Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - JUSTICE: Beautiful mom Heidi Broussard and 3-week-old baby vanish, CHILDHOOD FRIEND charged

Episode Date: February 11, 2023

Texas mom Heidi Broussard and her newborn baby vanish without a trace after she drops her oldest child at a book fair. Her fiancé says all her belongings, aside from her cellphone, were left behind in their Austin apartment.   Magen Fieramusca, 37,  Broussard's lifelong friend was arrested when Broussard’s body was discovered in a vehicle at Fieramusca’s residence. The baby was found, unharmed, inside.  Frieramusca now sentenced to 55 years in prison after pleading guilty.   Joining Nancy Grace to discuss the case: Bruce Johnson: Owner of ISP Investigations, Retired Master Sgt Region One Crime Scene Commander, Chicago Metro Area Dr. Debbie Joffe-Ellis: Psychologist, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University Karen Smith: Forensics Expert, Bare Bones Consulting  Melanie Barden: KEYE CBS Austin Reporter  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last hours, a stunning conclusion to a story that shocked the country. A woman accused of murdering her childhood best friend and a plot to steal her baby. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. A Texas woman looking at over 50 years behind bars for murdering her childhood bestie as part of a plot to steal her best to the murder of 33-year-old Heidi Broussard. Broussard was first reported missing back in December, a month after she had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. Broussard, absolutely stunning, was strangled dead with a dog leash.

Her body eventually found in the trunk of Fiera Musca's car at her home in Houston. Authorities find baby girl Margo inside Fiera Musca's home. Just a stunning, stunning turn of events. A mother found dead after she and her baby go missing. Her best friend busted for kidnapping. How did the whole thing unfold? Shane Carey is pleading for help finding his newborn daughter Margo and her mother Heidi Broussard. This photo shows Broussard dropping off her son at school at around 7.30 Thursday morning. According to Austin police, it was the last place she was seen. I went to work and I talked to her at 8 o'clock and it's the last time I talked to her.

Shane says when he got back home from work at 2 Thursday, she and the baby were nowhere to be found. He tells us when his son's school called asking for someone to pick up the boy, he knew something wasn't right. And I went and picked up my son, and then she wasn't home again, so that's whenever I just called the police. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. You were just hearing KEYE CBS Austin reporter Melanie Barden speaking. With me, an all-star panel, Bruce Johnson, crime scene. Also with me from Columbia University, psychologist Dr. Debbie Joffe Ellis, aka Bleeding Heart. Also

with me, forensics expert, founder, Bare Bones Consulting. I've worked crime scenes with her before, Karen Smith. But right now, two investigative reporter at KEYE CBS Austin, Melanie Barden. Melanie, thank you so much for being with us. Let's just start where every crime investigation should start. Now, granted, and Dr. Debbie is going to tell me this, I'm sure that, hey, maybe she just got fed up with the whole gig and left. Interesting. I'm going to have to question Dr. Debbie on this. I guess she was quite the hiker because she left her car behind. Melanie, let's just start with the morning. Heidi Broussard is 33 years old. Let's see, what was I doing when I was 33? Ah, I had already been 10 years in the Fulton County District Attorney's Office. Let's see, maybe two years in and then

heading for Court TV and a program with Johnny Cochran. This lady, Heidi, absolutely stunning, is missing. No clues. Melanie, let's backtrack to the morning she goes missing. What happened, Melanie Barden, KEYE? So what we know is that the last time Heidi Broussard and Margo Carey were seen was Thursday morning at around 7.30. We know that they were seen because Austin police released a surveillance picture of Heidi at her son's elementary school. She was dropping him off for the day. And then often police say they believe she went from the school back to her apartment. It's about a 10-minute drive. So that's what we know. And you're right, she seemingly vanished out of thin air.

We do know that her daughter, her two-week-old newborn baby, Margo Carey, was with her when she dropped her son off, and she was with her when she dropped her son off, and she was with her when she went back to her apartment complex. And that's all we know right now. You know, I want to go to Bruce Johnson, Master Sergeant, Crime Scene Commander, Chicago Metro Area. Bruce, there's one good thing, one good thing about what Melanie Barden just said, and that is that Heidi Broussard was spotted early in the morning the day she seemingly disappears. Because I've had so many investigations where I have the word of one person, oh, she left to go take her son to Cowan Elementary, but nobody sees them. So for all I know, the timeline could have started

14 hours earlier the evening before at dinnertime or even beyond that at three o'clock when she picked the little boy up the day before. But we have a shred, a scintilla of evidence stating Heidi Broussard is alive that morning at seven o'clock, dropping her son off at Cowan Elementary there in Austin. And we can start our timeline from there. Bruce Johnson, why so important to establish a correct timeline at the get-go, Bruce? Well, because the first 24 hours are crucial in this type of situation. Obviously, that's really good news that they have proof of where she's at. Start off your timeline. That's going to help the investigation.

You know, like you said, it narrows it down from what are we looking at, two days or a day, to we have an immediate time notification. Yes, Bruce Johnson, former commander, Chicago Metro. This rules out somebody breaking in the house in the middle of the night, someone jumping her when she goes out to her car, house in the middle of the night someone jumping her when she goes out to her car maybe in her garage that morning because that's what happened to Jennifer Dulos we know she was just getting out of her car and that is the crime scene there in Connecticut because the garage is full of blood and her cell phone was still in her vehicle so she never made

it in much like Dr. Teresa Seavers, who flew home from, once again, I think Connecticut the night before on a Sunday. We know she never made it past the kitchen. She lands. She still has on the stiletto heels and the clothes she traveled in. She has her rollerboard in the garage. She walks in the kitchen, somebody lying in wait, arranged by her husband, and bam, she's's dead so we know that didn't happen this gives us a launch pad so karen smith forensics expert founder bare bones consulting joining me out of the florida jurisdiction karen smith we've got the video what does it tell me the video the video from the school shows that she was wearing a long-sleeved purple shirt, and it gives an exact timeline.

Now, what happened to her after that, I don't know. They are scouring for video from the apartment complex, from stoplights, from other businesses in the area. So all of that has to be scrutinized. That's hours and hours and hours. It's going to take manpower and resources. And unfortunately, all of those manpower and resources sucks away from actually trying to find Heidi Broussard. Of course, Karen Smith, you're right, as usual. But Dr. Debbie Jaffe-Ellis, psychologist joining us from Columbia University, that ain't shabby.

Dr. Debbie, it tells me something else. Now, I'm no shrink. I'm just a JD. I'm just a trial lawyer. But it tells me everything was quasi-normal that morning because she had the baby Margot with her in the car, I think. I know that she got the boy, her son, to school on time. I believe the video shows her smiling. Her hair is done. She's got on this purple blouse. My point is, seemingly, from appearances, which can be

deceiving, everything was going on schedule that morning. That tells me something psychologically, Dr. Debbie. Well, I think the important word you mentioned is seemingly, and I think it's important and you don't do this, but in general for people not to presume to make definite conclusions till they have more evidence four hypotheses came to my mind the first one something sinister happened a kidnapping or some such thing the second possibility that it was a voluntary planned departure despite her seeming to have a good life and a normal morning three that she was unhappy in her life and wanted to escape. And four, and hopefully it wasn't this or the first hypothesis,

that there was some malady there, that she may have been gripped by depression. Hold on, Dr. Debbie. Dr. Debbie. Yeah. I'm going to cut through your fantastic psychoanalysm. Have you ever been to a kid's book fair? Have you ever been to a kids book fair?

Have you ever been to a kids book fair? I've been to book fairs Okay so a kids book fair Is at the school I've been to so many I can't count them And they're a big event So I find it very curious She goes to the book fair

And she buys books For her 7 year old little boy Why? So she could just leave town and never read them? Uh-uh. Right there, behavioral evidence tells me she did not just disappear on her own for a seemingly better life. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A Texas woman and very close friend of a young mom who goes missing along with her baby girl was busted on charges of kidnapping and tampering with a corpse. Those charges later upgraded to murder when a body of 33-year-old Heidi Broussard

was discovered by cops in a residence in the Houston area on Thursday night. Police also found a baby girl believed to be dead, Heidi Broussard's baby, Margot Carey, alive inside the home. Just think of all the time this woman, Vera Muska, plotted as she stood by even in the delivery room with Heidi as she gave birth, plotting to steal her baby. But why? Because she wanted her boyfriend to stay with her, faking a pregnancy. That's right, in the delivery room when Heidi gives birth to daughter Margo. That was in late November, and on December 12, mom Heidi Broussard and her two-week-old baby seemingly vanish into thin air. Nothing's gone except for her and the baby.

CBS Austin reached out to several friends and family members Friday. Broussard's co-workers at Cracker Barrel in Buda say she'd been off work since having her baby. Austin police are asking anyone with information on the disappearances to call 911. If you see an awesome mom with a baby walking around or in a suspicious van or car or anything that looks suspicious, just please give somebody a call. Just your fiance pleading for the return of his three-week-old baby girl, Margo, and the love of his life, 33-year-old Heidi Broussard. I was in a heated argument with Dr. Debbie Jaffe-Ellis about children's book fairs there at Cowan Elementary to Melanie Barden, reporter, KEYE-CBS, Austin.

Melanie, I'm trying to figure out what happened at the book fair, if we know she bought anything. And I know her vehicle was back home, which tells me she made it home from school as normal. Right. And often police have said that they believe that she did make it home. As far as the book fair, we know from Shane speaking to us that he says she called him at around eight o'clock saying that she had just finished up at the book fair at the school and that she bought a few books for their little boy and he says that she said she was excited to read to him. A missing Austin mother and the newborn, the newborn baby girl Margo. Dr. Debbie, I was stunned the night that I learned the number one cause of death amongst pregnant women is homicide. I would never have guessed that. I would have

guessed heart failure or childbirth, but no, it's homicide, and that's from the New England Journal of Medicine. And I certainly am not credentialed to argue with them. What is so stressful about a pregnancy or a new birth, Dr. Debbie? Why does it throw the whole relationship off the rails? Well, there's the biological component, Nancy, which is part of the well-known postpartum depression that many people go through. And then additionally, there can be stressors in life that were there before the pregnancy

but that can feel more extreme. And pressure coupled with any biological tendencies to depression can contribute to that sort of thing. One of the things, Nancy, I wanted to mention in your last segment, that my fourth hypothesis was the possibility that Heidi might have been gripped by depression that led to her disappearing. Again, I don't believe that with any strong conviction,

but it's a possibility. And even though it appeared she had a very normal morning, you know, moods can change on a dime. We don't know. Again, this is just a hypothesis and I hope it's not true. And I'm hoping that investigators would be asking friends, were there times she seemed down and depressed? Just to rule that out, the possibility of depression, hopefully no suicidal ideation. Well, I hope you're right, too. I hope that she is just away, but I don't feel that in my bones. And according to the fiancé, she was happy when she called that morning

around 8 a.m. back to Melanie Barden, reporter KEYE CBS Austin. Melanie, again, thank you for being with us at a time when everything's going crazy, I'm sure, in the newsroom. What we know so far, Austin police continuing their search for Heidi Broussard and her three-week-old baby girl, Margo Carey. Last seen, 7.30 a.m., dropping Heidi's son off Cowan Elementary, South Austin. The Austin PD says Heidi's believed to have driven back to her apartment complex off West William Cannon Drive. Now, CBS spoke with Heidi's fiancé, Margo's dad, Shane Carey. He says he spoke with Heidi on the phone 8 a.m. that morning while he's at work that she had just dropped off their son and bought books from the school book fair. Now let me understand something. He gets

home from work 2 p.m. I want to know where he works and he says Margo wasn't there and Heidi wasn't there. Her car, everything at the house, baby stuff, everything, nothing's gone except for her and the baby. The school calls asking for somebody to come pick up the boy. Well, he knew something was wrong then. And that's at three-ish, I assume. Let me understand something. Was it really 7.30 before he called police, Melanie Barden? Yes, he says that he ended up calling police just after 7. And so he tells us he gets home from work.

He says he works for a moving company and he gets home at two o'clock to their apartment. And just like you said, the car was there. He says everything was put like as if they had never even left. The only things missing were Heidi and Margo. And so he says that they have another friend in the apartment complex, and he figures Heidi could have taken the baby and walked over to the friend's apartment. And so until he did get the call from the school, he picked up his son. He says when he got back and they both still weren't there, he started calling her friends. He says he called his dad. And then, yes, at around 7 o'clock, that's when he called police.

Take a listen to Fox 7's Shannon Ryan's interview with the fiancé, Shane Carey. And ever since then, it's just been trying to reach out. Just help. I don't know. She's a great mom she needs to be back so the last time you were with her was around 8 30 yeah yeah 8 8 even probably before then like 8 15 I would say and you you called the cops around 7 right right? Yeah, 7-ish. I think it was like 7, 15 or something like that. Yeah. And just tell me a little bit about Heidi and Margo.

Oh, they're amazing. They're beautiful, loving, loves everybody. She has the best group of friends. Margo is the sweetest. She's only two, three weeks old. And she has the cutest little pucker lips. is the sweetest. She's only two, three weeks old. And, uh, I mean, she has, like, the cutest little pucker lips. Gorgeous little baby.

And we just play. To Bruce Johnson, owner ISP Investigations. Bruce Johnson, why the time lag? He gets home at 2, doesn't call police until 7.15 or 7.30. Right, that's a, that's a, when he gets home at about 2 o'clock, everybody is saying that the doors are open.

Now, so this is an apartment complex and the apartment door is standing open. That in and of itself is kind of odd. Very odd. Very odd indeed. Take a listen to our friend Shannon Ryan. Car keys, apartment, mailbox. It's like a set of keys.

Yeah. Weird. Yes. And she never leaves the car door unlocked. But I mean, she does have a three-year-old baby, so I don't know. But she would not leave the car door unlocked. I'm a big pusher on that.

I push her to lock everything. That is the fiancee. To Melanie Martin joining us, reporter KEYE CBS Austin on this case from the beginning. Melanie, what about the car door? Was anything else left ajar? Right. So he said that the car was unlocked. So it's kind of unclear if he's saying it was open, it was left ajar, or if it was just unlocked.

And as far as the apartment door being unlocked, what he told us when we interviewed him was that nothing was different whatsoever at his apartment complex. And he did say in other interviews that everything was the same except for the cell phone, the car keys, and the car door. So he never really made it clear about the front door of the apartment complex. I do my morning routine, do everything. They start waking up around 6.30. So I start waking them up.

I give them kisses goodbye. I have a good day at school. And then she starts making their sandwiches and um so i went to work she took margo with silas she dropped them off at school to the book fair and um after the book fair she called me uh ryan ate something uh on her way home from the book fair so she spent 25 i was25. I was like, that's okay. I told her I have to go because I was on my way out. I told her I love you. Bye. You are hearing Shane Carey speaking to Shannon Ryan and with me right now, special guest Melanie Barden, reporter at KEYE CBS Austin. Melanie, you told me that the cell phone,

the car keys and the car door were things that stand out in your mind, red flags. What about the car keys? What about the cell phone? What can you tell me about them? Right. So Shane Carey has said consistently that when he got back home from work, the apartment was left as it always had been. He said that the baby's car seat was inside the apartment. He said the baby's diaper bag was inside the apartment.

And he said there were no signs of any struggle. But he says the only things that were missing were Heidi's cell phone and her car keys. And he says that her car door, which, again, was still at the apartment complex, was open. Okay, you just told me something I didn't know. Melanie Barden, a reporter at KEYE. I just learned something. Karen Smith, forensics expert, founder of Beer Bones Consulting. The car seat was inside.

That just told me something. That tells me that she was not accosted at the car and that she was the one that drove that car home because the car seat had been taken out of the car and brought in. In fact, typically they're so cumbersome, I would leave them in the car very often and just take the twins in my two arms and carry them out to the car instead of dragging the car seat in and out. So that's a very cumbersome thing, or at least it was for me. So we know that only a mom would have done that,

would have brought the car seat in with the baby. She was with the baby last, is what I'm saying. Maybe the dad does it too in that family. My husband did. But what I'm saying is she had the baby in the car, and she brings the car seat in. That tells me she made it into the home. She was not attacked in the front yard.

Nobody carjacked her. Nobody followed her home and grabbed her when she was getting out of the car. She came in the home. That's a big clue, Karen Smith. You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. Car seats are cumbersome. I used to have to install them when I was with the sheriff's office for people. We would give them away and we would have to install

them. They are very difficult to install and uninstall. And most people do just leave them in the car because of that. You grab the child and you carry them in your arms like you used to. What that really also tells me, Nancy, is that I don't want to go down this path yet, but if somebody is going to accost a woman a baby becomes very cumbersome for somebody on the outside to take both of them to take both of them from the apartment and I don't want to go down that path yet but that's something to think about a two-week-old baby is a lot of responsibility if you're going to take both of them. You know, Bruce Johnson, owner of ISP Investigations, former master sergeant in Chicago. Bruce Johnson, that tells me something else.

Just talking to Karen Smith, and this is something I used to love to do with my district attorney colleagues in police. Taking one piece of evidence and just squeezing it for every bit of evidence I could get out of it, from every bit of indicators about what happened. Think about what Karen Smith just said, Bruce Johnson, who would take Heidi Broussard and baby Margo, three weeks old. And this tells me that the mom, Heidi Broussard, if she wanted a big escape, why would she take the baby? If she's trying to get away from her life, why would she take the baby without the car seat, Bruce Johnson? Well, that's a very good point. I mean, the other thing regarding that issue that you were previously talking about is no signs of a struggle no yelling no screaming

doors are left open take a listen to this obviously there's a lot of scrutiny on you i mean i imagine that's going to be tough you're going through this absolute nightmare yes and then people obviously have to check you off yes that's that's got to be really difficult yeah it's i'm like i don't like i just pretty much ignore that i i don't know how to handle it but like i know it's a question but i mean i don't i don't know like i don't know how to i just ignore it because i know it's not true yeah it's negative so i don't want to yeah we're trying to be positive and find her. That is fiancé Shane Carey speaking to reporter Shannon Ryan.

Straight out to Melanie Barden, KUIE CBS Austin. There's been a lot of scrutiny rained down on the fiancé. What are the comments? What are the observations of his statements? Yeah, there's a whole Facebook group and pages of people's, you know, different theories about what happened. Of course, a big focal point is Shane Carey and these interviews he's done. And I think part of that is the fact that he is Heidi's fiance. I think another part of it is because he's really the only other person who has talked to us other than police. He's the only other person who has talked to us other than police.

He's the only other person that we've heard from that saw her that morning. And so, you know, people are really going after what he's saying, are really picking apart, you know, every decision that he made that morning. This is what we know. She goes missing, Heidi Broussard, in an early morning. This is another fact I'm just learning. According to a friend, Carissa Rochelle Nolte, Heidi went to the book fair that day, 8 a.m., and then her fiancé tried to call her at 12 noon, and it went to voicemail like it was dead. Like it was dead. Like it was dead. Now we're learning through

Carissa Rochelle Nolte that it was six o'clock the school called and that Heidi had not shown up. But what's significant to me right there is that he says he, the fiance, called her at 12 noon, and the call was already going to voicemail as if the phone was dead. Let's shore up that timeline. Melanie Barden, K-E-Y-E, number one, relevant information. Fiancé says he called her 12 noon. It goes straight to voicemail like it's dead. And you can tell. You barely ring, and then it goes straight to voicemail. So, Melanie, And you can tell. You barely ring and then it goes straight to

voicemail. So Melanie, did the school call around 6 p.m.? Because what this is telling me is we've got a tighter timeline. And this is important. She goes missing. Now we've got it down to four hours between 8 and 12, if we can count on that phone going to voicemail timeline. What about it, Melanie? What time did the school call? Well, I understand that he has said that the school called at around six o'clock saying that he needed to come pick up the boy. And it's when he went to go pick up his son and came back. Now, keep in mind, the apartment complex is only about 10 minutes from the school. So it's not going to take him very long to go pick up his son and come back. And it's when he came back that he called police, which was around 730.

That is making a little more sense to me. I'm also learning that he thought she may be visiting somebody within the apartment complex because her car was there, everything was there, so she would have to be on foot. We also know that he, Shane, proposed to her in November, and that's according to what Broussard herself posted on Facebook. What else do we know? We know that Broussard's family has come all the way from Louisiana to help search for her. Tammy Broussard called in to KXAN and said she was en route from Louisiana to Texas to help with the search. She's originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana. That's what we've learned. She and Carrie have also lived in Kyle, Texas.

She had a steady job going. She's been working at the same Cracker Barrel since 2015. And the family, Broussard's family, is begging for prayers and help finding Heidi. It's very clear that the fiancé says she would never have left Silas alone. She would never have just left him at school. And that's where something called routine evidence comes in. To Dr. Debbie Jaffe, Ella's joining us, psychologist. She never missed picking up her children. I think that's very important, a very key factor here, Dr. Debbie. It certainly is. And again, it either comes down to something sinister, a choice she's made, or that she was gripped with depression and was suffering some emotional state that most people around her didn't realize. And that's not uncommon, Nancy. You know, you're back on the postpartum depression thing, and Dr. Debbie, how I appreciate you,

but it's not factoring in with the evidence as far as I am concerned, Karen Smith. You're right. Listen, investigations follow the evidence to the suspect in most cases, but in cases like this, you have to start with those closest to the people that are missing. So if Shane's alibi and his whereabouts can hold up to some very intense scrutiny, there are other avenues to go down. Take a listen to the latest from the fiancee, Shane Carey. And I know the cops and the investigators are doing their job. They're doing a great job. I just want to do more. It feels like we could do more. And that's where everyone comes in. This is a group. Let's all do it together. And just, I mean, so talk about, you know know the way that the car was left the way that the home was

left uh everything was like she was home i mean that's why i thought she was at her friend's house like she walked to apartment complex the car seats upstairs her purse is upstairs her id wallet there's no signs of her taking the baby and she would never leave her car door unlocked her car door is unlocked so that's that's a weird sign so um i don't know anything about that and her purse is inside her car with all the money still inside of it her id her cards her full purse it's just the only thing gone is her the baby her keys and her cell phone which has been off since I tried to call her at 140. That from Fox 7, but we also know that the three books bought at the book fair were in the apartment when the fiancé gets home. Only cell phone missing, and it's been turned off. Car seat also inside the apartment.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Finally, a resolution in the murder of a young mom, Heidi Broussard, and the kidnap of her baby girl, Margo, just two weeks old, at the time she seemingly vanishes into thin air. A little over a week later, Heidi Broussard's body found stuffed in the trunk of a car outside the home of her so-called best friend, Megan Fieramuska. Baby Margo inside the home. But even when cops arrived, Fieramuska insists the baby girl was hers. Investigators say Fieramuska strangled her best friend to death with a dog leash and claimed baby Margo as her own. Take a listen to our friends at NBC. Texas Rangers and FBI agents

flooding the home overnight of a woman who was once Heidi Broussard's close friend. Authorities today saying they discovered Broussard's body in the trunk of a car. Her baby Margo was safe inside the house. Megan Fieramuska, also known as Megan Humphrey, now charged with two counts of kidnapping and tampering with a corpse. Friends say Humphrey told them she was pregnant. She had an online baby registry listing a due date the same time as Heidi Broussard's. When Heidi was giving birth, where was the suspect? In the room with her and my mother.

Until last night, the investigation was focused 150 miles away in the apartment complex where Heidi Broussard lived with her boyfriend Shane Carey and two children, where she was last seen more than a week ago. A lead was generated that created a location of interest in the Houston area. Cause of death in this case, strangulation. I spoke this morning with Heidi's mother who told me she feels shocked and betrayed. The woman accused of murdering new mom Heidi Broussard and stealing her infant, none other than Megan Fieramuska, Heidi's best friend. Turns out Fieramuska and Broussard had been best friends for two decades after they met at a church camp as children. According to investigators, Fieramuska was quote, womb raider who faked her own pregnancy for nine months with an evil plan to kidnap her best friend's baby, Heidi, after Heidi had given birth.

Amazing how Fiera Musca pretended to be pregnant herself at the same time as Broussard and even set up a fake due date for December 1. She even went so far as to set up a Target baby registry. Now, friends of Fiera Musca claim she stated she had given birth to a baby girl named Luna May. What's so bizarre is even Heidi Broussard's fiancee, Shane Carey, thought Fiera Musca was expecting, just like Heidi. Now, at first, Fiera Musca was charged with capital murder, which of course can equal a death penalty in the state of Texas. But somehow, Fiera Musca and her lawyers managed to talk the state down to a 55-year sentence. Take a listen to our friends at Fox.

After back and forth about whether evidence was legally obtained, Fiermuska's lawyer says an agreement has been made, saying, quote, After considerable discussion in conjunction with significant compelling mitigation related to Ms. Fiermuska and the possible appellate issues related to the search of her residence. Both parties feel that this is the appropriate resolution. Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza says this plea that includes Fiermusca waiving her right to appeal will save the family from potentially decades of litigation. Fiermusca's lawyer says, quote, I imagine many have questions that will never be

adequately answered. Nevertheless, I hope that this plea brings some closure to this family's great loss. I'm just very surprised they didn't seek the death penalty on Fiera Musca. Soon after discovering the top girl alive, baby Margo was reunited with her bio dad, Broussard's fiance, Shane Carey. Now, Shane Carey set out raising the two all alone. Carey and Broussard also shared a son named Silas, who is now, believe it or not, seven years old. But we've been looking at new photos on Facebook, and they show that Carrie has been not only taking care of both children all by himself, he appears to have found love again following Heidi's horrific murder. His Facebook page shows an update stating he's in a relationship, and I hope he has the very best of everything,

all happiness to him and the two children after what they've lived through. But the bombshell now is that Fiera Musca will spend the rest of her life behind bars. She's looking at 55 years behind bars. But Heidi Broussard got a death sentence. Her children, a life sentence of life without mommy.

Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.