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WWW.MY-SUBS.CO
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He was so different
when we was just dating.
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But once he had that ring on my finger...
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he changed into a monster.
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I probably would not have ended up here...
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had I just went ahead and divorced him.
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I am...
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a good person.
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I realize I took a life,
but it was an accident.
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If I could do it over,
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I would do everything differently.
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This is a true story.
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I'll start it off like that.
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I just wanted to rebel.
I wanted to cause chaos.
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I looked over at him.
We'll see who kills who, huh?
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I made the choice.
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I took his life.
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It's something
that I've never intended to do,
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I wish I didn't do.
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I knew I was gonna get out
of that car and murder those two men.
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As he kneeled in front of me,
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all I remember is pulling the trigger.
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I'd killed them both.
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I'd stabbed them to death.
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Everybody keeps to themselves
around here.
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You see people coming and going.
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And it's always been kind of the same.
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They seemed like a fairly normal family.
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Nothing ever stood out about them
or their activities.
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If there was a lot of trouble
we would notice that, you know,
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but there was never
any kind of trouble over there.
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They just did normal family things
as far as I could tell.
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My name is Linda Couch.
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I was sentenced to 20 mandatory to life.
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I was born and raised
in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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I met Walter at a wedding reception.
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And I kept noticing him.
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He was just standing around
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while all the music was playing,
39
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and I told my mom, I said,
"Who is that?"
40
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And she said,
"I really don't know who he is."
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I said, "Well, I'm going to go over
and introduce myself."
42
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So, I...
43
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I took a little taste of my mom's beer,
44
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just to give me a bit of courage
to go and talk to him.
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And the more we talked, the more we seemed
to have some things in common,
46
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and that's when he asked me to go out
with him the next day.
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I said, "Sure,"
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and, um, from there it just took off.
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He was wonderful.
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Clean-cut and very good-looking...
51
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and I was just amazed that he...
52
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even wanted to date me.
53
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And it didn't take long
before he proposed.
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And, of course, I said yes.
55
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And I should have thought it out better
than that,
56
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but being a teenager
and thinking you're in love...
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Yeah, I said yes...
58
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and, um...
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now, I wish I had never met him.
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After we got married,
we moved into his house.
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At first, Walter was okay,
um, very caring...
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until I got pregnant with my first child.
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Then things started to happen.
Um, his whole attitude with me changed.
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Walt was very brutal.
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He pushed me down the steps
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while I was still pregnant
with, uh, Roxanne.
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And when I brought Roxanne
back from the hospital,
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of course, all the parenting
was left up to me...
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and...
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every time she would cry,
he would get angry.
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And he would go off with his friends
and have a good time.
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I got pregnant again.
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And this time I had...
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another girl.
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Then, my son.
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But the one he hated the most
was my first one, Roxanne.
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The slightest little thing
that she would do,
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he would beat her with his...
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With his belt.
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Um, I... I tried to defend her many times
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and I'd get the same thing.
I'd get... I'd get beat up.
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He cracked my nose.
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I've had black eyes...
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and...
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I would take a lot of the beatings
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that would have...
would have been Roxanne,
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rather than have her hurt.
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This... This just went on
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my entire time that I was married.
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He never touched the other two.
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It was just Roxanne and me.
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He would bring his...
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his so-called friends over to the house.
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And one night...
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I was awakened...
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by being shook...
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and when I opened my eyes,
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all... all his friends were
in the bedroom.
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And I said, "Whoa, why did you wake me up?
Why are they all in here?"
100
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He said, "Well...
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they want to have a part of you too."
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I was raped by all his friends
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and Walt just watched...
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and laughed.
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Anytime his friends came over,
that would happen.
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I felt trapped.
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Slowly, but surely,
he was bringing me to a breakdown.
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Well, that was going to be my escape
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by being in college and away from him
for a while.
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That angered him the most
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because he would no longer have control
over me.
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He wanted me to quit the program and...
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just stay home with him.
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For the first time in my marriage,
I told him no.
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"Absolutely not. I'm not quitting."
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Walt had blue eyes,
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but he was so mad
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that I swear his eyes were black.
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That's how angry he was.
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And I knew then that,
"Oh, my God, I'm in trouble."
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He went into the bedroom
where we had our new purchased gun.
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And I knew if I didn't do something,
I was going to be killed.
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And all I could think about was,
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"Oh, my God, if he kills me,
what's going to happen to Roxanne?"
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Um...
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I truly feel that...
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00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,000
she would have... been killed.
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So, I went... I went after him,
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00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:06,280
and the only thing I could think of
was to kick him in the groin...
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and he...
131
00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:15,560
let loose of the gun a little bit,
enough that I could grab it,
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00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:17,880
and as I was backing away...
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I tripped over the back part of the bed,
134
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and the gun went off
and then shot him in the head.
135
00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:44,200
And that's where I panicked.
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I wasn't right.
137
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Totally right at that time.
138
00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,920
After everything,
I... I wasn't thinking straight.
139
00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,400
But when the police did show up,
I told them everything.
140
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I didn't leave anything out.
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I gave them the gun.
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I let them know what happened.
143
00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:13,320
And how it happened.
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00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:45,840
Before a packed courtroom,
Linda Couch cried.
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Occasionally, she shook her head.
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00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,160
Constantly beneath the table,
she clutched a rosary.
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00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:55,200
Defense attorneys say
Linda Couch's life was anything but calm.
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00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,080
Married at 16,
they say she was tormented and abused
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00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:01,040
by a domineering husband.
150
00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,680
Last October, they say, he insisted
she drop her college classes.
151
00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,640
She refused and the tragedy occurred.
152
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They struggled, they fell,
the gun went off...
153
00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:14,440
and when it was over, Walter was dead.
154
00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:32,200
Linda Lee Couch's persona was,
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"Woe is me. Look at me.
I'm a victim here. I shouldn't be here."
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She certainly had a plan
to present herself as a victim.
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Did I see her as a victim?
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Absolutely not.
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My name is Pat Dinkelacker,
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and in the case of State of Ohio
vs. Linda Lee Couch,
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I was an Assistant Hamilton County
Prosecutor presenting the case
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on behalf of the people of Ohio.
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I was a prosecutor for 11 years.
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I had done murders before,
but this was a big deal.
165
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I believe...
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that, uh, she just no longer wanted
Walter Couch around.
167
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It did not matter to her
that he was the father of her three kids
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who needed him.
169
00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:28,800
She wanted a different life.
170
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And instead of choosing what is
the normal thing to do, a divorce,
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I think,
because of who Linda Lee Couch is,
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that she opted to take his life.
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As far as Linda, at trial,
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um, claims of abuse,
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my remembrance tells me
that she did claim some type of abuse...
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but I am not aware...
177
00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:03,880
today, and I was not aware in 1984,
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00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:08,720
of anything that I saw
that in any way would justify her actions.
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I've had black eyes.
180
00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:23,800
He cracked my nose.
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00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:28,600
He pushed me down the steps
while I was still pregnant with Roxanne.
182
00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,000
The slightest little thing
that she would do,
183
00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:35,440
he would beat her with his belt.
184
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:39,200
This just went on
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00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:41,840
my entire time that I was married.
186
00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:48,560
Some of the things she said,
I'm hearing for the first time.
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Very serious allegations,
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but we didn't hear that back in 1984.
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If you got black eyes,
if you got a cracked nose,
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if those things happened to you,
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00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,840
you needed to do something
right then and there
192
00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,000
to make sure that Mr. Couch,
number one, didn't do it again,
193
00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:12,720
number two, that you were safe,
and number three, to protect that child.
194
00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:16,240
Why all of a sudden, now,
195
00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:19,760
many, many years later,
are we hearing this for the first time?
196
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,200
Walt was very brutal.
197
00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:28,920
So, literally, I was raped...
198
00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:31,720
by all his friends...
199
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and Walt just watched,
200
00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:37,240
and laughed.
201
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:40,520
I've prosecuted. I've been a judge.
202
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,960
Anybody that claims that they are raped,
that's a serious thing,
203
00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:47,920
and it is to be taken seriously.
204
00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,560
Why didn't we hear this in 1984?
205
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,680
It could have been something that,
if it was true,
206
00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,440
and I'm not gonna be the one that says
I think she's making it up or whatever,
207
00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:02,040
but if it was true, Ms. Couch,
208
00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,400
why didn't we hear about it in 1984?
209
00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,320
I... I will say this, unequivocally,
210
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:14,400
that the evidence that was presented
at the trial, by us as well as them,
211
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:19,120
in no way conforms with
what she's saying today is what happened.
212
00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:27,080
At trial, we learned
that Walter Couch, the victim,
213
00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:29,560
he was... he was a pretty good guy.
214
00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,440
Because the family,
and I... I do remember this specifically,
215
00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:37,120
the family was devastated by his loss.
216
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:38,560
Absolutely devastated.
217
00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:43,800
He was a... a good guy
218
00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,600
who certainly did not deserve to die
the way he died.
219
00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:20,080
My father was a headstrong man.
220
00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:22,800
He had a temper...
221
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:29,000
that would just go from zero to 80
in a split second.
222
00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,520
One little thing would set this man off.
223
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,240
My name is Roxanne Raquel Wagner.
224
00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:48,880
I am the oldest daughter
of Linda and Douglas Walter Couch.
225
00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:01,600
I have lived in Ghana for three years now.
226
00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:06,320
And I fell in love with it.
I fell in love with the people.
227
00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:14,400
It's a peaceful country,
228
00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:16,840
and I live a peaceful life.
229
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:26,160
When I was a kid growing up,
230
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I looked just like my mother.
231
00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,360
And I wasn't what my father wanted.
232
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,280
I wasn't pretty enough. I was too big.
233
00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:45,240
Um, my grades weren't good enough for him.
234
00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:48,600
Anything I did wasn't good enough for him.
235
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,600
So I would be beaten every day.
236
00:20:55,520 --> 00:21:00,600
On my hands, on my backside,
on my legs, my arms. It didn't matter.
237
00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,080
He would take his belt off
and beat me with that,
238
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,280
to the point where I would just lay down.
239
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,560
I... I got used to it though.
240
00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:17,040
And, I mean, as sad as that is to say,
I got used to it.
241
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:19,320
Um...
242
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,520
And I just had to deal with it.
243
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:26,840
There was nothing else I could do.
244
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:28,760
I was a kid.
245
00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:36,800
Sorry.
246
00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:39,840
But...
247
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,120
But I tried to learn, okay,
what would set him off,
248
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:47,600
so I could try to avoid it.
249
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:50,960
But regardless of what I did...
250
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:53,280
it didn't matter.
251
00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:01,000
They all thought he was such a great man,
such a loving father,
252
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,720
because that was what he portrayed.
253
00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:08,080
But it was just all show.
254
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:10,760
It was just one big...
255
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:12,560
magic trick.
256
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:18,200
An illusion that he created
for everybody else.
257
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,480
Their marriage was a disaster
from day one.
258
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:30,200
He would hit her.
259
00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:36,600
He would shove her down to the ground.
I've seen it. I saw it myself many times.
260
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:38,480
Um...
261
00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,960
I've seen him throw her up
against the wall.
262
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,160
I've seen the bruises on her,
263
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,680
the hand marks around her throat
at times...
264
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:52,000
and...
265
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,440
as... as the years went on,
it got worse and worse and worse.
266
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,200
When I first heard about the case,
267
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,760
I guess, like a lot of people,
you're wondering what really happened.
268
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,880
It was face-to-face,
and we was fighting for the gun.
269
00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,160
I kept pleading to him to give me the gun.
270
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,240
"Give me the gun before someone gets hurt.
I know someone's gonna get hurt."
271
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,480
It then became, to me, very clear,
272
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:44,280
she took his life on purpose.
273
00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:47,520
She wanted him to die
and she shot him and killed him.
274
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,320
Walter Couch was shot
in the back of the head.
275
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:01,000
It wasn't a shot to the chest.
276
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:05,520
It wasn't a shot to the arm or whatever,
indicating any type of a struggle.
277
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,080
It was a shot that, in my opinion,
was an execution shot.
278
00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:19,640
I felt pressure...
279
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:22,640
to get the right thing done.
280
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:28,040
Convictions are hard to get.
281
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:30,120
We needed to show...
282
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:32,200
You can call it premeditation.
283
00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,480
Under the law, it's technically
"prior calculation and design."
284
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:40,040
And we knew we had to get
all the pieces of the puzzle together.
285
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,800
And the first piece of evidence goes back
to the deed.
286
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,320
A deed to the house
that Walter and Linda lived in.
287
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:14,840
They put in a deed
288
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:17,080
that it all goes to Walter.
289
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,640
Nothing to Linda Lee Couch. Nothing.
290
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,320
Shortly before the murder,
Linda Lee Couch got a hold of that deed,
291
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,080
cut it, glued it,
292
00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:31,680
retyped it, whatever,
293
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:35,160
put it together and deeded it
to Linda Lee Couch.
294
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,480
Well, then you go on to the next step.
295
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:46,640
She got the kids out of the house.
296
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:49,160
That was part of the plan.
297
00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,960
The kids couldn't be around the house
if she's gonna execute her husband.
298
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:57,480
So she knew exactly what she was doing.
299
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:01,400
Then it goes from there.
300
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,880
She goes to kind of a department store
in Cincinnati,
301
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,400
and she does what? She buys a gun.
302
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,960
She had never expressed any interest
in a gun before,
303
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:18,000
had never had a gun before
as far as our evidence showed us.
304
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,280
But she picks out
a .22 caliber semi-automatic.
305
00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:27,280
Asked the guy there how to load it,
he shows her how to load it,
306
00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:28,520
and buys some bullets.
307
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:32,680
And then there's no question,
308
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,240
on October 13th,
Walter Couch gets a bullet
309
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,720
to the back of his head and dies.
310
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,040
I didn't know at the time whether...
311
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:46,760
if anybody was gonna believe me
312
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:49,240
that this could be an accident.
313
00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,480
I do not believe that in any way,
shape or form,
314
00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:55,680
that that gun went off accidentally
315
00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,040
and that Linda Lee Couch
accidentally killed her husband.
316
00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:02,480
I truly believe that she did it
with prior calculation and design,
317
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,120
and I believe I will go to my grave
believing that.
318
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:29,960
She wanted out.
319
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:35,760
She wanted out of the... the marriage,
320
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:37,120
she wanted...
321
00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:40,000
out and away from him.
322
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:46,680
She had taken out credit cards.
She had taken out loans.
323
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:49,600
And my father never knew.
324
00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,240
So, she was sort of hoarding for...
325
00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:56,600
her future life...
326
00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:59,200
and she told me all this.
327
00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:04,040
I was with her when she went to the banks,
when she would withdraw the money.
328
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:10,120
Um, I knew she had hid things
up in the... the ceiling. I saw her do it.
329
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:13,760
I was her confidante.
I was her best friend.
330
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:16,920
Because she had nobody else to talk to.
331
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,480
But she just said,
she always just told me,
332
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,960
"Don't tell anyone,
so no one will take it away from us,"
333
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:27,200
and all of that.
334
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:33,600
Eventually, all these loans came due...
335
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:40,840
and the bank kept insisting
that he had to physically come in.
336
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:44,800
And she got scared.
337
00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:48,800
She knew if he went there, that was it.
338
00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:56,760
She had to keep him from discovering
everything that she had done.
339
00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:01,600
Because she knew that if he discovered it,
that was the end.
340
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,400
There was no coming back from that.
341
00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:09,600
I don't know what he would have done,
342
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:13,200
but it would not have been good
for any of us.
343
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,520
My name is Lawrence E. Whalen,
344
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,560
and at the time I was
the Assistant Police Chief
345
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,040
in charge of the operations bureau.
346
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,640
There was a dispatch came out
about 3:40 in the afternoon,
347
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:30,160
regarding some type of family trouble,
a domestic disturbance.
348
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:31,600
Routine type call.
349
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,680
Didn't seem to be anything too far
out of the ordinary.
350
00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,280
I pulled over here up on the curb,
got out.
351
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,160
There were two or three people
in the front yard.
352
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:57,360
One was the deceased's father,
Walter Couch Senior.
353
00:30:57,440 --> 00:30:58,640
They were yelling.
354
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,280
There was a lot of confusion,
a melee going on,
355
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:06,680
and the... the mother was shouting,
"She killed my son, she killed my son!"
356
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:11,520
There were several people in the backyard,
357
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:14,800
a couple of family members,
a couple of neighbors,
358
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:16,840
and they were looking...
359
00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:19,640
over into...
360
00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,800
what had been a vegetable garden
over the summer.
361
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:31,440
It was a level, even plot just turned over
362
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:34,600
as you would lightly
after a... a season of planting.
363
00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:45,000
And you could... From here, standing
at this point, you could smell death.
364
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,440
Ten days after he disappeared,
365
00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:08,920
Walter Couch's father
found his son's body.
366
00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,440
For two days, it lay wrapped
in a rug in the basement
367
00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:17,840
until Linda Couch decided to hide it
in the backyard.
368
00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:04,360
My name is Clint Eckberg,
369
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:09,280
and I was a juror
on the Linda Couch murder case.
370
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:18,560
Seeing Linda Couch at the table
in the courtroom,
371
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,680
there is the initial feeling
of, uh, sympathy
372
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,960
and, uh, concern for the individual.
373
00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:30,240
How could they have possibly gotten
themselves in this situation?
374
00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:35,200
But as the case unraveled,
375
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:37,480
and with the evidence presented,
376
00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:41,360
the thoughts in my mind
go more to, you know,
377
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:43,880
"This is a pretty cold-hearted act."
378
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:52,840
That children were used
to take it to the next step...
379
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:55,480
just... it's shocking,
380
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:57,840
uh, inhuman.
381
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:17,520
Carrying him out in a carpet,
382
00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:22,640
putting the carpet into the grave
out in the backyard...
383
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:29,760
would certainly, I would think,
stay with you for the rest of your life.
384
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,480
I knew that I didn't commit
the crime. I didn't kill him,
385
00:34:56,040 --> 00:35:00,400
but I felt just
absolutely horrible inside.
386
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:07,240
Because she had me,
unbeknownst to me...
387
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:11,800
bury my own father in the cold ground.
388
00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:18,120
It was very difficult for me to process.
389
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,040
It... It stayed with me for...
for a long time,
390
00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:27,360
until I literally
just had to forgive myself
391
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:32,040
because I... I realized I was just a...
I was just a kid at the time.
392
00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:41,920
That night's actions
literally destroyed an entire family.
393
00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:46,480
She said she felt trapped,
394
00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,480
but by her trying to get her freedom...
395
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:53,280
she trapped us.
396
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:23,480
She knew, without me being on her side...
397
00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:25,400
that...
398
00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:27,640
she had no one left.
399
00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:36,080
So, for her to see me up there,
against her,
400
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,840
I'm sure it felt like a big betrayal...
to her.
401
00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,200
I... I tried to defend her many times,
402
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:03,640
and my children always came first
with me.
403
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:08,200
If I had to take a beating, I took it.
404
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:14,920
Wow.
405
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:22,320
She never, everstood up for me.
406
00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:27,280
This is a woman
who literally walked out the door
407
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:31,760
whenever he was doing it
because she didn't want to see it.
408
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:36,440
So what she's saying
actually makes me mad...
409
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:40,760
because while he did beat her...
410
00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:43,360
He did. That is true.
411
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:49,240
She never, ever took anything for me.
412
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:53,520
For her to say that,
413
00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:57,680
you know, she...
she tried to get the gun away
414
00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,080
because she feared
that she would be killed
415
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:01,560
and then I would be killed?
416
00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:04,400
No. No, no, no, no, no.
417
00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:10,840
Linda's concern is always about Linda.
418
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:13,000
Not about me.
419
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:15,640
Never has been about me.
420
00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:21,320
I was raped by all his friends.
421
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,920
Anytime his friends came over,
that would happen.
422
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,160
She likes to tell stories.
She likes to get sympathy...
423
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:42,600
and she will tell anyone anything
424
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,240
if she thinks
she can get something from it...
425
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,400
but for her to say that...
426
00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:55,040
they had, all the time,
they had all these parties all the time,
427
00:38:55,640 --> 00:39:00,320
and that they basically,
they raped her every time,
428
00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,640
that just... that just didn't happen.
429
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:09,800
She could tell you a lie...
430
00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:13,200
and you would think it's the gospel truth,
431
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:17,400
because she has told so many lies
to so many people.
432
00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:19,320
She believes her own lies.
433
00:39:19,720 --> 00:39:22,000
She believes that...
that this all happened...
434
00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:23,640
in her head.
435
00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:49,920
I wouldn't say that I planned no murder.
436
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:55,000
I... I didn't mean to kill him.
437
00:39:56,360 --> 00:40:01,800
Um, I made a bad choice in putting him
in the backyard, yes,
438
00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:06,480
but if I'd been in my right frame of mind,
I would have called the police.
439
00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:09,320
Um...
440
00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:12,440
I didn't want any of this to happen.
441
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:19,080
I didn't... I didn't want him dead.
I just wanted him...
442
00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:23,360
to let us go.
443
00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:39,000
I wanted to leave,
but yet I was scared to leave.
444
00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:44,320
I didn't know what else to do.
445
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:50,680
When I was in trial...
446
00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:55,440
my attorney advised me...
447
00:40:56,720 --> 00:41:00,680
not to say anything about my...
448
00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:03,720
abuse from my husband.
449
00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:08,160
He said, "Without any evidence,
450
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:12,720
your word is just your word,
not anybody else's."
451
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:20,800
I truly believe if I'd been able to say
what I wanted to say in court,
452
00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:23,320
I would not be sitting here today.
453
00:41:28,240 --> 00:41:32,280
She never, ever stood up for me.
454
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:37,000
This is a woman
who literally walked out the door
455
00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:39,080
because she didn't want to see it.
456
00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:44,800
I hate to say this, but Roxanne is lying.
457
00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:49,280
I did try to, uh, protect her.
458
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:53,560
And many a times I had...
459
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:57,480
She may not have known it,
but I took a lot of her beatings.
460
00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:00,920
I don't understand why, um...
461
00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:04,520
Well, maybe I do understand
why she's lying.
462
00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:06,160
Um, Roxanne...
463
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:11,840
was under the thumb of my in-laws
464
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:15,920
for all those years
that she was... was growing up
465
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:17,440
while I was in here.
466
00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:20,560
When she testified, I...
467
00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:24,040
Even my attorney said to me...
468
00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:28,160
that all that she said in court
469
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:30,240
was rehearsed.
470
00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:34,000
It just didn't sound like her.
471
00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:36,760
I still love her.
472
00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:40,960
Um, that'll never change.
I love all my children.
473
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:52,520
I felt just absolutely horrible inside
474
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:57,360
because she had me, unbeknownst to me...
475
00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:01,960
bury my own father in the cold ground.
476
00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:06,960
Knowing that I helped bury him,
477
00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:10,840
it... it stayed with me for...
for a long time.
478
00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:20,000
They didn't help to dig. I mean,
they were outside when I was doing it.
479
00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:24,520
But they...
they didn't do any of the digging.
480
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:29,440
There was no way those kids would have...
481
00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:32,600
They were too young.
They, they... They couldn't have done it.
482
00:43:35,240 --> 00:43:38,120
And my state of mind at that point...
483
00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:44,960
I wasn't even thinking about
how it might affect the children.
484
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:48,680
Um...
485
00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:54,560
I wasn't even a... Didn't know
how it was going to affect me.
486
00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:57,600
Um...
487
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:25,840
I feel like I have served my time
and more than that.
488
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:31,240
It's very frustrating every time you go
489
00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:35,960
and they just give you that reason
490
00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:40,080
for denying you:
"Due to the nature of your crime..."
491
00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:43,440
Well, my nature of my crime
will never end.
492
00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:45,760
It's always going to be the same,
493
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:49,040
but what isn't the same is me.
494
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:51,160
I've changed.
495
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:55,960
I have done everything
that I can possibly do
496
00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:59,400
to prove I'm a better person.
497
00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:08,600
Once I'm released here,
I'm going to get me a job,
498
00:45:08,680 --> 00:45:10,560
and I'm going to have my own place.
499
00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:13,640
And just live out my life.
500
00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:18,720
Whether or not, uh...
501
00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:20,440
old friends...
502
00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:25,160
want to see me or not, or my children...
503
00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:30,640
I'm just going to continue to be who I am.
39923
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