Original subtitles

This is where Anthony used to play.

And my grandkids play here now.

My daughter and Anthony planted these,

and they come back every year.

My son loved to plant things,

strawberries and purple flowers

and lime trees and orange trees, and…

I kept thinking Anthony would come back,

and the trees kept growing and everything kept growing,

and he didn't come back.

I worried about him all the time.

That if he was safe or alive.

Is he scared?

I wouldn't know where to search,

or even if I found him if I would recognize him.

I thought, "Well, at least maybe when he's 17,

he'll be on the Internet

and I'll probably be able to find him," and…

I did.

Me and my daughter were sitting outside, enjoying a cool summer breeze,

and the phone rang, and it said Louisiana.

We decided to answer it,

and someone asked me, "Do you know Anthony Joseph Templet?"

Netasha and I were both in shock.

I said, "Is Anthony dead? Is he okay?"

Yes, he's fine.

Someone isn't alive, but it's not him. He needs help.

I was just so happy.

I was jumping up and down and screaming and, "They found him!" and…

but it's just, didn't turn out that happy after the end of the conversation.

Teresa, she fell apart.

She carried the "missing" poster around in her bag for 11 years.

Burt had made Anthony believe that Teresa was just a junkie

and had no use for him, didn't care about him.

So he had no reason to look for her.

Teresa wanted to talk to him immediately,

and so we were able to arrange some phone calls.

Hey.

-Hey, how's it going? -Good.

I found your mom.

Where's she at?

She's in Texas. She's been looking for you, for years.

You have a brother and a sister.

Um… I do?

Yeah.

I didn't know. I just thought I was an only child.

-Do you want to talk to her? -Yeah, I'll talk to her.

Anthony?

-What'd you say? -Hi, son.

-Is this real? -I was so…

This-- This is your mom.

Is your name something Webb?

I was Teresa Webb at once, yes, I was.

That was-- That's my maiden name.

Oh, okay.

And one day, on Halloween I was Spider-Mom

and you were Spider-Man.

-Because my last name was Webb. -I remember.

I've been looking for you since day one.

Since the day he took you out the back porch, I've been looking for you.

Anthony Templet had been kept from his family for 11 years.

That's according to what Anthony's sister told WAFB.

His sister got in touch with the station.

That was like a huge break in the story for us.

She said, quote, "He has been secluded and abused

all of these years by his own father."

"My brave brother had to defend himself for the last time against that evil man."

That confirmed that there were some off-putting things going on.

District Attorney Hillar Moore says his office is investigating.

We received some phone calls from different people,

providing different information,

and we'll continue to listen to whatever's out there,

wherever that leads us.

Some family members indicated that he as a child was kidnapped,

maybe from Texas, and was brought here and was living here.

That was something really unusual.

There was a Shayna Landry who contacted our homicide office

and made mention that Anthony was kidnapped by his father

when he was five years old.

I conducted a follow-up investigation.

Anthony was not listed in the NCIC.

It's a nationwide broadcast

that can have information, such as missing persons.

Burt did not have any warrants

or was wanted for any crimes.

Nothing at all.

There seems to be two conflicting sides of this initial story

that Anthony was taken.

The claims that were made

by Anthony's sister

and biological mother aren't standing up.

District Attorney Hillar Moore

says his office has been in touch

with several of Anthony's family members

to review how to move forward.

But the question remains: was this self-defense?

Got it.

You got it? Mom, that's heavy.

I live with my mother Patricia…

Old age sucks.

…and my sister Becky.

Our friends call us the Golden Girls.

Oh, we get along good.

It's real difficult sometimes, but we get along great.

We've always got along great.

The first time I met Burt I was going through a very difficult time.

I was going through a divorce when my kids, Matthew and Netasha,

were like nine and 12.

And I was working seven days a week

in a crab shack in Ingleside.

Burt was in town from Baton Rouge, working for an oil company.

He came into the restaurant, and I was not a very good waitress…

…and I forgot his salad.

I said, "I'm sorry. I forgot your salad,"

and he goes, "I don't eat that food group."

And I thought it was funny, and that's how I started hanging out with him.

It felt good to have fun for the first time in a long time.

It really did.

The first time I saw Burt, he had too big a smile.

It wasn't real.

And I thought "No, I'm not going to care for him."

"Besides, he doesn't look like the type of man she usually likes."

But, he kept on, kept on.

Burt was offered a job in Houston

after we lived together for a couple months,

and he asked if I wanted to go with him and I said sure,

that I would love to live in Houston.

Teresa wanted a better life for her kids

and everything, and thought it looked good and pretty and all nice and sweet,

and it wasn't.

We didn't really know him.

Apparently, not a lot of people did either.

El Burt-tro.

Wait, we can't see you. Can you come into the light?

He's walking in darkness.

What are some memories about Teresa?

Well, I don't remember a whole lot about her, honestly.

I just remember that she had blonde hair.

Remember any love for her? Do you remember any feelings for her?

No, I don't really. I--

I was so young at the time, I didn't really--

I don't really remember any of that stuff.

Me and you were best buddies.

Your daddy was never there.

I know you don't know if you love me or not because you don't remember.

But we got lots of love.

First time I started seeing red flags is when we moved to Houston

and his erratic behaviors.

Burt demanded attention on him

from the moment he walked in till he was asleep.

I had to be attentive of him.

There was a time in our dating

where he was making us a Bloody Mary and I was not paying attention to him.

I was cooking and cleaning

and he just kept insisting that I look at him.

And uh… I didn't.

He came around and stared at me

and karate chopped a bar stool in half and it just split.

He started becoming crazier.

And come to find out he was into cocaine, a lot of cocaine.

That made me more scared of him.

I saw the warning signs, but I wasn't picking up on them, I think.

I saw her become quieter, sad.

I went there, I visited,

trying to figure out what to do, what's going on.

Burt did not really want us around

because we would see what he was really like,

and he did not want us to see that.

As our relationship progressed,

my world got smaller.

I was more realizing that I was controlled daily

by moods of Burt's.

Burt just could go off on anything.

He just had a hair trigger temper.

One time, we're sitting there having a cup of coffee.

There was a spoon, one spoon, in the kitchen sink

and we were leaving a mess.

Had a royal fit.

One time he beat me so bad that

I was in bed for a week.

I still don't know why I stayed after that.

More out of fear, I think, from then on.

We'd been together for a couple years

and I just believed that he had never had children,

that maybe he couldn't have children.

So, it was a surprise when I found out I was pregnant.

I was so disappointed when she got pregnant with Anthony

because I didn't think the relationship would handle a child.

She had the baby and the beatings kept on.

He was in jail at that time, for abusing me.

So he did do time in jail?

Yes.

-Six months in Houston. -Do you know his charges?

It was more than one.

He beat me when I was pregnant with you.

So, multiple cases?

Three or four.

You know, I tried to block all that out.

Hello, Harris County Sheriff's Department. Hello?

-He took off with the baby. -Who?

Burt Templet.

How old's the baby?

-Seven months. -Okay.

He beat me up and he just took off with the baby.

The fact that he took Anthony really scared me a lot.

Burt did this just to hurt me.

Do you need an ambulance? Are you hurt?

No, I just… I have some bruises. That's about it.

Okay, we're gonna send an officer out, okay?

Burt was a very good manipulator.

He could manipulate police officers too.

The police chased him down and let him go,

so I felt like, well, if they're not going to arrest him,

then there isn't much help or hope.

So now I was beginning to think there was no use in calling the police anymore.

When he came back, he never apologized.

He would just act like it never happened.

The abuse was so frequent that it almost did seem normal.

I mean, I didn't think anybody else lived any other way.

I grew up in an abusive house also.

One of my coping mechanisms was to completely erase it from my brain.

The first blocking that I did was when my stepdad was molesting me.

And I learned how to block from that age.

My husband, he had this thing for young girls.

That's pretty basically why I left him.

This is my father.

And this is my mother.

I think about my dad and things that happened.

I think about Mom.

My father was an alcoholic, and he beat my mother a lot.

You don't realize you're marrying a man like that.

You don't realize it because they're good at deceiving.

I have seen so much of it.

Teresa's dad was that way.

I took beatings that I shouldn't have taken.

They always say, "I'm so sorry. I love you."

You know, "I won't do it again." They always do it again.

Teresa had the same problem.

I don't know how to break the cycle of violence.

I don't know how do you break it.

One of the questions people ask us all the time is,

"How do you represent people that you know are guilty?"

But the difficult question is,

"How do you represent someone that you know is innocent?"

And that question is much worse.

If I go to trial with a person that's innocent

and that person goes to jail, now it's on me.

Now I just put an innocent man in jail, and that's a dead serious thing for me.

It's difficult to say that Anthony's innocent

because Anthony, you know, took a gun and shot and killed his father.

You know, not having enough information about the case,

I'm sort of, you know, hesitant to say, "Yes, in fact it's self-defense"

or "No, it's not self-defense."

I'll have to know more about the case prior to making that determination.

How you feeling?

Just a little sad.

It's all right, man. I get it. I really do, man.

He never put me in public school and I never understood why.

Yeah.

I think he was trying to hide me from my mom.

I think so too.

We were talking extensively with the district attorney

about Anthony's case.

We think there's a real defense here.

And we think there's a defense here so great

that you may not even want to charge the kid at all.

Anthony Templet is currently being held on a $100,000 bond.

His defense is hoping this case won't go to trial,

as they believe there's not enough evidence

to prosecute manslaughter charges.

As the case went on,

the district attorney made clear he was going to bring it to a grand jury.

What's the penalty for manslaughter? It's zero time to 40 years.

But if it's murder, it's a life sentence.

That's pretty big stakes, right?

Jarrett Ambeau was pretty confident

that it was going to go in the way of Anthony.

This is 9 News at Noon.

Thanks for joining us, I'm Liz Koh.

New here at noon, charges have been upgraded for this Baton Rouge teen.

The grand jury indicted him on the charge of second-degree murder.

Second degree murder is the killing of a human being

when you have the specific intent to kill somebody.

And that's what the grand jury found.

And, honestly, I think that…

reasonable minds could conclude that he murdered his father,

and he intended to do it, basically, that's it.

It should have never happened.

You should not have charged him with second-degree murder.

The risk is so great.

Look, I'm an exceptionally good trial attorney,

but I can walk in and lose a case I should win.

When he was indicted for second-degree murder,

he was moved from the juvenile justice system

into the adult system automatically.

Now Anthony is a juvenile sitting in a cold and terrible place.

It's falling apart,

there are very seriously violent criminals in that place,

it's a very dangerous place.

As you well know, I think that we're headed for a trial.

You think so?

Yeah, I don't think the DA's gonna offer you anything

that I could advise you to live with.

Right.

How's that strike you, man?

I didn't want to take this to trial.

But we'll just have to see how it goes, I guess.

What makes you uncomfortable about that?

I just don't think they're going to treat me fairly.

But who knows?

It's completely wrong, you know.

I shouldn't be charged with anything.

Because I didn't do anything wrong.

What was your intent when you shot him?

To not kill him. I didn't want to kill him.

I just didn't want him to kill me.

What did you think was going to happen?

He would hit the ground and that'd be it.

Maybe call the police, get the medics over here, explain what happened.

And they'd save his life?

Save his life, get me out of there.

Explain it all away.

Get me out of the house.

Forever.

Burt started saying that we needed to get life insurance,

and I told him that I would not get life insurance with him.

I would not sign any life insurance with him

because he would kill me just for money.

So I wrote little notes saying, "If I die, Burt did it."

And I was hiding notes all over the house.

She put notes in the oven, anywhere she could.

"If I end up dead, Burt did it."

One night, one of Burt's friends came to the door.

He started screaming, "You need to leave now."

"Burt has hired me to kill you."

He said, "I am not going to do it, but you need to leave."

And I started turning around trying to grab things,

trying to grab my son.

But he goes, "No, you got to go now."

And he's screaming, "Leave now! Leave now!"

And he got into his car and left, and then Burt pulled up.

He just kind of bust in all angry and everything.

Was like, "We're gonna kick his ass," and then squealed out.

I believe that he was going after the man that told me this.

When he came back the next day,

he would just ignore the fact that all happened.

He pretty much didn't talk about it.

That wasn't too long before she left.

She was really afraid.

A few weeks later, I was trying to figure out a way

for Anthony and I to both get away from Burt.

His parents had came to visit.

I'm making them breakfast, pork chop and eggs,

and that made him mad.

"Why you making them pork chops?"

"Well, Ingleside people eat pork chops for breakfast."

He threw a glass of milk in my face, in front of his parents.

Hit me with plates.

He grabbed me by the back of the head. Started pulling my hair.

I lost quite a bit of hair on that situation.

And his parents begged him to stop.

They seemed genuinely scared too.

He told his parents to leave.

I told him I'm leaving too and I need to get Anthony.

And he had Anthony wrapped up pretty hard in his arms

and, "You're not taking my son anywhere."

I just got in the car with his parents.

I was afraid if I took Anthony, that Burt would kill me and my family.

The hardest part was driving away and leaving Anthony behind.

I had them drop me off on the freeway.

"I'll get to the bus station. Just drop me off right here."

I walked all the way to the bus station in downtown Houston

and got on the bus and left.

I did not get to see her until she came down here.

This skinny little girl got off the bus with all her hair pulled out.

That's when I saw some of the results.

He didn't just beat her a little bit. He beat her bad.

I laid in bed for weeks, mending.

I was hurt in the face and body and soul

and had to leave my son behind, and it was not a good feeling.

I just remember them getting mad at each other,

and she ended up leaving

and we ended up going to Louisiana for some reason.

I don't know why.

Every year on your birthday I cry.

Because I miss you so much.

And I usually make you cake.

-Oh, really? -Yes.

You have one minute left.

I love you, Son. I missed you forever. I am…

Until I get to see you again, I will never be happy.

I love you very much.

Yeah.

Breaking news in the case of a teenager accused of killing his father.

A judge has reduced Anthony Templet's bond so that he can seek counseling.

Now that comes with a host of requirements that Templet has to fulfill.

He must submit to regular mental health screenings and evaluations.

He must be tracked by a GPS monitoring device

and must come back into court every 30 days.

Anthony was in jail about six months.

And my assertion to the judge was,

"This is a kid who isn't going to be served by sitting in a jail cell."

"He doesn't have any history of violence,

and being in is detrimental to his ability to defend himself."

It was a little scary for him to get out on bail, for me.

Because every time Anthony came to court, he just had the same affect, you know?

It's just like, you can't read him because he's just kind of like a blank slate.

I don't know what's going on in that head.

What if he gets out on bond and he kills somebody?

I would feel totally responsible if that happened

because I made this decision.

We had him examined by a psychologist.

Psychologist came back and said,

"I don't think this kid's a danger to society."

"I don't think he's a danger to other people

in a controlled environment."

The judge agreed with us

and let him out without posting a serious bond of any kind.

Listen.

I want to reiterate to you how important what the judge said was yesterday.

-Right? - I know.

-The curfew's serious. -Right.

The job, the…

the ankle monitor, everything has to be followed to the letter.

-One step at a time. -That's right.

We're just waiting to see his eyes

for the first time as a family.

It's been a long time coming.

I'm shaking.

The only time I've gotten to see him

is from opposite side of the courtroom in shackles.

When he was calling me from jail I asked him a lot of questions

and I quickly realized it was not a good idea.

He doesn't even know me

and I think he doesn't remember all the good times that we had.

So I decided to leave him alone until he wants to come visit us

or reach out and call me.

But of course I want to hug him.

To not let him go.

So, yes, it's really hard not to be there.

Hey, how's it going?

I love you, boy. I love you so much. I love you so much.

When Anthony comes out, he doesn't look like a 17-year-old kid.

Emotionally, he's still a kind of… um…

I don't know if cold is the right word, but he looked a little more hardened.

Anthony is my child.

I don't see him as a stepson.

I see him as my child…

because I know he has nobody.

He has nobody to stand behind him.

At this point, my way to help AJ

is by anything I can do,

whether I go up on the stand in court--

Which I am full and willing to do.

No matter what, if he needs me, I'm there. Just like I would my own brother.

It's a scary time because I could go back to jail.

It's a possibility,

and it's terrible to think about because I know I'm innocent.

They thought I was not dangerous enough to stay in jail,

but dangerous enough to not be let out without,

you know, a leash.

So… it's kind of a burden.

Even though we got Anthony released,

he's still facing a charge that carries a life sentence.

It is not an end victory by any chance, it's not the end of the story,

but it is certainly a great 50 meter target for me.

-All right. -All right.

-This is the first step. -Yeah.

Be the person that you've always wanted to be.

I blame my dad for everything.

Because it all would have worked out fine if I just had anyone else as a father.

I feel like he kind of stole my childhood away.

I still had to go back to Houston and get Anthony.

But when I pulled up to the house, there was no one there.

Anthony and Burt were gone.

That's when I got lawyers.

Statistics show that when a person is leaving a domestic violence situation

their risk for harm and danger actually elevates.

That's one of the reasons why people stay.

Teresa Thompson came to us the early part of 2007,

seeking assistance for a civil protective order

and custody of a child that she shared.

Domestic violence usually translates into custody battles,

because that's the most impactful way

that an abuser can hurt the other parent.

Taking your children is definitely a hurtful place to find yourself.

Teresa got the protective order.

The next matter was securing custody of her child.

He did not appear at the hearing.

He was supposed to hand over custody and he didn't.

Burt and Anthony just disappeared.

I've seen this happen many, many times,

where it's not at all about the child in question.

It's not about Anthony.

It's about, "I want to control the situation

and here's my new way to control the situation."

"So I'm going to use this child against you over and over again."

When I didn't know where he was, I searched for schools

and um… searching for his name,

Burt's name and Anthony's name.

And I was coming up with nothing.

It was very obvious that he was hiding Anthony from me.

I spent about a thousand dollars for colored fliers

and I put them all over Ingleside, and all over Houston.

I called Burt's parents in Baton Rouge.

And my son answered the phone.

He said he'd been looking for me, I said, "I've been looking for you, everywhere."

I went straight to Baton Rouge.

I was knocking on the door and saying, "Anthony," calling out his name.

I could hear him in the background, but they would not open the door.

That's when I started putting fliers all around.

I wanted to make everybody in his neighborhood aware

that he has been kidnapped.

That made Burt very angry.

Teresa goes to court in Baton Rouge.

She has several court orders from Texas at that point.

They made Burt hand Anthony over to me.

The drive back from Baton Rouge, Anthony was very happy.

I think that he had not got outside.

He was so happy to be outside and play.

I really thought that I would never see Burt again,

but I forgot what an evil man he was.

Retaliation is something he's good at.

I found this folder after Burt passed away.

It said "Parents File."

I started going through it.

I found a more in-depth knowledge of Burt that I didn't know about.

Approximately eight months prior to us meeting,

he had kidnapped Anthony

from his biological mother,

whom he told me was dead.

As I went through the file,

I found police reports stating that she was crazy.

And I also found handwritten notes

where he had been parked outside of her trailer, stalking her.

I had a feeling that Burt was watching, but always hiding.

This was all woods and he was back there in the woods,

watching our back door.

I was starting to feel safe again

and I let Anthony play out back.

When in reality, I was not safe at all.

He was always back there watching me.

My mother had told me that there was a truck in the backyard.

She couldn't tell if it was anybody she knew.

This is a private detective report

surveilling the house.

It looks like they surveyed the house three days in a row

before they saw Anthony.

"07 p.m., assignment to locate the whereabouts

of Teresa Thompson and son, Anthony Templet."

"45 p.m., began the search and surveillance of subjects."

They got the license plates of two vehicles.

"30 a.m., returned to residence, both vehicles still out

with no movement, no children inside."

"30, spoke to Mr. Burt Templet by cell phone."

"38 p.m., no activity at residence."

"No children sighted."

"No vehicles entered or exited the residence property."

"Small light inside residence, no movement."

"10 a.m., reporting officers sighted male child

outside of next-door residence."

"Short hair, blond in color, no shoes. Playing outside between residence."

"05 a.m., Mr. Templet made contact with Ingleside Police Department by phone,

while en route to Ingleside."

"Discontinued surveillance."

There was a knock on the door,

and when I answered it, there was a cop, there was a single cop, one.

A tall, slim one.

His car was out there and he was in uniform,

so I knew he was a cop.

Teresa, that day, had decided just to run to San Antonio with a friend

so he wouldn't have to drive by his self.

The policeman told me that he had come to pick up Anthony.

His father wanted him.

I couldn't believe it 'cause I didn't think it was legal.

But you don't tell a policeman that.

He said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but we have to take AJ."

And I sit down and I said, "AJ,

Mama loves you, Grandma loves you."

"Don't ever forget we love you."

And then he reached over and took him by the hand and…

that was it, I never saw him again.

My mother calls me and says that Burt came and took Anthony.

I was screaming, "Why'd you let him take him?"

We had paperwork at police. And I was real angry at my mom.

I don't think Mom and my sister will ever be able to forgive themselves

for what happened.

Mom felt guilt 'cause she was supposed to be sitting here watching him.

They came right in the house and took him.

I don't know why the cops ended up on his side.

I don't know what happened.

I wish it all went differently,

but, you know, I can't really blame her for that, I say.

I don't understand how I was able to get custody

and then he was able to legally swoop in and get him.

Burt definitely knew about the initial case in Houston.

But what Burt didn't like is that that was unfavorable to him.

He filed his own lawsuit in Louisiana.

This Baton Rouge Court did not know about the proceedings in Texas.

He makes it that she's crazy. Asserts that she's nuts, she uses drugs.

"She makes up statements about how I abuse her."

There's no proof, although he has a conviction for it, right?

He gets the court in Baton Rouge to issue him

temporary full custody of the child.

And so they, as the police, were responsive to it, absolutely.

He didn't physically kidnap AJ,

but he certainly used the family court system

and his lawyer to take that child from Theresa Thompson.

The issue of custody was never fully resolved at all.

It's expensive to file lawsuits,

and most people don't have the wherewithal

in a domestic violence situation to keep going.

And it seemed like just survival was all I could afford

and just taking care of myself at that point.

And I just had no other resources anymore.

You know, we spent thousands of dollars on motels

and gas going back and forth

and just didn't have the money anymore.

Burt clearly had the stamina,

not being the person who was traumatized,

to wear her down, wear her out.

What he wanted was possession of Anthony.

Even if he didn't necessarily want to raise him

and be responsible for him himself.

Once he got that,

in his mind victory was his,

and she was just going to be left wanting.

The first year that Anthony was gone

I worried about him all the time.

That if he was safe, or alive.

Or if he was at drug parties with his father,

or, you know, what kind of situation is he in?

Is he scared?

And by the time, you know, he's 14, 15…

I would-- Don't have no idea what he looks like.

I wouldn't know where to search or even if I found him, if I would recognize him.

Just every year seemed to get worse.

It's hard to believe that Burt was able to carry on a normal life

while my life was destroyed.

I still feel like he's watching me.

Even though I know that's impossible, but…

I'll never feel safe again.

I still feel him out there watching me.

And it's something I'll never get over.

People like Burt,

they know that, at the end of the day,

achieving custody of a child

is probably one of the most abusive things that you can do to a parent

who really, genuinely wants their child.

It's an extension of the abuse that they were already prepared to do.

I feel like a father should never, like,

physically harm any of their kids.

I guess an ideal father would just be, like…

protect them and make them feel wanted and--

But also kind of let them do their own thing.

Do you know what he did to your mom?

Yeah. I didn't really know at the time.

I know my mom's got PTSD…

…anxiety and depression, and so do I.

That was the one thing that I thought came really strongly across,

was that he was so angry at Burt.

We have trouble getting along.

And uh… I don't really like him.

-You don't? -No.

This is a self-defense case.

It's my contention that Anthony defended himself

from what he thought would be grievous bodily injury.

The bad part of this story is that

he followed him into the bathroom, right?

It's pursuit.

So he started moving to the bathroom.

Did he turn around and walk to the bathroom?

Or did he fall back towards the bathroom?

I think he, like, tried to run to the bathroom.

He turns into the bathroom. Anthony goes around the bathroom

and shoots him again in the head and shoots a third time.

And the third shot misses.

But Burt clearly has life-threatening injuries.

So I, like, shot him once and then twice and then he was on the ground.

So I was like, all right, that's it.

When you look at his statement, when he says he shot once and then

Burt fell down, he didn't have a gun,

and he said, "Don't shoot again" and then he shot multiple more times,

I think that's where you get pushed to second degree murder.

How could you say he didn't intend to kill him?

He shot him,

Burt asked him to stop,

Burt was down and obviously bleeding,

and he continued to shoot him.

That's a murder.

Second degree murder's a life sentence.

This kid's entire life's on the line.

Anthony, to this day,

has trouble expressing

what happened inside the house.

Anthony is nervous, he's scared.

Burt lived a secret life.

He wanted to control everything.

Once Burt got home and closed the door,

he could fucking do anything.