Transcript: Cruise Ship Crime Scene?

This is a partial transcript from "On the Record," January 20, 2006, that has been edited for clarity.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Now to the mysterious disappearance of George Smith IV, he disappeared from his honeymoon cruise on July 5th and the investigation by the FBI is ongoing. On Monday, forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee will board the ship and what should he be looking for?

Joining us live in Spokane is former LAPD homicide detective Mark Fuhrman. Mark, on Monday, Dr. Henry Lee, who has been hired by Jennifer Hagel Smith, the wife of the man who has disappeared, is going to board the ship, go into the cabin and look around. This is six months later. What can he hope to learn?

MARK FUHRMAN, FORMER LAPD HOMICIDE DETECTIVE: Well, I'm not sure how much he can learn and I'm not sure how much documentation that can be shown to Dr. Lee that things are as they were or what has been removed. I think the carpet has been removed.

I think the FBI has not only been there twice but the Turkish police so there's been forensic testing. There's been forensic investigation. There's been a criminal investigation and, of course, Greta, I mean he's the forensic criminologist that can go in there and he's very good at what he does.

A nick in the furniture, a hair caught between a cushion and a chair leg, I mean there could be a lot of things but what's it going to mean? And I think that's the key. This room has been occupied by multiple people since then and I think that damages anything to bring it forward because the defense attorney is going to have hay day with any forensic evidence that's taken out of that room now.

VAN SUSTEREN: I imagine though that, I mean you and I have done these investigations a million times. At least going there gives you a completely different perspective than looking at even the video or pictures. At least you know where the bathroom is in relationship to the bed, so if blood is in a particular place it makes sense.

FUHRMAN: I think it's very important that he goes there and I think it's important the FBI went there and I read the cruise line's timeline, their chronological report of everything. It sounds like everybody was Johnny on the spot, the FBI, the Turkish police. It sounded like they spent a lot of time.

I think it was proper. The washing of the canopy was checked out. There had already been forensic testing and photographs. I mean all that has been documented.

But, you're right, Dr. Lee's going to be able to go in there and get a feel for the scene and I know I saw him on a show talk about using a similarly weighted dummy to actually see would it be easy to hoist him over. If he stood, where would he have to stand to have the body topple over the rail?

All these things should be done but is it going to say that there was a crime? And, I think this is the problem. There's a big difference between suicide, accident and homicide and I think this is going to be determined by people not the forensic evidence.

VAN SUSTEREN: I've gotten a bunch of e-mails from viewers who have said something I thought that was rather smart. I wish I had thought of it myself and that's that they would like to talk to or hear from the people staying in the cabin which was flush with the canopy to see what they heard, when they heard it because we know that at least up on the upper deck they heard a thud but just for time reference.

FUHRMAN: Well, I think time reference is important. We hear the person in the cabin next door. We have, you know, loud and they said in the timeline in the chronological report from the cruise lines they said there was drinking games. That means somebody is pressing their ear up against the wall and they're hearing somebody play a game. OK, you got to drink this now and they're loud. They bang on the wall, noise stops.

Cruise line comes to the door, they don't knock. I think this was the first mistake. The second mistake regardless of who tells you, you can release the room for the cruise line's just integrity of what's going on and the scrutiny they should have kept that room sealed forever.

And now we see that after they actually released it the FBI wanted it sealed once again on July 14th. So, there's a problem and just imagine this, Greta. If they would have just kept it sealed, one room in the whole cruise ship, now Dr. Lee would be able to see a pristine room that hadn't been touched by anybody except for the Turkish police and the FBI.

VAN SUSTEREN: I think they thought it was an accident at that point and not a crime scene. I think if they could rewrite history, they would go back and seal it indeed.

FUHRMAN: I agree.

VAN SUSTEREN: Mark, thank you.

FUHRMAN: Thank you, Greta.

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