00:00:05
on this episode of women behind bars
00:00:08
one woman is convicted of fatally
00:00:09
shooting her ex-husband
00:00:11
in a dangerous game of one-upmanship in
00:00:13
which he videotaped their encounters
00:00:16
i'm upset because the weakest thing is
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he took the knife and he went to plunge
00:00:22
it into me
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i got a whole little weapon that was
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behind me
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then gina shaughnessy tells her story
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she allegedly took part in the stabbing
00:00:34
death of her estranged husband
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they told me if i would put myself on
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video and talk about this
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they would let me go home the evidence
00:00:42
against gina is pretty
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scant is based on her own confession and
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given
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her diminished capacity and the
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circumstances that that confession was
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taken
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i feel the confession is not reliable
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i don't think justice was served two
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women
00:00:59
two brutal crimes these are the stories
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of deborah roll
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and gina shaughnessy
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[Music]
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on the night of march 4th 1999 deborah
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roll
00:01:25
a technician at the local veterans
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hospital shot and killed her ex-husband
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alan aganovic as their young daughters
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played in an adjoining room
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we heard the shot and then we all just
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ran into the room and we just saw him
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laying on the floor
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police questioned role who showed them a
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small knife wound
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and claimed she acted in self-defense
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he was there with his knife in his hand
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and he was taunting a knife
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calling me every name it was she gave a
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statement indicating self-defense
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and the physical evidence just did not
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agree with that if
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a lot more stuff was heard as far as the
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verbal and the physical abuse that she
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suffered and
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the abuse that took place with her child
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i don't think she'd be sitting there now
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did deborah roll defend herself from an
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abusive husband
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or did she plot to kill in cold blood
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[Music]
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deborah was born into a large family one
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of 12
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children so many kids in the house with
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my parents
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i used to always say that gosh if i was
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the only child i can
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have more attention from mom and dad her
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father was a maintenance worker
00:02:46
her mother a nurse's aide both worked
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full time
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with her father taking second jobs to
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support the children
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we knew that they loved us my dad
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always kept food on the table and
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christmas time we had toys i just wanted
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to get away from home
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because there was so many people in the
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house seeking her independence
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debra joined the army when i was in the
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military
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they had courses you could take college
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courses
00:03:16
debra wanted a different kind of life
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than the one she knew growing up in
00:03:20
miami
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after being discharged from the army she
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earned an associate's degree in
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computers in 1988
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but she dreamt of a career in nursing
00:03:29
when she re-enlisted in the military
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i always wanted to be a traveling nurse
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but when i joined the military instead i
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was in the communications
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so i didn't really complete everything
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the way i wanted to
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because i involved myself with other
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things after deborah left the army
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she began dating and fell hard for men
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she found physically attractive
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she admits she was not assertive enough
00:03:53
when it came to how these men
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treated her for the most part when i
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fell in love i'd have to be with that
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handsome guy and
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not realizing the heart you know
00:04:04
what's in the heart of that person by
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1991
00:04:07
debra had two children with different
00:04:09
fathers deborah's son lived with his dad
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she had custody of her daughter i think
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that her problem was just
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finding somebody to truly love her the
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way she should have been loved
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that year friends introduced deborah to
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allen aganovic
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a bosnian refugee in the roofing
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business
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at the time allen was dating another
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woman deborah did not like the way she
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saw alan being treated
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he was this loving person and i used to
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get angry with her because i say you
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know
00:04:41
why you talk to him that way you know
00:04:44
eventually
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their friendship turned into a romance
00:04:48
we went to have a little cookout at the
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park i had my daughter with me
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and he picked her up and he gave her
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this this
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big hug when he put her down he took my
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hand
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and he looked me in my face and he said
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you know something i think i'm falling
00:05:04
in love with you
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she called me and told me that she had
00:05:08
met someone
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and i said well you know you just got
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out of a divorce and you need to take
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your time
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i guess i liked the fact that he was
00:05:17
like myself
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looking for affection looking for love
00:05:22
in 1992 the couple learned deborah was
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pregnant
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they were married on august 27 and had
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their daughter in december
00:05:30
it wasn't like we got married at a
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setting with a church
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we got married and went to live in a
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forest
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deborah and allen rented a secluded
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mobile home in the ocala national forest
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by 1994 after the birth of their second
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daughter
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the couple's religious differences began
00:05:53
to weigh on their marriage
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i say you need to know the real god the
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god in heaven
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this is where our big conflict came
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deborah also found the woods too
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isolating and disliked being left alone
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with the children for long stretches at
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a time
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she says she confronted alan and their
00:06:12
conflicts began to escalate
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abuse came in when i started questioning
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him
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more about his work hours but it wasn't
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only alan's long work days that
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disturbed deborah
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when i had asked him about his drinking
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he started cursing me he apologized
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but yes later it happened again
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and then following that was the punches
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the beatings
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[Music]
00:06:43
by 1995 deborah started to skim money
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from allen's weekly pay
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while her eldest daughter was in school
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debra drove out of the forest to look
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for full-time work
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but she always returned
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[Music]
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she was doing everything to keep that
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marriage intact
00:07:01
even sit there and put up with the
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verbal abuse
00:07:05
after it started to get physical and
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probably most importantly after he
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started
00:07:10
calling her stupid in front of the kids
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that's where
00:07:14
she said that's it debra's friends
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rented her a u-haul truck and helped her
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pack
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you're not going to be with this man no
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more this man he's no good for you
00:07:23
you getting out of here we packing you
00:07:25
up today allen returned home
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as deborah was leaving my friend was
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saying get in the car
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go so i got in the car and i never felt
00:07:34
so free in all my life
00:07:37
when women behind bars continues i
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didn't know i hit him
00:07:41
he grabbed a hold of a weapon and my
00:07:44
finger was still on the trigger
00:07:59
in 1995 debra roll a member of the
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united states military
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left her allegedly abusive husband allen
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aganovic
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and moved with her daughters to west
00:08:09
palm beach florida
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she started working as a nursing
00:08:12
technician at the veterans hospital
00:08:14
and made new friends she worked nights
00:08:18
in our work days
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and we became very close deborah was a
00:08:22
good mother of nurturing mother
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debra hired a babysitter to stay with
00:08:27
the girls overnight while she worked at
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the hospital
00:08:30
but her daughters wanted to see their
00:08:31
father
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i was talking to her and i said you
00:08:35
don't need to go back so she said but
00:08:36
the girls are asking for him all the
00:08:38
time
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after a month or so deborah called him i
00:08:42
eventually
00:08:43
let him come to my house and from there
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everything was starting off well
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i let him move into my place
00:08:51
in 1996 the family moved into a
00:08:54
two-bedroom house on spruce avenue in
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west palm beach
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it was okay for a while a few months
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after that
00:09:01
he started back his old ways his
00:09:03
lateness
00:09:04
his drinking and his verbal abuse style
00:09:08
in 1997 the couple separated again
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this time for good debra stayed in the
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house and allen moved down the street
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they shared visits with the girls but
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deborah began to file court motions
00:09:20
against alan
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she says she felt that he lived close by
00:09:23
to torment her
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but it was alan's behavior towards her
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three-year-old daughter
00:09:28
that deborah says concerned her the most
00:09:31
one afternoon
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when i was going to watch my baby girl
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she was in a
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state of fright and
00:09:39
did not want me to touch her i picked
00:09:41
her up
00:09:42
and i set her on my lap and she told me
00:09:45
what her dad do to her
00:09:47
i think that's the day when i literally
00:09:50
lost my mind
00:09:54
deborah took her daughter to the
00:09:55
emergency room while doctors examined
00:09:57
her
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debra called alan he denied everything
00:10:02
he said he never touched her and he
00:10:03
would never do something like that to
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her
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but deborah didn't believe him and their
00:10:08
fights worsened
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allen then began videotaping his front
00:10:12
door when debra would go to his house to
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drop off the children
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during the time of the divorce he was so
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afraid of all the allegations she was
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making that he set
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up a video in his home where when the
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doorbell rang
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the video went on and it would record
00:10:36
whatever conversations were had between
00:10:38
him and whoever was at the door
00:10:42
we're putting our socks on please don't
00:10:44
ring
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so we have the video taking everything
00:10:50
because he know he's going to catch me
00:10:52
on camera my action on camera
00:10:54
but the tables turned and debra believes
00:10:56
allen was abusing one of her daughters
00:10:59
today
00:11:00
that little girl is a teenager he would
00:11:03
beat me
00:11:04
pretty often i was only like three or
00:11:08
four
00:11:09
i went over one weekend and she said
00:11:12
auntie she said my daddy whoop me and i
00:11:14
say where
00:11:15
and she pointed at our private area
00:11:18
in family court debra filed allegations
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of abuse
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florida's department of children and
00:11:23
families or dcf
00:11:25
interviewed the couple they saw that i
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was
00:11:30
together deborah was fussy
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they had a hard time dealing with her
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the children were happy to see me when i
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got there and
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pretty much flung to me and would not go
00:11:42
to denver at all and
00:11:43
these people saw that
00:11:47
according to allen's statement on his
00:11:48
video recording in april 1998
00:11:51
the dcf contacted him about the
00:11:53
possibility of taking full custody of
00:11:55
the children
00:11:56
they also recommended that debra be
00:11:58
prosecuted for bringing false charges of
00:12:01
child abuse against him
00:12:05
they didn't believe me they say i was
00:12:07
coaching my daughter
00:12:10
by summer authorities recommended that
00:12:12
full custody of the children be given to
00:12:14
allen
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when officials questioned the girls
00:12:17
about the alleged abuse
00:12:19
their stories differed from what deborah
00:12:21
claimed
00:12:22
at least one of the girls told a
00:12:24
detective at the west palm beach police
00:12:26
department
00:12:26
that mom was making them say that and
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nothing had happened
00:12:31
debra had documentation of medical exams
00:12:33
from multiple emergency room visits
00:12:36
but it was not enough to support her
00:12:38
claims
00:12:39
doctors testified about the well-being
00:12:41
of the children
00:12:42
and the physical evidence that was not
00:12:44
there that would have indicated that he
00:12:46
was sexually abusing the girls
00:12:48
it appeared deborah was losing her fight
00:12:50
for the girls
00:12:52
she tried picketing the court nothing
00:12:55
changed
00:12:57
but there was one bright spot in
00:12:58
deborah's life her blossoming
00:13:00
relationship with 40 year old john
00:13:02
cahill
00:13:03
a retired sheriff's deputy who met debra
00:13:06
while undergoing cancer treatment at the
00:13:07
hospital
00:13:09
she was taking my vital signs and i
00:13:11
asked her if i could
00:13:12
take her out to dinner and we started
00:13:14
dating for a while
00:13:16
and started seeing each other steadily
00:13:20
on january 31st 1999 the divorce between
00:13:23
deborah and allen became final
00:13:26
the court granted allen the house and
00:13:28
custody of their children
00:13:29
deborah was ordered to pay allen 416
00:13:32
a month in child support and was allowed
00:13:35
supervised visitations with her
00:13:36
daughters
00:13:40
deborah says it was alan who contacted
00:13:42
her a few weeks later to arrange a visit
00:13:45
the state did not believe her story
00:13:47
after this order where allen gets the
00:13:49
house and the kids and child support
00:13:52
she suddenly out of the blue calls him
00:13:54
and invites him over
00:13:56
with the children to open christmas
00:13:57
presents it's the state's belief
00:14:00
that that was in effect to commit that
00:14:03
murder
00:14:03
so that she could get the children and
00:14:05
she wouldn't have to pay him and would
00:14:07
get the house back if he was no longer
00:14:08
in the picture
00:14:12
it was march 3rd 1999 and deborah had
00:14:15
not given the girls christmas gifts
00:14:17
she left the christmas tree up in
00:14:18
anticipation of a reunion
00:14:21
had him to come over to the house so it
00:14:24
was time to leave
00:14:25
he said that he'd like to come back
00:14:27
again for the girls
00:14:29
and i said okay i understand
00:14:33
he asked to come over the second night
00:14:36
and that's when
00:14:37
it hit the fan on the evening of march
00:14:40
4th
00:14:41
1999 six weeks after their divorce was
00:14:44
final
00:14:44
allen brought the girls to deborah for a
00:14:46
second time
00:14:48
he got up out of his chair and came over
00:14:50
to me and asked me if i had a
00:14:53
photo of all three of the girls together
00:14:56
deborah says allen then went into the
00:14:58
room where the girls were playing a
00:15:00
video game
00:15:01
she went to the bedroom to get a photo
00:15:03
album
00:15:04
i went and took the album out and i set
00:15:06
it on my bed
00:15:09
so i went in a closet again i went to
00:15:11
search for some other pictures
00:15:14
when i turned allen was still with this
00:15:15
knife in his hand and he was taunting a
00:15:18
knife
00:15:18
calling me every name there was he took
00:15:22
the
00:15:22
knife and he went to plunge it into me i
00:15:26
pushed him
00:15:27
when he lost his balance i got a whole
00:15:30
little weapon
00:15:31
that was behind me
00:15:36
john cahill had let debra borrow the gun
00:15:38
a few days earlier to scare off an
00:15:40
ex-boyfriend she said had been stalking
00:15:42
her
00:15:43
it was unloaded when i gave it to her it
00:15:45
was in a bag with
00:15:47
two speed loaders
00:15:51
i didn't know i hit him because he still
00:15:54
had strength
00:15:56
to move he grabbed a hole in a weapon
00:16:00
and my finger was still on the trigger
00:16:02
at that moment my oldest daughter
00:16:04
i felt her on me screaming i remember i
00:16:07
thought it was like a balloon
00:16:09
pop next thing i know he just dropped
00:16:13
and i saw that one bullet hit him
00:16:18
deborah's daughter recalls what happened
00:16:20
next she was four years old at the time
00:16:24
we were all playing video games
00:16:28
and we heard the shot and we just saw
00:16:30
him laying on the floor
00:16:33
deborah called 911
00:16:36
went into the house debra was taken to a
00:16:38
nearby hospital
00:16:40
her wound was described as superficial
00:16:42
they treated her one centimeter cut
00:16:45
and released her into police custody
00:16:48
i got a phone call here it was the
00:16:50
detective
00:16:51
telling me that he had my sister down at
00:16:54
the station because
00:16:55
there's been a murder i was in shock
00:16:58
i knew that deborah was not a murderer
00:17:02
when women behind bars continues here
00:17:05
she was describing this
00:17:07
horrible attack on herself and yet she
00:17:09
calmly
00:17:10
recited the facts as she had set them
00:17:13
out
00:17:14
and later a cognitively impaired woman
00:17:16
allegedly kills her estranged husband
00:17:20
she never asked us what it was all about
00:17:22
never asked us where we were going
00:17:25
even if you hated your ex-spouse you'd
00:17:27
be mildly curious as to how
00:17:29
they got killed if she doesn't ask that
00:17:31
means she knows
00:17:42
on april 19 1999 six weeks after deborah
00:17:45
roll
00:17:46
shot and killed her estranged husband
00:17:48
allen aganovic
00:17:49
she was arrested and charged with
00:17:51
first-degree murder
00:17:53
i believe that it was self-defense
00:17:56
but i know that whatever happened it
00:18:00
wasn't premeditated
00:18:02
the state would eventually appoint four
00:18:05
different attorneys to represent deborah
00:18:06
roll
00:18:07
fred cecineck was one of them he was
00:18:10
appointed in june 1999.
00:18:13
she had this feeling that i wasn't on
00:18:15
her side i wasn't there to represent her
00:18:17
she thought that he could do houdini you
00:18:20
know like get her out overnight
00:18:21
and it didn't work that way she
00:18:25
had very much what i described as rage
00:18:27
against the system
00:18:28
mr cysnick he was a good lawyer but
00:18:31
deborah was impatient that's one of her
00:18:33
problems she's impatient
00:18:35
i was too wanting to be with my girls
00:18:38
wanting to get out wanting to be home
00:18:41
she wanted a speedy trial and we weren't
00:18:43
ready for speedy trial
00:18:44
we had to talk to all the witnesses and
00:18:46
prepare the case she was looking at
00:18:48
spending life in prison
00:18:49
[Music]
00:18:52
strategy in preparing for trial was to
00:18:55
go through each piece of evidence and
00:18:57
find where it did not fit with the story
00:18:59
she had given of
00:19:00
of self-defense by 2000 debra grew
00:19:03
impatient with fred cessnick
00:19:05
in april she asked for the court to
00:19:06
appoint her new counsel
00:19:08
i wasn't going at her pace so she let
00:19:10
him go
00:19:11
i believe if she had stuck with mr
00:19:14
susnick
00:19:14
she wouldn't be sitting in prison right
00:19:16
now deborah roll's statement was to the
00:19:19
effect that
00:19:20
she was acting in self-defense because
00:19:22
alan pulled a knife on her and tried to
00:19:25
stab her
00:19:26
so she reached around got a gun and he
00:19:29
grabbed the gun and the gun went off by
00:19:31
accident as she was defending herself
00:19:34
when the case went to trial the
00:19:36
prosecution claimed that the evidence
00:19:38
at the scene did not match deborah's
00:19:40
story had that actually happened there
00:19:42
would have been
00:19:43
gunpowder residue and stippling on his
00:19:46
hand and he found no
00:19:47
evidence of that during the autopsy
00:19:49
deborah testified that allen contacted
00:19:51
her to arrange to meet
00:19:53
but the prosecution convinced the jury
00:19:55
otherwise
00:19:57
according to the testimony of witnesses
00:19:59
interviewed deborah actually called alan
00:20:02
several days before his homicide and
00:20:04
invited him over to open the presents
00:20:06
and they went on record saying that they
00:20:09
encouraged him not to go because this
00:20:10
was such an unusual event for her
00:20:12
suddenly to be
00:20:13
nice when the divorce had only become
00:20:14
final there were other problems with
00:20:17
deborah's account
00:20:18
allen was right-handed and the knife he
00:20:20
allegedly used to stab her was found
00:20:22
near his left hand
00:20:24
her fingerprints were found on the knife
00:20:26
blade her wound and clothing holes
00:20:28
did not match up the puncture through
00:20:31
the clothing was in a different
00:20:33
direction and angle
00:20:34
and in a different placement on her body
00:20:36
than where the stab was
00:20:38
and then there were the photo albums
00:20:39
placed on the bed
00:20:41
she also said that she was holding some
00:20:43
photo albums
00:20:44
when she turned and grabbed the gun but
00:20:46
the crime scene pictures show those
00:20:48
photo albums
00:20:49
sitting on the pillow at the other end
00:20:51
of the room stacked neatly
00:20:53
not like they were dropped on the floor
00:20:55
when she was surprised by this knife
00:20:57
i was told not to get up on a stand but
00:21:00
i
00:21:01
insisted to my attorney i want to take a
00:21:03
stand
00:21:05
it was deborah's conduct on the stand
00:21:07
that the prosecution believed convinced
00:21:09
the jury
00:21:10
she did not act in self-defense
00:21:12
[Music]
00:21:13
when deborah rule testified it was my
00:21:16
impression
00:21:17
and i felt the jury saw that she had no
00:21:19
affect here she was describing this
00:21:21
horrible attack on herself and yet she
00:21:23
just
00:21:24
calmly recited the facts as she had set
00:21:27
them out
00:21:29
i was told how my action should be i
00:21:32
shouldn't
00:21:32
i shouldn't show emotions don't say this
00:21:36
don't say that
00:21:37
[Music]
00:21:42
the jury returned with a verdict they
00:21:44
came out and they said um instead of
00:21:46
first degree murder
00:21:48
second degree second-degree murder is
00:21:51
more
00:21:52
hot blood something that happens at the
00:21:54
spur at the moment so apparently the
00:21:56
jury
00:21:56
did not think there was sufficient
00:21:58
evidence to find that she had planned it
00:22:00
ahead of time
00:22:01
but that in fact she did do this act and
00:22:04
murdering him
00:22:06
out of spite or ill will
00:22:15
i was satisfied with the verdict and i
00:22:16
know the family was too
00:22:18
they felt that she had planned to murder
00:22:21
alan
00:22:22
but the finding of second-degree murder
00:22:24
still made them feel
00:22:26
that justice had been done in this case
00:22:29
deborah appealed but a second judge
00:22:31
upheld the ruling
00:22:35
she is serving her sentence at the
00:22:36
homestead correctional facility
00:22:38
in south florida they have church
00:22:41
seminars
00:22:42
they assign a job so that keeps me going
00:22:46
some of the girls need counseling and
00:22:48
they may call me
00:22:49
debra who corresponds with her daughters
00:22:52
says she does not want them to repeat
00:22:54
the mistakes she made
00:22:55
one thing i teach my girls if you have a
00:22:58
man and that man is around you and he's
00:23:00
using all kind of dirty language around
00:23:02
you
00:23:02
don't be with them because when they're
00:23:05
like that
00:23:06
they can be physically abusive and they
00:23:09
will
00:23:11
according to debra's daughters who now
00:23:12
live with her sister stephanie
00:23:14
this incident has shaped their lives
00:23:17
i think it's actually made me a better
00:23:21
person
00:23:22
i appreciate life more than most people
00:23:26
do
00:23:26
because i realize that
00:23:30
there are people who go through really
00:23:33
bad things
00:23:35
deborah is hopeful that her girls will
00:23:37
follow a different path
00:23:39
i don't want him to go through what i've
00:23:40
went through i hope one day that i'm out
00:23:43
to be with him and spend the time that
00:23:45
i've missed over the years
00:23:50
next up on women behind bars someone was
00:23:53
awfully mad at him
00:23:55
and wanted him dead there was not
00:23:57
nothing in my mind of killing him or
00:23:59
wish he was dead
00:24:00
nothing like that for more information
00:24:03
about women behind bars
00:24:05
go to www.wetv.com
00:24:19
a few miles outside of downtown chicago
00:24:22
lies the quiet working-class
00:24:24
neighborhood of canaryville
00:24:26
it was here on october 12 2003
00:24:29
that the body of rick shaughnessy a 45
00:24:32
year old pizza delivery driver was found
00:24:34
in an alley
00:24:36
he had been stabbed 17 times
00:24:39
someone was awfully mad at him and
00:24:42
wanted him dead
00:24:43
because of the amount of stab wounds we
00:24:45
didn't believe at any point that it was
00:24:47
a robbery
00:24:48
we generally see that in domestic
00:24:50
incidents
00:24:52
detectives discovered that the victim
00:24:54
was in the process of getting divorced
00:24:56
from his cognitively impaired wife
00:24:58
gina shaughnessy she and her boyfriend
00:25:00
james gusich
00:25:02
quickly became suspects and were
00:25:03
arrested
00:25:05
i didn't have nothing to do with that
00:25:07
yeah we had our ups and downs but there
00:25:08
was nothing in my mind of killing him or
00:25:10
wish he was dead
00:25:11
nothing like that gina first claimed
00:25:15
that she committed the murder herself
00:25:17
but then changed her story putting the
00:25:19
blame on goosage
00:25:21
james he wouldn't have done this on his
00:25:23
own without gina
00:25:25
this doesn't happen was gina shaughnessy
00:25:27
falsely blamed for the actions of a
00:25:29
jealous lover
00:25:31
or was she despite her alleged learning
00:25:33
impairments
00:25:34
the mastermind behind a brutal and
00:25:36
calculated murder
00:25:43
gina shaughnessy was born to raleigh and
00:25:45
zita mcgee
00:25:46
and was the eldest of three daughters
00:25:49
her father was a truck driver who moved
00:25:50
the family to chicago when gina was
00:25:52
three
00:25:53
they settled in the working-class
00:25:54
neighborhood of canaryville on chicago's
00:25:57
south side
00:25:59
the neighborhood i grew up in it was
00:26:00
fantastic
00:26:02
and we went camping and we went on
00:26:03
vacation every year
00:26:05
we own four wheels and third bike
00:26:08
we go and ride those like crazy the
00:26:11
girls often played together
00:26:13
from an early age it was clear gina was
00:26:15
different than her sisters
00:26:18
gina was a special ed student in school
00:26:21
always had trouble learning
00:26:22
you know just seemed really hard for her
00:26:25
to pick up on things
00:26:27
gina was barely literate her family
00:26:30
members and gina herself said she had
00:26:33
trouble reading and that was
00:26:35
obvious it was obvious even speaking to
00:26:37
her her teacher wrote us a note home
00:26:39
does gina talk do we have to send her
00:26:42
somewhere to
00:26:42
find out if she can speak and no when
00:26:44
gina got home i mean she was all mouth
00:26:47
all the time you know just the way a
00:26:48
normal kid would be
00:26:50
in fact gina's family says that gina
00:26:53
functioned fairly normally
00:26:54
except when it came to school
00:26:58
but dolores barrett who grew up across
00:27:00
the street from gina had a different
00:27:02
impression
00:27:03
gina never really had any friends i
00:27:06
never
00:27:07
seen her with friends and the only
00:27:08
people i ever seen her with was her
00:27:10
sisters
00:27:11
they never interacted with other people
00:27:14
despite her scholastic difficulties gina
00:27:17
graduated high school
00:27:19
not long after her senior year she
00:27:21
married and had her first son
00:27:23
james but the marriage ended in divorce
00:27:28
when gina returned to her parents home
00:27:29
in canaryville she had a brief
00:27:31
relationship
00:27:32
which left her with a second child then
00:27:35
in july of 1998
00:27:37
another man came into gina's life brick
00:27:40
shaughnessy
00:27:41
i was outside smoking stairs sitting on
00:27:43
the front porch and here comes rick
00:27:45
so we talked and everything and um he
00:27:48
called me that night
00:27:50
the relationship was good while we were
00:27:52
going together dating
00:27:53
i thought you know he's going to be a
00:27:54
great man he's going to support my
00:27:56
family
00:27:57
my kids you know and give them what they
00:27:58
want about three months later
00:28:01
gina moved with rick into the house he
00:28:03
shared with his brother michael
00:28:05
i was pregnant when i moved in with rick
00:28:08
about six months later we got married
00:28:11
gina and rick married at the courthouse
00:28:13
and everybody went back to their home in
00:28:15
oak forest
00:28:16
afterward for a celebration i do think
00:28:19
they were happy you know who is that
00:28:20
when they get married
00:28:22
by 2002 gina had two sons with rick
00:28:25
making her a mother of four
00:28:28
despite her cognitive impairment gina
00:28:31
did her best to raise her children
00:28:34
but according to ruthie rick's brother
00:28:36
michael
00:28:37
brought chaos into gina's fragile world
00:28:40
his brother lived at the home with them
00:28:42
he was heavily into drugs
00:28:44
rick was supporting his brother's habits
00:28:47
and
00:28:47
always tried to meet all of his demands
00:28:50
money for drugs and
00:28:51
run here for drugs and you know just get
00:28:54
me some
00:28:55
but gina claims rick had his own
00:28:57
substance abuse problems
00:28:59
he went back to drinking real heavy and
00:29:01
then constantly hitting on me
00:29:03
punching me and there was one time he
00:29:06
put a gun in my head
00:29:09
i was laying down my room and something
00:29:11
told me turn around
00:29:13
and he had a gun he was getting ready to
00:29:14
[ __ ] it
00:29:16
i ran out of the house i grabbed james
00:29:18
and i ran out of the house i started
00:29:19
coming back in the house to get rid of
00:29:20
that gun
00:29:26
the day of kenneth's accident gina
00:29:29
had left to go to work she didn't drive
00:29:32
so her husband rick had to drive her
00:29:35
according to gina rick's brother was at
00:29:37
home with the baby
00:29:40
the baby's on the ground crawling around
00:29:43
he went over to the mop book and was
00:29:45
playing in the water i suppose
00:29:46
and got too far deep into it and was
00:29:49
found upside down in the mop bucket
00:29:51
when rickshaws ride back home
00:29:54
ten-month-old baby kenneth was rushed to
00:29:56
the hospital
00:29:59
he was on life support and in a coma
00:30:01
they ran tests and
00:30:03
monitored him and there was no hope of
00:30:05
life
00:30:07
there was no chance for him i mean
00:30:09
there's four doctors looked at him
00:30:11
and he says no finally rick changed his
00:30:14
mind we pulled him up for life support
00:30:24
gina was beside herself when her baby
00:30:26
was buried two weeks later
00:30:28
after the baby died that's when i went
00:30:30
on drugs real happy
00:30:32
i was in so much pain nothing could help
00:30:35
me so
00:30:36
i decided to go on drugs i really look
00:30:38
at it as she went to work one day
00:30:40
and her life just turned upside down
00:30:43
the department of child and family
00:30:45
services took gina's remaining children
00:30:47
into their custody
00:30:49
gina separated from rick and filed for
00:30:51
divorce
00:30:52
i wasn't worried about my kids my kids
00:30:54
was in good hands and everything so now
00:30:56
i
00:30:56
just had to worry about me get me a
00:30:58
place to stay
00:30:59
in and go back with my life
00:31:03
beth meiner was one of gina's public
00:31:05
defenders at her trial
00:31:07
up until that point time gina had been
00:31:10
living a
00:31:10
law-abiding average american life after
00:31:14
the death of her child
00:31:15
she just couldn't cope with that she
00:31:16
turned to alcohol and drugs
00:31:19
she just really wasn't coping very well
00:31:22
while in the process of divorcing her
00:31:24
husband rick gina began dating his
00:31:26
friend
00:31:27
thirty-nine-year-old james gusich
00:31:30
gusich was a high school dropout
00:31:32
awaiting trial on a burglary charge
00:31:34
nonetheless gina felt she could open up
00:31:37
to him about rick's alleged abuse
00:31:39
he was in the drugs real bad i was
00:31:41
already on drugs
00:31:42
before i met him i could talk to him
00:31:45
one-on-one
00:31:46
i told him what i went through a wreck
00:31:48
and went to baby and he cried
00:31:50
and he holds me and he says i'll try to
00:31:52
help you out much as i could
00:31:55
james rented a room not far from where
00:31:57
gina had grown up
00:31:59
gina soon moved in but continued to
00:32:01
maintain contact with rick
00:32:04
i tried talking you know we could be
00:32:06
friends
00:32:07
but it's completely over
00:32:13
despite the mounting discord between
00:32:15
them gina was with rick
00:32:17
the night he was killed i met up with
00:32:19
rick
00:32:20
around seven o'clock in the evening
00:32:23
we were delivering pizza and i left him
00:32:26
at 9
00:32:26
30 in the evening that's the last time i
00:32:29
seen him
00:32:31
according to gina's statement to the
00:32:32
police they argued over the impending
00:32:34
divorce and child custody
00:32:36
with rick threatening to kill gina and
00:32:38
kidnap their son
00:32:40
gina left rick and went home i was
00:32:43
laying in bed and watching tv
00:32:44
there was hardly nothing on so i say
00:32:47
about 10 11 o'clock
00:32:49
i went to sleep the next morning
00:32:52
when i was in the shower that's when
00:32:54
they told me they found him
00:32:56
stabbed up in the alley we're in the
00:32:59
5300 block of south union in chicago
00:33:03
this is the area in which richard
00:33:06
shaughnessy's body was dumped
00:33:08
this neighborhood is mostly inhabited by
00:33:10
blacks
00:33:12
richard shaughnessy lived approximately
00:33:14
15 blocks
00:33:15
north of here and that neighborhood is
00:33:17
mostly inhabited by whites and hispanics
00:33:20
we believe that his body was dumped here
00:33:22
to give the impression to the police
00:33:25
that possibly he was a victim of a
00:33:27
robbery by black
00:33:28
offenders when women behind bars
00:33:32
continues
00:33:33
they show the picture of rick being
00:33:35
stabbed so many times you know
00:33:37
and i couldn't believe it
00:33:52
in 2003 gina shaughnessy a 35 year old
00:33:55
woman with an alleged learning
00:33:57
disability
00:33:58
whose children were in the care of the
00:33:59
department of family services
00:34:01
was living with her boyfriend james
00:34:03
goosage
00:34:03
[Music]
00:34:05
on october 12th police found her
00:34:08
estranged husband's body
00:34:10
in an alley detective michael hughes was
00:34:13
assigned to the case
00:34:15
when we examined the body we found
00:34:18
multiple stab wounds
00:34:20
in the sweatshirt the outer clothing and
00:34:22
the body was missing one shoe
00:34:26
the socks were actually clean which
00:34:29
would indicate to us
00:34:30
that the body was placed there or dumped
00:34:33
there
00:34:34
no identification although there was
00:34:37
money
00:34:38
in the pocket which would then lead us
00:34:40
that it really wasn't robbery
00:34:42
there's some other motive for why he
00:34:44
ended up where he was
00:34:46
fingerprints identified the body as rick
00:34:49
shaughnessy
00:34:50
we talked to the people that rented him
00:34:53
his room and we learned that after she
00:34:56
had gotten off work
00:34:58
gina came by they had a conversation for
00:35:01
a little period
00:35:02
and he and gina drove away they also
00:35:05
told us where gina was living
00:35:07
we went over to the house and picked her
00:35:10
up
00:35:11
gina was taken to the area one police
00:35:13
department for questioning
00:35:16
she never asked us what it was all about
00:35:19
never asked us where we were going
00:35:21
even if you hated your ex-spouse you'd
00:35:24
be mildly curious as to how
00:35:26
they got killed if she doesn't ask that
00:35:28
means she knows
00:35:30
i did not know if i was arrested i did
00:35:32
not know i would go home i did not know
00:35:34
nothing they didn't tell me nothing
00:35:37
so i was just stuck there after placing
00:35:40
gina under arrest
00:35:42
detectives returned to the house where
00:35:43
she had been living and arrested her
00:35:45
boyfriend
00:35:46
james goosage we learned
00:35:49
that she was attempting to get a divorce
00:35:51
from her husband
00:35:52
and after she gave her initial statement
00:35:54
we asked her about that
00:35:56
when we asked her about it she told us
00:35:58
that yes
00:35:59
she stabbed her husband she said that
00:36:02
he's threatened her
00:36:03
in the past and in that particular night
00:36:06
he threatened her also
00:36:09
an argument escalated to the point where
00:36:11
she stabbed him
00:36:13
several times
00:36:16
gusich admitted that he had helped gina
00:36:18
get rid of the body
00:36:20
and he took detectives to where he had
00:36:21
parked the car
00:36:24
there was quite a bit of blood on the
00:36:26
seats
00:36:27
and you could see that apparently there
00:36:29
was a struggle there
00:36:31
more than 30 hours after gina's arrest
00:36:34
the state's attorney came to the area
00:36:36
one police department
00:36:38
the state's attorney had written out a
00:36:40
statement gina did not write it herself
00:36:42
and they had her sign the statement
00:36:44
around midnight
00:36:46
and october 14th she didn't read
00:36:49
very well didn't write well at all
00:36:52
so i am not convinced that she would
00:36:55
have read a handwritten statement that
00:36:57
was many pages
00:36:58
written out by a state's attorney
00:37:01
gina claims she did not understand what
00:37:03
she was signing
00:37:05
when they wrote the statement they
00:37:06
wanted me to read and i says i can't
00:37:08
this is why i says i can't read
00:37:10
[Music]
00:37:12
i got a learning disorder they says oh
00:37:14
just sign it
00:37:15
we put the words down what you said so i
00:37:18
never knew what that statement said
00:37:21
i spoke with gina and explained to her
00:37:24
that she was going to be charged with
00:37:25
the murder of her husband
00:37:27
according to detective katz once gina
00:37:29
realized she was going to be charged
00:37:30
with murder
00:37:31
she switched her story she said to me
00:37:35
i didn't do it james did it i didn't
00:37:37
want to tell you because he did it for
00:37:38
me
00:37:41
detectives gave gina a polygraph test to
00:37:43
make sure she was telling the truth this
00:37:45
time
00:37:46
she passed and then gave a videotaped
00:37:48
statement where she confessed to
00:37:50
planning the murder
00:37:52
they told me if i would put myself on
00:37:53
video and talk about this they would let
00:37:56
me go home
00:37:58
yes i told totem about a week ago i told
00:38:01
him i wish
00:38:02
brick was dead because i'm getting tired
00:38:03
of threats
00:38:05
and he's put my kid in danger okay did
00:38:08
you say
00:38:08
i told him i told him if i have to pay
00:38:11
somebody i'll pay somebody and jim told
00:38:13
me
00:38:14
not to worry about he'll take care of it
00:38:17
gusich also gave a statement to police
00:38:19
describing how gina had been threatened
00:38:21
repeatedly by her husband rick
00:38:24
he told police that gina arranged for
00:38:26
rick to give him a ride to buy drugs
00:38:29
they drove one mile south into a
00:38:31
predominantly black neighborhood
00:38:33
gooseich then took out a knife
00:38:35
threatened rick
00:38:36
and began stabbing him when rick pulled
00:38:38
out his own knife
00:38:40
there was a fight and they were both
00:38:43
defending themselves and unfortunately
00:38:45
rick shaughnessy got the
00:38:46
worst of it goosage left rick's body in
00:38:49
the alley
00:38:52
detectives had already recovered rick's
00:38:54
car goosick now led them to the murder
00:38:58
weapon
00:39:02
[Music]
00:39:11
they thought if she actually lured rick
00:39:14
to james gossage and convinced rick to
00:39:17
give
00:39:17
james a ride that was aiding and
00:39:20
abetting
00:39:21
the murder and you are charged the same
00:39:23
way as the person who actually did it
00:39:30
gina was taken to cook county jail to
00:39:32
await trial
00:39:33
[Music]
00:39:35
both james and gina had pled not guilty
00:39:37
to all of the charges
00:39:39
as the case progressed on james changed
00:39:42
his plea
00:39:43
from not guilty to guilty he was offered
00:39:45
a reduced charge of second-degree murder
00:39:48
which carries substantially less time
00:39:50
than first degree murder
00:39:51
and he decided to plead guilty to that
00:39:54
james guzich was sentenced to 20 years
00:39:57
in an illinois penitentiary
00:39:59
with time off for good behavior he could
00:40:01
serve around 10 years
00:40:03
[Music]
00:40:06
gina was made a similar offer for a
00:40:08
lesser charge
00:40:10
and their offer was for the minimum of
00:40:11
15 years roughly she'd be serving around
00:40:14
12 and a half years
00:40:15
on that sentence i was not going to take
00:40:18
one bit of guilty because i know i was
00:40:20
not there
00:40:21
i didn't have nothing to do with it
00:40:22
there was nothing in my mind of killing
00:40:24
him or wish he was that
00:40:26
nothing like that i don't think that
00:40:29
gina
00:40:30
even has enough smarts to put something
00:40:34
like that together
00:40:38
two years after her initial arrest gina
00:40:40
underwent a mental examination to
00:40:42
determine if she was fit to stand trial
00:40:46
the numbers in the testing fell between
00:40:49
mildly mentally [ __ ]
00:40:50
and borderline intellectual functioning
00:40:53
so she had true intellectual
00:40:55
deficits
00:41:01
despite those deficits gina was found
00:41:03
mentally fit to stand trial
00:41:06
and on june 6 2006 her trial began
00:41:10
our argument to the jury was that she
00:41:13
was not there
00:41:15
she was not the person who stabbed rick
00:41:17
shaughnessy
00:41:18
the only evidence they had against her
00:41:20
were
00:41:21
these two contradictory statements one
00:41:24
saying that gina was the one who
00:41:26
actually committed the murder
00:41:27
and then one where she is setting it up
00:41:30
we were hoping that the jury would say
00:41:32
not guilty they showed the picture break
00:41:36
being stabbed
00:41:36
so many times you know and i couldn't
00:41:40
believe it
00:41:41
i couldn't believe it
00:41:50
[Music]
00:41:56
they have no evidence on me nothing
00:42:00
so i don't know why the the juries found
00:42:02
me guilty
00:42:04
that it's not fair i think he used gina
00:42:07
he got what he spent all her money for
00:42:08
drugs and
00:42:09
got her involved in drugs and you know
00:42:12
he committed a crime
00:42:14
and uh she's she's suffering for it
00:42:17
when the judge sentenced gina to 35
00:42:19
years in the illinois department of
00:42:21
corrections
00:42:22
that means 35 years there's no time off
00:42:26
for good behavior
00:42:28
means that she'll be getting out when
00:42:29
she's 70.
00:42:33
gina was transferred to a maximum
00:42:35
security prison an
00:42:36
hour outside of chicago i was definitely
00:42:39
scared
00:42:40
so when i got here i say to myself i say
00:42:43
my wrong
00:42:44
i just stand
00:42:48
soon after she was sentenced gina filed
00:42:51
an appeal
00:42:53
pamela leming is the public defender
00:42:55
handling her case
00:42:57
the evidence against gina is pretty
00:42:59
scant is based on
00:43:01
her own confession and given her
00:43:03
diminished capacity and the
00:43:05
circumstances that that confession was
00:43:07
taken
00:43:08
i feel the confession is not reliable i
00:43:11
don't think justice was served
00:43:14
detective katz strongly disagrees
00:43:17
i don't think the sentence is enough she
00:43:19
had every intention of doing this
00:43:21
he was for all intents and purposes he
00:43:23
was he was walking dead
00:43:25
and he did not know it she had no motive
00:43:29
i mean she lived in a house full of
00:43:32
people
00:43:33
and not one of them will tell you today
00:43:36
that she wanted her husband dead
00:43:38
not one of them after five years in
00:43:42
prison
00:43:43
gina is beginning to interact with other
00:43:45
inmates
00:43:46
i just take it day by day i read my
00:43:48
bible i do bible studies
00:43:51
i go to church gina maintains her
00:43:54
innocence
00:43:55
and is continuing her appeal i know i
00:43:57
wasn't
00:43:58
guilty so i'm a fight to the end i ain't
00:44:01
giving up
00:44:03
i'm still fighting
00:44:10
you
