WEBVTT 1 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:53.000 Sorry in British Columbia, sits just north of the Canada 2 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:56.439 United States border. It was named after Sorry in England, 3 00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:59.399 and was incorporated in eighteen seventy nine, when it was 4 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:03.000 little more than scattered farms, logging camps, and dense forest. 5 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:07.519 But as Vancouver's population exploded in the decades that followed, 6 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:11.280 Surrey became the natural destination for family seeking more affordable 7 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:14.920 housing and open space. By twenty fourteen, it was home 8 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:17.760 to nearly half a million people. It had become a 9 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:22.120 patchwork of neighborhoods, ranging from industrial zones to quiet suburban enclaves, 10 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.959 where families sought the promise of safety and community. South 11 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:29.319 Surrey in particular had long been considered one of the 12 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:33.359 more desirable areas, tree lined streets, worn and three gated 13 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:37.480 communities where houses sat behind manicured lawns and tall fences. 14 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:42.200 The area around Crescent Road was especially quiet, a network 15 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:44.799 of called the Sacks, where the only regular sounds were 16 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:47.560 the hum of lawnmowers in the summer and the rustle 17 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:50.079 of leaves in the autumn. It was the kind of 18 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.680 neighborhood where an unexpected knock on the door was unusual 19 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:56.840 enough to be noteworthy, and on the morning of the 20 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:01.599 tenth of December twenty fourteen, just after noon, Joan Cook 21 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:05.120 heard that knock. She opened up her front door to 22 00:02:05.159 --> 00:02:08.199 find a woman standing on her doorstep, a woman that 23 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:13.719 she didn't recognize. The woman's breath stank of alcohol. Her 24 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:17.520 words came out frantic, disjointed, tumbling over each other in 25 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:19.479 a way that made it hard to understand what she 26 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:23.840 was saying. She said she had crashed her car. She 27 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:27.000 said her baby was dead. She said to call nine 28 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:31.240 one one. Within minutes, emergency vehicles descended on the quiet 29 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:35.639 called the sack. Neighbors emerged from their homes, standing on 30 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:39.400 porches and peering through windows, trying to understand what was happening. 31 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:43.159 On their straight Officers approached the vehicles stuck in the 32 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:47.000 ditch at the end of the street. The trunk was open, 33 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:51.520 and what they found inside was worse than anybody could 34 00:02:51.520 --> 00:03:10.879 have ever imagined. In the autumn of twenty and fourteen, 35 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:13.759 eight year old Tagan Aaron Batstone was a third grader 36 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:18.520 at Rosemary Heights Elementary School in Surrey, British Columbia. Her 37 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:21.159 teachers and classmates new as a girl who seemed to 38 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:25.319 radiate kindness, the kind of child who made friendship look effortless. 39 00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:29.919 Those who knew Tagan described her as possessing an uncanny gift. 40 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:32.840 She had this remarkable ability to make everyone she met 41 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:37.240 feel better about themselves. Tagan had been born in white Rock, 42 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:40.560 British Columbia, on the twenty seventh of June two thousand 43 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:44.319 and six. White Rock was a seaside city just south 44 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:47.599 of Surrey, known for its long pair and the massive 45 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:50.919 white boulder that gave the town its name. For the 46 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:53.319 first years of her life, she lived with both her parents, 47 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:57.719 Lisa and Gabe Batstone. Her father, Gabe, was the CEO 48 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:01.439 of a Vancouver based tech company, a position that required 49 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:04.759 frequent travel and long hours. It was the kind of 50 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:08.680 job that meant early flights, late nights, conference calls from 51 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:13.000 hotel rooms, and weeks away from home. Her mother, Lisa, 52 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.000 worked for some time as a whale trainer at the 53 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:19.639 Vancouver Aquarium, but by two thousand and eight, when Tagan 54 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:23.160 was just two years old, the march had fractured. Lisa 55 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:26.000 gave divorce two years later in two thousand and ten. 56 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:32.040 The separation carved Hagan's childhood into two distant geographies. Her 57 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:34.639 primary home was with her mother in South Surrey, in 58 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:37.959 a gated community. It was the type of neighborhood where 59 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:41.240 people waved at each other from driveways but rarely knew 60 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:45.600 what went on behind closed doors. Neighbors would later remember 61 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:49.639 Lisa as super friendly and Tagan as a child who 62 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:53.680 was always playing outside with her friends. She rode her bike, 63 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:57.720 she played games. She was by all appearances, a happy child, 64 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:00.839 and indeed Lisa seemed to be adapted well to being 65 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:04.800 a single mother. On a photography website, she wrote that 66 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:07.680 love was being a single mom nearly twenty four to 67 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:11.839 seven and loving every single second, even the freaking exhausting 68 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:15.319 ones he he taken is worth it. By the post, 69 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:19.560 it seemed as though Lisa was embracing the chaos of parenthood. 70 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.480 In another post on her social media she wrote, I 71 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:26.439 love being a step at home mom and take but 72 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:31.040 Tagan's life extended far beyond British Columbia's borders. Four times 73 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:33.360 a year she would board a plane bown for Ottawa, 74 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:38.399 where her father had relocated after the divorce. There waiting 75 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.279 for her were two brothers, an eight year old stepbrother 76 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:44.920 and a two year old half brother. Gbe had remarried, 77 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:48.839 and his new wife, Stephanie, embraced Tagan as fully as 78 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:53.600 her own children. The blended family dynamic could have been complicated, 79 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:57.360 but by all the counts it wasn't. Tagan adored her 80 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:01.600 brother's and they adored her. During those Autoa visits, Taken 81 00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:04.600 blended in seamlessly, as if she had always been there. 82 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:07.920 She played with her brother, and she helped with the baby. 83 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:11.319 She attended their school events and sat at the dinner table, 84 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:15.000 and became, for those precious weeks, a constant presence in 85 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.439 their lives. Her father would recall that she was a 86 00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:22.079 big sister in every sense of the word. There had 87 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:26.160 been communication problems between Cabe and Lisa, however, the kind 88 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:29.519 that crept in after divorce, when two people who once 89 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.720 shared a life now shared only a daughter and the 90 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:36.160 logistics that came with her. They enlisted the help of 91 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:41.720 Vancouver based family counselor Michael Elderman. Gabe later said that 92 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:45.120 he was pivotal in creating a strategy for meaningful communication 93 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:50.160 that included emails once a week to discuss plans and childcare. 94 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:00.720 Back in Sorry, Taken, through herself, went to life with 95 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:04.560 the same enthusiasm that she brought to everything. She loved 96 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:08.040 to play tennis, she performed gymnastics, and she loved to run. 97 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:11.959 She and her mother, Lisa, were familiar faces at White 98 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:17.519 Rock Baptist Church. Pastor Fey Puddikumbe described Hagan as an affectionate, 99 00:07:17.879 --> 00:07:21.920 vivacious little girl, loved by everyone who knew her, the 100 00:07:22.040 --> 00:07:26.360 kind of child who sat attentively during services. She participated 101 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:29.879 in Sunday school. She loved her dog, bat and her 102 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:34.000 cap beans. In December twenty fourteen, just a few weeks 103 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:37.319 before Christmas, Gabe had traveled to Surrey to spend a 104 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:39.800 few days with his daughter. The city would have been 105 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:44.240 decorated for the holidays by then, light strung across storefronts, 106 00:07:44.439 --> 00:07:48.279 wraiths hanging on doors, the kind of season when everything 107 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:52.279 feels hopeful. On the eighth of December, Gabe took his 108 00:07:52.439 --> 00:07:57.000 daughter taken to school. It was a routine morning breakfast, 109 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:01.759 getting dressed, the drive through familiar streets. It stopped at 110 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:05.319 the dentist appointment first, that made their way to Rosemary 111 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:11.439 Heights Elementary. Gabe walk taken to her classroom. He later said, 112 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:15.040 I remember the steps down the hallway holding her hand. 113 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:19.120 Of course, she always loved to hold hands. It was 114 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.240 such a small detail, the kind of thing apparent might 115 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:25.560 not even notice in the moment. Just another morning, Just 116 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:29.279 another walked on a school hallway. But it was the 117 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:34.320 last time. Gabe then returned to Ottawa, back across the country, 118 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:37.799 to his other children, to his work, to his life 119 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:41.000 over there. He had no way of knowing those would 120 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:53.559 be his last moments with his daughter. Taken. After Gabe 121 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:57.159 arrived back in Ottawa, he received a text message from Lisa. 122 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:02.759 It read, it seems you rather I just disappear. He 123 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:05.360 didn't think it was out of the ordinary. Gabe and 124 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:10.440 Lisa had a contentious relationship, and cryptic, passive, aggressive messages 125 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:13.679 had become part of that pattern. It was the kind 126 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:17.039 of text that could mean everything or nothing, depending on 127 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.559 her mood that day. So Gabe filed it away mentally 128 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:23.960 and moved on with his evening. The next morning, just 129 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:28.279 after four am, Gabe received an email from Lisa. The 130 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:32.240 timestamp alone was unusual, four am on a school day. 131 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.080 It said that Tagan had the flu and wouldn't be 132 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:38.519 going to school, and Gabe had no reason to doubt 133 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:42.759 that children got sick. But somewhere across the country, in 134 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:46.320 the darkness of that early December morning, something had already 135 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:51.639 gone terribly wrong. Around four hours later, Pastor David Hogan 136 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:55.639 at White Rock Baptist Church received a strange email from 137 00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:01.120 Lisa Batstone. It read Jackie is evil and she killed us. 138 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:05.679 It's too late now I'm broken. He knew exactly who 139 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:09.399 she was referring to. A Few months earlier, Lisa and 140 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:13.960 another church member, Jacqueline Joseph, had a falling out. They 141 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:17.039 had been scheduled to host a new life group, wherein 142 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:20.600 members of the church gathered to study the Bible, but 143 00:10:20.679 --> 00:10:24.399 something had fractured between the two women, and Jacqueline got 144 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:29.360 off contact with Lisa. Lisa didn't let it go. She 145 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:35.399 continued to text her messages that grew increasingly hateful and nasty. 146 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:41.240 The kind of messages the cross lines. I'm trying to 147 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.919 kick off the new year actually feeling good, not just 148 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:46.919 pretending I have my life together, and honestly, staying hydrated 149 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:49.480 has been the easiest win. 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Pastor Hogan was made 176 00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:24.759 aware of the falling out when Jacqueline showed him the messages. 177 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.320 She said that she didn't feel comfortable around Lisa anymore. 178 00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:31.799 The pastor decided it would be best if Lisa didn't 179 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:35.320 attend the group. He was trying to keep the peace, 180 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:39.600 to put some distance between the women, but Lisa didn't 181 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:44.919 take that decision well. She texted when John ages, I 182 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:47.960 pray he doesn't have to experience what Tagan is from 183 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:52.840 adults at this church, it was pointed and bitter, a 184 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:57.399 mother wielding her child as proof of injury. After that, 185 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:01.919 Lisa Intagan stopped attending church altogether. But now Pastor Hogan 186 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:05.639 was staring at the strange email from Lisa. Jackie is 187 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:09.879 evil and she killed us. It's too late now I'm broken, 188 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:14.120 He later recalled. It had a tone of finality to it, 189 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:18.440 so we became concerned for Tagan's well being, and he 190 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:33.960 had every right to be concerned. Shortly thereafter, a woman 191 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:36.320 living in a quiet called the sack Off Crescent Road 192 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:39.679 heard a knock on her front door. It was late 193 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:42.399 morning on the tenth of December two thousand and fourteen. 194 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:45.720 John Cook opened the door to see a woman she 195 00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:50.600 didn't recognize standing on her doorstep. The woman's stank of alcohol. 196 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:55.480 Her words came out frantic and disjointed. She said she 197 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:58.519 had crashed her car, that her baby was dead, and 198 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:03.000 to call nine one one. Joan didn't hesitate. She called. 199 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:08.879 Within minutes, emergency vehicles descended on the quiet street. Constable 200 00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:13.480 Elizabeth Cuckerran was the first officer to arrive. She saw 201 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:16.960 the vehicle immediately, a car with its back half stuck 202 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:19.440 in a ditch at an awkward angle, as if some 203 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:22.159 one had lost control or given up trying to drive 204 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:27.879 it properly. The trunk was open. She approached cautiously, the 205 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:30.639 way officers are trained to do so when a scene 206 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:34.200 doesn't make sense. Yet, as she got closer, she saw 207 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:39.679 movement inside the trunk. Lisa was lying in there, curled 208 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:47.200 up around something. It was taken, but taken was clearly dead. 209 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:51.399 She hadn't died in the car accident either. There was 210 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:55.360 no blood, no obvious injuries, no sign of trauma from 211 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:59.799 the crash. She looked almost peaceful, as if she were 212 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:05.480 her small body still, her face calm. It was the 213 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:08.000 kind of image that would stay with the officer long 214 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:12.759 after the scene was processed and documented. Lisa was ordered 215 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:16.600 out of the trunk and was placed into handcuffs. She 216 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:21.840 stank of alcohol, her movements were unsteady. The officer told 217 00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:25.440 her that she was under arrest for impaired driving. Trying 218 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:29.159 to make sense of what she was seeing, a crashed car, 219 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:32.080 a dead child, a mother who smelled like a bar 220 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:36.279 at closing time, she then called for backup, knowing this 221 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:41.159 was already far beyond a simple traffic accident, but before 222 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:45.320 more officers arrived, before the scene could be secured and investigated, 223 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:59.360 Lisa blurted out, I murdered her seeking Batstone's body was 224 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:04.279 transported to the medical examiner's office. The autopsy would reveal 225 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:08.440 what Constable Cocheran had suspected at the scene, that Tagan 226 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:12.360 hadn't died in any car accident. It was discovered that 227 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:16.440 she had been smothered to death. There were bruises over 228 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:20.519 her body that indicated she had struggled for her life, 229 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.759 and it was already clear who had killed her. Her mother, 230 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:28.360 Lisa started talking at Peace Arch Hospital, where she had 231 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:33.039 been transported following the car crash. The words poured out 232 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:39.159 of our waves, unprompted and unstoppable. She kept repeating, I 233 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:42.639 just want to die, please, there's nothing to live for. 234 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:47.519 Lisa spoke with several psychiatrists when she was there, each 235 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:52.240 conversation adding another piece to the horrifying puzzle. She said 236 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:54.200 that she and Tagan had been having a campout in 237 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:57.639 the living room the night before. It was supposed to 238 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:01.240 be fun, sleeping bags on the floor or maybe snacks, 239 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:04.240 the kind of thing that children begged their parents to do. 240 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:08.079 Lisa said that she kept waking up throughout the night. 241 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:13.559 She said, taking looks so peaceful sleeping, and I just 242 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:16.799 wanted her to be with Jesus. She said that she 243 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:19.440 grabbed a knife and held it over her daughter as 244 00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:22.440 she slept, but she said she couldn't bring the knife 245 00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:26.559 down on her. Something stopped her. Whether it was love 246 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:30.000 or fear or the last shred of conscience, no one 247 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:33.519 would ever know. Instead, Lisa said she got a plastic 248 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:38.200 bag and then held it over Takan's face. Lisa said 249 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:41.680 she had killed her daughter to protect her from her father, 250 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.319 but she also said she had killed her because she 251 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:47.640 didn't want her daughter to have her brain to inherit. 252 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:52.519 Whatever darkness Lisa believed lived inside her own mind, according 253 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.400 to Lisia, she planned on taking her own life so 254 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:58.359 that she could die with her daughter. She said she 255 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.880 tried to suffocate herself by wrapping two plastic bags around 256 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:05.079 her head and securing them with duct tape, but she 257 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:09.720 couldn't go through with it. The survival instinct apparently was 258 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.640 stronger than her resolve. She claimed she planned on dropping 259 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:16.440 her dog off at a sitter and then going somewhere 260 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:19.240 to take her own life, but she got the car 261 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:22.279 stuck in a ditch and a stranger opened their door, 262 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:25.319 and suddenly police were there, and it was too late 263 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:30.240 to finish what she'd started. On several occasions, Lisa mumbled, 264 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:35.079 you win, Gabe. The words were chilling in their implication 265 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:39.160 that this had been at least in part about Gabe, 266 00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:51.440 about hurting him in the most devastating way imaginable. After 267 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.759 some time at the hospital, Lisa was transported to the 268 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:58.480 police station. She was taken into the interrogation room, where 269 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:02.480 her confession continued. The detectives asked her what she had 270 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:06.880 used to some mother her daughter. She replied a bag 271 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:09.880 before she fell out of her chair and curled into 272 00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:13.880 the fetal position on the floor, crying. After some time, 273 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:17.359 she explained further, I just grabbed the bag from under 274 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:20.839 the cupboard. I needed the pain to end. She said 275 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:24.279 that Tagan looked so beautiful and peaceful, before adding I 276 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:26.160 just didn't want her to have to live with what 277 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.319 I have to live with. Lisa Bathstone was charged with 278 00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:33.960 the second degree murder of Tagan. She didn't say a 279 00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:36.880 word when she appeared in court, but she was crying. 280 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:44.519 Her defense attorney Craig's Sout requested a psychiatric assessment. He said, 281 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:49.720 it's a very serious concern. Miss Batstone's mental state is 282 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:53.640 very fragile. Without an assurance that she's fit to stand trial, 283 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:58.559 this can't proceed any further. It was soon discovered that 284 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:01.000 Lisa had struggled with her men health since she was 285 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:04.920 a teenager. The problems weren't new, they had been there 286 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:08.319 for years. Looking beneath the surface of the cheerful social 287 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:12.519 media posts, and the friendly waves to neighbors. She was 288 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:16.559 involuntarily hospitalized in twenty twelve after she attempted to take 289 00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:21.160 her own life. Taken temporarily went to live with her father, Gabe, 290 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:25.400 in Ottawa, but once Lisa was released, Taken was sent 291 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:29.519 back to live with her. Gabe was worried. He didn't 292 00:20:29.559 --> 00:20:32.920 think that Lisa was capable of looking after Taking, he 293 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:36.440 worried about her safety. He tried to get custody of 294 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:40.720 his daughter, but his request was declined, so the court 295 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:44.519 sent Taken back to Surrey, back to the gated community, 296 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:49.720 back to her mother. After Lisa was arrested, detectives executed 297 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:53.119 a search warrant at her home. They came across four 298 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:55.960 letters that offered an insight into her state of mind. 299 00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:00.200 They had been clearly written after Taken was killed. In 300 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:03.240 those rs between the smothering and the knock on Joan 301 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:07.400 Cook's door, one read I can't believe I took my 302 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:11.640 daughter's life. Another part read I deserve to go to 303 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:16.640 jail or institution plus death penalty. Another was found on 304 00:21:16.680 --> 00:21:20.319 top of a garbage can, which read I'm so sorry. 305 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:24.720 Two others were discovered attached to a closet door. One 306 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:29.839 read you win, Gabe, the other you broke me. One 307 00:21:29.880 --> 00:21:32.839 of the letters read that Lisa had suffered relentless mental 308 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:37.119 and emotional abuse. She also complained about how Gabe was 309 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:43.039 putting Tagan first. Daily, she continued writing, I tried because 310 00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:46.920 Tagan deserved better. I just couldn't imagine leaving here and 311 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:49.640 leaving her to Hymn. I loved her to the moon 312 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:54.079 and back, and now she's in no pain. The letters 313 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:56.160 painted a picture of a woman who believed she was 314 00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:00.720 simultaneously a victim and a savior, someone who had convinced 315 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:03.160 herself that killing her daughter was an act of love 316 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:08.599 of protection, that taking Tagan's life was somehow better than 317 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:12.640 letting her live it. The news of the tragic discovery 318 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:16.359 and the arrest of Lisa spread rapidly through Surrey and beyond. 319 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:21.000 People were stunned. The gated community where Lisa and Tagan 320 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:23.920 had lived was quiet, in the way that neighborhoods get 321 00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:28.799 when something unspeakable happens behind one of their doors. One 322 00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:32.039 local woman, who has not to be named, said, Lisa 323 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:34.359 has always been a loving, devoted mother to her daughter. 324 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:38.119 Everyone who knows Lisa is so shocked because she was 325 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:43.359 a single mom whose life revolved around Taken in every way. 326 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:45.880 It was the refrain that would echo through the community 327 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:49.319 in the days to come. People couldn't reconcile the Lisa 328 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:52.440 they knew, the super friendly neighbor, the woman who posted 329 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:56.880 enthusiastically about loving motherhood with the woman now standing accused 330 00:22:57.319 --> 00:23:01.880 of killing her own daughter. Tigan's father, Gabe, was obviously 331 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:07.119 distraught across the country in Ottawa, he was processing the unthinkable. 332 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:11.400 He posted on Twitter, life will never be the same 333 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:15.920 after losing my daughter to murder, Our family courts and 334 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:19.960 thus we all failed. He said that he wasn't able 335 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:23.839 to talk about his daughter without sobbing. He also posted 336 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:26.680 photographs of Taken and a link to a video he 337 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:30.400 had made six months earlier. It was a photo slideshow, 338 00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:34.880 a collection of moments from her short life. One photo 339 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:38.680 contained the caption Taken will not be me, she will 340 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:42.000 be better than me. Gabe made the video for an 341 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:48.240 international campaign called Girls twenty under the title Father's Impowering Daughters. 342 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:52.000 The campaign was created to encourage g twenty leaders to 343 00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:55.680 invest in girls and women now. The video stood as 344 00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:58.799 a haunting testament to a future that would never arrive 345 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:02.359 Gabe spoke with the media and said he hadn't yet 346 00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:06.839 told the boys about Taking's death. His sons didn't know 347 00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:09.839 yet that their sister wasn't ever coming to visit again. 348 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:13.160 He said that Grave councilors were going to help him 349 00:24:13.160 --> 00:24:17.359 deliver the news. He also asked for privacy, but said 350 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:19.920 he hoped to speak more publicly about Taking in the future. 351 00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:23.839 He said, I don't want her to ever be forgotten, 352 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:28.319 and the next day Gabe spoke further. He called for 353 00:24:28.440 --> 00:24:32.799 law reform when it came to custody cases. The grief 354 00:24:32.839 --> 00:24:36.519 was already transforming into something else, not replacing the pain, 355 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:43.720 but channeling it into purpose. Did you know that Americans 356 00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:46.599 spend roughly ninety percent of their time indoors, and the 357 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:48.960 air inside their home can actually be up to one 358 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:52.400 hundred times more polluted than the air outside. That's kind 359 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:55.039 of terrifying when you think about it. That's where air 360 00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:58.039 Doctor comes in. Air Doctor is the award winning air 361 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:01.519 purifire that eliminates ninety nine point ninety nine percent of 362 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:06.960 dangerous contaminants. We're talking allergens, viruses, smoke gases, mold, spores, 363 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:10.279 you name it. 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Plus, air Doctor backs it 372 00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:38.599 with a thirty day money back guarantee and includes a 373 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:42.519 three year warranty that's an eighty four dollar value absolutely free. 374 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:45.000 Head to air doctor pro dot com and use the 375 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:47.759 promo code morbidology to get up to three hundred dollars 376 00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:51.519 off today. Get this exclusive podcast only offer now at 377 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:55.799 air doctorpro dot com that is AI RDSA t r 378 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:02.920 pro dot com using the promo code morbidology. On the 379 00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:05.759 eighteenth of December, hundreds of people gathered for a memorial 380 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:11.079 for Taking at White Rock Baptist Church. Pastor alis Andre 381 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:15.279 addressed the congregation and said, to be clear, this is 382 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:19.440 a celebration of life, pink, white, and purple balloons sat 383 00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:23.680 alongside matching arrangements of flowers. They sat at the front 384 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:29.079 of the church, surrounding frame photographs of Taken, images of 385 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:31.359 a smiling girl with her whole life ahead of her 386 00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:36.720 frozen noine time. People stood before a microphone and shared 387 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:41.720 fond memories of Taken. Pastor Putticumb said the first thing 388 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:44.119 Tagan did when she got to church was run and 389 00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:47.440 give certain people hugs. I was fortunate enough to be 390 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:51.400 one of the recipients of those amazing hugs. The children's 391 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:55.720 program coordinator at the church, Lisa Strue, said Tagan was 392 00:26:55.720 --> 00:27:01.200 an absolute delight and she blessed our livesin His maternal grandfather, 393 00:27:01.480 --> 00:27:05.839 Barry Hamilton, was there, along with the number of her classmates. 394 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:09.920 Barry later said that his daughter was so remorseful and 395 00:27:10.039 --> 00:27:13.720 so sorry for what had happened. He said that Tagan 396 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:18.519 was his daughter's only reason for being. He said, everyone 397 00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:21.400 that knew Taken and new Lisa knows that she was 398 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:24.480 probably the best mother in the world and this never 399 00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:27.319 ever would have happened if she had been in the 400 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:31.279 right frame of mind. According to Barry, bipolar disorder ran 401 00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:34.160