WEBVTT - #346 Maggie Freleng with Amanda Busse 0:00:02.360 --> 0:00:06.240 When Amanda Bussy was seventeen, her home life was spinning 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:09.079 out of control. Her father was abusive to her and 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.880 her siblings, and her mother had just died in a 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:15.200 car wreck. So when Larry Declue asked her to run 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:18.279 away with him, she jumped at the chance, even though 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:21.119 he was nearly twice her age. 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:25.400 In my mind, he was kind of like a superhero, 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:27.600 you know. He took me away from all the abuse 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:28.240 and stuff. 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:31.400 But soon after she moved in with Larry, she started 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:35.320 to notice suspicious behavior. One night, after they went to bed. 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:40.560 I remember being woke up by someone banging on a 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:45.760 window and they wanted Larry to go hunting with them. Okay, 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.600 so it didn't make no damn sense to me. He 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:53.760 didn't come back until eleven o'clock that morning. 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:57.880 Not long after that, she and Larry were out driving 0:00:57.880 --> 0:00:59.760 with Larry's niece, Melissa. 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.160 Melissa starts jumping up and down. This is where it happened. 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:05.800 This is where it happened. Unc Larry, I'm like, what 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:08.280 the heck, what are you talking about? What's the matter? 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:11.160 You know, I wanted didn't know what the heck was 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:14.160 going on. That's when I realized something happened. 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.679 Amanda didn't put the pieces together until a few years later, when, 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:23.319 to her surprise, she was arrested for the brutal murder 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:24.320 of a local woman. 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.040 My name is Amanda Bussy. I was convicted of a 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:37.080 second degree murder. I've been incarcerated for almost twenty years. 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:40.080 From Lava for good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:56.160 Freeling today, Amanda Bussy. Amanda Bussy was born February twelfth, 0:01:56.280 --> 0:02:01.120 nineteen eighty in Sullivan, Missouri, to Lisa and Kenny. She's 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:04.040 the oldest of their five kids. Although they grew up 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:08.000 poor in rural Missouri, Amanda remembers there were some good times. 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.000 Like on Christmas. You know, my dad would take us 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:16.000 out and you'd throw us in the snow. We'd all 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:19.080 just laugh, you know. He put us on the sled 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:21.600 and push us down the hill, or he'd go down 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:23.800 with us whenever he was younger. 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:29.680 We were very close during our adolescence. 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:34.600 This is Amanda's aunt Mary Paint. She's Amanda's mom's sister 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:37.640 and actually two years younger than Amanda. The two of 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:41.120 them grew up more like siblings than aunt Nice. 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.080 We would go to church together on Sundays, we would 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:47.040 walk home together after school. Or my dad had a 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:50.520 furniture store, so her mother, my sister worked in the 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:54.040 store with my dad sometimes, so we would walk to 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.480 the furniture store and there was a back room so 0:02:56.480 --> 0:03:00.720 we would choreograph dances and perform them for our family. 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:08.720 We always would go on adventures in the woods, making treehouses, 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:13.200 creating time capsules. We were both heavily involved in music, 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:15.560 so we were inquired together a lot. She loved to 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.760 get up in church and sing. She really connected to 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.359 music and used that as an outlet. I believe. 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:26.440 That is an outlet for what was happening in Amanda's 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.200 home life, which was challenging for a young girl. 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.240 It was. It was a pretty hard life. You know. 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.760 My mom was sick grown up. She had congest of 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:41.880 heart failure and thyroid problems, and she just kept gaining 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.000 weight gaining weight, you know, and eventually she just wasn't 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:49.560 able to get around and do much with herself. She 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.520 couldn't do things like cutting her toe nows and shaving 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.000 her legs and you know, stuff like that. 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.160 Her mother eventually had to stop working at the furniture 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:02.120 store because of her condition and Amanda stepped into the 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:03.160 role of a parent. 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:07.280 It was like trying to help mom do everything for 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:10.840 her and then happened to do for the other kids, 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:12.720 getting them ready for school, cooking dinner. 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:17.480 Amanda's father, Kenny, worked various jobs, but she doesn't remember 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:18.680 any of them lasting long. 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.479 My dad, he just he quit working and then he 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:26.360 just start selling his drugs. He'd go from this place 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:30.000 to that place, and eventually he just whenever he was home, 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.640 they'd be all we'd have house full of people, you know. 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:40.960 The Bussy home became a revolving door of people buying 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:45.279 and selling drugs, particularly meth. It was rumored that Kenny 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:49.480 controlled the local drug trade and ruled with violence and intimidation. 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:55.400 We started realizing, hey, you know, Dad's not who we 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:58.360 thought he was, you know, and whenever he'd start coming 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:02.520 down off of drugs, you know, he start hitting us 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:03.040 and stuff. 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:10.480 It took me a while to figure out that things 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:12.159 at her house weren't very good. 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:14.520 This is Mary again. 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.600 When I was there, I would notice there were sometimes 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:24.160 strange people there. My nieces would tell me, you know, 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:30.400 about their dad being abusive toward them. It just wasn't 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:31.640 a good environment. 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.360 Which is why Mary's parents wouldn't allow her to stay 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:36.479 at Amanda's often. 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:42.880 My parents knew that her father was selling drugs, and 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:48.200 they tried to be a good influence on my sister 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:53.520 and her husband. They tried to minimize anything that they 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.839 were aware of. They tried to correct, but a lot 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:00.600 was hidden from them. 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:04.520 At one point, Amanda's sisters were so distraught they tried 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:08.560 to run away, but that only made their situation worse. 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:14.040 Their dad figured out where they were and he beat 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:18.600 them so horribly. Whenever he found them, he punched one 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:23.200 of them in the face and broke their nose. I 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:25.800 don't understand how someone could do that to their child. 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.599 I think that that person has to be completely void 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:32.680 of soul or you know, I just don't understand. That's 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:33.880 I can't comprehend it. 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:44.520 But Kenny's abuse towards his family, particularly Amanda, went far 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:48.200 beyond a punch in the face. When Amanda was around thirteen, 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:51.880 her father started sexually abusing her, and so did his 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:55.839 friends who would often come by to buy drugs. 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.359 You know, someone would end up stay in there, or 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:02.200 they'd sneak into the room, end up having sex. You know, 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:07.800 it just it's we shouldn't have been taking an advantage 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:08.200 like that. 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:13.240 Were any of your other siblings being abused, I. 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:14.240 Can't say for sure. 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:19.280 For sure, I would see little little things like Dad 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:23.200 paying them more attention or something, and then I tried 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:25.800 to like take away that attention. 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:28.960 I kind of went out of my way from my 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.040 brothers and sisters a lot because I didn't want them. 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:35.920 I didn't want my dad getting to them like that. 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:40.040 You know, even though Mary was also a child when 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:42.600 all of this was happening, she tried her best to 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:43.880 stand up for her family. 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:49.560 About fifth grade, I started going to my school counselor 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:55.640 and telling them, somebody needs to do something because my 0:07:56.000 --> 0:08:00.600 nieces are being sexually abused, they're being physically abused, and 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:05.640 you know, in fifth grader words, right. I was worried 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.000 about backlash from their parents, but my parents protected me 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.480 very well, and I had a wonderful home life, and 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:17.360 I just couldn't even understand or fathom really what was 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:23.720 happening to them. I don't think she's ever even told 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:26.840 me half of the stuff that actually happened, but I've 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.160 heard from her sisters things that have happened to them 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.040 as well, So I just know that the sexual and 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.600 physical abuse was rampant. 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:39.079 Amanda felt utterly alone and helpless. 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:41.240 People getting worse and worse. 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:44.400 And of course, you know, I don't remember stuff like 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:46.720 that when I'm a kid, had am I supposed to know? 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:47.520 You know what I mean? 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:50.400 Like, I don't know the truth about a lot in 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:55.680 my life. You know, I questioned all my life that, 0:08:56.040 --> 0:09:00.680 you know, why mom let us, why mom will didn't 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:06.000 do anything up. My mom knew something was going on. 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:10.760 She did ask me one time, and I was honest 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.720 with her about it, and she kicked my dad out, 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:16.760 but it didn't last. It was like for two weeks, 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:19.320 and then I found out that my mom was just 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:24.080 as scared of my dad as I was. There's a 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:28.080 lot of stuff that I didn't know until I got older. 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.960 You know, see, your mom was being abused by your 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:31.480 dad too. 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:34.079 Oh yeah. 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:34.760 Absolutely. 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:43.760 The abuse that Amanda and her siblings were suffering was 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:46.920 reported to the Department of Family Services by their schools, 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:48.400 but it wasn't much help. 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:50.680 There was a point in time in my life where 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:54.640 where we had to go see the shrinks and stuff, 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:57.920 and they like made us play with dolls, tell us 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.520 where we was touched and stuff. That I remember growing up. 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:09.160 I remember Family Services being called a few times by Knie. 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:11.920 I don't know what for when I was too young, 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:16.480 but we knew better not to say nothing like drugs 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.120 and nothing about the drugs in the house. We knew 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:23.520 better than that. You know, there was consequences if we 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:26.560 was said anything like that, Like my mom was like, 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:29.160 do you want to go to DFS? You know, stuff 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:29.600 like that. 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:33.320 The counselors could only do so much because once they 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:35.680 were in the counselor's office, they would not tell them 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:38.760 what was going on. It was just me saying it. 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.679 You know. They felt scared, they were afraid. They were 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:44.719 too afraid. 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.840 We had to grow up fast, you know. It just 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:50.440 took a toll on us a lot. 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:54.920 By ninth grade, Amanda had dropped out of school, and 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:58.720 then when she was seventeen, her mother died suddenly in 0:10:58.760 --> 0:10:59.400 a car wreck. 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.240 After my mom passed away, ninety seven is when everything 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:10.400 went downhill. It's just one thing after another. This is 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:11.840 a really really bad year. 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:16.840 Yeah, So tell me about that. After your mom passes, 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:19.480 you know, everything goes to how I know this is 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:22.080 when Larry came into your life. So tell me a 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:22.760 bit about. 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:29.400 That so to me. I mean, at first, like I 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:32.600 I thought I had a good relationship. Larry was he 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:33.280 was nice to me. 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:40.200 Larry Declue was thirty two, fifteen years older than Amanda 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.319 and a drug associate of her father's. He was at 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.360 the house one time when he saw Kenny physically assaulting her. 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:51.559 You know, I was in my dad's room and my 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:56.160 dad started, you know, pressing all against me and had 0:11:56.240 --> 0:12:00.520 me against the door, and Larry walks past when and 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:02.440 he's seeing me push some dad off of me. 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:06.120 Larry and Kenny then went outside and had a talk. 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.720 Larry come back and he had asked me if I 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.280 just if I wanted to run away with him, if 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.640 I just wanted to leave with him, and I was 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:17.440 all for it, you know, I was. I was just 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.120 ready to go at that point. I was ready to 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:22.199 get out of the house and just tired of everything. 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:28.400 And I ended up leaving with him. In my mind, 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.319 he was kind of like a superhero, you know. He 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:33.719 took me away from all the. 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:34.679 Abuse and stuff. 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:40.319 So I thought I loved him. I didn't know any. 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:47.880 Better, you know, But Mary saw Larry de Clue very 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:50.160 differently to me. 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.760 He is the most frightening person I've ever met in 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:58.560 my life. I was young, and I just could just 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.720 looking at him just as eyes. He had crazy eyes, 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:05.440 and he had this aura around him that was frightening. 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:11.000 And I think that when he came into the picture, 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:13.880 I think that things took a horrible turn. 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:23.640 About a year after they met, Amanda and Larry got 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:27.360 married and had their first child, Larry Jr. After this, 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:28.800 Larry became abusive. 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:33.599 It was so bad, like I couldn't even go in 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:39.880 Walmart to get divers without him accusing me of going 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.959 inside to meet somebody to do something with them, and 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:47.960 then I would risk, you know, getting beat on and 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:49.080 stuff like that, you know. 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.680 And it wasn't just Amanda. Larry was abusing. 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:56.800 I remember there was a time after I had had 0:13:56.840 --> 0:14:01.120 little Larry, when he was a baby. Larry was holding 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:05.040 the baby, and you know, the baby he wouldn't stop crying. 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.400 He wouldn't stop crying. And I turned the corner coming 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:12.000 into the living room and I seen Larry like kind 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:16.600 of throw him hard on the couch, and that's when 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.040 I freaked out real bad, and I'm like, oh my god, 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:23.360 what are you doing? And then he grabs me by 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:26.200 the hair, and he bashes my head into the ground 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:31.239 and he said, you stupid being. I went to Grandma's 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:34.920 a few times that he came right behind me and 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:37.680 there was no leaving. You know, he was going to 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:38.360 make sure of that. 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:44.600 Amanda was stuck back in a familiar pattern with no escape. 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:48.480 He threatened to bury her. He threatened at one point 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:53.200 to kill her and bury her and cement and build 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:55.040 a house on top of it so no one would 0:14:55.040 --> 0:15:00.120 ever find her body. 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:16.560 This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company. 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:21.000 AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and to making 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.720 a positive difference in the lives of its employees and 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:26.760 in the communities where they work and live. In light 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.720 of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, and 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:34.200 in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social justice reform, 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:38.560 the AIG pro Bono Program provides free legal services and 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:52.520 other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. In November of 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:55.640 nineteen ninety seven, Diane Coleman went out for the day 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:58.640 as she usually did. The thirty two year old suffered 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:02.040 from schizophrenia and lived at a care facility near Sullivan, 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:05.960 where Amanda's family lived. Diane was allowed to come and 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:08.680 go from the facility as she pleased, and she usually 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:11.880 left in the morning and returned at night. But on 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:16.760 November eleventh, nineteen ninety seven, Diane never returned to the 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:23.400 care center. Days later, her body was found floating in 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:27.280 the nearby Merrimec River. An autopsy revealed that she had 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:32.200 been brutally beaten to death by different blunt objects. Investigators 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:38.560 ruled her death a homicide. This evening would later become 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.800 significant to Amanda, but she only remembers it because of 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:43.520 what happened at home that night. 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:49.880 I remember being woke up by someone banging on a window, 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.720 and they wanted Larry to go hunting with them. 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.400 Larry left and ended up staying out all night. He 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.840 didn't come home until eleven the next morning. Amanda thought 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.040 that was strange. They usually went everywhere together. 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:06.679 So it just didn't make no damn sense to me, 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:10.080 you know, I don't know, there's just certain things that 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:12.000 wasn't adding up. 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:22.000 Ten days later, seventeen year old Jeremy Payne was brought 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:25.040 into the police station and questioned about his knowledge of 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.960 Diane's murder. Jeremy knew Diane through his father, who was 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:32.520 in a relationship with her. In a taped confession, Jeremy 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:36.200 said that he, Amanda's father, Kenny, and two young women 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:40.320 named Angela Cody and Melissa O'Brien were all complicit in 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:45.040 Diane's murder. According to Jeremy, they were all riding in 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:47.280 a van when they accidentally hit a woman on the 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.040 side of the road. They got out to see what happened. 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:53.520 Then the group beat her, raped her, and left her 0:17:53.640 --> 0:18:00.720 in the woods. Amanda knew both Melissa and Angela, Melissa 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:04.360 was Larry's niece. Once she heard the news of Jeremy's confession, 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:08.720 Amanda recalled something that happened not too long after Diane's 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:13.280 body was found. She and Melissa were all out driving together. 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.960 They were on Highway N near the Merrimack River, and. 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:21.720 Melissa starts jumping up and down. This is where it happened. 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.399 This is where it happened. Uncle Larry. I'm like, what 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.480 the heck, what are you talking about? What's the matter? 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:30.800 You know? And we just keep on going and I 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:33.680 want didn't know what the heck was going on. That's 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:38.200 when I realized something happened. I didn't know what happened. 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:39.280 Something happened. 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:45.800 However, Larry wasn't part of Jeremy's story, and he was 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:49.000 not arrested for the murder with the others. Jeremy Payne 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.720 was convicted and sentenced to life without parole based on 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:56.720 his confession. The charges against Amanda's father were dropped, and 0:18:56.800 --> 0:19:03.280 Melissa and Angela both took immunity deals. The following year, 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:07.120 Amanda and Larry had another child, named Felicia. Amanda tried 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:10.200 to be the best mom she could be despite her 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.960 harrowing home life with Larry. By the end of nineteen 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:17.920 ninety nine, Amanda's thirteen year old brother, Kenny Junior, also 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:20.800 known as Buddy, moved in with her and Larry. He 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:23.520 didn't want to live with her father anymore, and Amanda 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:27.480 knew he had nowhere else to go. One day, Amanda 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:30.800 returned home after running some errands. She had left Buddy 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:34.120 to watch over the kids, including Larry's niece Adrian. 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:42.960 I remember I picked up Adrian and she would be like, ow, 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.600 you know, I could tell something was wrong, mind you. 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:49.439 She's three years old at the time, Okay, So I'm like, 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:53.560 what's the matter, baby? And then she'd kind of touch 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:57.760 herself down there and she say it hurts, and so 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:01.119 Amama was to pick her up, and I started to 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.960 take her bridges off on the couch and then she 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:08.239 just start crying. I'm like, what the heck man? I thought, Okay, well, 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:11.040 maybe she fell and she hurt herself, you know, but 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:15.520 she was rubbed roll down there and I looked looked 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:18.200 at her. I'm like, honey, I said, what happened. She's 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:22.639 telling Aunt Mandy what happened baby? And when she that 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:30.280 Buddy Buddy, and I mean, right then and there, I knew. 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:36.040 Buddy had sexually assaulted three year old Adrian. Amanda then 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:38.040 realized my dad. 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:41.399 Got to him too, you know, I didn't know. So 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:45.240 I had to make one of the hardest decisions there 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:47.320 in my life, you know, to kick my brother out, 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:49.240 knowing he had nowhere to go. 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:54.920 Amanda also reported Buddy to authorities, but that decision would 0:20:55.000 --> 0:21:05.480 lead to consequences she could never have imagined. In January 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:08.720 of two thousand, Buddy was facing charges in juvenile court 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:12.560 for the molestation of Larry's niece, and while police were 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:16.640 questioning him about it, he dropped a bombshell, not about 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:20.560 the molestation, but about the night of Diane Coleman's murder. 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:23.320 He told the police that he would tell the police 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:27.000 what really happened in the murder if they would essentially 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:30.359 drop the charges or lesson the charges against him. 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:33.520 This is Anne Garrety rathert. She's the director of the 0:21:33.560 --> 0:21:37.399 Willow Project, which focuses on the wrongful convictions of women 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:38.360 and girls. 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:41.920 And so, since he had been living with Amanda and 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:45.040 Larry and they kicked him out when they learned this 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:48.160 about the abuse and turned him over to the police, 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:50.399 he said that they were the ones who had in 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:54.280 fact committed the crime. So then the story he told 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:58.359 was that he was a slate at his grandmother's house 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:01.440 and that Amanda and the people who Jeremy had said 0:22:01.440 --> 0:22:04.359 were in the car came to pick him up to 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:07.520 take him to like a birthday celebration late at night. 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:11.639 Remember, Jeremy is the young man who first confessed to 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:15.240 Diane's murder and was serving a life without parole sentence. 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:20.200 In the story he told police Melissa O'Brien, Angela Cody, himself, 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:24.560 and Kenny Bussey were all present that night. Jeremy never 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:30.080 mentioned Buddy, Larry or Amanda, but now Buddy was telling 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:33.919 police that he was actually in the car, that Larry 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:37.080 and Amanda were there too, and that his dad, Kenny 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:39.800 was not. He went on to say. 0:22:39.600 --> 0:22:43.720 That they gave him LSD and he fell asleep. That 0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:46.240 was his story. So then the next thing he said 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.040 was that he woke up and no one else was 0:22:49.080 --> 0:22:51.600 in the van, and he got out of the van 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:53.560 to see what was going on, and he saw a 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:56.000 woman lying in the road, and he saw the rest 0:22:56.000 --> 0:22:59.399 of the people from the car standing around her and 0:22:59.560 --> 0:23:03.840 beating her with objects. He says that they told him 0:23:03.840 --> 0:23:05.639 to do the same, and he ran back to the 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.560 van and did not, but he saw Amanda specifically hit 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:12.199 the woman with multiple objects. 0:23:13.040 --> 0:23:16.880 Buddy also said he saw Larry hit the woman multiple times, 0:23:17.160 --> 0:23:20.280 and even though Jeremy Paine had pinpointed Kenny as a 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:24.800 fellow perpetrator, Buddy claims his father was not involved. 0:23:25.600 --> 0:23:28.280 So this is where the situation comes in where he 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:31.840 perhaps is trying to protect his father as well. That 0:23:31.960 --> 0:23:35.720 also probably had to do with his fear of his 0:23:35.800 --> 0:23:39.280 father having also been horrifically abused by his father. So, 0:23:39.480 --> 0:23:41.800 you know, all of these things are so convoluted by 0:23:41.880 --> 0:23:44.880 the threats and the intimidation and the violence going on. 0:23:49.880 --> 0:23:52.760 In the spring of two thousand, Larry de'clue was arrested 0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:56.360 and charged with first degree murder. Amanda was also arrested, 0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:59.800 but was released due to lack of evidence. Around this, 0:24:00.359 --> 0:24:04.119 Amanda also found out she was never actually married to Larry, 0:24:04.520 --> 0:24:08.320 he never finalized the papers. She also learned a shocking 0:24:08.400 --> 0:24:11.720 truth about the man she'd once seen as a superhero 0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:14.280 whisking her away from her abusive father. 0:24:15.359 --> 0:24:18.720 It wasn't until later and then I found out my 0:24:18.840 --> 0:24:21.240 dad had sold me to Larry for drugs. 0:24:24.880 --> 0:24:27.639 With Larry finally out of her life, Amanda tried to 0:24:27.640 --> 0:24:31.600 move forward. She entered into another relationship and had her 0:24:31.680 --> 0:24:37.320 third child, Katie. Meanwhile, the police still had Amanda in 0:24:37.400 --> 0:24:43.040 their sights. Soon after Buddy's conversation with police and Larry's arrest, 0:24:43.520 --> 0:24:47.439 Buddy recanted his statements, but police would not accept that, 0:24:47.840 --> 0:24:50.000 and he was then threatened with perjury. 0:24:51.840 --> 0:24:54.919 He did come forward and he said a sad, many 0:24:55.040 --> 0:24:59.399 lie and he wrote a statement saying, please tell my 0:24:59.480 --> 0:25:02.040 sister Mee and that I'm sorry for lying on her. 0:25:02.160 --> 0:25:03.840 I just tried to clear my dad's name. 0:25:04.960 --> 0:25:07.800 And in two thousand and three, based on her brother's 0:25:07.840 --> 0:25:11.720 initial statements alone, Amanda was arrested for the murder of 0:25:11.840 --> 0:25:15.800 Diane Coleman. What was that like for you? 0:25:17.080 --> 0:25:18.120 It was devastating. 0:25:19.359 --> 0:25:22.560 So that was my babye brother, and that I helped. 0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:23.240 You know. 0:25:25.480 --> 0:25:28.280