WEBVTT 1 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:50.359 Rogers is a small city in Arkansas that was founded 2 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:52.920 in eighteen eighty one as a railway town along the 3 00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:56.479 Saint Louis and San Francisco Railroad. It was developed as 4 00:00:56.479 --> 00:01:01.520 an agricultural shipping center, especially for poultry and forms. Then, 5 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.959 in nineteen sixty two, a man named Sam Walton opened 6 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:07.000 a small five and dime store right in the heart 7 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.239 of Rogers. It was humble and unassuming, but it was 8 00:01:10.280 --> 00:01:14.000 the beginning of something massive. That little store eventually grew 9 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:17.760 into Walmart, the largest retail corporation in the world, and 10 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:20.519 even as the company exploded in size and scope, Rogers 11 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:24.519 clung to its roots. Today, the historic downtown is preserved 12 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:28.120 with brick paved streets in turn of the century storefronts, cafes, 13 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:31.920 and boutique shops. Away from the queen downtown along South 14 00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:36.359 Dixieland Road lies the Rogers Police Department. This is where 15 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:39.920 the nine one one Dispatch Center is housed. Here, the 16 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:44.239 center dispatches police, far and EMS units not only across Rogers, 17 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:48.920 but also neighboring Benton County agencies. It homes with routine 18 00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:52.640 calls from vander Bender's domestic disputes and everything in between. 19 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:56.200 That's how the morning of September twenty sixth, nineteen ninety 20 00:01:56.280 --> 00:01:59.719 nine began. But at around five am that morning, a 21 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:03.079 phone call came in that would change everything. There was 22 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:05.640 a man on the other end of the line. He 23 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:09.240 sounded panicked as he said, I have a guy. He's dead. 24 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:12.800 We're trying to resuscitate him. Hell he ain't, but fourteen, 25 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:16.479 I don't know what the fuck went wrong. The operator 26 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:19.240 tried to get more details, but the caller was frantic. 27 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:23.439 He continued, we was playing some kind of goddamn game 28 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:27.120 and tying each other up and all that shit. Officers 29 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:31.479 were immediately dispatched. Officers Aan Smith and Jason Curry were 30 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:34.960 the first to respond. Their cruiser pulled in to asleep. 31 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:38.439 He called the sack lined with duplexes one two oh 32 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:41.400 seven West Sunset Drive with the RAM style unit that 33 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:45.400 didn't stand thout, low brick and wood paneling typical of 34 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:47.879 the area. It was the kind of place you would 35 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:52.000 drive past without a second thought. Just across the street, 36 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.960 the baseball field at Northwest Park sat under the soft 37 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:59.199 morning hayz, empty and still. Before the officers could even 38 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:02.719 reach the front stone Epps, the door burst open a 39 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:06.800 naked man rushed towards them. He's not breathing, he shouted. 40 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:25.680 Greasy Valley Road winds its way through the hills outside 41 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:29.599 Prairie Grove and Arkansas, just past the small town of Clyde. 42 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:33.080 It's a quiet, rural stretch of road, framed by open 43 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:37.360 fields and sprawling farmland. It was along this unassuming stretch 44 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:40.879 of countryside the thirteen year old Jesse durk Heising lived 45 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:44.280 with its family in a modest trailer, tuck between tall 46 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:48.879 grass and farmland. Their home wasn't grand, but it was theirs. 47 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:52.800 Jesse was the eldest of three children born to Tina 48 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:58.039 and Timothy Durkaisin, but his parents' marriage didn't last just 49 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:01.080 two years, and after the divorced, Timothy drifted out of 50 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:04.199 his son's life, leaving a quiet vacancy where our father 51 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:07.879 figures should have been. That space was eventually filled by 52 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:12.639 Miles Yeats, Tina's new partner. Jesse called him Dad, and 53 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:15.599 to his younger siblings Chatham Renee, Jesse was more than 54 00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:18.839 just a brother. He was a protector, a playmate, and 55 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:22.079 somebody that they could look up to. Jesse was said 56 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.120 to have an easy going charm that made him well liked, 57 00:04:24.199 --> 00:04:26.879 not just at home, but at school as well. He 58 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:30.160 was in the seventh grade at Lincoln Middle School. While 59 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:33.959 he was popular, school didn't come easy to Jesse. According 60 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:38.319 to the principal, Beverly Davenport, he lacked something to be desired. 61 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.319 He had to repeat the seventh grade. But Jesse made 62 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:45.600 up what he lacked in academics with heart. Before the 63 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:47.759 morning bell rang, he'd be out on the grass with 64 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:51.560 a pack of fifteen other boys playing touch football. They 65 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:54.079 did the same thing at lunch. He was a kid 66 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:57.759 who loved the outdoors, from hiking, fishing, and hunting. He 67 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:01.439 especially loved camping trips with the family. There was nothing 68 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:05.120 extraordinary about Jesse Durkaising, nothing that would have caught the 69 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:08.240 eye of the world. He was just a regular boy 70 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:11.519 living a regular life in a quiet patch of America. 71 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.879 But sometimes the most horrifying stories don't come from the 72 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:27.720 place as we expect. When Officers Ain Smith and Jason 73 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:30.319 Curry pulled up outside the low rise duplex on West 74 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.040 Sunset Drive, they were met at the door by a 75 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:37.879 naked man. He was visibly shaken, his eyes wide with panic. 76 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.439 His name was Davis Stawn Carbenter, he was thirty eight 77 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:46.199 years old, and he was frantic. He's not breathing, he 78 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:49.000 kept repeating, over and over, like he was trying to 79 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:53.120 convince himself more than anybody else. Carpenter quickly led the 80 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:56.879 officers inside through a narrow hallway with Warren carpets and 81 00:05:56.920 --> 00:06:00.959 low ceilings. The apartment was small and save for the 82 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:04.439 distant hum of a television left on in another room, 83 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:09.560 the smell of faces hit the officers almost immediately. Standing 84 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:12.279 in the hallway was another man, twenty two year old 85 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:16.360 Joshua Brown. He was completely naked, clutching a flashlight in 86 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:20.160 one hand and a telephone in the other. Braun didn't speak. 87 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:23.839 Carpenter continued to lead the officers towards the back of 88 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:28.600 the apartment and into a small bedroom. The door creaked open. 89 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:33.160 There on the floor was a mattress, no frame, no sheathes, 90 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:36.879 no blankets, just a bare, stained mattress in the middle 91 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.720 of an otherwise empty room, and beside it with a 92 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:45.839 teenage boy lying motionless. It was Jesse dark Eysing. He 93 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:49.800 was naked, His small frame lay awkwardly beside the mattress, 94 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:54.600 and his genitals and abdomen were smeared with feces. The 95 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:57.160 smell that had clung to the hallway now swallowed the 96 00:06:57.240 --> 00:07:02.360 room hole. It was, as officers Curry later said, overwhelming. 97 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:07.079 The officers rushed to Jesse's side. His lips were tinged 98 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:10.279 blue and his skin was cool to the touch, but 99 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:12.800 there was still a pulse that was faint and barely there, 100 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:18.439 although he wasn't breathing. The officer scanned him quickly, instinctively, 101 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:22.160 noting every detail. There was doc tape rapped tightly around 102 00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:25.399 his right hand. They turned to Braun and asked what 103 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:29.199 it was doing there. Braun looked up and softly responded, 104 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:33.160 we were playing a game. As they waited for paramedics 105 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:36.040 to arrive, the officers swept their flashlights around the room. 106 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:39.600 That's when they started to see more. On the mattress 107 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:42.800 was an empty prescription pill bottle. On a nearby mirror 108 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:46.120 was loose pills scattered around a razor blade. There was 109 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:49.920 also drug paraphernalia. The quid of the neighborhood was shattered 110 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:53.639 by the sudden arrival of paramedics. Red and blue lights 111 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:57.399 flashed across the street. It was just past five am, 112 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:00.800 and most of Rogers was still asleep, unaware of the 113 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:05.920 horror unfolding inside this unremarkable apartment, The medics moved quickly. 114 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:09.879 They lifted Jesse carefully on to a stretcher, shielding his 115 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:13.720 body with a blanket. As the ambulance roared away from 116 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:17.600 West Sunset Drive with their sirens wailing, The team worked 117 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:21.839 furiously to keep Jesse alive. They were headed to Saint 118 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:25.800 Mary's Hospital as Jesse Jurchising's life hung in the balance. 119 00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:36.960 Back at the apartment, the officers believed they were standing 120 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:39.759 in the middle of a crime scene. Nothing about what 121 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:42.840 they had just encountered appeared to be normal. A naked 122 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:46.799 teenage boy, naked men, and a collection of disturbing items. 123 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:51.399 While normally a search warrant would be executed, detectives didn't 124 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:54.519 need one. They had asked if they could search the apartment, 125 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:58.759 and Davis Carpenter had responded, well, you're going to look anyway. 126 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.879 You're going to get a search warrant and look. He 127 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:05.440 then signed a consent to search form as a warning. 128 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:07.919 The next section of this episode deals with the abuse 129 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:12.120 of children. Please listen with caution. In the living room 130 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:16.600 and bedroom, detectives recovered numerous small green pills, various wattles 131 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:20.720 of prescription medication, which included amatriptolene, which is a heavy 132 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:24.720 sedative commonly used to treat depression. There was also a 133 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:28.600 small quantity of meth amphetamine. But it wasn't just drugs 134 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:32.679 that detectives found. There were countless tubs of petroleum jelly. 135 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:37.679 In the bedroom. Two cucumbers were recovered. One was covered 136 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:40.679 in petroleum jelly while the other was covered in faces. 137 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:45.799 Nearby was a tube shaped sausage and crushed banana. In 138 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.759 another corner of the bedroom, they came across bondige items 139 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:53.799 including bells, stock tape, strapping tape, nylon rope, rubber jump rope, 140 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:57.679 and electric cord. Discarded on the floor lay a plastic 141 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:01.679 disposable douche bottle with the applicator secured in place with 142 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:05.639 jock tape. The search then continued in the living room. 143 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:08.519 The computer was still running and up on the screen 144 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:11.799 was a program that was titled Medical Drug Reference four 145 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:15.279 point zero. On a computer table lay a piece of 146 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:19.320 paper with a handwritten note addressed to baby in the 147 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.440 right corner of the note with the names of three 148 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:25.559 types of prescription pills. The note referred to making somebody 149 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:30.200 take those pills. It then referenced positioning pillows beneath this 150 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:34.120 person in a certain way. A different section of the 151 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:36.879 same note said to tell him not to fight. Over 152 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:41.720 the next fourteen hours he would be sexually assaulted. Nearby, 153 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:44.720 detectives found the second note the reference to piece of 154 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:49.080 meat being inserted into somebody's anus. The note also referred 155 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:53.320 to Davis engaging an intercourse with Yu blindfolded on pills. 156 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:58.919 Another note was discovered, once more addressed to baby. This 157 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:01.440 note referred to docor tape and included a hand drawn 158 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:06.000 diagram of somebody bond to a bed. There were notations 159 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:09.320 that referred to pillows, tape all the way around faced on, 160 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:13.039 and the barocks of a person being raised approximately two feet. 161 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:17.000 There were other letters discovered in various parts of the apartment. 162 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.320 One addressed a baby, was signed by Davy. In this letter, 163 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:25.720 Davy describes saying baby's little ten year old blonde hour 164 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:28.840 at her bus stop in the morning. He went on 165 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:32.279 to graphically describe how he would envision baby engaging in 166 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:36.200 sexual acts with this child. The search of the apartment 167 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:40.759 continued and detectives found another pad of handwritten notes. In 168 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.720 these notes, the writer described a man making a fine 169 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:47.720 crushed white powder from the small, oddly purple colored pill. 170 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:51.480 He described cutting the pill into four sections so there 171 00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:53.919 would be enough to do this again in four rs. 172 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:57.720 The note continued, describing the man giving a nine year 173 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:00.320 old girl a glass of milk with the powdered mixture it. 174 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:03.840 The writer then wrote of the man laughing out loud, 175 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:06.480 knowing that in twenty minutes the drink would make her 176 00:12:06.519 --> 00:12:10.159 helpless and drunk. He then described in detail the man 177 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:14.320 having the girl masturbate and then perform oral sex on him. 178 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:17.960 It was clear that what had happened inside that apartment 179 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:22.639 was anything other than an accident. The two men standing 180 00:12:22.679 --> 00:12:27.919 before detectives were clearly child predators, and Jesse jurk Heising 181 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:47.320 was their victim. By now, more officers had arrived at 182 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:51.159 the apartment. One of them was Corporal Rick Simmons. He 183 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:56.519 separated Carpenter and Brown and began questioning Joshua Brown. Without warning, 184 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:59.799 Brown lunged at him. He swung a fist towards Simmons. 185 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:03.919 He was restrained before he could make contact. Officers quickly 186 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:07.879 placed him under arrest. Detective Martha Armstrong stepped in and 187 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:12.080 read him as Miranda rights. That's when Braun began to talk. 188 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:14.879 He told him that he and day of His Carpenter, 189 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:18.600 were in a relationship. He said Carpenter called him Baby, 190 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:23.159 a detailed that immediately called the detective's attention. It was 191 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:26.039 the same name used in the disturbing letters found throughout 192 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:30.360 the apartment. Braun said that he and Jesse frequently tied 193 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:35.360 one another up, but he insisted it wasn't sexual. He 194 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:38.799 described what happened that night. He said he snuck up 195 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:42.000 on Jesse, tied his hands behind his back, and stuffed 196 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.080 a pair of underwear into his mouth. He secured it 197 00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:48.200 with a bandana and DUC tape, and then blindfolded him 198 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:52.120 again using DUC tape. Told everything in place. A T 199 00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:55.200 shirt was pulled over Jesse's head, but Braun claimed he 200 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:59.440 made sure that Jesse's nostrils were left uncovered. He said 201 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:03.159 he then by Jesse's legs with belts tight around the 202 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:08.000 knees and ankles. Once immobilized, Broun said he untied Jesse's hands, 203 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:11.480 only to secure them again, this time to opposite corners 204 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:15.159 of the mattress. Jesse was then placed on his stomach. 205 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:20.200 Braun told investigators that he penetrated Jesse with different objects, 206 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:24.399 including a cucumber, a sausage, a banana, and a douche bottle, 207 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:28.759 but he wasn't finished there. Broun said he then prepared 208 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:32.039 an enema using his own urine mixed with the sedative 209 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:36.639 ame triptolene, and administered it. Then he took the cucumber again, 210 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:40.399 this time taping it in place. After that, Braun said 211 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:42.799 he went into the kitchen and made himself a sandwich. 212 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:45.759 When he left Jesse in the bedroom, he said that 213 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:49.639 the boy was kicking around and acting goofy. He said, 214 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:53.039 we was mess and irond and stuff. I left him 215 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:56.080 for five minutes. I didn't think I tied his hands 216 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:59.399 that tight. I left his nose uncovered so he could breathe. 217 00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:04.279 When Braun returned, he said that Jesse wasn't breathing. He 218 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:07.399 claimed he removed the bindings, including the t shirt, the bandana, 219 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:10.360 the tape, the underwear from his mouth, and then ran 220 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:14.879 to wake up Carpenter. Carpenter, however, told a different story. 221 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.080 He said that he had been asleep when Braun woke him, 222 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:22.159 saying that Jesse wasn't breathing, but when Carpenter walked into 223 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:25.639 the bedroom, he said that Jesse was still bound. He 224 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:28.279 claimed he attempted tapor and then called nine one one, 225 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:32.159 But nothing about this version matched the scene or the evidence. 226 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:35.799 It was clear that Jesse had been the victim of calculated, 227 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:39.120 sadistic abuse, and it was just as clear that both 228 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:43.120 men had played a role. The handwritten notes tied Carpenter 229 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:46.600 directly to the abuse. Many of them had been written 230 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:49.559 by him addressed to Baby, his pet name for Braun. 231 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:53.399 The two men were then taken into Costudy and transported 232 00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:58.639 to the Rogers Police Department for formal interrogation. Joshua Braun 233 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:01.440 sat down in front of detech of Sergeant Hayes Minor. 234 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:06.000 His story had since changed. He now claimed that he 235 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:09.759 and Jesse had been sexually involved for approximately two months, 236 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.879 since Jesse was just a child. However, Brin had actually 237 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:18.159 been grooming and molesting him. They weren't sexually involved, as 238 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:21.279 he had put it. He described the sexual assaults he 239 00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:25.039 had inflicted his games in playing. According to Braun, he 240 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:27.399 and Jesse had spent the entire weekend sneaking up on 241 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:31.320 one another and tying each other up. He described cutting 242 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:35.039 Jesse's clothing off, telling the detectives I told him a 243 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:38.799 how do you like that? Brum was then questioned about 244 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:42.919 Carpenter's involvement in the rape of Jesse. He now admitted 245 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:46.559 that Carpenter wasn't asleep. He said Carpenter had stood in 246 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:50.840 the doorway of the bedroom he was naked and masturbated. 247 00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:53.480 Braun then admitted that the notes in the home were 248 00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:57.279 indeed from Carpenter. Various ones were telling him what to 249 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:01.399 do to Jesse. Car had even purchased the items used 250 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:05.680 in the sexual assault. While Braun had initially characterized the 251 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:09.559 assault on Jesse's horseplay gone wrong, he later changed his tune. 252 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:14.880 He blamed Jesse for initiating sexual compact. He claimed that 253 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.519 nights earlier, Jesse, who was a thirteen year old boy, 254 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:20.079 had come on to him and performed a sex act. 255 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:25.119 Over at the hospital, doctors fought desperately to save Jesse's life, 256 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:29.079 but it was tragically too late. He died shortly after 257 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:33.759 he arrived. His body was transported to the medical Examiner's office, 258 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:37.960 where the autopsy revealed the cause of death, positional asphyxia. 259 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:42.079 Jesse couldn't breathe the way he had been restrained and 260 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:46.359 positioned cut off his air. Toxic levels of a powerful 261 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:50.319 sedative found in his system had also contributed to his death. 262 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:54.960 Joshua Braun and Davis Carpenter were subsequently charged with first 263 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:59.200 degree murder. At the court hearing, Judge David Klinger refused 264 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:02.880 to set bail for EA. Their man prosecutor, Brad Butler, 265 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:05.240 stood before the court and announced his intent to seek 266 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:09.400 the death penalty. He spoke with Deake conviction as he said, 267 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:12.279 what I saw inside that apartment was the most horrific 268 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:14.880 thing I've witnessed in my eleven years as a prosecutor. 269 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.799 It was a horrible, brutal crime. No one deserves to 270 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:22.079 lose a child this way. Bron and Carpenter were then 271 00:18:22.119 --> 00:18:24.799 sent back to jail and each were placed into isolation 272 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:29.079 for their own safety. But before they were separated, Carpenter 273 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:32.359 had already spoken to some inmates at the jail. He 274 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.400 admitted to them that he had taken part in Jesse's assault. 275 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:38.720 He said he had forced pills do on his throat. 276 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.759 He claimed he didn't know whether it was the drugs 277 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:44.839 or the tape binding and gagging him that caused his death. 278 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:50.319 But for detectives, questions still remained. How exactly had Carboner 279 00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:53.839 and Braun come to know Jesse, who had a child, 280 00:18:54.000 --> 00:19:09.880 ended up in their grasp. Davis Carpenter wasn't a stranger. 281 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:12.640 He had been a friend of Tina and Miles Yets. 282 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:17.519 He had first met Miles through methamphetamine. Miles had sold it, 283 00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:21.559 and Carpenter had been a client. But more recently, Carpenter 284 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:25.079 was managing a local beauty salon. In the months before 285 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:28.440 Jesse was killed, Carpenter had offered him a job sweeping 286 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:31.759 hair on the weekends. He knew that Jesse was saving 287 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:34.920 up money to fix an old pickup truck. Tina and 288 00:19:34.920 --> 00:19:40.200 Miles agreed they trusted Carpenter. They also trusted Braun. Jesse 289 00:19:40.359 --> 00:19:42.680 was over the moon. Fifty dollars a weekend was a 290 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:45.880 lot of money to him, so each Saturday and Sunday, 291 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:48.559 Tina or Miles would drive him to the salon from 292 00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:50.920 their home in Prairie Grove and pick him up again 293 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:54.720 that evening. But Carpenter soon offered to make things easier. 294 00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:58.880 Jesse could stay over on Saturday nights and come home Sunday. 295 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:03.720 Saved to petrol. It saved time, but in the end, 296 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:10.160 it cost everything. The Monday after Jesse was murdered, his 297 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:13.480 space on the school bus sat empty. The ride was 298 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:19.559 unusually quiet. Bus driver Gary Trambley noticed the silence. Then 299 00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:23.720 he noticed something else. Somebody had left floorers on Jesse's safe. 300 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:27.839 One of the children sat there. They had silently decided 301 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:31.839 it would remain Jesse's. At school, councilors were brought in. 302 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:36.799 Jesse's classmates were barely teenagers themselves, but they came together 303 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:40.799 in grief and love. They wanted to do something anything. 304 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:44.680 They started collecting money for Jesse's funeral flowers and for 305 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:48.319 his family. Gary allowed them to keep a collection box 306 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:51.599 on the school bus. By Tuesday morning, they had raised 307 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:56.559 thirty dollars. Gary said one of Chad's little bodies must 308 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:59.599 have cleaned out his piggy bank, and he was right. 309 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.319 A nine year old friend of Jesse's little brother handed 310 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:06.720 over everything he had. His mother, who asked not to 311 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:09.240 be named, said that her son often worried that Jesse's 312 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:13.079 family didn't have enough to eat. Back in Rogers, where 313 00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:16.359 Braun and Carpenter lived, the community was just as horrified. 314 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:20.799 Their apartment sat in a six unit complex, close quarters 315 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.920 where neighbors knew one another. Most of them thought that 316 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:27.000 the two men were brothers. Carpenter was known as a 317 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:31.640 nat freak brawn came off as friendly and approachable. Connie 318 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:34.880 nw Coome, who lived next door, commented, you never heard 319 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:39.440 any noise, no wild parties, no craziness going on just today. 320 00:21:39.480 --> 00:21:42.799 Before Jesse was killed, Carpenter had invited Diane Watkins to 321 00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:45.559 bring her ten year old daughter's soccer team to his 322 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:50.680 heirslon Her husband, Tom commented, it scared my wife and 323 00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:53.200 daughter a hole lot. It just scared them to death. 324 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:55.720 My daughter was scared to sleep in her bedroom for 325 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:59.039 a few days. Even Connie's ten year old son had 326 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:02.200 been inside the men's apartment. He'd gone in to play 327 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:05.599 with their cats. The horror of what had happened shook 328 00:22:05.640 --> 00:22:09.799 the entire neighborhood. Half of the tenants moved out. They 329 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:12.799 couldn't leave that close to the place where something so 330 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:29.359 monstrous had happened. On the thirteenth of October, Joshua bron 331 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:32.160 and Davis Carpenter appeared in court, where they pleaded not 332 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:35.960 guilty to all of the charges. Their defense teams filed 333 00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:38.880 the motion for gag orders, hoping to keep the disturbing 334 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:42.480 details of Jesse's murder sailed from the public, but the 335 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:47.000 judge denied the request. Still, despite the brutality of the case, 336 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:52.319 media coverage remained strangely sparse. A few local papers had 337 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:56.400 covered Jesse's murder, but there was no national outcry, not 338 00:22:56.519 --> 00:22:59.799 until a week later, when The Washington Times ran aheadline 339 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:04.720 the demanded attention media tune out torture death of Arkansas boy. 340 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:10.000 The piece criticized the near silence surrounding the crime. Sim Graham, 341 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:13.400 director of Media Analysis that the Media Research Center, commented, 342 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:18.480 nobody wants to say anything negative against homosexuals. Nobody wants 343 00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:21.039 to be seen on the wrong side of that issue. 344 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:25.079 David Smith, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, quickly 345 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:28.640 responded and said this has nothing to do with gay people. 346 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:32.119 The article drew a sharp comparison between the lack of 347 00:23:32.119 --> 00:23:35.920 attention to Jesse dark Heising's murder and the intense media 348 00:23:35.960 --> 00:23:38.839 response to the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay man 349 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:41.319 who was beaten to death in Wyoming the previous year. 350 00:23:42.519 --> 00:23:46.359 Both were he and his crimes both involved vulnerable victims, 351 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:50.559 but only one had made headlines across the nation. Even 352 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:54.640 Prosecutor Christopher Plumley admitted he was surprised by the quiet reaction. 353 00:23:55.880 --> 00:23:58.799 He didn't want to speculate why, but noted that Jesse's 354 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:01.359 rape and murder had occurred in a small town with 355 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:05.240 a low violent crime rate. He saw outrage and rogers 356 00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:08.359 on Prairie Grove, but not the kind of national response 357 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:13.000 that Matthew Shepherd's murder had sparked. After the Washington Times article, 358 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:18.000 other outlets finally began covering the case. The New York 359 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:21.720 Post published a column by Brett Bosel, editor of Media 360 00:24:21.799 --> 00:24:25.440 Reality Czech, who wrote, why would this story go on? 361 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:29.559 Told had Jesse Durchising been shot inside his Arkansas school, 362 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:33.240 he would have been an immediate national news story, but 363 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:37.960 his national interest grew so the political agendas and de 364 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:41.680 gay hate group seized on the case. They accused the 365 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:47.039 media of downplaying the story out of political correctness. Conservative 366 00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:51.039 activist Peter le Barbera called on others to use Jesse's 367 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:54.880 death as a rallying cry, just as Matthew Shepherd's death 368 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:59.160 had become a symbol for LGBTQ plus rights. Back in 369 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:02.799 the courtroom, the growing publicity prompted Carpenter's attorney Tim Buckley 370 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:06.519 to file a motion for a change of venue. He argued, 371 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:09.880 it's been on everyone's lips down here for a month 372 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:13.319 and a half. Benton County is a very conservative county. 373 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:17.119 It's the corporal headquarters of Walmart. It's always been a 374 00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:21.480 bassi of Republican conservatives. He believed that his client could 375 00:25:21.559 --> 00:25:25.759 get a fair trial. Braun's attorney, Charles Duel, filed his 376 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:30.079 own motion requesting a separate trial. In February. Judge David 377 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:32.839 Klinger granted the request and said that the men would 378 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:36.640 be tried separately. He also ordered Braun to undergo a 379 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:41.920 psychological examination at the State Hospital in Little Rock. Its attorney, 380 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:45.519 Lewis Limb, made it clear they were exploring an insanity defense. 381 00:25:46.599 --> 00:25:49.079 They were trying to determine whether Braun had been seen 382 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:51.440 at the time of the murder and whether he could 383 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:55.920 assist in his own defense. The results came back in September. 384 00:25:56.599 --> 00:25:59.880 Joshua Brown was found to be competent, so was David's 385 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:04.839 con There would be no mental health defense, no diminished capacity. 386 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:16.920 Both men would stand trial. It was decided that Joshua 387 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:20.799 Broun would be standing trial first, but first. The judge 388 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:23.960 said he wanted to hear from potential jurors before deciding 389 00:26:23.960 --> 00:26:27.759 whether the trial needed to be moved. The jury selection 390 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:33.400 began in March and in preparation security was tightened. Members 391 00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:35.920 of the westbor Baptist Church had announced they were going 392 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:39.960 to be outside the courtroom to protest. They referred to 393 00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:42.960 the case as a conspiracy from hell and accused the 394 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:46.640 National press of covering up Jesse's murder because the suspects 395 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:50.680 were gay. By the fourteenth, the jury was selected and seated, 396 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:53.920 meaning that the trial was indeed going ahead in Benthamville. 397 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:57.480 The jury was warned that details of the case were 398 00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:01.640 going to be extremely horrific, and after that opening statements 399 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:06.640 got underway. Prosecutor Bob Balf told the jury, this case 400 00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:10.279 is not about homosexuality. The charge in this case concerns 401 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:13.079