"I've been so discounted from day one. I have never been treated as a suspect, ever"
We know several things
Dan was interviewed in a special room: As said to Nancy Grace:
Quote:
GRACE: Did you stay there while they processed the scene?
HOROWITZ: They didn`t let me see anything. I was far back. I mean, they protected me from that. And then there was so many police cars. They responded -- they did -- Nancy, they sent more police than I`ve ever seen. And then they took me to the police station. And I mean, they were very kind to me. They put me in they room where they put children who`ve been hurt, and they watched me to make sure I didn`t try to kill myself, which I wasn`t going to do, but they still watched me.
Dan was not examined for cuts or bruises, not asked to take a polygraph: As said to Dan Abrams:
Quote:
ABRAMS: Did the police examine you for cuts or bruises?
HOROWITZ: See, what you're really asking is -- let me put it to you this way. No, I was not treated at all like a suspect, Dan. I was not examined, but also understand that they need to get all information, including about me, even if they're my brothers, even if they're -- even if I was the chief of police, the mayor. Anybody. If they're not checking out my situation entirely, then they're not doing their job...
HOROWITZ: ... So, but if you're asking whether they ever treated me in any way that made me feel like a suspect, no. That's -- they treated me like the grieving husband. But they're also a top professional agency and I've given them everything they ever have asked for and always will.
ABRAMS: Dan, a question a lot of my viewers have been asking and I've told you this before, the vast majority of the letters we've been getting are people who are reaching out to you to support you, to say how much they feel for you and how much they have come to care about you. But a number of people have asked whether you were asked to take a polygraph, whether you were polygraphed and whether you'd be willing to take one.
HOROWITZ: OK. Well Dan, these are legitimate questions because people only know me from television. They don't know me personally. I have not been asked to take a polygraph. I would take a polygraph at any time that the police ask me to do it. But beyond that, Dan, I would do anything the police ask me to do. I would answer any question no matter how personal, no matter -- anything. There would be nothing on this earth that I wouldn't do and there's nothing that I've ever refuse them. Anything they've wanted, I've done and I always will.
They let him wash his hands:
Talking head attorneys discuss Dan washing his hands on Nancy Grace
GRACE: Nothing new today. Well, from the way that they handled Horowitz, Ted, there`s been a lot of speculation that he is a suspect. You know, that`s to be expected, Ted, whenever there is a murder of a woman. The boyfriend, the husband, the lover, the ex is always suspect number one.
But very interesting, when they took him to the station, Ted, he told me that he sat in a children`s room for a period of time, left only to go to the restroom. I immediately said, "Did they let you wash your hands?" And he went, "Yes, I asked them if I could wash my hands." And they let him wash his hands.
And you know what that means, Ted.
ROWLANDS: Yes. But, clearly, you know, they had to look at Daniel Horowitz as a suspect initially. And I`m sure that they have talked to him. They`ve said that he`s been fully cooperative. And he says that he`s very pleased with the way this investigation is going.
Yes. Did they let him wash his hands? Clearly. But, then again, you know, he`s a defense attorney, and he would have washed his hands anyway. I mean, I don`t think -- I don`t read too much into that.
GRACE: Well, I do. And I`ll tell you why.
I`ll go to Joe Lawless. Joe, if they were suspicious of him committing this crime, do you think that they would let the evidence go down the drain? Are you kidding me?
LAWLESS: DNA...
GRACE: No way.
LAWRENCE: ... DNA, tissue, blood, no. They would have isolated him. They probably wouldn`t have kept him in the children`s room. He would have been questioned in a lot more detail.
I got to disagree with Ted. I think the fact that they actually did let him wash his hands certainly suggests they didn`t consider him a suspect at that point.
GRACE: Back to Ted...
ROWLANDS: Well, I hope -- I would hope that you`re given the Contra - - Nancy, I would hope that you`re giving the Contra Costa County Sheriff`s Department a little bit more credit, that the guy that found his wife is just cleared within five minutes?
I mean, Daniel Horowitz wouldn`t expect that. Clearly, they were looking at him. You know, they talked to him. So I have to disagree.
You`re saying that these cops just came in and said, "Oh, we`re not going to look at you. Go ahead and wash your hands."
GRACE: Ted, Ted, Ted, he was detained at the scene of the murder for hours on end. By the time he finally had reached the police station, he had been questioned, and questioned, and questioned, gone through the home, you name it.
So I find that significant. But you know what? Maybe you`re right. They continue to question him about what happened.
Ted, I want to talk to you about this neighbor, Joe Lynch. What can you tell me, Ted? Source
Dan is allowed back to the scene before it is cleared: As said to Dan Abrams:
Quote:
ABRAMS: You went back to the house today for the first time. How was that?
HOROWITZ: Yes. Well I went back once with the police just to walk through it to see if I had any insights into what had gone on there that would be known only to me. And that was hard but I had the police officers with me. Today I went back with my family and the police had taken out the most horrific parts of the scene, the parts that really were upsetting, you know, just pure -- they took that away.
Also tells Nancy Grace about it:
Quote:
HOROWITZ: When I went back there, because they wanted me to look at things, I walked through, and I was there as long as I could. And then at some point, I started shaking a little bit. And when I started shaking, you know, it was time to go. And as I walked out the door, I stopped and I looked where she had been. And for that one second, I saw her again.
He himself knows that this is not appropriate as he explains in his own words to Nancy Grace:
Quote:
To Nancy Grace:
GRACE: I just keep thinking of you in the back seat of that car while she`s still in the trailer.
HOROWITZ: Yes. I kept saying...
GRACE: And cops are...
HOROWITZ: I`m sorry. I kept saying, Can I just say good-bye to my wife one more time? Can I just walk over there? And they kept checking. Can you just go by? And they said, We`re sorry. We just can`t. We can`t let you back.
GRACE: Why?
HOROWITZ: Because it`s a crime scene. They`ve got to secure it. They can`t later on catch the person and have him, Oh, did you let Dan Horowitz walk back there? They can`t do that. They`re professionals.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported:
After concluding an exhaustive five-day examination of the home and property where Pamela Vitale was beaten to death and collecting DNA evidence found at the scene, investigators removed their yellow tape Wednesday and gave the victim's husband, prominent attorney Daniel Horowitz, access to his Lafayette estate.
Authorities allowed Horowitz to return to his Lafayette home Wednesday morning to collect personal items, the first time he has been allowed to do so since doing a walk through of the scene with investigators on Tuesday. Source
