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48 hours we take you there Mindy and her dad were once very close she was still daddy's little angel
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but when her parents divorced and her mother left myself as a parent should have saved her and I didn't something
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went terribly wrong grab me by the neck and choke me oh throw me against the wall Mindy says she feared for her life
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were there threats threats every day then at 16 she shot and killed her father oh my god dad I'm
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sorry a family torn apart Andy was a strict parent but he was not an abusive parent Susan Spencer investigates is
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meny an innocent victim he used violence to control you what would you call this
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self-defense pure and simple or is she a co- blooded killer who should spend the
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rest of her life in prison she was completely out of control I became afraid of her a 48 Hours mystery I hope
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they see through her lies I'm not I'm not a murderer daddy's little [Music] [Music]
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girl a parent lays down the law a child doesn't like it but how far can a parent
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go legally to discipline a child the challenge is figuring out what really went on between a parent and a
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child and if there was behavior that crossed the line how far is a child permitted to go in response that is if a
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parent goes too far it is the story of one family a family torn apart by tragedy but in the end you might ask
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yourself could the accused be the real [Applause] victim I come from a small town it's a farm
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community I think people think well you have the right to raise your child how you
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want what goes on behind closed doors stays there that's what we were always told in my family whatever goes on here
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you better not ever tell anyone the mystery of what really went on here in this middleclass house in antp Ohio is
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at the heart of an unspeakable crime a beloved father lies dead his daughter Mindy a high school cheerleader is in
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jail awaiting trial for killing him in Cold Blood I had said before you know out of anger I could kill him but
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I'm not I'm not a murderer she doesn't deserve to be there we myself as a parent should have saved
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her and I didn't so packing up at her Indianapolis home we'll get up there tonight I'll
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take Mindy her clothes Mindy's mother Shirley bereny is preparing for the fight of her life Court starts tomorrow
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morning she'll be taking the stand at her daughter's murder trial to explain what happened she was still daddy's
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little angel there to a fatherdaughter relationship that had once seemed magic she loved him to death and he loved her
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to death Shirley met her future husband mechanic Andy beri in high school I just
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turned 18 and Andy wasn't quite 17 they married just 6 weeks later when Shirley learned she was pregnant with another
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man's child you must have felt like he was rescuing you well basically but after 15 years and three children the
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marriage fell apart I truly believe deep down he loved us he just didn't know how
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at all depressed and dispirited surely gave up custody of teenagers Steve and Scott and of six-year-old Mindy he told
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them that I was the one that wanted to leave that I didn't love them did you want to go live with your dad yeah it I
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did it's a good life at first it wasn't long Mindy says before life with the father she adored became a living hell
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and uh he would have me go in his room with him and uh and he would have me massage him first and um things started
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then things started what do you mean uh like having me touch him and telling me that you know no one loves me like he
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does and um and how old were you I'm about eight and when she rejected him she says
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he just started to hate me on almost I felt like her father began abusing her emotionally what's wrong with you why
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are you so goddamn stupid you're a [ __ ] you're a [ __ ] you're never going to amount to
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anything you make me sick her older brothers eventually left home her father remarried Mindy became a teenager and
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wanted her freedom I I wanted to go spend night with my girlfriends and uh talk to boys on the phone I I guess I
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wanted to do the things that every other teenager musts to do it that's when she
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says Andy berny became impossibly controlling I got a job at McDonald's and he kept a log of the odometer he
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knew exactly how many miles it was to and from my job he searched her room and more he recorded my phone calls he
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locked up the phones when he wasn't home if I was talking on the phone and he didn't like it he he would rip the phone
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out of the wall and grab me by the neck and choke me um throw me against the wall now 16 years old it's kept getting
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worse and worse Mindy found out she was pregnant she would later miss Carrie but
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she didn't know that then how did you think this was going to play out I thought he would kill me on the
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afternoon of September 27th 1995 Mindy came home to discover her father had searched her room again this time he had
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found her ashtray I I just got really scared he just told me that before that if he caught me smoking again it would
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be the last time and then I I started to think about being pregnant what he was going to do it just kind of all built up
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she broke into her father's bedroom and took his shotgun she was going to kill herself she says went into the bathroom
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cuz I figured if I messed up and I didn't kill myself I didn't want to get in trouble for making a mess on the
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wall what stopped you every time I got ready to pull the trigger I just all I could think of was that I
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was pregnant so then I just decided that I couldn't but before she had a chance to put the gun back Mindy says her
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father came home from work right when he opened the door he hollered where the hell are you I just got really scared
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really angry I just screamed to myself to stop but I couldn't the next thing I remember is
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him turning around and looking at me and I just said oh my god dad I'm sorry Mindy beri insists she killed her
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father in self defense to convince a jury of that she will use the risky and rarely successful battered child defense
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she'll claim physical but especially emotional abuse abuse that left her in such Terror of her father that one look
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from him that night sent her over the edge she killed her father she shot him but she didn't murder him Mindy's
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attorney Larry deio what would you call this self-defense pure and simple at that particular time in her
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mind there was a perception of imminent danger of fear but a huge problem for the defense is that Mindy told no one
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not one Soul about the abuse until after the killing nobody's known about it until now she didn't tell anyone she
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never told anybody I was scared I didn't trust anyone why didn't we see something
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wrong even there compared to what she used to be in hindsight Shirley clearly remembers her daughters cries for help
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she had called me she said mom you're not listening to me I mean clear as Bell you're not listening to me I can't take
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this and I said okay Mindy um we'll get help but nothing Mindy told her mother came close to the abuse she now
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describes she would say he yells at me all the time he won't let me do anything that kind of thing but other than that
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no looking back Shirley says she should have understood what really was going on
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I should have known I was just stupid because she says she experienced exactly the same kind of abuse at the hands of
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her ex-husband he used intimidation threats and violence to control you did he physically beat you he didn't beat me
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he would um choke me slam me against the wall you can get beat and the pain goes
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away it takes you years and years to get over somebody making you feel like you don't want to live she left her three
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children with him because she says she had no choice I was afraid of him she never dreamed Mindy would become his
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next Target I never believed that he would do it to her too because she was his little
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princess there's no excuse for me leaving her there can you ever stop blaming yourself maybe when she's home maybe she
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was just as afraid as I was so she understands my fear and I understand hers an earlier trial ended in a
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mistrial so this time Shirley will have her last chance to fight for her daughter's life in court I I really
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believe in 2 to 3 weeks Mindy will be home where she belongs it's a heart wrenching Tale But
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is any of it true he was a great father he wasn't a child abuser and 's family tells a totally different story you see
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she was just lying all the time running away of an out of control teenager who cut down her father in Cold Blood when
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we come [Applause] [Music] back I feel for Andy still today I go to the cemetery and feel like
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I have to apologize to him for what's happening to to his name I I feel he's seeing this going
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on did he spend much time down here oh yeah summertime was river life it's been four years since Andy bereny died Andy
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knew where every Rock was in the river but his second wife Joanie still cherish es every memory with every glimpse of
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the river behind their house we had a pontoon the weekends we go on the pontoon when when Mindy go he'd pull her
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on a tube then she'd go tubing in the river they married in 1992 Joanie helped raise Mindy from the
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time she was eight she was a sweet little girl I loved her as my own and Joanie says that as the only other
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person actually in the the house watching it all unfold only she knows the true relationship between Mindy and
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Andy barany he was a greata he was not a child abuser that is the issue here right and that is definitely not a true
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statement she says Andy was nothing like the monster Mindy and her mother describe Andy was a strict parent but he
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was not an abusive parent lady you ask almost 99% of the people that knew and and I I
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would bet you anything that you would not find one man that says anything against Andy Andy's
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parents Bill and Ruby live just two doors away looks like rain coming in don't it and would frequently drop by
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the house and here now this is Mindy what do you think of when you see this picture
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today sadness that uh it just remind me of what Mindy was and what Mindy is the sweet little girl
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that Mindy used to be was replaced overnight they say by a teenager they hardly knew you have to realize what
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kind of a girl you're working with she's not an ordinary teenager no way Mindy's
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grandparents and her aunt Linda C describe a 16-year-old headed for disaster you see she was just lying all
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the time doing drugs running out of the house running away stealing his car and a father desperately trying to save her
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he was protecting her from the consequences of her own actions that's the reason Joanie says for the strict
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rules Andy imposed on his daughter she says she locked up the phones yes he did do that she was calling friends in
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Indianapolis and making arrangements to run away check the odometer on the car and yes he did that after she had
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skipped work one day go through her room looking for things he would look for cigarettes he didn't like her smoking in
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the months leading up to the killing Joanie kept a diary chronicling Mindy's misbehavior quite a bit in there the
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many times that she snuck out of the house drinking and just the the lying on where she was going and who she was with
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go ahead break the rules and have some fun it was to the point where you didn't believe a word that she even said I she
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was completely out of control I became afraid of her she was the way she talked to her dad she she was so mean to him it
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was just tearing his heart apart yet in all those years Joanie says she only saw
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Andy lose his temper once she called him a very bad name which he flew hot and he
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grabbed her by the throat but that was the only time that he ever touched her and as far as emotional abuse in terms
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of calling her names belittling her telling her she was worth nothing that was not true as for any sexual abuse did
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she tell you any of that no and I do not believe it Johnny your testimony in this
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is so important because there were just the two of you in that house right the jury is going to look at this and
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determine that one or the other of you is lying right and it's her it was Joanie who walked in on a
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distraught Mindy that night I walked into Mindy with a gun to her head the first thing she said was I shot Daddy's
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dead she says her first thought was to get the gun out of Mindy's hand I convinced her to go out in the kitchen
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and sit down and smoke a cigarette Andy's body lay just a few feet away did you realize he was dead there was twice
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I had seen him the first time I seen the pool of blood and then the next time he
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hadn't moved so yeah I knew then she finally got Mindy into the car unarmed and drove to the Sheriff's
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Department where Mindy tearfully confess I just got got my shot and I and I found him and I told him how I
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him because I was going to go the next day Ruby Brenny did something perhaps only a mother could do
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she cleaned up her son's blood it was the last thing I could do for him not to have strangers in here but for me to do
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that now the close-knit family that once counted Mindy among its own will face off against her in court convinced that
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this was murder pure and simple do you believe that she actually sat down and planned it ahead of time oh I think she
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planned it I I absolutely think she knew what she was going to do she shows No Remorse you can't be sorry and tell lies
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at the same time for her to to murder him and then come back and do this like murdering him a second time time is it's
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hard Mindy's trial is [Music] next who is the abused who is the abuser who is the criminal
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who is the victim hold the court doors on two that's clear all right it's day one of Mindy beran's
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murder trial in Lima Ohio yes sir can help you Larry Debo Mindy B's lawyer and her lawyer is feeling the
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pressure she's a good kid she should be out she doesn't deserve to be in jail sorry but 20-year-old Mindy faces life
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in prison unless a jury believes leaves her risky defense that she was a battered child sleep last night battered
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not just physically but emotionally we're just going to tell them the facts we're going to tell them the truth
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battered until at 16 she had no choice but to kill her father Andy if I had said Dad I need your help I'm
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pregnant he would have killed me or he would have beaten me very badly that day so you think you did the only thing yes
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she must realize what she has done it's the most heinous act Andy's family and his second wife
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Joanie hoped the jury will see Mindy as they now do as a calculating killer with
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a story concocted to get away with murder read through this before the trial begins
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Mindy and her main Ally her mother Shirley going be okay just have to tough out this couple weeks meet in a private
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back room they ready the council for the state may make his opening statement ladies and
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gentlemen State prosecutor Joseph burkhard Mindy bereny is guilty of aggravated murder and there's no legal
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excuse for her to walk away from this crime Mindy's story he says is pure fabrication this is a poem that Mindy
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wrote and on the bottom there's a knife with a heart and there's blood dripping off the knife this this is what Mindy's
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thoughts were this is truly who Mindy was she planned this murder he insists from the moment she broke into Andy's
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bedroom to steal the gun this is Andy br's master bedroom if indeed she intended to kill herself burkart wonders
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why then she went to the kitchen bathroom rather than going to this bathroom which is located next to the
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master bedroom she traveled across the house here to this small bathroom located off the kitchen and that's where
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she sat for about an hour before her father came home that bathroom was the perfect spot the prosecutor says for
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Mindy to lie in wait Mindy is in here correct Andy comes through this door yes doc handy what's been marked as States
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exhibit number in court burkart also highlights how Mindy's claim of self-defense makes no sense given how
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Andy bereny died the uh cause of death was a shotgun blast to the left back Mindy shot her father
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in the back we have a man that's standing 40t away we have a teenager in the middle of the room with a shotgun
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there's no confrontation no verbal exchange no physical exchange prior to the shooting but jurors can buy the
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prosecution scenario and still not convict if they accept the battered child theory if they really believe
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Mindy feared for her very life the thing that's real critical is what did Mindy perceive was happening at the time that
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she shot her father she said she was terrified no she said that she was totally pissed she said that she was mad
00:21:05
she was angry remember this just I shot fear has never come into the equation until much later when all of a
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sudden oh I was a fearful of my father raise your right hand after two days the prosecution wraps up its
00:21:23
case with testimony from Mindy's stepmother Joanie who concurs Mindy would go toe to- toe in arguments with
00:21:30
her father the defense has a lot of work ahead burer said he wanted to argue it hopefully we can show that Andy was the
00:21:38
aggressor that Andy created the confrontation hopefully the jury will see that the next day I'm a nervous
00:21:45
record now what's writing on this tell me my daughter's life you're at this time defense would call Shirley Briny
00:21:52
true my biggest fear is that I am not going to be able to get through to the jury shley testifies that during their
00:21:59
marriage Andy was violent and abusive to her and their two sons our normal humiliation and verbal beating place was
00:22:09
at the kitchen table he would make us sit there and for hours and I mean hours but he never turned his wrath on Mindy
00:22:18
by age 15 however she called me crying and said please Mom please I can't take this anymore did she ever tell you you
00:22:28
anything specific about any bad things that Andy was doing to her at that time no so surely left her there she made one
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comment please don't do this to me Mom but you did yes after that dbo says Mindy fell
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apart she was diagnosed as depressed suicidal and homicidal she spent nine days in a hospital but still told no one
00:22:54
about the abuse the fear of going back there anyway and then having told everyone just far outweighed the risk of
00:23:03
telling and maybe I wouldn't have to go back so doctors released her to the one person she was trying to escape her
00:23:10
father it was like um a turning point for me I just didn't care about myself anymore that's when davio says her
00:23:18
drinking and drug use escalated and she was running away the last time I tried to run away is when Social Services
00:23:26
became involved Social Services in the person of child abuse investigator Laura Alvarado our agency received a call from
00:23:34
father who was upset and was having some problems with his um daughter but when Alvarado interviewed her she sided with
00:23:42
Mindy I didn't feel the child was an unruly child I felt that the child was troubled by what was going on in the
00:23:48
home in your investigation did you see signs of physical or emotional abuse um emotional abuse again Mindy pleaded for
00:23:57
help she said if if my mother doesn't want me and doesn't want anything to do with me then I'm willing to go to a
00:24:03
military school foster faser home but Mindy was a minor and what to do was Andy's decision a week before the
00:24:11
killing when Alvarado saw Mindy for the last time she just um didn't open up as much and it was like she had just given
00:24:21
up and she was not disclosing anymore thank you very much I have no further questions because says deio Mindy by
00:24:27
then had given up hope as he heads out to the jail two nights later big day important dat
00:24:33
tomorrow he must make sure she doesn't lose hope again Mindy's credibility is going to be big tomorrow going to mean a
00:24:40
lot of the jury Caesar Mindy will testify tomorrow I have nothing to lie about and that means stealing herself to
00:24:50
relive the abuse that she says drove her to kill as tough as it's going to be put
00:24:55
yourself there put yourself there okay as tough as it might be to talk about it just get down to it Mindy takes
00:25:02
the stand [Applause] [Music] next when meny Beren at 16 first faced Justice for killing her father she
00:25:28
agreed to a plea bargain she went to prison and had served a good portion of her sentence but then the courts in Ohio
00:25:35
started recognizing battered child syndrome as permissible grounds for a defense in a murder case that's when
00:25:43
Mindy and her lawyer took a big gamble convinced she had acted in self-defense they chose to go to trial offered a plea
00:25:50
bargain she turned it down now Mindy is prepared to tell the jury her side of the story that she was indeed a victim
00:25:58
but if she loses this gamble she could be locked up for life here again is Susan
00:26:05
Spencer but like nothing more than to go home to be someone to raise [Applause] children you shot your
00:26:15
father yeah I know is there a price for that I think every day I look in the mirror didn't know that it's a pretty
00:26:25
tough price to pay I hope that's enough that was our only son yes it's four years to the day since
00:26:34
Andy berny was killed what's been the toughest part just being without my husband and ironically today Andy's
00:26:43
killer his daughter Mindy will finally take the stand at her murder trial what is the possible sentence here should she
00:26:50
be convicted she could face 33 years to life in prison her testimony is crucial it's up to Mindy to conv vinced the jury
00:26:59
that her father abused her for years although she never told anyone about the abuse until after she killed him I know
00:27:07
what the truth is and I hope that they see the truth too I hope they see through her lies here at this time we
00:27:13
would call Mindy brinny as Mindy prepares to take the stand her mother surely is worried she has told a story
00:27:20
so many times raise your right hand at some point you start to toughen toward that hurt
00:27:28
I think sometimes they want to see that emotional breakdown yeah I'm worried you said you
00:27:36
would go home from the bar what what happened then Mindy Begins by recounting the years of abuse first sex would tell
00:27:44
me to massage the back of his knee um then he would roll over then verbal and he said nothing but a goddamn worthless
00:27:51
[ __ ] just like your mother then physical that's when he picked me up by my hair
00:27:55
and uh started slamming my head against the door abuse that she says left her in
00:27:59
fear of her life were there threats threats every day um jerking me around every day I never knew what he was going
00:28:08
to do the jury is now excused for about 10 minutes during a break in a private back room her attorney worries Mindy
00:28:16
isn't getting her story across don't think you have to tone it down when you're out there react okay don't feel
00:28:22
like you have to sit there and narrate the story to okay just tell them exactly the way it happened
00:28:29
God Larry I can't remember what those arguments were like I mean I they were so kind I haveen every day I don't know
00:28:35
how to explain it just exp how it happened I can't say well this is what happened this time because it I can
00:28:41
remember him he stand say if I say and he would just turn around and hit me just I you know that noise he would make
00:28:48
he like and try to follow me a little more this time okay trying okay you picked up the gun and
00:28:58
then you walked over into the bathroom which is marked C on States exhibit one correct during cross examination
00:29:04
prosecutor burkard reminds the jury that on the day of the murder Mindy went out
00:29:09
of her way to get to the kitchen bathroom why didn't you go to the bathroom that was right next to the
00:29:13
bedroom because I got into the shower because I figured it would be easier to clean up and although Mindy claims she
00:29:20
killed her father in selfdefense now just approximately how far away from your father are you about this far he
00:29:26
was 40 ft away away from her probably a little bit when she shot him in the back
00:29:31
and you used this 12 gauge shotgun to shoot your father in the back didn't you yeah I have no other questions before
00:29:37
she gets off the stand Larry gets one more chance to question Mindy Mr burkhard showed you a number of drawings
00:29:44
that you have you said that that's a heart with a knife going through right what did that represent um just I felt
00:29:52
like my heart was broken I felt a lot of pain that was just the pain of an abused
00:29:57
child in intent on committing suicide that day but every time I got ready to do it I couldn't because I knew I was
00:30:03
pregnant and I just I didn't want to kill my baby too she spends six grueling hours on the
00:30:13
stand fine baby you did fine they believe you yes they do believe you we're done with you it's going to
00:30:28
[Music] be it's just no no no it's just going to be you know it's just going to be how
00:30:34
they're going to listen to all those things and and how they're going to interpret all those things you did a
00:30:38
fine job okay you did the best you could you did all all that you could okay you
00:30:44
don't think it went good I think it went fine no you don't you can if you think it went bad I want you
00:30:51
to tell me for the wor look it if I thought it went bad I would say it went bad okay
00:30:59
if you certainly don't think it went [Applause] great no don't be went great but one
00:31:09
unexpected Observer was moved by her testimony Jill Harris a juror from Mindy's first murder trial has driven
00:31:17
miles to be here I just felt that I connected with her some way and I should be there just to show support that
00:31:26
someone cares the first jury's deliberations were tense we did a lot of screaming a lot of crying a lot of
00:31:33
Walking the Floor an anonymous call to a juror forced a mistrial but not before the jury came to its own conclusion
00:31:41
about Mindy did your jury believe her story most of us yeah I believed that she did suffer from depression and
00:31:50
better child child syndrome and the first vote was leaning in her favor seven of us wanted a quiddle really
00:31:59
yes Council for the defendant he calls next witness concluding his case Larry davio calls psychiatrist Dr Kathleen
00:32:07
Quinn she was profoundly depressed she says Mindy clearly showed signs of post-traumatic stress just the hearing
00:32:14
of his footstep uh or hearing him crack open a beer would make her feel scared about the next
00:32:22
confrontation on that fateful day her fears intensified he had searched her room again she was pregnant her father
00:32:30
didn't know that she had taken a gun out of his room did Mindy brinny perceive that she was in danger of suffering
00:32:36
imminent death or great bodily harm at the hands of her father the day that she shot him yes she did thank you very much
00:32:41
doctor I have no further questions and rebuttal the prosecutor calls his own expert Dr Barbara McIntyre did you see
00:32:49
Mindy Brenning being fearful of her father no I did not this was a young woman who consistently defied her father
00:32:57
swore at him called him names threatened to kill him Her diagnosis Miss Brenny did not meet the criteria to be
00:33:04
considered as suffering from bad child syndrome but the prosecutor has saved his most damaging Witnesses for last the
00:33:13
only other people who knew what it was like to grow up in that house all my life I saw them experience it we talked
00:33:21
about it you we would next call Steve and brny Mindy's Brothers Steve and Scott do Solly swear that testimony
00:33:28
you're about to give in this case be they refuse to have their testimony taped I do but they say that no abuse
00:33:34
took place they said it didn't happen but neither one of them would look me in the
00:33:43
eye when you're dealing with a situation like that in a close family and a close-knit community you deny
00:33:53
abuse I have a real tough time forgiving them for this real tough time the verdict when 48
00:34:01
Hours [Music] returns yeah this is it this is the culmination of all the work all the time
00:34:16
two weeks after Mindy berny's murder trial began it's time for the jury to decide her
00:34:23
fate do okay let's do it end this okay and get on with things okay the question did she cold-bloodedly
00:34:35
plan her father's murder Mindy bereny removed the final hurdle and the hurdle was Andy berny or did she kill him in
00:34:44
self-defense she had an honest belief that she was an imminent danger of great bodily harm that her dad was finally
00:34:50
going to break after years of abuse you have the ability ladies and gentlemen to
00:34:55
send Mindy back to her mother at this time the jury is excused to start their deliberations while the jury deliberates
00:35:05
did a wonderful job hey you guys help me man oh God Mindy is returned to her [Music]
00:35:16
cell I think um she's coming home think but it's a huge gamble by choosing not to accept to plea
00:35:28
agreement she could be convicted of aggravated murder Mindy is being tried as an adult
00:35:35
so a guilty verdict could mean Life by contrast if the jury buys her story she could simply walk out of here for now
00:35:44
all anyone can do is [Music] wait the waiting you got to wonder what 12 people are
00:36:01
[Applause] thinking I think we covered all the points I hope they can tell who's lying
00:36:08
and who's not lying they had to saw Scott Steve all the lies Joanie told that got she got caught in who knows and
00:36:18
it's up to them basically me nuts that Mom can't be here and that's the scary part
00:36:28
I'll hang out a little bit upstairs take some more notes don't be gone too long all right I'll be back I'll be
00:36:38
back after 24 nerve-wracking hours we do have a verdict the Noman three-man jury reaches a verdict where
00:36:49
is she love bab with her boyfriend Dave at her side surely braces herself as does the family of Andy Banny
00:37:06
be the jury find defendant Mindy B guilty of AG murder Mindy is found guilty of the most serious charge
00:37:16
aggravated murder Mur not only did she kill him the jury says she planned it from start to
00:37:23
finish thank you very much curious the judge sentences her to life in prison with no chance of parole for 23
00:37:35
years I can't I can't move I can't move it's all too much for Larry dbo oh my God he
00:37:53
faints and Mindy barely able to stand herself is Led away in her grief Shirley lashes out at
00:38:09
the Beren family you are the most evil people I've ever pass my life this is your grandaughter for God's sake
00:38:21
[Music] I never expected we needed Justice on the way back to herself cell a still shaken gabot tries to get
00:38:46
medical attention for the nearly catatonic Mindy medal people are going to take care of
00:38:52
you okay just be okay all right love you okay come [Music] on she's the one suffering because of my
00:39:15
mistakes and that's what's wrong about it we'll be back in a moment [Music] we were really shocked it's the day
00:39:41
after the verdict I was stand I couldn't believe it the Beren so desperately want
00:39:47
it we didn't expect it to be this sever but I'm just glad that my son's name and character
00:39:57
was more or less cleared up that he was not the monster they made him out to be I'm sorry Mindy but that's what you
00:40:06
deserve and that's what you got do you think in retrospect it was a mistake to try to use this defense no
00:40:16
it's what happened and I'll get people to understand it's the last thing I do she said Mom I'll be all right no matter
00:40:25
where I am so we'll keep fighting and as long as she stays strong she'll be okay Mindy berini appealed her
00:40:38
conviction to the Ohio Supreme Court it was denied research on Family Violence shows
00:40:45
that the victims rarely come forward in a timely fashion Their Fear of humiliation and retaliation is a
00:40:52
powerful deterrent a child especially cannot just walk away many of the jurors who convicted Mindy Beren told us they
00:41:02
accept that she was a victim of abuse but they were not convinced that she believed she was in imminent danger of
00:41:09
serious physical harm some experts say that to make a case for self-defense using the battered child syndrome jurar
00:41:18
need to understand how a history of abuse can set off a violent response based on what a victim has already been
00:41:26
through clearly what went on in this family behind closed doors is every bit of tragedy in many ways it is also still a
00:41:37
mystery that's 48 hours [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music]