48 Hours - The Kidnapping of Michelle and Breea Renee

Episode Date: February 12, 2023

A mother is forced to rob a bank to save her daughter’s life, then her abductor falsely claims the mother was in on the crime. "48 Hours" contributor Tracy Smith reports.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. 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. It's like ghosts. It's like ghosts. You just see the ghosts of them everywhere. If you close your eyes, can you still see it?

All of it. The focus of the case is Michelle Renee. She was living with her daughter, Bria. They were living in kind of a secluded house. Does it feel like 22 years? Sometimes it does. Sometimes it feels like a lifetime ago. Sometimes it feels like it was last week. I asked the FBI to take Michelle back to the house to help reconstruct probably the most traumatic night of her life. We came in the door, I put the groceries away, went in the kitchen.

Michelle was a single mom. She was a bank manager, somebody who worked hard to gain a job, a position of trust and respect. It had been such a long day, and I was just excited to be home with Bria. We were on the couch. It was just the two of us. I was sitting here. She was right beside me, and we were playing Game Boy. A group of individuals put Michelle under surveillance, knowing she was a bank manager, and they devised a plan. And we just heard this huge, this sound, just the biggest noise from behind us. And I turned to look and just saw three people They're all lined up one right after the other just rushing in

Running in the door that like squat style and they had their guns and they were all in black And I just screamed super loud My daughter screamed super loud at that point my daughter took off this way, but two of them came to me, put guns in my face. One guy grabbed me in the back of my head, forced me down in front of the couch that was right here. They bind her up with duct tape. They put her seven-year-old on the ground and bind her up with duct tape. And they tell them that if they don't cooperate, they're going to be killed, they're going to be shot. Okay, okay, okay.

Okay. They let me turn around and see my daughter laying face down on the floor right here by the door, face down with her hands tied and her feet tied. Right there on the ground. I heard my daughter say, are you gonna kill my mommy? Are you gonna kill me?

And they said, no, not if your mommy does everything that we tell her to do. They said, you're gonna rob the bank for us, or we will kill you, and your daughter will be first. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. 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. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing the best idea yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bolder risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? 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. The only monsters that had ever scared Michelle Rene's 7-year-old daughter, Bria, were make-believe. But on November 20, 2000, just a day before three masked men broke in... She calls me, Mom, there's somebody outside the window.

I looked out there, I didn't see anything. I didn't see anybody. So I just brushed it off. Michelle had chalked it up to her child's imagination, but this time was different. She saw them looking through the window. They were there the night before. The same men now held Michelle and Bria at gunpoint in the living room. The same men now held Michelle and Bria at gunpoint in the living room. The gunman said they'd been following the 35-year-old bank manager for months. It was very much that mind control thing that they were doing, that we know everything about you.

Michelle would recount the events inside the house for investigators. We're going to be here all night with you to make sure you know exactly what you're going to do or you will die. Throughout the night, the ringleader gave specific instructions about how he wanted Michelle to rob her own bank the next morning. We're going to go over this again. This is what you're going to do. When Brinks gets there, you're going to get Brinks' money.

As she huddled with Brea on the couch, now duct-taped, Michelle could hear him talking to a woman on a two-way radio. Money one to money two? That's what they called each other? Yeah, they called each other money one to money two. Money one was the ringleader. Around 11, the voice on the walkie-talkie got his attention. Car coming up the driveway, the roommate's there.

It was their roommate, Kimbra. And they put the gun right here in her face, right up her nose, and said, don't make us f***ing use this. I pushed the guy's hand out of her face and said, don't do this, don't hurt her. And he just pointed it right at me and said don't ever touch me again michelle realized this might be the last night she ever spent with her daughter it was almost morning just rubbed her hair so she could try to get some sleep wondering if that was going to be the last time i was going to get to touch her hair and see her sleep was pretty tough. In the morning,

the nightmare would continue. It was like 6 a.m. He said, get up. It's time to get ready for work. I got dressed and started doing my hair when he came in and stopped me and said, we need to put the dynamite on you now. Michelle, her roommate Kimbra, and Bria would all be strapped with dynamite. Then Money One showed Michelle what looked like a doorbell. This is a detonation device. One false move, I push this button. You will disintegrate. Your daughter will go first. And they sat me right here and said, now we're going to take your daughter.

The gunman put Bria in her bedroom closet. I was just telling her I'd be right back. That everything's going to be fine. Be brave, Mommy. That was the last thing she said before I walked out to go to the bank.

Did you feel brave? No. As two of the gunmen stayed in the house, Money One handed Michelle a briefcase stuffed with a duffel bag before he crouched in the back of her Jeep. With dynamite on her back and a gun to her side, she drove to work. So you pull up into your spot. What does he tell you before you get out of the car? Don't, don't f*** this up.

And the Brinks truck came at 8.50? I believe right around 8.50 was the drop right over here. That's when Michelle grabbed her briefcase and headed to the vault. I brought my teller in the vault with me and said, I'm getting ready to clear out this vault or my daughter and I are going to die. This is what's happened all night. And you whispered to her, I have dynamite on my back? Yeah.

I whispered, I pulled my shirt up. And then you just opened up the duffel bag and started shoveling in money? I did. My heart was racing. Am I fast enough? Michelle's colleagues would alert the authorities, but not before she walked out with $360,000. Just get to the Jeep, hurl it in the Jeep, and just do what's next.

Money One directed Michelle to get out a few blocks later. And that I would find my Jeep down the street. She found her car and raced home. I don't know if Bria's going to be there. I don't know if she's going to be alive when I get there. And I went to open the door, and I was just screaming, and hello, hello. It was eerily silent.

And I just heard Bria, and I remember screaming, we're back here, we're back here. Bria was still in the closet, right where Michelle left her. What was that like to hear and see her? Oh, my gosh. She was alive. I did it. We did it.

We didn't die. Probably the happiest moment of my life. But then I could still see the panic on her face. The dynamite's still on me. Before leaving, the gunmen had ripped the dynamite off of Kimbra and Bria, so they cut it off of Michelle's back before running to the nearest neighbor. I opened the gates, went down the hill real fast, helped them up to the house. Rick Brown lived up a steep hill.

I called 911 right away. Sheriff, can I help you? Yes, some neighbors of ours were held hostage. I need somebody out here right away. Soon, the place was crawling with investigators from the FBI, San Diego Sheriff's Department, and the bomb squad. This is the dynamite that was taken off of Michelle. San Diego prosecutor Tom Manning

would lead the task force investigating the case. They quickly figured out the dynamite was fake. They realized that it actually is two painted dowels or broomstick handles. But as you can see from a distance and the lighting, plus it's on your back with the stress of the situation, you're not going to take a chance that it isn't real. But during the very real 14 hours they were held hostage, Michelle had held on to any detail that might help identify the attackers. Remembering details is just sort of this part of my DNA about people. That was kind of my superpower. Details like Money One's eyes.

When I turned the light on to go to the bathroom and I saw his eyes in there, I said those eyes were at my desk. Those eyes were at my desk today. Oh my God. Michelle says it was a man with whom she'd had an odd encounter at the bank hours before being taken hostage. And he sat at my desk for a really long time asking sort of the same questions over and over. And then a woman walked in and said, Chris, we need to get going. And they got up and left. The man had handed Michelle his business card. And the name on the business card was? Christopher Butler. After hours of police questioning, Michelle and Bria were sent to a hotel. Michelle called her brother Dave.

It didn't sound like her. It was someone, you know, heavily traumatized. Dave, who lived three hours away, rushed to his sister's aid. What I saw when I opened that door, it scared the daylights out of me. Are you okay? And she would shake. How about Bria? Same thing. and she would shake.

How about Bria? Same thing. In the days ahead, Michelle struggled to hold it together for her daughter. She was the strongest person for me. While investigators wanted answers. They grilled her about that odd encounter with Christopher Butler. Why was he in the bank?

What was he saying he was there for? He came in to say that he was a potential client and that he wanted to talk about investments. Before Butler handed Michelle his business card, a woman he introduced as Lisa came in and whisked him away. Hey, Chris, we need to go. It was the same voice Michelle says she heard later that night on the walkie-talkie.

I kept saying it over and over. Check my desk. Check my desk. Get that card. I know that it's them. Through that card, they started the investigation. The FBI soon discovered Butler was a convicted felon with a history of robbing banks.

They figured out where he was staying, and then the team that I worked with set up surveillance. Butler and his fiancée, Lisa Ramirez, lived in a house just a few miles from the bank. Some of the people in the house would tell them the police who was there when they planned it. Within days, detectives identified the two other men. Christopher Huggins. He was a big guy, maybe 6'4". He's gang ties. And the man who'd held a gun to Little Bria,

a gang member called Bones. Real name, Robert Ortiz. Ortiz was the connection who got the guns. On December 1st, they decided to arrest Butler and Ramirez during a traffic stop. In the glove compartment was a weapon. It's actually a BB gun. If you look at that in a stressful situation, that looks as real as it can get. What'd they find when they pumped the trunk?

Plethora of evidence. All this? All this. They found the black bag that Michelle described the money being carried in, several pairs of black gloves, and a homemade ski mask. Oh yeah, look at the eye holes there. But they clearly cut themselves. Michelle's credit cards were all found in the trunk of the vehicle. And then, of course, the money straps from the bank. Also in the trunk, that doorbell detonator. And there was even more at the house.

They found all the ingredients to make the fake bomb. There were broom handles, which were cut up into small dowels, which actually were used in making the fake dynamite. They also recovered the actual spray cans. Ramirez's fingerprint was on one of those cans. It was crazy. I've never seen that much physical evidence left at a crime scene. They thought they'd gotten away with it. One thing investigators didn't find on Butler and Ramirez, any of the bank's $360,000.

But after arresting Huggins that same day, they did recover $93,000 of the cash that he'd stashed away. Huggins confessed and said that he'd already spent several grand on a trip to Vegas. The fourth suspect, Robert Ortiz, was on the lam. When authorities arrested him three months later in Wisconsin, Ortiz still had $32,000 of the bank's money and gave a full confession. Did Huggins and Ortiz's confessions corroborate each other? Yes, very much so. So did Huggins and Ortiz's confessions corroborate each other? Yes, very much so. So did Huggins and Ortiz's confessions corroborate what Michelle had told investigators?

Yes, almost identical. Butler denied everything, even when confronted with direct evidence. His thumbprint on the fake dynamite sticks. And we've got fingerprints that are yours that went to the bank robber. I didn't think that I was involved in the bank robber. He tried to protect Lisa. Lisa wouldn't have been involved in that. But Lisa was about to start talking.

She admitted she was the female voice on the walkie-talkie. I'm not going to tell you. on the walkie-talkie. She even took credit for the idea to use fake dynamite and kidnap the bank manager. Lisa said they'd split the money three ways, but that her and Butler's share, more than $100,000, had been stolen. And to everyone's surprise, she said Michelle was in on the plot. Walked out of that thinking, okay, Lisa's the mastermind behind all this. And is it possible Michelle's involved? Manning says ultimately he knew Michelle was innocent. The first time I interviewed her, she had Bria with her.

And I saw that bond and relationship. And when she left, I went, she's not involved in this. But that wouldn't be enough in court. San Diego County Sheriff's Detectives Rudy Zamora, Dale Martin, and Randy Demers would have to rule Michelle out as a suspect. Every time we pushed a button, she would react in a way a true victim should. They recreated the dynamite packs and strapped them on Kimbra, Michelle and Bria. She was very upset. And Michelle was emotional when asked to revisit the horrific details of the kidnapping.

And then they, I had to put her in there and they shut the, shut the closet. She was shaken up. I thought she was going to have a nervous breakdown. When Michelle did those reenactments, were her story, Kimbra's story, and Bria's story consistent? Yes, completely consistent. In fact, investigators couldn't find any evidence Michelle was involved. Still, they worried.

She was not our normal victim. As they took a deep dive into Michelle's life. What did they find out about Michelle's past? She didn't hide anything. Including the fact that for years she had worked as a stripper. I'm not embarrassed or shamed by any of that. I'm not embarrassed or shamed by any of that. Michelle says it was one of the choices she had to make for survival at a young age.

I ran away at 15. I worked really, really hard to get to where I was. With no high school diploma, she had climbed the corporate ladder all the way to regional vice president before taking the bank manager job to be home more with Bria. And while you were working at the bank, you were still dancing, still stripping for a while? I was for a while. The money was really great. But more worrisome were things that went directly to Michelle's credibility. She falsified resumes, claimed she had various experience, various education, which she didn't have. Bounced a check, filed for bankruptcy.

Right. That doesn't look good. It doesn't look good. And if you're a defense attorney, you're licking your chops. Oh, the best verdict I ever got in my life. See what evidence investigators found in the kidnapping of Michelle Rene at 48hours.com. Investigators found in the kidnapping of Michelle Rene at 48hours.com. 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 a virgin. 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 Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 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+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. By spring of 2001, the suspects were in custody awaiting trial for kidnapping and bank robbery charges.

But Michelle and Bria were still reeling from that night of terror. I could still hear them. I could still hear them. I could still hear the sounds. I couldn't get it to turn off. I just wanted to hide. I thought they were going to find us.

They were going to kill us still. In June, Michelle decided to move Bria to Alaska to live with her grandmother. I was going to fly her up there and get her to safety. I was going to figure out what to do from there. After a few days, Michelle says she had an epiphany. To go back to San Diego and get rid of everything I could possibly get rid of and drive back to Alaska. With a dog,

Come here! some cash, I can do this on a budget. and a camcorder, Today is July the 6th. she embarked on a nine-day drive On my way, baby doll. to the last frontier.

You had a deadline. I had a deadline. Bria's birthday was in nine days, and I promised her I'd be back before her birthday party. That's when Michelle and Bria say they began to heal. Did you feel safe in Alaska? Safer. I could be a kid again.

Happy birthday to you. By the time they returned to San Diego a year later for the trial, Michelle says she was ready. There was so much evidence. There was no way I thought that this trial was going to be anything but slam dunk. Butler and Ramirez would be tried first. When her case came across your desk, what did you think at first? She's guilty. You thought, she's guilty?

Well, yeah. Herb Weston, who represented Lisa Ramirez, had a problem. His client had confessed on camera. There was a female voice that came out a long time. That was him. camera. If they played that tape, saying that she wasn't involved would have been difficult. Weston proposed a plea deal, hoping to save Ramirez from a potential life sentence. But the prosecution turned him down. We thought we would definitely get the key statements in that she was involved. But since Ramirez had also implicated Butler,

the judge ruled her entire statement inadmissible. We now can at least argue to the jury that she wasn't involved. Without her confession, the case against Ramirez relied almost entirely on Michelle, a fact Manning was keenly aware of during his opening statement to the jury on June 3rd, 2002. You told the jury that this case was about credibility. Right. Michelle's background was going to be an issue. I knew there were issues, but I believed her. And you thought the jury would believe her. Right. But not if the defense had its way.

What was your strategy going into trial? My strategy was to beat the hell out of the victim and show all these inconsistencies that the victim is saying. It got very confrontational. I was really, really pissed off. That played right into Weston's hand. All these inconsistencies that the victim is saying. It got very confrontational. I was really, really f***ed off. That played right into Weston's hand. Angry witnesses don't come across as credible.

I was treated like I was the criminal. During his cross-examination, Weston implied Michelle was lying about recognizing Lisa Ramirez's voice on the walkie-talkie. Wait a minute, ma'am. I've looked at all this stuff. Isn't this the first time you've said that? In fact, he pointed out, it wasn't in any of the FBI reports. But Michelle insists she told them. I did. I 100% did. And Manning says she identified Lisa's voice to him before taking the stand.

Does it bother you that Lisa actually admitted that that was her voice on the walkie-talkie? The fact is it was Lisa. But that's not the issue. For me, it made a great opening to attack her credibility. Weston then grilled Michelle about bait money, the traceable bills banks keep in their vaults to trap bank robbers. You didn't take the bait. Did not take the bait money.

Why not? They said no funny money. You say that's suspicious, that she must have been in on it. Correct. Maybe worst of all for Michelle, Weston questioned her maternal instincts. Would a mother run to a place where her daughter was if she believes that I have a bomb on my back? She wasn't sure whether her daughter was dead or alive.

Don't you think it's possible that she wasn't thinking straight? Sure. But also what could be true is she knew it wasn't a bomb, and so she didn't have to worry about it. Did you feel like you were on trial? I 100% felt like I was on trial. I would be sitting in the front row, and all I could think about was, it's going to take me maybe six seconds to get from this point to the offender.

That is how irate I was. Day after day, listening to this. Listening to this. Is it fair to beat up the victim? Absolutely. While Weston hammered on every decision Michelle made that day, the attorney representing Butler went after everything else. What was the worst thing they asked you?

About my sex life. They were trying to paint me as somebody that was irresponsible, a selfish, terrible mother that would do anything for money. And they picked apart Michelle's finances. She's in financial distress, and that could be the motive. Isn't it kind of odd that we're talking about motive when we're talking about a victim? It is. The defense in the case was to make Michelle a culprit here. After Michelle's grueling three-day testimony, it was Christopher Butler's turn. He protected Lisa on the stand,

claiming Michelle was the mastermind and that they'd had an affair. I was shocked. It's almost laughable. What was his story about how the two of you met? From what I understand, we met in a grocery store. And that I recruited him. Butler claimed that he'd gone to Michelle's house that night with Huggins and Ortiz. He said that in the early morning hours, while smoking pot,

Michelle brought up the bank robbery idea again and decided they should do it that morning. His evidence of this, his proof of this? Zero. If any of this were true, he would have thrown Michelle down in a heartbeat in his interview. The jury deliberated for five days before finding Butler guilty of the bank robbery

and Bria and Kimbra's kidnapping. But they hung nine to three on the charges of kidnapping Michelle. When we talked to the jurors, you know, we discovered it was one juror who completely believed Butler, and the other two jurors were unsure. And they found Lisa Ramirez not guilty on all counts. Oh, the best verdict I ever got in my life. Mind-boggling. The fact that it was her idea

to do this to a mother and a child and laughing and proud of it. How involved do you think she was in this? Very involved. The investigators kept saying she was the brains of the outfit. So the brains of the outfit walked. Right.

The second trial would go very differently, with Huggins and Ortiz easily convicted. In so many of the stories that we tell, the ending is the conviction. But in your case, in a lot of ways, that's just the beginning. How do you feel about the defense falsely claiming that Michelle was in on it? Chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter. Alrighty. Is it working? Yes. If you close your eyes, can you still see it?

Okay. All of it. I can still see all of it. Even though the men who had terrorized them were now serving multiple life sentences, Michelle and Bria would never be the same. There's aspects of that night that are going to be with me for the rest of my life. They were treated for post-traumatic stress disorder for over two years. They had their guns. Michelle says dealing with the break-in led to a breakthrough.

It was two choices. Call them monsters and stay angry and blame everything in my life on them. Or I can take this other road. The best thing I could do for Bria is to be an example. Michelle wrote a book, which was made into a TV movie. And she and Bria went on speaking tours to discuss their experience with trauma. A lot of people coming out of this would want to just forget about it, put it behind them, but you and your mom talked openly about it. Yes, and I think it was the best decision for us. We're speaking out about our experience. I was showing people that it's not always the end-all

be-all when something bad happens to you. You can come out of it stronger. And by 2011, she really turned the corner and started enjoying her life again. The girl who had hidden from everything was a high school senior and competitive cheerleader. She loved it. It was her absolute passion. You're thriving. You're living the dream. You said you dreamed of this. You were living the dream. I was. Then, suddenly... Senior year in December, I started feeling a little off. I was dropping things.

Showed up at my work at 6 o'clock, dragging her leg, going, Mommy, something's really wrong. Something's wrong. I don't know what's happening. I said, Mom, something's really wrong. Something's wrong. I don't know what's happening. I said, mom, I'm really scared. They had no idea Rhea was in for the fight of her life. We rushed her to the hospital and they started pricking her leg and she couldn't feel it. And her heart rate started going crazy. Oh my gosh. By 8 p.m. that night, I was paralyzed on my left side, couldn't talk, couldn't swallow, blind in my left eye. We found abnormalities in the brain is all they could tell me that night. It almost sounds like there's that same feeling of helplessness that you had the night that you were held hostage. Completely.

you had the night that you were held hostage? Completely. The next morning, Bria was diagnosed with an acute onset of multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own tissues. Based on the scans, she has tumorfactive MS, which is not only rare in and of itself, but people Bria's age at 18 rarely get MS. Bria says she was told she might never walk or talk again. Just like that. Just like that. My life just ended again. I was 18 trying to go off to college, do cheer in college, and that was never going to happen for me. college, do cheer in college, and that was never going to happen for me. So much of your healing had been talking, and now you couldn't talk? Now I couldn't talk.

What is it? I couldn't feed myself anymore. She had to relearn all of that. Oh, good. But it was as if they'd been training for this for years. Do you think in some way what happened to you when you were seven prepared you for battling MS? Yes, I think it made me strong enough to go through what I went through with MS. It was, here we go again. Here we go again.

Bria would spend six weeks in the hospital. Two to three times a day of physical therapy, occupational therapies, speech therapy. After she could talk again, she turned to me and said, kidnapping was a piece of cake compared to this. Do it again. And just as with the kidnapping, bria wanted to inspire others she wrote her college essay from her hospital room from her wheelchair it is my hope that my college experience and said i'm going to college i'm going to be the first person in my family to graduate college no matter what

i now know that there is no time to waste. Life can change so suddenly. She chronicled her journey on her Facebook page. Bria, I love you. She fought tooth and nail every single day for every single step she took. She walked out of the hospital. This time, it was Michelle doing the cheerleading. Hi, Bria. The rehab started in the hospital, but the real rehab was Michelle. Constantly on her.

We're going to do this. Okay, good job. We were a total team. We just ended up going into full gear. We lived in a house with stairs. Good, that was really good. She couldn't do stairs anymore. So once again, you're out of a home that you've been living in.

Yeah, and I had to become her full-time caregiver for about a year and a half, two years, and rebuilding our life again. Despite the odds, she made it to college. She relapsed three times her first year in college and had to come home, but she did it. She follows in her mom's footsteps. Teaching her how to get her foot to stay on the line. With the tenacity and the never give up philosophy that they have. Lift your knee up. Ready? Go. Bria is walking, talking proof.

So they told you you'd never walk again? Yeah, I would never walk again, never see again, never anything like that. And? I would say I beat the odds. Yet again.

Yes, exactly. But 20 years after their world first came crashing down, they'd be faced with the unimaginable once again. Christopher Butler could be released. It's been over 20 years. What stands out about this case in hindsight? The victims.

From the very beginning, the case hit close to home for prosecutor Tom Manning. The fact that there was a little girl. My daughter was the same age as Bria when this happened. Nearly 20 years later, in June 2020, Christopher Butler was up for parole. He's the one who lied about me. Manning made sure he was at the hearing. And you had a plan going in. I did. He saw a chance to set the record straight by asking Butler about the story he'd told on the stand. I told Michelle if I felt it was right, I was going to go for it. What'd you think about that? Go for it. Ask away. Even though that's risky. It's a little risky. This guy could go to the grave with these lies. The risk paid off.

Butler recanted his whole story, admitting he and Michelle never had a relationship. How did that feel to hear that? Hmm. It's about time. I wanted everybody who ever doubted me to read this parole transcript. I want to blast it all over the internet that there was never, ever a chance that I would ever, ever have been involved

in anything like this, ever. Bria says it's a bittersweet victory for her mom. Feels good, but it's a little too late. You can search my mom's name and it can come up on the internet. You can't take that back. Why does it take him so long to come clean? And it's probably because he had an opportunity to be free.

Even though Butler was unequivocal that Michelle was not involved, he still hasn't really taken responsibility. He blamed his old flame, Lisa Ramirez. But Butler said he was sorry for what he'd put his victims through and even said he'd read Michelle's book more than once. He said some of the passages in your book really got to him. Yeah. On the road trip to Alaska,

I really started to think about what it would be like to try to just understand. Michelle says that's when she started to wonder about the people behind the masks. This is someone's son. This is someone's brother. This is someone's grandson. What happened to them in their life that got them to the point where they thought the only option was to attack a mother and her daughter?

Do you accept Christopher Butler's apology? I do. Yeah, a thousand percent. I appreciate him finally being honest after all this time. I hope he keeps digging deeper. Yeah, I forgave him a long time ago, and I accept his apology. But neither Bria nor Michelle want Butler released. He's already been denied parole twice. The irony isn't lost on Dave.

All he really did is free everybody else. He's held hostage with his life. In a very weird way, I could breathe. I could exhale finally after all this time. While they don't believe Butler has changed his ways, they feel very differently about the other two men who held them hostage. They confessed. They take accountability for what they did. And that's a big thing. Are you actually rooting for these guys to succeed at this point? Yes.

They were younger than what I am now. If they are doing the work, I want nothing but the best for them. Especially Robert Ortiz. At the sentencing, Robert Ortiz is the only one that turned around and looked at me and said, I'm sorry. He mouthed it. They wrote to Ortiz back in 2011 and received a reply nine years later. Out of respect for him, I'm not going to say everything that's in the letter.

I can say that it's beautiful, it's heartfelt, and I can't wait to see where that leads. This is the young man who held a gun to your daughter's head? Yes. And she spoke at his parole hearing in his favor. There's my puppy. We're road tripping.

In the meantime, Michelle has written a follow-up book. So, we're on our way. About the road trip that changed her point of view. Great morning. Really great morning. It is about healing.

Just called nine days, which is how long I was on the road to Alaska. It is possible to forgive. I do believe that through this terrible tragedy, it's possible to see beauty again. That something beautiful was meant to come about. Woo, Alaska! It has built these people into these incredible human beings. And through it all, they say they wouldn't change a thing, even the kidnapping. So if you look back at the last 20 years, what has this journey been about? Raising a remarkable daughter,

it's the best thing I've ever done in my life, is be her mom. It seems like both of you look at this at least a tiny bit as a gift. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I wouldn't change it. It gave us the chance to build the bond that we have today, and it's just gotten stronger.

Yeah. I'm Erin Moriarty, and this is my life of crime. Listen to My Life of Crime from 48 Hours wherever you get your podcasts. I'm here. That's beautiful. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.