Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Lawyer Brings Pregnant Wife Breakfast in Bed LACED WITH POISON

Episode Date: March 7, 2024

Catherine and Mason meet through mutual friends. The couple decide to marry, move into a quiet neighborhood in Houston, and have two children. As the now Herring family grows, Mason Herring establishes a successful law firm while Catherine Herring steps down as an executive with a non-profit to spend full-time raising the children. Catherine Herring is pregnant with her third child and catches her husband lying about his whereabouts and texting a former female colleague. After a confrontation, Herring tells his wife he wants to separate so he can work on himself, and move out. The couple goes to marriage counseling and their therapist suggests they spend Spring Break together. Mason Herring tells his wife he wants a divorce but would look like a jerk divorcing her while she is pregnant. Catherine Herring still has hope for the marriage and believes they can work it out. During their Spring Break together, Mason Herring brings his wife breakfast in bed. Mason Herring seems to be getting excited about their third child and encourages his wife to drink more fluids as it is better for the baby. To that end, along with breakfast in bed, Mason Herring brings Catherine a glass of water with the food, insisting she drink it all while he watches. The water is cloudy but the dutiful husband promises it is just old pipes or slightly dirty glass.  Catherine Herring drinks all the water. About 30 minutes after Mason Herring leaves for work, Catherine becomes sick, with painful stomach cramps, and diarrhea, and after her third trip to the bathroom realizes she is bleeding heavily. Herring goes to the emergency room where even after she is treated and sent home, she is still bleeding. After getting home from the hospital, Mason Herring continues to bring drinks to his wife, including a bottle of orange juice. The seal on the bottle is broken and a powder is seen in the bottom of the bottle. Catherine Herring doesn't drink what her husband gives her, but she saves it and takes the evidence to a private investigator. Surveillance cameras inside their home catch Herring putting a powdered substance from a bag in his pocket into a drink that he gives his wife. Catherine Herring retrieves the trash and finds a blister pack of Cyrux, a generic version of misoprostol, the drug most commonly used to induce an abortion. Catherine Herring meets with Houston police. Mason Herring was arrested in November 2022 and charged with assault with intent to force an abortion, assault of a pregnant person, and attempted injury to a child. He agrees to a plea deal; the first assault charge is dropped and the injury to a child charge is reduced to a third-degree felony. Herring will spend 180 days in county jail with 10 years probation. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Irv Miller – Criminal Defense Attorney, The Miller Firm; Legal Analyst: CBS2 Chicago WBBM-TV and Legal Technical Advisor to “THE GOOD WIFE” and “THE GOOD FIGHT”- CBS productions Dr. Bethany Marshall – Psychoanalyst (Beverly Hills, CA); Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall; X: @DrBethanyLive Michael Ybanez - Former Houston Police Homicide Detective, Licensed Private Investigator Dr. Lyle D. Burgoon, Ph.D. – Toxicology Expert, President and CEO of Raptor Pharm & Tox, Ltd., and Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences; Critical Science Podcast: https://critscipod.com; Twitter/X: @DataSciBurgoon Julie Owens – Victim Advocate, Domestic Violence Expert Consultant, Julie Owens Consulting Nicole Partin (Naples, FL) – CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter; X: @nicolepartin See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. What woman would turn down breakfast in bed? I wouldn't. I don't believe that's ever happened. But I do know this. I wouldn't turn it down. I would be thrilled. But how about the possibility that your breakfast in bed may be your last meal? I'm Nancy Grace.

This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Crime Stories and on Sirius XM 111. Think about it. Your husband bringing you breakfast in bed. How are you supposed to know that your food and drink has been poisoned? Yeah, that's where we're going. First of all, take a listen to our friends at Crime Online. Catherine Herring, a Shreveport, Louisiana native, meets her future husband through mutual friends in his law school class. She attends college in Texas. Catherine and Mason Herring marry and move into a quiet Houston neighborhood and have two children. As their family grows, Catherine Herring steps down from her position as an executive with a non-profit to be at home with the children. Mason Herring establishes a successful law firm. Catherine Herring is an artist, a lifelong painter. She launches a small business selling hand-painted stationery, cards, and gift tags. Again, thank you

for being with us. I'm Nancy Grayson. tags. Again, thank you for being with us. I'm Nancy Grayson. This is Crime Stories. Thanks for being with us on Crime Stories and on Sirius XM 111. Hold on, Nicole Parton. Joining me, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. This guy is a lawyer? That's right.

He's a successful lawyer. He's established a firm there in the Houston area and was doing quite well. Okay, so I guess he's heard of the criminal code. You can't really get through law school. Irv Miller, high-profile lawyer, joining us from the Miller firm, also advisor to The Good Wife and The Good Fight at CBS. Irv Miller, I guess he did have to take criminal law. You got to take that to get through law school, right?

Well, I'd like to know what grade he got in the subject, because he didn't work out too well for him in the end, did he? I mean, really? And there's a whole other psychological aspect. Dr. Bethany Marshall, high profile psychoanalyst joining us out of the L.A. jurisdiction at drbethanymarshall.com. Dr. Bethany, really? The irony of bringing your wife breakfast in bed, which seems loving. I wonder if he laid a rose on the bed tray, but it's spiked with poison.

The, the, okay, look, I'm just a lawyer. You're the shrink, but's got to mean something you know nancy it it brings the idea of domestic homicide and domestic abuse to a whole new level you know it's the same old psychology as domestic violence it's just a new means a new method a new level of evil cleverness um but i think a lot of times abusers do something called love bombing. You know, that's made its way into our vernacular. Acting super sweet, acting loving, acting like they're the only person in the world who can just be the holder of goodness and light for that person. But why is it love bomb?

Isn't that quite the dichotomy? Love bomb. And bomb. Sometimes love and hate go hand in hand, opposite side of the same coin, Nancy. You know, I'm trying to figure this out, but you mentioned domestic violence. Joining me right now is a renowned expert in domestic violence, Julie Owens, domestic violence expert and consultant and Julie Owens consulting. You can find her at domesticviolenceexpert.org. Julie, I've never thought, but it is domestic abuse, but I think of pummeling someone with your hands or kicking them. I think of that as domestic abuse but in this case just the mind game of bringing your wife breakfast in bed love bombing her as dr bethany has pointed out and all the while you're poisoning her absolutely

you'd be amazed how common actually it is for abusers to do such things you know domestic violence or intimate partner abuse it's a a pattern of abusive behavior to gain control. And coercive control is kind of the rubric that this falls under. And I see what we call reproductive coercion, drug-facilitated domestic violence, and what Dr. Bethany referred to as love bombing, I call manipulative kindness, actually, for the reason that you said.

I mean, most people don't use that term, but it's not love. Hold on, I've got to write that down, Julie. Manipulative kindness. What is that? Well, it's a common tactic that abusers use that makes it seem like it's for the victim or for the partner. Oh, you don't need to work. You stay home and you take care of the babies and I'll take care of everything else.

It's ways to manipulate and control. And in this case, of course, it was you need to hydrate you know bringing her drink um it seems nice that it's totally self-serving right he had his reasons for doing this and it had nothing to do with kindness or love clearly as dr bethany said i'm just thinking through what you're saying about manipulative kindness, manipulative kindness. Okay, so where... Nancy, what about saying to a woman, you know, you don't have to worry about the money. I'll pay for everything and you don't have to worry about it all.

And at the same time, the guy is stashing it away, putting it in another bank account, tracking everything she spends as a form of control. But it looks like kindness on the surface, but underneath it, it is a form of manipulation and control, which is at the heart of domestic abuse. So where does the story go from here? We've left the victim in this case sitting in bed. I imagine her in a frilly house coat and her hair perfect and her makeup and all that. But that sounds more like a movie from the 50s or the 60s. That's not at all the way this thing plays out. Take a listen to Sidney Sumner, Crime Online. Catherine Herring is pregnant with her third child when she catches her husband lying about where he's been and texting a former

female colleague. After a confrontation, Mason Herring moves out, telling his wife he wants to separate so he can work on himself. The couple tried marriage counseling. Mason Herring tells his wife he wants a divorce, but says he would look like a jerk divorcing her while she is pregnant. Katherine Herring still has hope for the marriage and believes they can work it out. The Herrings follow their therapist's advice and go on vacation together. Mason Herring seems to have had a change in heart from the divorce and brings his wife breakfast in bed. Breakfast in bed on vacation? Okay, that's just the cherry

on top of the icing. Okay, wait a minute. Let me absorb what I've just heard from CrimeOnline.com's Sydney Sumner. She's pregnant with the third child when she catches him texting a female colleague. Now, so what if you text a female colleague? But I've got a funny feeling, Nicole Parton, that those texts were not work-related. That's true. They were inappropriate. What were they talking about? Sex? They were talking about having a relationship together.

Wait, a love relationship or a sex relationship? A lover relationship, a sex relationship. And this is someone that she had confronted him about before. And he had promised that he had let her go from her position and was no longer communicating with her and that he was doing better and would not cheat again. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Did he admit to cheating or admit to texting? longer communicating with her and that he was doing better and would not cheat again. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Did he admit to cheating or admit to texting? He admitted to inappropriate texting. Okay. Hold on just a moment. Dr. Bethany Marshall, is that cheating? When you catch your husband or boyfriend texting and sending email, okay. Everybody in the studio saying yes and worse. Okay.

Gesticulations are not necessary. Jamie and Jackie. Okay. Everybody in the studio saying yes and worse. Okay. Gesticulations are not necessary. Jamie and Jackie. Okay. But that said, yeah, I would feel totally betrayed if I found out David was texting somebody about, you know, getting together, whether they ever do it or not and sharing his private life with somebody, you you know it's making me so mad i want to set all his clothes on fire right now uh but that said is that cheating dr bethany that is absolutely cheating and a woman in this position should ask herself if they if if she walked in on on that other person having lunch with that woman and she felt uncomfortable that would mean it's cheating.

You have to ask yourself these kinds of questions. There's a thousand different reasons why people cheat and a thousand different forms of cheating. And this is definitely cheating. You know, Dr. Bethany, a very dear friend of mine had a long-term love that would go online and communicate with, I almost hate to say it, Russian mail order wives.

And I went, break up with him. And she said, but he's not going to ever do it. Oh, please. Who cares? If that's where his head at, why do you want him? I once had a patient whose husband went to strip clubs. And when I said to her, you should divorce him, she said, well, they're not allowed to touch the girls. So it's not really cheating.

It is cheating. Having Russian mail order girls online, that's cheating. Pornography can be cheating. So I'm going to rely on the employees at the strip club to keep my husband from grabbing a naked stripper. Okay, right there, that relationship is over. And that lady needs to find someone who will appreciate her. That said, let me get back to the poisoning. Okay, three children.

She's pregnant for the third time. Here he is. What a POS. Texting his girlfriend who he worked with. They have a confrontation and he moves out. Has anybody else heard, I need time to work on myself? Because I need time to work on myself? Really?

I mean, I can't tell you what I would do to David if he said, I need to move out and be on my own so I can work on myself. I may just say, you know what? Feed the guineas, the cat, the dog, my mother and the twins, clean the house and do the laundry and you're free. Go run, go. And if you come back, don't show up COD because it's not happening. Work on myself.

My rear end, Dr. Bethany. I mean, what more do you need? Do you need a helicopter flying by with a sign that says break up now? Work on myself. He can work on himself with her. Exactly. You took the words right out of my mouth. The best way to work on yourself

is to have a good relationship with the people you love and who love you. That's it. That's what therapy is for. It's not just to help people work on themselves. It's to help them have love relationships where they are kind and loving, empathic, and they give to other people. It's not just about them. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about this lady, this wife, this pregnant for the third time mom getting poisoned. So let me get the car back in the middle of the road and out of the weeds where I steered it. Take a listen to Rachel Bonilla, investigative reporter, Crime Stories. Mason Herring seems to be getting excited about their third child.

He encourages his wife to drink more fluids because it's better for the baby. Along with breakfast in bed, Mason Herring brings Catherine a glass of water with food, insisting she drink it all while he watches. The water is cloudy, but the dutiful husband promises it's just old pipes or slightly dirty glasses. Catherine Herring drinks all the water. About 30 minutes after Mason Herring leaves for work, Catherine becomes sick, painful stomach cramps, diarrhea, and after her third trip to the bathroom, realizes she's bleeding heavily.

Herring goes to the emergency room, where even after she's treated and sent home, she is still bleeding. Herring asks her mother to come stay with her as she is having pregnancy complications. Okay, let me understand. Nicole Parton, she starts bleeding after he encourages her to drink more fluids? That's right. So about 30 minutes after she drinks the glass of water that he gives her, she becomes very ill. Diarrhea, bleeding, the cramping, and she goes to the emergency room. Wait, is she still pregnant at this juncture? She is pregnant, and so she knows.

She fears for the life of her child. She knows something is wrong. Let's analyze what we've just heard. They go on a vacation together. Irv Miller, why do women go missing when they're on vacation? They end up falling off cruise ships. They end up dead in the water, literally. I mean, I can name you woman after woman after woman after woman that vanishes and is dead on vacations.

And it turns out these guys aren't very smart because it turns out you hear about it, they get caught and end up in jail. And we can't forget, you know, you talk about how the wife is the victim. But in this particular case, the unborn child is potentially a victim of murder. He's trying to kill the baby and is trying to get through his actions with his wife in order to kill the baby because he doesn't want that to interfere with his new relationship. And the baby is the one who is actually the main victim in this particular case because it could have been the victim of a murder. And think about it. She's so trusting that her husband hands her a glass of dirty water and blames it on the pipes.

Who wants that? Has nobody heard of bottled water? Anyway, she drinks it and ends up with horrible cramps, diarrhea, and starts to bleed. Remember, she's pregnant. To show you how smart he is, he leaves the glass behind with his fingerprints, leaves the glass behind with the quote-unquote poison there to be collected and to be used against him in the future. This is not a very bright guy. Yeah, can you imagine Irv Miller? He made it through law school. Okay, take a listen to Sidney Sumner Crime Online. After getting home from the hospital, Mason Herring continues to bring drinks to his wife,

including a bottle of orange juice. The seal on the bottle is broken and a powder is seen in the bottom of the bottle. Catherine Herring doesn't drink what her husband gives her, but she saves it and takes the evidence to a private investigator. While waiting on test results from a lab, Mason Herring goes on vacation. While he is gone, the private investigator installs hidden cameras around the Herring home and shows Catherine Herring how to collect evidence. When Mason Herring returns from vacation, so do his special drinks for his pregnant wife. Surveillance cameras inside their home catch Herring putting a powdered substance from a bag in his pocket into a drink that he gives his wife. Okay, Nicole Parton joining us, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Nicole, I don't quite understand. Wait, hold on. Let me go to Dr. Lyle D. Brugoon joining us, toxicology expert, president, CEO of Raptor Farm and Talks. And you can find him at

Talkstruthblog.com. Dr. Burgoon, thank you for being with us. I'm really surprised that the hospital released her without identifying what had happened. Yeah, it's not uncommon that they do that because they probably don't know that she's been poisoned at this point. They really have no idea. And it's not atypical to have a woman come in with serious pregnancy complications like she has. She's currently, at that point, she's in her first trimester. So it's not uncommon. You know, the thing that I would want to know is did they actually check to make sure that there was a heartbeat if it was present before? I'm not exactly sure how far along she was,

but just to make sure that the unborn embryo is okay. Well, I'm confused. Wouldn't they want to take blood tests and figure out, I mean, let's do a toxicology lab work? They could, and it's one of those things where it's, again, the likelihood of someone actually coming into the emergency room and to the emergency department with a poisoning is pretty low, but it's actually not uncommon for women to come in with bleeding and cramps at this stage. Certainly, to me, it seems a little fishy. You know, as a toxicologist, I probably would have ordered tests. But, you know, not knowing exactly what it is,

it's hard to test for anything at this point. Guys, we're trying to figure out exactly what happened when the victim in this case was rushed to the hospital with cramps and bleeding. But she comes back home. Tell me about her coming back home, Nicole Parton. She came back home, and she's still afraid to be alone because she's fearing that she's losing her child.

She calls her mom and asks her mom to come over and stay with her because, remember, her husband isn't living in the home. They're separated. Her mother comes over. She tells her that she's having some complications with the pregnancy. She doesn't tell her mother that she fears her husband is trying to poison her. But her mom stays with her because she continues to have this abdominal pain and this bleeding throughout the night. Julie Owens joining us, domestic violence expert at domesticviolenceexpert.org. Isn't it true, Julie, that it's very common for domestic violence abuse victims, women, not to want to tell their family what's happening? Absolutely.

You're so right, Nancy. And a lot of times it's because they've tried before to talk about other kinds of abuse and they haven't been believed or people think they're paranoid or they go, hey, he's such a great provider. You know, remember, she had quit her job. And so, you know, leaving him, I know she has her own business, but it would be very difficult with two children and a baby on the way, presumably. And so there are a lot of reasons why. It's also sometimes it could be denial. But, you know, who knows why victims don't tell what's going on or don't leave. Many times it's because, you know, they really, they're religious. They don't believe

in divorce. They really want to preserve that marriage. They believe that it's better for the children. Maybe they came from a broken home or something like that. But often I have found that women, especially those who are very religious and are told you know god hates divorce and things like that they really get bad advice from people that they do confide in like maybe pastors and maybe they go to a counselor somebody not like dr bethany who understands domestic violence well i've got another red flag to throw at dr bethany following up on Julie Owens is saying so he says he has to be alone to work on himself but then he goes on a vacation by himself that's not working on yourself that's getting a 10 in your mankini I don't like it a vacation is definitely not working on yourself

I mean I know this is crazy and I do not harangue him about this because I want him to feel free. But even when David isn't there for my husband, David, for supper with us at night, I really miss him. I always set his plate just in case he comes and shows up even late. So it's really hard for me to believe at a time when she's pregnant, he goes on a vacation. You know, it's so true, Nancy. You know, that would be the time that a man would want to be with his wife. But sadly, we know that homicide is the leading injury-related cause of death for pregnant women. You know, not all men want a child. And in this case, he probably did not want to take up the responsibilities of fatherhood.

He wanted to lead another life. I'm sure he was on a vacation with the other woman and we can always already see the signs of him having a double life. But I think she is a victim. The fact that she set up cameras in the house means she's a pretty brave woman and she's not your typical victim because she swung into action when she realized something was amiss. So do I understand, Nicole Parton, that the victim in this case hires a private investigator? She does. That's correct. She wants to find out exactly what's going on.

And she does hire this private investigator who gives her great advice and helps her install these cameras so that she can now see what's happening when he comes over. He's bringing her her favorite drink from Sonic, orange juice, water, her favorite biscuits. And now she's able to watch on the video and see exactly what's happening. Joining me right now, special guest, Michael Ibanez, former Houston police homicide detective, licensed private investigator, and you can find him at Y, the letter Y, to investigations.com. Michael, thank you for being with us. You know, I've tried a lot of homicides. I'm sure you have investigated a lot of homicides. Death by poison is actually fairly rare. It is, Nancy. In my career, I've touched on thousands of domestic violence cases that came through our homicide division when I was working for the Houston Police Department. And poisoning is on the lower end of the investigative scale. However, what makes this case notoriety-wise is because

she jumped into action, like your guest said, at her first suspicion and actually did much of her own investigating before she even went to the police department. She was smart enough to hire a private investigator right off the bat to guide her through an investigation. And he told her exactly, you know, what to do as far as the cameras. You know, it's interesting what you're saying, Michael. It's Michael Ivañez joining me, former homicide detective, now licensed private investigator. I remember trying a really difficult arson case, and it was an arson murder of course and i found out i happened to find out that there was a parallel investigation going on with the insurance company and they had their own investigator i mean

this guy burned down a mansion in order to kill his wife when i found out there was an investigator for the insurance company i got him. We went through the file together. We went to the scene together with my regular investigator, Ernest. And I learned so much more. I was thrilled and actually called him as a witness in the murder prosecution. But a lot of cops and prosecutors, they don't want a PI, private investigator, involved at all. I don't get it. Well, whether they want it or not, it was good in her case because she compiled a lot of the evidence

and practically gave it to the police department with a bow tie wrapped around it. Exactly. Tied with a bow and put on top of a Christmas tree. They could not ignore that evidence because it was video and it was timely and it was professionally obtained and legally obtained. And, you know, the police department can't go inside your house and investigate a poisoning case like that without, you know, exposing themselves. So the fact that she did most of her own investigating with the guidance of a private investigator, I thought that was absolutely remarkable.

Yeah, this woman, though, Dr. Bethany, was not just protecting herself, but her child, right? So that may have given her the strength to follow through because if her suspicions were correct, her husband's trying to not only poison her, but their unborn baby. You know, Nancy, the maternal instinct trumped the desire to protect him. You know, we know about domestic abuse as we've been talking about it, that women are often like the frog in the pot of boiling water. You know, the abuse starts slowly, one

interaction at a time, it escalates. And by the time the woman realizes if she ever does that she's being abused, she's so attached to the man that she can't extricate herself. But in this case, this victim was in a state of shock when she found this out. Have you ever found something out about somebody that they betrayed you and you're in total shock and you start to investigate, you start to pull on every little thread well she did that she was a mama bear protecting herself her unborn child and her two other children who knows how he was treating them i like the fact that she irv miller high profile criminal defense attorney with the Miller firm that she had cameras installed. I love video evidence. And it was reminding me, Irv Miller, a few of you on the panel today have covered this

case with me. A doctor, Dr. Yu Yu actually is accused of poisoning her husband Jack Chin with Drano. He got suspicious because he had all these horrible stomach lacerations and stomach problems. He put Irv Miller a camera to get a wide shot of the kitchen and then he put a camera in the kitchen cabinet and you see the perp, the alleged perp, walking over to the kitchen cabinet, opening it up. Then you see a hand reach in and take out of all things Drano and it's written Drano across the top of the can and pouring it in his drink. He had some concoction he drank every morning probably a health drink and she was poisoning him this woman here had the wherewithal to install

cameras god bless her irv i know you defense attorneys hate that but i think it was a great move well i'm a former prosecutor as well and as uh you well know that all the prosecutors want uh what is known as a magic word. And that magic word is corroboration. You don't want to just have to rely on the testimony of a witness. You have credibility issues. You want cameras. You want a hand right in the alley. You want confessions. You want corroboration. And that's what this lady gave to the Houston Police Department when she walked in that front door of the police station. Because you're the best at this, Irv Miller.

Can you imagine this lady, the victim on cross-examination? The defense would get a hold of her and not let go until she was torn to shreds because she'd be testifying against her husband, the lawyer, the one with the money, who was having an affair with a woman she hated. So they could easily claim it was all a big lie or even that she poisoned herself if she didn't have that video evidence, Irv Miller. And to go back to the bottom line, he was trying to kill an unborn child. And it doesn't get much worse than that. No, it does not.

Guys, what happens next? Listen. Mason Herring is captured on surveillance camera taking trash from his truck and placing the trash and finds a blister pack of Cyrix, a generic version of misoprostol, the drug most commonly used to induce an abortion. Katherine Herring meets with Houston police. Charges are filed, but a change in the district attorney's office slows down the case. Katherine Herring's daughter is born 10 weeks premature and spends seven weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit.

At one year old, the little girl attends therapy eight times per week for special needs. Wow, boy, I'm just a JD. I need an MD pronto. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Dr. Lyle D. Bragoon joining me, toxicology expert at toxictruthblog.com. Dr. Bragoon, again, thank you for being with us. What did she just say? Number one, the thing that jumps out at me the most is the little baby is born very prematurely gee i wonder why and had to spend seven weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit but what is this this drug she finds out in the trash she walks watches her husband

throw out some trash and finds a blister pack of cyrux, C-Y-R-U-X, a generic version of misoprostol. What's that? Yeah, so misoprostol or misoprostol, it's what we call a prostaglandin analog. What that means is, you know, typically for most adults who might have ulcers from taking like ibuprofen or, you know, a leave or something like that, they would take this to help prevent, you know, stomach ulcers from exacerbating. But it's also the second drug in the two-drug cocktail for chemical abortion. The first drug is RU46 or mefepristone, and the second one is microstasol. And what it does is it actually

causes uterine contraction. So it stimulates the uterine muscles to push and contract, and that's what actually causes the expulsion of the fetus and all the other materials. It's extremely painful. You're going to get all kinds of bleeding and it's horrible. And anyone who's ever had a chemical abortion can tell you it is just excruciating, just the pain. So he, we believe, is poisoning her with ODs of the abortion pill. Is that what he essentially would be doing, Dr. Burgoon? That is exactly it. That is exactly what he's trying to do and that is exactly how he's doing it could that kill an adult female unlikely unless the bleeding doesn't get under control so she could bleed out but it would

definitely kill the baby uh yeah if if it were successful, it would potentially kill the baby, absolutely. These two have been married over 10 years. This is her third child with her husband. She becomes alarmed after the breakfast in bed he gave her on vacay left her bleeding. Then she spends weeks collecting evidence and discovers that he is crushing up abortion pills and putting in her food. Nicole Parton, just imagine all the pain that he induced on his wife. And then the baby, the baby girl is born very prematurely and nearly dies in NICU.

Right. And to think that he didn't just try to kill the baby once. He did this seven times, seven different times. He put the poison in her drink. This baby was born 10 weeks early. Still she is special needs. She's on a feeding tube. She's in speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy. And on a personal note, as a mom of a special needs son, I know what that is like. I can't imagine the pain this mother suffered from the drug, but I can't imagine the pain, or I can imagine the pain this mother suffered from the drug, but I can't imagine the pain, or I can imagine the pain this mother suffers with her special needs daughters. And that because the little baby's daddy tried to kill her.

Let me go to our medical doctor joining us, Dr. Bergoon. Dr. Bergoon, how would the abortion pill cause the little girl all of these, well first trimester, we tend to see an increased association with preterm birth and with preterm birth, which we know happened in this case, unfortunately. The body, the baby's body just isn't as well developed as it should be. And it doesn't have the time that needs to fully develop. And so we do see occasionally, you know, increases in brain damage, especially if there was, you know, a lot, you know, this massive loss of blood in the first trimester that could affect, you know, the developing brain. And then, you know, just over time being in the NICU, it's not a great place for children to be, you know, we don't want them

born that early. So it's amazing that she's even alive. You know, let's just start there. It's amazing she's alive. It's amazing that she got out of the NICU. And unfortunately, this is kind of what happens. Is everybody on the panel sitting down? Yes. Is everyone sitting down?

Irv Miller, Dr. Bethany Marshall sitting down? Yep. Michael Ibanez, Dr. Bergoon, Julie Owens, Nicole Parton, you're sitting down? Yes, ma'am. Okay, you may need to lay down. You may need to lay down for this. He got sentenced to just 180 days behind bars. His daughter is disabled forever for life. She's struggling. The marriage is kaput. He tried to kill the baby. And this isn't about is abortion legal or illegal.

You know what? I'll let them fight about that in the legislature. I'm talking about aggravated assault on the mother and trying to kill the baby who is now left with a lifetime of disability. And the mother standing by watching her child suffer for life. And he gets 180 days behind bars? What jackass gave him that sentence, Nicole Parton? He took a plea deal, Nancy. He pleaded guilty to a single count of injury to a child under 15.

Judge Andrea Beal, would that be the judge? Yes, that's correct. Okay, Judge Andrea Beal, would that be the judge? Yes, that's correct. Okay. Judge Andrea Beal, maybe you should go over and take a night shift and let this mom get a good night's rest when her child is suffering from disability. Again, Nicole Parton, what are the disabilities? She's on a feeding tube. She is in speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and she's diagnosed as special needs and will be throughout her life. Thanks, Judge Andrea Beale. Be as in brother E-A-L-L at 832-927-3925.

Repeat, 832-927-3925. When's the next election, Judge Andrea Bill? But hey, it's not just the judge's fault. She could have rejected the plea deal, but she didn't. Harris County District Attorney, Kim Ogg, O-G-G, 713-274-5800. Irv Miller, 180 days behind bars? Seriously? Well, just to give you a little insight into a different jurisdiction, I practice law in a jurisdiction where the attempted murder of an unborn child carries with it a mandatory jail term of between six and 30 years in the state penitentiary. Judge does not have discretion to go

below that. Not 180 days, but six years on the bottom, 30 years max. That's the better way to look at this type of case. You know, to look at this guy, he looks normal. He's a practicing lawyer with a great law practice. He should have gone to trial on multiple felonies. I don't understand this huge miscarriage of justice. The district attorney, the prosecutor was in on it. It was a plea deal. The defense was in on it. Of course, that's their job. The judge was in on it. You know, to Michael Ibanez, former Houston police officer, a homicide detective, now PI. Does it make you feel like, hey, why even bother trying to investigate cases when a judge and a prosecutor is going to go along with a cheap sentence? Why bother?

You know, in my time, we had the idea that we do our job and you do what you do and you take, bring the case to the conclusion is the best that you can. I can say that once the investigating officer got this case, he ran with it and he did a really good job. He said, he said, he told me, in fact, I spoke to him that it was a case where he did most, most of the legwork was done, but he had a whole lot of other legwork to do to bring this unique charges of force and induction during an abortion and assault of a pregnant person to the courts. And they agreed with it initially. But as you said, he took a

plea for injury to a child. This guy is rolling, rolling in money. Mason's a lawyer, the founder of the Herring Law Firm, specializing in oil rig litigation in Houston. Long story short, this baby is going to grow up with a lifetime of disability. Thanks, Dad. You know what? The judge may let you off easy, but the devil is going to get his mitts on you, buddy. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, son. This is an iHeart Podcast.