00:00:05
- [Vivica] Observing the signs. - When did all this come about? - She started
feeling sick Saturday.
00:00:13
- The voice plays a massive
part in giving us clues. - [Vivica] Detecting
changing stories.
00:00:18
- Walk into an investigation
with an open mind. - She was as close to death
as you can get.
00:00:24
- [Vivica] Spotting
when to hold back. - You are potentially
dealing with somebody
00:00:28
who has suffered tremendous loss
in her life. - I 110% understand
that you're scared.
00:00:34
- [Vivica] And when to close in. - I think we have
a murder suspect on our hands.
00:00:38
You're not gonna
believe who it is. - I'm Vivica A. Fox. And I'm about to give you
exclusive access
00:00:46
into the secrets
of the interrogation room. See how the world's
finest detectives,
00:00:52
armed with only their wits, hone in on their suspects, break down their lies, and expose the shocking truth.
00:01:00
We'll examine the signs
a suspect is lying, and reveal the expert techniques that result in
an all-important confession
00:01:10
while getting justice for
the victims and their families. (dramatic music) - [Vivica] Springfield,
Missouri.
00:01:28
Concerned mother Diane Staudte is helping police
with their investigation about her 24-year-old daughter,
Sarah.
00:01:45
- In 2012, 49-year-old Diane, a qualified nurse
and devout Christian, was living with her husband Mark
and their four children
00:01:55
in a quiet suburb of
Springfield, when in April of that year,
Mark passed away suddenly.
00:02:01
Diane was left to bring up
her children alone. Just a few months later,
in September,
00:02:06
tragedy struck again, when Diane's son, Shaun, just 26-years-old and autistic, died without warning.
00:02:15
And now,
a mere eight months later, Diane faces more tragedy, as her daughter, Sarah,
is rushed to the emergency room,
00:02:23
suffering brain
and kidney failure. Hospital staff are troubled by Sarah's
deteriorating condition.
00:02:30
The staff at the hospital were not the only ones troubled
by this particular patient.
00:02:35
An anonymous caller
has contacted the police, claiming that Sarah's sickness
is suspicious
00:02:42
and should be investigated. Diane turns up voluntarily
at the local police station
00:02:49
to help police with
their investigation. What unfolds next will shock
the community to its core.
00:02:56
- [Diane] I'm looking at
the lab reports, and it's like,
you can't be living. I mean, her kidneys were shot.
00:03:04
She had a brain bleed. Her pancreas was acting up. And... I don't know
what all else was.
00:03:11
- You have a tip off from a person who believes that a crime has occurred. You have doctors
who are confused
00:03:22
as to what is happening
with their patient who is young,
and dying in the hospital.
00:03:29
- She was as close to death
as you could get. - Wow. - Yeah, and it's like,
I thought she's gone.
00:03:35
- But at the same time, you are potentially
dealing with somebody who has suffered tremendous loss
in her life
00:03:43
and is on the verge of
suffering again. - Don't know what
I can tell you.
- Well, okay.
00:03:49
Well, that's what we're gonna
try and get figured out. - It is a difficult
investigation to walk into
00:03:54
for the investigators. And I think, correctly,
and as is always right, you walk into an investigation
with an open mind.
00:04:03
- An investigator's doing
interviews or interrogations. It's really the
meat and potatoes of any case.
00:04:09
What you suspect
may have happened, what you think happened, you have to get it from
00:04:14
the person you're interviewing
or interrogating. - When did all this come about?
00:04:19
- She started
feeling sick Saturday. Yeah, just mild headache.
- This past Saturday?
00:04:26
- Yeah, this...
Well, it's been a whole week. - [Vivica] Detective McAmis's
search for the truth has begun,
00:04:32
but with no direct proof
of a crime, he needs to tread carefully. - Her stomach was upset and
she threw up a couple of times.
00:04:40
And that was it. - Then what happened? - Me and the other girls
went to church, and we left her sleeping.
- [McAmis] Okay.
00:04:48
- And then I came home
and she was still sleeping. And then,
maybe a couple hours later,
00:04:54
I went to check on her and we just couldn't get her
to respond or answer anything.
00:05:03
- The interview starts in
a very conversational manner. - So you brought her to the ER?
- Yeah.
00:05:09
- And that was Sunday?
- That was Sunday... - Night?
- I wanna say afternoon. - Afternoon.
- It was still daylight.
00:05:15
- Okay. - He's really just asking for and absorbing information. He's using open questions.
00:05:23
Why, where, what, how, who, that encouraged
a wider response. - And what did they say
at the hospital?
00:05:32
- Basically, she was
as sick as sick could get. - [McAmis] But no idea
what it was?
00:05:39
- [Diane] We had no clue. Still don't really have a clue. - As we look at
the interrogation of Diane
00:05:45
by the detectives, one trait in her
that is really apparent is that she appears very coy.
00:05:52
She don't appear
to take seriously the questioning or
the severity of the questions
00:05:56
that the detectives
are posing for her. - [Diane] With her medical
background, she's bipolar.
00:06:00
- [McAmis] Okay. - My first thing is did she get into something? When I got home from the ER,
00:06:06
I checked her medicine and she had plenty
of pills left. So I don't think she OD'ed
her medicine,
00:06:13
but I have no clue. - Okay, if she wouldn't
have overdosed on pills, do you know what else
she might have done?
00:06:21
- She's talked about,
in the past, about cutting her wrist, but as far as other ways,
I have no clue.
00:06:30
- Okay, obviously...
- She's never said anything. - But, obviously,
she didn't cut her wrist.
00:06:35
- No, no. - So you don't know how else
she might have done it? - No.
- Okay. - I mean...
- You don't think
00:06:42
she's the type of person that would try to harm herself or...? - I really don't know.
00:06:48
I'm... I don't know. - When I first looked at
the interview with Diane, I think she came over
a little bit eccentric,
00:06:55
a little bit kooky, but, but nothing that would
point to the fact that anything untoward had happened.
00:07:02
She adopted body posture
that was just natural, felt congruent with
what she was saying.
00:07:08
So the verbal content
matched the nonverbal content. The manner in which
she was presenting herself
00:07:14
was not displaying any signs of
anxiety or deceptive behavior. - [Vivica] Detective McAmis
has been trying to
00:07:20
build rapport with Diane using a healthy dose
of flattering. He now takes the strategy
to the next level,
00:07:27
appealing to her own medical
background and expertise. - From what I understand,
you're in the medical field.
00:07:34
- I'm a nurse.
- You're a nurse, okay. - But I'm a cardiology nurse.
I know hearts, but...
00:07:38
- Yeah. Okay. I know you said you deal
with the heart and stuff, but from your knowledge,
is there anything that
00:07:45
you could think of
that it could have been? 'Cause obviously,
from what we understand,
00:07:49
you're pretty intelligent.
- I mean, this is... - I try.
- Yeah. - But I really can't
think of anything.
00:07:55
- The use of the flattery here, and in particular
where the officer's saying "I absolutely
know nothing about this,"
00:08:01
he's almost encouraging Diane
to explain things to him. - Basically, she had
a total-body collapse.
00:08:08
- Okay. - All her organs
were trying to fail, and it's, like,
I don't know of anything
00:08:15
that would do all of that. Maybe one thing,
but not all of it. It just don't make sense.
00:08:22
- Okay. - [Vivica] Diane Staudte
can't shed any light on the cause
of her daughter's illness.
00:08:29
Where can Detective McAmis
go from here? - [Ciolino] What skills
are required when you're a good investigator,
a good detective?
00:08:36
First and foremost, patience. Second is intelligence. And right up with the other two
00:08:43
is the ability to read
and formulate information, 'cause you need to get
a strategic advantage
00:08:49
anywhere you can get it, because a lot of people
are very cagey. They're very good
at concealing the truth.
00:08:55
- And I'll be back here
in just a second, okay? - Detective McAmis
leaves the room
00:08:59
to consult with his team and consider his next move. It's a critical moment for the Springfield
Police Department.
00:09:08
Either they uncover
concrete evidence that someone has done something to hurt Diane's daughter,
00:09:15
or they must accept that
there's no crime to investigate. Coming up, the anonymous caller
is identified.
00:09:24
- What makes the case
really blow up is a suspicious pastor
at the church. - [Vivica] And two
earlier deaths
00:09:32
are called into question. - So your husband
was a heart attack, and then Shaun's was from
seizure disorders, okay.
00:09:41
If his stuff were to come back, something similar, maybe,
to what Sarah is, how would you explain that?
00:09:50
- This must be setting off some
alarm signals in Diane's mind. - [Vivica] Nurse Diane Staudte's
eldest daughter
00:10:00
has been rushed to the hospital
in critical condition. Could it be the result
of foul play?
00:10:06
Following an anonymous tip, Detective Neil McAmis of the Springfield
Police Department
00:10:11
is trying to find out. - [Daniel] So, Diane
is being interviewed 'cause her daughter's
in hospital.
00:10:18
And up until this point, that's been the sole subject
of the interview. - What makes the case really
blow up in everyone's face
00:10:28
is a suspicious pastor
at the church, who's observing this from afar
and says,
00:10:33
"There's something
wrong with this picture." So he puts in a secret call
to police and said,
00:10:38
"You know what?
I think we have a murder
suspect on our hands. "You're not gonna
believe who it is.
00:10:43
"It's the church organist." - Police had now established that the anonymous tip came from
the pastor at the local church
00:10:51
whose suspicions had been raised by the untimely deaths
the previous year of Diane's husband Mark
and her son Shaun.
00:11:01
He was now pointing the finger
at his own church organist, none other than Diane herself.
00:11:08
- [McAmis] Do you
have a son as well? - No, not anymore. He died. - He died?
- He had a seizure disorder.
00:11:16
- When did he die?
- That was last fall. - How old was he? - [Diane] He was 26.
00:11:22
- [McAmis] Okay. - [Diane] He'd had
several strokes. - [McAmis] And where was it
that he died?
00:11:29
- [Diane] He died at home. - You said your husband
died at home also. - Mm-hm.
- The same house you're in now?
00:11:36
- No, it's a different house.
We moved. - So your husband
was a heart attack,
00:11:42
and then Shaun's was from
seizure disorders, okay. - For me, that is
subtly introducing
00:11:50
these subject headings
into the interview. This must be setting off
some alarm signals
00:11:54
in Diane's mind 'cause the officer's very, very
specific about that. - For the first time,
00:12:01
Detective McAmis
has put Diane on notice that she's under investigation, and it's not just for
her daughter's ill health,
00:12:07
but also for the deaths
of her husband and son. Next, he increases the pressure by explaining
how he plans to prove it.
00:12:16
- From talking
with the hospital, it sounds like
they're doing a bunch of tests,
00:12:21
and they're even sending some
tests off to labs elsewhere. Do you think there's gonna be
anything suspicious
00:12:26
that they find in all these tests
that they're gonna be doing? - I have no clue.
00:12:34
- Okay.
- 'Cause I don't even... I don't even know
what to look for. - What do you mean?
00:12:41
- Well, I mean, if they're looking
for some kind of a chemical that she may have taken,
00:12:49
I can't think of
what it would be. Even know what tests
they're doing. - [Daniel] Her response,
I find quite interesting,
00:12:58
particularly as a parent, 'cause the accusation is clear
in that question. And she replies,
"Well, no, I don't really know.
00:13:05
"I'm not really sure." Any reasonable person that is accused of something
as horrendous as
00:13:11
poisoning a family member would be, "Of course not. "Of course there won't be
anything in those samples."
00:13:19
- [Vivica] Now,
Detective McAmis reveals how he plans to revisit the death of Diane's son.
00:13:26
- [McAmis] Do you know much
about the autopsy process? - Mmm... A little bit.
- Okay.
00:13:32
What did they tell you
about Shaun's autopsy? - That he had
a congenital kidney defect.
00:13:40
But they found
quite a bit of brain damage. - 'Cause we've spoken with
the medical examiner about that,
00:13:50
and I guess when
they first did it, they really didn't
look too much into if there was any types
of chemicals or anything at all
00:13:57
in his system, or anything else like that. Fortunately, they still
have a bunch of his stuff.
00:14:05
And so if his stuff
were to come back with anything... like that, something similar maybe to what
Sarah's might come back with,
00:14:16
how would you explain that? - (faintly) I don't know. I really don't know. Again, it depends
on what shows up.
00:14:32
- What do you think it might be? - I don't know. I really don't know. - There could be anything
maybe malicious or suspicious
00:14:45
involved with that? - I can't think of that. - Would you be surprised if
something like that came back?
00:14:55
- Yeah, I think so. - When people tend
to get stressed, certainly,
in a criminal situation,
00:15:03
they'll kind of hug themselves, they'll fold their arms. It is almost like
a self-reassurance.
00:15:10
And what she's really
unconsciously saying is that I perceive there's
a big threat here
00:15:15
and I want to create this
barrier between myself and the police officer
who represents that threat.
00:15:21
- [Vivica] Sensing
her vulnerability, Detective McAmis
changes tech once again.
00:15:25
He goes back to building rapport and trying to develop
a deeper connection. - [McAmis] And you said you
go to Redeemer Lutheran Church.
00:15:32
Are you pretty active in church?
Are you? - I'm their organist. - Oh, okay, wow.
00:15:37
How long have you
been doing that? - Oh, gosh, 30-plus years. - Oh, wow. - Long time.
- Wow.
00:15:45
I know that you are
very, very dedicated to church. You're somebody that knows, you know, about the right thing
and about God's way.
00:15:52
I'm a believer myself, so I understand where
you're coming from on that. - You have to find
a common ground with somebody
00:16:02
to befriend them. That's the start
of any friendship, and interrogation and interviews
with subjects,
00:16:07
that's no different. You're trying to
befriend this person and get them to open up to you
about their life.
00:16:14
- When the detective
is interviewing Diane, he references the church, and he references
his involvement in the church.
00:16:22
He himself identifies
as a churchgoing member because it makes him
more relatable.
00:16:28
It makes him a real person. It makes Diane feel as though she's not talking to
a detective anymore.
00:16:34
It strips away that rank, and now makes him a person
in her eyes. - Sometimes in life,
there's things that happen
00:16:43
or things that go on that good people don't
normally always do. But there's reasons for...
00:16:49
sometimes people
to slip up a little bit. Make a mistake
every now and then. You would agree
with that, right?
- Mm-hmm.
00:16:58
- [Ciolino] I'm your friend. I'm sure there's
a reasonable explanation for what happened here,
00:17:03
and together, you and I
are gonna get to the truth, all right? We're gonna go down this path,
00:17:09
and I am gonna show you
the way to light in goodness, and you're gonna feel...
be a much better person
00:17:16
and feel better
when we're done, because you're gonna
get it all off your chest.
00:17:20
- And I think you're
a very good lady with the right intentions,
right? - I try.
- You try.
00:17:26
- I try. - But sometimes,
everybody kind of reaches a tipping point
or a breaking point
00:17:33
and it's always good
to ask for forgiveness, you know that. And, oftentimes, the best way
to ask for forgiveness
00:17:40
is to talk about it, and give an explanation
as to why things happen. - He appeals to her values,
00:17:48
specifically in relation
to forgiveness, which we know is an important
part of her religion.
00:17:54
That everyone does wrongs, but you should seek forgiveness. And part of forgiveness
is to be honest.
00:18:02
- [Ciolino] Often, you'll see
in an interrogation, you'll see the interrogator
scoot their chair closer,
00:18:06
closer, closer. They're closing
the distance between the person they're trying to
get the confession from
00:18:11
and themselves. And now,
they've broken the spell. Hey, I am really
in this with you.
00:18:17
We're pals. I just wanna get at the truth.
You're not a bad person. And that's just another
psychological lever
they're pulling.
00:18:25
- [Vivica] Encouraged by
Detective McAmis's reassurance
and empathy, Diane begins to open up
00:18:30
about her true feelings
towards some of her family. - Sarah's a difficult child
to deal with.
00:18:36
- I understand. - And I've been kind of
putting pressure on her to... You need to get out
and get a job.
00:18:48
Your college bills
are coming due. I don't wanna pay for them. After all, you get tired of
00:18:56
doing everything for your kids, and it's like, "You need
to step up and do it."
00:19:03
- And as well as
her harsh words for Sarah, then fighting for her life
in the hospital,
00:19:08
Diane doesn't hold back when talking about
her deceased husband, Mark. - He was running around
00:19:15
and he would drink
and smoke pot. It was not what you'd call
a good marriage. - [Vivica] For Detective McAmis,
this is a golden opportunity.
00:19:30
If Diane is guilty, encouraging her to
feel justified in her actions might pave the way
to a confession.
00:19:37
- You're a good lady,
you're a good person. And like we say, good people just get to a point
00:19:45
and make a mistake. Something that they normally
wouldn't do. They've been pushed
and pushed and pushed,
00:19:53
and sometimes,
there's just no other way. - I understand, Diane, the burdens and the weight
that you've been carrying around
00:20:10
for all these years. You have to let me help you. - [Vivica] It's at this point that Diane says something
truly extraordinary.
00:20:28
- An interview can turn
into an interrogation when the person
being interviewed says something
00:20:34
that all of a sudden
makes the detective feel like this person just
went from witness to defendant.
00:20:40
- [Vivica] Antifreeze is
a highly toxic chemical used to clear frozen pipes
and car engines.
00:20:45
It's at this point that Detective McAmis
makes his move. - Diane, I 110% understand
that you're scared.
00:20:55
But Diane, right now is not the time to tell me... ...things that aren't true. You and I both know why
00:21:06
you knew they were
drinking antifreeze, and you need to
tell me about that. And lying about it, Diane,
will not help you.
00:21:14
You know that. You don't need me
to tell you that. You need to... I know... how you knew
they were drinking antifreeze.
00:21:23
And you need to tell me. - [Darren] The voice plays a
massive part in giving us clues.
00:21:36
The person tends to
withdraw inwards, and Diane's voice going
lower in volume and tone
00:21:41
again became a massive red flag
in what I saw, in terms of her ability
to maintain the lie unravelling.
00:21:50
- [Ciolino] You're in big
trouble, and you're getting
ready to say something, but the person
that's gonna say it
is someone different.
00:21:54
It's not actually me talking. 'Cause sometimes, it's like
an out-of-body experience.
00:21:59
So, often, you'll see
that big change in tenor of the voice, in loudness, et cetera.
00:22:06
It's textbook,
what happened here with her. - You knew, Diane, that
they were drinking antifreeze...
00:22:14
...because you were
giving it to them. Were you just at
the breaking point? - Yeah.
00:22:26
- Detective McAmis is stunned. Diane has just confessed to poisoning her husband and son
with antifreeze,
00:22:34
and trying to do the same
to her eldest daughter, who may yet survive. But as this case as
open-and-shut as it now seems?
00:22:44
Coming up, the brutality
of death by poisoning. - You have a mother
poisoning a loved one
00:22:51
and actually
watching them suffer. - [Vivica] Did Diane act alone? - And what were you
thinking at that point?
00:23:07
- Oh God, another one. - 49-year-old cardiology nurse
Diane Staudte has confessed to poisoning
her husband, son,
00:23:19
and eldest daughter
with antifreeze. But Detective McAmis of the
Springfield Police Department
00:23:26
needs more detail to make sure
he has the whole truth. The interview continues. - I mean, why did you decide
00:23:35
that you were
gonna use antifreeze to do it? Why not some other means? - So you did the Google search
and then you ordered it.
00:23:48
And then after you got it, did you pretty much immediately
start giving it to Mark?
00:23:55
- Okay.
What did you put it in for him? - Okay, so you put it
in Mark's Gatorade.
00:24:06
And was it Cokes
for both Shaun and Sarah? - [Diane] Mm-hmm.
- Okay. - And then Shaun, how did
stuff get started with Shaun?
00:24:37
- [Vivica] At 26, Shaun Staudte
was still living at home. He suffered from seizures,
had been diagnosed with autism,
00:24:44
which made it difficult for
him to interact with people. - [McAmis] Shaun's
driving you crazy. He's a pest.
00:24:48
He's interfering in everything. You're trying to do work
and he's right... right there,
00:24:52
he's bothering you. At one point, you just finally
say, "Enough is enough. "Can't take it anymore."
00:24:59
And how many days was it that you started giving him
the antifreeze before he died?
00:25:05
- Just a couple days? With Sarah, you said
it was same with her. Like, four days, it took
four days you were giving it
00:25:12
before she started getting sick. Why didn't you just leave her
at home to die, like the others?
00:25:24
- This type of crime
is incredibly heinous. You have a mother and a wife poisoning a loved one
00:25:32
and actually
watching them suffer. It's torture, and they actually see the person
00:25:40
slowly, slowly deteriorating
in front of their eyes. So poisoning is a really
brutal way to kill somebody.
00:25:49
- [Vivica] Diane Staudte
had found it pretty easy to poison her husband and son,
00:25:53
as she later confessed. She had come to hate them both. Sarah appeared to be an altogether tougher
proposition.
00:26:00
And her other two daughters, Brianna, age nine,
and Rachel, 22, had so far been spared.
00:26:07
Rachel, in particular, was the child that
Diane was closest to. - What did Rachel
say about all this?
00:26:22
- [McAmis]
What's her involvement? - All right, Diane. This is
my partner, Detective Hill.
00:26:34
Right now, you're
gonna be under arrest, and we have to take you
to the jail now, okay?
00:26:40
You've been very decent with me,
and I greatly appreciate that. Okay? - [Vivica] With
the investigation ongoing,
00:26:45
the police invite
Diane's daughter Rachel in to be interviewed. She's now fully aware of
her mom's shocking confessions.
00:26:53
- [McAmis] Did you ever have
any suspicions about anything when your dad and brother
and sister got sick?
00:26:59
- In hindsight now, yeah. I mean... Now that I think on it, yes.
But, God... It's hard to even imagine
something like that.
00:27:13
Mm. - When Detective Shipley
told you yesterday about what your mom did, what do you think about that?
00:27:21
- Confusion, shock. I mean... (shaky breathing) Nobody expects to have somebody that they know do that.
00:27:35
A bit scared of
who would be next. - [McAmis] So when he died,
were you surprised?
00:27:43
- [Rachel] Extremely.
- [McAmis] Extremely. - He wasn't even, like... 60-something,
00:27:50
not even up there at an age where it would be something
that would be expected. - [McAmis]
How about your brother?
00:28:02
- He's trickier,
because in the fall, he always gets whatever flu
happens to go about.
00:28:08
He just naturally gets them. But even then,
that one was weird too. - Rachel is winning
Academy Award for her acting.
00:28:20
"I can't believe
this has happened. "My mother wouldn't..." She is just appalled
00:28:25
at the things
going on around her, swirling around
in her own family, with her dead brother,
her dead sister -
00:28:29
almost dead sister, and dead father. - Then tell me about Sarah. How did Sarah's illness
come about?
00:28:38
- Well, the bathroom
in our new house is, like, right across
from my room. So anytime she was up at night
to go throw up,
00:28:44
I could hear it, and it's, like,
that's when I had found out that she was sick.
00:28:50
'Cause, like,
it was very, very sudden too. All of a sudden throwing up.
And then...
00:28:59
- And what were you thinking
at that point? - Oh, God, another one. (laughs) (shaky breathing)
- Okay.
00:29:10
- [Darren] Every human being
has got their own
different level of functioning.
00:29:11
In Rachel's behavior, a very unusual person, really. She's speaking about someone
dying, about the father dying
00:29:18
and all the deaths, just like it's nothing. Like, "In hindsight, "I probably should have seen
something was untoward,
00:29:26
"but I didn't see anything." So I just found that
absolutely staggering. The fact that she's expecting
the police officers
00:29:33
to kind of buy the fact that
she's not seen anything that points to
the least bit suspicious.
00:29:40
- Do you recognize this? - [Vivica] During a recent
search of the family home,
00:29:50
cops discovered
Rachel's own personal journal, a detailed account of
the very unusual dynamics
00:29:56
in the Staudte home. This alters the trajectory
of the interview entirely. - [Daniel] When Rachel is
confronted with the journal,
00:30:05
her reaction
is quite literally like... I think she just literally
doesn't know where to go.
00:30:11
You can see her overly focus
on the diary, and she knows
what's in the diary, because she wrote it.
It's her diary.
00:30:21
So this overly focus
is thinking time. But she's not reading that.
She's thinking,
00:30:25
"Oh, my God,
this is game over." - This is your journal?
- Yeah. - You wrote this?
- Mm.
00:30:33
- And you remember writing it?
- Yeah. - Okay. Did you get to read it all?
- Mm.
00:30:41
- I've got some questions
for you, Rachel. Some questions that you need
to be honest with me about.
00:30:46
- [Darren] So, when the officer
presented the diary, what he was doing is
he was producing that
00:30:51
as part of
a staged disclosure strategy. So by admitting that
it was her diary and her entry,
00:30:58
then, obviously, a little bit
later into the interrogation, she couldn't then
go back on herself.
00:31:03
It's almost like walking down
a hotel corridor and closing doors
as you walk down.
00:31:08
And therefore,
we want to take the door where we're looking for
that confession.
00:31:12
- It says,
"It's sad when I realize "how my father will pass on
in the next two months,
00:31:19
"and how Shaun, my brother, "will move on shortly after." What is this? - I'd had a lot of
really bad dreams
00:31:29
about them dying. I talked to mom about it. And she mentioned... she was thinking of...
hurting them.
00:31:38
- Okay. So the plan was
already in place? You guys were gonna
kill your dad first,
00:31:44
and you were gonna wait a while and then it was Shaun's turn. - So Rachel, when confronted
with all this evidence,
what does she do?
00:31:52
Well, she does what every mope who's ever been confronted
with good hard evidence does.
00:31:57
She confesses. - [Vivica] Rachel confesses. But like all sociopaths, does so selectively.
00:32:03
- So you're saying that
at the old house, you knew she kept it in
a Turkey baster under the sink.
00:32:09
When she was
doctoring the drinks, she would pour
some of the drink out and then she would put
the antifreeze in the drink
00:32:16
and then give it to your father? - Mm-hmm. - How often did YOU do that? - Um... - Once.
00:32:26
- Only once? - She minimizes her involvement. I'm gonna minimize
my participation
00:32:32
in this horrid crime. I may be guilty of something, but maybe not everything
you think I'm guilty of,
00:32:37
and this is what happened and I really didn't have that... What the problem is, of course,
00:32:43
is goofy Rachel
is a wonderful diarist, and it's all written down
in black and white,
in her handwriting.
00:32:49
- How many times
did you do it, Rachel? - Three, four times. It was a trade off.
00:32:58
She would do it, then I would. - So you have
a dream about this. You discuss it with your mother,
00:33:05
and then that's when
the talks get started. Am I correct? Is that when the talks
get started
00:33:10
of finding
some way to poison them? - Yeah.
- Okay. And by poisoning them, the intent was to kill them,
is that correct?
00:33:20
Okay. Why did you guys
want to kill them? - [Lee] But here's the deal
that we really don't know.
00:33:37
Rachel may have witnessed
something very abusive in the relationship between
Diane and the father.
00:33:43
No kid wants to see their
mother abused or attacked or mistreated. How do you get rid of someone
who's hurting my mom?
00:33:49
Well, mom, what do you think? And being impressionable,
I guess, economically and socially
dependent upon her mother,
00:33:57
she was easily led or swayed
in that direction. - [Vivica] Was the need
to satisfy her mom
00:34:02
the reason Rachel
went along with the murders and attempted murder
of her family members?
00:34:07
- Shaun... I accepted that
she wanted him gone, but I really didn't... ...think he was necessary.
00:34:22
- So when did the plan
to kill Sarah come about? - [Rachel] May, June. - May or June?
00:34:37
And so why was it decided
to kill Sarah? - Hmm. Other than the fact that she basically lived
in the back bedroom
00:34:48
and didn't, like... ...have any gumption
to get a job, I'm not certain. Mom probably has her own...
00:35:04
...issues with her. - [McAmis] What about you? - [Rachel] She's annoying,
yes, but...
00:35:16
I don't know. - [McAmis] Did you guys
fight a lot? - Yeah. - Your mother told me
00:35:22
you guys fought all the time. Is that true?
- Yeah. Is that why
you wanted Sarah gone?
00:35:28
- Mm. - What did you tell your mother? - (sniffles) (sniffles) (sobbing) - [Vivica] Although
quick to confess,
00:36:05
Rachel's level of involvement
remains unclear. Was she the planner
and manipulator,
00:36:10
or the reluctant accomplice, as she's trying to make out? - Soon as she's confronted,
without question,
00:36:17
she admits the offence. And she seems to want to please the authority figure
in the interview.
00:36:25
Now, this could be dangerous
in the interview because if the officer leads her and gives her the information,
00:36:33
and then, "This is what
we think, did you do it?"
"Yes, I did." And then that could
be quite dangerous
00:36:38
because she could be admitting
to things that she didn't do. - Until now,
Diane has protected Rachel,
00:36:44
denying she had
any direct involvement in her murderous crimes. But if justice is to be served,
00:36:51
the police need to
get to the truth. Coming up,
Diane is grilled again. - You guys all got together,
obviously, and discussed this.
00:36:59
So tell me about that. - [Vivica] Will
mother and daughter remain loyal to each other?
00:37:11
- You're the mom here.
You're Rachel's mother.
It's your turn. Let's go,
let's get on to the truth.
00:37:18
- Armed with
Rachel Staudte's confession about her mom's
murderous activities,
00:37:23
the police bring Diane Staudte
back into the interrogation room one final time. It's important that
she corroborates
00:37:29
her daughter's account of how the killings of
her husband Mark and son Shaun and the attempted murder
of her daughter Sarah
00:37:37
were planned and carried out. - [Daniel] In a case like this, where you cannot put the poison
in a person's hand,
00:37:47
it's extremely vital
to get that confession and to corroborate it
and confirm it.
00:37:55
- ...about my suspicions of Rachel being involved. And you've told me that
that's not the case.
00:38:03
However, I wanna know
the whole story, how everything got started. And if you decide that
00:38:11
maybe you wanna start
telling me the truth, and maybe I'll start telling you
some of the stuff
00:38:14
that I've already found out. - Hey Diane,
you tell me what you know and I'll tell you what I know.
00:38:21
We'll compare notes, okay? And let's see where the truth is
in this thing. All he's doing
is manipulating her.
00:38:28
He's trying to get to
the bottom, bottom line. What happened here? Why did it happen?
How did it happen?
00:38:33
- Rachel told me
everything today. 'Cause I know you've talked
about how much you love Rachel,
00:38:39
and I told you,
this morning when we talked, how I thought you were
trying to protect her.
00:38:45
I know that. I understand that, okay? And I appreciate that. But that gig's up. Rachel and I had
an extremely long discussion
00:38:56
after I left here. Rachel decided she wanted to
get everything off of her chest and tell it all,
and she told me.
00:39:06
- Rachel did tell us this. I'm not lying. She did tell us this bit. You fill in the rest.
00:39:14
Now I could tell you everything, but I want you to
fill it in for me. He's confirming that
what Rachel said was true.
00:39:22
And it's
a clever line of inquiry. - Get back to when you guys
started to discuss this
00:39:28
and how you guys
came up with this plan. - Verbally? - Physically? - You're the mom here.
You're Rachel's mother.
00:40:13
It's your turn to do
what she did, and do the right thing
and tell me. Again, I've already said this
a couple times,
00:40:21
I understand you wanting
to protect Rachel, but that part, again, it's done. It's done. Let's go,
let's get on the truth.
00:40:32
How did Rachel get involved? - Rachel continued to
give him the drinks? Doctored drinks,
doctored with antifreeze.
00:40:42
What was your...? You guys all got together,
obviously, and discussed this. So tell me about that.
00:40:56
- Okay. So after you guys killed Mark and Shaun, obviously, Sarah doesn't know
that she's next.
00:41:06
So how did that come about? - So why did you just
not let her die? - Why not? - Let me know what
you think about this.
00:42:02
- [Vivica] In their confessions, Diane and her daughter Rachel
attempted to explain
00:42:06
their motivations for murder. Mark could be rude and abusive
when drunk. Shaun was autistic,
unpredictable,
00:42:12
and socially awkward. Sarah refused to pull her weight and get employment
to pay off her student loans.
00:42:19
In essence,
they stood in the way of the life Diane and Rachel
envisioned for themselves.
00:42:25
- To think that a mother
and daughter can conspire to eliminate, again,
those that they want
00:42:31
suggests to me that the mother
has something of a God complex. Then if she's also
in charge of one's life,
00:42:38
then she can do with life
what she wants to. - [Robyn] Diane has
a very interesting relationship
00:42:44
with her daughter Rachel. Rachel is almost
the epitome of her. She's a church-going person.
00:42:50
She sings beautifully. She's an artist. She places
a lot of value on that. And therefore,
her relationship with Rachel
00:42:59
is so important to her. She looks at Rachel and she
sees herself, in Rachel's eyes.
00:43:05
- [Vivica] Together,
mother and daughter were charged with
first-degree murder.
00:43:09
But, in the end,
Rachel would betray Diane. In exchange for
testifying against her mom,
00:43:16
she accepted a plea deal
for second-degree murder. Rachel Staudte pled guilty and was sentenced to
life in prison
00:43:24
with the possibility of parole
after 42 and a half years. To avoid
a possible death sentence,
00:43:32
Diane also cut a deal
with prosecutors. She entered an Alford plea, which acknowledges that
00:43:38
prosecutors have enough evidence
to convict her without directly acknowledging the full scale
of her culpability.
00:43:45
She was sentenced
to life in prison without the possibility
of parole. Despite being poisoned,
00:43:52
Sarah Staudte lived. Because of severe physical
and neurological damage caused by the poison,
00:44:00
she will spend the rest of
her days in assisted living. With the help of the tip
from the pastor,
00:44:06
the decision by police
to investigate her illness, followed by the skill
and perseverance
00:44:13
demonstrated
in their interrogations, they have at least delivered
some measure of justice to her,
00:44:19
and the rest of her family. (dramatic music)