1 00:00:17,467 --> 00:00:20,867 Her lack of empathy 2 00:00:20,934 --> 00:00:26,767 or just any sense of remorse is missing in that phone call, 3 00:00:26,767 --> 00:00:28,967 and it is horrific to hear. 4 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,667 That was not the woman that I knew. 5 00:00:32,667 --> 00:00:37,433 That was -- that was a whole 'nother level of evil. 6 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:57,667 I was warned ahead of time before it was 7 00:00:57,734 --> 00:00:59,266 released that I would not want to hear it, 8 00:00:59,333 --> 00:01:00,867 and I listened to it anyway. 9 00:01:00,867 --> 00:01:03,734 That call has haunted me ever since hearing it. 10 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:20,266 If the entire world was a book or a story, for Brandi, 11 00:01:20,266 --> 00:01:24,667 she, without hesitation, said that she was the main character. 12 00:01:24,667 --> 00:01:26,266 In Brandi's mind, 13 00:01:26,266 --> 00:01:31,467 it was Brandi's world, and we were all just living in it. 14 00:01:31,533 --> 00:01:34,367 When you have someone who you love and trust 15 00:01:34,367 --> 00:01:37,367 who abuses that love and trust to 16 00:01:37,367 --> 00:01:40,967 control every aspect of your life, 17 00:01:41,033 --> 00:01:44,467 it's something everyone needs to speak up about. 18 00:01:44,533 --> 00:01:47,667 I learned the most dangerous time with an abuser is when you 19 00:01:47,667 --> 00:01:50,066 try to leave that abuser, 20 00:01:50,066 --> 00:01:52,467 because you never know what they're going to do when they 21 00:01:52,533 --> 00:01:55,233 lose that control over your life. 22 00:02:01,066 --> 00:02:03,967 [The Paper Chase's "What's So Amazing About Grace?" plays] 23 00:02:03,967 --> 00:02:06,166 [strings continue playing sinister tune] 24 00:02:06,166 --> 00:02:08,166 [static crackling] 25 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:12,967 -[knock at door] -[creaking] 26 00:02:13,033 --> 00:02:18,367 -[banging on door] -[creaking] 27 00:02:18,433 --> 00:02:23,367 -[banging on door] -[creaking] 28 00:02:23,367 --> 00:02:25,066 [water dripping] 29 00:02:25,066 --> 00:02:28,166 -[banging on door] -[creaking] 30 00:02:28,166 --> 00:02:30,333 [sinister chord strikes] 31 00:02:36,467 --> 00:02:39,166 JASON: I feel anxious, because I feel 32 00:02:39,166 --> 00:02:41,166 like everybody around me knows what happened. 33 00:02:41,233 --> 00:02:43,166 "Oh, that's the guy 34 00:02:43,166 --> 00:02:45,233 that survived Brandi Worley." 35 00:02:46,767 --> 00:02:48,567 My initial impressions of Brandi 36 00:02:48,567 --> 00:02:50,767 were that she was hard-working. 37 00:02:50,767 --> 00:02:54,100 She was friendly and... 38 00:02:54,100 --> 00:02:55,967 just kind of the center of any 39 00:02:55,967 --> 00:02:58,266 friend group that she became a part of. 40 00:02:58,266 --> 00:03:01,667 This was my initial opinion, but it changed over time. 41 00:03:01,667 --> 00:03:04,166 It is very difficult to talk about Brandi. 42 00:03:04,233 --> 00:03:07,166 I normally try not to use her name as much as possible, 43 00:03:07,233 --> 00:03:09,000 because attention was something she loved, 44 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,533 and I don't really care to give her attention anymore. 45 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,467 In the fall of 2006, I was attending a college 46 00:03:27,533 --> 00:03:28,734 in Indianapolis. 47 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,367 in college, Brandi was studying to be a paralegal. 48 00:03:33,433 --> 00:03:35,467 At that time, I didn't notice Brandi, 49 00:03:35,467 --> 00:03:37,767 but apparently, she took notice of me. 50 00:03:41,700 --> 00:03:46,066 Then, later on, I kept seeing Brandi all over campus, 51 00:03:47,166 --> 00:03:50,367 like she would be outside my classroom or in 52 00:03:50,367 --> 00:03:54,367 a hallway or outside the dorms as I walked by. 53 00:03:55,767 --> 00:03:56,934 Jason? 54 00:03:58,000 --> 00:03:59,767 You again. 55 00:03:59,767 --> 00:04:04,567 She seemed like somebody who was bubbly and full of joy. 56 00:04:04,634 --> 00:04:06,066 I found out from a mutual friend 57 00:04:06,133 --> 00:04:08,567 that Brandi was interested in me. 58 00:04:08,567 --> 00:04:10,734 And soon after, we started dating. 59 00:04:13,567 --> 00:04:16,066 Later in the relationship, a friend 60 00:04:16,066 --> 00:04:18,734 asked Brandi how Brandi and I met. 61 00:04:19,667 --> 00:04:22,767 Brandi admitted that she followed me around college 62 00:04:22,767 --> 00:04:24,567 and had memorized my class schedule. 63 00:04:24,567 --> 00:04:27,266 So I can see him as much as I could. 64 00:04:27,266 --> 00:04:29,066 JASON: Brandi spoke about it as if this was 65 00:04:29,133 --> 00:04:32,667 a completely normal thing for a person to do. 66 00:04:32,667 --> 00:04:35,767 I was taken slightly aback, because I did not realize 67 00:04:35,834 --> 00:04:37,166 these were planned encounters. 68 00:04:37,166 --> 00:04:40,066 I thought this was just random chance, 69 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,066 but I very much believe it was 70 00:04:43,066 --> 00:04:46,166 like the beginning of a form of manipulation. 71 00:04:46,166 --> 00:04:48,634 It was an intentional plan of hers. 72 00:04:56,166 --> 00:04:59,767 This is a photograph of Brandi and I in college. 73 00:04:59,767 --> 00:05:02,667 This is the version of Brandi that I fell in love with. 74 00:05:02,667 --> 00:05:06,166 This was the fun, bubbly, energetic Brandi 75 00:05:06,166 --> 00:05:10,767 that was who I thought I was going to spend my life with. 76 00:05:10,767 --> 00:05:13,066 I started to fall in love with Brandi 77 00:05:13,066 --> 00:05:16,567 because she was such a people pleaser. 78 00:05:16,567 --> 00:05:18,867 It wasn't until later on that I found out that it was just 79 00:05:18,867 --> 00:05:20,967 kind of how she got what she wanted from people 80 00:05:21,033 --> 00:05:23,767 was to treat them in a way that made them feel good. 81 00:05:23,767 --> 00:05:27,667 But nowadays, when I see Brandi, 82 00:05:27,667 --> 00:05:28,867 it makes me angry. 83 00:05:28,867 --> 00:05:31,867 Here's the person that took everything that 84 00:05:31,867 --> 00:05:33,767 was important to me away from me. 85 00:05:41,667 --> 00:05:44,467 Brandi and I had only been dating for six months, 86 00:05:44,533 --> 00:05:47,266 but I approached Brandi's mother with the intent 87 00:05:47,266 --> 00:05:49,667 of asking her for Brandi's hand in marriage. 88 00:05:51,367 --> 00:05:55,266 That night, her mother filled me in on some of Brandi's life 89 00:05:55,266 --> 00:05:59,066 prior to my knowing her and kind of things 90 00:05:59,066 --> 00:06:00,467 Brandi had been through. 91 00:06:02,467 --> 00:06:07,066 Brandi's mother had told me about her previous marriages 92 00:06:07,066 --> 00:06:11,567 and how Brandi had multiple father figures throughout 93 00:06:11,567 --> 00:06:15,567 that time, how Brandi didn't know her biological father. 94 00:06:15,567 --> 00:06:17,667 She told me about 95 00:06:17,667 --> 00:06:20,767 instances of abuse in Brandi's childhood 96 00:06:20,834 --> 00:06:23,734 that kind of shaped Brandi's view of the world. 97 00:06:24,867 --> 00:06:27,367 I was somewhat surprised that I didn't 98 00:06:27,367 --> 00:06:29,033 hear it from Brandi initially. 99 00:06:30,500 --> 00:06:33,266 I always tried to be very open about who 100 00:06:33,266 --> 00:06:36,767 I was and things that have happened in my past. 101 00:06:38,100 --> 00:06:40,367 At the time, I just 102 00:06:40,367 --> 00:06:41,767 assumed it was something that Brandi 103 00:06:41,834 --> 00:06:43,467 just didn't like talking about it. 104 00:06:43,533 --> 00:06:45,667 Maybe it was a sore spot for her. 105 00:06:46,700 --> 00:06:50,100 I had thought this is someone that needs protection, needs 106 00:06:50,100 --> 00:06:54,967 love, needs care so that they can continue moving forward in 107 00:06:55,033 --> 00:06:56,166 their life. 108 00:06:56,166 --> 00:06:58,266 Knowing what I know now about Brandi, 109 00:06:58,266 --> 00:07:02,266 she very carefully curated people's opinions of her. 110 00:07:02,266 --> 00:07:05,967 Brandi was very much two people, and I don't know if even 111 00:07:06,033 --> 00:07:09,734 I know what the true Brandi is let alone if anyone does. 112 00:07:20,700 --> 00:07:22,367 Shortly after we got engaged, 113 00:07:22,367 --> 00:07:25,567 I was working already as a software engineer, 114 00:07:25,634 --> 00:07:28,567 and Brandi was working in a department store. 115 00:07:28,567 --> 00:07:31,667 She believed she was going to be promoted to manager. 116 00:07:31,667 --> 00:07:33,000 After work, 117 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:34,367 I meet her back at the apartment, 118 00:07:34,367 --> 00:07:36,667 and she explains to me that 119 00:07:36,667 --> 00:07:39,767 another employee got the job instead of her, 120 00:07:39,767 --> 00:07:42,266 and it made her angry. 121 00:07:42,266 --> 00:07:45,166 It was supposed to be me! 122 00:07:45,233 --> 00:07:47,266 JASON: She accused the store manager of 123 00:07:47,266 --> 00:07:50,166 having relations with this other employee 124 00:07:50,233 --> 00:07:51,767 and made a scene in the store. 125 00:07:51,767 --> 00:07:54,667 That's how she ended up losing her job. 126 00:07:56,767 --> 00:08:00,166 Brandi very much played the victim in this situation. 127 00:08:00,233 --> 00:08:02,166 She put on a very emotional act. 128 00:08:02,166 --> 00:08:04,767 She was crying, she was shaking. 129 00:08:04,767 --> 00:08:06,867 It didn't feel like the right time to 130 00:08:06,934 --> 00:08:09,166 ask her even why did you do this? 131 00:08:09,166 --> 00:08:12,867 This is not proper behavior, to be 132 00:08:12,867 --> 00:08:17,867 yelling at a fellow employee and your manager. 133 00:08:17,867 --> 00:08:21,266 I went into crisis management mode of okay... 134 00:08:21,266 --> 00:08:22,967 It's okay. It's okay. 135 00:08:23,033 --> 00:08:25,100 ...here's how we're going to handle the finances. 136 00:08:25,100 --> 00:08:26,667 I'm just taking any opportunity to 137 00:08:26,734 --> 00:08:30,066 make sure I am the best provider I can be. 138 00:08:30,066 --> 00:08:31,767 Because of all things, 139 00:08:31,834 --> 00:08:34,667 I idolized my father for being an excellent provider. 140 00:08:34,667 --> 00:08:36,467 And so that's what I wanted to be. 141 00:08:36,467 --> 00:08:38,767 I wanted to be my father. 142 00:08:38,767 --> 00:08:42,367 How could you think about money at a time like this? 143 00:08:42,367 --> 00:08:43,767 JASON: I was trying to make money, 144 00:08:43,767 --> 00:08:45,567 and we were trying to pay for a marriage. 145 00:08:45,634 --> 00:08:47,166 It was all the balls in 146 00:08:47,233 --> 00:08:50,166 the air and just trying to keep everything moving. 147 00:08:50,233 --> 00:08:52,667 But this was the first instance of me seeing 148 00:08:52,667 --> 00:08:54,567 how poorly 149 00:08:54,567 --> 00:08:59,667 Brandi would react to her own plans not coming to fruition. 150 00:08:59,734 --> 00:09:04,967 I thought maybe it was just a one-off or just -- just a fluke, 151 00:09:05,033 --> 00:09:08,266 if anything -- I was distracted 152 00:09:08,266 --> 00:09:11,100 from the reality of the situation. 153 00:09:11,100 --> 00:09:14,667 Brandi is very calculating, until her plans 154 00:09:14,667 --> 00:09:17,367 don't work as she expected them to. 155 00:09:17,367 --> 00:09:20,767 At that point, she's just raging against the world. 156 00:09:27,100 --> 00:09:29,367 JASON: After Brandi lost her job, 157 00:09:29,433 --> 00:09:33,066 I switched employers and took on more responsibilities 158 00:09:33,133 --> 00:09:38,066 with work -- it also included working longer hours. 159 00:09:38,133 --> 00:09:39,767 One day, I had come home from work. 160 00:09:39,767 --> 00:09:41,266 As soon as I was in the door, 161 00:09:41,333 --> 00:09:43,367 she was on top of me. 162 00:09:43,367 --> 00:09:44,767 What took you so long? 163 00:09:44,767 --> 00:09:46,567 JASON: What were you doing downtown? 164 00:09:46,634 --> 00:09:48,166 Who were you with? 165 00:09:48,166 --> 00:09:50,567 She was very accusatory. 166 00:09:50,567 --> 00:09:53,166 She wanted to know who I was talking to 167 00:09:53,166 --> 00:09:55,266 and where I was at all times. 168 00:09:55,266 --> 00:09:59,467 And then she demanded that I block my exes on social media. 169 00:09:59,467 --> 00:10:00,734 Let me see. 170 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,867 She was standing over my shoulder 171 00:10:05,867 --> 00:10:08,967 and making sure I actually followed through on it. 172 00:10:11,066 --> 00:10:14,867 There was an application that she insisted we use that 173 00:10:14,934 --> 00:10:19,066 gave her access to my GPS location at all times. 174 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:22,467 What she wanted was, okay, 175 00:10:22,467 --> 00:10:23,867 what time did Jason get to work? 176 00:10:23,934 --> 00:10:25,467 What time did Jason leave? 177 00:10:25,533 --> 00:10:27,734 Did he leave the office at any time today? 178 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:33,967 The lack of trust made me feel actually sorry for Brandi. 179 00:10:34,033 --> 00:10:35,667 It made me wonder what experience 180 00:10:35,667 --> 00:10:38,467 made her see the worst in people. 181 00:10:38,533 --> 00:10:42,166 I believe this came from a place of having seen 182 00:10:42,233 --> 00:10:43,634 father figures 183 00:10:44,667 --> 00:10:45,967 cheat on her mother. 184 00:10:47,066 --> 00:10:49,467 So I just went along with it. 185 00:10:49,467 --> 00:10:52,767 It seemed like a gesture of good faith to Brandi. 186 00:10:52,834 --> 00:10:54,066 Now you have nothing to hide. 187 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,667 Brandi took every advantage of my kindness 188 00:10:59,734 --> 00:11:02,767 to manipulate the situation into 189 00:11:02,767 --> 00:11:05,166 what she wanted to meet her own 190 00:11:05,233 --> 00:11:06,967 personal goals. 191 00:11:06,967 --> 00:11:10,667 For Brandi, people were almost dispensable. 192 00:11:12,767 --> 00:11:15,467 As soon as a person did not provide 193 00:11:15,467 --> 00:11:19,667 something that made Brandi's life easier, they just 194 00:11:19,734 --> 00:11:21,433 no longer existed in her mind. 195 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,266 We were getting closer to the actual wedding. 196 00:11:29,266 --> 00:11:30,834 Did you think more about it? 197 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:33,867 We had had a discussion about when 198 00:11:33,867 --> 00:11:36,266 we actually wanted to start having children. 199 00:11:36,266 --> 00:11:39,166 And for me, the answer was not right 200 00:11:39,166 --> 00:11:43,000 away, because we were both working on our careers. 201 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,767 Maybe we take the temperature after the wedding, right? 202 00:11:46,767 --> 00:11:49,066 JASON: She was unusually silent. 203 00:11:49,066 --> 00:11:50,333 AS JASON: Sound good? 204 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:53,066 JASON: I thought, you know, 205 00:11:53,133 --> 00:11:55,467 wow, she's valuing my opinion. 206 00:11:55,467 --> 00:11:58,266 I didn't know that she was asking 207 00:11:58,333 --> 00:11:59,834 for a very specific reason. 208 00:12:01,767 --> 00:12:04,667 A week later, I go back to the bedroom to see what 209 00:12:04,734 --> 00:12:07,066 she's doing -- I find out that she had taken 210 00:12:07,066 --> 00:12:09,667 a pregnancy test and found out she was pregnant. 211 00:12:09,734 --> 00:12:14,333 [sobbing quietly] 212 00:12:15,767 --> 00:12:17,233 Honey, what's wrong? 213 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:21,100 JASON: Even though just a week prior, I was like, 214 00:12:21,100 --> 00:12:23,767 "Let's wait a couple of years," I was still, like, ecstatic. 215 00:12:23,767 --> 00:12:25,867 I'm going to be a father. This is amazing. 216 00:12:25,867 --> 00:12:28,000 This must be meant to be 217 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,367 because, you know, I thought she was 218 00:12:31,367 --> 00:12:32,867 still on birth control at the time. 219 00:12:32,867 --> 00:12:35,667 So it's one in a million chance or whatever. 220 00:12:35,667 --> 00:12:37,333 This isn't my fault. 221 00:12:38,467 --> 00:12:41,166 JASON: She framed it as my fault. 222 00:12:41,166 --> 00:12:43,367 She was very good at manipulating my guilt 223 00:12:43,367 --> 00:12:45,100 and making me feel 224 00:12:45,100 --> 00:12:47,266 that I was responsible for situations that 225 00:12:47,266 --> 00:12:48,767 I had no control over. 226 00:12:48,767 --> 00:12:50,867 She's like, "Well, I haven't been taking it, 227 00:12:50,867 --> 00:12:52,367 because you didn't pick it up for me." 228 00:12:54,767 --> 00:12:56,767 I was taken slightly aback. 229 00:12:56,834 --> 00:12:58,266 I had never picked it up for her. 230 00:12:58,266 --> 00:12:59,767 It was always something she had done. 231 00:12:59,767 --> 00:13:03,767 I wouldn't have even known where she was getting it from. 232 00:13:03,834 --> 00:13:05,567 You haven't been taking your birth control? 233 00:13:05,567 --> 00:13:08,667 -See?! -JASON: At the time, 234 00:13:08,667 --> 00:13:12,467 I kind of accepted Brandi's claim that I could 235 00:13:12,533 --> 00:13:14,367 have been picking up the birth control for her. 236 00:13:14,367 --> 00:13:16,133 Brandi. 237 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:18,967 We're having a baby. 238 00:13:19,033 --> 00:13:21,667 And then she's like, "If you think at any 239 00:13:21,667 --> 00:13:23,867 "point in the future, you're going to want to leave me, 240 00:13:23,934 --> 00:13:26,567 "do it now, because once the child is born, 241 00:13:26,567 --> 00:13:28,667 I will not accept you leaving." 242 00:13:28,667 --> 00:13:31,567 It's not too late to call it here. 243 00:13:31,567 --> 00:13:32,967 Why would you say that? 244 00:13:34,066 --> 00:13:37,166 It was very jarring, because here I was wanting to celebrate 245 00:13:37,166 --> 00:13:40,567 this moment, and she was bringing a very negative 246 00:13:40,567 --> 00:13:41,734 outlook to it. 247 00:13:43,667 --> 00:13:46,667 It wouldn't be long until Brandi really 248 00:13:46,667 --> 00:13:49,166 leaned more heavily into this kind of behavior 249 00:13:51,066 --> 00:13:53,667 and become even more controlling 250 00:13:53,667 --> 00:13:55,333 than she already was. 251 00:14:06,767 --> 00:14:09,867 This is a photograph of Brandi and I on our wedding day. 252 00:14:09,867 --> 00:14:12,567 In this picture, Brandi was pregnant. 253 00:14:12,634 --> 00:14:16,467 I suggested the idea of postponing the wedding. 254 00:14:16,467 --> 00:14:19,467 Brandi did not like that idea at all. 255 00:14:19,467 --> 00:14:23,767 I would not even categorize my wedding day as a happy day. 256 00:14:23,767 --> 00:14:25,567 It was another day and another time 257 00:14:25,567 --> 00:14:27,967 where I had to keep Brandi happy. 258 00:14:27,967 --> 00:14:30,767 It was another example of Brandi has a plan. 259 00:14:30,767 --> 00:14:34,867 We do not deviate from that plan, or Brandi will be angry. 260 00:14:34,934 --> 00:14:37,467 I had to keep moving chairs in and out of the building 261 00:14:37,467 --> 00:14:39,767 because we wanted it to be an outdoor wedding, 262 00:14:39,767 --> 00:14:41,066 then it would rain a little bit, 263 00:14:41,133 --> 00:14:42,467 and I had to take the chairs back in 264 00:14:42,467 --> 00:14:45,166 and take the chairs back out when it cleared up again. 265 00:14:45,166 --> 00:14:47,567 Brandi was angry. 266 00:14:47,634 --> 00:14:49,100 She was irritable. 267 00:14:49,100 --> 00:14:52,367 She was snapping at everybody -- when you 268 00:14:52,433 --> 00:14:55,367 look at this picture, and Brandi looks happy, 269 00:14:55,367 --> 00:14:58,166 it's simply because that's what Brandi wants you to see. 270 00:14:58,166 --> 00:15:01,767 Brandi knows how to switch her face on a dime. 271 00:15:01,834 --> 00:15:03,767 I would like to have believed that she loved me at 272 00:15:03,834 --> 00:15:07,467 some point, but in light of everything she's done, 273 00:15:08,767 --> 00:15:09,867 I don't know. 274 00:15:09,867 --> 00:15:11,233 And I don't know if I'll ever know. 275 00:15:25,066 --> 00:15:28,100 This is a picture of Tyler right after he was born. 276 00:15:28,100 --> 00:15:30,867 Tyler was 10 weeks premature. 277 00:15:30,934 --> 00:15:35,066 It was a very hectic and unsure time. 278 00:15:35,133 --> 00:15:36,867 Brandi's health was 279 00:15:38,667 --> 00:15:40,867 in a critical state when she arrived at 280 00:15:40,867 --> 00:15:44,266 the emergency room, and they were telling me that 281 00:15:44,266 --> 00:15:47,767 all -- they would only be able to save one of them. 282 00:15:47,767 --> 00:15:50,166 I thought I was either gonna say goodbye 283 00:15:50,233 --> 00:15:52,333 to my wife or goodbye to my son that day. 284 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,100 Tyler is 2 pounds, 12 ounces, 285 00:15:57,100 --> 00:16:00,166 and he's receiving assistance to breathe. 286 00:16:00,166 --> 00:16:03,266 He's being kept in an incubator because 287 00:16:03,266 --> 00:16:05,667 he's not maintaining his body temperature yet. 288 00:16:05,734 --> 00:16:07,867 I would just sit there and just read to him, 289 00:16:07,867 --> 00:16:10,467 just to make sure he knew I was there. 290 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,166 While Tyler was in the NICU, 291 00:16:17,166 --> 00:16:19,367 I spent a lot of time with him, 292 00:16:19,367 --> 00:16:23,066 and Brandi's mother took care of her. 293 00:16:24,266 --> 00:16:26,967 I would take pictures and, you know, 294 00:16:26,967 --> 00:16:29,367 hang them up around her room. 295 00:16:29,433 --> 00:16:31,266 I just thought she'd want to see our son. 296 00:16:31,266 --> 00:16:34,166 I thought she'd be excited about that, 297 00:16:34,166 --> 00:16:37,934 but Brandi just would not go and see him. 298 00:16:41,567 --> 00:16:43,767 One afternoon, I go into the room, and I notice 299 00:16:43,834 --> 00:16:47,266 the pictures are not hanging where I had left them. 300 00:16:47,266 --> 00:16:50,000 It wasn't until later that I found out, when I wasn't in 301 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,767 the room, Brandi was asking her mother to take the pictures down 302 00:16:52,767 --> 00:16:54,166 because she didn't want to see them. 303 00:16:55,266 --> 00:16:58,667 She did eventually come around and go see Tyler for 304 00:16:58,667 --> 00:17:00,767 the first time, right before she was 305 00:17:00,767 --> 00:17:02,333 discharged from the hospital. 306 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:05,767 Much later, she finally told me 307 00:17:05,767 --> 00:17:08,166 why the pictures were taken down, 308 00:17:08,166 --> 00:17:10,467 why she didn't go see Tyler, was 309 00:17:10,467 --> 00:17:13,367 Brandi had a very particular idea in mind 310 00:17:13,367 --> 00:17:16,667 of how her pregnancy would run its course. 311 00:17:16,667 --> 00:17:18,767 And when it didn't 312 00:17:18,834 --> 00:17:22,100 go that way, she was very upset about things 313 00:17:22,100 --> 00:17:25,166 not going to plan, angry that Tyler was so small. 314 00:17:25,233 --> 00:17:28,567 She was upset with Tyler that this had happened. 315 00:17:28,634 --> 00:17:31,166 It was another example of this wasn't the plan, 316 00:17:31,233 --> 00:17:35,367 so she was throwing her little temper tantrum about it, 317 00:17:35,367 --> 00:17:38,567 but there was never any kind of indication that 318 00:17:38,634 --> 00:17:41,066 things would ever go as far as they did. 319 00:17:47,867 --> 00:17:50,000 JASON: In the days and weeks that followed, 320 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,667 Brandi fell into a role of taking care of Tyler. 321 00:17:53,667 --> 00:17:57,166 I returned to work, and things 322 00:17:58,266 --> 00:18:00,467 seemed good, seemed -- she seemed normal. 323 00:18:00,533 --> 00:18:02,834 It was -- it was a good time. 324 00:18:04,767 --> 00:18:07,066 The spring after Tyler was born, 325 00:18:07,133 --> 00:18:11,667 we were doing some work in the yard, and Brandi's family 326 00:18:11,667 --> 00:18:14,433 had come over to help us with the yard work. 327 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:20,100 Brandi's stepdad had started burning weeds out of the fence 328 00:18:20,100 --> 00:18:23,567 line instead of just pulling them out of the fence, 329 00:18:23,567 --> 00:18:25,767 which is what I would have done. 330 00:18:25,767 --> 00:18:28,667 It really bothered me. 331 00:18:28,667 --> 00:18:31,467 I did not like that they were doing that. 332 00:18:31,467 --> 00:18:34,767 And so I pulled Brandi aside, I'm like, "Hey, 333 00:18:34,834 --> 00:18:37,233 could you ask your family to back off a little?" 334 00:18:39,667 --> 00:18:43,066 Brandi's response was to tell me that, "If you don't like 335 00:18:43,133 --> 00:18:46,367 "my family, then we can't be together. 336 00:18:46,367 --> 00:18:49,867 And if you leave, you're never seeing Tyler again." 337 00:18:49,867 --> 00:18:52,867 I was like, where is this coming from? 338 00:18:52,934 --> 00:18:55,367 Brandi had a very stern and serious composure that 339 00:18:55,367 --> 00:18:59,567 made me believe that this was a serious threat. 340 00:18:59,567 --> 00:19:01,567 She's going to kick me out of my son's life 341 00:19:01,567 --> 00:19:04,066 over this, and it was really upsetting. 342 00:19:07,367 --> 00:19:10,233 Tyler was all important to me. 343 00:19:13,567 --> 00:19:17,667 After Brandi's family left, 344 00:19:17,667 --> 00:19:20,567 I took a moment with Tyler, and I just held him in my arms. 345 00:19:20,634 --> 00:19:22,967 I held him, and I wept. 346 00:19:22,967 --> 00:19:25,467 This became a... 347 00:19:25,467 --> 00:19:29,166 almost a go-to for her when she wanted to win an argument. 348 00:19:29,166 --> 00:19:31,734 "Do this, or you're never seeing your son again." 349 00:19:33,066 --> 00:19:35,867 One of the things about Brandi is 350 00:19:35,867 --> 00:19:38,100 people aren't really people to her. 351 00:19:38,100 --> 00:19:40,867 They are a means to an end. 352 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,100 In this photograph is a picture of Tyler 353 00:19:49,100 --> 00:19:52,667 posing and just being a little ham for the camera. 354 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,667 He loved putting on a big smile. 355 00:19:56,667 --> 00:19:58,367 Tyler was a force. 356 00:19:58,367 --> 00:20:00,467 He -- he just... 357 00:20:00,467 --> 00:20:03,967 would blow through a room and fill everyone with joy. 358 00:20:04,033 --> 00:20:05,734 It was just amazing how 359 00:20:06,667 --> 00:20:11,567 wonderful he made people feel when he was in their presence. 360 00:20:11,567 --> 00:20:13,266 He could walk into a room with 20 strangers 361 00:20:13,266 --> 00:20:15,367 and walk out with 20 new best friends. 362 00:20:20,867 --> 00:20:22,266 Father's Day came around. 363 00:20:22,333 --> 00:20:25,667 I had woken up that morning expecting, you know, 364 00:20:25,667 --> 00:20:29,266 maybe a card or for someone to say 365 00:20:29,333 --> 00:20:31,333 "Happy Father's Day" to me or something. 366 00:20:32,867 --> 00:20:34,567 Oh, you're up. 367 00:20:34,634 --> 00:20:36,867 JASON: I knew Brandi knew it was Father's Day, 368 00:20:36,867 --> 00:20:38,867 because she had gotten her father a gift 369 00:20:38,867 --> 00:20:41,667 and helped me pick up a gift for my father, 370 00:20:41,734 --> 00:20:47,967 but, for whatever reason, she chose not to do anything 371 00:20:48,033 --> 00:20:49,467 for me. 372 00:20:49,533 --> 00:20:51,367 It wasn't like I wanted or needed much. 373 00:20:51,367 --> 00:20:53,467 Like, I would have been ecstatic just to have 374 00:20:53,533 --> 00:20:55,767 her trace Tyler's hand onto a piece of paper. 375 00:20:55,767 --> 00:20:57,100 I would have hung it in my cube 376 00:20:57,100 --> 00:20:58,867 and been just the happiest father ever. 377 00:20:58,934 --> 00:21:03,266 And Brandi didn't even wish me a happy Father's Day. 378 00:21:03,266 --> 00:21:06,567 I eventually tell Brandi that it's upsetting me. 379 00:21:06,567 --> 00:21:07,934 Can I talk to you? 380 00:21:11,867 --> 00:21:14,767 She turned it around and made it about her. 381 00:21:14,767 --> 00:21:19,567 She gets angry that I'm upset and tells me that 382 00:21:19,567 --> 00:21:22,967 if I feel so unappreciated, then I should just leave. 383 00:21:23,033 --> 00:21:26,266 But if I leave, I'll never see my son again. 384 00:21:26,333 --> 00:21:28,467 Say goodbye to Tyler on the way out. 385 00:21:28,467 --> 00:21:31,266 JASON: It was her instant win the argument 386 00:21:31,266 --> 00:21:33,467 button that she used repeatedly throughout 387 00:21:33,533 --> 00:21:34,967 the relationship. 388 00:21:35,033 --> 00:21:37,367 Brandi decided, okay, 389 00:21:37,367 --> 00:21:39,066 well, he wants a gift. 390 00:21:39,133 --> 00:21:41,967 I'll give him a gift in the most toxic way possible. 391 00:21:41,967 --> 00:21:45,667 Tyler, come on, we have to get your dad a gift. 392 00:21:45,734 --> 00:21:49,100 So Brandi had told Tyler that we're going to have 393 00:21:49,100 --> 00:21:51,100 to eat less, because we don't have 394 00:21:51,100 --> 00:21:52,467 the money for food right now, because daddy 395 00:21:52,467 --> 00:21:54,767 needed a gift, and it was just... 396 00:21:56,867 --> 00:21:59,467 vile -- there's no other way to describe that. 397 00:21:59,467 --> 00:22:02,867 She actually overdrafted our banking account in 398 00:22:02,867 --> 00:22:04,734 order to purchase a gift for me. 399 00:22:06,066 --> 00:22:09,867 But I wanted to keep together as a family unit, so... 400 00:22:09,867 --> 00:22:13,166 I shut up and put up. 401 00:22:13,166 --> 00:22:15,166 I just let her do what she wanted 402 00:22:15,233 --> 00:22:17,533 as long as I got to still be in Tyler's life. 403 00:22:27,667 --> 00:22:30,467 Being with Brandi was very isolating. 404 00:22:30,533 --> 00:22:34,000 She would go out of her way to drive a wedge 405 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,367 between me and anybody else that I knew, 406 00:22:36,367 --> 00:22:39,266 things like lying to my parents and telling them that I 407 00:22:39,266 --> 00:22:40,467 had to work on the weekend, 408 00:22:40,467 --> 00:22:43,000 so we couldn't go and visit them. 409 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:47,000 If I were to ask to go out for beers with co-workers after 410 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,667 work, she would lay a guilt trip on me and saying, "Well, 411 00:22:49,734 --> 00:22:51,467 "if you don't want to see your family tonight, 412 00:22:51,467 --> 00:22:52,734 I guess you can go." 413 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:55,967 With all this isolation, 414 00:22:56,033 --> 00:22:58,867 it made it difficult for me to get perspective on 415 00:22:58,934 --> 00:23:01,266 the situation, to have someone tell me, "Hey, 416 00:23:01,333 --> 00:23:03,367 what she's doing isn't right." 417 00:23:03,367 --> 00:23:05,967 I did not realize Brandi was manipulating me. 418 00:23:09,100 --> 00:23:12,166 I had been on medication for my mental health 419 00:23:12,166 --> 00:23:16,467 since high school -- in high school, 420 00:23:16,533 --> 00:23:19,166 I did make an attempt on my life, and it was 421 00:23:19,166 --> 00:23:21,667 a moment that I shared with her that I thought would bring 422 00:23:21,667 --> 00:23:24,166 us closer, but Brandi was very adamant that 423 00:23:24,166 --> 00:23:27,467 I should get off the medication, because 424 00:23:27,467 --> 00:23:29,967 she felt that the $30 a month we were spending on 425 00:23:30,033 --> 00:23:31,433 it was hurting us financially. 426 00:23:32,467 --> 00:23:36,100 She saw me as doing just fine. 427 00:23:36,100 --> 00:23:38,266 I apparently didn't need the medication, 428 00:23:38,266 --> 00:23:41,667 but I'm doing well because of the medication 429 00:23:41,734 --> 00:23:43,467 not I'm doing well 430 00:23:43,533 --> 00:23:45,266 so I don't need the medication. 431 00:23:46,767 --> 00:23:50,567 She just refused to understand that, she very much used 432 00:23:50,567 --> 00:23:52,467 guilt to convince me 433 00:23:52,467 --> 00:23:56,333 that I should at least try going off the medication. 434 00:23:58,700 --> 00:24:02,734 So I just no longer had my antidepressants anymore. 435 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:10,467 Now, part of me does wonder if it was more about keeping 436 00:24:10,533 --> 00:24:13,767 me off kilter so she can further control 437 00:24:13,767 --> 00:24:15,767 when and what I did. 438 00:24:18,100 --> 00:24:20,667 I still believed that, at that point, 439 00:24:20,734 --> 00:24:23,667 the fact that she was willing to do what she did 440 00:24:23,667 --> 00:24:25,166 proves to me that I'm wrong, 441 00:24:25,166 --> 00:24:27,433 and I never actually knew Brandi. 442 00:24:36,467 --> 00:24:40,367 JASON: Years go by, and we settle into family life, 443 00:24:40,367 --> 00:24:43,667 and we introduce a new family member, 444 00:24:43,734 --> 00:24:44,934 our daughter Charlee. 445 00:24:47,700 --> 00:24:51,367 This is a picture of Charlee on her 446 00:24:51,367 --> 00:24:54,567 first day of early learning academy, 447 00:24:54,567 --> 00:24:56,367 waiting for the bus. 448 00:24:56,433 --> 00:24:59,166 At this point, she had seen Tyler getting on the bus, 449 00:24:59,166 --> 00:25:02,834 and she was excited to be doing that herself, as well. 450 00:25:04,266 --> 00:25:06,567 Tyler and Charlee were inseparable. 451 00:25:06,567 --> 00:25:11,066 She was also a very opinionated little girl. 452 00:25:11,133 --> 00:25:14,066 If you gave her the wrong shoes, 453 00:25:14,066 --> 00:25:17,166 she would let you know in no uncertain terms. 454 00:25:17,233 --> 00:25:19,967 For all her stubbornness, she was still 455 00:25:20,033 --> 00:25:22,767 a joyful and loving child. 456 00:25:22,834 --> 00:25:25,734 I was very happily wrapped around her little finger. 457 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:37,867 One day, I noticed that Brandi 458 00:25:37,934 --> 00:25:40,166 had added a password to her phone. 459 00:25:41,767 --> 00:25:44,667 In the weeks that followed, I started noticing that 460 00:25:44,667 --> 00:25:46,767 she was spending a lot more time on her phone. 461 00:25:46,767 --> 00:25:50,166 She'd be sitting there and just smiling and texting, 462 00:25:50,166 --> 00:25:53,967 and just her general behavior 463 00:25:54,033 --> 00:25:56,367 with her phone had changed. 464 00:25:56,433 --> 00:25:59,467 It piqued my curiosity -- what's going on here? 465 00:26:01,900 --> 00:26:03,567 One day, as she got into the shower, 466 00:26:03,634 --> 00:26:05,367 I was able to get to her phone 467 00:26:05,367 --> 00:26:07,166 before the screen had locked. 468 00:26:07,166 --> 00:26:08,767 She was texting the neighbor. 469 00:26:11,667 --> 00:26:13,934 She had sent him a message stating, 470 00:26:15,867 --> 00:26:16,867 "I'm covered in frosting. 471 00:26:16,867 --> 00:26:18,634 Would you like to come lick it off?" 472 00:26:19,867 --> 00:26:21,567 While Brandi wasn't looking, 473 00:26:21,634 --> 00:26:24,767 I installed software that allowed me to 474 00:26:24,834 --> 00:26:27,767 view the messages that she was sending and receiving. 475 00:26:27,767 --> 00:26:31,367 I didn't confront Brandi at that point, because she now had 476 00:26:31,367 --> 00:26:34,367 two children to take -- to threaten to take away from me. 477 00:26:34,433 --> 00:26:37,233 So I didn't want to cause a problem. 478 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:48,066 Later on, the neighbor's girlfriend asked Brandi if 479 00:26:48,133 --> 00:26:49,767 she would like to go to a movie. 480 00:26:49,767 --> 00:26:52,367 So the two of them go off to a movie, 481 00:26:52,367 --> 00:26:58,166 and the neighbor and I take the three kids back to 482 00:26:58,166 --> 00:27:00,166 my house so the children can all play together. 483 00:27:00,233 --> 00:27:02,567 -[phone buzzing] -During this time, 484 00:27:02,634 --> 00:27:05,767 I am still able to watch Brandi's text messages. 485 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:09,266 The entire time that 486 00:27:09,266 --> 00:27:11,066 the neighbor and I are sitting in 487 00:27:11,066 --> 00:27:12,767 the living room across from each other, 488 00:27:12,834 --> 00:27:16,533 they are sending each other illicit messages via text. 489 00:27:20,700 --> 00:27:22,734 And at that point, I'm just... 490 00:27:24,567 --> 00:27:26,567 doing my best to contain myself. 491 00:27:26,634 --> 00:27:29,433 This is probably the angriest I've ever been with Brandi. 492 00:27:32,367 --> 00:27:35,467 Later on, Brandi and the neighbor's girlfriend 493 00:27:35,467 --> 00:27:39,066 returned to the house, and I confront Brandi. 494 00:27:39,066 --> 00:27:41,934 I tell them, so you love each other, huh? 495 00:27:42,967 --> 00:27:46,266 And Brandi immediately starts denying it. 496 00:27:46,333 --> 00:27:47,767 The neighbor 497 00:27:47,767 --> 00:27:51,567 is kind of just, like, shocked expression. 498 00:27:51,567 --> 00:27:54,333 So I tell her, "So you're not texting each other?" 499 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:57,166 "No, we're not texting each other." 500 00:27:57,233 --> 00:27:58,967 So I show her the text messages. 501 00:28:00,166 --> 00:28:03,567 When I showed Brandi the texts, the evidence, 502 00:28:03,567 --> 00:28:05,000 her initial reaction was, "Well, 503 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:06,934 this is the first time it ever got that far." 504 00:28:08,266 --> 00:28:11,367 I felt extremely betrayed. 505 00:28:11,433 --> 00:28:14,467 She had continuously accused me of cheating. 506 00:28:14,467 --> 00:28:17,767 But in reality, she was the one that cheated. 507 00:28:17,834 --> 00:28:19,133 Get out. 508 00:28:20,166 --> 00:28:21,367 JASON: After the neighbors leave, 509 00:28:21,433 --> 00:28:23,166 I told Brandi that I intended to take 510 00:28:23,166 --> 00:28:25,433 the children and leave that night with them. 511 00:28:26,500 --> 00:28:28,767 My intent was 512 00:28:28,767 --> 00:28:32,967 to load the children in the car and just, like, 513 00:28:32,967 --> 00:28:34,767 head off to a hotel or to my mother's 514 00:28:34,767 --> 00:28:36,533 or just away from Brandi. 515 00:28:40,567 --> 00:28:45,667 She informs me that she is going to tell the authorities 516 00:28:45,734 --> 00:28:47,767 about my suicide attempt in 517 00:28:47,767 --> 00:28:50,767 high school and say that I was behaving in 518 00:28:50,767 --> 00:28:52,867 a manner that she believed I was a danger to myself 519 00:28:52,867 --> 00:28:54,467 and to the children to have 520 00:28:54,467 --> 00:28:57,266 the authorities come and take the children from me. 521 00:28:57,266 --> 00:29:02,667 I believed that, with Brandi's education as a paralegal 522 00:29:02,667 --> 00:29:04,266 in the legal system, 523 00:29:04,333 --> 00:29:07,467 she would know how to convince the authorities that I was 524 00:29:07,467 --> 00:29:10,166 a danger to myself and to the children. 525 00:29:10,166 --> 00:29:14,767 And in that moment, I -- I knew she won. 526 00:29:19,166 --> 00:29:21,867 I just backed down at that point. 527 00:29:21,934 --> 00:29:24,867 We stayed in separate rooms after that. 528 00:29:24,867 --> 00:29:27,567 I kept assuming that, you know, 529 00:29:27,567 --> 00:29:30,667 Brandi was going to be a better person at some point in 530 00:29:30,667 --> 00:29:32,266 our relationship. 531 00:29:32,333 --> 00:29:34,166 In reality, I should have 532 00:29:35,266 --> 00:29:37,333 cut her off a lot sooner. 533 00:29:50,166 --> 00:29:52,867 As time went on, it became very evident that 534 00:29:52,934 --> 00:29:54,667 Brandi wasn't willing to change. 535 00:29:54,734 --> 00:29:57,166 I realized it was better for them to have 536 00:29:57,233 --> 00:29:59,667 two happy parents that were separate 537 00:29:59,734 --> 00:30:02,867 than two parents that were together and miserable. 538 00:30:04,266 --> 00:30:09,667 I began the process of seeking a divorce. 539 00:30:09,667 --> 00:30:11,266 Around November 15th, 540 00:30:11,333 --> 00:30:14,266 she'd start throwing accusations around again. 541 00:30:14,266 --> 00:30:17,066 I just want to know if you're seeing someone. 542 00:30:17,133 --> 00:30:18,767 JASON: Asking me if I was having an affair, 543 00:30:18,767 --> 00:30:22,567 asking if I no longer found her attractive. 544 00:30:22,567 --> 00:30:24,767 I'm just tired of 20 questions, 545 00:30:24,767 --> 00:30:28,266 and I just tell her that I'm divorcing her. 546 00:30:30,166 --> 00:30:33,266 So while Brandi was initially very shocked, 547 00:30:33,266 --> 00:30:35,567 her demeanor changed. 548 00:30:35,567 --> 00:30:38,367 She accepted that this was because of her mistake. 549 00:30:38,367 --> 00:30:41,767 She was acknowledging the affair and apologizing 550 00:30:41,834 --> 00:30:43,000 for it. 551 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,767 I'm just sorry it happened this way. 552 00:30:45,834 --> 00:30:49,767 It was not something that I expected from her. 553 00:30:49,767 --> 00:30:52,066 There was an uneasy calmness coming from Brandi 554 00:30:52,133 --> 00:30:55,867 that was very unsettling and very much unlike her. 555 00:30:55,934 --> 00:30:59,467 I had known Brandi for over nine years 556 00:30:59,533 --> 00:31:02,266 at this point, and I had never seen her 557 00:31:02,266 --> 00:31:05,433 behave in such a calm and apologetic manner. 558 00:31:09,567 --> 00:31:14,233 If anything, a calm Brandi in that situation was 559 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,634 even scarier than an angry Brandi. 560 00:31:28,266 --> 00:31:31,767 On Wednesday, November 16th, 2016, 561 00:31:31,767 --> 00:31:35,533 things were unusually normal. 562 00:31:37,166 --> 00:31:40,100 We sit down and eat dinner as a family. 563 00:31:40,100 --> 00:31:42,467 At some point, Brandi said that 564 00:31:42,467 --> 00:31:46,667 she had to purchase pipe cleaners for 565 00:31:46,667 --> 00:31:49,000 Tyler's art project. 566 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:53,467 She left to go to the store to go get them. 567 00:31:53,467 --> 00:31:54,767 After dinner, 568 00:31:54,767 --> 00:31:57,166 the children wanted to watch a movie. 569 00:31:57,166 --> 00:31:59,467 So I put a movie on for them. 570 00:31:59,467 --> 00:32:02,467 We all gathered together on the couch 571 00:32:02,467 --> 00:32:05,667 and wrestled with the children, had a little tickle fight. 572 00:32:05,667 --> 00:32:09,567 It was a rare moment of normalcy in 573 00:32:09,567 --> 00:32:13,767 what had been a tumultuous relationship at that point. 574 00:32:13,767 --> 00:32:16,567 Some time later, Brandi returned to the home, 575 00:32:16,567 --> 00:32:19,266 seemingly empty-handed, and I asked her about 576 00:32:19,266 --> 00:32:21,667 the pipe cleaners, and she said they didn't have any. 577 00:32:21,667 --> 00:32:26,166 Which, okay, weird, but... 578 00:32:26,166 --> 00:32:29,266 at this point, I don't care what she's doing anymore. 579 00:32:29,266 --> 00:32:32,667 My priority was the children and spending time with them. 580 00:32:34,700 --> 00:32:37,667 And then I get the children ready for bed. 581 00:32:37,667 --> 00:32:39,433 I let them pick out books to read, 582 00:32:40,467 --> 00:32:41,867 because that was one of the things I did 583 00:32:41,934 --> 00:32:43,467 is I read to them every single night. 584 00:32:43,467 --> 00:32:44,567 Good night, and I love you, 585 00:32:44,567 --> 00:32:46,567 and I'll see you in the morning. 586 00:32:46,567 --> 00:32:48,467 Same words I said to them every night. 587 00:32:50,300 --> 00:32:53,567 I went downstairs to the spare bedroom 588 00:32:53,567 --> 00:32:56,033 and set up a place to sleep. 589 00:32:57,567 --> 00:32:59,166 And... 590 00:32:59,166 --> 00:33:01,667 it was really a gift to have 591 00:33:01,734 --> 00:33:04,266 such a wonderful night with my children 592 00:33:04,266 --> 00:33:06,266 in light of what happens next. 593 00:33:24,667 --> 00:33:26,166 Early the next morning, 594 00:33:27,567 --> 00:33:29,467 I heard screaming from upstairs. 595 00:33:29,533 --> 00:33:31,100 [distant scream] 596 00:33:31,100 --> 00:33:34,266 JASON: Got upstairs, couldn't see very well. 597 00:33:34,266 --> 00:33:37,266 It was dark. I didn't have my glasses. 598 00:33:37,266 --> 00:33:38,867 Brandi was on the couch. 599 00:33:38,867 --> 00:33:40,567 What's going on? 600 00:33:41,767 --> 00:33:45,867 I asked her, "What did you do?" 601 00:33:45,867 --> 00:33:50,967 And she tells me clearly, "Now you can't take my kids from me." 602 00:33:51,033 --> 00:33:52,567 It's over now. 603 00:33:52,567 --> 00:33:56,266 JASON: It was around this point that officers had 604 00:33:56,266 --> 00:33:59,100 entered the home and had pulled me away. 605 00:33:59,100 --> 00:34:00,667 OFFICER: Sir. 606 00:34:00,667 --> 00:34:02,867 JASON: I was incredibly confused to see 607 00:34:02,867 --> 00:34:04,567 police officers in my home. 608 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:08,367 I did not know what was going on. 609 00:34:08,367 --> 00:34:10,467 I just knew it wasn't good. 610 00:34:10,533 --> 00:34:13,867 The officer asked me if I knew anything about a hunting knife. 611 00:34:13,934 --> 00:34:17,767 I didn't believe we had anything like that in the home. 612 00:34:17,834 --> 00:34:21,767 And I hear over one of the officer's radios... 613 00:34:21,767 --> 00:34:23,166 OFFICER: Attention all units. 614 00:34:23,166 --> 00:34:26,834 ...that there were two deceased children in the home. 615 00:34:29,300 --> 00:34:32,433 In that moment, I hit the ground. 616 00:34:34,967 --> 00:34:38,433 My legs fell out from under me, and I was just on the ground. 617 00:34:40,467 --> 00:34:42,867 MAN: Seven-year old-Tyler and three-year-old Charlee Worley 618 00:34:42,867 --> 00:34:44,867 were found dead inside their Darlington home on 619 00:34:44,867 --> 00:34:46,266 Thursday morning. 620 00:34:46,266 --> 00:34:48,867 Authorities say Brandi Worley called 911 on Thursday, 621 00:34:48,867 --> 00:34:51,634 saying she stabbed herself and killed her two kids. 622 00:34:52,567 --> 00:34:55,667 I myself relied on news coverage 623 00:34:55,667 --> 00:34:59,567 to try and piece together what had just happened 624 00:34:59,567 --> 00:35:01,266 in my own life, 625 00:35:01,333 --> 00:35:06,667 because it wasn't until very much later, in 2018, at 626 00:35:06,734 --> 00:35:08,367 Brandi's sentencing 627 00:35:08,367 --> 00:35:10,367 that I actually found out what 628 00:35:10,433 --> 00:35:12,767 the final moments of my children was like. 629 00:35:14,900 --> 00:35:19,667 She went to that store with a particular 630 00:35:19,734 --> 00:35:24,867 mission in mind, and that was to purchase a knife. 631 00:35:24,867 --> 00:35:27,467 The pipe cleaners was a lie from the beginning. 632 00:35:29,166 --> 00:35:31,367 After returning home from the store, 633 00:35:31,367 --> 00:35:35,767 Brandi hid the hunting knife in a toy bin 634 00:35:35,834 --> 00:35:37,266 belonging to Tyler. 635 00:35:38,467 --> 00:35:39,867 And then, 636 00:35:39,934 --> 00:35:43,166 after when the children were asleep, 637 00:35:43,166 --> 00:35:45,467 she went and retrieved the knife. 638 00:35:45,467 --> 00:35:49,166 She first attacked Tyler by... 639 00:35:50,867 --> 00:35:53,066 kneeling on his chest, 640 00:35:53,133 --> 00:35:54,567 holding his mouth shut, 641 00:35:56,867 --> 00:36:00,100 and she proceeded to stab him four times in the neck. 642 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,533 Charlee woke up and asked her what she was doing. 643 00:36:08,166 --> 00:36:09,767 Brandi told her nothing. 644 00:36:09,767 --> 00:36:11,166 "Go back to sleep." 645 00:36:11,166 --> 00:36:13,767 Once Brandi was certain that Charlee was asleep, 646 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:16,433 she did much the same to her. 647 00:36:20,166 --> 00:36:21,333 And, 648 00:36:23,367 --> 00:36:26,767 at some point, she turned the knife on herself. 649 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:30,867 And then Brandi called her mother, 650 00:36:30,867 --> 00:36:33,333 who told her to call 911. 651 00:36:37,967 --> 00:36:41,567 When I found out how my children's final moments 652 00:36:41,634 --> 00:36:44,066 played out, I... 653 00:36:46,300 --> 00:36:48,467 was devastated. 654 00:36:48,467 --> 00:36:52,000 While I saw Brandi being manipulative, 655 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,867 I never saw her as somebody who could be physically violent. 656 00:36:55,934 --> 00:36:58,233 I believe Brandi killed the children 657 00:37:00,567 --> 00:37:02,467 because she wanted to destroy me. 658 00:37:02,533 --> 00:37:05,533 She wanted me -- she wanted to drive me to 659 00:37:06,900 --> 00:37:10,867 relapse, to take my own life. 660 00:37:10,867 --> 00:37:12,066 She wanted 661 00:37:13,166 --> 00:37:15,934 to make my life as hard as possible. 662 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:22,567 Ultimately, Brandi failed. 663 00:37:25,967 --> 00:37:30,734 One of the things that makes me furious was 664 00:37:32,567 --> 00:37:36,634 Brandi and Tyler got to go to a mother-son dance. 665 00:37:38,567 --> 00:37:42,567 But just weekends after 666 00:37:42,634 --> 00:37:44,967 Charlee passed was the father-daughter 667 00:37:45,033 --> 00:37:46,634 dance we were supposed to go to, 668 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:49,467 and... 669 00:37:49,467 --> 00:37:51,567 I never got to dance with my daughter. 670 00:37:51,634 --> 00:37:56,867 I -- at a father-daughter dance, at her wedding. 671 00:37:59,100 --> 00:38:01,233 That was just taken from me. 672 00:38:13,567 --> 00:38:17,367 This is Brandi's mug shot immediately following 673 00:38:17,433 --> 00:38:19,567 taking the lives of Tyler and Charlee. 674 00:38:23,367 --> 00:38:25,867 This picture fills me with anger. 675 00:38:25,867 --> 00:38:29,467 She chose to do an evil act 676 00:38:29,467 --> 00:38:32,734 to leave them as she did. 677 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:36,533 I don't care to look at her. 678 00:38:41,767 --> 00:38:44,767 This was a cognizant decision 679 00:38:44,767 --> 00:38:47,834 to make something bad happen. 680 00:39:02,300 --> 00:39:05,967 I do struggle, 681 00:39:05,967 --> 00:39:10,066 but I am determined that, 682 00:39:10,066 --> 00:39:13,767 if my children are looking down at me from somewhere, 683 00:39:13,767 --> 00:39:16,767 that they see a man that they can be proud of. 684 00:39:18,467 --> 00:39:21,767 After this happened, the community 685 00:39:21,767 --> 00:39:25,934 as a whole reached out to me and was very supportive. 686 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:29,767 At some point, one of Tyler's teachers came up and told 687 00:39:29,767 --> 00:39:32,367 me something I didn't know about Tyler. 688 00:39:32,367 --> 00:39:35,667 He had asked us if he could carry his lunch to school. 689 00:39:35,667 --> 00:39:39,467 And we're like, "Of course, anything you want, buddy." 690 00:39:39,533 --> 00:39:43,100 He carries his lunch to school for a week, and he comes back to 691 00:39:43,100 --> 00:39:46,767 us and says, "Can I have more food?" 692 00:39:46,767 --> 00:39:48,767 Like, absolutely, and we double up 693 00:39:48,834 --> 00:39:51,867 the sandwich and just give him more food. 694 00:39:51,867 --> 00:39:53,467 The teacher informed me the other half of 695 00:39:53,467 --> 00:39:56,767 the story was, Tyler was going to school, 696 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:01,867 and, at lunch time, he would eat 697 00:40:01,934 --> 00:40:03,567 like the chips or just something, 698 00:40:03,634 --> 00:40:06,467 just a little bit of it, and he was giving the rest away to 699 00:40:06,533 --> 00:40:10,100 children who were not getting enough to eat. 700 00:40:10,100 --> 00:40:12,567 It was in that moment that Tyler taught me more about 701 00:40:12,567 --> 00:40:16,367 what it means to be a man that cares about your community 702 00:40:16,367 --> 00:40:18,066 than I ever could have taught him. 703 00:40:20,100 --> 00:40:23,567 And I was just overwhelmingly proud of my son. 704 00:40:27,100 --> 00:40:28,934 You wanna do it by yourself or you want me? 705 00:40:29,767 --> 00:40:31,333 With me? Okay. 706 00:40:31,500 --> 00:40:33,266 Okay, let's go. 707 00:40:33,266 --> 00:40:35,567 I hold every memory of my children very dear. 708 00:40:35,634 --> 00:40:37,033 BRANDI: Go on, buddy. 709 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:40,266 JASON: To me, 710 00:40:42,667 --> 00:40:45,233 they're always with me wherever I go, 711 00:40:47,066 --> 00:40:48,533 as long as I keep 712 00:40:49,667 --> 00:40:53,567 remembering them. -[speaking indistinctly] 713 00:40:53,567 --> 00:40:54,967 [laughter] 714 00:40:55,033 --> 00:40:57,767 JASON: I keep saying Tyler and Charlee's names. 715 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:00,433 I keep some small part of them alive with me. 716 00:41:13,700 --> 00:41:16,000 It's hard to think about what I've been through. 717 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,667 I would have never thought that 718 00:41:18,667 --> 00:41:20,867 a father could have did what he did. 719 00:41:20,867 --> 00:41:22,767 Evil has two faces. 720 00:41:22,834 --> 00:41:26,166 It don't want to show you right off the bat that it's evil. 721 00:41:26,233 --> 00:41:28,767 Ray was evil. 722 00:41:28,834 --> 00:41:30,066 Ray was evil.