Cold Case Files - Secret Twin

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

A young man grapples with memories of an unaccounted for twin sister sparking a conversation with his other sister and eventually an investigation. Sponsors: Hydrow: Head over to Hydrow.com and use code COLDCASE to save up to five hundred dollars! Prolon: Go to Prolonlife.com/coldcase right now for 10% off your 5 day nutrition program. Rosetta Stone: Cold Case Files listeners can get Rosetta Stone’s lifetime membership for 50% off when you go to RosettaStone.com/coldcase ZocDoc: Check out Zocdoc.com/CCF and download the Zocdoc app for free! 

I'm Brett. And I'm Alice. And together we host a weekly true crime podcast called The Prosecutors. In every episode, we bring our unique perspective as full-time prosecutors to the most famous and debated true crime mysteries. Whether it's Maura Murray, Scott Peterson, or the Delphi murders, Brett and I dig deep to bring you details you won't hear anywhere else. Our podcast is about more than just a story. We will walk you through the legal problems lurking behind every case, breaking down the complexities of the criminal justice system

with humor and a personal touch. And it's not just true crime. We bring the same training and approach we've learned as prosecutors to classic mysteries like the Dyatlov Pass incident and the ghost ship Mary Celeste. So if you're looking for a true crime podcast with a different point of view, The Prosecutors is the one for you. Find us wherever you get your podcasts. This episode contains stories involving violence against children.

Listener discretion is advised. I told her I was looking for a lost child. She said, there's no children here. All my children are grown. I started walking towards her bedroom. She immediately chased after me and grabbed me. In New York, where closet space is at a premium, you're hiding the one closet in your bedroom. It's not a normal thing to do.

Turn the knob and open the door. You see a large chest wrapped in plastic. From A&E, this is Cold Case Files, the podcast. In 1981, in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, a 39-unit walk-up doubles as a prison of sorts. Its inmates are sister and brother, aged 10 and 5. Their names, Sabrina and Andre Carmichael. We weren't even allowed to go outside and have normal childhood life, play with kids or have visitors over to the house. That was not allowed. It was in hell. You was always scared

that if you did something or you moved something, you was going to get hit. Andre and Sabrina live in apartment 4A with their brother Gregory, age 19, and their mother Madeline, a woman who rules her home with her fists. That's how it was, and it's kept on every day. Every day, simple stuff as, you know, like, maybe getting out of your bed, not making up your bed, standing and getting talked to, you got punched in the face, hit with a belt or a stanchion cord or a stick. As the children grow older, the beatings get worse.

Access to the outside world increasingly less. In the autumn of Andre's ninth year, something unusual happens. He leaves the apartment and spends the day with his aunt. During his visit, Andre's aunt inquires about his sister. She said, where's your sister? I always manly thought she was talking about my sister Sabrina. She said, oh no, that's Sabrina. I'm talking about your other sister, your twin. I said, twin? And she said, yeah, you got a twin. If Andre has a twin, it's the first he has heard of it. When he gets back home, the nine-year-old asks his mother for details.

I said, Mom, I got something to ask you, you know. And I said, do I have a twin? She turned to me, gave me such a harsh look, and turned her head back. That night, Andre takes a brutal beating and learns an important lesson. If he is to survive his childhood, it's better to stay quiet about his twin. Still, the seed has been planted and jagged pieces of memory begin to surface. Memories like flashes of two babies

sitting on the floor playing with toys, both in pampers. I didn't understand. It kept on getting stronger and stronger as I got older. The beatings of Andre continue. By age 12, he has been taken from his mother by child services and shuffled through a series of foster homes. A year later, on his 13th birthday,

Andre has dinner with his mother. Now a bit older and braver, Andre asks a second time about his twin. She paused, took a deep breath, and she started off saying, "'Why I tell you like this, little boy? "'I know somebody who sit like you, "'smile like you, and act like you, "'and that's all I want to tell you like this, little boy. I know somebody who'd sit like you, smile like you, and act like you,

and that's all I'm going to tell you. I will tell you when you get old enough. Ten years later, in the fall of 1999, Andre Carmichael has a wife and two-year-old daughter. The boy has grown into a man, but remains haunted by childhood memories. Memories of a twin he might have had, but never knew. One day, Andre sits down with his sister Sabrina, now 28, and for the first time tells her about the memories. It's a conversation Sabrina has been dreading since she was eight. these memories so many years and he's asking me these questions and I felt I could no longer hold this no more. I had to tell him the truth because if I didn't nobody would. As brother and sister sit across from each other Sabrina divulges a childhood memory 20 years old. And I began to

tell him yes you do have a sister but she died years ago and I told him what I witnessed. In 1979, Sabrina was eight years old and Andre three. According to Sabrina, she watched one day as their mother fed Andre's twin sister. Then Andre's twin became sick and began to vomit. The child enraged their mother and their older brother Gregory, who was then 16. That is when they started to hit the child. They hit her and hit her and hit her till she fell unconscious. My mom tried to perform CPR and my mom and brother were so unsuccessful. Sabrina tells Andre their mother and older brother placed the child's body in a trash bag and packed it away in a footlocker. The makeshift casket was then placed into the family closet and left undisturbed through

the remainder of their childhood. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't know how to react. Everything inside me, like rage, sadness and everything. I'm like, not my mother. Andre Carmichael knows there's only one course of action open to him. It was either I'm going to tell the cops and get in trouble if this is not true, or if it's true, my mother's going to get in trouble.

Andre calls the New York Police Department and explains he has a story of murder to tell. The victim is his twin sister, and the killers, his own family. We all know there are things in life you have to compromise on, like grabbing food on the go instead of taking the time to eat something fresh. But when it comes to your health, there is no compromise. So don't choose a doctor just because no one else is available when you need them or because you can only find one doctor who takes your insurance. Instead, check out ZocDoc, the place where you can find and book doctors who will make you feel comfortable, listen to you, and prioritize your health.

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Andre is not sure if his memories are real or imagined, but is determined to discover the truth. But as the years went on, I felt that the one big thing that kept on messing with me was that vision. At age 23, Andre sits down with his older sister, Sabrina, and for the first time,

asks her if he ever had a twin sister. She tells him that he did, that she was murdered in 1979 when Andre was three and Sabrina eight. And I told him what I witnessed. I witnessed my mom and older brother beating on my sister too. She felt unconscious. It felt like one part of my heart was gone. I only had one half of it and this is how I felt. So it was motivation to me. Andre Carmichael had a vision. Now he has a purpose.

To find justice for his twin, even if it means putting his mother and brother behind bars. Shoehorned into a corner of the 84th Precinct is the Brooklyn Cold Case Squad. Here, detectives work cases that were once deemed unsolvable. Vito Spano heads up the unit. One of their best tools is time and a restless conscience. Maybe somebody has a problem with their conscience is bothering them, but they come forward and give information on a homicide that occurred. And we'll look at this information to try to see if we can make the case go forward. On October 13th, 1999, Brooklyn's cold unit gets just such a tip. Andre Carmichael and his sister Sabrina call in with

their story of murder. I'm on the phone with the detectives. I was going in and they asked me, are you sure about this? You know, they thought I was like making up this story or thought I was crazy or something. Dan D'Alessandro has been a New York detective for more than a decade and seen his share of crackpots. D'Alessandro has doubts about Andre and Sabrina's story, but agrees to a meeting. After sitting down with Andre and Sabrina, mostly, you saw the dedication or the commitment that she told the story in, and you knew that, you know, this wasn't a made-up story. This wasn't just

some kook on the street. Here we have two people telling us that their sister was killed and that the mother had kept the body in the closet for 20 years. D'Alessandro opens up a file on the Carmichael case, but has virtually nothing to put in it. Since no crime was ever reported, there are no old case reports, no crime scene photos, no original witness statements. In fact, there is no proof the alleged deceased ever existed at all. We really had to work the homicide backwards. You know, most times you have a body, you know, and now you have to go out to find the witness.

Now we have witnesses, we have to go out and find the body. That in itself isn't enough. We can't just go knock on Madeline Carmichael's door and say, we're coming in to look. You know, we have to have enough probable cause to get a warrant. Before he can make a case for murder, D'Alessandro must establish his victim was actually alive.

He begins with the brownstone in which Madeline Carmichael lives. D'Alessandro rattles doorknobs, talks to neighbors, and the building super. Some people remember Sabrina and Andre. No one, however, remembers a third child the twin detectives believe was murdered. D'Alessandro decides it's time to head downtown to the New York City Department of Vital Records.

There, he finds a birth certificate for Andre Carmichael, born to Madeline Carmichael on February 27, 1976. Also listed in the birth records for that day, a second child, Andre's twin and D'Alessandro's murder victim. Her name, LaTanisha. Now we had proof that LaTanisha actually did exist and we had a name. The next step is to see what had happened to her now. So we try to get some health records. D'Alessandro heads to Midtown to to New York's Social Service and Welfare Records. When the detective plugs LaTanisha Carmichael's name into the system, he discovers her mother had been receiving welfare benefits on LaTanisha's behalf through 1988,

nine years after LaTanisha Carmichael was allegedly murdered. Either Andre and Sabrina are mistaken about their sister's death, or their mother murdered LaTanisha and then collected welfare benefits as if she were still alive. D'Alessandro continues his search. The next step would be, what else does a child do? I had young children myself. I know that my children go to doctors. So now I'm trying to get medical records. I see that there are medical records for Andre, but there are no medical records for Latanisha. D'Alessandro sifts through grammar and preschool registration records, but finds no evidence Latanisha enrolled.

He asks local jurisdictions in other states to check their databases for a Latanisha Carmichael. Again, nothing. Increasingly confident that Latanisha was born and died within the first few years of life, D'Alessandro obtains a warrant to search the home of Madeline Carmichael. What he hopes to find?

Andre's twin sister, murdered when she was three and entombed in the Brooklyn apartment for 20 years. Now that my kids are back in school after spring break, I really want to make an effort to look after myself and get into shape for summer. And that's exactly what I'm doing now that I have a hydro rower. It's my go-to for the ultimate full-body workout. I mean, it's designed by rowers.

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Madeline Carmichael. The probability was 50% that the body would still be there. We didn't doubt the fact that Latanisha was killed or murdered. We doubted the fact that the woman would hold the body for over 20 years. At a little after 8 p.m., D'Alessandro knocks on Madeline Carmichael's front door and asks to come in. I told her I was looking for a lost child. Madeline said, there's no children here.

All my children are grown. I told Madeline that we're looking for a lost child. Madeline said, there's no children here. All my children are grown. I told Madeline that we're looking for Latanisha. She said, Latanisha is a 23-year-old woman. I haven't seen her in years. And I told her, well, I have reason to believe that she's here. We escorted her to her kitchen where she sat down. At that time, I started walking towards her bedroom and she immediately chased after me and grabbed me.

D'Alessandro and his team gather in Madeline Carmichael's bedroom and begin taking snapshots. It's a very crowded bedroom. There's two sets of bunk beds lining the walls, covering both the windows. I believe there was a dresser in between those two sets of bunk beds. There's shelves all the way up to the ceiling with items on them. One thing that catches D'Alessandro's eye, a freestanding armoire placed in front of a built-in closet, sealing it off altogether. In New York, where closet space is at a premium, you're hiding the one closet in your bedroom. It's not a normal thing to do. It's very unusual to see. Detectives move the armoire aside and find the closet's single door shut tight.

Stuck between the door's hinges, sticks of incense, a mask for any odor that might creep out from inside. The team takes pictures of the door and then cracks it open. It was just, had the one hash block on it, which we opened. You know, opened, turned the knob and open the door and as soon as we do you see a large chest wrapped in plastic inside this empty closet with some camphor sticks or mothball sticks hanging above it on the rod no clothing and I believe some children's toys were on top and we we knew that this was a, you know, a tomb for Latanisha. Tucked inside a footlocker under newspapers dated 1979 are the mummified remains of Latanisha Carmichael. Detectives remove the body and transport it to the medical

examiner's office for an official autopsy. Madeline Carmichael is arrested, taken into police custody, and charged with murder. Ama Jamal is a prosecutor for the Brooklyn DA's office and is assigned to try Madeline Carmichael for LaTanisha's murder. Also implicated in the death is Carmichael's oldest son, Gregory. For Jamal, this is the crime of a mother against her child and will be prosecuted as such. Madeline Carmichael, she had a vested interest in maintaining this secret. She knew what she had done. She'd committed murder. She knew she concealed that body. She had to maintain the secret. By maintaining the secret, she maintained her freedom, if you will, because she would never be held

responsible or accountable. Central to Jumeau's case, powerful physical evidence, including a footlocker fashioned into a coffin and brought into the courtroom for the judge to see. I still recall the stench that was in the courtroom that permeated and it was like the odor of death and it was a reminder of what this case was all about. You see, it wasn't some ghoulish skeleton. It was a little girl. The judge also listens to testimony from Andre and Sabrina, what they remember of LaTanisha and how they suffered at the hands of their mother. After two weeks of testimony, the judge returns a verdict. Madeline Carmichael is convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Her son Gregory is also convicted of criminally negligent homicide.

Two years after the verdict, Madeline Carmichael dies in prison from cancer. For her daughter and son, it is a moment of passage, one life ending, the memory of a second reborn and celebrated. We want to give our sister a life that she didn't have on this earth. Just let the world know that, look, my sister exists, this is what happened, and hopefully nobody won't fall in that footstep again

of doing that to their child. I hope our story can save a child that maybe somebody is abusing. She was living. She was a human being. You know, people would know I was telling the truth. So I say in some ways, yeah, justice will serve. I felt that it was the right thing to do. Dan D'Alessandro has worked a lot of homicides.

Few, however, can rival what he found inside a 39-unit walk-up in Brooklyn, where a mother murdered her child and turned an apartment into a tomb. In the cold cases, you find that as years go by, people feel that murder is behind them. People that are going to hide and come out. You know, and the best thing about it is, you know, when you have a successful conclusion, you can't get away with murder. Sooner or later, you're going to pay a price. Cold Case Files is hosted by Marissa Pinson, produced by Jeff DeRay, and distributed by Podcast One. The Cold Case Files TV series was produced by Curtis Productions and hosted by Bill Curtis.

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