48 Hours - A Mother Accused

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

On May 1, 1999, the adopted son of Paulette and Kelly Welch died at their home in Idaho Falls, ID. Paulette Welch was charged with first-degree murder and took a plea bargain requiring a guilty plea to the lesser charge of injuring a child. Kelly was never charged. This report also includes the cases of Mary Weaver and Denise Rhode, both of whom were charged with causing a child’s death by shaking. Weaver was eventually acquitted and Rhode was convicted of first degree murder and child endangerment. Rhode remains in prison. "48 Hours" correspondents Susan Spencer and Richard Schlesinger report. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 9/7/2001. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits, and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it.

There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial, and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. It was 1989 in Titusville, Florida. Kim Hallig said she and her ex-boyfriend Chip Flynn were kidnapped and attacked at gunpoint. Kim fled the scene, but Chip didn't make it out alive. Did you kill Chip Flynn? No, ma'am. Crosley Green has lived more than half his life behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit. I'm Erin Moriarty of 48 Hours, and of all the cases I've covered,

this is the one that troubles me most, involving an eyewitness account that doesn't quite make sense. A sister testified against a brother. They always say lies, You can't remember lies. A lack of physical evidence. And questions about whether Crosley Green was accused, arrested, and convicted because he's black. Just because a white female says a black man has committed a crime, we take that as gospel.

Listen to Murder in the Orange Grove, the Trouble Case Against Crosley Green, early and ad-free with a 48 hours plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. 48 hours, we take you there. It was a perfect family, or was it? I just always wanted to be the best mom that I could be. Then, their son Stockton was badly injured. I went right in and laid him on the emergency table and said, our son fell, help us. And when he suddenly died, Paulette and Kelly were devastated. But their nightmare had just begun.

This was a homicide. He was killed by an adult. Tollette was charged with murder. We're accusing you. We can't even explain to you what it's like. Susan Spencer investigates. Never hit him. Never.

Never. Shook him. Never. All he had was love. Could this devoted mother have killed her own son? Impossible, say those who know her best. You know without a doubt, she didn't do it. A 48-hour's mystery.

It was very obvious that a crime had been committed. It breaks my heart to think that the doctors think I could do this to my child. What really happened to baby Stockton? Follow the clues in A Mother Accused. It can be said of many loving families, the children come first. They are the most precious possession and the most vulnerable.

But in our desire to protect them, do we sometimes go too far and rush to judgment? Good evening. To many, Paulette Welch is the perfect mother, her children the focus of her life, which makes it especially hard to understand how she came to be living a nightmare, a mother accused in the death of her own son. Did the authorities go too far? While there's no question that she went to extraordinary lengths for her kids, there are lots of legitimate questions about what happened to the baby boy she so adored.

Solving the mystery requires weighing the police work, the medical evidence, and the expertise of the doctors against the character of a devoted mother and wife. Everyone agrees what happened was a tragedy, but was it an accident? Here's Susan Spencer. The hospital's like this nightmare. I ran right in and laid him on the emergency table, said, our son fell, help us. This was a homicide. He was killed by an adult.

I lived in Stockton, and I did not hurt my child. I am sewing the cupcakes, muffins, chocolate chip cookies. I always wanted to be a mother and I longed to be a mother. And when they told me that I couldn't have children, that was really hard because I've always wanted to be a mother. We both wanted a family. She loves kids and I love kids. In the Idaho Falls community where they live, big families are the norm. But for Paulette and Kelly Welch, desperately wanting children did not make it so.

We had tried for several years to try to get Paulette pregnant with no success. So we decided to call you know look into adoption. As practicing Mormons Paulette and Kelly applied for adoption through the church. Before long their prayers were answered. Smiley, sweet, bright. They named her Shaylynn. She're so sweet. She was just a wonderful baby. She walked early, she talked, she's just a joy. Always smiling, always happy.

Shaylynn is so excited. Two years later, again through the church, the Welch's adopted a baby boy. Hello, sweetie. Stockton. Can you say hi to him? It was very exciting. He was just so sweet and precious. And our little girl came over and just gave him a big kiss of love and said,

let's take the baby home. Their two adopted children completed the family the Welch's say they had always dreamed of. And life here in this small Idaho town was very good until the morning of May 1st 1999 It was a beautiful Saturday we had a wonderful breakfast. Paulette says she was in the kitchen getting ready to run errands Paulette had to go to baptism about 10 o'clock that morning Kelly a computer specialist was outside doing yard work. I was

out here and I had trimmed around that pole. I got a phone call about 9 30. I just sat down here on the floor and finished my phone call. That's when Stockton crawled up in the chair. Yeah, he was just standing up here scribbling on a piece of paper with a pen. That week Stockton had started climbing. He had been, we'd got him off the table before. So you hang up the phone, he's standing on the chair. And I was thinking, okay, I need to get Stockton off the chair. Because he, you know, crawls up there and falls a lot. But suddenly, Paulette says, Shailene bolted for the bedroom,

taking her brand new skirt with her. I kind of ran, followed her down in here. I didn't want her to rip the tags off. And I sat down on the floor. At that precise moment, Kelly says he came back in the house to check the time. It was somewhere right around 9.40. And I said, well, good, I got ten minutes. I can get the backyard trimmed. So I went out the front door, talked to Steve Wright for, I don't know, about a minute. Neighbor Steven Wright confirms Kelly's story.

We talked for a minute or two, and then he went on back to his backyard. Back inside the house... And I put her shirt on her and zipped it up. Paulette says she was still in Shaylynn's room... Well, sometimes it's kind of thump. ...when she heard a noise from the kitchen. I come running down the hallway. Stockton was laying over here on the floor.

And I just picked him up and I comforted him. And then I just sat him on the couch. And he just kind of fell over because I knew something was wrong. And I picked him up and as I'm running to go get my husband. And she yelled at me in the door, hurry Kelly, Stockton's hurt. I just dropped the trimmer and run right through the house he took Stockton for me and then Stockton was passed out and all you could do is hear him breathing and I knew it wasn't good hey they were panic-stricken he handed Shaylin to me

and they'd take off the Welch's race to the nearest hospital we knew driving over there it was bad the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. Just minutes from their house. And I ran right in and laid him on the emergency table and said, our son fell, help us. Stockton was carried in by his dad through those doors right there. Emergency room doctor, Jeff Keller. What were your impressions of his situation?

Well, my initial impression was that he was dying. I went into resuscitation mode. I started an IV in the bone in his leg. That's when I walked out. Can't deal with that kind of stuff. I just remember this can't be happening, and I just remember feeling like I wasn't even there. A nightmare.

Watching this nightmare unfold, the Welch's say they had trouble even comprehending what was happening. Everything was just slow motion. It just seemed like just a blur. I mean, I just, I was scared to death. Stockton's condition was critical. Did you get any reaction from him at all? He was posturing like this and that's just a sign of severe brain injury. Signs of brain injury and to Dr. Keller, signs of something else. Dr. Keller just looked at me and said, what did you do to this boy? And I said, we didn't do

anything. The Welch's say they were floored at the doctor's accusations. It was very obvious that a crime had been committed, that this was a inflicted injury, that this was not an accidental injury. I don't know what to tell him. I don't know what happened, but I didn't do it. But the authorities have been called in. A serious injury had been inflicted on Stockton. And they think they know who's to blame. You know, it just breaks my heart to think that the doctors think I could do this to my child. I mean, it just breaks my heart.

That's next. We brought Stockton in here for a CAT scan of his head because it was obvious that that's where the problem was. As Jeff Keller and other doctors struggled to save the life of 19-month-old Stockton Welch... We knew immediately that he had this subdural hematoma that's bleeding in his brain. Stockton's parents, Paulette and Kelly, could only wait and pray. They took us to a private room for us to sit while they worked on Stockton. And nobody was really saying what was wrong or what was happening. Stockton was rushed into surgery,

and it fell to Dr. Keller to tell the Welches that there was little hope. Most of the time when I go in and tell a family about a family member who's critically ill, the mother and the father are sitting together and are fixated on my face, hanging on every word, so to speak. The Welches were on opposite sides of the room and were looking down. They did not look at me. How I interpreted it was that one of them had injured Stockton. The other one knew about it. Not only did Dr. Keller think the Welches had hurt Stockton, he was sure he knew how they had hurt him. The type of bleeding that Stockton had can only be caused by a severe, high-velocity trauma.

By violent shaking. Prosecutors have used computer animation to illustrate what they say can happen. The baby's soft brain slams against the skull. Veins tear, bleeding develops around the brain and in the eyes. Shaken baby syndrome, as it's called, can cause blindness, severe brain damage, even death. An English teenager is accused of murdering an American baby. The Massachusetts trial of English nanny Louise Woodward first brought shaken baby syndrome to public attention. And could you demonstrate to the jury how you shook him?

A jury convicted her of shaking a toddler to death. Stockton was killed by an adult. In Stockton, Welch, Dr. Keller says he saw another classic case of shaken baby. Massive brain trauma, but no fractured skull, no broken bones. So as far as you're concerned, the kinds of injuries you saw in Stockton Welch would be impossible in a fall, as was described, onto a carpeted floor. Correct. Absolutely impossible. No question about it at all. No question. I've seen children who've fallen out of second story windows. I've seen children who've fallen off roofs.

And I tell you from my experience, this sort of fall does not cause that injury. The doctors here all agreed. Someone had shaken little Stockton Welch and shaken him hard. In fact, they were so sure of it that they called Child Protective Services while Stockton was still in the operating room. They come and interviewed us. This doctor says,

we just want to find out some medical information. These are never easy, these interviews for any of us. Staff pediatrician Jill Weber. What was your sort of impression of the Welches when you were talking to them when you had this interview with them? First of all, Paulette rarely looked at me. I thought that was a bit odd. I felt that Kelly had a fake cry. I think he was a bad actor. And Dr. Veeber was being very blunt, telling the Welch's flatly the doctors thought they had hurt Stockton.

It was just horrible. We just couldn't believe what they were saying. And I said immediately right back to her, I can't believe you're saying that to us. And she said, well, that's what it looks like. And I said, well, that's not what it is. Our son fell. You're very sure that the injuries that Stockton Welch had were inflicted? Yes. No room for doubt in your mind?

No. The legal machinery began to pick up speed. When did you first hear about this case? The very day it happened. In fact, Bonneville County Prosecutor Kip Manwaring also was called to the hospital while Stockton was still in surgery. Dr. Weber gave him Polaroids of the baby's brain taken during the operation. From all indications, this was a shaken baby, yes. I can't even explain to you what it's like to have your child hurt and to have police officers around you, and they're accusing you,

and I can't even tell you what that's like. And then, amidst all the accusations, And then, amidst all the accusations, Stockton Welch died on the operating table from massive trauma to the brain. I just wasn't numb the whole time. I just don't think. I mean, it's like your baby died and you're numb. It's like you can't think of what you were just touched with because your life's over anyway. I mean. They were talking about this baby shaking syndrome, something we had heard of you've never shaken no no never hit stockton never never seen paulette do anything like that

no never hit him never never shook him never all he had was love lots of love and we ask the father to bless Stockton Welch. Less than a week after Stockton's funeral, Paulette Welch, whose previous brush with the law was one lone speeding ticket, was charged with first-degree murder. I know my wife's innocent. Authorities considered also charging Kelly, but zeroed in on Paulette as the last adult to see Stockton alive. I can't

even fathom going to jail because for something I didn't do I just I don't understand. Now out on bail Paulette says it's all become a witch hunt. I love Stockton and I love Shailene and I didn't hurt my child. Was Stockton's death in fact just an accident? All of a sudden, I just heard like a thump. Or was it murder? Next on 48 Hours. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing.

The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military, and when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld,

and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. $3.23. $2, thank you.

Thank you. $8.50. Let's go $3 for all that right there. Well, this is good. Hopefully we can make some money. The job of raising money to defend Paulette Welch against murder charges has almost been easy, supporters say. We go all out for the Welches. Because of the kind of person she is.

She's always concerned about somebody else rather than herself. Yeah, one, two, three, four. Friends have raked in more than $100,000 so far. This is for the quilt raffle. Selling everything from raffle tickets to cookbooks. I think when something like this happens, there's probably very few people that you can say, I know without a doubt they didn't do that.

But with Paulette, you know without a doubt, she didn't do it. Those who know her best say jurors will see that Paulette is incapable of shaking her baby to death. She's so even-tempered. I have never in all the years that I've ever met her ever seen her get upset or get angry. She doesn't raise her voice. I've never seen her so much as slap her kids' hands.

It would be so out of character, just completely out of character. Their confidence is based largely on Paulette's near obsession with being the perfect mother. Paulette's not your normal person. She goes beyond the average mother. This is Stockton's room. Yes. And you've pretty much left things the way they were. I have. It went from a little baby's room and then I started to make a little boy's room. I made him some curtains, and I made him this quilt. You made this? Yes.

That's great. You made this too? Yeah. You seem to just have gone to amazing lengths. I just always wanted to be a mom, and I just always wanted to be the best mom that I could be. But authorities don't buy it, and have issued an order forbidding Paulette and Kelly from being alone with their daughter, Shailene.

No one got lapses right there. The state health and welfare took custody of our 4-year-old daughter. The state says it's for Shailene's own protection. You have to get written permission every time you want to be alone with your daughter. That's right. But you haven't been charged with anything. No, that's correct. I can't do anything with her without somebody being here.

So for more than a year, as the legal proceedings drag on, Paulette and Kelly have followed a bizarre bedtime ritual. Bill and God made you like no one else. Okay, give Mommy kisses. Okay. They say goodnight to Shailene. Good night. Then head downstairs to the basement. We just bring our luggage here and spend the night, you know. Grandparents or neighbors sleep in their room across the hall from Shailene. And we have to sleep down here in the

basement. Though cooperative at home, the Welches and their lawyers are preparing for a fierce battle in court. This case is going to be expert, intense. Attorney Fred Hoops. Innocent people like Paulette are being unfairly, wrongly, falsely accused, and it's devastating. A team of doctors, including Virginia neurosurgeon Ronald Ucinski. It's the right thing to do. I think there are innocent people being put in jail.

...will question whether shaken baby syndrome even exists. Do you think you have ever seen a case of a baby injured by shaking? No, I haven't. Impacts, yeah, lots of times. Shaking, no. Do you think that Paulette Welch could have shaken this child very, very hard? No. If it were theoretically possible for her to have shaken him that vigorously, she should have broken his neck. He didn't have a broken neck. If that's the case then, how did Stockton Welch die? I think he fell. I think he hit his head.

It does not happen. You do not get subdural hematomas from a two-foot fall. Emergency room doctor Jeff Keller, who treated Stockton, neither he nor any of the doctors there that day has any patience for Ucinski's theories. It does not happen. To say that it does is medical, legal malpractice to say that. They are wrong. This syndrome doesn't make sense. But Uzinski insists against prevailing medical opinion that a fall can cause these injuries, but that simply shaking without any impact cannot. Doctors, he thinks, are rushing to judgment. This child's in the hospital

for two hours and if already got the prosecuting attorney there either in or next to the operating room. We acted appropriately in calling the authorities when we did. Their minds were made up they were starting the prosecution and the baby wasn't even operated on yet. I find that chilling. the prosecution and the baby wasn't even operated on yet. I find that chilling. The defense is a very different theory of how Stockton may have died. You know, he tripped a lot. He fell a lot. And this was my little girl's birthday party. Like he tripped and fell on our wood of our couch. This particular fall, witnessed by several people, happened just two months before his death. Stockton banged his forehead hard when he come around the corner I seen it I just I took my breath away because it looks so bad Paulette's lawyers contend that the old injury from this fall was re injured when Stockton fell the day he

died and that that caused severe internal bleeding is that not a plausible explanation for this as well? Well, the short answer is no, it's not. Maybe it happens one in a million times, but it happened to Paulette. I don't care what the medical evidence says because I know Paulette, and it doesn't mean anything to me. This trial will be about Paulette. After more than a year of delays, Paulette is anxious.

I want my life back. I want my daughter back. I want to be able to meet my husband and her just to be together. And I just want it over with. Are you confident? Can you be confident? I'm scared. I'm just scared. If convicted, she could face life in prison. State of Idaho v. Paulette Martha Welch. Paulette's case heads to court.

Mrs. Welch, please stand. For its surprising conclusion. I didn't do this. I think justice will prevail. I just think it'll be okay. I just don't know. Later in our 48 Hours. By most accounts, Paulette Welch is an exceptionally devoted mother. But she's facing trial for the murder of her year-old son, Stockton.

Meanwhile, authorities are preventing Paulette and her husband Kelly from being along with their other child, daughter Shailene. Also under scrutiny in this case is the whole shaken baby syndrome. Doctors allege Stockton's fatal injuries could have only been caused by violent shaking. Experts say 10% of all cases of child abuse or neglect

involve shaking a baby. We'll come back to the Welch's case shortly, but first, Richard Schlesinger reports on another woman accused. Her fight for freedom may shake your faith in some doctors. These people thought I killed a baby. How could they think that of me? Mary Weaver has lived Paulette Welch's worst nightmare. Sent to prison for shaking a child to death. And you were sentenced to how long?

Life. Life. In prison without parole and 10 years. Mary Weaver was married, a mother of two, and just like Paulette Welch, she had never in her life been in trouble with the police. And then all of a sudden these people have come and arrested me for murder. And my children were there and they put handcuffs on me.

You just can't imagine how that feels. This is when it all starts. Mary's ordeal began in 1993 when she was babysitting for 11-month-old Melissa Mathis. Did you love this little girl? Yes, I did. She came, you know, five days a week. She played with my children. She had just become part of our family.

Your Honor, I would ask that State Certificate 47 be admitted. It started when Mary put Melissa in her snowsuit. Up until then, she says nothing unusual happened. But things started going very wrong, very quickly. When I lifted her up, her eyes rolled back on her head and she quit breathing. 911 emergency. I need an ambulance. Mary called 911 back on her head and she quit breathing. 911 emergency. I need a hunting ambulance. Mary called 911. I have a baby that stopped breathing.

But Melissa died within hours and Mary Weaver was charged with murder. I just couldn't believe it. I just, you know, I had held her the day before and she was fine. Yeah, this is Dr. Bennett down the morgue. Her chief accuser was Dr. Thomas Bennett, at the time the Iowa State Medical Examiner. During his time in Iowa, Dr. Bennett became famous. Matthew's head struck that broad, flat surface with... And infamous for uncovering cases of shaken baby syndrome. But his critics say he often found shaken baby syndrome where it didn't exist.

Bennett testified that Melissa died after being shaken and slammed. Dr. Bennett said it was equivalent to a two-story fall, the injury that I did to her. And that the injury occurred while Melissa was in Mary's care. What did Dr. Bennett do to you? Dr. Bennett took my life away from me. But this man is the state medical examiner. Well, he was wrong. Mary was convicted of murder and sent to the Iowa Correctional Institution for women.

But her fight was far from over. I wasn't going to give up because I'm innocent. Many in the community also believed she was innocent. This was the first parade they marched in in the pouring rain. I knew that sooner or later the truth would set me free. The case against Mary Weaver began to unravel while she was here in prison. New evidence emerged that was, to say the least, startling. Friends of Melissa's mother said she told them she dropped her baby and that Melissa's head had hit the edge of a wooden coffee table

just hours before the 11-month-old collapsed in Mary Weaver's arms. After 22 months in prison and some intense legal work, Mary Weaver was released and granted a new trial. It's wonderful. It's wonderful to not be by that fence. Dozens of supporters came to celebrate. Oh, Mary. Less than a month later, her new trial began. And Bennett was back, saying medical evidence proved the injury happened on Mary's watch

and couldn't have been an accident. The amount of force necessary is roughly equivalent to what a car crash of 35 to 40 miles an hour or greater into a rigid barrier would produce. Same testimony, but different verdict. By now, Dr. Bennett had come under heavy criticism for seeing shaken baby syndrome wherever he looked. And at this trial, Mary Weaver was acquitted. Here's some articles on Dr. Bennett. How would you characterize what was going on here during those years? I would say it was a reign of terror for daycare providers. Medical experts started lining up to challenge Dr. Bennett. Dr. Peter Stevens was one of them.

Like Bennett, Dr. Stevens is a well-known forensic pathologist. He thought the state of Iowa was hounding innocent people. When I see people beating up on some of these mothers who may very well have been innocent and probably were innocent, it makes my blood boil. Other shaken baby convictions were overturned and charges were dropped. In 1997, Dr. Bennett resigned abruptly and went to Montana, where he's still practicing medicine. Are you bitter at all about what you missed?

I guess I won't allow myself to be bitter and angry, because then I will turn into that person that the state tried to say I was. But for Mary Weaver, Dr. Bennett's resignation still leaves some unfinished business. There are several questionable cases where women are still in prison because of the testimony of Dr. Bennett. Each one of those cases deserves to have another look. Denise Rohde, who's doing life for murdering her nephew, may be one of those women. Nobody questioned Dr. Bennett's findings.

Despite a mountain of evidence against her, including testimony from Dr. Bennett, Denise, to this day, insists the death was an accident. This was not a homicide. Possibly caused by a short distance fall, either from a bed or this baby walker. Hard to imagine that a fall of that distance could kill a kid. You know, a lot of what we see day by day

in forensic pathology is hard to imagine, but it happens. Dr. Stevens has agreed to review all of Bennett's cases for free and has found what he considers serious problems with Bennett's work. He says Denise may not be guilty. Is there reasonable doubt? You bet there is. But there's no doubt in the minds of experts who helped convict Rohde. They believe she and others are trying to exploit the Bennett controversy

and that guilty people may go free. We're doing this story, I think you know, on all the shaken baby cases. We wanted to talk to Dr. Bennett. I wanted to ask you just about your tenure here and things like that. No, I don't think so. But he refused. I mean, we're not attacking. I believe I still have hope.

Denise Rohde has remained in jail pending an appeal. And Mary Weaver, the one-time convicted child killer, Hi, John. Hi, Christine. is raising her kids. How was school today, bud? Pretty good. Yes.

And in her free time, she supervises activities for neighborhood children. Hi, everyone from Iowa City. It just will come to my mind how good it is to be home, and so it just makes me appreciate the freedom that I have. Next... State of Idaho versus Paulette Martha Welch. Paulette Welch faces her trial for murder... The well-designed name is Tardifelp....in the death of her son for murder. Well, it's a nice sort of thump.

In the death of her son, Stockton. You think she killed him? Yes. We are 100% positive sure. She could get life in prison. I'm innocent and Heavenly Father knows I'm innocent. But there's a surprising twist. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony

Just ahead. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name

won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created.

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Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. This is Stocking's first birthday cake.

Bye-bye. Stocking liked to play on the table and the chairs and he liked to climb. Don't fall. You're gonna fall. Oh, fuck me. Paulette Welch understands it seems impossible.

Well, if the names turn a thump, Stockton. Her son dies after simply falling off a chair. I don't know what happened, but I didn't do it. But that, she insists, is the truth. Never hit him. Never. Never.

Shook him. Never. The court is now in session. State of Idaho versus Paulette Martha Welch. What's your worst fear out of all this? Not being with my little girl and my husband. Going to jail for something I didn't do. The threat of a life sentence hangs over her.

As for the possibility of some sort of plea bargain... Has the prosecution ever approached you with any sort of deal? What would you tell them if they did? I'd say no. She will not plea bargain. Why plea bargain to something you didn't do? What she's told us is the truth, and I believe her. But the truth, according to prosecutor Kip Manwaring...

You think she killed him? Yes. ...is that 19-month-old Stockton Welch was murdered. Universally, the opinion of all the doctors who treated the child was that he suffered a afflicted head injury, shaken baby syndrome. Retinal hemorrhages to the degree that Stockton had them are only caused by shaking. Emergency room doctor Jeff Keller. We are sure. We are absolutely 100 percent positive sure. They discarded relevant autopsy material. But Virginia neurosurgeon Ronald Ucinski, on tap as a defense witness,

seems just as sure that Stockton died exactly as the Welch's claim. I think that the fall that he had, fall from the table or the chair, was enough to do this. Ucinski is part of a small group of maverick doctors who think shaken baby syndrome is both unproven and overdiagnosed. Should we really be putting people in jail over this stuff? You'd better be darn sure that you can prove what you're saying, that you can show it in a laboratory, that it really exists. And this is something that's been studied and been known about for many years. The prosecutor insists there is nothing to the defense theory.

Do you personally have any reasonable doubt? No. And says shaken baby syndrome should not be on trial here. Please rise. But remarkably, in the end, medical evidence plays no role at all in deciding Paulette's fate. In an astonishing twist just before trial, do you have some additional information from the prosecutor stumbles on a single fact that torpedoes his case. It concerns not Paulette, but her husband. Kelly Welch came forward just prior to trial and said, I was in the house this 15 to 20 minute window of when this injury occurred. Did this represent a change in story on Kelly Welch's part? It did as far as I was concerned.

Actually, Kelly's story matches exactly what he told us months before. I was out here and I had trimmed around that pole. He went inside briefly to check the time just before Stockton was hurt. It was somewhere right around 940. And Stockton was standing right here? Yes, he was. In the chair? Yes, he was standing in the chair. And more importantly, court papers show it's essentially the same story he gave at an earlier hearing. At the 11th hour in pre-trial discussions, the prosecutor realizes what he is

now up against. Two adults that very plausibly could have inflicted the injury on the child. An insurmountable problem. And then you have a reasonable doubt as to who did commit this injury on Stockton. I mean, it hurts because nobody hurt Stockton. It wasn't his dad. It wasn't me. It wasn't nobody. Convinced now he can't win a murder conviction, the prosecutor offers Paulette a plea bargain, an unusual deal requiring a guilty plea to the lesser charge of injuring a

child. We were hoping that he would dismiss the case and he offered us this plea bargain. In legal circles, it's known as the Alford plea, a complicated agreement that lets Paulette maintain her innocence if she pleads guilty. It is simply understood that she's only pleading guilty to avoid the risk of a trial and a possible conviction. I'm innocent and Heavenly Father knows I'm innocent. When you're innocent you can't plea bargain. She said to plea bargain? She said that's being dishonest. Court is now in session.

It's just the sort of deal Paulette has said in good conscience she never could accept. Mrs. Welch, would you please stand? But will she risk prison for principle? Mrs. Welch, would you raise your right hand? That's next on 48 Hours. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn,

and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still have urged it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction.

Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. decision, risk prison, or plead guilty to injuring her son Stockton. I loved Stockton and it didn't hurt my child. State of Idaho versus Paulette Martha Welch. Mrs. Welch, please stand. State's evidence would demonstrate that Stockton Welch received a traumatic brain injury which we believe was inflicted. Paulette's supporters are here too. Have you explained to your client all of her rights? Yes, Your Honor, I have. Sticking by their friend to the bitter end. Do you only swear that the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Yes. Mrs. Welch, do you understand what you're charged

with? Yes. Mrs. Welch, are you now prepared to enter a plea to the amended charge, injury to child? Yes. How do you plead to that charge? Guilty. Mrs. Welch, are you... Paulette says she forced herself to say that hated word, guilty. Are you pleading voluntarily? Yes. Because it was the only way to guarantee she'd be around to raise her daughter, five-year-old Shae Lynn. She needs a mother, and I need her. Life doesn't mean anything if I couldn't be with my family. But this clearly just tears your heart out. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I feel in my heart that we could have won the case, but it just isn't worth the risk.

Court does find a factual basis for the guilty plea. Paulette gets no jail time and three years probation on Monday after which the judge may erase her guilty plea altogether. You're all excused. She's been through a lot. Paulette, do you want to talk to us? She's a trooper. Everybody's been there before. It's not just one or two people. The same friends who believed Paulette when she said she would never plead guilty. It's just very hard to see Paulette have to go through that. Are understanding now.

She is 31. She has a little girl that she wants to raise. Even though some might have preferred the not guilty verdict that only a jury can render. I think that it would have been a nice sweet ending to have 12 people, you know, come back in a short time and say, she's not guilty, she didn't do this. It would have been a nice, sweet ending to have 12 people, you know, come back in a short time and say, she's not guilty, she didn't do this. But the question remains, more than a year after Stockton's mysterious death, has justice been served? Prosecutor Kip Manwaring. The full extent of justice, from my perspective, perhaps not. To go from first-degree murder to essentially nothing.

She's on probation. Big deal. I concede that this is a compromise. How did her side compromise? By pleading guilty and taking responsibility for the fact that Stockton Welch was killed. And you're happy with that? I said I was happy. I said we reached a compromise. I think it's a miscarriage of justice. Emergency room doctor Jeff Keller, one of the last people to see Stockton alive.

emergency room doctor Jeff Keller, one of the last people to see Stockton alive. It's a travesty that Stockton Welch's life meant so little to our town, our society. I'm ashamed. How do you think you'll remember Stockton Welch? Geez, an unfulfilled life. I will feel bad whenever I think about this case. The community is split, but the Welch's are moving on. And it goes to her. Authorities now have lifted restrictions, allowing them to again be alone with their daughter. Wee! I mean, Chewin is just amazing.

I think she can just sense the relief and she's just back to her normal happy jolly self. Why are you crying? We're going up to the cemetery. We want to keep his memory alive. How do you want your jacket? So we go up to where his monument's at. The family still celebrates Stockton's birthdays.

Our dear kind Father in Heaven, we're so thankful for all the friends and families on the day of Stockton's birthdays. Our dear kind father in heaven, we're so thankful for all the friends and families on the day of Stockton's birth date. He would have been three on this day. Stockton Kelly Welch and his memory do something nice for someone today. A day to remember the little boy whose death leaves so many troubling questions. Is all the kids happy, boys?

I know! Okay, let them go, Shaylin. We had a sweet little boy. Our life will never be the same again. With prosecutors saying that they are satisfied with the outcome, they have no intention of pursuing any charges against Stockton's father, Kelly Welch. For all practical purposes, case closed. Denise Rohde remains in prison without the possibility of parole. the possibility of parole.