00:00:04
IN 1989, A 4-YEAR-OLD GIRL
WAS RUSHED TO A TEXAS HOSPITAL. AN ARTERY IN HER LEG
WAS COMPLETELY SEVERED.
00:00:13
THE LITTLE GIRL DIED
SHORTLY AFTER ARRIVAL. MEDICAL INVESTIGATORS BELIEVED
THE LEG WOUND WAS NO ACCIDENT.
00:00:50
EMORY, TEXAS, IS A SMALL
FARMING COMMUNITY ABOUT 90 MILES EAST OF DALLAS. WITH A POPULATION OF
LESS THAN A THOUSAND,
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LIFE IS SIMPLE HERE... PEACEFUL AND QUIET. IN 1988, DEBBIE LOVELESS AND HER
TWO DAUGHTERS FROM A PREVIOUS
MARRIAGE, AMY AND APRIL,
00:01:11
MOVED IN WITH JOHN MILLER. HE, TOO, WAS DIVORCED,
AND WORKED IN THE
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY.
00:01:17
Loveless: MY MARRIAGE
WITH JOHN WAS GOOD. HE WAS A VERY GOOD MAN. TOOK CARE OF ME AND THE KIDS
REAL WELL,
00:01:27
AND WE HAD A HAPPY HOME LIFE. WE HAD A LOT
OF FUN TOGETHER. THE CHILDREN--WE DID A LOT
OF THINGS WITH THE CHILDREN.
00:01:33
WE DIDN'T LEAVE THEM HOME
WHEN WE WENT SOMEWHERES. WE TOOK THEM WITH US, AND HAD A FAMILY,
00:01:40
A VERY CLOSE-KNIT FAMILY,
REALLY. Narrator: JOHN, DEBBIE,
AND THE TWO GIRLS MOVED
ONTO A 5-ACRE FARM
00:01:47
JUST A FEW MILES
OUTSIDE OF TOWN. IT WAS COMPLETE WITH A HOUSE,
BARN, HORSES, AND FAMILY PETS.
00:01:56
AND FOR THE CHILDREN,
FREEDOM TO ROAM AND PLAY AMONG THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE. 4-YEAR-OLD APRIL
LOVED LIVING ON A FARM.
00:02:06
Loveless: SHE LOVED TO
PLAY OUTSIDE, SHE LOVED,
YOU KNOW, BEING OUTSIDE, AND SHE LIKED TO
CLIMB TREES A LOT.
00:02:14
SO I HAD A TIME
KEEPING HER OUT OF TREES. SHE WAS JUST BUBBLY.
I MEAN, SHE WAS JUST
FULL OF LIFE.
00:02:18
SHE JUST GOT
INTO EVERYTHING. SHE WAS ALWAYS RUNNING.
I DON'T THINK
SHE KNEW HOW TO WALK.
00:02:23
SHE JUST RAN
EVERYWHERES, JUST A BUNDLE OF FUN. Narrator: JUST AFTER CHRISTMAS,
ON JANUARY 4, 1989,
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THE COUPLE'S OLDER DAUGHTER,
AMY, HEADED FOR SCHOOL. APRIL WENT OUTSIDE TO PLAY.
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DEBBIE DID HER CHORES. JOHN WAS WORKING ON
AN OLD BUILDING ON THE
CORNER OF THE PROPERTY.
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AROUND NOON, DEBBIE CALLED FOR
APRIL TO COME HOME FOR LUNCH. BUT THERE WAS NO RESPONSE.
00:02:54
THEN JOHN CAME RUNNING TOWARDS
THE HOUSE, CARRYING APRIL, WHO WAS BLEEDING PROFUSELY
FROM A SEVERE LEG WOUND.
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Loveless: SHE DIDN'T
HAVE ANY CLOTHES ON, AND I COULDN'T DO
ANYTHING BUT SCREAM.
00:03:09
I WAS HYSTERICAL.
I MEAN, I WAS JUST... BECAUSE SHE WAS JUST
BLACK AND BLUE ALL OVER,
00:03:14
AND I COULD SEE IT
AT A DISTANCE, YOU KNOW, AND IT WAS JUST... IT WAS HORRIBLE. [SIREN]
00:03:23
Miller: HER RIGHT LEG
FELL OPEN, AND THERE WAS
A LARGE GASH IN IT ALL THE WAY TO THE BONE.
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I KNEW THAT THIS WAS A SERIOUS,
VERY SERIOUS WOUND. WHEN SHE HAD ALREADY
BLED OUT, SHE HAS A VERY
SMALL AMOUNT OF TIME
00:03:35
IN WHICH TO GET HELP
AND SURVIVE. Narrator: EVEN THOUGH
JOHN WAS A TRAINED PARAMEDIC,
00:03:41
THERE WAS LITTLE HE COULD DO. APRIL HAD LOST TOO MUCH BLOOD. THE 4 BY 6 INCH
GASH IN APRIL'S LEG
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HAD TORN AWAY A LARGE PORTION
OF HER FEMORAL ARTERY. Loveless: IT WAS JUST...
IT WAS LIKE THAT WHOLE SECTION
OF HER LEG WAS JUST GONE.
00:03:58
IT WAS JUST LIKE IT
HAD BEEN RIPPED OUT. Narrator: DOCTORS DID
EVERYTHING THEY COULD
TO SAVE APRIL'S LIFE.
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BUT THE DAMAGE
WAS JUST TOO GREAT. AND IT WAS JUST... SHE HAD WENT THROUGH
TOO MUCH, AND SHE WENT
INTO A SECOND SHOCK.
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AND... SHE JUST COULDN'T MAKE IT. Narrator: 4-YEAR-OLD APRIL DIED
ON THE OPERATING ROOM TABLE.
00:04:32
JOHN TOLD POLICE THAT HE FOUND
HIS STEPDAUGHTER NUDE, UNDER A TREE, AND BLEEDING
PROFUSELY FROM A LEG WOUND.
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ACCORDING TO JOHN, APRIL SAID, "THE DOGS DID IT." THE SHERIFF ORDERED AN AUTOPSY.
00:04:52
THE SUSPICION WAS MURDER. Narrator: JOHN MILLER
SAID HIS DAUGHTER APRIL,
BEFORE HER DEATH,
00:05:02
TOLD HIM THAT THE DOG
CAUSED HER FATAL LEG WOUND. THE LOCAL SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
SUSPECTED FOUL PLAY.
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JOURNALIST DAVID HANNERS
COVERED THIS STORY FOR
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Hanners: THEY HAD
A DEAD CHILD ON THEIR HANDS,
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SO THEY NEEDED
TO INVESTIGATE IT, AND I THINK THEIR IMMEDIATE
THINKING WAS SOMEONE KILLED HER.
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Narrator: DURING THE AUTOPSY,
THE PATHOLOGIST NOTICED LONG VERTICAL MARKS AND PUNCTURE
WOUNDS ALL OVER APRIL'S BODY,
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WHICH HE BELIEVED
WERE INDICATIVE OF
SOME FORM OF ABUSE. AND HE SAW NO INDICATION
THAT APRIL'S LEG WOUND
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WAS CAUSED BY A DOG, SINCE THE WOUND DID NOT
HAVE THE JAGGED EDGES OFTEN SEEN IN ANIMAL BITES.
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THE WOUND WAS CLEANLY CUT,
AND THE PATHOLOGIST CONCLUDED IT HAD BEEN MADE BY A KNIFE.
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HIS FINDING WAS THAT
APRIL HAD BEEN MURDERED. AS JOHN AND DEBBIE RETURNED
FROM APRIL'S FUNERAL SERVICE,
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THEY FACED A FULL-SCALE
INVESTIGATION. Loveless: THE POLICE
WERE EVERYWHERE. I DON'T--I DON'T KNOW
EXACTLY HOW MANY,
00:06:17
BUT THERE WAS PEOPLE EVERYWHERE,
WALKING EVERYWHERE, AND GOING THROUGH THE HOUSE,
AND WALKING EVERYWHERE OUTSIDE.
00:06:24
I SAID, YOU KNOW,
"WHAT'S GOING ON?
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" AND THEY TOLD ME THEN THAT
IT WAS AN INVESTIGATION,
00:06:31
YOU KNOW, INTO
THE DEATH OF APRIL. Loveless: THEY FELT LIKE DOGS
COULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT TO HER.
00:06:39
IT WAS VERY SCARY. I COULDN'T FIGURE IT,
I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND HOW SOMEBODY COULD HAVE
COME AND DONE THAT.
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Narrator: POLICE FOUND
APRIL'S BLOOD ON A FENCE
POST AND SOME LEAVES, BUT FOUND NO OTHER OUTWARD SIGNS
OF ANY DOG ATTACK.
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THERE WERE 3 DOGS
ON THE PROPERTY. TWO BELONGED TO THE FAMILY;
THE THIRD BELONGED
TO A NEIGHBOR.
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NONE OF THE DOGS HAD SHOWN
ANY HINT OF VIOLENCE BEFORE. IN THE COUPLE'S HOME,
INVESTIGATORS FOUND
PARAPHERNALIA
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ALLEGEDLY LINKING THE COUPLE
TO THE OCCULT. Miller: THEY THOUGHT MAYBE
THE CUTTING OF APRIL'S LEG
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WAS A BLOODLETTING
CEREMONY FOR A CULT, AND THAT THAT'S WHY SHE DIED,
OR THAT'S WHY THIS WAS DONE.
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AND THAT WAS ONE THEORY THAT
THEY INVESTIGATED HEAVILY. Narrator: POLICE ALSO COLLECTED
AN ELECTRIC CURLING IRON,
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THUMBTACKS, AND PUSHPINS, ITEMS SUSPECTED OF
CAUSING THE SCRATCH MARKS AND PUNCTURE WOUNDS
ON APRIL'S BODY.
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NEXT, THEY ASKED THE COUPLE
REPEATEDLY FOR THE KNIFE. WE WERE GRILLED FOR HOURS ABOUT THE KNIFE THAT SUPPOSEDLY
HAD MADE THE CUT ON HER LEG.
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DID I HAVE THE KNIFE?
WHERE WAS IT? Narrator: JOHN'S HUNTING KNIFE
WAS CONFISCATED,
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AND ALL OF THE ITEMS WERE SENT
TO THE CRIME LAB FOR ANALYSIS. A PRESUMPTIVE TEST SHOWED
POSSIBLE SIGNS OF BLOOD
ON THE KNIFE,
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AND WITH THAT FINDING,
JOHN MILLER AND DEBBIE LOVELESS WERE CHARGED WITH MURDER.
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Hanners: THE VISIONS THAT IT
EVOKED ARE JUST HORRENDOUS: OF THEM HOLDING THIS
LITTLE GIRL DOWN,
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GASHING HER LEG WITH THIS KNIFE, CUTTING OUT A LARGE CHUNK OF
SKIN AND ARTERY WITH THIS KNIFE,
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AND THEN WHACKING HER
REPEATEDLY WITH THIS CURLING IRON, AND THEN STICKING
LITTLE PUSHPINS IN HER.
00:08:35
Narrator: JOHN AND DEBBIE WERE
BOTH GIVEN LIE DETECTOR TESTS. DEBBIE PASSED, BUT JOHN DID NOT.
00:08:43
Miller: THE STATE POLICE
AND LOCAL POLICE HELD
THE POLYGRAPH AGAINST US, SAYING, "WELL, YOU FLUNKED IT,
SO YOU MUST HAVE DONE IT."
00:08:50
HE HAD FAILED IT,
AND I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND. I'D NEVER SEEN
ANY KIND OF VIOLENCE,
00:08:55
ANY KIND OF ANYTHING
OUT OF JOHN, AND THESE POLICE OFFICERS WERE
TELLING ME THAT HE DID THIS.
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I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND IT. IT MADE NO SENSE TO ME. SO THEN I DID QUESTION,
YOU KNOW,
00:09:08
AND TRIED TO FIGURE OUT WHY. Narrator: AT THE TRIAL,
JOHN AND DEBBIE WERE REPRESENTED
BY COURT-APPOINTED ATTORNEYS.
00:09:16
ONE OF THE LAWYERS DID NOT
WANT TO USE THE DOG-ATTACK
STORY AS A DEFENSE. Miller: THE OTHER LAWYER CAME IN
AND SAID, "LOOK, WE CAN'T PURSUE
THE DOG ATTACK."
00:09:25
HE SAID, "THE D.A. THREATENED US
THAT HE COULD JUST BLOW US
OUT OF THE WATER, "THERE'S NOTHING THERE
TO SHOW DOG ATTACK,
00:09:33
SO BASICALLY, I HAVE
NOTHING TO FIGHT WITH." Narrator: PROSECUTORS PORTRAYED
JOHN AS THE ENRAGED STEPFATHER
00:09:40
WHO GOT ANGRY WITH APRIL,
LOST HIS TEMPER, AND ABUSED AND MURDERED HER. DEBBIE WAS PORTRAYED
AS A BATTERED WIFE,
00:09:48
TOO AFRAID OF HER HUSBAND
TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. SUBMITTED INTO EVIDENCE
WAS THE AUTOPSY REPORT
00:09:55
THAT APRIL HAD BEEN MURDERED, AND THE ITEMS FROM THE COUPLE'S
HOME WHICH WERE SUSPECTED OF
CAUSING THE WOUNDS.
00:10:02
Hanners: IF YOU'RE SITTING
THERE LISTENING TO THEM
LAY OUT THIS THEORY OF HOW THEY THINK
THIS CRIME OCCURRED,
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I MEAN, IT'S A HORRENDOUS CASE. IT'S HORRIBLE TO THINK
OF THEM, YOU KNOW, HOLDING THIS LITTLE GIRL DOWN
AND DOING THIS STUFF TO HER.
00:10:16
Narrator:
JOHN'S COURT-APPOINTED
ATTORNEY, PAUL CHITWOOD, ASKED THE JUDGE FOR MORE TIME TO
INTERVIEW PROSECUTION WITNESSES,
00:10:25
AND HE ALSO REQUESTED FUNDS
TO HIRE HIS OWN FORENSIC EXPERT. BOTH REQUESTS WERE DENIED.
00:10:34
A DEFENSE CHEMIST TESTIFIED
THAT THE ORIGINAL TEST
ON JOHN'S HUNTING KNIFE, WHICH FOUND BLOOD,
WAS PRESUMPTIVE.
00:10:43
FURTHER TESTING ON THE KNIFE
SHOWED IT WASN'T HUMAN BLOOD. AND NO BLOOD WAS FOUND ON
THE CURLING IRON, THE PUSHPINS,
OR THUMBTACKS.
00:10:54
THE POSSIBILITY OF A DOG ATTACK
WAS NEVER PRESENTED TO THE JURY. Hanners: IN FINAL ARGUMENTS,
ONE OF THE DEFENSE LAWYERS
00:11:06
ADMITS IT WAS MURDER, ADMITS THAT APRIL WAS
MURDERED BY SOMEONE, SAYS, YOU KNOW,
"SHE WAS MURDERED.
00:11:13
I DON'T KNOW WHO DID IT,
BUT THE STATE HASN'T PROVED MY
CLIENT IS THE ONE WHO DID IT."
00:11:20
Narrator: THE JURY FOUND
BOTH JOHN AND DEBBIE
GUILTY OF MURDER AND SENTENCED THEM
TO LIFE IN PRISON.
00:11:29
Miller: THE FIRST TIME THAT
STEEL DOOR CLANGED BEHIND ME-- THERE IS NO SOUND
THAT YOU'VE EVER HEARD
THAT SOUNDS LIKE THAT.
00:11:37
IT HAS A DISTINCT SOUND
THAT WILL JUST MAKE
YOUR HAIR STAND ON END, AND YOU KNOW THAT'S
NOT GONNA OPEN AGAIN.
00:11:44
Loveless:
I COULDN'T CLOSE MY EYES AND
SEE ANYTHING, EXCEPT FOR... THE WAY SHE WAS WHEN
WE FOUND HER, AND THE WAY
SHE LOOKED WHEN SHE DIED.
00:11:53
I DIDN'T SLEEP FOR A LONG TIME. I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA BE THERE
FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
00:12:01
Miller: I HAD STARTED FIGHTING
THE DAY I GOT IN. I HAD ALREADY WRITTEN
TO CENTURION MINISTRIES,
00:12:06
I'D WRITTEN TO THE GOVERNOR,
I'D WRITTEN TO THE LIEUTENANT
GOVERNOR, I'D WRITTEN TO CONGRESSMEN.
00:12:11
YOU KNOW, I SPENT MORE MONEY
ON STAMPS... I PROBABLY COULD'VE HAD
A PRETTY GOOD MEAL ON IT.
00:12:18
WHEN YOU'RE PUT
IN THAT POSITION, AND YOU'RE CONVICTED OF
SOMETHING THAT YOU DIDN'T DO,
00:12:23
YOU JUST...I JUST LOST ALL HOPE OF ANYTHING GOOD EVER
COMING FROM IT, YOU KNOW, FOR IT EVER TO BE TURNED AROUND.
00:12:33
I KNEW I WAS INNOCENT.
I KNEW DEBBIE WAS INNOCENT. AND I WAS NOT GOING
TO STOP FIGHTING
UNTIL I GOT SOMEBODY
00:12:39
TO PROVE WE WERE INNOCENT. Narrator: AS THE YEARS
PASSED IN PRISON, DEBBIE LOVELESS AND
JOHN MILLER'S FIRST CONCERN
00:12:48
WAS FOR THEIR
OLDER DAUGHTER, AMY, WHO WAS LIVING IN FOSTER CARE. THE OTHER CONCERN WAS FINDING
A WAY TO PROVE THEIR INNOCENCE.
00:12:58
Loveless: YOU KNOW, I NEVER KNEW
INNOCENT PEOPLE WENT TO PRISON. OR WERE CONVICTED FOR
SOMETHING THEY DIDN'T DO.
00:13:07
AND I JUST--I GUESS
I WAS NAIVE AND STUPID THINKING THAT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. AND THEN WHEN IT DID, I WAS
JUST--I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT,
00:13:17
BECAUSE I WAS INNOCENT, AND THEY
WERE SAYING I WAS GUILTY. Narrator: JOHN AND DEBBIE
MAINTAINED THAT APRIL
WAS PLAYING OUTSIDE
00:13:27
AND WAS UNCLOTHED BECAUSE
IT WAS A WARM DAY. THEY BELIEVE THAT ONE OF
THE DOGS ATTACKED APRIL
WHILE SHE WAS PLAYING.
00:13:38
[SCREAMS] AT LUNCHTIME, WHEN THEY
WERE LOOKING FOR APRIL, THEY SAW THE DOGS WERE AGITATED.
00:13:49
WHEN JOHN FOLLOWED THEM INTO
THE WOODS, HE FOUND APRIL BLEEDING PROFUSELY
FROM A LEG WOUND.
00:14:04
JOHN SAID APRIL TOLD HIM
THAT "THE DOGS DID IT" BEFORE SHE LAPSED
INTO UNCONSCIOUSNESS.
00:14:12
BUT THE PATHOLOGIST WHO
PERFORMED THE AUTOPSY RULED THE DEATH A HOMICIDE. ATTORNEY ROBERT ARDIS
WAS ASSIGNED
00:14:21
TO HANDLE THE COUPLE'S APPEAL. Hanners: ROBERT ARDIS IS ONE OF
THOSE ATTORNEYS THAT RENEWS YOUR
FAITH IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION.
00:14:29
HE HAS A GOOD HEART. HE WON'T STOP DIGGING
UNTIL HE... GETS WHERE HE THINKS
HE OUGHT TO BE.
00:14:35
Narrator: WHILE IN
THE COURTHOUSE, SIFTING
THROUGH THE EVIDENCE, ARDIS FOUND A BOX CONTAINING
HUNDREDS OF PHOTOGRAPHS
OF APRIL'S WOUNDS.
00:14:46
MOST WERE AUTOPSY PHOTOS
WHICH HAD BEEN SHOWN TO
THE JURY AT THE TRIAL. BUT HE ALSO FOUND
ANOTHER SET OF PHOTOS
00:14:56
TAKEN JUST AFTER APRIL
ENTERED THE EMERGENCY ROOM. THESE WERE PHOTOS THAT HAD
NOT BEEN SHOWN TO THE JURY,
00:15:05
AND IT WASN'T CLEAR
WHETHER JOHN AND DEBBIE'S
ORIGINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS HAD EVEN SEEN THEM.
00:15:11
WHEN ARDIS COMPARED
THE TWO SETS OF PICTURES, HE MADE A STARTLING DISCOVERY: THE PICTURES OF APRIL'S
LEG WOUND WERE DIFFERENT.
00:15:23
THE PICTURES LOOKED LIKE THE DOG
HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS DEATH. Narrator: ARDIS SENT THE PHOTOS
TO A FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST
00:15:32
AT THE SOUTHWESTERN INSTITUTE
OF FORENSIC SCIENCE IN DALLAS. AFTER STUDYING THE PHOTOS,
00:15:40
HE SAID THAT THIS CHILD
HAD BEEN ATTACKED BY A DOG. Ardis: HE SAID,
"I CAN TELL YOU, YEAH,
00:15:47
IT WAS SOMETHING
WITH CANINE TEETH." WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO SHOW--
HOW A DOG'S TEETH
00:15:54
WOULD JUST OVERLAY EXACTLY
ON THE PUNCTURE WOUNDS AROUND WHERE THE PLACE HAD
BEEN TAKEN OUT OF HER LEG.
00:16:01
Narrator: DR. DENNIS ASEN
IS A FORENSIC ODONTOLOGIST AND AGREES THAT ANIMAL BITES
ARE OFTEN DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY.
00:16:09
HE SAYS THAT MANY
ANIMAL BITES DON'T LOOK
LIKE BITE WOUNDS AT ALL, BECAUSE ANIMALS
OFTEN TEAR THE FLESH,
RATHER THAN BITING IT.
00:16:18
Asen: WHEN YOU HAVE AN INJURY
PATTERN TO DETERMINE WHETHER IT'S A BITE MARK OR NOT,
00:16:23
YOU NEED TO LOOK AT
THE ENTIRE SITUATION TO SEE WHAT OTHER CLUES
AND EVIDENCE THERE MIGHT BE.
00:16:29
IS THIS TRULY
A BITE MARK OR NOT? Narrator: BUT IF DOGS HAD
CAUSED APRIL'S LEG WOUND,
00:16:35
WHY DIDN'T THE ORIGINAL
PATHOLOGIST SEE THIS? THE ANSWER WAS OBVIOUS. THE WOUND LOOKED DIFFERENT
AT THE AUTOPSY BECAUSE
00:16:44
IT HAD BEEN CLEANED AND
TRIMMED WITH A SCALPEL WHILE THE SURGEON ATTEMPTED
TO REPAIR THE WOUND
00:16:50
AND SAVE APRIL'S LIFE. Ardis: WHEN YOU GO INTO
SURGERY, THE WOUND IN
THIS PARTICULAR INSTANCE
00:16:57
WAS VERY JAGGED,
VERY UNEVEN, AND THE SURGEON,
USING THE SCALPEL, WILL GO IN
AND CLEAN THE WOUND UP,
00:17:08
AND THEY WILL PEEL BACK,
AND GET BACK INTO
FRESH TISSUE THERE. Narrator: AND THE NEW TEAM
OF PATHOLOGISTS NOTED
00:17:16
THAT MANY OF THE SCRATCH MARKS
ON APRIL'S BACK CONSISTED OF 4 PARALLEL LINES-- LINES CORRESPONDING WITH THE
4 NAILS OF A DOG'S FOREFEET.
00:17:30
Ardis: HERE WAS A PAW PRINT. HERE WAS ANOTHER PAW PRINT. AND I'M TOLD THAT AS LONG AS
THE PERSON IS ALIVE,
00:17:38
THOSE PARTICULAR BRUISES THAT HAD THE PRINT
OF A PAW THERE WOULD NOT SHOW UP. BUT WHEN SHE WAS ON HER BACK
IN THE OPERATING ROOM
00:17:51
AND DIED ON THE OPERATING TABLE, THEN THE BLOOD PUDDLED
IN THOSE PLACES AND IT MADE IT VERY APPARENT
WHEN YOU LOOKED AT THEM
00:18:00
THAT HERE WAS A PAW PRINT. Narrator: THERE WAS NOW HOPE
FOR A NEW TRIAL. Narrator: AFTER SPENDING
5 YEARS IN PRISON
00:18:14
FOR THE MURDER OF THEIR
DAUGHTER APRIL, JOHN MILLER AND DEBBIE LOVELESS
FINALLY HAD FORENSIC EVIDENCE
00:18:21
TO CORROBORATE THEIR STORY: THAT ONE OF THE DOGS
ON THEIR PROPERTY HAD
ATTACKED AND KILLED APRIL.
00:18:33
THEIR NEW ATTORNEY,
ROBERT ARDIS, ALSO UNCOVERED A WRITTEN
DEPOSITION FROM A WOMAN
00:18:38
WHO HAD WITNESSED THE DOGS
ON JOHN AND DEBBIE'S FARM ATTACK 3 DIFFERENT PEOPLE
ON 3 SEPARATE OCCASIONS.
00:18:46
SHE POINTED THIS OUT
TO THE SHERIFF, SO THE SHERIFF SAID,
"OH, THEY WERE JUST PLAYING."
00:18:53
Narrator: BUT THE WOMAN
WASN'T CALLED TO TESTIFY
AT THE ORIGINAL TRIAL. ARMED WITH THIS NEW EVIDENCE,
ARDIS REQUESTED A NEW TRIAL.
00:19:03
HIS ARGUMENT: THAT JOHN MILLER
AND DEBBIE LOVELESS DID NOT HAVE
ADEQUATE COUNSEL
00:19:09
AT THEIR ORIGINAL TRIAL. IRONICALLY, JOHN MILLER'S
ORIGINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY,
PAUL CHITWOOD, AGREED.
00:19:19
WELL, HE WAS PISSED OFF. NOBODY LIKES TO BE TOLD THAT
THEY DID A BAD JOB, OFFICIALLY,
00:19:27
AND INEFFECTIVENESS OF COUNSEL
BASICALLY SAYS THAT. Narrator: ALTHOUGH
PAUL CHITWOOD IS NOW DECEASED,
00:19:34
HE TESTIFIED ON BEHALF
OF JOHN AND DEBBIE
AT A PRETRAIL HEARING, REMINDING THE COURT
HE REQUESTED AND WAS
DENIED ACCESS
00:19:42
TO THE PROSECUTION WITNESSES
BEFORE THE TRIAL, AND WAS DENIED FUNDS TO HIRE
AN INDEPENDENT FORENSIC EXPERT
00:19:51
TO ANALYZE THE EVIDENCE. Chitwood: HE HAD ALWAYS FELT
THAT THEY WERE NOT GUILTY OF THE CRIME
THEY WERE CHARGED WITH.
00:20:00
Narrator: THE PROSECUTOR'S
OFFICE WOULD NOT COMMENT
ON THE ALLEGATION THAT SOME OF
THE PHOTOGRAPHS IN THIS CASE
MIGHT HAVE BEEN WITHHELD
00:20:07
FROM THE ORIGINAL DEFENSE TEAM. IN 1993, A JUDGE
DISMISSED THE CASE AGAINST JOHN MILLER
AND DEBBIE LOVELESS,
00:20:17
CITING OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE
IN THE COUPLE'S FAVOR. AFTER 5 LONG YEARS, THEY WERE
FINALLY RELEASED FROM PRISON.
00:20:28
Hanners: IT WAS
A VERY POOR INVESTIGATION
BY LAW ENFORCEMENT. THEY DIDN'T BUY
THE DOG ATTACK THEORY,
00:20:35
THEY DIDN'T LOOK INTO IT. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. I JUST--
IT WAS JUST--IT WAS SCARY,
00:20:40
BECAUSE I HAD BEEN IN THIS PLACE
FOR ALMOST 5 YEARS, YOU KNOW, AND...I JUST--
I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN IT.
00:20:49
I DON'T THINK THERE'S WORDS. HAPPINESS THAT I WAS GOING HOME,
AND I WAS GOING TO SEE AMY.
00:20:59
Narrator: THE STRESS AND
STRAINS OF INCARCERATION
TOOK ITS TOLL. AFTER THEY WERE RELEASED
FROM PRISON, DEBBIE
AND JOHN SEPARATED.
00:21:09
Miller: I LOST 5 YEARS
WITH MY SON, AND WITH AMY,
AND WITH DEBBIE. YOU KNOW, THEY WERE GONE.
00:21:16
DEBBIE WAS GONE. SHE'D FOUND
SOMEBODY ELSE, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE OF TRYING TO GET HELP,
00:21:21
AND SHE WAS GONE. SO, YES, I WAS
WALKING OUT OF PRISON, BUT MY LIFE HAD BASICALLY
BEEN DESTROYED ALREADY.
00:21:29
Hanners: A BAD INVESTIGATION
AIDED BY BAD SCIENCE REALLY WAS KIND OF
FRIGHTENING TO ME.
00:21:37
THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED
TO, YOU KNOW, ANY OF US. JUST THE INJUSTICE OF
EVERYTHING THAT WAS DONE.
00:21:45
YOU KNOW, HOW THEY CRUCIFIED US
FOR SOMETHING THAT WE DIDN'T DO. AND, UH... I JUST...
00:21:57
AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND
WHY THEY DID IT.