>>>
had a lot of them.
>>>
but first, a bizarre story out of
florida
. a mother claimed she was kidnapped, tied up and held for ransom, but now police believe it was all a scheme. that woman's lawyers are with us exclusively. we'll talk to them in a moment. but first, nbc's
peter alexander
has the details on the story. peter, good morning.
>>
matt, good morning to you. even the sheriff in
florida
says this case reads like a novel, with allegations of sex, lies and extortion. a beautiful mother of two claiming she was kidnapped by gunmen and held for days against her will. her family was rightfully terrified. but now that she's safe, authorities aren't buying her story. they are portraits of what appears to be the all-
american family
.
quinn gray
, her husband reed, and their two young daughters. a couple married for ten years. attractive, wealthy and seemingly care-free. but this past
labor day weekend
, an improbable twist --
quinn
disappeared from the couple's mul multimillion dollar beach front home near jacksonville,
florida
. the 37-year-old housewife later told authorities she was kidnapped at gunpoint and tied up, describing a hellish four days of forced captivity and
sexual assault
. nbc news has obtained a copy of this
ransom note
that
quinn gray
told investigators her abductor forced her to write to her husband. "there are three men holding me right now and they want $50,000 cash," she wrote, "stay at the house, no cops, keep your
cell phone
on you, keep the kids with you." "please do this, honey, please." but sheriff
david shore
says it was all a hoax.
>>
it became more and more evident, really to everyone involved, that it was something far more complex and involved than a kidnapping.
>>
reporter: the sheriff says gray wasn't a victim at all.
>>
quinn gray
was not kidnapped. and we stand by that. and she'll have her day in court.
>>
reporter: gray was arrested last month for trying to extort $50,000 from her husband, a successful
business owner
who makes upwards of $70,000 a month.
>>
if i wanted $50,000, all i would do is take it out of the
bank account
.
>>
reporter: also arrested, this man, 25-year-old bosnian immigrant jasmine ismanovich, jailed on extortion charges. authorities say they had prepared their scheme for weeks. in more than 100 pages of recently released court documents, investigators say they stated several locations, including this jacksonville hotel, where the manager says they looked like boyfriend and girlfriend.
>>
i looked straight at her and said, hey. she said hey. didn't look like she was in distress at all.
>>
reporter: reed admits in court papers that their marriage became rocky in
2007
. both partners admit having affairs, but they have since reconciled. while he's stunned by the allegations, reed gray is standing by his wife and paying for her defense.
>>
i want her to feel great about everything after this is all over, and i think that's going to be the outcome.
>>
reporter:
quinn gray
's lawyers say she was suffering from an untreated, undiagnosed manic phase of
bipolar disorder
and that in her poor
mental state
, she believed asmonovich's story, that her husband owed him $50,000. gray's lawyers say osmonovich's claims, including that they had an ongoing relationship are completely false.
>>
did you have a
sexual relationship
?
>>
no, i did not. i did note know him.
>>
reporter: in his affidavit, he claims he first met gray at her home somewhere around the end of june. gray's lawyers say that's not possible, because at the time, she was in alcohol rehab in minnesota.
>>
what do you want to say to your family? do you have an apology to your family?
>>
i love you and i hope to see you soon.
>>
for now,
quinn gray
is in a
mental health facility
in georgia. that's a condition of her release from jail. both lawyers will be in court today, matt, for a pretrial hearing.
>>
peter alexander
, thank you very much.
mark miller
and mr. dancha are two of
quinn gray
's attorneys. gentlemen, nice to have you here.
>>
thank you.
>>
the prosecution's version of this story and
quinn gray
's story couldn't be more different. basically, the prosecution says there was no kidnapping, she was not involved in this other than she was having a romantic and
sexual relationship
with this man. the guy at the hotel said she didn't seem to be under duress and there were chances for her to escape. several occasions she could have taken off. how do you explain that?
>>
i think it's important to note now, matt, that the prosecution and the sheriff don't necessarily share the same opinion about what happened that weekend, but the bottom line is,
quinn gray
on
labor day weekend
of this year was kidnapped during the midst of a manic phase of her
bipolar disorder
. her reaction to the kidnapping, it may seem bizarre, but it's all explained by her
mental illness
.
>>
does it also explain another piece of evidence that something could become an important piece of evidence -- there's an
audio tape
, and that apparently has a recording of
sexual relations
between these two people, mr. osmonovich and
quinn
, followed by what seems to be a rehearsal, a discussion of how they're going to cover all this up and explain this. can you tell me about that tape?
>>
well, actually, you know, the tape doesn't disclose what
law enforcement
--
>>
i have not heard the tape. i want to make sure people know that.
>>
it's currently being held as evidence, because as mark indicated, the state attorney's office doesn't necessarily hold the same opinion or conclusions as the sheriff. according to the state attorney's office, the matter is still under investigation. they're still unsure, we submit at this point, whether or not
quinn gray
is actually the victim of an abduction and rape.
>>
are you going to fight to stop that tape from being admitted as evidence?
>>
absolutely, absolutely. we believe that that tape is an
audio recording
of a woman who's been kidnapped, abducted and being raped.
>>
so you use the
rape shield law
to get that stricken from evidence?
>>
absolutely.
>>
let me make sure our viewers understand us. is it
quinn gray
's assertion that she never met this man before or simply had no relationship romantic or sexual with him prior to this weekend?
>>
quinn gray
had no relationship with this bosnian, osmanovic, prior to
labor day weekend
. he came by on two occasions prior to that weekend under the guise of misdelivering a package, and then he came back a few days later --
>>
so, he was at their case on two occasions.
>>
he brought a package and two days later came back saying it was misdelivered. that's how we believe he targeted her.
>>
so, you think he was casing the place --
>>
absolutely.
>>
-- or targeting her. and i would imagine the prosecution might say that's a way to cover two prior visits to her house by this man.
>>
but what's more telling is, on the second visit, when he came back to retrieve this package,
quinn
actually called reed and said, you remember that package that was misdelivered? the person's here to pick it up. where did you put it? so --
>>
this undiagnosed
mental illness
, bipolar condition, is there a
history of mental illness
in
quinn gray
's family on her side?
>>
there is an extensive amount of history, and that's one of the reasons that it was untreated and undiagnosed.
quinn
has grown up with a stigma against recognizing what she was going through. she self-medicated for much of her adult life with alcohol. that led to an
alcohol abuse
problem. in the middle of this summer, she went to hazleton, a facility, and was treated for alcoholism. when she came back in
middle of july
, the next six weeks, she was untreated, undiagnosed and she was no longer self-medicating. she was in a manic phase of her
bipolar disorder
when she was kidnapped on labor day friday.
>>
let me read a quick statement from
quinn
's husband, reed. "this has been an extraordinarily traumatic experience for me and my entire family. i'm deeply concerned over how this incident has and will continue to affect our children. i love my family and will do whatever i can to make sure that
quinn
receives all of the help and support that she needs." he is funding her defense, correct?
>>
he has been behind her rock solid, 100% from the beginning, yes.
>>
and she is right now in a psychiatric facility. how is she doing?
>>
she's doing rather well. of course, she's very anxious about what's going on. she's in the middle of her treatment, and she thought it was very important that we disclose and discuss, you know, the problems that she's had and what she's been going through so that other people that have these type of issues or disabilities, you know, it may be recognized. you know, what's telling is,
quinn gray
may not have reacted the way you or i would react or
someone else
would have reacted, but she's alive today. and so, however she did react, it was the appropriate thing she did at the time.
>>
lots of twists and turns and more to come in this.
>>
it is stunning that the sheriff is coming out and saying that he still believes this is a kidnapping. from the day
quinn
was abducted and released, reid gray has been asking, and they've been promising, we'll show you they knew each other before
september 4th
,
2009
. eight weeks have passed. not one e-mail, not one text message, not one
cell phone
record. they have done the computer searches. there is nothing that supports their contention that it's a faked kidnapping.
>>
guys, thank you for being here. we're going to follow this story closely.
>>
all right.
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