BRADLEY, SADIE OR CHARLIE
BY
MARCH 4, 2002
Having been a
member of this club for the past three years and having heard outstanding
papers read by all who have presented since I became a member, especially people
for whom writing is second nature and either do it for a living or as a strong
avocation, I come to this microphone with not a little trepidation and fear.
Indeed if my high school or college English instructors knew I was doing this
they would be more than a little surprised.
I thought
about taking one or a couple of my tax court decisions and working them into a
paper, but after having sent some of them to my mother to read whenever she
suffered from insomnia, I decided it would have a similar effect here and I
would have to compete with the snoring as I read.
Last summer as
the deadline to give Ray the title of my paper drew near I still was not sure
of my subject. The title, “Bradley, Sadie or Charlie” are three of the
possibilities that were on my mind at that time.
Before I was
appointed to the bench as Judge of the Indiana Tax Court in 1986, my legal
career was spent as a county seat attorney in
One of my predecessors as prosecuting
attorney, several terms removed, was the venerable congressman from the second
congressional district of Indiana, Charles Halleck. Charlie had been serving
that district since the 1930s when he retired in 1968. Charlie came back to
Bradley and Sadie were two people who figured in my career as prosecuting attorney. Sadie I met briefly in the courtroom and Bradley, I never met. However, his case was one that had a profound effect on my view of the way we deal with children in our judicial system. Sadie, sadly, is a person for whom the judicial system was no help. I will relate those stories shortly.
I served as
The most memorable cases pending both at the beginning of my career and at the end of my career as prosecuting attorney were sex related cases. I don’t know if that is coincidence or just indicative of the perverse way my memory works.
My predecessor had actually started my first case.
The defendant was an illiterate laborer by the name of Cotner, Bubb; I believe
his first name was. Cotner and his wife had had a rather stormy relationship.
His wife had complained to my predecessor that he had sexually abused her and
wanted him prosecuted. The charges of sodomy were filed. As often happens when
a spouse is a complainant, Mrs. Cotner came in a few days later and told the
prosecutor that they had kissed and made up and she would like to drop the
charges. The prosecutor said fine and presented the petition for dismissal to
Judge Leopold. Judge Leopold told the prosecutor that he; the prosecutor could
not do that. Clearly not his call. However, the prosecutor being a timid sort
acquiesced and told Mrs. Cotner that the judge would not allow him to dismiss
the charges. The case languished and Cotner eventually pled guilty to sodomy.
The record reflects that Cotner gave a statement to the effect “I told her to
behave or I would roll her over and give it to her good.” Apparently she didn’t
and he did. Cotner went to prison and somehow the Playboy foundation became
aware of the case, at least the part about the crime ‘s nature and the fact that
the judge would not allow it to be dismissed at the wife’s behest. Thus it
became a cause for that foundation as in Playboy’s view it was an act between
two consenting adults that was being prosecuted and a person imprisoned under
such circumstances. Playboy underwrote the appeal. While I have not checked the
record recently, I believe the appeal was in the form of a habeas corpus
proceeding in Federal court. Cotner was released and moved with his family to
The last case of any note, or at least that I can remember, involved a man and a sow. I don’t think I need say anymore to this group about that case tonight. Anyway as it turned out, no crime was committed; the only offense from which he ever might have been prosecuted had been repealed by the adoption of a new criminal code in 1976.
Between these cases, my deputies and I handled all of the criminal cases in the county. Most of the time I had only one deputy and during the last five or six years, I had two. I prosecuted everything from homicide to traffic cases. The first homicide was not prosecuted as it involved a shooting in self-defense by an Indiana State Trooper who after having been drawn upon by the victim drilled him with his service pistol squarely between the eyes. The police lab examined the victim’s gun and the victim had apparently pulled the trigger and the gun jammed or misfired. Had it not done so there would have been a dead police officer. As it happened this police officer was the top pistol shot in both the Indiana State Police and the Indiana National Guard. The victim clearly drew on the wrong guy.
In one of the homicides I prosecuted a son who
killed his father, put him in the barn at the family farm and set the fire to
the barn. The forensic pathologist observed that the deceased’s lungs had no
evidence of smoke inhalation, which proved that he was dead before the fire was
set. In another case, a brother killed his brother and sister-in -law because
he heard them talking about him; and there was a man who was killed at point
blank range by a shotgun wielding employee who was offended because the
deceased had called him a ‘queer duck.’
We prosecuted a kidnapping when the perpetrators took the victim from
A factory in
Remington made hemp rope from Marijuana, a cash crop raised in
On one
occasion the police arrested some residents of
But for the
moment anyway these are just war stories with no theme or significance other
than they are part of my memories as a prosecuting attorney. Maybe some time in
the future they can be told in some detail with more substance than the
recollections of an aging country lawyer.
Two cases
etched into my memory involved Sadie and Bradley. They both suggest failure in
our system and are a bit sad. Why I would pick two sad cases when I am normally
a very upbeat, positive, good-humored sort of fellow, I can’t say. Perhaps Bob
Davis or other psychologists can explain it.
Sadie hailed from the hardy eastern European
stock of her forbears who immigrated to
Life in DeMotte was still reflective
of the exacting religious beliefs of its early Dutch Reformed settlers, who
forbade the consumption of alcohol and tolerated little in the way of
frivolity. With the sole exception of
the American Legion Hall, located at the edge of town, an exception to the
prevailing Dutch Reformed influence, the town remained dry until the late
1970's.
One night as Sadie, her husband, and
their daughter were returning from the school play, their car collided head-on
with a drunk driver who drove across the centerline. Her husband and daughter were killed
instantly, but Sadie was, according to the police report, "treated and
released."
Sadie was never the same after
that. She sat for days on end in her
empty home, staring blankly at the walls, hardly eating, seldom sleeping, and
never speaking to anyone. She didn't
clean herself; she didn't clean her house.
She did nothing. No one went to
see her. She was alone.
Eventually, Sadie began to walk the
streets of DeMotte, muttering to herself.
She wore winter coats in July and bare feet and sandals in January. The town's sympathy spent, Sadie became the favorite
target of gossip and ridicule in the coffee shops, the grocery stores, and the
church circles.
Sadie began to frequent the Corner
Bar, initially arriving each day about closing time and bolting a stiff
drink. She came earlier each day, and
the regulars mockingly plied her with whiskey and beer. Sadie began to disappear with one or more of
the male patrons for a half-hour or so, returning with a fierce thirst and
money to quench it.
One dog day in August of 1983, the
temperature like the humidity hovered at 99 degrees. The fans were running, and the doors to the
street were propped open at the Corner Bar.
By mid-afternoon the regulars were all there. Sadie staggered and lurched as she entered
the bar. She was wearing a winter coat
over a wool sweater with rubber boots on her bare feet. She went from stool to stool, whispering lewd
offers, but was consistently spurned.
Suddenly, she let loose, screaming profanities of the most embarrassing
sort. Sadie would not be subdued, and
the police were called.
Al responded. The Corner Bar was on
his ‘routine patrol.’ Al was a Korean
War combat veteran who never quite left the military, his uniform was pressed
to perfection, his buttons gleamed, and his shoes shone like mirrors. Al approached Sadie, who was sitting in a
chair with her knees to her chest alternately softly humming and shouting out
curses. She looked up at Al with fiery
eyes and with gnashing teeth she snarled, "Get away from me you blue-shirted
ass hole son of a bitch.” She lunged at
Al surprising him and, knocking him to the floor. She jumped on top of Al all
the while biting, scratching, kicking, punching, kneeing and generally getting
the best of him. Finally, three or four
of the regulars were able to pull Sadie off him and Al slapped on the
handcuffs, Sadie cursing all the while.
Al bled from her fingernail gouges, his clothes torn, his shoes scuffed,
and his head pounded. Finally other members of the DeMotte police force
arrived. They forced Sadie into a squad car and transported her to the county
jail at
It took the jailer and several of the sheriff’s deputies to wrestle Sadie into her cell. After the cell door was shut, she stripped off her clothes, hurling them along with her curses out into the hall. As word spread throughout the jail, all who heard came to gawk at the crazy woman. We filed charges of disorderly conduct and battery on a police officer, an uneventful initial hearing was held and counsel was appointed for Sadie.
Three weeks later Sadie appeared before
the bench of the honorable J. Philip McGraw an affable and highly principled
Irishman whose courtroom was located on the third floor of the then 87-year-old
Jasper county courthouse. Judge McGraw dispensed justice with more than the
usual ration of common sense. He
appointed Stuart to represent Sadie at the initial hearing. Stuart was an
attorney with 10 years or so experience.
He also had little self-discipline and a huge ego. Trial lawyers didn't come any more talented
or able than Stuart, just ask him.
Stuart saw Sadie at the jail for 15 minutes on the say of his
appointment and left her there. He
didn't seek a reduction in bail for her, he didn’t talk to any witnesses nor to
the prosecuting attorney about the case In fact he didn’t even see Sadie again
until the trial.
As prosecuting attorney, I appeared
for the State. Since I had prepared the
charging papers and had attended the initial hearing I was familiar with the
case. Before the trial began there were some routine matters in other cases to
dispose of.
When Sadie's case was called, Stuart
entered the courtroom strutting down the aisle and finally taking his place
next to Sadie at the counsel table. Stuart preened as Judge McGraw entered the
courtroom.
After I made a short opening
statement, Stuart cavalierly waived his opening statement. The witnesses all testified about the fracas
at the Corner Bar. Al, the neatly
uniformed police officer Sadie so badly abused appeared as the state’s key witness. He walked to the witness stand, his wounds
were mostly healed, his new uniform was pressed, his hair smartly cut, and a
faint odor of Old Spice lingered in his wake.
Al testified, "On August 16 last, the defendant, she lunged at me,
biting, kicking, scratching my face and hands, like a wild woman. My uniform was torn and covered with blood
stains, I had to throw it away."
Sadie suddenly jumped to her feet and yelled, "That's a goddamn
lie!" Stuart stood up and gingerly
placed his hand on her shoulder. Sadie
shrugged it off and glared at him. Judge
McGraw ordered her to sit down, explaining she would have a chance to tell her
side of the story later. Stuart declined
to cross-examine Al. Sadie sat wild-eyed.
The State then rested.
Stuart called Sadie, his only
witness, to the stand. "State your
name" he began. She growled her
response. "Now Sadie, you indicated
that Al was lying when he testified earlier.
Would you tell us, in your own words, what really happened the afternoon
of August 16th?" asked Stuart, shooting a smug look toward me.
"I bit him on the chest and
kicked him in the privates" Sadie shouted.
Stuart turned pale. Judge McGraw stifled a laugh, but I laughed
out loud. Stuart then passed the
witness. I had no cross-examination. Stuart then rested.
Judge McGraw mumbled to himself as
he shuffled the papers on the bench as if hunting for a cigarette. Then he said, "Will the defendant please
rise?" Sadie stood up, with Stuart
at her side. "Sadie, I find you
guilty of disorderly conduct and battery on a police officer. I sentence you . . .” He didn't get the rest
out before Sadie started yelling, "You can't do that you no good Irish son
of a bitch" and she bolted toward the courtroom door. Stuart looked on and
I made a half-hearted effort to stop her as she passed my chair.
The deputy sheriff and the jail
matron blocked her exit, but once again Sadie employed more brawn than
expected. She fought like a caged
animal, her arms flailing and her legs kicking.
She was finally subdued and taken back across the street to the
jail.
As the jailor attempted
to put Sadie in the holding cell located immediately inside the door to the
jail, Sadie put out her hands and feet bracing herself against the cell door
refused to go into the cell.
The sheriff, a big strapping man,
came out of his office when he heard the commotion. " What's going on here?" he
thundered. Sadie turned and peered at
him and said, "Who the hell are you are you?" The jailor said, "he's the sheriff, you
had better behave". Sadie's eyes
lit up like those of a child on Christmas morning. "The sheriff" she
cried and she ran to him, wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big bear
hug. The sheriff wrapped his massive
arms around her and marched her backwards into the holding cell. As they entered the holding cell Sadie
grabbed the door to the cell and pulled it shut behind them.
Sadie was sentenced to 30 days with
credit for time served and then released to once again sit for days on end in
her empty home, staring blankly at the walls, hardly eating, seldom sleeping,
never speaking to anyone. She didn't
clean herself; she didn't clean her house.
She did nothing. No one went to
see her. She was alone.
One
measure of a civilized society is its treatment of its weakest members. Whether ours is a society celebrated or
vilified upon this issue is usually a matter of one's political
perspective. Did Sadie get a fair shake
from the judicial system? Did society have an obligation to help her with
regard to her mental illness, her loneliness, her isolation, or her physical
needs? Are their others like her?
BRADLEY
“Couple held
on neglect charge!” read the August 6, 1982 issue of the Rensselaer Republican.
A short sidebar item in bold print separated one of the columns of this story
said “Child dies, Bradley Lonadier died at 10:02 AM Friday morning at St.
Anthony’s medical center in
How did this happen? Did Bradley die as a
result of parental neglect?
On
July 16, 1982, the judge of the Jasper circuit court acting as Judge of the
juvenile court held a hearing to determine whether Bradley Lonadier was a child
in need of services. After hearing the evidence adduced by the county welfare
department it became obvious that there were strange and bizarre happenings
going on at
To learn what
happened and how it happened we must go back to 1980. Larry and Lucy had been
married five years. Larry was a journeyman pipe fitter and Lucy a waitress.
Neither had any formal education beyond high school although Larry had the
credentials and financial wherewithal to go to college. He and Lucy were having
problems, living a hedonistic life with much alcohol and some drugs in the mix.
They realized that they were headed for a divorce or worse unless they turned
their lives around. They looked to religion.
They became members of a local
community church. But they still felt that there was a void in their lives. In
the summer of 1980, Larry’s brother David came home on leave from army duty at
Larry and Lucy became interested in
this ministry and as Lucy testified, she and Larry “prayed about him moving’ up
and he (Steve) prayed about it and we felt like God wanted him to move in and
you know live with us." Steve moved in. He sought work but that did not last.
Larry and Lucy became more impressed with Steve’s knowledge of the Bible and
spiritual things. They all would get together and study the Bible and
sing. They thought Steve had this
special knowledge, Lucy testified “because he came from
After a time Steve told Larry and Lucy that they were demon possessed and that they ‘needed deliverance’. They all prayed about that and again as Lucy testified, “he prayed over us for casting out devils.” I asked her what did he do when he would pray to cast out devils. Lucy replied that, he would have her and Larry sit in a chair with a bright light over them and then “we would look at [Steve] right in the eyes and he would put oil on our forehead and then put his hand on our head and command the devils in Jesus’ name to come out.” These sessions, she testified, would last for hours. Steve told them that he could tell by looking into their eyes if deliverance had occurred. He was the only one who knew when deliverance had occurred or of the entire group knew anything about it.
Steve had
strong views on child discipline. He thought that Larry and Lucy were too easy
on Brad. Steve said that Brad was rebellious and ruining their lives.
In 1981 Steve told Larry and Lucy that their family was “out of order as a Godly family, because we didn’t whip Brad for the things he did wrong.” He showed them where in the Bible it said that that you are supposed to whip your kids for the things they did wrong. He told them that Brad would have a lot of problems later in life if they did not start to whip him at this early age to break the rebellion within him.
The upshot was that Brad needed to be
spanked more often and according to the way Steve said that they should.
Initially, with Larry and Lucy looking on, Steve would spank Brad, first by
using the hand with his pants on, then gradually it was with the hand with the
pants down. Then with a paddle.
At this time Brad was a little over two
years old. Since spanking was new to him he first would fight it but Steve
would do it even harder. Brad became so afraid of Steve that he would just
stand there and scream.
Steve instructed them that Brad needed
to be disciplined until his will was broken. On one occasion Steve held Brad
upside down by the feet and spanked him.
Steve had no
job. He stayed at Larry and Lucy’s home all day. Larry worked supporting the
household, which by mid 1981 consisted of Larry, Lucy, Brad, Steve, Bert,
Barbara, Teresa, Penny, Miranda, and Penny’s baby and later in September1981,
Christen.
The Oxford English
Dictionary Online defines a cult as “Devotion
or homage to a particular person or thing, now esp. as paid by a body of
professed adherents or admirers.” This group clearly qualifies.
Steve became,
as he descried it, the group’s Moses, casting out their demons. Through him
they were to grow closer to God. He particularly singled out Lucy. When I asked
Lucy “what devils in particular was he trying to cast out of you.” Lucy replied
“ spirit of lust.” I then asked her how he would accuse her of having this
spirit of lust. He would tell her that she was lusting after him. To deal with
this Steve would place his hand on her head and say “spirit of lust come out in
Jesus’ name,”
Steve also thought that Lucy needed
to be disciplined and he advised Larry to whip her while she was still carrying
Christen. Larry did. Lucy said she was whipped because Steve didn’t think she
was tough enough on Brad or he would say she had lied to him or was lusting
after him. When Steve would tell Larry about Lucy lusting after him, Larry
would ask Lucy about it. She denied everything. Larry would tell Steve that she
denied it. Steve would then come into the room and accuse her of lying and an
argument would ensue. Larry always believed Steve over Lucy.
To discipline her, Larry would have
her stand by the bed and put her hands on the bed and then Larry would take the
big paddle and whip her.
I asked her why she allowed him to do
this. She said, “By having him do it I would be having a better relation to
Jesus.” That over the time Steve had been there she and Larry and the others
were convinced that Steve was right and that by Larry whipping her she would
become a better person. This was the same paddle that they used on Brad
although by the middle of 1981 they had also begun to use a belt on the two
year old.
Steve thought that Lucy and Brad were too close. Lucy had breast fed Brad until he was past two years old and before Steve arrived on the scene she and Brad were very close. Steve said that Brad suffered from mommyitis and needed to be separated from Lucy. He was put in his room and not permitted to leave the room except to go to the bathroom. His food was taken to him. On those occasions when he would try to leave the room to be with his mother they would whip him.
Larry spanked Lucy about 10 times during this time at Steve’s direction. Each spanking would be about 20 strokes and if she put her hand back there she would get more. They were also instructed by Steve to do the same to Brad when they spanked him.
Christen was born in September of 1981. At this time the punishment of Brad became harsher.
They began by using a cutting board split in half about twelve inches long and three or four inches wide. Steve also made a couple of paddles fourteen inches long and six inches wide. Lucy always afraid if she didn’t obey she would get spanked with it. Steve would observe her when she was spanking Brad and if he did not think she was doing it right he would take the paddle from her and spank her with it to show her how she needed to spank Brad. Brad was also subjected to other punishment. He would have his hands taped together and his mouth taped shut. Once he was isolated in his room for a three-week stretch. In 1982 he was made to spend long hours in a linen closet or in the vanity cupboard under the bathroom sink with his eyes and mouth and hands taped. His offense was being rebellious. The spanking increased in number and severity. There were times when the spankings would last several hours and the paddle would turn red from the blood. When these spanking occurred, Steve instructed Larry and Lucy to do it in Brad’s room with the drapes closed and the stereo or radio on loud so the neighbors couldn’t hear the screams.
After Christen was born Steve admonished her that she didn’t want Christen to be rebellious like Brad and so discipline of her must begin early. When she was two or three months old Steve instructed Lucy to get a plastic ruler and to use that to spank Christen. Steve would also discipline Christen not only by spanking her but also by taping her eyes and mouth shut. When Christen would cry in the night, Steve would come in Larry and Lucy’s bedroom and chastise them for not dealing with her crying. Lucy would get up and use the ruler on Christen’s bare bottom.
By the beginning of 1982 Lucy was not only afraid of Steve but also of Larry because he would discipline her whenever Steve accused her of some offense. Suffice it to say that Larry and Lucy grew apart and there was little if any affection remaining between them. Whenever he had the chance Steve would cut Larry down in front of her and vise versa.
In early 1982 Lucy was nursing Christen. Steve came into her room and told her to take her blouse off and “nurse Christen in front of him and it would get me free by doing it.” When asked what Steve meant by setting her free she said, I don’t know, I never asked him.”
By that time as she testified, “my head was so screwed up..I was afraid of him in one way, but yet again , …I thought that what he said was right.”
As no surprise, in February or March 1982 Lucy began sleeping with Steve. As Lucy said on the witness stand,
See what happened is I’d, you know, I was going to bed with him and stuff, and then through that, he said that I needed to be set free sexually. And so, you know believed him….So then I made a commitment to him that I was going to be committed to him and through that commitment, I was going to be set free sexually. because one particular day he asked me…’why are you committed to me anyway?’ and I said so I can be a better wife to Lar someday. And so..I stayed committed to him, you know?
I then asked her what she meant by being committed to him and she said, “I did anything he told me to do.”
Getting Larry back was all she was interested in. She thought she was getting messages from God. She told Steve about them. He admonished her that if she thought she was hearing directly from God, she was not in submission. He would rebuke her, privately and in front of the rest of the household. Lucy threatened to leave but she was told that if she did the children were not going with her. So she stayed. She was afraid for the children and thought that by leaving she would lose any chance of ever getting Larry back. Steve told her that if she stayed she would get a spanking for not being in submission. Steve then spanked her.
Larry too wanted to get Lucy back. Steve told him that he had to earn her back. One way he could do that was to bring Brad into submission to her.
Lucy and Steve’s relationship became more in the open. They would hug and kiss in front of the others including Larry. The spanking of her and Brad continued. Larry began sleeping on the floor next to the bed in which Steve and Lucy slept.
In July 1982, a neighbor became concerned and called the welfare department. The investigation mentioned earlier did not turn up any evidence of the beatings. In point of fact once Larry, Lucy and Steve got wind that the welfare department was nosing around, the spankings stopped so by the time the welfare department examined Brad, there were no indications of the spankings.
By the summer of 1982, Steve’s control over the group, especially Larry and Lucy was total and complete. He caused a rift between them and their parents. Indeed, Morris Lonadier, Larry’s father died soon after the trial, broken hearted of what had happened to his grandson.
On the morning of August 2, 1982, Brad came into his mother’s room and asked her to make him breakfast. Lucy told him to go to his room and she would come and get him after she was up. He returned a little later and again asked her and she again told him to return to his room. A third time Brad came to his mother. She was by then feeling guilty, not for not getting him breakfast, but for not disciplining him. She then decided as punishment he would go without breakfast. When she told him that he began to cry.
Larry heard Brad and Lucy arguing and arose to see what was going on. He heard Lucy telling Brad to go to his room to be disciplined because he was not obeying her. Lucy then told Larry about the earlier incidents of Brad coming to ask her to make his breakfast.
Larry then went to Brad’s room to discipline him. When he arrived in the room he said to Brad,” It’s the same stuff isn’t it? Brad replied yes. He then told Brad he couldn’t mistreat his mother that he must obey her and treat her with respect. He then told Brad that he was going to discipline him. He then closed the drapes and turned on some music.
“‘I told him to come over to me—I was sitting on the bed—and I pushed him down, and I told him to get back up, pushed him down again.” I asked what he meant by ‘pushed him down’. Larry said, “The first three times I pushed him down from the side of his face. After that it was from the shoulders, the chest and stomach. After the first three or four times, I talked to him for a few minutes and I explained why I was doing it to him….So then I continued to push him down , I would say for ten to fifteen minutes, over 100 times. One time when I pushed him down, he didn’t get back up. That’s when I saw that he was unconscious, I tried to awake him, shake him and he didn’t come to. In response to my question he said that the repeated pushdowns were immediate with no chance for Brad to recover from the previous push down.
Larry then called for Steve to come into the room. Steve then sat on the bed and commanded Brad not to die and rebuked the spirits that were trying to kill him. When asked what kind of spirits, Larry replied “Spirits of death that would come to take him.”
Lucy didn’t see Brad for several hours when she heard Steve’s voice from Brad’s room biding the spirit of death. She went to the room and Brad was lying on the bed. The three of them prayed over Brad. Steve said Brad’s maternal grandmother was a white witch - she had cast spells on Brad. Lucy finally suggested that they should call an ambulance. She was admonished to be still or leave the room. They all continued to pray. Finally about 2:00 pm they put Brad in the family van and took him to the hospital in Crown Point. Brad was taken to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago but he was brain dead.
Brad died on August 6, 1982 at St. Anthony’s hospital in Crown Point. The autopsy showed that Brad had died of bruises to his brain from the contra coup effect of the brain hitting the inside of the skull as Brad was being pushed. Obviously Larry did more than push, he struck Brad.
The main difficulty with the case was convicting Steve when it was Larry, who had physically harmed Brad. Larry, Lucy and the rest of the state’s witnesses were able to paint a picture of the horror that was life in the household and that the cause of the horror was Steve Jackson.
When I began prosecuting this case the question of religious rights arose. In fact, a recent case of medical neglect of a child versus parental religious beliefs in God’s healing powers was pending in Kosciusko County. Steve retained William Bontrager, an attorney, and former judge of the Elkhart Circuit court and active in Christian legal circles. As the case progressed he soon realized that this was not a legitimate exercise of religion. He nevertheless was a good advocate for Jackson.
The Japer County Grand jury indicted Larry, Lucy and Steve on two counts of child neglect, involuntary manslaughter, two counts of conspiracy and battery.
It was clear from the evidence that Steve was the true villain in this sad sordid event. However in order to convict him I needed Larry and Lucy’s testimony. I therefore permitted them to plead to all counts but recommended a three-year sentence for Larry and a one-year sentence for Lucy. Larry and Lucy’s parental rights over Christen were terminated and she was placed for adoption. It is my understanding that Larry and Lucy stayed together and have had another child.
I took some criticism for making a deal with Larry and Lucy because it was pointed out and rightly so that they completely abdicated their responsibilities to their children by obeying Steve Jackson’s instructions on how to discipline their children. I thought it was better to give them a break in order to convict Jackson. It will be punishment Larry and Lucy to know the part they had in the death of their two-year-old son.
As you may know from watching court proceedings the most opportune time for the prosecuting attorney to make his case follows the defense attorney’s argument to the jury. The prosecutor has the last word before the judge reads the instructions to the jury.
In my final argument at Steve’s trial , I said that the force of Larry’s striking caused the mortal injury to Brad. Also, more importantly he did so in furtherance of Steve Jackson’s powers to manipulate the cult. Quoting from the transcript, “The only road to salvation he [Jackson} tells Larry Lonadier is to beat the daylights out of your kid, and you will be closer to God, hah.” I went on to say that Steve Jackson had a power of persuasion over these people, especially the first six months of 1982, The group may have started with good intentions in 1980 but “Christianity got prostituted all over the place I, n this man’s [Jackson] mind and with what he did to those people.” One of the exhibits was an article from a Christian writer that Jackson used to support the notion that it is ok to beat a child for discipline. I pointed out that the article also said that chastising a child is of God but beating a child is of Satan. II told the jury that Larry followed Steve’s orders to win his wife back from Steve. I pointed out ”that the things done in the name of the Lord sometimes are appalling. That we had the Salem witch trials and we have it in Jasper County in 1982.” I reminded the jury of the passage in Matthew 14, suffer the little children and forbid them not for such is the kingdom of heaven.” I then turned and pointed at Jackson and thundered “shame on you.”
Steve was convicted on all charges and sentenced to 20 yeas in prison, the maximum permitted. He appealed and the count of battery and one count of neglect of a dependent were reversed as they were deemed to be lesser-included offenses of some of the other counts.
Steve, as far as I know served his time without incident and was due to have been released in 1992.
To this day, I still find this case the saddest and most grueling in my19 1/2 years as a prosecuting attorney. How can a man and wife destroy their children under the spell of another man’s dictates? My heart weeps for the children. They were the most innocent.
Thank you.