Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - GIRL, 2, DIES IN SCORCHING CAR WHILE DOCTOR'S HUSBAND SURFS PORN, GUZZLES SHOPLIFTED BEER

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

Christopher Scholtes runs errands, then heads inside once he's home just before 1pm.   He leaves his two-year-old daughter in the running car in the driveway with the air conditioner on. Scholtes has a habit of leaving the children in the car alone and knows from previous experience his Acura MDX will automatically shut off the engine and air conditioner after 30 minutes.   Wife, Dr Erika Scholtes arrives home around 4pm and sees husband Chris and their two older daughters ages 9 and 5, but doesn't see Parker. Chris begins looking in all the rooms of the house, then suddenly runs outside. The outside temperature is 109 degrees when 2-year-old Parker  is removed from the vehicle unresponsive, strapped in her child restraint system   Chris Scholtes calls 911 as Dr Erika Scholtes performs CPR on her daughter.   Parker is transported to the same hospital her mother works as an anesthesiologist, Banner University Medical Center.  At 4:58pm,  Parker is pronounced dead. Christopher Scholtes is charged with child abuse and second degree murder. 6 months before his trial is to start, Scholtes is offered a plea deal from prosecutors that would require him to plead guilty to second-degree murder, but he would be sentenced to no more than 10 years in prison. Scholtes turns it down. Days before his trial is to start, a shocking announcement, Scholtes agrees to plead guilty.  The Pima County Attorney's office says he will face 20 to 30 years behind bars and is ineligible for parole.  Joining Nancy Grace today: Josh Kolsrud - Criminal Defense Attorney and Former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Founder of Kolsrud Law Offices, kolsrudlawoffices.com, Facebook and YouTube @KolsrudLawOffices   Dr. Bethany Marshall  - Psychoanalyst, Author: "Deal Breake,”  featured in hit show: "Paris in Love" on Peacock, www.drbethanymarshall.com , Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, Twitter: @DrBethanyLive   Chris McDonough -  Director,  Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective,  Host of YouTube channel, "The Interview Room”,  www.coldcasefoundation.org/chris-mcdonough  Dr. Kendall Crowns  - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), NEW Podcast "Mayhem in the morgue" Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University)  Erika Wurst - Public Safety Reporter for the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson.com, EMAIL: [e-mail] Dave Mack - Investigative Reporter, ‘Crime Stories’  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. A little girl, just two years old, bakes dead, dies in a scorching hot car while daddy, the doctor's husband, is inside in the air condition, surfing porn and guzzling shoplifted beer. Okay, what? I said that correctly. I'm sure that I did.

A female doctor's husband, they have money to buy beer, is guzzling shoplifted beer and surfing porn while his two-year-old daughter strapped in a car seat facing the sun directly bakes dead in a car while mommy is at work I'm Nancy Grace this is crime stories I want to thank you for being with us in a shocking incident an Arizona father

left his two-year-old daughter in a car as temperature soared to a deadly 109 degrees resulting in a heartbreaking tragedy just imagine the heat in Arizona when little Parker is strapped in her car taking a nap for what, three, four hours? While dad claims he's playing games, turns out he's surfing porn, guzzling, shoplifted beer. One thing I found very effective when trying cases is to start the case off right, and that is taking the jury to the moment of the incident, whatever that is,

might be with a 9-1-1 call. The real thing, the unvarnished truth, the unedited, unfiltered reality? Let's listen. 911. 911. What's the address? What's going on? My baby was in the car. She had responses. Okay, hold on.

I'm going to turn and see the medical dispatch. Stay on the lines. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. She fell off like it is. It was, but it turns off. I've been checking. My God.

She was in the car sleeping. She's unresponsive. Okay. And who is she? Please, please. My daughter. My daughter. And this is that in the driveway?

Yes. Dr. Erica Schultz arrives home around 4 p.m. and sees husband Chris and two daughters, ages 9 and 5, but doesn't see Parker. Chris begins looking in all the rooms of the house and suddenly runs outside. The acura and the driveway is off. The air conditioner is off. The outside temperature is 109 degrees when two-year-old Parker is removed from the vehicle unresponsive strapped in her child restraint system.

Hold on because I'm hearing two people speaking to the 911 dispatch operator. I hear a man and a woman. And I hear the man saying, oh my God, oh my God. I hear the woman saying, how long is it being? And the man says, an hour. The woman says, you didn't have the car on? It was, but it turns off right there. I'm looking down because I'm reading verbatim what was said on that 911 call.

Right there. The dad acknowledges he knows that car, that type of car, that making model turns off after 30 minutes. The engine turns off and so does the air condition. He knew that when he went inside. to watch porn. Yeah, listen. Is she still breathing? No, she's not breathing right now. Okay, we need to start CPR right now.

Yes, we are. We're out of CPR, yes. The help is on the way to you. I need to hear CPR. I need them to count it out for me. One, two, three, three. My wife's a doctor. My wife's a doctor. She's home. Okay. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Christopher Schultes returns home from running errands and realizes his two-year-old daughter, Parker,

is asleep in her car seat, leaves her in the running car with the air conditioner on. What in the world? Straight out to Dr. Bethany Marshall, renowned psychoanalyst, joining us out of L.A. You can see her now on Peacock, and she is the author of Deal Breaker. She's at Dr. Bethany Marshall.com. Wow, Daddy has been living a good life. All he has to do is watch porn and drink beer. Wait a minute. While mom's out working, she's the doctor, she's making the living. Fine. My mom made a living too. My dad also worked. But all he has to do, but can I see Bethany please? Bethany. All he has is one job. And granted, it's a big job, the most important job. Forget the doctor. The job of raising the three girls and

ensuring their safety day in, day out. That's his job. He has one thing to do. Does he have to cook a gourmet meal at night? No. Does he have to clean the house? No. One job. One thing. And he didn't do it.

Nancy, you know, I have not treated or evaluated this guy, but if this family was my patient, I would wonder a couple of things. First of all, did this guy have children so that he didn't have to work? Sometimes people hide behind children. They have them to avoid responsibility. What about the shoplifted beef? is he shoplifting beer because he knows he's not supposed to drink and if he buys it and has a receipt or it's on a credit card his wife is going to find out and then finally that pornography nancy you know pornography addiction is such a problem when men and sometimes women but mostly men watch pornography they try to delay ejaculation as long as possible they do not use it for immediate masturbatory purposes and because of that once they start watching pornography it can go on for hours and hours and hours.

So this guy knew that once he started watching, he was not going to stop in a short period of time. Bethany, look at your screen right there. There is Schultes, aka Doctor's Hubby. There he is. There's. He's got the beer. Whoa, whoa, what?

Did he go in the bathroom? He went in the bathroom. I guess it stuck it down his pants and out he goes. Hey, Dave Mack joining me, investigative reporter with crime stories. Dave is the stealing the beer. Oh, by the way, that video is from our friends over at cases we follow on YouTube. Dave, is he stealing the beer the same day that Parker dies in the car? It is the exact same day. That's how they pulled the surveillance footage and were able to build a timeline for him. Okay, that leads me to a

whole other thing. You know what, Dr. Bethany, let me go to Josh Colesru, a criminal defense attorney, former assistant U.S. attorney and founder of Coles Rood law offices. That's quite a mouthful, Coles Rood. Let's see him. Coles Rude, this leads me to where are the children while he's inside shoplifting beer? Out in the parking lot waiting to get kidnapped? Well, you know, the father in this case certainly failed at his duties. Now, you know, what we want to do, though, is really look at what's going on with,

with, you know, try to take a motion out of this. You know, so we, we have somebody who certainly is not good at being a father. Now, though, wait, excuse me. I think I just choked because of you, not good at being a father. I've got him on video going into shoplift beer, stuffing it down his pants, in the bathroom. Where are the children sitting out in the car? in the heat again just before. And you say he's not good.

Is that a little bit of an understatement? Yes. You know, not good. He's a failure as a father. And that is true to see for everybody there. It's inexcusable and it's indefensible. You know, having your children in the car, especially when you're shoplifting,

it really goes to show not only negligence, but criminal conduct. He stole the beer at 12. 12.07. Just imagine stuffing a cold one down your pants. He gets home at 1253 and leaves the daughter in the car. This one, he says, is dozing off with the car seat on and he wants to let her sleep. That's his story. So he takes his beer and goes inside, leaving her outside. And you say, quote, he's not a good father. Is that a tiny bit of an understatement, Coles Rude? No, I think that it's not. You know, this isn't a case where a father did something out of hatred or greed or even that he intended something bad to happen.

This was simply a father who was distracted, not only in what he was doing in the moment, but also through his arrogance. And because of that, you know, we obviously know the result in this case, but it isn't more than that. And we shouldn't make it into something that it's not. This is simply a father who, through neglect and his own arrogance failed at his basic duties, nothing more than that. Let me just clear something up. Erica Wurst is joining me with the, she's the public safety reporter. for the Arizona Daily Star at Tucson.com.

Erica, thank you for being with us. Erica, we just heard Josh Coles Rood state that this was just a case of dad being negligent. Erica, let me do a lightning round with you so we can establish the actual facts in this case, not the wonderland that Josh Coles Rood would like us to believe to enter in and get lost. Erica, yes, no. Isn't it true that the dad in this case, Chris Schultes, drives home from the liquor store? Correct. Yes, no?

Correct. Then he goes in with his beer, leaving his daughter, pictured here, two-year-old Parker in the car strapped in, unable to get out. Is that true, Erica Worst? Absolutely correct. He opens the door of the home. He goes back to his computer, claiming that he... is playing games while his other two girls go somewhere else in the home and he begins to surf porn and drink beer right yes no yes absolutely crime stories with

Nancy Grace Cole's Rude you see one intentional act after the next how are you coming up with the defense of negligence. It just, quote, happened through no one's fault. He has one intentional act after the next. That's intentional. That is not negligence. Well, you know, the way that the case was charged with child abuse and first degree murder, you know, you have to prove that he intentionally committed the act.

And if you look at his actions, you don't see the motive or intent to cause the death. You certainly see recklessness that he was aware of the harm and he disregarded the harm and forgot what time it was. And by the time he realized what happened, unfortunately, his daughter had passed away. That's not intentional. That is recklessness. And you can see that he had previous instances where he's done this before, right? So he was aware of the danger and he disregarded the danger by being on the porn website and playing the PlayStation. Coltrude, do I look like I just fell off the turnip truck?

no you certainly don't but i i do know that you're reasonable that was a yes no and you care about it's and murd um calls rude that was a yes no um calls rude isn't it true under the law the law presumes we intend the natural consequence of our act in other words if i pick up a beautiful thin, fragile China plate, and I throw it to a cement floor. The law presumes that I intend to break it. The law presumes we intend the natural consequence of our act. Isn't that true? I respectfully disagree. You know, context matters. And here what we have is a father. You want me to read the black and white Arizona law to you? Can you not admit that that is the law? in Arizona.

There is a different mens rea for every crime on the statute book. Not all of them are intentional. Many are a lesser mens rea, which is what you intended to happen or were reckless about, right? So here you can either be reckless, knowing, intentional, or willful. Those are four different states of mind. You're talking about just one of them, intentional. But here, the actions speak of recklessness that he knew of the danger and he disregarded that danger by his distraction and arrogance. That context matters.

There's nothing in the motive here that says that he intended for this act to happen. There's no hatred. There's no greed. There's nothing of that sort. Okay. I see where you're going, Coles Rui, but now you have forced me. to read the black and white letter of the Arizona law. I thought you would concede that that is the law, but let me read it. In Arizona law, a person is considered to intend a natural

and probable consequence of their act. Okay. So, you leave a child in the car, Chris McDonough, the heat, the temperature on that day was 109 degrees. outside and you know the car temperature vastly increases in a stifling hot enclosed car indirect sun so have you ever heard of like serial killers when they're little they'll take a magnifying glass and put it on an insect and they burn it dead they know what's going to happen right you've heard of that correct yes absolutely Okay. God bless you for a single syllable answer. So, McDonough, leaving a child in 109 degree outside strapped in a car with the windows up,

what do you assume the natural consequence would be? 100% death, evident of the fact that he didn't leave his family dog in the car. The child is an inconvenience for this. I mean, he goes earlier at the heat of the day between 12 noon and 2 p.m. In the middle of July, where the highest temperature in that area is 115 degrees, he steals a beer, brings the child home, and leaves her in the car. If that's not intent, I don't know what is. Under the law also, thank you for schooling. The veteran defense attorney, he's tried a lot.

lot of cases, Josh Coles Rood. I'm afraid to open his mic, but I'm going to go out on a limb. Josh Coles Rood, isn't it true that murder one can be proven under the theory of the abandoned and malignant heart? Example, there's a street festival, and I get in my beat-up minivan, and I sit on the break, and at the same time, I gas it, and I take off at 100 MPH through that festival, and I mow down several people and kill them. That is an abandoned, malignant heart, abandoned to the suffering of others, and that can equal murder one. It is a theory that supports murder one. Abandoned and malignant heart.

Isn't that true? Well, context matters, and what you're talking about is circumstantial evidence. So, you know, let's look at the circumstantial evidence to determine what, the defendant's state of mind is. So we know that he was drinking and that he was aware of the risk, that the car's air conditioning was shut off after 30 minutes, and this had happened before. And he left his daughter in the car so he could go look at porn and play on his PlayStation and allegedly play games with his other kids. And during that time, he lost track of time. There's no evidence that he intended for this act to occur or that he had some.

Okay. Back to my question. If I can get us back in the middle of the road, I was prepared for this. I'm ready for you. I looked up the law so I could read it to you again verbatim out of Arizona. Abandoned malignant heart is a legal concept known as depraved heart murder. It is implied malice and a basis for murder in Arizona. It is a killing that results from extreme indifference to human life, even though defendant did not specifically intend to kill.

So, that said, there are three lines, three avenues under which the state can get a murder conviction. One, the law presumes you intend the natural consequence of your act. the plate of China to the cement floor. Number two, abandoned and malignant heart. He did something with such extreme indifference to the life of his daughter that it results in a murder charge. And three, felony murder. That is when a death occurs during the commission of a felony. The felony here would be child neglect. A death occurred during child neglect. Now, I know what you're about to do, you're about to throw some contextual argument at me. But I know for a fact that those three theories of murder apply to this case. I'm not arguing he intended to kill his daughter when he

slammed the door. I'm not arguing that. I don't believe that's true, but I believe all of the other three avenues to murder fit Schultes. Well, those three theories may or may not work in front of a jury. But what does matter is circumstantial evidence because in order to prove that he had some malignant intent or that this is a felony murder, you have to really delve into his motivation. What was he doing at the time that this happened? He was drinking.

He was distracted by watching porn, playing on the PlayStation, and, playing with his other children. You know, there's no indication. He wasn't playing with them. He sent them to another room so he could watch porn. You know, naked ladies. Okay, we're, she's coffee. She's stopping.

Oh, that's compressing. Oh, my God, baby. CPR is still going on. Yeah, CPR still going on. Okay. You're going to perform that until the units arrive and take over for you. Baby. Thanks.

Baby, baby, baby. The child's mother returned home to a scene of unimaginable grief, after being trapped in the sweltering vehicle for over three hours. So, Daddy has the other two girls at a trampoline part with friends. friends. Okay. So they're at a kind of a jumpy house type thing. And it's our understanding that that trampoline park is indoors in an air-conditioned facility where literally the floors are all trampolines. Okay. So the two older children, five and nine are there. He only has to take care of one child. One. Okay. Welcome back, everybody. Daddy, under suspicion in the death of his two-year-old

little girl Parker. Daddy's inside drinking stolen beer and watching porn while this child dies out in a baking hot car. Listen. Shultas calls 911 as Erica performs CPR on her daughter. When responders arrived, the temperature is 109 degrees and Parker is transported to Banner University Medical Center, 458 p.m. Two-year-old Parker pronounced dead. The medical examiner says the temperature inside the car was 108.9 degrees when first responders arrived, confirming she died of heat exposure. How hot does it get in a car when the tip is 109 outside? Watch this. So let's start a timer and let's see exactly how hot it gets in here. I'm at five minutes in. It is unbelievably hot in here. We're nearing 100 degrees already. And I'm at five minutes in. It is unbelievably hot in here. We're nearing

100 degrees already and I can tell you that it is stifling in here. Okay, I'm at 15 minutes now and it's about 110 in my car. The temperature right now is about 115. What I really wanted to set out to do is see how I felt to be left in a parked car. He's talking about a pet in a parked car, not a child, but the physics, the law, the law of nature applies, and that is from our friend Dr. Ernie Ward. Joining us now, Dr. Kendall Crowns, he is a renowned chief medical examiner in Tarrant County, that's Fort Worth, never a lack of business in the morgue there. He's the esteemed lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, and he is the star of a hit

podcast series, Mayhem in the Morg. Dr. Kindle Crowns, uh, control room, could you show me a picture of two-year-old Parker? Every time I look at her, I think of my twins at age two, age two. While we look at Parker, Dr. Kendall Crowns, could you explain what happens to a child in a stifling hot car temp outside 109? Certainly. So when a child's left in a car that it's at a high temperature of 109, their bodies heat up about three to five times faster than an adult. So within minutes, they're already starting to sweat, and then their body becomes overwhelmed, and they start feeling dizzy, they start having headaches, and begin vomiting.

At about a temperature of 104, when the core body temperature of the child reaches 104, they're starting to really feel the signs of heat stroke, and they're beginning to go even further. passing out, going into a coma at about a body temperature of 107, their entire organ systems begin to fail and shut down. They go into a coma and die. So it takes a matter of minutes, especially in a temperature of 109, for a child to go from normal to fatal. And it'd probably be about 20 minutes tops. When they endure that, Dr. Kendall Crowns, what does the child lived through because in a case that we went to the courtroom and watched gabble to gabble Justin Ross Harris baby Cooper died in a hot car while he was inside his workplace at Home Depot corporate texting sexting with underage

women and other women baby Cooper died in the car and I recall distinctly that his His head was scratched in the back, and I think across his neck, but I'm sure the back of the head where he was banging it, banging it against his car seat trying to get out and trying to breathe. So that tells me, Dr. Kendall Crowns, that the child doesn't just pass out and die. like they told us in Brian Coburger that the four Idaho students went to sleep and they woke up in heaven. That's not at all what happened. Kiela Gonzalez was stabbed like 30 times in the face alone.

So I know the child is awake based on what baby Cooper's body revealed. And the way you said it, it just gets hot and they die. That's not what happens, Dr. Kendall Crowns. Well, that is, I agree with you. That is not what happens. And I did say that there is a time period between the initial beginning of the heat stroke where the child is feeling hot, sweating, having to breathe in this hot air and begins to become confused, dizzy, starts vomiting. And eventually, after several minutes, we'll pass out and then go into a coma and die. But that time period between the beginning and the coma is a very difficult time period with the sweating. the vomiting, the dizziness, and it can even result in a seizure at some point. Kids strapped into their car seat, they can't unbuckle themselves. So they'll be. When you were in a hot car, it feels like there's air in there, but it feels like you can't breathe.

It's because the heated air actually makes your mucosa of your mouth and your airway kind of swell and become a deminous, and it's almost burning your airway to breathe in this hot so it's uncomfortable. Dr. Kendall Crowns, in preparation for tonight's show, yesterday I sat out in the car, and I turned it off and let the windows were already up and sat there in the sun. And it got harder and harder to breathe.

And up here, I knew there was air in the car, but it didn't feel that way. It felt like all the air had been such. out of the car. How does that happen? It's your body's reaction to the heat and it's starting to decompensate because of the heat, you're sweating and you're slowly becoming dehydrated and your organs are starting to shut down because the elevated temperature eventually would cause you to go into multi-organ failure and die. Schultes claims he was putting up groceries and got distracted playing video games on PlayStation. Investigators find out he was drinking beer and watching porn on

the internet while his older daughters nine and five are playing nearby. Joining us, Erica Worst, a public safety reporter with the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson.com. Erica, so at the beginning, he lied. He said that he was putting away groceries and playing PlayStation. Yeah, he said he was home way after he actually got home, and that was caught on neighbor's security cameras. Oh, she was not in there for 30 to 45 minutes, and they were able to prove that she was in there for hours based on hit lies, which they were absolutely able to prove we're lies. Christopher Schultes and the father failed to rescue his daughter from the scorching car, reportedly consumed by video games and explicit online content.

Police immediately, as you just heard, Eric Corridor. worst from the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson.com report. Police were first told, and you hear him saying this in the 911 call, he's already saying this in the 911 call, that baby Parker was only in the car for minutes, minutes, but based on security cam from neighbors' videos, their ring cams, their surveillance videos, he was actually in the home for hours, and he knew the video. He knew the vehicle cut off the engine and, ergo, the air conditioner, both cut off after 30 minutes. Investigators began creating a timeline. Shultus tells them he got home 2.30 p.m. and Parker was asleep in the car. Surveillance footage shows Shultus did not arrive home at

2.30 as he claims he got home at 12.53 p.m. Shultas is seen walking into the house alone and not coming back out again until after his wife gets home at 408 p.m. when Shultz is seen running out to the car running but too late i want you to see daddy i don't know when i compare him to my dad he really doesn't deserve that title christopher shultus speaking on body cam to police so any death we have to treat like a crime scene i know this is extremely difficult for you This is a normal process that we have to follow through with. I don't want you to be blindsided by anything, but that's what's going to be going on for right now, okay?

So I'm being treated like a murderer? No. I just lost my face. Not at all. And I know this isn't easy for you. That's why I'm trying to be straightforward and honest with you, okay? I don't want to keep any secrets. I don't want to hide anything for you.

Someone's going to talk to you about what happened, though. All right? Quote, so I'm being treated like a murderer and he starts crying because he's being treated like a murderer. Josh Coles Rood, don't you hate it when your clients are caught completely self-absorbed? Well, this is a situation where a father is dealing in grief. I think we can all see that. He just lost a two-year-old daughter, and he's reacting like somebody who loves his child. He's not acting like somebody who intended for this to happen.

And, you know, there is an element here of mercy. You know, justice demands accountability, but it also demands a dose of mercy. And we're looking at human emotion, at its most. raw form uh and you know what would you expect a father to do or act like if he lost what you mean the father that's getting himself some cold water out of the fridge right there that father he probably doesn't even know that he's doing that he's lost in grief which is what you would expect for somebody who truly loved their daughter uh you're not seeing crocodile tears here you're seeing genuine emotion and love for

somebody. I see him genuinely get himself a glass of cold water on ice out of the fridge after his daughter just thirsted in the heat in the car. Yeah, okay, fill her up. And that ain't all. Listen. You will keep you up there. We're going to do it. My whole family, like my whole family is going to be ruined. We're going to be right. So we can't let you do that right now. We have to stand by with you. Okay. As soon as you can, we'll let you know. You stay in the room if you want, but I'm going to have that possible.

I know this isn't easy for you, but the quicker we get this done and finished out, the sooner you can be with your wife, all right? I'm trying to turn it off so I can go to the hospital to me with my wife. We're not going to shower anything right now. You need to stand by with us. I don't understand why. Dr. Bethany Marshall, help me. He's saying, I have to get to my wife at the hospital, but first, I'm going to luxuriate

a hot shower. What? This isn't fitting together for me. Now, I'm just a trial lawyer. You're the shrink. You're the renowned psychoanalyst out of L.A. What is going on? He's fighting about taking a shower?

Parker is not a real person to him. He stuck her in the car so he could walk. watched pornography while the other girls wore away at a trampoline party. That's what he wanted to do. He itified her. He treated her like she was an it. I have watched all the police surveillance. And what I noticed, he does not get upset until they say it's a crime scene.

Prior to that, he looks panicked, not sad. Getting into the shower is to kind of pull himself together to go to the hospital. If your baby died, you would be rushing out the door. You would be saying to the police officers, take me in the car now. I'm going to run to the hospital if you will not put me in the car. He is taking time to pull himself together, which tells me that he's very self-referential. Hold on. Wait a minute.

Dr. Bethany, I have a question, which may bear on what you're saying. Erica was joining us, Arizona Daily Star. Erica wasn't Baby Parker pronounced dead. at the hospital? Yeah. So Dave Matt, Crime Stories, investigative reporter,

is it possible that he wanted to take a shower before Parker had even been declared dead? Nancy, he actually gets a phone call from, or a text from Erica,

and that's when he tells the police, my wife wants me at the hospital. I'm guessing, based on the fact that he didn't start screaming my daughter's dead, he actually is, You know, he says, I got to get a shower.

I got to rinse off before I go to my wife at the hospital. I need to be there with her. But look at him. He's not focused on anything except himself. And the police are going, he's trying to wash off evidence. Oh, okay. I was wondering about the desire to wash. Chris McDonough, I've seen it in gunshot cases where the defendant can't wait.

He suddenly has to go to the bathroom or take a shower to get that GSR gunshot residue off his hands, which you can do really easily with tap water. But here, I was trying to figure out, why is he so hell bit on taking a shower? His wife and daughter are at the hospital. What's with the hot shower? Yeah, I think Dave may be on to something here. Is there something else that we're just not aware of? But he is in his mind.

And talk about malignant intent, right? The one question, where's Parker? At that moment, that guy is in a whole different world. And this video shows us it's his world. It's not her world. Okay, Dr. Methody Marshall, weigh in. Nancy, the fact is because he was watching pornography, he could have lubricant all over himself, and he's trying to clean himself up because the evidence in this case would not be gunshot residue.

It would be evidence that he's masturbating while his daughter's in the car. I think that would be the evidence he would want to wash off. Investigators uncovered text messages hinting that this tragic oversight was not an isolated incident, raising questions about a history of negligence. Joining us an All-Star panel to make sense of what we know tonight. Do I understand correctly, Dave Matt, Crime Stories investigative reporter that Daddy Schultes knew the car would cut off and he had been warned before by his wife not to leave the girls in the car.

And we hear Mommy saying that when she gets home, I told you not to do this. Yes, exactly, Nancy. He knew exactly how long that MBAC stayed on in idle before it was cutting off automatically. And she had continually warned him about leaving the children in the car unattended. This was a regular habit of his, and she warned him not to do it. You know, over and over, we learned he knew very well not to do this. Look at this text, Mom sent him. I told you to stop leaving them in the car.

How many times have I told you? And he says, babe, I'm sorry. But I want you to hear what Mommy does in court. He's charged with murder. And Mommy insists the judge, let him out on bond, says he is a, quote, good dad. And he needs to come home out of jail so he can grieve. Listen. I'm just asking if you can allow him to come home to us.

This was a big mistake, and I think that this doesn't represent him. That from our friends at KVOA TV and 857, Tucson. Erica Wurst joining us, Arizona Daily Star, is it true that when the judge lets him out on bond? He goes with the family on a vacation to Hawaii. Is that true? That's 100% true, is he? One of the weirdest things I've seen. Joss Coles Rude, how's that going to look to a jury, that mommy goes in front of the judge and begs for a lower bond so he can come out and grieve and what he grieves at the big island on the beach with one of those big drinks and a pineapple?

Well, I think it says a lot about the victims in this case and the mother is a victim. and she's the next of kin and she's grieving and she understands the context in which this happened and she knows her husband and she knows that he's not a danger to her family anymore and she wants to forgive him and the judge saw it the same way and ruled I'm sorry I don't understand what you're saying you're talking crazy talk Dr. Bethany Marshall can Can't she forgive him while he's in jail? Does he have to be forgiven on the beach at the Big Island? You know, Nancy, on the body cam footage, you see her comforting him very calmly.

It's the same woman. It's the doctor or mother, because you can tell by the tattoos on her arms. And she's calmly saying, it's okay, babe, something to that extent. So she is more concerned about him than she is about the baby. It's very, very perplexing. Nancy, she's an anesthesiologist. You know what that means? She, her profession is keeping people alive while under surgery.

She knows that these kids have been left in the car. She knows the risk to them. She may be one of these mothers, again, I've never treated or evaluated her, who is more bonded with the father, with the love object, than with her own children. Shockingly, the hubby slash dad turns down a sweet heart deal. For maximum 10 years, he would probably have been out on, in about five years. I don't know why the deaths of children are treated differently than deaths of adults. Why did he turn down the deal?

Because the judge gutted the state's evidence. Listen. Schulte's face is a first-degree murder trial and the prosecutors intend to introduce evidence of Schulte's porn search at trial. but the request was denied by Judge Kimberly Ortiz. The judge decided the state is precluded from any eliciting testimony in its case in chief regarding the defendant looking for pornography on PlayStation before his daughter's body is discovered. Well, thanks, Judge. By doing that, you gutted the state's case, showing his course of conduct, frame of mind,

his motivation at the time the child was killed. Did that really happen, Dave Mack? The judge ruled out any evidence of porn surfing? Absolutely, Nancy. And this is something that shocked everyone involved in the case. The judge said, you can't let anything in about it. You can't let anybody talk about it. This is off the table.

Take a look at this body cam video. Parker has been brought into the home and you see everyone there. It looks like some of the police know that Parker is dying while one person administers CPR. are. In the end, Dave Mack, as he approaches trial after he's turned out a sweetheart deal, he's suddenly pleased guilty when he looks at the evidence against him. What's the sentence? Nancy, the sentence comes out as a flat-time sentence of 20 to 30 years without parole and with the sentences for the various charges to run consecutively. Schulte now facing a sentencing range of 20 to 30 years flat time.

what does that mean? Will he get out early? Will there be a sudden turn of events like there have been in the past? And what, if any, duty does Mommy face? We wait as justice unfolds and we remember an American hero,

Lieutenant Albert Stout, Robs Town Police, Texas, killed in the line of duty after 31 years on the force, leaving behind his wife and three children. American hero. Lieutenant Albert Stout.

Nancy Gray signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an I-Heart podcast.