Kyron Horman's Stepmom's Pal: She Did No Wrong
Kyron Horman has been missing since June 4. In the extensive search for the 7-year-old Oregon boy, investigators have questioned Kyron's stepmother, Terri Horman, and her closest friends -- particularly DeDe Spicher.
Now, Spicher is breaking her silence with the press -- and standing by Terri Horman.
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In an interview with People magazine, Spicher defends her friend, saying she doesn't believe Terri Horman was involved in Kyron's disappearance.
Spicher told People, "In my heart, I really don't. In all of these years, I have not seen anything that would lead me to believe that (Terri) is capable or motivated in any way to do something like this."
On "The Early Show" Wednesday, CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reported Spicher claims police wanted her to "tell them that Terri did it," adding, "I told them everything that I knew over and over again. But I didn't tell them what they wanted to hear."
Spicher lived with Terri Horman for 11 days after Kyron vanished.
CBS News legal analyst Lisa Bloom said, "They're both presumed innocent, nevertheless, they both engaged in suspicious behavior that's making police look very closely at the both of them."
Last week, investigators distributed new fliers in their search for Kyron that included photos of Spicher. Her home has been searched, she was called before the grand jury and reportedly helped Terri Horman buy an untraceable cell phone. Terri Horman has failed two lie detector tests, and has not spoken with police since June 28. She hasn't been named a suspect by police.
Spicher says both she and Terri have received death threats. The day Kyron disappeared, Spicher was on a gardening job, but her employers claim they couldn't reach her for three hours. She told her friends she never left the site.
Karen Gjerning, Spicher's friend, told CBS News, "She didn't have her phone with her. When she got back she looked and realized she had a text and didn't answer, but she was never missing."
Kyron's birth parents claim Spicher is being uncooperative, and withholding information. Investigators are still checking out her story.
On "The Early Show" Wednesday, Bruce McCain, former captain of Multnomah County Sheriff's Department, who has been following the case, said it's interesting that Spicher is willing to talk to People magazine -- but not the local community in Portland, Ore.
He added, "The words she used, by the way, in a way kind of put herself in a bind, because she's claiming she never left this 38-acre parcel she was gardening on that morning and yet, she knows Terri Horman was not involved on the same morning, which, of course, would be impossible for her to prove.
McCain said, "The big issue here is that DeDe Spicher, initially, when she first popped up on the public radar, she distanced herself from Terri Horman, saying she's cooperating and she's got nothing to do with Terri, etc., and now she seems to be joined at the hip as a part of the Terri Horman fan club."
McCain pointed out the importance of the fact Spicher was not able to be contacted the morning Kyron went missing.
"The key times are in that mid-morning area," McCain said. "The people that own the property she was gardening and indicated they could not find her from anywhere from an hour and a half up to three hours, from roughly 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. DeDe is claiming, 'I never left the property. I was there the whole time.' The problem is she apparently has no one to corroborate that particular story. It's her word against other credible witnesses. That's the problem here. The key thing would be whether or not she's going to say that same story to the grand jury."
McCain said if he were conducting an interview with Spicher, he would have asked if Spicher had anyone to confirm her claim that she never left the property she was supposedly gardening the day Kyron went missing.
He added, "I would have asked her about the disposable cell phones, if she purchased them, used them, and why? What did she and Terri Horman speak about when she stayed with Terri for 11 days at that household. Lastly, are you willing to go in front of the grand jury without any grant of immunity? That's the key question. She's the only witness in this entire episode who is so far lawyered up and trying to negotiate with the district attorney as to when and how she's going to testify to the grand jury. For somebody that has nothing to hide, that's unusual."