00:00:12
- After working the night
shift, Robert Sims returned
home and found his wife
00:00:16
unconscious on the kitchen
floor. To his relief, their
two year old son Randy was
00:00:23
asleep undisturbed in an
upstairs bedroom, but their
six-week-old daughter Heather
00:00:31
was missing. When she regained
consciousness, Paula Sims was
the only
00:00:38
witness to a crime that
baffles investigators to this
day.
00:00:43
♪ [theme music]
00:00:53
♪ [theme music]
00:01:10
- Robert and Paula Sims had
recently moved into this frame
home in St. Louis suburb
00:01:13
of Alton, Illinois. Neighbors
describe the Sims as a quiet
and private couple who
00:01:20
spent most of their free time
with their children.
00:01:22
- They really seemed to be
living the American dream.
That was one of the things
00:01:26
that was so intriguing about
the story, to have this kind
of violence, this kind of
00:01:30
tragedy visited on such
an all American couple.
00:01:34
That was what really turned
the story for us at the
beginning.
00:01:37
- When police were called to
the Sims home on April 19,
1989,
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they heard details of an
unusual crime.
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Paula said she was taking
out the trash just after 10 pm
00:01:53
when a masked man armed with a
gun forced her back inside the
house.
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- What are you doing to me?
Will you let go of me?
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- And knocked her unconscious
with a blow to the back of her
head.
00:02:10
That was the last thing she
remembered before her husband
found her
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on the floor 45 minutes later.
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Their infant daughter Heather
was missing, but the area
around the bassinet
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was undisturbed.
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Police could find no foreign
finger prints or foot prints
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and no valuables were missing.
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- We stayed there seem it
seemed like forever. I know we
were there for a good
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half day. We looked
everywhere. Every conceivable
place where that child might
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have been, we looked.
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- Assuming the worse, police
also searched the bottom of
the Mississippi River
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near the Sims home.
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- We had asked Mr. and Mrs.
Sims if they had any enemies
that, for whatever reason,
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might want to steal their baby
in order to punish them in
some way and they
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were pretty adamant that
didn't have anybody that they
would suspect
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of doing that.
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- A neighbor reported seeing a
suspicious character walking
near the Sims' home.
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Another informant saw an
individual burying something
that night behind a
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nearby factory.
All of the leads were dead
ends.
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Police had little to go on and
no motive.
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- Seldom does anybody take a
baby just to be taking it.
There's usually a ransom
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demand which we had none.
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- We found no evidence that
there was any extramarital
problem,
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any involvement of a boyfriend
who might suspect he's the
real father of
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the child and he wanted his
child. We couldn't find
anything that would explain
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why someone would target
the Sims' for a kidnapping.
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- Four days later, Charles
Saunders was fishing on the
Missouri side
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of the Mississippi River.
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Around noon, as Saunders was
about to leave, he stopped to
empty some trash into
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a barrel.
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Inside, he noticed a large
black garbage bag. Because of
its size, it looked
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suspicious. Inside, he
discovered the well preserved
remains of a dead baby girl.
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Homicide investigators
converged on the parking lot
where the body of a baby girl
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was found in a garbage can.
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- Lying on her back, face up,
her head tilted to on side.
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She was still rather pink,
appeared that if you look at
her,
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you'd think at first, she was
asleep but she was in fact
dead.
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- Hand and foot prints from
the dead baby were compared to
the prints of Heather
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Sims taken at the hospital
just after she was born. The
body was positively
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identified as Heather Lee
Sims. Medical examiner Dr.
Mary Case performed the
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autopsy. One of the first
things she noticed, three
small vertical cuts on the
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inside of the baby's lip.
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- Obviously, this is not, for
example, a sudden infant death
which is a natural
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death. It's not a death by
accident. It's not a death by
suicide so it's a homicidal
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death and when I begin the
examination, there is no gun
shot wound,
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there's no stab wound,
there's no battering,
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and the inner lip showed
changes that I associated with
someone
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placing their hand over the
nose and mouth and causing
suffocation.
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- When death occurs, blood
settles in parts of the body
closest to the ground.
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This is called post mortem
lividity and is usually dark
red or purple in color.
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Heather's face showed signs of
lividity but it was cherry red
in color.
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This told Dr. Case that the
body had been placed in a
freezer during the time
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lividity occurs, eight to
twelve hours after death, and
there was another clue
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the body had been frozen.
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- The external appearance was
that there was no
decomposition when I looked
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internally. Then I even had to
look microscopically at those
internal organs
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to see this, but there was
early decomposition beginning
but it was a
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little bit more advance than
externally.
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- Dr. Case concluded that
Heather Sims had been
suffocated, placed in a freezer face
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down, then placed in the trash
bin face up either the night
before or the morning
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that the body was discovered.
Assistant State's Attorney Don
Weber was keeping a
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close eye on this case. There
was no evidence linking Paula
or Robert Sims to
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the crime but Weber decided to
take a closer look at their
story. Something
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Robert Sims told the FBI
disturbed him.
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- He made the statement to the
FBI that during the time that
Heather was reported
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missing and the time she was
found that they have had
longest and longest lasting
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and best sex that they'd ever
had. And that is such a
startling statement to me.
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- I couldn't and I don't
believe the other people
involved in the case could really
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think that would be a normal
response after your baby was
kidnapped.
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- And when authorities looked
into the couples' past, they
found an alarming
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coincidence.
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At Heather Sims' funeral,
Robert and Paula Sims looked
every bit
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the grieving parents to the
outside world.
00:08:01
But a background check
revealed that the Sims had
experienced
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another kidnapping.
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Three years earlier, while
living in another town, the
Sims' first daughter,
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Loralei, had also been
kidnapped. It was a same
scenario. Robert
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was at work and Paula said a
masked intruder confronted her
in the house and
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kidnapped her baby. A few
weeks later, the infant's
skeletal remains were found
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scattered in a field behind
the Sims' home. Although
authorities had their
00:08:35
suspicions at the time, they
could find no evidence linking
Robert or Paula Sims to
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Lorelei's murder.
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- The remains appeared to have
been moved by some type of
animal. The quality of
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the remains were of such that
the investigation
00:08:54
could not be put together
murder.
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The Sims' themselves became
even stronger suspects after
that and in my
00:09:05
opinion is that they got away
with murder.
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- But in the case of Heather's
abduction, there was something
about Paula's head
00:09:12
injury that didn't sound right
to prosecutor Dan Weber. So
Weber paid a
00:09:18
visit to the Medical Examiner,
Dr. Mary Case who had a unique
background. She was
00:09:24
not only the pathologist who
performed Heather Sims'
autopsy, she was also a
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board certified neuro
pathologist, an expert in the
study of the brain
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and nervous system.
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- Paula says that she saw the
guy outside, that the guy made
her come inside. That he
00:09:41
gave her instructions inside.
That once she was inside, he
hit her and she
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gestured, Paula gestured with
a karate chop on the back of
the neck and that
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knocked her out and she was
out for about 45 minutes.
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And that she remembered
getting hit.
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And I said, is that possible
and I remember Mary Case
thought about it very
00:10:04
carefully and she sort of
leaned back in her chair and
she said,
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now that's impossible.
00:10:10
- When an individual is hit
hard enough to cause
unconsciousness, the soft brain
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tissue collides with the hard
inner surface of the cranium,
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creating a brain injury.
00:10:21
This disrupts the electrical
activity in the outer areas of
the brain where
00:10:26
memories are stored. And it's
this disruption which prevents
memory from
00:10:31
forming, not only of the
traumatic event but for
several minutes preceding the
00:10:36
traumatic event. This explains
why individuals knocked
unconscious
00:10:42
in an automobile accident, for
example, remember very little
about the accident
00:10:46
or the events leading up to
the accident.
00:10:52
When police learned about this
neurologic inconsistency, they
00:10:57
looked for some connection
between Paula Sims and the
location where the body was
00:11:02
discovered. Police found some
three dimensional shoe
impression in the dirt a
00:11:08
few feet away from the trash
bin. They appeared to be from
an athletic shoe, but
00:11:14
it did not match any of the
shoes found in the Sims home.
Next, police sent the black
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garbage bag which contained
Heather's body to the FBI
laboratory in Washington, DC.
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Forensic examiner David
Actinburger had little to work
with since there were no
00:11:30
finger prints, hairs
or fibers found on the bag.
00:11:35
- The baby was found in a
black garbage bag. The bag
itself was made by Polytech
00:11:41
Corporation out of
Minneapolis. K-Mart was the
retailer of the bags and they were
00:11:47
sold under the brand name of
Kurbside.
00:11:51
- However, more than one
million of these Kurbside
garbage bags were made for
00:11:55
K-Mart each and everyday.
00:11:58
- Actinburger compared the
edges of the bag containing
Heather Sims body to the
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first unused garbage bag from
the Sims' kitchen. But the
stretching that occurs
00:12:10
when bags are pulled from the
roll made matching the ends
impossible. But the bag
00:12:16
Heather Sims was in did have a
signature characteristic.
Trash bags are made from
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large sheets of melted
plastic. A blade makes the
perforations so that the bags
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can be ripped from the end of
the roll. At the same time, a
heat seal melts
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the bottom of the bags shut.
00:12:37
- The heat seal, as we found
out from the manufacturer, as
the plastic traveled
00:12:44
beneath and through the heat
seal, more debris collected on
that heat seal. The
00:12:50
more debris that collected on
there, the more unique
identifying
00:12:52
characteristics that we found.
00:12:54
We found incomplete melting
of the heat seal.
00:12:58
- This incomplete melting
caused a small opening in the
bottom of the Heather Sims
00:13:05
bag. Debris on the heat seal
also produced a small puncture
hole in the bag. When
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Actinburger analyzed the bags
found in the Sims' kitchen, he
found the same puncture
00:13:19
hole in the same location. And
he also found the same small
opening in the bottom
00:13:25
of the bags caused by debris
on the heat seal.
00:13:33
The last step was to analyze
the dye lines in the garbage
bags.
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As the plastic is pulled over
the rollers in the
00:13:42
manufacturing process, it gets
stretched, leaving lines or
stretch marks in the
00:13:48
plastic called dye lines. When
the dye lines on the inside of
the Heather Sims
00:13:54
bag were compared to the dye
lines inside the first unused
bag found in the Sims'
00:14:00
kitchen, the lines matched.
00:14:03
The tiny puncture hole, the
defect in the bottom heat seal
and the dye line
00:14:09
comparison lead the FBI to
conclude that the first unused
garbage bag in the Sims'
00:14:17
kitchen was made within ten
seconds of the bag Heather
Sims body was found. Police
00:14:25
now had first piece of
physical evidence linking an
item in the Sims' home to where
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Heather's body was found. They
were no longer searching for a
mysterious
00:14:37
kidnapper but a cold blooded
murderer.
00:14:46
When the FBI discovered that
the Heather Sims garbage bag
came
00:14:50
from the same roll of bags in
the Sims' kitchen, they were
now
00:14:55
convinced that Paula Sims was
involved in her daughter's
disappearance.
00:15:01
Investigators learned
that Paula and Robert Sims
00:15:05
had an unusual marital
relationship,
00:15:08
a relationship Charles
Bosworth described in his book
"Precious Victims."
00:15:14
- When Paula brought the
little girls home from the
hospital, she was essentially
00:15:19
ousted from the marital
bedroom. In the first case,
she and Lorelie slept in the
00:15:25
basement which was where the
family room was. It was a
walkout basement.
00:15:29
- Only after Lorelie's death
did Paula sleep upstairs again
with her husband. A
00:15:36
year after Lorelie's death,
Paula gave birth to a son,
Randy. And in 1989, after
00:15:43
moving to Alton, Illinois, the
Sims had another baby. This
time a daughter,
00:15:49
Heather. In the hospital,
Paula reportedly told her
roommate that she didn't want
00:15:53
another daughter, that she
and Robert preferred boys.
00:15:59
- The evidence clearly
suggested that boys were fine,
little girls were not
00:16:03
welcome. We were told
repeatedly by witnesses that
Robert adored the little
00:16:10
boy and was just completely
uninterested in the little
girls even in the hospital
00:16:17
after their births.
00:16:18
- When Paula brought Heather
home, separate sleeping
arrangements
00:16:21
started again, Paula and
Heather in the living room,
00:16:25
Robert and 2-year-old Randy,
upstairs.
00:16:30
- And one of the comments that
Paula made to one of her
friends was that these
00:16:34
sleeping arrangements are
gonna have to stop or I'm
gonna have
00:16:37
to do something about it.
00:16:39
- Based on the garbage bag
analysis and the
inconsistencies with her head
00:16:44
injury story, Paula Sims was
arrested and charged with
murder. On Saturday
00:16:54
night, April 29th, 1989, while
Robert was working the night
shift at the paper
00:17:00
plant, prosecutors believe
that Paula suffocated her
daughter Heather. She
00:17:08
placed the body in a garbage
bag from the kitchen. She
probably wore gloves since no
00:17:14
finger prints were found on
the bag. After the murder,
Paula drove across town to her
00:17:23
parent's home where she placed
Heather's body in her parent's
freezer.
00:17:29
Paula's parents were away that
week on vacation.
00:17:39
Paula returned home in enough
time to feign unconsciousness
00:17:42
before her husband returned
from work.
00:18:05
The next day, when Paula's
parents heard about the
kidnapping,
00:18:08
they decided to end their
vacation and return home
immediately.
00:18:12
- I don't mean to ruin your
vacation.
00:18:15
- This required a change to
her plan. Paula now had to go
back to her parent's
00:18:21
home and remove Heather's body
before they returned. With
nowhere else to go,
00:18:28
prosecutors believe she
brought Heather's body back
home, placing it in her own
00:18:33
basement freezer. By this
time, police had concluded
their search of the Sims' home
00:18:40
and had left. Three days
later, Paula needed to get rid
of the body once and for
00:18:46
all. She made the two mile
drive over the Mississippi
River across the Louis and
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Clark bridge into a parking
area and left the frozen body
in a trash bin where it
00:19:02
was discovered by a fisherman
a short time later.
00:19:06
- It was very premeditated,
very well thought out, very
cold blooded,
00:19:10
very systematic.
00:19:13
- The prosecution had no
trouble showing motive.
00:19:17
- As you walk through the
Sims' home, it was very
apparent that they had a boy
00:19:20
that they were very proud of,
which would be very normal for
a couple.
00:19:25
But if you look around the
house, there was absolutely no
indication
00:19:28
whatsoever that they even had
a daughter. There weren't any
baby pictures,
00:19:31
there weren't any pictures at
all, on the tables or around
the walls or
00:19:38
whatever to indicate
that they had a baby at all.
00:19:43
- Paula Sims was found guilty
of murder and sentenced to
life in prison.
00:19:52
- I think it is tragic event
any time in society when a
parent comes to the point
00:19:59
that they are so frustrated
and for whatever reason, that
they decide to take
00:20:05
the life of one of their
children.
00:20:08
- Well, any time you got the
death of two and I might add,
very beautiful, perfect
00:20:12
little girls, it's a very sad
case. When you add the element
00:20:16
that their mother killed them,
it gets even worse.
00:20:21
On the other hand, justice
prevailed.
00:20:23
- No charges were filed
against Robert Sims,
00:20:26
who denies he had anything to
do with these two crimes.
00:20:31
- There's no doubt in my mind
the right person is in prison
right now
00:20:35
for this particular crime.
00:20:37
She did it. She murdered her
child. She was tried by a jury
of her peers
00:20:43
and she is now doing life.
There is absolutely no doubt
in my mind
00:20:47
that she did it.
00:20:48
- And Robert Sims?
00:20:56
- Not enough evidence right
now, but I haven't forgotten
Robert
00:21:03
and I still have
the case file.
00:21:06
♪ [theme music]
