S01E26 | Closing Arguments & Verdict | Brandon Woodruff Case

This week Scott introduces you to the closing arguments by Texas Attorney General Special Prosecutors Adrienne McFarland and Ralph Guerrero. Also, we'll hear Katherine Ferguson's closing arguments for Brandon's innocence. After that, we'll hear the verdict and "victim" impact statements from Charla Woodruff and Linda Matthews as well. You won't want to miss this one! 

Charla Statement:

Brandon, I know you have not given any thought to the effects of your decision, I hope now you pay attention.

So many people care for you. So many people love you, and I often wonder if you realize what you’ve done.

Even though I’m [garbled] , you murdered our parents, you’ve taken so much from everyone, you’ve stolen my parents.

You selfishly chose a life for you, and now even that is gone. You didn’t see the anguish, the tears, and the hurting people who have never done anything but love our parents and us. I wish for one second you could’ve watched Memaw and Papaw realize their baby girl was gone. Or if you could see how Mimi would react to losing her oldest son. What about the little ones? The ones that were too young unborn. They will never know Uncle Dennis and Aunt Norma. I wish you could be around when Olivia asked, “who’s your Mom and Dad?” It breaks my heart. What did they do? I now have a daughter, a daughter who will never know her grandparents nor will never feel the hugs or know the love that Mom and Dad had, and Mom and Dad were robbed of the joy of becoming a grandparent.

You know that if you would’ve just turned to anyone for help, you would have gotten it. In fact, think of Andy and Todd who have stood beside you this whole way. Think about their children, and family, and their lives. They bent over backwards trying to help you and in turn, missing out on three years that can never be replaced.

If you’d just reached out before you got too far, I promise the commitment would have still been the same. The only thing different is the griefs that you have caused the rest of us. What about Mimi? Mimi has been by your side since day one and in turn, hurting the other grandchildren? There are many times you consumed our whole world, that grandchildren nearby were often put off and ignored. Three years later, she has learned of the real truth of you.

What about the others whose feelings have been hurt? Do you have anything to say to them for  loss of time spent with their only grandparent?

Remember when we did around for hours playing kickball with Mamaw and Papaw? We could play for hours. After your decision, Papaw only played a couple more times before the stress of everything took his health and his spirit. Papaw cried. He was cried. I watched a very strong man cry for months until he literally couldn’t cry anymore. Your actions proved too much for his health, and we lost him too.

I will never forget driving around the corner of my apartment complex and seeing Kathy and Heather standing outside. I instantly knew without words the conclusion of what I’d sought out all day, worrying about Mom and Dad, and they were gone. I realized immediately the true meaning of agony. Even now, there are days where that memory replays as it’s in slow motion. The horror and pain come back and leave me at a loss for words.

My life was finally going ideal. I was in college and loving every moment of it. Mom and Dad would come out to every ball game to watch me dance, and had become strong mentors for me. And now it will never, ever be the same. I’ve been sad, angry, hurt, betrayed, and lost. I was barely twenty years old. I knew nothing of the real world, and in a moment, I was expected to be in charge. I didn’t even know what the process for getting car insurance. 

Brandon, you made me plan a funeral. That thought still disgusts me. You made me pick out their flowers, their music, their clothing, and their caskets. I don’t understand. To go out shopping for clothes to bury your parents in. No one should have to go through that. Then to know my own brother put me in that situation. You affected my ability to trust. I thought graduating from the police academy would help mom and dad realize when life said I was hard enough , but your deed continues to haunt me, as I was pregnant without my mother to console with, and I’d become a new mother without guidance from my own parents. I wish you could give me one day, but Dad won’t be there to walk me down the aisle. When that day comes, it will be just a one more reminder of what you’ve done. What is supposed to be the happiest day of my life, you’ve ruined it too. It took hours for us to see each other that night, but I held you tight, and I felt horrible knowing that you too were going through the pain that overwhelmed me. Within the weeks to come, my actions frustrated me because you felt no pain. You knew all along where they were while I was panicking, and the hurt I was going through, you put it there.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and do you wanna know what I’ll get Mom? Flowers. Wanna know what I got her last year? Flowers. And the year before that? Flowers. The only thing I can get her, Brandon, are flowers. Never would I ever given Mom flowers. She’s just not that kind of person, and you know that.

Your actions have left me with no other options. Christmases are rough too. Everyone’s trying to do special things, but one look around the room, I get sad. Our aunts and uncles have their kids and some occasions, grandkids at their side, making memories that will last a lifetime. As for me, all I ever have now are memories of Mom and Dad. Never again will I be able to sneak around  attempting to find my presents or open some bizarre gift that Mom just thought I would love. Do you know how hard it is to look at Dolly Parton? She’s appeared on numerous TV shows and the last three years alone was releasing several new songs. Those are the times where I would immediately pick up the phone and call Dad, but he’s not there.

My biggest regret is that Mom called Mamaw’s house that Sunday night, and I was right there. Mamaw even asked if I wanted to talk to Mom, and I told her no, that I would call her later. And guess what? I called back and no answer. I had no idea it was actually my last chance to talk to my mom, tell her about my day, to share my thoughts with her, or to simply hear her voice. My last chance to tell her that I loved her. My last chance, and I missed it. I never even got a chance to say goodbye.

Forgive us of our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, were not meant to be empty words. Brandon, I don’t know if, and when, I will ever forgive you, for what you did. I do know that I don’t hate you, but with all my heart and soul, I hate that everything that is inside of me. I do hate your cruel and selfish decision to kill Mom and Dad. May God forgive you.

Heather Statement:

I just want to make clear that I’m reading this on behalf of my mother, so these words are from her.

Writing this was not an easy task. Trying to put my feelings into words is difficult because in order to do that, I have to think about what happened, and I don’t want to. I prefer to bury it somewhere deep inside and never examine  it again. The words, ‘they’re both in the house, they’re both dead.” will haunt me forever. I felt like I was living in a nightmare, and I would wake up, and it would all be a mistake. But it wasn’t. I never dreamed it could get much worse when I was told my nephew, the one I loved and thought I knew, was being arrested for their deaths.

I recently read a novel, The Shack, and in there he talks about the moments of joy before the great sadness returns. The great sadness is a heavy quilt that weighs him down and almost smothers him at times. He talks about carrying great sadness everywhere he goes. I often feel the darkness, the fear, the anxiety closing in, and the effort it takes to fight it off is overwhelming. I miss Norma and Dennis unbelievably. My sister was one of my best friends. Someone who knew all of my bad stuff but loved me anyway. Who was always there with advice, support, and love. And Dennis was more than just a brother-in-law. He was a true brother who gave the same as Norma. Three-and-a-half years later, I still catch myself thinking, “oh, I need to tell Norma this; she will love it.” Only Norma’s not there.

Holidays have totally changed. Dennis always made us smile and laugh. One of my favorite memories is how Mom and I would be working in the kitchen and he would come through and grab one of us and start dancing around the kitchen to some tune he was singing loudly. There are lots of tears off and on throughout the holidays for all of us, but one thing that comes up every year is my youngest daughter Heather crying because her youngest daughter Olivia will never get to experience Christmas with Uncle Dennis and Aunt Norma. That has affected me more than just missing them. A car accident, a household accident, anything but the way they died, would have been easier. I’ve had a lot of anger at various stages and at various people. You, God, and even my sister. Why didn’t she or Dennis tell us what was going on? I don’t think I would’ve thought to warn them to be careful, but maybe it would’ve been easier to piece together what happened and why, things we will never know.

I have lots of fears, and it’s usually a full-blown panic attack before I can force my thoughts in another direction. Something triggers a memory, which leads to another memory, and then the realization of what happened slams into me yet again, and I think about how Norma must have felt in those last moments, and it’s like I can actually feel her fear, her disbelief, and her horror. The fear sometimes manifests itself in a terror that something will happen to other family members. My daughter recently talked about how tired she was and was going home. Later, I tried calling, couldn’t reach her, and the panic rushed over me every time something like that happens. It was simple. She had just decided to stop off somewhere, but I panicked in the same way every time something like that happens. Charla recently came because she couldn’t reach my mom on the phone.

The hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life was tell my parents, Norma and Dennis were dead. My heart broke as I watched them hear the news and had the realization of it soak in. I’ll never ever forget the look on my dad’s face. He looked like a confused, lost child with tears flowing down his cheeks, and I would see that look often over the next few years. We’d be watching TV, and I’d look across the room to see him or Mom crying quietly. My parents aged ten years over just the first few months. What happened took all the joy out of their lives.

Charla was almost destroyed. She moved in with me and her grandparents, and I lost track of the times that she would wake me in the middle of the night because she couldn’t sleep. She was scared to walk out into the hallway, even though a light was left on. My room was next to hers, but I had to get up, open my door, and wait for her to come to my room. If she was out and came in after dark, she would call for one of us to stand at the door and wait for her to come inside. I spent hours talking to her, and praying that I was using the right words to let her know that yes, this was the most difficult thing she had ever faced, and no, life would never be the same again. Not ever. Not for any of us. But life would return to a new normal, and we would be stronger for having survived.

My heart was just, wasn’t just broken by Norma and Dennis’ deaths or even by how they died; it broke when I told my parents and every time I saw them crying. It broke when I had to walk Charla through her pain. And it breaks every holiday. It broke when Charla told me she was expecting a baby, realizing that Norma and Dennis would never know the joys of being grandparents. And they would’ve been such great ones. It broke when she had her baby this past year without her mom being there. And it broke just this week when four-year-old Olivia saw a picture of Norma and asked, “Mimi, when is Aunt Norma going to be back from Heaven?” It will break when Charla gets married without her mom to plan or her dad to walk her down the aisle. Life will never be the same, and none of us will ever be the same. I said it was a nightmare, and I was right, but it never, ever ends, and the memories of what happened, the fear, the anxieties, and the heartbreak will stay with me for the rest of my life. May God forgive you for what you’ve done.

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You can read more about Brandon Woodruff's case and the documentary in production about his case here:

www.freebrandon.org

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