Every Town - St. John, Missouri: Stacey Lannert - Convicted of Parricide at Age 18

Episode Date: October 8, 2020

Go to https://deadboltmysterysociety.com/ and use the promo code: deadbolt20 for 20% OFF your first order!Scary Mysteries Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiE86yS_VM7qjiICqRPmwLQ?view_as=subscriberOwn Shares In Our New HORROR MOVIE: https://www.startengine.com/an-angry-boyContact US: [e-mail] is defined as the killing of a close relative, usually a parent. It encompasses patricide, the killing of one’s father, as well as matricide wherein the mother is killed by her own child. In the United States, parricide represents just 1% of all homicide cases in which the relationship of the victim and offender is known, making it an extremely rare case in America. Among the few notable incidents of such unforgivable crime, the case of Stacey Lannert has been one of the often cited. She has become part of the 25% of offenders, 18 years old and under, who killed their father based on a decades-long study of parricide cases in America.  It’s definitely not a source of pride for the Lannert family, but Stacey has risen above this ordeal,and taken an inspiring path since then. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Another writes that the show is an absolute delight in the morning. Support yourself a piping hot cup of murder every single morning with Morning Cup of Murder. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode of Every Town is being sponsored by our good friends over at the Deadbolt Mystery Society who have an awesome monthly subscription box service that if you guys are fans of true crime and unsolved mysteries, you really need to check out. If you've ever wanted to know what it feels like to solve crime and become totally immersed in a mystery, then you have to get in on the Deadbolt Mystery Society.

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of them are five-star reviews, go to deadbolt mystery society.com today and use the code deadbolt 20 to get 20% off any subscription or single box. Again, that's 20% off when you use the promo code deadbolt 20. Come join the deadbolt mystery society today. Every town has a dark side. In this episode, we had to St. John in Missouri, where we dig into the story of Stacey Lanert, who was convicted of Paraside at age 18. Paraside is defined as the killing of a close relative, usually apparent. It encompasses patricide, the killing of one's father, as well as matricide wherein the mother is killed by her own child.

In the United States, Paraside represents just 1% of all homicide cases in which the relationship of the victim and offender is known, making it an extremely rare case in America. Among the few notable incidents of such unforgivable crimes, the case of Stacey Lanart has been one of the often cited. She has become part of the 25% of offenders, 18 years old and under, who killed their father,

based on a decades-long study of parasite cases in the U.S. It's definitely not a source of pride for the Lannert, family, but Stacey has risen above this ordeal and taken an inspiring path since. I'm Andrew and this is Everytown. In this week's episode, the spotlight is on an extraordinary murder case involving then 18-year-old Stacey Lanart, which strongly disturbed the 7,000-plus residents of St. John in St. Louis County, Missouri on July 4, 1990. Stacey was a daddy's girl when she was little

and considered her father Thomas Lannard as Superman because, as she put it, if there was ever a problem, he fixed it. I always felt like everything was right in the world when he was there. But time came when Stacey realized the brazen wrongdoings of her dad. Soon her ideal world crumbled

and so did her inner being that pushed her to make a regrettable judgment shooting her father to death. This is the true crime story of Stacey Lanart, once a convicted criminal, now a public defender. Let me start by sharing some background knowledge about Stacy's parents. Her father, Thomas, or Tom, had an unremarkable childhood with a deteriorating relationship with his parents as he grew older.

Stacey's mother, Deborah or Debbie Underwood, was from a seriously dysfunctional family. She was the first born among five children, and she easily fell prey to her father's sexual abuse when she was 11 years old. Disgustingly, the other family members of the Underwood clan were either the perpetrators or victims of incestuous sexual abuses. Debbie was only 18 and still living with her family when she met Tom, and their whirlwind romance led to marriage.

Perhaps for Debbie, and was an escape from the claws of her father's sexually abusive ways, but she never had an inkling that like her father, Tom would later turn out to be a despicable sexual predator who victimized their two daughters. The eldest, Stacy, was born on May 28, 1972, and her sister Christy came two years after. In the beginning, they lived a picture-perfect family life. Tom worked as a financial assistant. and Debbie was a devoted stay-at-home mom to their little girls like most typical middle-class American families in the 70s. Stacy was particularly close to her father,

who often made her feel special and loved. She would sit on his lap for hours as they talked, and he would give her advice. One of those pieces of words of wisdom stuck with Stacy. Never let a guy treat you badly. It became the biggest irony in Stacy's life and the worst lie ever malted by her father. As a second grader, Stacey experienced the most horrendous treatment,

not just from any random guy but from her father, and for the next 20 years, she went through agonizing hell. An innocent eight-year-old girl is undoubtedly acquiescent to her father's wishes. After all, he's the first man to ever love and protect her. But Tom Lannert, he started molesting Stacey at a tender age through a game he called Touch Tongues, which later developed into touching the genitals. Stacey was sworn to secrecy by her father, and she thought it was a normal thing favored daughters did with their dads. A year later, the abuse progressed into force, sexual

intercourse, and Stacey was helpless against her diabolical father's power. She had been raped starting from age nine, and it usually occurred when Tom was drunk and pushed out of the matrimonial bed by Debbie. Of that experience, Stacey described it painfully much later. I felt like he was just tearing me apart. It felt like I was literally being ripped in half and he was saying such hateful things to me. I didn't know what to do, she said. On some occasions her father performed oral sex on her, sometimes bringing her to the point of climax. This experience left her with overwhelming emotions of guilt, shame, and confusion, and she would just retreat to a safe place, only her mind could understand. When Stacey reacted unfavorably to the sexual acts that her father wanted to

do, he became violent towards her. Tom told Stacey that her mother already knew, so there was no need to tell her. For a young girl, this meant her mother tolerated such dastardly acts, and so Stacey thought this was all Debbie's fault. All this time, her younger sister Christy also suffered from the physical beatings of their father, especially when Tom got intoxicated. But the younger Lanark girl wasn't sexually exploited by her father. Well, not yet. When Stacey realized that what was happening was wrong and not normal,

she tried to avoid her father, and that angered him. So Stacey summoned her courage to tell her babysitter about her father's abuses, and the babysitter in turn reported it to Debbie. But she didn't lift a finger. In fact, Debbie sometimes heard the cries of Stacy coming from the basement, but she thought Tom was with Stacy, so he would take care of his beloved daughter. Was Debbie totally oblivious,

or was she downplaying her fear of knowing that Stacy was also subjected to the sexual abuses Debbie herself had experienced before from her father? Instead of delving into the matter and perhaps saving her daughter, Debbie opted to escape by divorcing and leaving Tom and their daughters in 1984. There was another blow to 12-year-old Stacy who already resented her mom. Thus, despite her father's abuses, Stacy opted to stay with him and her sister. The divorce caused Tom to drink even more and increasingly abused Stacy three to five times a week.

With no one to turn to, Stacey tried to call child abuse hotlines but hung up because she thought it only offered help in cases of violence against children, but not for sexual abuse. When she turned to her trusted people like her guidance counselor and uncle, Stacey was brushed off. The abuse and neglect took a toll on her and she became self-destructive. She started shoplifting and engaged in promiscuous acts, having had e-werect. 18 sexual partners within just a two-year period. The worst was when she attempted to commit suicide three times, but thankfully, she failed on each one. In her high school's senior year, Stacey dropped out from school

and decided to move in with her mom and stepfather in Guam, leaving behind Christy with their father. But what prompted St. John Missouri was the desperate calls of Christy, who eventually confessed that she wasn't only physically hurt and forced to drink alcohol, but she was sexually molested too. Christy had to endure the brunt of their father's heightened violence.

The protective part of 17-year-old Stacy emboldened her to return to her father's house just so she could help Christy. All I really cared about was making sure that Christy never had to go through the pain that I had gone through, ever. I never wanted that for her, Stacy said. However, the moment that she stepped into her dad's house, she was sexually assaulted again by Tom. She said, I walked in the door and there he was.

He wound up throwing me down and he raped me right there. When he got done raping me, he kicked me and I got smart, probably, for the first time ever. It was the last straw that finally broke Stacy's spirit, so she made a vow. I was going to fight. She spanned her 18th birthday in 1990 on a weekend getaway with some friends and returned with a friend's gift, a puppy named Prince. Her father didn't like it, of course, and accused Stacey of spending the weekend with a man to which she replied, I am 18 now, you can't touch me.

This triggered the annoyed father to rape his elder's daughter and beat her for the first time to the point that Stacey passed out. When she regained consciousness, Tom threatened her with a knife and cut off all her hair. Five weeks later, the many years that Stacey forcibly danced to her father's dreaded tune reached a devastating crescendo. On the 4th of July, while America was commemorating its 214th Independence Day, Stacey and Christy were fated to claim their freedom from the clutches of their abusive father. That morning, Tom wanted Stacey to get her.

get rid of her dog. She agreed as long as she would also leave, taking Christy along with her. Tom vehemently disagreed saying that Christy should stay as she was Stacy's replacement. Then, for the first time, he raped Christy. In order to comfort themselves, the sisters went to a fair, then stayed in a hotel that night. However, they worried that Tom might kill Prince, so they crawled through their house's basement window, afraid that their father was drunk but hoping that he was asleep. But Christy accidentally awakened Tom, and the two started yelling at each other.

At that point, Stacey was thinking of only one thing as she later confessed, We're leaving, and if our father tries to stop us, I'm going to kill him. Stacey spotted Tom's rifle in the basement, grabbed it, and went upstairs, where her father had passed out on the couch. She held the gun a few feet from where he lay, rested it on a ledge, closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. She had named, thus hitting her father's shoulder. That woke him up, but Tom was too drunk to fathom that he was shot

and thought he had broken his collarbone. Startled, he sat up and started yelling at Stacy to call for help, but Stacy couldn't find the phone to call 911. So as more time passed without getting help, Tom grew angrier. He started threatening his daughters, screaming and calling them all kinds of demeaning words. Overpowered by panic, Stacey thought, he can't get up, because if he gets up, he'll kill us. He doesn't deserve to live.

So, she shot her father, point blank, a second time, hitting his head and killing him. I didn't care, Stacey said. Christie too wanted their father dead and added, I may have said, just do it. The Lannard sisters then left the house the same way they had entered. The following day, Stacey asked a friend to get rid of the weapon. Together with another friend, Stacey went back to her father's house with a plan to make it appear that she had just returned home and discovered her dad dead. After cleaning her car, she called the police.

At first, Stacey suggested that a burglar had murdered her dad, but she was implicated by a friend during her. questioning. Stacey soon confessed to committing the murder because of the prolonged years of abuse that she and Christy had endured. She was then arrested. Stacey may have freed herself and her sister from the sufferings inflicted by their father, but she had to go through another ordeal way too much for an 18-year-old girl like her, the anxiety of an arduous investigation in trial. Following Stacey's arrest, police said, they believe she murdered her father for monetary gain.

They revealed that she had been writing checks on Tom's account and using his credit cards as well. They also had incriminating statements from witnesses and associates that in the last three weeks before Stacey killed Tom, she actually contacted people to do the crime. Stacey was subsequently charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and tampering with physical evidence. During the investigation, the prosecution identified a hitman named Ronald Barnett, whom Stacey hired to kill Tom.

But he sold the 22-caliber rifle Stacey gave him, and he was also arrested in charge for tampering with physical evidence. The authorities also said that 16-year-old Christie was working alongside Stacy and hiring Ronald. Thus, the younger Lannart was also arrested and indicted for conspiracy to commit. first-degree murder, to which she pleaded guilty. It was also revealed that the sisters had raised money to pay for a hitman by cashing their father's checks and using his credit cards. Christy was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison ahead of Stacey's trial and sentencing. In a pretrial hearing, Stacey's lawyer claimed that she was suffering from a mental illness akin to battered spouse syndrome in which a person is subjected to physical emotion and psychological

injuries because of abuse by a spouse or domestic partner. Stacey's lawyer made the suggestion under the self-defense argument, which was rejected because the state of Missouri doesn't have a provision for the defense covering battered children. The court, though, allowed evidence of Tom's alleged abuse of Stacey to be presented to the jury. The trial officially began in October of 1992. Stacey testified on the details of the many sexual, emotional, and physical abuses of her father since she was eight years old, which she had reported to her babysitter, school guidance counselor, and a psychiatrist. Yet no one took action to help her.

Also, Stacey had developed pelvic inflammatory disease because of the frequent rapes, making her unable to bear children. In her testimony, she told the jury, I remember debating with myself whether or not to shoot him. I pointed the gun over at him, I didn't name, I closed my eyes and I pulled the trigger. She was afraid not only for herself, but more especially for her sister. Stacey further stated, I wanted him to leave me alone. I wanted him to leave her alone. I didn't really necessarily want him to die, but I didn't want him to be able to hurt us again.

to be able to get us. Experts who assessed the accused teenager agreed she exhibited signs of abuse. Psychologist Marilyn Hutchinson testified that it was evident Stacey had been suffering from a dissociative disorder as a result of prolonged sexual abuse. She didn't get help from anyone as her family and the school system had failed her. Thus, Stacey was not in control of her actions when she killed her father and acted. out of terror. However, as mentioned, the prosecution claimed Stacey had killed her dad for money. She had been spending cash on her father's credit cards and asking friends to pose as her dad over the

telephone to fraudulently obtain more money. Her friend Jason Fortune testified during the trial that Stacey had told him if her father died she would inherit cash and had fantasized about what she could buy with all the money. When questioned by the prosecution, Stacey confessed that she had spent money on her dad's credit cards the day before the shooting and had forged his signature on checks that she had cashed. But she denied that she was financially motivated. Moreover, the prosecution presented experts who testified that Stacey was in full control of her actions when she shot her father and knew the difference between right and wrong, proving she was not legally insane at the time of the shooting. According to a St. John police detective, Stacey's demeanor when questioned didn't fit the profile of a mentally disturbed woman as she had a cool, calm demeanor that was inconsistent with a tragic event. The judge emphasized to the jury that the Missouri law generally requires a defendant to be an imminent danger of harm or death at the time of the murder for a self-defense argument.

Because Tom was asleep when Stacey shot him, her lawyer failed to establish she was in any immediate physical danger. Although the jurors did seem to believe Stacey's sexual abuse history, they were unable to consider self-defense or hear arguments for battered spouse syndrome. Thus, they considered Stacey to be the aggressor and conceded that the defense had failed to prove Stacey was mentally ill when she committed the crime. In late 1992, Stacey Lanart was convicted of first-degree murder and received the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of probation or parole. For many, following the trial, the verdict seemed too harsh for a 20-year-old girl. After Stacy's conviction, concerns were raised that at her trial,

the jury wasn't told of the extent of the sexual abuse that she had suffered. Thus began the first of the first of her first. filing of appeals which weren't enacted by two Missouri governors, not until January 10, 2009, when then outgoing governor Matt Blunt commuted Stacey's sentence after he had reviewed the evidence. He determined that she had been abused and suffered extensively from her father. Stacey was given a new sentence of 20 years. On January 16, 2009, she regained her freedom after 18 years of incarceration. Much earlier, Christy was released after serving jail for more than two years.

Following her release, Stacey said she regretted taking her father's life before he had the chance to repent for his own crimes like she did while spending 18 years in prison for breaking one of society's rules. But the newly freed woman was determined to lead a productive life. She founded a resource website and a nonprofit organization called Healing Sisters that offers aid for abused women. In 2014, Stacey graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in psychology

and has been working as a public defender. I'd like to give a voice to the people who only have a whisper, she says. And yes, Stacey, we agree with you. We hear you loud and clear. So that's it for this week's episode of Everytown. If you're interested in hearing more creepy stories that are currently happening in our world, and make sure to check out our scary mysteries podcast and YouTube channel

where each week we cover topical stories in our twisted news segment, and every month we have the strange and scary mysteries of the month. Tune in next week for another episode, filled with scary, strange, and mysterious stories about every town out there. And who knows, maybe your town will be next.