Ben Butler was born in Carshalton but moved to a village in Cambridgeshire with his mother and stepfather at the age of two or three. He grew up believing his stepfather was his real father, and described his now-divorced parents’ relationship as “volatile”. He later returned to London, attending school in Carshalton and leaving with, in his own words, “not so good” grades in his GCSEs. He went on to work selling car parts for Audi and Volkswagen before moving through a number of unskilled jobs.¹

Butler’s criminal record told its own story. He had a string of convictions for assault, including two attacks in public on an ex-girlfriend, both of which he admitted. His background was not that of a man prone to restraint or gentleness.

Butler met Jennie Gray in March 2006 when he was out drinking at a club in Sutton. He got talking to her after her brother, who she was with, fell off a bar stool. The pair spent the night together and embarked on a casual relationship. Gray found out that she was pregnant about eight weeks later. She was a graphic designer who would later work in the City of London; Butler was, by the time Ellie was born, a stay-at-home father.

By his own account, Butler’s attitude to fatherhood was transformed the moment Ellie arrived. Before, he had described himself as a party animal who thought that babies were “f***ing boring” but he later said holding his daughter changed him. “She was just amazing. I held her in my hand. She was sucking on my finger,” he said. “With her it was different. I was really proud.” He said he had never felt that way about anything before in his life.

But what he claimed and how he behaved were two completely different things.

In February 2007, when Ellie was still a baby, she was taken to Epsom and St Helier Hospital after Butler noticed that she was “suddenly soft and limp”. The hospital team found Ellie had subdural haematomas as well as retinal haemorrhages, and she suffered seizures. It was also noticed she had injuries on her forehand and hand that were consistent with burns. She was just six-weeks-old.²

A child protection investigation was launched, and doctors and social workers concluded that the injuries were not accidental. The evidence pointed clearly to non-accidental trauma – the kind consistent with violent shaking. The Family Court subsequently found that, on the balance of probability, Butler had caused Ellie’s injuries and that Gray had failed to protect her. Ellie was removed from her parents and, in June 2007, placed in the care of her maternal grandparents.

Those grandparents, Neal Gray and his wife Linda, would become Ellie’s primary carers for the next five years. By all accounts they provided her with a loving, stable home, and she thrived under their care. For Neal Gray in particular, Ellie was not just a granddaughter; she was the child he was raising as his own.

In March 2009, Butler was found guilty of grievous bodily harm in respect of Ellie’s injuries and was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Croydon Crown Court by Judge Timothy Stow QC.

Butler did not accept his conviction. He protested his innocence throughout and, along with Jennie Gray, mounted an appeal. In 2010, their efforts bore result, although not because Butler was proven innocent, but because of shifts in medical understanding around infant head injuries. New medical evidence cast doubt on the strength of the case, and the judges ruled there was “no rational basis” a jury could reject the possibility of an “unknown cause” of Ellie’s injuries. The Court of Appeal also ruled that the trial judge’s summing up contained “serious misdirections”. On 17 June 2010, Lord Justice Moses led a panel of Court of Appeal judges in quashing Butler’s conviction.

The quashing was not a finding of innocence. It was a finding that the original conviction was unsafe in light of evolving medical science. However, the distinction was lost in what followed. The Serious Case Review later concluded that the Family Court’s decision to exonerate Ben Butler, combined with its subsequent order for agencies to be sent a letter to that effect, had a very significant impact on how agencies could protect his children from that point in time onwards. Butler’s exoneration and the judge’s statement about him being a victim of a miscarriage of justice had the effect of handing all the power to the parents.

Armed with his quashed conviction, Butler wasted no time in launching a campaign to regain custody of Ellie. Butler and Gray embarked on a high-profile publicity campaign to get Ellie back. Butler began a relentless media campaign claiming that false allegations had led to his daughter being removed from the family. He even appeared on TV show This Morning.

Behind the scenes, the legal battle was ferocious and deeply unequal. Butler and Gray were given legal aid to the tune of £1 million. The grandparents, on the other hand, spent their entire life savings of £70,000 trying to defend themselves. Neal and Linda Gray fought as hard as they could to keep Ellie safe, but they were outgunned financially and, ultimately, judicially.

In July 2012, the matter came before Mrs Justice Hogg in the High Court’s Family Division. Despite the concerns raised by police, social workers, and Ellie’s own grandfather, Mrs Justice Hogg sided with Butler and ordered Ellie returned to her parents’ care. The Family Court overturned an order which had previously protected Ellie from her parents, and went so far as to declare that any injury caused to Ellie had been “purely accidental”.

Neal warned the judge she would have “blood on your hands”.³

A Serious Case Review later found that Sutton Children’s Services felt “powerless to act” following the High Court’s ruling, and that Mrs Justice Hogg’s judgment had gone much further than simply quashing Butler’s previous conviction. In her eyes, he had been entirely exonerated as a victim of a miscarriage of justice. That had the effect of telling social services to “back off”, despite their ongoing concerns about returning Ellie to her parents.

Ellie was returned to her parents in November 2012. She was five-years-old, and she barely knew them. The contrast with the grandparents who had raised her must have been immense. When Gray arranged for her parents to see Ellie, they were stunned by her appearance. Neal remembered: “Her appearance changed. She had grown thin and gaunt. She had sunken eyes and dirty, matted hair.” She asked when she could “come home.”⁴

Ellie began attending Avenue Primary Academy in Sutton, but her attendance quickly became a source of serious concern. Teachers noticed she was repeatedly absent from school. The school’s headteacher, Alex Clark, said staff had concerns about the family and had offered the parents help which they did not accept. Butler and Gray would not meet teachers to discuss why Ellie had missed periods from school. They simply made up various excuses including “upset stomach, mum has interview, unwell over the weekend, sick in the night, and sore throat.”⁵

When Ellie did attend, staff noticed unexplained injuries. There was bruising to her forehead and an eye injury. Teachers observed the marks, raised concerns, and documented what they saw, but the power of Mrs Justice Hogg’s ruling effectively tied the hands of anyone who might have intervened. The message that had been sent to every professional in the network was clear: do not challenge these parents.

In October 2013, Ellie suffered a fractured shoulder blade but neither Butler nor Gray sought medical attention. Then on the morning of 28 October 2013, Jennie Gray left for work as a graphic designer in the City of London. Ben Butler was alone with Ellie at the family home on Westover Close, Sutton. What happened in the hours that followed has never been fully described by Butler, who has consistently denied responsibility.

At 12:46AM, Butler tried to call Gray at her office but reached voicemail and sent a text asking her to “answer”. Her colleague Tracey Bernstein said in a statement that the way Gray got up and left the office was “just not right”. Another former workmate said she had seen Gray looking “agitated” on the phone.⁶

Minutes later, Gray was caught on CCTV dashing out of her office, near the Old Bailey. She sent a text to her manager saying she had left because she was “feeling unwell”. She hailed a taxi and rushed back to Sutton. Paramedics were called about two hours later.

When emergency services finally arrived, they found Ellie on her bedroom floor. She was cold and unresponsive, lying beside a small pink child’s stool. Butler claimed she had fallen, but medical evidence suggested her injuries were caused by being thrown against a wall or hit with a “blunt weapon”. She was taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting, where she died.

A post-mortem examination revealed the true horror of what had been done to her. Ellie had suffered skull fractures from at least two severe impacts. Skeletal pathology evidence showed that she had suffered four distinct periods of injuries throughout her short life – evidence that the violence had not begun on the day she died.

While Ellie lay dying, or was already dead, Gray set about covering her partner’s tracks. She washed clothing stained with Ellie’s blood and helped fabricate a cover story that Ellie had fallen accidentally. The prosecution alleged that Gray and Butler made the 999 call knowing that their daughter was already dead.

Ben Butler was charged with the murder of Ellie while Jennie Gray was charged with child cruelty and perverting the course of justice. The trial opened at the Old Bailey in May 2016. Butler’s defence counsel suggested that Ellie had suffered fatal head injuries when she fell from a stool while mimicking Peppa Pig, a children’s cartoon of which she was reportedly a fan.⁷

The defence asked whether Ellie might have jumped from a bed, fallen backwards, and struck her head in the manner depicted in the show. The pathologist who had carried out the post-mortem, Professor Anthony Risdon, was unequivocal in his response. He said that he had seen a large number of head injuries in children, had never come across a scenario like that, and had never come across a short distance fall that resulted in a similar injury. He concluded that Ellie died from a “considerable blunt impact to the head”, and noted there was a “strong possibility” that four marks on her jaw were caused by gripping.

The trial also heard evidence about Butler’s character. Jurors watched recorded footage from a camera found in the parents’ bedroom which showed Ellie present in the room while her father directed an abusive tirade at someone down a phone. She was seen in her pyjamas with a thick bandage on her leg while her father shouted off-camera.

Butler’s behaviour in court did little to help his case. He stormed out of the dock after accusing a pathologist of cremating Ellie “behind our back”, shouting: “You took samples and cremated her behind our back. You hid evidence.”⁸ When he took the stand in his own defence, he delivered a tirade against both his current trial and his original 2009 conviction. “It’s a disgrace,” he told the court. “Make no mistake about it.” He accused the prosecution of using the same pool of medical experts across multiple cases, claimed those experts were incapable of impartiality, and insisted evidence had been lost. He also complained that he was being tried for “arguing with my wife” rather than for his daughter’s murder – a remark that drew little sympathy from those following the proceedings.

Gray’s position was complicated. She had admitted perverting the course of justice in helping to cover up what had happened, but denied child cruelty. She was at work as a graphic designer in the City of London when Butler allegedly murdered their daughter. The prosecution argued that her devotion to her partner had overridden her concern for her daughter. Gray told the Old Bailey she had visited Butler in prison 190 times since he was charged with murder.

Tragically, Ellie’s grandmother Linda Gray died on the first day of the murder trial, having never seen justice served. Neal Gray was understood to be too ill to give evidence. The couple who had loved and raised Ellie for years were robbed, in different ways, of the chance to see the case through.

On 21 June 2016, the jury at the Old Bailey returned its verdict. Ben Butler was found guilty of murder. Following the guilty verdict, Butler shouted out: “I’ll fight for the rest of my life. Unbelievable,” before adding: “I want to be sentenced now so I can fight in the Appeal Court.” He said: “I will fight forever to prove this wrong. My daughter was jumping in the house. I’m 100% not guilty.” Gray, from the dock, said: “Big mistake. Spend another 10 years proving you wrong.”⁹

The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Wilkie, was not swayed. He described Butler as a violent, ill-tempered, domineering man who had attacked Ellie with “lethal violence” and then arranged the scene. Butler was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 23 years. Jennie Gray was jailed for 42 months after being found guilty of child cruelty and admitting perverting the course of justice.

The conviction of Ben Butler triggered a cascade of official scrutiny, not just of the man himself, but of the system that had sent Ellie back to him.

The Serious Case Review was published on 21 June 2016, immediately after Ben Butler’s conviction. Christine Davies, the Chair of Sutton Safeguarding Children Board, said: “The serious case review concluded that the Family Court’s decision to exonerate Ben Butler of harming Ellie in 2007, combined with its subsequent order for agencies to be sent a letter to that effect, had a very significant impact on how agencies could protect his children from that point in time onwards.”

Yet the review was itself hampered from the start. Beyond furnishing the Serious Case Review with necessary court orders, Mrs Justice Hogg and other members of the judiciary refused to cooperate with it. In response to calls for accountability, a spokesman for the Judiciary stated that if a judge errs in law or on the facts, the remedy is to appeal, and that referring a judge’s decision to an extra-judicial body would be incompatible with the principle of judicial independence.

Neal Gray, speaking after the inquest into Ellie’s death, said that any input from him or his late wife Linda during Ellie’s short life had been “ignored”. He called for a full public inquiry, telling BBC Radio 4: “I want it all open above board and I want everybody to answer. Everybody failed Ellie, completely and utterly.”¹⁰

A senior coroner later said her “preliminary view” was that the way social services had handled the case were issues that needed to be investigated.

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Sources:

Irish Times, 5 January, 2005 – “Gardai and Public in Search for Missing Cork Boy”

The Daily Mirror, 6 January, 2005 – “Gardai Hunt Missing”

Irish Times, 6 January, 2005 – “Divers and Soldiers Called in to Search for Boy”

Irish Times, 6 January, 2005 – “Search for Missing Cork Boy Called Off Till Morning”

The Sun, 6 Janaury, 2005 – “Riddle of Missing BMX Boy Robert”

Irish Times, 7 January, 2005 – “I’m Here Because I Know What they’re Going through”

The Sun, 7 January, 2005 – “A Community United in Fear”

The Daily Mirror, 8 Janaury, 2005 – “Paedo Hunt”

Irish Ties, 8 Janaury, 2005 – “Kidnap Fears”

Irish Times, 8 January, 2005 – “Gardai Change Focus”

The Daily Mirror, 10 January, 2005 – “A Body Would Give Us Peace”

The Daily Mirror, 11 January, 2005 – “Parents; Agony”

The Daily Mirror, 12 Janaury, 2005 – “Robert’s Last Ride”

Irish Times, 12 Janaury, 2005 – “Bodies Found”

The Daily Mirror, 13 January, 2005 – “Murder of Little Rob”

The Daily Mirror, 13 January, 2005 – “Monster”

The Daily Mirror, 13 January, 2005 – “Murder of Little Rob”

Irish Times, 13 January, 2005 – “Boy’s Mobile Phone”

The Daily Mirror, 14 January, 2005 – “Murder of Little Rob”

Irish Times, 14 January, 2005 – “A Boy Who Would Stand Out”

Irish Times, 14 January, 2005 – “Port Mortem Results Show Robert Died of Asphyxia”

The Sun, 14 Janaury, 2005 – “In Ireland”

Irish Times, 15 January, 2005 – “Murdered Cork Schoolboy”

The Daily Mirror, 16 January, 2005 – “Last Trip”

Irish Times, 17 January, 2005 – “Man Charged with Manslaughter”

The Daily Mirror, 18 Janaury, 2005 – “Death of Little Rob”

Irish Times, 28 January, 2005 – “Robert Accused Moved”

The Daily Mirror, 22 April, 2005 – “It’s Murder”

Irish Times, 29 November, 2005 – “Student Admits Manslaughter of Cork Boy”

The Daily Mirror, 30 November, 2005 – “I Didn’t Murder Robert”

Irish Times, 30 November, 2005 – “Holohan’s Father Stunned”

The Daily Mirror, 1 December, 2005 – “Holohan Murder Trial”

The Daily Mirror, 2 December, 2005 – “Holohan Murder Trial”

The Daily Mirror, 3 December, 2005 – “I Loved Wayne”

The Daily Mirror, 8 December, 2005 – “Dead in 30 Seconds”

The Sun, 8 December, 2005 – “Robert Was Found Curled Up Like a Baby”

The Sun, 10 December, 2005 – “Tragic Rob Had No Time to Struggle”

The Daily Mirror, 14 December, 2005 – “Did Killer Mean to Harm Robert?”

Irish Times, 14 December, 2005 – “Jury Finds O’Donoghue Not Guilty”

Irish Times, 15 December, 2005 – “Friendship, Death and fAmilies”

Irish Times, 24 January, 2006 – “O’Donoghue Gets Four Years”

Irish Times, 24 Janaury, 2006 – “Questions Remain”

Irish Times, 25 January, 2006 – “DPP Felt Semen Evidence Could Prejudice Case”

Irish Times, 25 January, 2006 – “Locals Surprised”

The Daily Mirror, 19 October, 2006 – “We’re Disappointed”

Irish Times, 16 January, 2008 – “Wayne O’Donoghue Released from Prison”

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Audio Sources:

“Brian Coulter sentenced to life in prison for killing 8-year-old Kendrick Lee”

“Sheriff Gonzalez gives update on three kids he says were found abandoned , with skeletal remains”

Sources:

Houston Chronicle, 26 October, 2021 – “Mother, Boyfriend, Charged in Gruesome”

ABC – 24 KVUE, 27 October, 2021 – “Absolute Fear”

ABC 13, 12 April, 2024 – “Teen’s 911 Call”

11 ABC, 3 March, 2022 – “Fear in Their Eyes”

FOX – 2 WJBK, 27 October, 2021 – “Relatives of Boys”

The Daily Beast, 27 October, 2021 – “Boyfriend Broke Kid’s Jaw”

MailOnline, 27 October, 2021 – “Tragic Boy, 8, Whose Decomposing Body”

The Sun, 27 October, 2021 – “Sick Display”

Houston Chronicle, 28 October, 2021 – “Neighbours Smelled Odor”

MailOnline, 28 October, 2021 – “Two Girls were Saved”

NBC – 36 WCNC, 28 October, 2021 – “I Checked on Them”

ABC – 24 KVUE, 29 October, 2021 – “Vigil Held”

MailOnline, 29 October, 2021 – “Father of Houston Eight year Old”

Houston Chronicle, 31 October, 2021 – “Abandoned Children Fell Through Every Crack”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 5 November, 2021 – “Bond Raised”

The Independent, 10 November, 2021 – “House of Horrors”

Houston Chronicle, 28 November, 2021 – “Boys go from Loved to Abused, Abandoned”

MailOnline, 19 January, 2022 – “Houston House of Horrors”

CBS – 11 KHOU, 25 February, 2022 – “CPS Report Sheds Light”

Houston Chronicle, 25 February, 2022 – “Texas Received Abuse and Neglect Reports”

Houston Chronicle, 10 January, 2024 – “Man Accused”

Houston Chronicle, 9 April, 2024 – “Brian Coulter Pleads not Guilty”

CBS – 11, 11 April, 2024 – “Brian Coulter Capital Murder”

Houston Chronicle, 12 April, 2024 – “He Was Only Bones”

Houston Chronicle, 15 April, 2024 – “Brian Coulter Found Guilty”

Houston Chronicle, 19 April, 2024 –“For this Veteran”

Houston Chronicle, 30 April, 2024 – “Mother of 8-Year-Old”

FOX 26, 11 April, 2024 – “Brian Coulter Trial”

ABC 13, 10 April, 2014 – “Capital Murder Trial”

Ebony Simpson was only nine-years-old, a bright, happy girl living in Bargo with her parents, Peter and Christine, and her two older brothers, 15-year-old Zac and 14-year-old Tas. She was a Year 4 student at Bargo Primary School, where her teachers and classmates all adored her. Described as timid yet cheerful, Ebony had a warm and easy-going nature.¹¹

To those closest to her, she was lovingly called “Bonny.” Ebony dreamed of becoming a police officer, a goal her family and friends were sure she could achieve. Whether playing netball, spending time with her friends, or simply being her creative self, Ebony seemed to excel at everything she tried.¹²

On August 19, 1992, the ordinary rhythm of Bargo’s quiet life was broken forever. It was a Wednesday afternoon, and Ebony was on her way home from school. Normally, her parents or brothers would pick her up or meet her at the bus stop, which was just 400 meters from her house. But on this day, Peter and Christine were visiting relatives in Wollongong, and Zac had planned to meet Ebony at the bus stop after his own school day. Unfortunately, Zac’s bus ran late, leaving Ebony to make the short walk home alone.

At around 4:00PM, Ebony stepped off the school bus at the corner of Bargo and Arina Roads. It was a familiar and safe path, one she had walked many times before. Wearing her blue tracksuit and a pink parka, she was easily recognizable, even from a distance. Her pink school bag dangled from her small shoulders as she began the walk toward her home. A neighbour, Nellie Abela, saw her walking in the direction of her house, and for a fleeting moment, everything seemed perfectly normal. But that was the last time anyone saw Ebony alive.¹³

When Zac arrived home a short while later, he expected to find his little sister there waiting for him. Instead, the house was eerily quiet. Ebony wasn’t home. Perplexed, he called their mother, Christine, to see if she had picked Ebony up after school. When she told him she hadn’t, Zac’s concern deepened. He immediately started calling Ebony’s friends, hoping she had gone to a classmate’s house or stopped somewhere along the way. But every call ended in disappointment—none of her friends had seen her after school.¹⁴

By the time Christine returned home, panic had set in. She and Zac scoured the streets of Bargo, calling Ebony’s name and stopping at every house in the neighbourhood. When their search turned up nothing, Christine made the call every parent dreads—she phoned the police to report her daughter missing.

Detective Sergeant Rod Grant was one of the first officers on the scene, and he wasted no time organizing a search. Police from Camden and Picton were dispatched, along with the dog squad and local SES volunteers. A police helicopter hovered overhead, its searchlights cutting through the darkening skies as the hours passed.

Missing person flyers were quickly printed and distributed across the area. They described Ebony as standing 130 centimetres tall with waist-length fair hair, dressed in her blue tracksuit and pink parka, and carrying a pink school bag. Police and volunteers went door-to-door, questioning neighbours and urging them to report anything unusual, no matter how minor it might seem.Bottom of Form

As the search for Ebony Simpson continued, a neighbour came forward with a lead that would ultimately expose the grim truth. The neighbour recalled seeing a man, approximately 18 or 19 years old, working under the bonnet of a dirty white or cream-colored car on Arina Road—the same road Ebony had walked down just before vanishing. The car, possibly an early model Mazda or Datsun, was described as being in poor condition, with visible stains from a smoky exhaust pipe.

The man had been standing just ahead of Ebony, positioned at the corner where she would have turned onto Arina Road. He was described as wearing a black, long-sleeved top and black jeans, standing around 177 centimetres tall, with straight, shoulder-length brown hair and a thin build.

This detail wasn’t an isolated observation. Police revealed that a car matching the description had been spotted multiple times in the area in the days leading up to Ebony’s disappearance. Witnesses also reported seeing a similar car loitering near primary and high schools in surrounding suburbs over the past few months. Although police couldn’t confirm whether it was the same car, they couldn’t rule it out either.¹⁵

When Ebony’s mother, Christine, heard the description of the man, she recalled seeing someone similar in the days before Ebony’s disappearance. With her help, detectives created a composite sketch. The image was quickly circulated, and soon after, multiple calls came in identifying the man as 29-year-old Andrew Peter Garforth.

Garforth was an unemployed father of two with a history of petty crime that included breaking and entering, theft, and traffic violations. While his criminal record spanned years, it held no indication that he was capable of the unspeakable acts he would soon admit to. Garforth had been living in Bargo for just five weeks, having skipped bail in Western Australia. His family had recently moved to the area, settling just 3 kilometres from the Simpson home.

When police located Garforth, they brought him in for questioning. What they didn’t anticipate was the chilling confession that followed. Garforth calmly admitted to abducting, raping, and murdering Ebony Simpson, the horrific details with disturbing detachment.

On that fateful day, Garforth had positioned himself near his car, pretending to tinker under the bonnet. When Ebony walked past, he grabbed her from behind and forced her into the car’s trunk before speeding off. He turned the music up loud to drown out any sound Ebony made from the trunk.

He then drove to a remote dirt track along Charles Point Road, where he moved her from the trunk to the front seat. Ebony, terrified and pleading for her life, begged him to let her go home. But Garforth had no intention of showing mercy. At the edge of a dam nearby, Garforth bound Ebony’s hands and feet with wire before subjecting her to a brutal rape.

He recollected: “She asked me if I was going to let her go and I said I don’t know.” But Garforth did know. After he was finished with the sexual assault, he threw Ebony into the water of the dam while she was still bound. Despite being a strong swimmer, Ebony was unable to keep herself afloat with her hands and feet restrained. Garforth stuffed her school bag with rocks and tossed it into the dam as well, hoping to sink any evidence that might implicate him. As Ebony struggled and screamed for help, he walked away, fully aware she would drown.¹⁶

Shockingly, Garforth later returned to the area where he had abducted Ebony and joined the search efforts organized by the local community. He walked among concerned neighbours and police officers, feigning worry for the little girl he knew would never return home.

Following the confession, Ebony’s body was retrieved from the dam.

The murder of Ebony Simpson didn’t just shatter the small town of Bargo—it sent shockwaves of grief and outrage across the entire nation. Among those most devastated was Andrew Garforth’s wife, Denise. The mother of his two young sons, aged one and three, Denise was blindsided. At the time of Garforth’s arrest, the couple had been planning to expand their family with a third child.

In an emotional interview with A Current Affair, Denise expressed her disbelief. Despite feeling deeply hurt and destroyed by what had happened, she confessed that she still loved Andrew. She described him as an amazing father to their children, struggling to reconcile the man she knew with the monster who had taken Ebony’s life.

While Denise and the Simpson family reeled in emotional agony, Andrew Garforth faced the brutal reality of prison life. Shortly after being placed in Long Bay Jail, he became the target of inmate fury. In one incident, he was attacked while sitting alone in a locked holding yard. Days later, a group of inmates broke into his locked cell to attack him again. Following these attacks, Garforth was transferred to Goulburn Jail, where he was placed under protection.¹⁷

Garforth’s murder trial began in January, but there would be no drawn-out legal battle. In court, he pleaded guilty to the murder of Ebony Simpson, offering no defence, no explanation, and no remorse.

Mr. Justice Newman, who presided over the case, made the decision to exclude victim impact statements from Ebony’s family, acknowledging that the effects of such a crime were too obvious to need articulation. “Plainly enough, the effects of these events upon the victim’s family would be horrific,” he remarked. He also described Ebony’s final moments as unimaginably terrifying, emphasizing the cruelty and coldness of Garforth’s actions.

During sentencing, Justice Newman noted Garforth’s disturbing lack of emotion, both during his crime and in his confession to investigators. He recalled Garforth’s “callous and casual comment” about what he had expected to happen to Ebony as she struggled in the water, a detail he found “chilling to the extreme.”

The courtroom was packed on the day Garforth was sentenced, and when Justice Newman handed down a life term without the possibility of parole, the room erupted in cheers and applause. Garforth became only the fifth person in New South Wales history to receive such a sentence—a reflection of the severity and inhumanity of his crime.¹⁸

The sentence brought a measure of justice to Ebony’s family, but it could never erase the profound loss they felt. Andrew Garforth’s life sentence ensured that he would never walk free, but the scars of his actions would linger indefinitely—on the Simpson family, the town of Bargo, and an Australia that would never forget Ebony Simpson.

Their mother, Vivian Saucedo, had been married to Huntsman’s cousin. Frankie and Shaun had been in foster care when their mother was pregnant with Delylah. Then in 2013, their mother took her life by stepping in front of a car at just 33 years old. Their father, Shaun Sr., briefly cared for all three but was arrested in early 2014 on drug and weapons charges. Knowing he’d likely face prison time, he left the children with Huntsman without informing their grandparents, hoping to keep them out of the foster system.¹⁵

At the time, Huntsman lived with her husband, Chris Criswell, and her own children, including a teenage son and ten-year-old twins, making for an already busy household. Soon after the children arrived, Gonzalo Curiel, a 16-year-old friend of Huntsman’s son who’d been kicked out of his father’s home, began spending time there.

Initially, his visits seemed harmless, but they grew frequent and then extended into overnight stays. Curiel was being groomed by Huntsman, leading to her husband Chris moving out and filing for divorce. The household dynamic shifted further when Huntsman’s teenage son was sent to juvenile hall following a robbery conviction, and Curiel moved into Huntsman’s bedroom.¹⁹

It took more than a year for the children’s family to track down Huntsman. They’d never met her and had difficulty reaching her by phone. Shortly after Thanksgiving in 2015, Huntsman and Curiel made a disturbing decision, packing up and driving north with Huntsman’s children and Frankie. Noticeably absent were Delylah and Shaun. During the drive, Frankie asked Huntsman about her siblings, and Huntsman replied that she’d “put them up for adoption,” a sudden and suspicious explanation.²⁰

The unsettling mood in the car was intensified by a foul odour wafting from a large plastic storage bin in the back of the vehicle. The children couldn’t fully understand its meaning, but the odour lingered as an ominous reminder. When they arrived in Redding, northern California, Huntsman and Curiel unloaded the bin and other items into a storage unit, where the smell began to dissipate in the vehicle.²¹

Locked away, the horror of what was hidden inside the bin waited in that cold, anonymous storage space, yet to be discovered.

Once arrived in Quincy, the family moved in with a friend of Huntsman’s brother. She reconnected with a friend, April Lorenzo, and while here, they told her that Frankie was mentally disabled and forced her to stay out of sight. April noticed that Frankie wasn’t allowed to eat and when they went for a walk, she was forced to walk barefoot on a steep, rocky, trail. After the family left, April called child protective services to share her belief that Frankie was being abused.²²

When CPS and a sheriff’s deputy arrived at Huntsman’s apartment on Main Street, they quickly spotted her vehicle parked outside. As they approached, they made a shocking discovery inside the locked car: Frankie, wrapped in a blanket, shivering in the cold air. But the scene only grew more disturbing.²³

The little girl’s body was covered in bruises and scars. She was severely malnourished, her fragile bones visible under her skin. Her injuries were untreated and severe, including a broken collarbone and finger, a dislocated jaw, and some missing and loose teeth. When detectives questioned Huntsman about Frankie’s condition, she blamed the injuries on Frankie herself, while Curiel claimed ignorance.²⁴

Frankie was rushed to the hospital, where doctors noted her severely low weight of just forty pounds. She was found to have open sores, lice, and endured a five-hour surgery to repair her fractured shoulder. Meanwhile, detectives took Huntsman and Curiel in for questioning. After being read his Miranda rights, Curiel initially admitted to having a role in Frankie’s injuries. But as he began to understand the seriousness of the situation, he grew cautious, ultimately asking for a lawyer and ending the interview.²⁵

With no further delay, authorities arrested both Huntsman and Curiel—Huntsman going to jail, and Curiel, just 17, sent to a juvenile detention facility in Butte County. The horror of Frankie’s condition was only the beginning. That afternoon, Huntsman’s mother called police and asked where Shaun and Delylah were, but detectives were taken aback; they had no knowledge of any other children.²⁶

When they spoke with Huntsman, she told them that “some agency” had taken custody of the children, but Curiel was more forthcoming. He said that the two children were dead in a storage unit in Redding. Detectives arrived at the facility off Tarmac Road and opened up the storage unit rented by Huntsman. As the detectives stepped inside, an overwhelming stench hit them up the face. They had hoped Shaun and Delylah were still alive, but the smell told them otherwise.

Towards the back of the unit was a duffel bag and a blue storage bin. It was evident that this was where the stench was coming from. The bin was sealed shut with duct tape around the lid. The detectives opened up the container and found the decomposed bodies of Shaun and Delylah.²⁷

During the autopsies, it was determined that Shaun stood at 45 inches tall and weighed just 29.5 pounds, while Delylah measured 37 inches and weighed a mere 18.75 pounds—so low that it was off the charts.

Dr. Mark Super, the forensic pathologist, concluded that both children had died from blunt force head injuries compounded by severe malnutrition. Their bodies were covered in bruises, exhibiting both old and new injuries. Dr. Super observed that their internal organs were significantly smaller than expected for their ages, a clear indication of malnutrition. “The body starts to take protein away from the organs,” he explained, highlighting the severity of their condition.²⁸

Delylah’s autopsy revealed a blood clot on her brain, indicating trauma, as well as swelling in the brain and a nearly healed fracture in her right humerus. Additionally, her lungs were inflamed, and she was beginning to develop pneumonia. While the primary cause of her death was attributed to head trauma, her malnutrition played a critical role in her overall decline.

In Shaun’s case, the pathologist found a blood clot between his scalp and skull, along with a healing broken rib. His body bore numerous bruises on his arms, legs, penis, torso, and head, painting a grim picture of the abuse and neglect he had endured.

Huntsman and Curiel were charged with two counts of murder, three counts of torture, one count of child abuse and two counts of conspiracy, one to commit torture and one to commit child abuse. During the investigation, it was revealed that child welfare authorities had visited Huntsman four times in the past year to investigate neglect allegations.²⁹

The complaints centred around issues like poor supervision, improper feeding, lice infestations, and filthy living conditions. Among the callers was Huntsman’s own mother, Joy, who called child protective services multiple times. During one visit, Joy found all the children infested with lice while Huntsman did nothing to remedy the situation.

Despite Joy’s desperate calls for help, the young children continued to endure a life of neglect and poverty, crammed into a cockroach-infested one-bedroom apartment with scant food and little supervision. Initially, there were no reports of physical abuse, but that changed when Shaun confided in a social worker that Curiel had spanked him and his sister with a belt. Huntsman dismissed these warnings, claiming Curiel was simply a neighbourhood kid she was helping care for.

The troubling circumstances surrounding Huntsman’s household drew scrutiny on several occasions. One report indicated that the children were left home alone, raising safety concerns. On another occasion, Frankie’s school alerted authorities, citing signs of malnutrition. School officials noted that Frankie always wore the same unkempt clothing, was infested with lice, and displayed clear signs of neglect. During lunchtime, she would pile food onto her plate and eat quickly, indicating severe hunger and food insecurity. In stark contrast, Huntsman’s biological children appeared to be in much better condition.

When social workers visited Huntsman’s home, they discovered that no legal guardianship had been established for the children. Although Huntsman expressed her desire to care for them, the absence of legal documentation complicated matters further. As the Department of Social Services continued its investigation, they learned that the children’s grandparents were actively searching for them, unaware that they were living with Huntsman. During conversations with social workers, Frankie offered a heartbreaking insight into her situation: “Nobody else wanted to take us, so she took and adopted us.”

In August, another troubling report surfaced. A caller alleged that Delylah had been tied to the bed as punishment for urinating in her pants. When a social worker visited, the home was found to be extremely cluttered and filthy, with cockroaches crawling along the bedroom walls. During this visit, the social worker noted bruises and scratches on Shaun’s head, while Frankie sported a shaved head from repeated lice treatments. All the children had bloody legs from scratching bug bites. Despite these signs of distress, the children told the social worker they felt safe, and the case was closed.

On a subsequent visit, the social worker found the children dressed in long sleeves and pants on a warm day but felt it inappropriate to ask them to lift their clothing. After two unsuccessful attempts to follow up with Huntsman, the case was closed.

Another report came in October, alleging that the children were left alone at night and had a lice infestation. This caller reiterated concerns about Delylah being tied to the bed and the inappropriate relationship between Huntsman and Curiel. Alarmingly, this incident did not prompt a visit from a social worker.

As the weeks passed, social workers struggled to reach Huntsman. They left three voice messages, knocked on her door three times, wrote a letter, and checked the benefits database to see if the family’s address had changed. Child Protective Services was not the only agency that had visited the household; the Salinas police had been called twice in six months regarding child abuse allegations. On the first visit, no one answered the door. The second time, they found one child asleep and the other two doing homework.

In February, Tami Joy Huntsman pleaded guilty to two counts of murder as well as torture and abuse. During the court hearing, more details about the case were revealed. It was believed that Delylah and Shaun were murdered after Frankie stole a bagel on thanksgiving. The children had been starved, and on Thanksgiving, Huntsman had received a free turkey for her family. And indeed, her biological children and Curiel sat down and ate the turkey, but the Tara children weren’t allowed any. That night, Frankie took the bagel which led to a fatal beating of all three children. Frankie was almost beaten to death, but Delylah and Shaun weren’t so lucky. Frankie had made a full recovery, although she had psychological scars that would last a lifetime.³⁰

Gonzalo Curiel stood trial in April of 2018. Evidence was presented from his cell phone, showing photographs of Frankie naked in the shower. The Tara children were often locked in the small bathroom where they were beaten with golf clubs and shower heads. Huntsman’s biological children testified against him, detailing the abuse Shaun, Delylah and Frankie had endured. Frankie also testified, relaying how they were often locked in the bathroom naked and sprayed with cold water. She recalled how Curiel broke her jaw by punching her, and said that her arm was broken as Huntsman held her down and Curiel spanked her with a belt.

Curiel was convicted of all of the charges against him. Huntsman returned to court in May, and she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Curiel was sentenced to three life terms but because of his young age, he could seek parole in 2040.

Watch our documentary on this case at YouTube:

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Audio Sources:

“Alyssa Bustamante takes stand to appeal guilty plea”

Sources:

Jefferson City News-Tribune, 22 October, 2009 – “Search Underway”

Associated Press, 23 October, 2009 – “Hundreds journaSearch for Missing 9-Year-Old”

Jefferson City News-Tribune, 23 October, 2009 – “Hundreds Turn out for Search”

Lompoc Record, 23 October, 2009 – “Police Find Body of Missing 9-Year-Old”

Associated Press, 24 October, 2009 – “15-Year-Old Charged with Murder”

Columbia Daily Tribune, 24 October, 2009 – “Body of St. Martin’s Girl Recovered”

Associated Press, 28 October, 2009 – “Suspect to Stay in Custody”

Associated Press, 28 October, 2009 – “Mo. Community Mourns”

Columbia Daily Tribune, 29 October, 2009 – “Crowd Lines up to Say Goodbye”

Jefferson City News-Tribune, 16 November, 2009 – “Dozens Turn Out”

Associated Press, 18 November, 2009 – “Mo. Teen Dug Grave”

The Fulton Sun, 19 November, 2009 – “We Will Seek an Adult Like Punishment”

Jefferson City News-Tribune, 19 November, 2009 – “Teen Has History of Mental Health Issues”

Associated Press, 20 November, 2009 – “Atty Seeks Psych Care”

Columbia Daily Tribune, 24 November, 2009 – “Missouri Model Tested”

Associated Press, 9 December, 2009 – “Mo. Teen Charged”

Associated Press, 28 April, 2010 – “Teen Murder Suspect to Wear Own Clothes”

The Fulton Sun, 22 October, 2010 – “Tears, Hugs Mark One Year Anniversary”

Associated Press, 22 June, 2011 – “Statement Blocked”

St. Paul Pioneer Press, 9 Janaury, 2012 – “Missouri Teen Pleads Guilty”

ABC – 33 KSPR, 10 January, 2012 – “Teen Alyssa Bustamante Pleads Guilty”

Associated Press, 11 January, 2012 – “Mo. Teen Pleads Guilty”

St. Paul Pioneer Press, 5 February, 2012 – “Missouri Teen Describes Killing of Neighbour”

Associated Press, 6 February, 2012 – “Mo. Teen Killer Had Troubled Family”

Associated Press, 7 February, 2012 – “Prozac no Defence”

Associated Press, 7 February, 2012 – “Mo. Teen Described as Thrill Killer”

Associated Press, 8 February, 2012 – “Mo. Teen Gets Life”

Associated Press, 14 February, 2012 – “Muddy Clothes”

Jefferson City News-Tribune, 28 October, 2012 – “Mother Files Wrongful Death lawsuit”

Associated Press, 13 November, 2013 – “Missouri Teen Appeals Guilty Plea”

Jefferson City News-Tribune, 31 January, 2014 – “Bustamante Testifies”

The Fulton Sun, 11 March, 2014 – “Judge Denies Bustamante Appeal”

Associated Press, 25 July, 2017 – “Woman Settles Lawsuit”

Jefferson City News-Tribune, 26 July, 2017 – “No Winners in Latest Bustamante Legal Wranglings”

By 2011, Jori was seven-years-old and a second-grade student at South Thibodaux Elementary School where he was well-known and adored by his teachers and classmates alike. Principal Diane Smith spoke fondly of him, saying: “Everyone loved him. Even though he could not express in words his feelings to us, he did it with his smile.”

Jori had simple pleasures that brought him immense joy. He loved the taste of cherry lollipops, the root beer, ice cream, and chocolate-chip cookies. His eyes would light up at the sight of bright colours, and his family said that he loved all kinds of animals. Jori weighed no more than 50 pounds, and his physical limitations meant that he could only speak a few words. For his mother, Jesslyn, Jori was the center of her universe. “He was my star,” she said. “He was always the top priority in my life.”³¹

On August 14, 2011, a man was walking down a residential street in Thibodaux when something unusual caught his eye. Just outside a modest single-family home, there was an object lying on the ground. At first, he couldn’t quite make out what it was, but as he drew closer, a chilling realisation struck him—it was a human head. Shocked and horrified, the man immediately dialled 911.

When the police arrived at the scene, they were confronted with a nightmare. It was the head of a little boy. When they approached the home the head was placed outside, they found Jeremiah Lee Wright covered in blood. He was calm, disturbingly so, as if the horror around him was nothing out of the ordinary. He made no attempt to flee or resist as he was taken into custody.

Inside the home, the police discovered the full extent of the tragedy. In a trash can, officers found what remained of Jori’s small, body. His lower body, legs, and one forearm were stuffed inside, alongside his torso. When Jesslyn returned home, she found it surrounded in crime scene tape and police vehicles. When she identified herself, a captain and minister told her that her son had been killed and dismembered, and Wright was the main suspect.

At the family home, forensic experts were called. They found evidence to suggest that Jori had been decapitated over the kitchen sink with a meat cleaver. Jori’s body was transported to the medical examiner’s office where it was found that he had been bludgeoned, decapitated and dismembered. He had been hit with a heavy object with such force that it had caused “excessive bleeding in the head.”³²

After Wright was arrested, he waived his right to an attorney and made a full and detailed confession to the murder of his son. He told detectives that on the morning of the murder, Jesslyn had left the home to have her truck repaired so she could take Jori to the doctor that afternoon. He said that he killed Jori about 30 minutes after Jesslyn left the home. He said that he had left Jori’s head outside the home so that Jesslyn would see it when she arrived back home. He said that he “wanted her to feel stupid when she saw the head.”

During the confession, Wright never discussed a motivation. According to Jesslyn, however, while they had been together for ten years, she had planned to leave him for some time. “I didn’t get out fast enough,” she said. The police had been called to the family’s home a month before after they got into an argument about money, although neither pressed charges in the end. Wright had also been arrested a few times in the past, but none of the charges were ever violent in nature.

Jesslyn told detectives that she had recently told Wright that she was kicking him out of their home. She further revealed that Wright had talked about killing Jori before. In a sworn statement from September of 2004, Jesslyn had said that Wright wanted six-month-old Jori dead. She said he had called her saying “he was tired of seeing the baby suffer and wanted him dead and that I needed to do something about his suffering and end it all.” Wright then hung up, but he called back and told Jesslyn he loved her but “still felt the same about the baby.”³³

Mark Chatagnier, a friend of Wright’s, had his own theory behind the motivation. He commented in the media that Wright was unemployed, and Jesslyn often left him to care for Jori, even when she wasn’t working. “She would take off and totally expect Jerry to do everything,” he said. Once Mark’s comments made it back to Jesslyn, she denied that this was the case. She said that she cared for another disabled person to pay the household bills, and was still around to care for her son. However, when detectives spoke further with Wright, he said he had gotten to the point where he was “tired” of taking care of his disabled son.

The family’s home became a makeshift memorial that grew with each passing day. People who knew and loved Jori and strangers alike left down candles, toys, and cards of condolences which eventually extended five feet beyond each side of the house.³⁴ On 22 August, some 500 people came together for a candlelight vigil in Peltier Park in Jori’s memory. Jesslyn emotionally read aloud a letter to her son: “In heaven they say there is no pain, no illness. People say you’re walking up there now, and I believe them. I just can’t wait to see it myself.”³⁵

Jori’s funeral was the next day at St. Genevieve Catholic Church. It was an open casket, with Jesslyn commenting: “The funeral home did a good job. They made him look like he was just sleeping.” Jori was dressed in a red and grey shirt over a white, long-sleeved turtleneck. From the church, a hearse took Jori to the nearby cemetery. Nearby, a dozen motorcycle riders revved their engines. The family had requested the escort because Jori loved to hear the motorcycles start. Jori was then buried in an aboveground crypt with the epitaph: “No words… Just a smile.”³⁶

On August 27, Wright was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder. Some more details about Wright’s confession were revealed. He had told detectives that he had recently realised that he wasn’t actually caring for his son but instead a CPR dummy.³⁷ He said that certain signs had recently made him realise that he had been living with a CPR dummy instead of his son. Those signs, he said, included being defected and urinated on the morning he killed “the dummy.” Defence attorney Kerry Cuccia requested a competency evaluation for his client to determine whether he was sane at the time of the murder.³⁸

It was determined that Wright was not competent at the time of the murder, and that he couldn’t understand the charge against him or assist in his defence. Wright was subsequently moved to a mental health facility just north of Baton Rouge. He remained here until August 2012 when doctors said they believed that he was now competent to stand trial. Wright pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and a sanity hearing was scheduled for January. During the hearing, it was revealed that he had told a guard he wasn’t worried about his trial “because I have a good family and a good lawyer. I’m on easy street.”³⁹

During the hearing, more information about Wright’s comments were revealed. He had said to detectives he believed that the CPR dummy was put into his home as a government experiment to reach him about life.⁴⁰ The judge ultimately ruled that Wright was incompetent and unable to assist in his defence. He was ordered to be returned to the state Department of Health and Hospitals and the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health Systems.

In February 2014, Wright was ruled not guilty by reason of insanity by state District Judge John LeBlanc. During a court hearing, several experts on mental illness concluded he was delusional and believed that his son wasn’t real and had been replaced by a CPR dummy. It was a rare decision by the judge, and Wright was returned to the state hospital in Jackson where he would be held indefinitely.⁴¹

Joe Clyde Daniels was born on the 30^th of July, 2012, and from an early age is was apparent that he was different from other children. Non-verbal and eventually diagnosed with autism, he faced unique challenges. There were certain things that were difficult for Joe, such as loud noises, especially thunder which terrified him. At Centennial Elementary school, he was making progress with his speech-language pathologist.

After Joe was reported missing, the search for him began at the family home along Gerner’s Creek Road. It was apparent that Joe wasn’t in the home, so the search expanded outwards. Garner’s Creek Road was rural, just on the outskirts of Dixon, and was surrounded in fields and woodland.  Joe couldn’t have wandered into the town from the family’s home, but could have been anywhere in the nature that surrounded the road.⁴²

With their eyes scanning the vicinity, the detectives moved slowly and called out Joe’s name, well aware that they might not receive a verbal response. Every now and then, one of  the detectives would pause and listen intently for any sound that might lead them to Joe. As the hours passed, the search area was widened.⁴³

Joe’s father, Joseph, went out in the car with Detective Sarah McCartney in search of him. Along the way, however, he mentioned something that struck the detective as strange. He said Joe had urinated on the floor the night before, but made it clear he hadn’t punished him. It was an odd statement to make and the detective made a note of it.⁴⁴

As the search pressed on, detectives received a tip from a local man. He said that he saw a child walking along the side of the road not too far from the family’s home. This was at about 1AM – five hours before Joe was reported missing. However, he said he believed that the child was older than Joe, and didn’t think to call police at the time. This reported sighting gave way to a terrifying scenario. What if Joe was abducted after he left the family home?

Over at the family’s home, Joseph and Krystal were being cared for by members of the sheriff’s department, who described them as being exhausted and anguished.  They had been told by detectives that they couldn’t partake in the search because their scent could throw off the sniffer dogs.  Joe’s father, Joseph, spoke with News 2 over the phone, and said he was afraid that his son was “lonely, tired, scared and confused.”⁴⁵

He referred to him as “Baby Joe” – something the entire family called him – and said that he had snuck out before. However, it was always during the day, and Joe would always be found nearby.  He never wandered off too far, and he certainly didn’t go into the dense forests that surrounded the family’s neighbourhood.

Joseph said  he believed that his son had seen them unlock their padlocked door, and was able to copy them. He suggested that Joe awoke in the middle of the night, unlocked the door and left. He and Krystal considered it possible that Joe left that night in search of his truck driver grandfather, who he was extremely close with.

But what happened to him after that was a complete and utter mystery.  However, it remained a mystery for only a few more hours until a shocking confession was made.  And the truth was much more horrific than anyone could have ever imagined….

Detectives had become suspicious of Joseph and the comments he made in the vehicle had lingered in their minds. He was brought in for questioning and vehemently denied any involvement in his son’s disappearance. However, after several hours, he seemingly had a change of heart and the conversation took a dark turn. He said that he never actually believed Joe was his biological son, and referred to him as “that boy.”⁴⁶

He said he believed that Krystal had been cheating on him, and they had gotten into an argument the night that Joe disappeared. But that wasn’t the catalyst that set him off. He said he was awoken that night by his stepson, Alex, who said that Joe had urinated on the floor. According to Joseph: “I was just so angry with him.”  He said that he hit Joe with a closed fist several times in the head and a few times in the face.⁴⁷

After he discovered that Joe was dead, Joseph said he drove him out to a field and disposed of him there. However, he then changed this version of events and said he threw him over a bridge into water. As he said, he chose to do this because his son “loved water.”  Joseph and detectives went out that night for Joseph to point out where he had disposed of his son’s body, but he couldn’t be found.

While the community was stunned by Joseph’s arrest, they were even more stunned when Joe’s mother, Krystal, was arrested on the 9^th of April. Detectives accused her of knowing that Joe was being abused and knew that he had been killed, yet failed to report it.  In fact, Krystal didn’t just know that her son was killed, she was there when it happened. Krystal told detectives she had heard Joe screaming the night before he was reported missing.⁴⁸

Krystal said she went into his bedroom and found Joseph on top of Joe with a closed fist. Joe was motionless. She said that Joseph then swung at her, and told her that if she ever said anything, he would kill her.  Instead of protect her son, or call for help, Krystal simply left the room and went back to sleep. The next morning when Joe was reported missing, she never mentioned what she had seen.

As Joseph was charged with first-degree murder and Krystal was charged with aggravated child neglect or endangerment, the search for Joe pressed on. But now, the volunteers were searching for a body.

The prosecution and defence were preparing for the upcoming trial when Krystal recanted the statement she made about Joseph standing over Joe with a closed fist. Her incriminating statement was key to the prosecution, as there was no physical evidence in the case. There was only a missing boy and two confessions. In fact, Joseph himself had already recanted his confession which meant the prosecution’s case was going to be a struggle.⁴⁹

The murder trial for Joseph Daniels began on the 3^rd of June, 2021, and he was standing trial separate from his wife, Krystal. District Attorney Ray Crouch laid out the prosecution’s case, telling the jury that Joseph admitted to slamming his son’s body onto a coffee table after he urinated on the floor. Defence attorney Jake Lockert said during his opening statements that the confession was coerced. He described his client as “mentally ill” and said that he was told by detectives that they weren’t going to stop the interrogation until he told them what they wanted to know.⁵⁰

When Sheriff Jeff Bledsoe testified, he also admitted that there was no direct evidence that would indicate that Joe was murdered, or even dead. He said that the search efforts were very extensive and meticulous, and that every single tip they received was followed up on. However, there was no evidence that proved that Joe was dead.⁵¹

After he stepped down, the courtroom fell silent as Joe’s 11-year-old half-brother, Alex, took to the witness stand. He was going to serve as the prosecution’s lead witness, and he had a very disturbing story to share. Alex testified that he awoke Joseph after Joe urinated on the floor that night. Joseph came into the bedroom and beat Joe with his fists. After that, the brothers went back to sleep.

Alex was overcome with emotion, as he said that some time later, he awoke to the sound of a loud bang. According to the prosecution, this was Joseph beating Joe again, specifically, it was him slamming his body on the coffee table. Alex stayed in the bedroom for a few minutes before he went into the living room where he saw Joe lying on the floor. Alex testified that he witnessed Joseph carry Joe out of the back door.

He watched from the side of the house, but said that Joseph spotted him and threatened to kill him if he told anybody what had happened. Joseph told Alex to go back inside, but Alex said he continued to watch, and saw Joseph carry Joe down the drive, and down the road out of view. When he awoke the next morning, Joseph told him that his little brother had run away from home.

His testimony was followed by Morgan Bowen, a family advocate who was at the Child Advocacy Center when Alex was spoken to. She said that Joseph had taken Alex there, and that she had witnessed a very strange interaction. Joseph had put bunny ears behind his stepson’s head, and thenR asked: “How’s that for child abuse?”⁵²

This wasn’t the only peculiar thing that happened. She told the court that in their intake paperwork, the words “victim accompanied by” were at the top of the page. When Joseph read that, he became upset, and commented: “It’s not like I abuse my own children.”  He further commented that he hoped detectives would find “that boy” in reference to Joe.

Testimony was then presented about Joseph and Krystal’s relationship, with various messages presented. These messages showed that Krystal was planning on leaving Joseph in the days leading up to Joe’s disappearance. She had a new boyfriend, and had recently told him she had ripped up her marriage license. The prosecution rested and the defence opted out of calling any witnesses.⁵³

The jury ultimately found Joseph Daniels guilty of the murder of Joe Clyde Daniels. They also convicted him of second-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, filing a false report and evidence tampering. Joseph Daniels returned to court on the 14^th of September to be sentenced.  During the hearing, probation and parole manager, John McGranahan, took the stand to talk about his pre-sentence report for Joseph.

These records included statements Joseph had made about feeling “lots and lots of anger” as well as thoughts about killing and threatening other people.  Joseph had said to the probation and parole manager. “I don’t remember a lot of it, but apparently I told someone I wanted to eat their face off.”  The report also included references he had made to planning to kill school peers, and bite people’s noses off.

He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 51 years. Krystal Daniels entered a no contest agreement just before her rtial was ready to begin.  She was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

While both Joseph and Krystal remain behind bars, Joe’s body still remains unrecovered. David Raddar, the director of EquuSearch Midwest said in April 2022: “A lot of areas have been covered, and yet here we still are, four years later, still looking for that piece of the puzzle that we so desperately need and want.”

For more information on this case, including 911 calls, and interrogation footage, our documentary is available below:

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Audio Sources:

“AUDIO: Cory Bigsby’s 2022 911 call reporting Codi Bigsby missing”

“Body cam, interrogation videos show father’s alleged confession to murdering his son”

“Cory Bigsby Jailhouse Interview: Hampton man convicted of killing his son Codi Bigsby”

“Jury finds Cory Bigsby guilty of killing his son, Codi Bigsby”

“Full briefing: Hampton chief says Codi Bigsby case was mishandled, but says charges for father still“

“Full Presser: Hampton Police provide update on search for missing 4-year-old Codi Bigsby”

“Murder trial begins for Hampton father charged with killing 4-year-old son, Codi Bigsby”

Sources:

ABC – 13 WVEC, 31 January, 2022 – “We Are Searching Frantically”

Associated Press, 31 Janaury, 2022 – “Police In Virginia City Search for Missing Boy”

CBS – 17 WNCN, 31 January, 2022 – “4-Year-Old Hampton Boy Codi Bigsby Still Missing”

ABC  -13 WVEC, 1 February, 2022 – “Family and Neighbours React to Four Year Old”

CBS – 6 WTVR, 1 February, 2022 – “Police on Missing Virginia Child”

CBS – 3 WTKR, 1 February, 2022 – “Community Comes Together to Search for Missing 4-Year-Old”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 3 February, 2022 – “Cory Bigsby Taken into Custody”

CBS – 3 WTKR, 4 February, 2022 – “What We Know About Codi Bigsby”

The Virginian Pilot, 5 February, 2022 – “We Will Not Stop”

CBS – 3 WTKR, 6 February, 2022 – “Community Hold Vigil”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 7 February, 2022 – “Memorial Grows”

Daily Press, 12 February, 2022 – “Shift in Search for Boy”

MailOnline, 13 February, 2022 – “Police Hunt for Missing Four Year Old Boy”

Atlanta Daily World, 16 February, 2022 – “Search for Missing 4-Year-Old”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 22 February, 2022 – “Police Share New Photo”

CBS – 3 WTKR, 8 March, 2022 – “New Billboards Go Up”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 5 July, 2022 – “Cory Bigsby Faces 30 Charges”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 14 July, 2022 – “Codi Bigsby’s Family Announcing $25,000 Reward”

CBS – 3 WTKR, 15 July, 2022 – “He’s Innocent”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 31 March, 2023 – “Cory Bigsby Ordered”

CBS – 3 WTKR, 31 March, 2022 – “Court Documents Detail Why Judge Ordered Mental Evaluation”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 8 June, 2022 – “Cory Bigsby Murdered Son”

Daily Press, 15 June, 2023 – “Codi Bigsby’s Aunt”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 21 June, 2023 – “Cory Bigsby Free on $80,000 Bond”

CBS – 11 WJHL, 8 November, 2023 – “Cory Bigsby Confessed to Burying Son’s Body”

Daily Press, 10 November, 2023 – “Bigsby’s Statements Admissible”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 17 January, 2024 – “Virginia Lawmaker Introducces Missing Child Alert”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 6 March, 2024 – “Bigsby Murder Trial Updates”

3 WTKR, 6 March, 2024 – “He Looks Frightened”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 6 March, 2024 – “Codi’s Mom Testifies”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 7 March, 2024 – “Bigsby Murder Trial Updates”

CBS – 3 WTKR, 7 March, 2024 – “Codi Bigsby’s Brother Testifies”

Daily Press, 7 March, 2024 – “What Happened to Codi Bigsby”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 8 March, 2024 – “Bigsby Murder Trial Updates”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 8 March, 2024 – “Bigsby Murder Trial Updates”

CBS – 3 WTKR, 8 March, 2024 – “Correctional Officers Testify”

Daily Press, 9 March, 2024 – “Boy, 7, Testifies in Bigsby Murder Trial”

Daily Press, 10 March, 2024 – “Prison Writings Implicate Bigsby”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 11 March, 2024 – “Bigsby Murder Trial Updates”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 12 March, 2024 – “Cory Bigsby Found Guilty”

CBS – 3 WTKR, 12 March, 2024 – “Jury Begins Deliberating”

The News & Observer, 13 March, 2024 – “Dad Killed Child Months Before Reporting him Missing”

CBS – 3 WTKR, 14 March, 2024 – “He’s an Incredibly Poor Liar”

ABC – 13 WVEC, 18 June, 2024 – “Cory Bigsby Gets Max Sentence”

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Audio Sources:

“Alfie Steele: Neighbours repeatedly called 999 to report sounds of ‘a child in distress'”

“Alfie Steele: Mother and partner convicted of killing nine-year-old boy after months of abuse”

“Alfie Steele: ‘Evidence of a culture of abuse, cruelty and torture’- West Mercia police”

Sources:

Birmingham Mail, 15 March, 2021 – “Family Pay Tribute to Much Loved Alfie Steele”

MailOnline, 15 March, 2021 – “Police Launch Murder Probe”

Birmingham Mail, 12 January, 2022 – “Droitwich Mum and Boyfriend Charged”

MailOnline, 26 February, 2022 – “Mother, 34, and Boyfriend, 39, Face Trial”

Birmingham Mail, 2 May, 2023 – Midlands Boy, Alfie Steele, Had 50 Injuries”

The Daily Mirror, 2 May, 2023 – “Boy, 9, Died After Being Held in Cold Bath”

The Daily Telegraph, 2 May, 2023 – “Nine Year Old Boy Died During Lockdown”

Birmingham Mail, 3 May, 2023 – “Alfie Steele’s House was Show Home Downstairs”

Birmingham Mail, 3 May, 2023 – “Alfie Steele’s Murder Accused Mum Dialled 999”

Worcester News, 3 May, 2023 – “Jury Hears of the Desperate Efforts to Save Alfie”

Coventry Telegraph, 4 May, 2023 – “Boy, 9, Found Lifeless in Dark Dirty Room”

Worcester News, 10 May, 2023 – “Trial Hears Witness Saw Alfie Not Breathing”

Birmingham Mail, 11 May, 2023 – “Epilepsy Played no Part”

Worcester News, 11 May, 2023 – “Defendant’s Dad Asked Her What Have You Done”

Worcester News, 13 May, 2023 – “Teaching Assistant Saw Alfie Steele Being Screamed at”

Birmingham Mail, 16 May, 2013 – “School’s Concerns About Nine Year Old”

Birmingham Mail, 16 May, 2013 – “Alfie Steele Had Non Accidental Bruises”

Worcester News, 16 May, 2013 – “Teachers Concerned”

Worcester News, 16 May, 2023 – “Alfie Steel’s Neighbour Called 999”

Worcester News, 17 May, 2023 – “Jury Hears Mum on Trial for Murder Lied”

Worcester News, 18 May, 2023 – “Neighbours Heard Piercing Screams”

Bromsgrove Advertiser, 19 May, 2023 – “Some of Alfie Steele’s Injuries Came From Adult Who Lost Control”

Birmingham Mail, 22 May, 2023 – “Neighbours Heard Screaming Boy”

Worcester News, 22 May, 2023 – “Mum Accused of Murder”

Birmingham Mail, 23 May, 2023 – “Alfie Steele Murder Accused”

Birmingham Mail, 24 May, 2023 – “Murder Accused Mum Carla Scott”

Birmingham Mail, 5 July, 2023 – “Alfie Steele”

Worcester News, 5 June, 2023 – “There is No Evidence”

Worcester News, 8 June, 2023 – “Pair Accused of Murder Lost their Temper”

Worcester News, 8 June, 2023 – “Barrister Says Dirk Howell is not a Nice Man”

Worcester News, 9 June, 2023 – “Man Found Guilty of Nine Year Old Alfie Steele Murder”

Birmingham Mail, 13 June, 2023 – “The Heartbreaking way Droitwich Paid Tribute”

Birmingham Mail, 13 June, 2023 – “Faces of Killer Mum and Boyfriend”

MailOnline, 13 June, 2023 – “The Layabout Mother”

Worcester News, 13 June, 2023 – “Dirk Howell’s Criminal Past Revealed”

Birmingham Mail, 15 June, 2023 – “Carla Scott and Boyfriend Dirk Howell Jailed for Killing”

Birmingham Mail, 26 January, 2024 – “Alfie Steele Death”