Close to Home (2005) s01e06 Episode Script

mom? Bailey get back to bed.
Way too late for you, buddy.
bailey,time to get up.
bailey? Bailey? What's going on? I can't find bailey.
Bailey?! Bailey? Bailey! Bailey, honey? Hey, buddy! Bailey? Uh, my son is missing.
He wasn't in his bed this morning.
All right, take a deep breath.
What's your son's name? Uh, bailey.
He's only six years old.
How long has bailey been missing? Bailey? I don't know.
We had a party last night, and, uh, we went to bed around 2:00, and he'S he's gone this morning.
Ma'am,can you describe your son? He's a kindergartner.
He weighs about 51 pounds.
God his blanket is outside.
Oh, god.
We've looked everywhere.
Will you send somebody, please? We just want bailey back home with us; that's all.
If anyone has any information about our son, please, please call.
Detective drummer.
You can't accuse the prosecutor's office of being slow to respond.
I live in the next subdivision over.
And a kid goes missing I just stopped by to find out how things were going.
Bailey was last seen when his father put him to bed a little before midnight.
Mother woke up, reported the kid missing, - 8:27 this morning.
- We just ask anybody - just make sure that you have control of the crime scene.
- Call the 1-800 number I don't want this turning into a jonbenet ramsey situation.
Well, that's not gonna happen, steve.
I'd love to put the dogs on this, but they can't pick up a scent in this rain.
- We want our boy back.
- take care.
All right.
Morning, maureen.
Morning.
Steve wants to see us in his office.
Did they find that little boy yet? No, but detectives just brought his parents in for questioning.
Based on what? They found the boy's blood in the backseat of the dad's car on the same day he was reported missing.
Same dad who's been pleading for his son's safe return all over the news? That would be the one.
How much blood did they find? Just trace amounts, but enough to bring him downtown.
So there's still a chance the boy might be alive.
Well, there's always a chance, but apparently the dad has a record.
For what? Drugs, duis and a bar fight, back in the day.
What about the mom? What's her story? She could be involved in her son's disappearance.
It's doubtful, but there's always a chance.
Of course,there's always a chance both she and her husband are innocent.
They must be going out of their minds.
I want you to monitor mr.
And mrs.
Ericson's interrogations.
You take the dad.
You take the mom.
Why do I always get the mom? Go figure.
Just make sure our friends in blue follow proper procedures.
I'm already more than a little concerned they've contaminated the crime scene.
Lights and cameras tend to have the effect.
Yeah.
The da is gonna want to be updated every few hours, so keep me informed.
Okay.
And, ladies, that kid's life is on the line, so follow the rule book.
Understood? Understood.
What do you have,detective? Ah, my guys have gone through all of the ericsons' house.
Wend found no evidence of a struggle, no signs of a forced entry.
Whoever took this little boy knew him.
Why would the ericsons kidnap their own child? That doesn't even make sense.
Lou, he's just six years old.
A stranger could have taken him without a struggle.
Well, if someone grabs a kid, or, god forbid, kills him, Was there a custody dispute or step-parent involved? No, but we found bailey's blood in the backseat of his father's car.
Now, he's trying to explain it away as "the boy gets nosebleeds," but I don't buy it.
You think his wife is protecting him? Maybe-- there's just too many inconsistencies in his timeline.
If you want us to bring up charges, we need three basic things on the menu: Means, motive and opportunity.
And some physical evidence that can't be explained away wouldn't hurt a thing.
Well, I don't think I know mr.
Ericson's motive quit yet, but I think I can serve up means and opportunity.
Go for it.
I'll question the wife.
Rick, I know this must be a nightmare for you, and I want to believe everything that you've told us, but to be honest, I had my doubts after a detective showed me your file.
Three arrests for drug use, two duis,and a bar fight.
That was almost ten years ago.
All right, I took a wrong turn out of college.
That's got nothing to do with bailey, my wife, or anything else that's happening right now.
What bothers me is why you lied to police in your initial statement.
You said that you were home all night, rick.
But we interviewed a dozen different guests that were at your party and they all said that you disappeared around midnight.
I told you before.
I walked a friend home who had too much to drink.
Compared to the fact that my son was missing, it didn't seem too important to me when I spoke to the police.
Uh-huh.
It was my my neighbor karla.
Okay, you can ask her what happened.
She'll tell you everything.
Yeah, well, uh, how long did it take you to walk her home? I didn't look at my watch.
Your wife said that you got home past 1:00 in the morning.
That's a long walk across the street.
Karla was loaded,all right? She wouldn't stop talking.
I made some coffee, I gave her some aspirin and I got out of there.
And where was bailey during this time? He got up during the party.
I put him back to bed right before I walked karla home.
Well, what you're telling us is that you were the last person to see him.
Mr.
Ericson, if you have any idea where bailey is, you would be doing yourself a big favor in the eyes of the court if you would look, don't you think that I would tell you if I knew where he was? For god's sake, I would do anything I could to find him.
I haven't asked for a lawyer.
I've tried to answer all your questions.
God knows I've done everything I could think of to find him, all right? So stop treating me like I'm a suspect.
Just find my little boy.
Why are you questioning rick? The police just want to rule him out,that's all.
This is crazy.
Your husband said he walked a friend home from your party.
Karla? Yes.
She's like part of the family.
Ever since she and her husband split up, she practically lives at our house.
Do you remember how long rick was gone? I know he came home around 1:00, 1:30.
He helped me load the dishwasher before we went to bed.
Your statement says that bailey's bedroom door was closed after the party and you didn't check on his whereabouts until 8:27 the next morning.
I just I didn't want to wake him.
You know,he'd been up so late - and your husband didn't check on bailey either? - No.
Mrs.
Ericson, I know this is difficult, but I have to ask.
Were you and your husband having problems in your marriage? No.
Seven months from now bailey's gonna have a baby brother or sister.
Rick and i are expecting, which just makes this all do you have children? A daughter.
How old is she? Six months.
You spend all this time telling them to brush their teeth and tie their shoelaces, and so little time telling them the stuff that really matters.
Karla miller lives across the street.
So let's rick the benefit of the doubt and say it takes 15 minutes to get her safely inside the door.
The question is: Why did he lie to begin with? And what was he doing those 45 minutes to an hour he can't account for? He said he was with karla the entire time.
His wife backs him up.
She's credible, and she's not concerned about that hour her husband was unaccounted for.
A shaky timeline, a little blood evidence is not a slam dunk.
We need to talk to karla, and we need to find bailey.
We can get the canine unit back out, but it's less than a 50-50 chance that the dogs would be able to pick up anything after that rain we've had.
I'll take those odds.
Well, will you question karla? I'm going to star trunning background checks on all their party guests - and cross-checking their statements.
- Great.
Thanks.
Are there any leads on bailey? Oh, not yet.
Were you at the ericsons' party the other night? Yes.
And I had a whopping hangover to show for it.
Rick walk you home? Yes, he did.
I started to get sick.
I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of the whole neighborhood, so I stepped out to get air, but, uh, if it weren't for rick, I probably never would have made it across the street.
How long was rick here? I think he might have made coffee.
All I know is I woke up the next morning despising myself and then all hell broke loose when they couldn't find bailey.
How long have you known rick and jody? My ex-husband and I started to hang out with them right after they moved in a few years ago.
Rick was always throwing parties and having cookouts, and they were just fun to be with.
What was the nature of your relationship with rick? Rick is married, and jody is my friend.
How are they holding up? About as well as can be expected.
If you can, please let them know my prayers are with them.
That was weird.
She didn't exactly say she wasn't involved with rick.
Well, I don't know too many guys that'd walk a woman like that home after a few beers and not get tempted.
You thinking he lied about his timeline to cover up an affair? I'm thinking it's possible.
Hmm.
Maybe the rain's not such a hindrance after all.
My money says he goes west toward that clearing down the road.
over here oh.
He's dead.
I would never hurt bailey.
No, you just put him in a trunk and suffocated him.
Did you suffocate him first before you put him in the trunk? I loved bailey.
Then what happened? Karla, a six-year-old doesn't get out of his bed in the middle of the night and accidentally find his way to the trunk of a neighbor's car.
annabeth, detective, now, you've heard all you're going to hear from my client.
You want to talk charges, fine, but this interrogation is over.
A child is dead; I think your client would want to cooperate in every way possible, doug.
Sure, as long as it doesn't involve answering any more questions.
That's fine; we'll just wait for the forensics from karla's house.
I'm sure that'll tell us plenty.
Well, all the physical evidence points to karla miller.
The prints,hair, fiber, they all come back to her.
Are you certain she acted alone? There's only two sets of prints on the car trunk: Hers and the victim'S.
Now, the handprints on the inside of the trunk and traces of paint under his nails indicate that the kid tried to escape.
Oh, he must have been horrified locked up in the dark.
Do you think they will ever pass mandatory release levers for the inside of trunks? I wish.
I take it mr.
Ericson's no longer a suspect? No.
We sent him home.
Why did she abduct the boy? Why did she kill him? What did karla want? Money, attention, revenge.
The me said she didn't hurt him.
No sign of trauma, no bruises, no scratches.
What if karla wanted to hurt someone, but it wasn't bailey? It was his father.
A lover's quarrel results in a kidnapping and murder of an innocent child? People have killed for a hell of a lot less.
If karla and rick were having an affair, she might've seen bailey as an obstacle.
Maureen? Will you talk to mr.
And mrs.
Ericson, suss out their relationship with karla.
We need to either rule in this affair motive or dismiss it.
And, annabeth, I want you to take point on karla.
Research her finances, her divorce, her work history,everything.
Okay.
Lou, have your guys canvass the neighbors, find out if karla was harboring a grudge against these people.
Also, she's got a for sale sign in front of her house.
Where's she moving to? I'll hunt down a realtor.
See if you can hunt me down a motive while you're at it.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
If, um, you don't mind, I would like to speak to each of you separately.
Anything I have to say, I can say in front of my wife.
We don't keep secrets in our marriage.
All due respect, everyone has secrets.
And I have some fairly uncomfortable questions to ask you.
Ask.
were you having sexual relations with karla? No.
Were you having sexual relations with karla? No.
Was there any conflict between you and karla? Not that we're aware of.
Was karla aware of any problems in your marriage? We weren't having any problems.
I might have told her that money was a little bit tight and that we were under some pressure with the baby.
So there was an intimate relationship.
Not intimate, not physical.
Tell me about the night of the party.
What exactly happened when you took karla home? Karla was acting strange that night.
She was drunk.
She started coming on to me.
I basically, she was doing this drunken striptease thing.
Why didn't you tell me that before? She's our friend.
She was loaded.
I just thought by the time she sobered up, she would have been embarrassed, and you just would have been mad.
What did you do when karla started taking her clothes off in front of you? I told her to stop, and I got out of there.
Look, I swear to you, there was nothing going on between me and karla.
Nothing happened that night or any other night.
I don't know how many times I have to tell you I didn't have an affair.
Karla's medicine cabinet looks like something out of one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
Antidepressants, sleeping pills, uppers, downers.
You name it.
She's got it.
She was in and out of therapy more in than out.
Not the mark of a happy camper.
Well, karla's going through a very, very, very acrimonious divorce right now.
When did they file? June of 2005.
Yeah, she's suing her ex.
He's suing her.
Lawyers are getting rich.
Ergo, the house is up for sale.
Realtor has confirmed that karla bought a home in bloomington.
She planned on moving there to finish her college degree.
Bet you can't guess what her major is.
Go ahead, just take a wild leap.
Psychology.
Gee, why am I not surprised? What did the victim's father have to say? Rick claims karla came on to him the night of the party, and he rebuffed her.
If that's true, there's your motive.
Karla made her move; he rejected her; she just snapped.
Scorned woman theory.
She wants revenge; she kills the kid.
Fits in with timeline and it ties the physical evidence together.
Rick brought karla home after midnight.
He and jody went to bed at 1:30.
Their back door was left open.
She could have come into their house any time after that and taken their child.
Let's spare the parents the grief of a long trial, shall we? You got an offer? Reckless homicide, two to eight years.
I'm not even going to dignify that with a response.
Annabeth, you really don't want to let a jury decide this,do you? - Ericson had skeletons in his closet - everybody does.
That doesn't change the fact his son was taken from him in the middle of the night and left in your client's trunk to die.
Who do you think put the boy in there and why? You don't exactly have a choirboy in your corner with that father.
And you know about the drugs and the alcohol.
That's just the tip of the iceberg.
Your client killed their little boy, doug; you really want to do this? No, that's why I'm trying to settle.
For two to eight? - Forget it.
- Annabeth! The ericsons have suffered an unbearable loss, and I don't want to add to their pain, but if they insist on putting this case before a jury, it is going to get ugly.
You let me know what you decide.
Two to eight years? She killed our son.
It's clearly unacceptable, and I intend to reject it.
But I think you should know about it, because this trial could get rough.
What do you mean? The defense attorney will use whatever he can to discredit you.
We can't go into this trial with any secrets or skeletons in your closet.
We've already told you everything there is to know.
We've barely scratched the surface.
I'll need to know how many drinks you had at the party that night, what you were smoking, the kind of music you were playing none of this has anything to do with the fact that our son's dead.
Once you take the stand, your whole life goes under the microscope.
Now given your background, the defense attorney will ask about drugs.
He will ask about your sex lives.
He'll pry into your past.
He can do that? I'll object to any questions that have to do with your lifestyle, your character or parenting.
Sometimes the judge will sustain me and sometimes he won'T.
But believe me, the jury will hear it.
Look I just want you to be clear on what you're going up against here.
Doug hellman will go out of his way to find dirt on you.
It's what he does.
I'm not scared of karla or her high-priced attorney.
She's gonna pay for what she did.
I'm sorry to interrupt, but annabeth, can I talk to you for a minute? Yeah.
Excuse me.
Well, I can't comment on the specifics of the case, but the parents of the victim were having a party the night of the child's disappearance.
What? He's already having a press conference on the courthouse steps, and it ain't pretty.
Now rick ericson is a man with a record.
And, obviously, the public hasn't heard the full story, but the truth will come out in trial.
What's going on? Hellman's implicating you on live tv.
There were at least 30 people at the home that night.
Can he do this? Facts of the case won't help him, so he's resorting to lies and innuendo to try and win.
Why don't we fight fire with fire? We can call our own press conference and tell the reporters about the plea.
I can't do that.
Why not? Karla's guilty.
Why else would she be willing to serve eight years? It's illegal for me to disclose any information that's related to the defendant's plea negotiations.
But you can bring it up in court, right? No, it's not admissible.
If the jury finds out they offered to settle, the judge will declare a mistrial.
So there's nothing we can do? We know karla's guilty.
We know we have a strong case, but you two need to steel yourselves because there's gonna be a lot more of this to come once the trial starts.
If you let this get to you, it's only gonna hurt us.
So we just have to sit back and take it, is that it? I know it's not fair.
But it's necessary if you want to see karla go to prison.
Karla miller was in the midst of a messy divorce.
She was being forced to move out of her home.
The victim's parents, rick and jody ericson, - attempted to help her through tough times.
- What about the forensics? I'm getting to it, but first, I'm gonna lay out my motive.
Karla miller began fixating on rick and his family.
But then rick rejected her.
Good, good.
Get to the scorned woman theory right away.
Would you let her finish? Despite karla's fantasies, rick made it clear that he did not share her feelings and that he would never leave his wife and family.
This made karla angry.
So angry that she snuck into the ericsons' house after dark, carried their child out of his bed, and left him in her trunk to die.
That's how she repaid a family that tried to help her.
She murdered bailey ericson, an innocent six-year-old child.
The prosecution will tell you that my client's hair and fibers and fingerprints were found in the victim's bedroom, on his body, and in the trunk of the car.
Now our evidence will tell another story, about a man with a checkered past, a father who wanted out of the responsibilities of his marriage.
My client was having an affair with the victim's father.
Rick ericson wanted to be free.
He was burdened with a wife and child, and he wanted out.
And he begged my client to run away with him, and now he is trying to pin this horrible tragedy on her.
Did you find hair or fingerprints in bailey's room? Yes, hair and prints found in bailey's room matched karla miller, and suggests that she entered bailey's room, removed him from his bed and put him in the trunk of her car.
The fingerprints and hair found in the victim's room, do you know when they were left? No.
We can only determine the identity of the person.
We can't determine the time the samples were left.
Well, my client visited bailey's home quite often.
It is possible that the fingerprints and the hair samples were transferred days, even weeks before bailey disappeared.
That is correct.
If my client and the victim's father had sex that night objection, your honor.
Immaterial and pure speculation.
I apologize.
Let me rephrase.
Isn't it possible that karla came into contact with someone else and then that person transferred my client's hair and fibers to bailey? It's possible.
Good.
Now you have testified that bailey asphyxiated in the trunk of my client's car.
But are you certain that karla miller put him there? Karla miller's fingerprints were on the trunk.
And there were no other fingerprints found.
That doesn't mean there weren't any other fingerprints present.
It just means you didn't find them.
Correct? It is possible that there were other fingerprints, but unlikely.
Can you say with absolute certainty that karla put bailey in that trunk? No.
I cannot.
Well, let me get this straight.
You aren't able to confirm that my client was in bailey's room that night.
And also, you can't say with any scientific certainty that she was the one that put the victim in the trunk.
No, I can'T.
Well, that certainly clears things up for us.
Thank you.
Mr.
Ericson, in your deposition, you said that karla came on to you the night bailey disappeared.
That's correct.
Were the two of you having an intimate relationship? No, not at all.
So you weren't having an affair, but you spent a lot of time together? We did.
Once karla's husband moved out, my wife got worried about karla moping around the house by herself.
So karla started to spend a lot of time with the three of us.
And during this time, you never suspected that karla may have been interested in you? No.
And you never gave karla any indication that you were interested in her? No, I did not.
Not at all.
Did you ever indicate that you were unhappy in your marriage? If I had gotten into an argument with jody and I saw karla that day, maybe I'd mention it, but I never said that I didn't want to be married or that I didn't love my wife.
Isn't it true that my client's husband left her because you and karla were having an affair? Absolutely not.
And isn't it true that on the night that your son died, you were alone with my client for at least an hour, and you talked about running away together? No, that's a lie.
Did the two of you smoke marijuana together? Objection, relevance.
Your honor, these questions go directly to the nature of the relationship between mr.
Ericson and my client.
You may answer.
Yes.
We smoked pot a couple of times on the back porch.
Are you a recovering alcoholic? Yes.
Is smoking marijuana allowed in your program? No, I slipped.
And on the night your child was abducted, you threw a big party that night.
Did you slip that night, too? I served alcohol for our guests, but I didn't drink.
So you weren't intoxicated or stoned that night, but you failed to hear any intruder come into your house and kidnap your child.
Is there a question here? Mr.
Ericson, were you stoned when you told my client you were having problems with your marriage? This is hearsay, and impossible to substantiate.
She's right, mr.
Hellman.
How many other women in the neighborhood did you discuss your marital problems with? Nobody.
Want to reconsider that answer? 'Cause I have two independent witnesses who will say that you told them that you were worried about money and terrified about having another child.
I may have said a few things, but I never said that.
What did you say? Tell us.
Kids are expensive.
You were under a lot of financial pressures.
Did you say that? I might have.
Did you also tell my client that you and your wife rarely had sex after she got pregnant? - Objection.
- I never said that.
Mr.
Hellman, you're right on the line; - don't cross it.
- Your honor, I'm only trying to understand why on earth, mr.
Ericson would say to my client, in front of several witnesses-- and this is on or about october 2, when the two of you went to have lunch at a neighborhood restaurant, as you often did while your wife was at work-- - why would you tell her that you didn't want another child? - I never said that.
- You didn't? - Your honor, may we have a recess? I have one or two more questions; - then I'll close this line of questioning.
- You're twisting my words.
I told karla that I was worried about how much another child might cost.
Did you tell my client that you were unhappy about the fact that another baby was on the way when you couldn't even afford to pay for the child you already had? Why are you doing this to us? We lost our child! I'm not gonna let you accuse me mr.
Ericson, I'm going to ask that you sit down.
No! - Look what this is doing to my wife! - Sit down, mr.
Ericson! That crazy bitch killed my son! Rick, please.
- No, I'm done.
- Take him into custody.
- You deliberately withheld information from me.
- No.
When I asked you about your involvement with karla, you didn't think your rendezvous at the neighborhood restaurant applied? Look, there was no rendezvous anywhere.
I was standing in line waiting to pay for my meal and karla came in.
You left me unprepared to defend you in cross today.
Her lawyer twists everything that I say to make it sound like it's more than it really is.
We told you that hellman would try to goad you.
We told you that he would twist the facts.
Jody was in tears, all right? She can't even look at me.
Now I already lost bailey.
I can't afford to lose my wife and my baby, too.
Okay.
We will do what we can to get you released as quickly as possible, get this trial back on track and undo the damage.
But you have got to keep a level head from now on.
We need to take control of this trial.
Right now it's all hellman'S.
The one thing we keep coming back to is the cause of death.
This is a weird way to commit a murder.
There are no marks on the boy's body.
No skin samples under his nails.
I don't think he ever fought back or even resisted karla.
What if she was never intending to kill bailey? What was she going to do with him? Use him to get rick's attention? What if this isn't about rick at all? What if it's just about bailey? What if she just wanted to take bailey with her that night? Take him where? - We talked to the realtor, right? - Mm-hmm.
She confirmed karla was going to move to a new house in bloomington.
When jack and i bought our house, we told our realtor everything about ourselves.
What we wanted in a house, the kind of life we wanted.
So what did karla tell her realtor? We need to get inside karla's head, and this may be the way to do it.
How do you know the defendant? She came to me because she was looking for a new home in the bloomington area.
Did she explain the reason she was looking to move? Mrs.
Miller said she enrolled in a master's degree program at the local university.
Did she tell you what she was looking for in a house? Yes.
She said she wanted to be in a neighborhood near campus with a big yard and great elementary schools.
And why is that? She told me she had a son.
a son? I never said I had a son.
I said I wished I had a son.
She said her little boy would be entering the first grade next fall.
Then she was looking for a house for the two of them? She said there was a possibility that the boy's father would be joining them, but she wasn't sure of that.
I assumed they were having some sort of marital problems or something.
Thank you.
Miss gatherson, have you found that clients sometimes fantasize when looking for a new home? That people sometimes make things up in order for you to take them more seriously as buyers? Yes, it happens all the time.
Is it illegal for clients to do that? No, I don't think so.
Very well.
Thank you.
Your honor,may I readdress? Of course, counselor.
Miss gatherson,you testified that clients often stretch the truth when looking to buy or sell a house.
That's right.
In your experience, do prospective buyers sometimes write letters to clients in order to get a house? It happens.
Particularly when a house goes on the market in a trendy neighborhood.
Did karla miller write such a letter to a seller about a house? Yes, she did.
Your honor, I'd like to read that letter, if I may.
"Dear mr.
Levy.
I don't normally write letters to homeowners after viewing a home.
But your place was so special that I had to write.
My son, bailey, hasn't seen it but I know he would simply love it.
I think it's the kind of place we could both call home.
" Signed, "karla miller.
" karla miller also included a photo of bailey in this letter.
Do clients usually use photos of someone else's child in order to get a home? No.
They do not.
Hellman has asked to meet with me.
I imagine it's to offer a deal.
If I were him, I would.
Then you think the jury's going to rule in our favor? That's what he's afraid of.
Well, then there's no need to settle.
If she's found guilty, it's over.
Unfortunately, it's not over.
Karla has the right to appeal, and her attorney will probably do just that.
And that could take what, another year? Two? At least that.
I haven't slept for more than an hour since bailey W was stolen from us.
I wake up thinking it was a nightmare, and then I know it's not.
And I lie there and I wonder how it happened, why it happened and if there was anything that we could have done to stop her.
I don't know what hellman is going to offer, but an allocution could be a part of a settlement.
That would mean that she would have to stand up in court and say what she did.
I just want this to be over.
I want to know what she did to my baby boy.
And why.
Under the circumstances, my client will plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Here's the circumstances, doug: You're losing.
We'll also plead to abduction.
- That brings her to 20 years.
- The jury knows that a little boy spent his last few hours on this earth struggling for air and trying to claw his way out of a locked trunk.
We're looking at a death in the commission of a kidnapping.
That's 40 to 60 years.
You keep going for the maximum, and I promise you, I will appeal.
You know that.
Now get serious.
What's your bottom line? My bottom line? You've only got one thing that's of any interest to me and that's your client's ability to clear the ericson's name.
You get her to stand up in court, admit what she did, and how she did it.
And then maybe, in some way, this family can get on with their lives.
Jody had everything.
She had everything you could possibly want, and she didn't even appreciate it.
A great husband, a beautiful little boy and another on the way.
Limit yourself to the facts and tell us what happened the night of the abduction.
After rick walked me home and blew me off, I went back to the house after they turned their lights off and went to bed.
I crept up to bailey's room.
I picked him up and wrapped his blankie around him.
He barely even woke up.
Nobody saw us.
I thought I'd drive to the new house that night and bailey would be with me.
And then what, you would just live with this stolen child in bloomington and no one would find out anything about it? Miss miller, what in the world were you thinking? I wasn't thinking.
I'd been drinking and taking all these pills.
I just put him in the trunk.
I wasn't planning to leave him there for long.
I just wanted to get a few miles away before I put him in the backseat.
So I laid him inside, told him we were playing hide-and-seek, and I closed the trunk.
Then I went in the house to get my bag.
It was late.
I was drunk.
I thought I'd rest my eyes for just a minute before we left.
The next thing I knew it was raining.
It was light.
I heard sirens.
I went out and looked in the trunk, and bailey just lay there.
He wasn't moving.
He was cold.
I never meant to hurt him.
But it was just too late.
Are the people satisfied? We are, your honor.
Do the people have a sentencing recommendation? We do.
The people recommend 40 years.
That said, the court sentences you, karla miller, to 40 years for the kidnapping and murder of bailey ericson to be served in a maximum security facility.
everybody involved contributed to justice being served in this case.
I think they'll stay together.
- the ericsons? - Yeah.
I think you're being a little overly optimistic.
No, I really think they will.
They have a new baby on the way.
Is that what makes people stay together, babies? We need to stay on top of that.
shut up.
Yeah, well,don't get too comfortable 'cause you need to take you-know-who back to her crib.
- And that's my job? - Mm-hmm.
tonight ???? Can't she just stay in here tonight? Why? 'Cause you're shiftless and lazy? No.
Because I just really want us to stay together tonight, baby.
Please? yeah.
go to sleep.