part of our series crime punishment. Everything i did that night was in self defense. Reporter he is a california youth pastor. A beloved community leader. A married father of two. Now, charged with murder. But, was itself defense . Oh, i was protecting. Reporter for 35yearold, a brief stop in las vegas, on a mission trip crosscountry turned his life upside down. I just scant believe thcant happening. It was one year ago that they stopped at this sports bar for dinner. They were in the parking lot when links ellington, a stranger approached the group and began to aggressively harass them. He said, hey, girlfriend, you want to f with me . And rob immediately was like, oh, my gosh, no. Backed up. I have kids here. No. And the man said well i am coming to f with you. We came in contact with him. I felt all of us were in danger. Cox intervened to protect them and push ellington away. Other witnesses who were there back up coxs account including intern kelly lane. Rob could even get his arms around him to push him back. Unfortunately when he was pushing him back, they tripped and fell. Reporter his head hit the pavement. The Police Arrived on the scene. And cox says it was then he found out ellingson was injured. We came around him and parade for him. He eventually fell into a coma. He couldnt swallow anymore or tell me he loved him. Reporter initially it seemed the Police Believe the accounts. The local d. A. Wrote a letter at that time informing cox and his parishioners that no charges would be filed. Then, six months later, in december of last year, ellingson died and everything changed. I have never had such heartbreak that i had that day. It was at that point that authorities took a new look at the case. And last week, nearly a year after the incident, the Police Showed up at coxs church doorstep with an arrest warrant for murder. And three Police Officers came in, we need to talk to you. And they arrested me. And i said what is going on . They said you have a warrant for murder. The coroner ruled the death a homicide. Finding that blunt head trauma from assault was a significant cause of eliellingsons death. And in court record, there was premeditation, deliberation and that he punched ellingson in the face. Why was he suddenly being charged now. Prosecutors focus on what day allege was a diskreps acrepancy. He said he punched ellingson. In written testimony that followed. Cox claimed that he grabbed him by the waist and they both fell to the ground. He was released on bail this week and emerged holding a bible. I could just explode right now. I want to help my children and my wife. [ applause ] thats all i was doing was protecting and i love you. I just cant wait to see them. How many witnesses do i have . Today cox appeared in court and pled not guilty. I am focused on my case, my innocence, my strength is my family. Reporter former prosecutor nancy grace says the initial letter from the d. A. Will be crucial. The elected District Attorney writes the family, there are no charges, youre fro to go. Reporter but the d. A. Did say in that letter that they retain the right to file these charges at a later time if facts and circumstances warranted it. A camera did capture much of the altercation. According to the police report, the fight went out of view for the crucial moment when the Police Believe cox hit ellingson. How do you get a conviction against a youth pastor with his youth group . Traveling around, the witnesses are saying was, was, not the aggressor. The only way i think there could be a conviction if the medical examiner report shows that there was blunt trauma on more than one side of the head. If they can show that there are enough traumatic injuries to ellingson, the victims head that could not have come from a fall alone, they may have a shot. Reporter member of pastor coxs youth group are expected to testify in his defense. He has a slew of eyewitnesses. It will be the eyewitnesses versus the prosecutor in this case. I think the youth pastor is going to carry the day. Reporter abc news reached out to the clark county District Attorneys office, but they would not comment. The entire incident has left the ellingson family devastated. There are definitely pictures that that i dont want to keep in my head. I really do believe this is a very weak case. Reporter nancy grace thinks this is a very weak prosecution case. It is going to bile dooil do this, when did ellingson, by all accounts, the initial aggressor, when did he turn into the victim in this scenario, or did he . I am innocent. I acted to pro tkt tect myself, family and my students. And never intended to hurt anybody. Reporter cox is scheduled back in court july 2nd. Next, we are in the trauma room with a top surgeon. How do you make every second count when minutes can mean the difference between life and death . Im the proud dad of three beautiful, awesome, messy kids. They get stains like you wouldnt believe. This new tide ultra stain release and zap cap helps me get out pretty much any stain. Can i help . Aww. Just kidding. [ female announcer ] new tide ultra stain release helps remove 99 of everyday stains. 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For the trauma surgeon you are about to meet, some times every day, every hour can be life and death. He is applying lessons he learned at war, bringing them home. We followed him through a nerveracking 24hour shift. Here is abcs david wright. Reporter it is 6 00 a. M. And a trauma red is about to come through the door. You have no idea red means just what you think. The patients life is in immediate danger, minutes will make all the difference. Laceration, 7 dr. Peter rhee leads the trauma team. The injury, a deep slash in the patients arm. Rhees First Priority to stop the bleeding. [ indiscernible ] the nurses rush to get more blood. Dr. Rhee calmly sutures the wound. By 6 30, 30 minutes later, the patient is out of danger. So how is he looking . He looks okay. He looks fine. He camen with a tourniquet, he had a cut in the arm. We stopped the bleeding. And sewing it up there. Reporter one of the nations top trauma surgeons, rhee invited nightline to follow along for a 24hour shift at the Trauma Center at the University Arizona medical center. What is this here . A trauma bay. We have seven bays. A luxury. A lot of places have one or two. Reporter inside his locker, a hint of whats to come. You didnt have to be as fastidious about cleaning it when it is red. A shift is more a marathon than a sprint. 8 00 a. M. , in the middle of the first surgery of the day. A general case, repairing a hernia. Next. Reporter then the daily handoff meeting with the trauma team from the previous night. You have a reporter on round with his team, he gets called to another surgical case. Keep it up. Reporter he is scrubbing in for the second time. I am on trauma call. On trauma twice this week. I will do 96 hours by tomorrow. Maybe. I am going golfing. Reporter while he is in there he gets updates on two trauma case that have come in since the morning. I see traumas. Rhee began his medical career in the navy, one of seven trauma surgeons. A stunning number when you think about it. When you joined, it was peacetime. It was peacetime. Reporter when 9 11 hit and the country want to war, many military doctors had never seen a gunshot wound. Rhee who was working at a trauma unit in los angeles ran a special program to bring military doctors up to speed. Shot in the neck. Comes out his cheek. Reporter exposing them to the types of injuries they would encounter in afghanistan and later iraq. The message that we always learned in military medicine is the only winner in war is medicine. One of the most what are the most important innovations, medically that have come out of iraq and afghanistan . Oh, i think there has been a lot. The way we treat and resuscitate a bleeding patient. Another difference in our war was the use of tourniquets. Reporter even for this seasoned veteran, some of the lessons came at a terrible cost. We were in iraq, when the first six patients that came in were marines, six, six marines, 12 legs, and every one of those guys had a tourniquet on at the thigh. So, you know, it was harder its okay. Its okay. Reporter that was 10 years ago. But it still gets to him. One out of 12, not a good number. Saved one leg out of 12 legs. Six guys. This was a roadside bomb. This was a roadside bochlt. The war taught surgeons to intervene even in the worst of cases. Wound that might well have been considered fatal before. The survival rate from being shot in the brain was only about 10 . But now in, at least in our institution, we are up to 46 . The war that we had in iraq showed us that when we operate more often on these people shot in the brain the survival rate is higher. Reporter no better example than that than what unfolded at this Trauma Center three years ago. We continue to follow breaking news out of arizona. On a sunny saturday morning a lone gunman stopped ate congress on your corner, injuring people and Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head. Neurosurgeons have finished operating on her. I can tell you at the current time reporter as trauma chief rhee not only oversaw her care, he became the voice of hope. You were emphatic from the beginning she was not going to die. There was no doubt in my mind at that time she wasnt going to die. No. Reporter you could tell . I could tell. I do this for a living. Reporter rhee writes about that case and others in a new memoir trauma red. It is now halfway through rhees friday night shift. Rush hour is under way. A child nearly drowns. Falls and accidents lead to broken arms and legs. Two men arrive with stab wounds. And through the chaos, then, 3 00 a. M. A patient with a possible severed artery in the arm. Have you got blood . Need five minutes. Control the bleeding with a tourniquet. Yeah. [ indiscernible ] reporter within minutes. Rhee has the the patient on the way to the or. And on the table the bleeding is quickly brought under control. I had one of the rare jobs where i get paid to come here and take care of people, whether you in an unfortunate accident or your wife that accidentally went through the glass. It doesnt matter if you are hurt i am there to help you. Reporter bringing a lifetime of experience to the battlefield back home. Im david wright for nightline in tucson. Dr. Rhees book trauma red is on sale now. Next, talk about a cliffhanger. What happened to this dream home hanging by a thread . If you suffer from constipation, you will likely also suffer from gas. Introducing new dulcogas, which starts working to eliminate gas bubbles in minutes for effective relief. Dulcogas, from the makers of dulcolax nothing relieves gas faster. Dulcogas, from the makers of dulcolax but were not in the business of spokespenaming names. Kswagen passat is heads above the competition, the fact is, it comes standard with an engine thats been called the benchmark of its class. Really, guys, i thought. It also has more rear legroom than other midsize sedans. And the Volkswagen Passat has a lower starting price than. Much better. Vo hurry in and get 0 apr for 60 months on 2014 passat gasoline models plus a 1000 contract bonus. It really made the difference between a morning around the house and getting a little exercise. Unlike the bargain brand, depend gives you new fitflex®, our best protection. Its a smooth and comfortable fit with more lycra strands. Get your free sample at depend. Com. Imagine watching your dream home burn live on television. But not by accident. The family you are about to meet actually planned the buildings bonfire. With the kids even making signs. Why . Here is abcs matt gutman. Reporter what do you do if your stately mansion on a bluff starts to fall . Piece by piece into the lake below. Set it on fire . I was surprised when heard, burn it down. When he mentioned burning it, it was a shock to the system. You know it was almost a relief becauseup are watching bits and pieces fall. You are thinking, somebody could be down there and get hurt. What gravity started month as go this inferno finished today. They watched their dream home scorched on purpose. Horrible. It really is horrible. Reporter with cameras all around it burned and burned. For nearly two hours. How surreal was that . Very surreal. Our friend are going this is horrifying. Its gut wrenching. Reporter they bought their retirement home in 2012 hoping to stay there for the rest of their lives. I would pass it on to the grand kids. All said and done. Reporter little did they know, last appraised at 700,000 was constructed on limestone. Everyone said the ground was solid. Go for it. Yeah. Look ate. Solid rock. Looked like it was solid. You build your house on a rock you think it is okay. Reporter then cracks appeared in the walls and in the foundation and so they called in the geologists. The whole time the ge o was calling in, sending a message. Please leave the furniture in there. Get out. Condemning it. Going to happen. Reporter telling you to run for your lives. Right. Reporter that was in february. In april parts began plopping into lake whitney. Friday when the Fire Department intentionally torched their home, retirement plans went up in smoke. The one thing their insurance approximately see didn policy didnt cover landslide. The earth moves in mysterious way. Especially here in florida, where they had a condo. A sinkhole devoured this resort. And in tampa, another sinkhole did much worse. Swallowing a man sleeping in his bed. The webs were grateful no one was hurt. The bright side of watching their house burn on tv, their grand kids had made a sign. In front of the firetruck third was. We love you, nana and papa. Reporter for nightline, matt gutman, in miami. Thank you for joining us. Tune in to Good Morning America tomorrow. And as always we are online at abcnews. Com. Good night. Have a great weekend. [dramatic music] oh, hey. What up, baby . Whats up . Whats up . Whats up . Whats up . Whats going on . Whats happening . Whats poppin . Ahh. Hello. Nice to meet you. How are you . Its a pleasure. Come on. [cheers and applause] hello, and welcome to millionaire. With me today is a retired new york city bus driver whose love for driving started at a young age when she was a stock car race driver, a racer. Whats up . From washingtonville, new york, say hello to joann hutsondeliz. Whats up . How are you . How are you . Its nice to meet you. Pleasure meeting you. Thank you. So youve got to tell us now, youve been driving a long time, but you started young. I started young. My dad and my grandfather used to take us to the races, and one thing led to another, and ive always loved driving and eventually got into racing, and i had my license, and i got to be a bus driver, and here i am. But you were out there racing cars at one time. Yeah, i was. Yeah, weve got a picture of you. Weve gotyeah, look at you. Look at you. [cheers and applause] yeah. I mean, joann, the car is a little dented up. Yeah, it is. You know short tracks, but that one wasnt mine. You never did that with the