Hidden True Crime - Sam Bateman Defends Himself: Wife Testifies & Closing Arguments | Day 3

Episode Date: June 28, 2026

*This episode was originally recorded live. There was minimal editing done to it. * One of Samuel Bateman's wives took the stand in his defense before Bateman delivered his own closing argument directly to the jury in one of the trial's most unusual moments. In this full Day 3 recap, we break down her testimony, Bateman's final attempt to persuade the jury, the prosecution's response, and the key courtroom moments that set the stage for the verdict. Sponsor: Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at https://shopify.com/hiddentruecrime. About Hidden True Crime What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify. Hello, hidden gems. Get cozy for a good show. Grab a drink. The past two days has given us a verdict in the Sammy Bateman trial, Sam Sam Bateman trial. And we have Sam Bateman, Sammy Boyt, taking the stand and testifying. And we have little Sammy Bateman giving his own closing statements. Yeah. His last and final point, by the way, I'm not going to bury the lead. So this is that he wanted in his closing statements, not just just his closing statements, but the final thoughts in his closing statements. He wanted to make sure

before the jury deliberated, like, you're going to die when you hear this. What he thought his grand finale moment should be today, he decided to land on the idea that he just simply did not poop in the makeshift toilet that was inside the trailer. Yeah, he did not poop during the trip and the trailer. He just would never do that. He would never poop. Going to the restroom is not in his nature, he told the jury. He needed the court to know this. It was very important to him and the jury. He stated it with significance. And then right after stating, the moment he said this, by the way, so it was right after he stated, and I'm going to quote, that he would rather die than harm anyone. Yeah, you can't make this up. He then told the jury,

You must know, I don't use the restroom. He said if he did so, it would fumigate the trailer and it would just be disgusting. He does not do this. And it was sort of like his mic drop moment before the jury started deliberating. Like that was going to be the thing that changed their mind. Because, you know, I'm sure that whether or not he was abusing these girls had to do with that. He said this. And then he, so he kind of really makes this known, I would never do that.

it would fumigate the trailer. It's disgusting. It's not in my nature to use the restroom. And then he's like, anyway, you know, again, I would never harm anyone. I'd rather die. And then he was like, and thank you. Mike drop. Yeah. So, yeah, a few other things so that I don't bury the lead. The verdict was guilty. I won't make you wait. I think that most of you could assume that because it was the fastest jury in America, 25 minutes of deliberating. And we all speculated it would be fast. A lot of you know that followhead and two crime that I'm, one thing I'm not good at is predicting how long a jury takes to deliberate, but I will say I finally got one right. I was like, this is going to be fast. I know it. And we have had the opportunity already to talk to a few

of those Sam Bateman jurors because they came out afterwards. And one of them told me, me that he pretty much, that Sam Baitman, Sammy Sam, pretty much admitted guilt in his opening statements. Also explained that just to put an animal in the trailer and shut the door would be against the law and abusive, let alone three young girls and then taking them on the freeway. Like, he said, the moment he just shuts the door on the trailer and latches it is abuse. You know, that's all he needed to know, really. After the guilty verdict came down, I did watch Sam. So I kind of like stuck around to sort of see how Sam, Sammy Boy took in the verdict.

So after the jury was excused and the jury walked out and court concluded, Sam remained seated. And like I said, I just kind of like lingered for a little bit. and he he remains seated. I guess I kind of also wanted to know if someone was going to take him away in handcuffs or something because that sometimes happens after a guilty verdict. So I think that was another reason I was kind of lingering. And that never happened.

I think they were essentially waiting for everyone to leave the courtroom before they escorted him out of the courtroom. But he, so he remains seated. And then he shook his head. He bent his head down and shook his head like this. And then as everyone sort of shuffled out of the courtroom, I still stuck around as long as I could. And I saw him do this.

And it was sort of tightly shut and squint his eyes. It wasn't a blink because it was like, he was blinking a lot during the guilty verdict. But just tightly shutting his eyes and squeezing them tight and then opening them and squeezing them again and opening them, whatever that means, probably I think anger. I mean, I don't know. Or maybe he was realizing that ending on the idea that he didn't use the restroom, maybe it wasn't the best idea. Maybe he realized as one of his survivors pointed out that technically it means he's,

you know, this is the survivors, quote, one of his victims, you know, technically meant he was full of shit if he's not using the restroom. Anyway, clearly there's no love loss for me. If this trial did anything for me, it's made him all the more just sort of despicable. I feel really bad for those girls and women and others who have been harmed by him. Because when you spend the last three days watching somebody profess that they would never harm anyone while brutally harming multiple. hold children for years and show no remorse, even deny it all. In his opening statements claim, he never harm anyone, his closing statements actually

say he would rather die than harm anyone. I'm struggling. You know, it was a rough three days in court watching him and then watching his victims have to testify. And then tell me personally in private conversations how hard it was and knowing the beautiful, strong survivors that so many of these girls are, you know, hard three days. I hope I wish them well. You know, I hope they can continue in their healing journey. So with that, out of the way, let's jump in today was really kind of a fascinating morning because we essentially

heard from Sam Bateman's witness who was Brenda Barlow. So Brenda Barlow was testifying. She had to testify via Zoom. I think because she's still on parole or probation. And so she can't see Sam. So she testified from Zoom. She essentially got out of prison, took an incredible plea deal, was charged with some horrific things, took a plea deal. So it was a really good deal. It gets out and then goes back to Sam. She appeared via video. Again, she's currently on parole and is still. spiritually married to Sam Bainman. That is a distinction. You can't marry more than one person, but she is spiritually married to Sam. Another thing to point out, she is actually the older sister of Dee. So, Dee, who testified the first day, one of the girls in the trailer, she happens to be

the older sister of her, one of the minors who was involved in the August to 2020 incidents. So, Before questioning even started, Sam told her, I realized it takes a huge amount of courage to be here. He started by asking about the first traffic stop from August 14th. Brenda testified she generally had good memory. She remember the details of that day. She remembered that everything was strapped securely. She couldn't specifically remember whether it had been strapped down that particular day, despite her good memory. She couldn't remember.

but she walked the jury through the trip. They gathered at what is called the greenhouse before making another stop at the Blue House. And now we've got a greenhouse and a Blue House. It's getting even more interesting, more inside baseball. The jury's like, okay. Blue House, Greenhouse.

They were going riding on ATVs. Brenda said she was actually sitting on the backseat of the driver's side. And then she also had this Life 360 tracking app open on her phone, but she said tracks both a location, a vehicle's location, and speed. This Life 360 app is interesting. According to Brenda, the highest speed she saw during the drive was around 62 to 63 miles per hour, which actually sounds absolutely frightening, thinking of a girl sitting on an ATV.

they're eventually pulled over. She describes the interaction as tense. There's a lot of attention in the air. The officer seems rough. Well, yeah, the girls have to like get back in the car. She says, though, that the trailer was securely attached to the Yukon XL. And every time they hauled the motorbikes, they were strapped down. One point Sam clearly wanted the jury to hear involved the girl's seatbelts.

Like, I don't think it really matters, but Brenda testified that the girls did not remove their seatbelts until the officer had already stopped them and instructed them to get out of the side-by-side or the ATV. They were still buckled while the vehicle was moving. And then we get to August 28th with Brenda. Oh, and let me just describe Brenda, because actually this is important. I looked up at Brenda and I saw a woman who I thought was wearing traditional FLDS dress. You could only see this top, which I also thought was interesting. I talked to Dr. Christine about it after and she said, no, no, no, that wasn't an FLDS dress. She said it was just a very conservative dress.

So Brenda tells the jury that this was supposed to be a surprise trip. It was organized by Sam to attend a grant Cardone event. She said everyone was excited. They packed their belongings. They traveled into trucks, a van, and the enclosed box trailer carrying overflow supplies. She loaded the items into the trailer before they left. So I actually thought and tell Brenda that maybe these items were just randomly in the trailer, like just sitting in like a driveway.

But no, she's like, no, she loaded it all into the trailer. And then Brenda tells the jury that three or four of the girls had asked Sam if they could ride inside the trailer. And Sam initially told them he didn't want anyone riding back there. Same old, same old. But before she could finish that answer, the prosecutor objected on hearsay grounds. The attorneys all approached the bench. The white noise went on as they had a little sidebar. And that portion of her testimony was effectively cut off.

That was the conclusion of that. She continued describing the trip. She said that the group stopped a couple of times along the way. One stop at Wendy's. They noticed this man. Brandon noticed the man. And then the vehicles got back on the road. She received a phone call telling her that Sam had been pulled over.

It was like very dramatic, I guess. They instructed the rest of the caravan to not come to the traffic stop. Man, no wonder they're all in touch. They're just like, Roger. Don't. I pictureing Marona's earpiece on all of them with their phones and they're like, it's like, you know, traffic control. Pulled over. Do not come to traffic stop. Keep going. They're like, Roger. I've been researching this Grant Cardone thing because somebody was like, I don't think he ever had a conference there that day. And so I did research on it today.

And from what I was learning, there was like a Phoenix conference earlier in the year, but there wasn't one. that week. So I don't know that there even was a conference. I think he probably told them they were going to one and it wasn't one. I don't know for sure. Yeah. I mean, probably to do whatever he wanted to do. But like, I did not find a conference from that weekend looking into Grant Cardone. So then in other words, they were just getting themselves in Airbnb. Yeah. Wow. I mean, I would assume they didn't know that, right? Like, he wasn't telling, clearly he wasn't telling them things. They weren't talking to each other.

But when I've done the research, I have not found one from that weekend. I'm going to keep looking. But so far, there is not one from that weekend. That's actually even more fascinating. Jesse's asking, I wonder if Dr. Christine has any ideas. Yeah, I think she, I think Dr. Christine thinks it was to do, to harm the children in the Airbnb. be on i i think that's what dr christine thinks um i've talked to her about it so yeah oh esther tolga that's dr christine's husband esther is saying tolga said that sam was obsessed with grant

cardone's young daughter wait he said the daughter belonged to him that just jogged grason's memory she was oh yeah she said the the daughter belonged to him wow His daughters today are 14 and 17. So they would have been 10 and 13. Dang. Okay. Well, that's a rabbit hole. We'll keep going because we're going to go on to Brenda still.

Brenda did not go the way. I'll just say that Sam thought it was going to go. You could tell she was really nervous. I think one of the biggest surprises about starting hidden true crime was realizing that making the content, that was only half of the job. Suddenly, you're learning websites. merchandise, customer emails, inventory, analytics, and wondering how people keep track of it all. And that is why I do appreciate what Shopify does for business owners, whether you are just getting

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further instruction roger um and then brenda later received another phone call telling her to come and pick up her sister and again her sister is d and again the prosecutor objected because she was repeating what somebody else had told her over the phone. The judge instructed the jury to disregard that statement. Brenda then explained that after waiting in the mountains for a while, she eventually drove to the traffic stop, picked up her sister, and then returned to the mountains with the rest of the group while they tried to figure out what to do next. Because, yeah, because Sam Bateman was arrested, Sammy Boy.

She testified that when she arrived, she saw several officers surrounding the scene, a crowd of Sanders nearby and Sam in handcuffs. And then the prosecutor objected to that as well. The judge should sustain the objection. Sam then spent quite a bit of time asking Brenda about the trailer itself. I was like, oh my gosh. She described it. And it would backfired, man.

I think he wanted Brenda to be like, this thing was pristine. It was clean. It was like a five-star hotel. And instead, she was like, dude, it's an old. trailer. It's sturdy, but it's old. Yeah, the right door was slightly bent. You had to be careful to fully engage both latches when closing it. If only the bottom latch was secured, the top of the door could flap a little while driving. You could see Sam was just like getting so mad at her honesty. And I think she was actually really nervous to be answering. I sense that as I watched

on the screen. She said, yeah, if someone failed to latch both, the door could eventually work itself open, especially on rough roads. She laid it down. The defense's testimony was like, yikes. It was pretty dangerous. But then she like kept trying to minimize the danger. It was, you could tell she was trying to kind of, you could tell, I felt she seemed nervous around Sam, she wanted to do this right. I have thoughts on this. I think it was definitely course of control. She was trying to figure out the right things to say.

But I kept thinking she is the only woman testifying in this. If he is convicted, she's going to be the one he blames. Because it can never be his fault. It's got to be somebody else's fault. So I think she was just trying to say the right things, but it's never going to be good enough. And I don't know. I did file for some. So we'll see if I get a call that is from tonight because I think he's probably going to be pretty angry on the phone calls.

Yeah, we did file for jail calls and we've made some headway too. It will be really interesting. So when Sam asked whether Brenda considered the partially latched door dangerous, Brenda said that depended on how someone defined dangerous. That was some good deflection there. I've seen that happen in court. You know, how do I not answer yes to this? Well, it depends. Your definition of dangerous is different than mine. In her opinion, it might stay closed the entire trip. I really, how dangerous could a door be that may or may not open on the freeway with three girls inside? It just depends on your definition of danger.

It might eventually come loose, Brenda explained. But, you know, it's more as a possibility than something she believed was certain could happen. It was just, you know, 50-50 chance of. door could swing open with three girls inside while going 75 on the freeway. I mean, you define dangerous. What is it to you? When Sam asked about the ventilation in the trailer, Brenda said she didn't remember. I'm like, that's a good one. I've seen that before with witnesses. Anyway, he also tried asking whether Brenda believed that he had knowingly or intentionally placed anyone in danger. And the prosecutor immediately objected because that question asked her to speculate, right?

about Sam's state of mind and the judge sustained the objection. So during cross exam, cross exam happens. The prosecutor begins reinforcing several points that had come up throughout the trial again, rinse and repeat, but now we have a defense witness on the stand, so let's nail this down. Brenda agrees that Sam was the driver during the August 14th trip. She agrees he was an experienced driver. She testifies that he usually. drove on family trips, decided where they were going, planned the outings, and generally knew who would be attending. And when asked whether Sam was the leader of the family, Brandon answered yes. And I love it too. It was again, it was leader. It was leader in charge.

It wasn't like, it was the leader of the family and family came up. Leader of the family. We know that these young girls do not share his last name, that, you know, they aren't his biological children, but this is a leader of a family. I think the jury pretty much knows what this is. The prosecutor then really got into the Life 360 app. Brenda claims that she used this app on her phone, right? Brenda explains that the app tracks both the person's location and vehicle speed and that the family commonly used it during trips. The binoculars weren't enough in the mid-consul to spy on people. He was like everybody's got to have an app. Everybody's got to have an earpiece. Everybody's got to have a phone on mute. I got to have my binoculars. And now everybody needs this app on their phones so that,

you know, we can just make sure I know where everyone is times five. Yeah. Yeah, and sing kumbaya and then we need a generator. So she confirmed that Sam had the app on his phone and used it. And however, when the prosecutor tried to suggest, Sam could have been. monitoring everyone's locations through the app during these specific trips, Brenda was like, well, I can't say for sure because she wasn't looking at her phone. I was like, oh, that was good. You know, so you can't say, you weren't looking at her phone, so you don't know if Sam was monitoring, even though this is what the apps were for.

And you're like, okay. Sam made several objections during this for speculation. It was kind of, you know, I hadn't seen Sam make an objection yet. I think he kind of felt proud. of this moment, Sammy Boy, he was like, objection, and some of them were sustained by the judge because it would require Brenda to know what Sam had been doing on his phone. And I think that when he got his first sustained, after he was like objection and the judge sustained it, I think he grew like a couple of inches. He was like, okay. He's like, I did that, you know? It's proud of him.

But I think what the state was trying to show was that if Sam used the live 360 app, he would have known where the girls were. So this, I mean, we already know he knows where the girls are because we've heard him contradict himself 50 times by now.

But just one more thing to reinforce, he knows where the girls are. The dude's tracking them. He knows where they are and what time and why they're there. The prosecutor also asked whether Sam had a responsibility to make sure the girls were riding at the side by side by side were safe and wearing seatbelt. And then Brenda answered that everyone shared that responsibility.

But then she also described those three girls. This was great. This was this is Brenda's attempt at victim blaming. And remember, just throw this in too, Brenda's attempt at victim blaming while one of them is her own sister, while D is her own sister. So this is the problem with the girls. They're very outgoing. You know, these three girls, they're very outgoing. And they're willing, you know, to take risks because of just their outgoing nature.

They haven't been, you know, I guess, you know, they haven't been tamed enough. They're outgoing and perhaps have a little bit of extrovers and a little pep to them. The prosecutor followed by asking a. Sam was still their leader. And Brenda agreed again that, yes, he led the family, although she kept also at the same time avoiding that he was personally responsible for every decision. You're like, okay. Then the questioning goes back to this Grant Cardone trip, which is weird. We've already gone down that rabbit hole. Everybody else keep going down. Let's learn about this. Was there a conference there that week or not? This Grant Cardone trip.

Brenda agreed it was Sam's surprise idea, and she said again, he's the leader of the family, and the group traveled into trucks, a van, and the enclosed trailer. The prosecutor then asked one of the more important questions of her testimony. Even if the girls wanted to ride inside the trailer, could Sam have simply said no? What an idea. Brenda admitted that yes, he could have. I don't think that that answer made Sam very happy. I did look over. him. This testimony was not going the way Sam wanted it to. Brenda quickly added, though, that she remembered Sam initially telling them no, that said he wasn't someone to force people to do things and believes they made their own choices. We know that's not true. The prosecutor also established

that there were opportunities to stop and inspect the trailer during the drive. Brenda admitted the trailer had a slight bend in the doorframe that made latching more difficult, She also agreed that because of that issue, it was so important for the driver to make sure the door was properly secured before traveling. Throwing Sam under the bus in that moment. She's like, yeah, it's a problem. And it is so important for the driver,

aka Sam, aka leader of the family, aka decision maker, to make sure the door is properly secured before traveling. And he didn't do that. So near the end of the cross-examination, the prosecutor brought up that Brenda had a prior felony conviction, which she acknowledged. I did not see that coming.

Just at the end, it was just like, and, ma'am, do you have a prior felony conviction? And she acknowledged that she did. On redirect, though, Sam was back up, now growing a couple of inches after the judge sustained a couple of his objections, feeling a little bit more confident, and he goes back to this Life 360 app.

Brenda explained while the app was generally accurate, it was not perfect because people could lose service or turn it off. And then when Sam asked whether she remembered him constantly checking everyone's locations, she said no, that from her perspective, people, this is good. This is good. So he's trying to be like, well, was I always checking their locations? And so she says, no, like, that's probably what Sam wanted to hear. But there's always but this is so good.

he wasn't checking the app because from Brenda's perspective, people just naturally wanted to be close to Sam anyway. So thus she didn't remember him carefully monitoring everyone through the app because they were just with him. They just globed on to, they just, he was this magnet, Chris's roll leader eyes. He was this magnet that just, I mean, he didn't even need an app because everybody just wanted to be around him all the time. And that's why he wasn't always checking the app, right? Sam then went back to August 14th, asking Brenda to clarify about the seatbels, which was really at this time, honestly, like a snooze fest for me. I was like rinse and repeat. I feel like the jury felt that too. And that's kind of where it concluded. And then the jury had several questions for Brenda. Love these juror questions. Brenda said she, hadn't personally loaded most of the trailer's contents, although she remembered two recliners being inside. She admitted that she didn't know whether the loose items had moved around during the trip. Jurors also asked why the same three girls were riding in the back during both incidents.

Great question. Intuitive jurors. They are thinking. They're realizing. Brenda responded that they were just, again, simply outgoing. They were just outgoing. That was kind of the problem with these girls. just needed to be broken in a little bit more, I guess. So they needed to write in a trailer. That's honestly what I thought. When she kept saying they were outgoing, I kept thinking that like he wanted to break them. Like they needed to be more submissive. That's what I kept thinking. But, you know, they were simply outgoing. They were adventurous and they were more willing than others to take risks. So that's why they were put into dangerous abusive situations because they were outgoing. And then, of course,

obviously, Brenda, what she's trying to do is blame the victims. And when asked whether Sam had actually allowed them to ride in the trailer. She said she didn't remember. One juror asked whether she personally would ride inside that trailer. And her answer was interesting. She said, no, mostly because she gets car sick without cool air. Yeah, she wouldn't ride in it. Then she added that if it had been comfortable, then maybe she would have.

That was like such a moment. So in other words, not only does she get car sick because it's hot, it's also not comfortable, and that's why she wouldn't write in it. After lunch, the state called their final witness, Detective Joseph Anderson. He returned as a rebuttal witness after Sam finished presenting his case. So he was back on the stand. Prosecution pulled up a series of maps. Anderson walked the jury through the exact route that Sam drove that day, which a juror later today said that didn't even matter to him because even if the trailer to this juror was parked in the parking lot, that was enough for him. If he shut the, if he shut the,

door of this trailer with the girls inside. But Anderson pointed out the county line and then kind of focused again on the biggest issue in this case. And it was if Sam knew there was a problem with the trailer. Where could he have stopped safely? And according to Anderson, there were plenty of options for Sam to stop once he learned that it wasn't latched. He brought up starting at Silver Saddle Center. He pointed out one location after another where Sam could have pulled over. There were residential streets, a historical site parking lot, Flagstaff Mall, neighborhoods, businesses, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, the, the opportunities were endless for him to pull over and fix the door for the girls. The next map followed the route

onto Country Club Drive. There was a service station right there. He could have gone three miles farther down the road. And they actually just went on and on and on all the different exit ramps, all the different shoulders, the Butler and Huntington areas, where they finally made contact. There's just so many places. Well, during cross-exam, Sam then tried to focus back on the prosecution's theory of when the danger actually began. Yeah, this is what he was like, I know what to do.

do. Sam was like, I got this, guys. Cross-exam. He's grown a couple inches from his objections to be sustained. He's like, I got this. I know what I need to focus on. He's like, let's just decide when the danger actually began here. Um, acknowledging there's danger, but when did it begin? So Sam asked Anderson if the state believed the dangerous situation started after the stop near Wendy's when the trailer door wasn't properly secured. Anderson's like, yeah, no, that's not when the danger started. He testified that, in his opinion, the dangerous situation began the moment the trip started

because people were riding inside the enclosed trailer. Sam was like, hmm, interesting. He also pointed out that regardless of speed, the trailer's condition itself was what he considered dangerous. Sam then asked Anderson how far it was from the interstate exit to where he eventually stopped. Anderson estimated it was about a half a mile. So then on redirect, prosecutors,

get back up, want to make one thing clear. And they ask whether the danger depended on speed alone. Anderson said no. He explained that the biggest concern wasn't how fast the truck was traveling, whether it was 55, whether it was the fact that people were just inside an enclosed cargo trailer. Like that, with the door shut. And then you throw in that there's loose objects, then you throw into these driving, then you throw out that these loose objects could become projectiles during any collision. He reminded jurors that roadways are inherently dangerous because you can't control what other drivers are doing.

Even if the speed limit is posted, there is no guarantee everyone else is following it. In his opinion, regardless of speed, transporting people this way is extremely dangerous. Several of the jurors had more questions. I love these jurors so much. One juror wanted to know exactly where the Wendy stop was located. He explained it was Highway 89. making it one of the easiest landmarks along the route. Another juror asked where roadside assistant worker Gary Crosby first spotted the truck.

I noticed the fingers sticking out. Anderson explained that Crosby first saw the truck on Country Club drive, followed it onto Interstate 40, Westbound, confirmed it matched the attempt to locate broadcast. And then after the truck eventually stopped, he observed the finger sticking out near the trailer door. The jury also wanted clarification of whether Sam had actually been pulled over by law enforcement or it stopped in his own, Anderson explained that Sam voluntarily pulled into the parking lot.

Crosby, though, maintained visual contact with the truck until law enforcement arrived. And then once officers got there, they activated their emergency lights, making it clear, Sam was no longer free to just leave. The state did have one final follow-up question. They wanted Anderson to confirm that while Crosby was following Sam, he watched and drive past multiple safe places where he could have stopped sooner, and Anderson confirmed absolutely yes. The prosecution then displayed one more time, the map.

They specifically addressed Sam's claims that he had nowhere to safely pull over without crossing traffic. And using the map, Anderson pointed out several locations where Sam could have made nothing more than a simple right turn into a parking lot or business without ever having to cross traffic. Sam then was like,

like, I know what to do now. Then he questioned him about the amount of traffic in those parking lots. Suggesting he would have stopped earlier if it looked safe, which I just want to pause. Why would a crowded parking spot not feel safe to Sam? Maybe because he knew what he was doing was bad. Because a parking lot to shut a door to make sure little girls don't fall out, you know, what is he so afraid of of a busy parking lot? Just another tell. tell. Anderson responded that if Sam had made a legal right turn into one of those businesses, he would have controlled the lane of traffic, other vehicles would have yielded, it had been just fine, and everything would have been okay. He explained the very first report came in from the

Silver Saddle area, the witness again reported seeing the girls climbing out of the trailer while people appeared upset. The truck left the area. And then at that point, there were reports of seeing finger sticking out of a trailer. And that information came late. later after Gary Crosby located the truck and began following it. Detective Anderson was then excused from the stand. Both sides had officially finished presenting evidence. And the judge, so in other words, the defense, you know, rested, the prosecution's rested. So what's next?

Judge giving jury instructions before closing arguments. What? Yes, snooze fast. I know. That's how I felt. There have been times where I've told everybody what's happened with jury instructions. We're skipping that. I applaud anyone in chat that really wants to know about jury selections because I know that they are very interesting to many people.

We, yeah, snooze fest. I'm good. I'm good without jury instructions. But those happened. Just know they happened and they did a good job. It was great. It was well delivered. The prosecutor, his... His opening, he opened his closing statements with a vivid, vivid image. It was the same image. He started with his opening statements. He told the jury to pitcher fingers gripping the very top of a trailer door,

desperately trying to keep it from flying open as the truck sped down the highway. That's what witnesses saw on Flagstaff Road that day. Before anyone even started talking about the law, he wanted the jury to think a about that image. He then walked them through what was actually inside the trailer. This wasn't some camper or a passenger trailer

that was built for hauling cargo. Not people, not animals. There were no seats. There were no seat belts, no airbags, no ventilation, no air conditioning, no lights, just a metal box getting hotter by the minute

on a day that was already in the upper 70s to low 80s. The trailer was packed with loose items that could become so dangerous every time that truck hit a bump or made a turn. There were water jugs strapped together with bungee cords, a stroller, folding chairs, camping gear, a generator, a fuel tank, a metal shovel, a makeshift infamous toilet hidden behind the infamous curtains. You name it. Nothing was properly secured. But according to the prosecutor, the most important thing inside that trailer wasn't

any of those objects, it was three little girls. D, G, and S. He reminded the jury that these girls spent roughly three hours riding inside those conditions while Sam Bateman rode comfortably in the pickup truck pulling the trailer. The prosecutor also pushed back on the idea that this case was only about what happened in Flagstaff. Yes, that's where Dee was eventually seen holding the trailer door shut, sure, with her hands. But he argued this wasn't just about the final few miles of the trip. The entire drive mattered from the moment they left Colorado City until they reached Cochinino County. In his view, every decision along that route belonged to one person. Sam Bateman, Sammy, Sammy Boy, Sam, Sam, whatever you want to call him. He likes to be called Samuel.

We're not calling him Samuel. Sammy Sam. Sam Bateman. He said this was Sam's plan from the beginning. It was a surprise trip. He organized it. He decided. He decided. He decided. who rode where drove the truck himself and was ultimately responsible for everything that happened. And as the prosecutor told it, Sam had chance after chance to stop once things started going wrong. Instead, he kept driving because he did not want to get caught by police. Even after the truck finally stopped, the prosecutor said, Baman did not immediately get the girls out of the trailer and into safety. Right? He just left him there. He's like, they're good. They're good. The doors flashed. They can't get out. You know, just keep him there. Instead, he kept them hidden.

inside. And then he reminded the jurors just how young these girls were. D was only 14. G was 12. S was just 11 years old. And according to the prosecutors, this wasn't even the first warning Bainment had received. We saw from someone that previously confronted him about transporting these three same girls in an unsafe way while they were writing on an ATV near Colorado City. And as Brenda pointed out, just, you know, because they're outgoing. They, you know, His point was that Sam, though, knew better. He had already been warned, and he did it again anyway. And from there, prosecutor then went away from the facts of the case for a moment

and talked directly about the jury's job. So he reminds them that closing arguments are not evidence. Their job wasn't to decide the case based on emotion or sympathy. It was to rely on testimony, the exhibits and the own memories, their own memories of everything they had heard during trial. Next came one of the biggest theme. of his closing argument. Common sense. He told jurors they didn't need to think like lawyers. They didn't need just some legal special mindset. Just use the same judgment they use every day because common sense

tells you why cars have seatbelts and airbags. Common sense tells you that people aren't supposed to ride inside cargo trailers, especially little girls. And common sense tells you that putting children inside a hot enclosed trailer where they can't get out for hours probably isn't safe. From there, he broke down the child abuse charges. He explained that the state had to prove Sam, Sammy Boy, had care for custody of the girls, not in the sense of being their legal parent, but simply that he was the one in control. According to the prosecutor, that point wasn't really in dispute. Bateman, Sam Bateman, Sammy Boy, planned the trip, drove the truck, decided where everyone rode and even described himself during trial as an experienced driver whose responsibility was to know exactly who and

what was inside his truck and trailer. The girls also testified that Sam knew they were writing in the trailer because he was the one who allowed it. The prosecutor argued that Sam himself essentially admitted he knew they were back there. His only disagreement was over when it became dangerous. Sam claimed the real problem didn't begin until the trailer door started coming loose near flagstaff. The prosecutor strongly disagreed, yeah, and I think so to all of us. He argued that danger existed from the very beginning of the trip, not just during those final moments. Finally, he explained another important point about jury deliberations. He told jurors they all had to agree on the verdict. But they didn't necessarily have to agree on every single reason that Sam was

guilty. Some jurors might focus on the entire journey, right? Well, other jurors might believe the danger became especially severe during the flag staff portion. But either way, he argued, the evidence showed that Sam knew those girls were inside that trailer the whole time. The prosecutor then turned One of the biggest questions in the case, did Sam actually know those girls were in the trailer? His answer was that there was no question about it. And throughout the trial, the jury heard about phone calls happening back and forth during the drive whenever they had cell service.

According to the prosecutor, Sam wasn't just towing a trailer full of people without realizing it. Not only was he hauling them in a cargo trailer, he was communicating with them for much of the trip. He was also reminded that the jury, this wasn't some spontaneous decision. The trip was Sam's idea. He was supposed to, it was supposed to be some surprise outing to hear some motivational speaker, Grant Cardone, who we've now wondered was if that was even a conference happening. Sam planned it, organized it, and drove the truck and everyone who testified, described him as the person in charge, the leader, the guy in charge of the group or the family group.

The prosecutor kept coming back to that point. Everyone has painted. the same picture. Sam was the leader. What he said went. If anyone made the decisions, it was Sam. That meant he also decided he wrote in the trailer, whether he personally told the girls to get inside or simply gave them permission. It really doesn't matter. The prosecutor argued the result was the same. Those children were back there because some adult named Sam allowed it. And the prosecutor reminded jurors that Sam admitted several of these points himself. And on the witness stand, he repeatedly described himself as the person responsible. He calls himself the leader. Remember that? Yeah, he did. He was really special. He was a special guy.

He even said he was in charge. He even asked himself whether or not he was a prophet. Poor guy got that. It was an objected, but, you know, you know, yeah, he's the leader here, a prophet. The prosecutor basically told the jury, you don't have to take my word for it. Listen to what the defendant said. And yeah, I agree. Then he appealed to something he'd been talking about throughout his closing. Common sense. If you're driving a truck and pulling a trailer, especially when carrying children, you should know who's back there. And if you're talking to them on the phone during the drive, there's no way you can even argue. You weren't aware. They were inside. The prosecutor argued Sam made one choice very clear that day. He protected himself by riding comfortably inside the pickup truck

truck next to his binoculars and and next to the women and girls who he said should sit next to him. The girls did not get that same protection in the back in the trailer. The prosecutor also addressed one of Sam's explanation. Sam testified that the girls asked if they could ride in the trailer and he gave them permission. The prosecutor's response was blunt. This isn't a defense. These were not adults making their own decisions. they were children.

And as the adult in charge, the leader, the prophet, Sam was responsible for saying no. And instead, according to the prosecutor, he actually tried to normalize it. Sam testified they travel this way all the time. He's like, oh, this isn't the only time I've done it. I do this all the time. He even described the previous trip

where he himself stood inside a moving trailer as an adult just to see what it would feel like. The prosecutor essentially told the jury, think about what he's asking you to believe. leave. Just because something happened before it doesn't suddenly make it safe, and from there, he tied everything back to the legal requirement that Bateman acted knowingly or even intentionally. He argued this wasn't an accident. Sam didn't accidentally put the children inside a trailer because they were outgoing. He intentionally gave them permission to ride there. And according to the

prosecutor, that alone satisfies the requirement that his actions were deliberate. And then something else that probably caught the jury's attention during testimony, Sam himself admitted it was dumb, you think? He admitted it was dangerous. You think? The prosecutor emphasized those weren't words investigators put in his mouth. They were sins own descriptions of what happened. He noted that the girls, now looking back at the experience, understood just how dangerous it really was. They testified to that. The prosecutor argued they simply didn't have the maturity at the time to recognize the risks they were being exposed to. They probably, honestly, just wanted to be back there so they didn't have to be next to him. But he started walking the jurors

through what those risks actually were. Every bump in the road, every sudden stop, every sharp turn, without seat belts or anything securing them, the girls and all of the loose equipment inside that trailer could be thrown around. According to the prosecutor, even a relatively minor crash could have turned catastrophic. And then he asked the jury to think about something else. Sam may have considered himself an experienced driver, but he wasn't the only one driving on the road. What if another vehicle hit him? What if a semi-truck rerended the trailer? I could picture Sam at this moment going, but I prayed. I prayed before I went. But yeah, the same thing crossed my mind, too. He's not the only driver on the road, especially during the stretch where everyone knew the trailer

doors were not even going to stay latch. The prosecutor argued Sam couldn't control any of those outside dangers, yet he still chose to keep driving. He reminded the jurors about the trailer itself. The frame was bent. The door didn't latch reliably. Even Brenda testified that you basically had to like just jiggle everything into the exactly the right position for the latch to work. The prosecutor's point, if the doors only stay shut when everything is lined up perfectly, that is not a secure trailer. And on this trip, everything clearly was not lined up perfectly because Dee ended up physically holding the door, closed with her own hands.

That's when an already dangerous situation became dramatically worse. And instead of pulling over, what did Sammy Sam do? He kept driving through Flagstaff. He passed multiple places, gas stations, restaurants, truck stops, getting on to Interstate 40 where traffic was moving around 65 miles per hour, often faster, and he continued driving. Every mile he stayed on that road

increased the danger. And in his view, the reason Sam didn't stop was because he was trying to avoid police because he knew he was doing something wrong. And then the prosecutor returned to the trailer itself. It wasn't designed for people. It wasn't even suitable for transporting livestock.

It was hard metal, no padding, loose camping gear, a gasoline tank, a generator, the infamous toilet. The girls had no way to get out themselves if something went wrong. They were essentially in there as prisoners. Something as simple as a fire, an explosion involving the gasoline. The children would have been trapped. Any one of these dangers could be enough on his own.

But stacked together, the hot temperatures, no seatbelts, objects, broken trail doors, highway speeds, children trapped inside. this was frightening and Sam put these girls in danger. He even reminded the jury that Brenda herself said she got car sick because she couldn't ride in that trailer. If the adults understood this wasn't safe, why would they allow these young girls in there instead? He wrapped up this section by bringing jurors back to ordinary life and common sense one more time. Imagine, he said. sitting inside a sealed cargo trailer on a sunny afternoon with no windows, no airflow, no way to cool it down,

and then imagine doing it for more than three hours while traveling over narrow two-lane highways, bumps in the road, and eventually busy interstate traffic. No matter how you look at it, it wasn't just uncomfortable, this was dangerous. He wrapped up his closing arguments and tied this entire case together. He knew that the girls' memories weren't all identical. After all, they were children recalling something that happened years earlier. Small differences, they're expected. But one thing never changed.

And he pointed to one detail from Dee's testimony, he considered especially significant. She testified that during the trip, Sam actually had the girls climb out of the trailer for a moment so he could use the makeshift toilet inside. and afterward, according to Dee, he had the girls get right back into the trailer. It was just another example of Sam knowing the girls were inside and just another safety issue. Dee testified she didn't remember that makeshift toilet ever being emptied

before everyone climbed back in. Prosecutors suggested the jury should consider that as yet another unhealthy condition inside the trailer and then returned to Bateman's actions once they reached the flagstaff area. Sam's own testimony, paranoia, continuing to drive instead of pulling over, all the places he stopped or didn't stop, all the places he passed,

all of them opportunities where he could have stopped and closed the door. He chose not to use them. He truly believed that the situation had become dangerous if he believed that. He would have stopped, but he was more concerned, I think, about police and getting caught.

He then had the girls hide behind a curtain, surrounded in the makeshift bathroom. This was not someone trying to protect children. He was trying to attempt and to avoid getting caught. There weren't even enough seatbelts for everyone. That's why the girls had to even go into the trailer. He reminded something,

the jurors about something important, the law, the state actually, didn't have to prove the girls were likely to die or suffer serious injury. All they had to prove that was that their health was in danger. So he reminded them the girls were 11, 12, and 14. And he walked through Sam's role on everything. He was the driver. He planned the trip. He was in charge. He was the leader. And then he actually went back to to according to the prosecutor, every major decision traced back to Sam and then responded to testimony, suggesting the girls were adventurous and like taking risks. The prosecutor dismissed that argument completely. These were

children and Sam was the adult. Even if the girls wanted to write in the trailer, he was the one responsible for saying no. He authorized it. And again, he reminded them that he himself called the trip dangerous. Yeah. It was a good. closing argument. And it was powerful and talked about D keeping that door shut. So Sam began his closing by acknowledging the unusual position he was in telling the jury that he had never represented himself in a trial before. I was like, well, this was your choice, buddy. And then he asked them again to be patient with him as he explained his perspective in his own words. And then he turned to a visual aid playing up a map. It was just like, okay, he's going to go through this again.

explained where he just felt he could not pull over. It was actually kind of just like exhausting. He then kind of like framed this entire case around one central idea, which was intent. He repeatedly told the jury that he never intended to harm anyone. It was so gross when we started talking about this. He said he loved the girls very, very dearly. Also, it was so gross to hear him call them girls.

He did say girls. I love those girls. Very, very dearly. I was like, shut up. He insisted. This was this, I wrote this down and circled it in my notebook. He insisted he would rather die than, then, then harm them. And as his view, the prosecution just could not prove what they needed to prove because he never intentionally endangered the children. Let's watch it together. I mean, let's watch Sam Bateman, Sam Bateman himself. And I, I, do you want to hear about all the good nicknames you guys have maybe thought of for sam the little pet name since he only likes to be called samuel and called all of his victims by pet names let's think of some good ones for sammy boy so i just want to remind us to um you judge me on the facts and the evidence in this case um there's just not you know not evidence that i really may intentionally

harm these people because i didn't harm them and i didn't even have a desire to harm them and in my mind because I felt like I was wearing the drivers. I didn't feel like they'd even been injured. And he mentioned that I was sitting in my real small truck, but I would easily go back there with them. It probably trusts me as the guy. I like that kind of stuff. It's kind of person in.

Like you saw these things. Also, please realize that my decision-making abilities on this particular trip, more than probably my whole life long, were being taxed especially grayed after the silver Saturday experience because we saw that gentleman come up quite angry or quite bothered and then turned into exquisite pain and concern and I'm freaking out when I got the phone call

as that's one off on the freeway when they said our future sticking out the door he's like oh my goodness so maybe I'm freaked out that I don't know I think I pull off right that men on the same or at least as soon as they could come to this medium or really all the emergency meeting and then that's what I wrote my son I just he pulled up to you that's when I pulled off he went ahead of the park on the other side of the exit and I just go back on the road and pull him the exit and sort of about half a mile from where I first pulled off when it's been stopped also the other people may not have known my intention but my

intention was not you know really because I understand they're very big increased danger with vehicles and that asked the vehicles I may not have told them that but that was a guess my attention and my child was walk out of that and the trailer to get into the other vehicles I just assumed the other things that the I love that he keeps getting lost. I really don't have any worries about this because if the trip already know, I you can make me because my intention is never to hurt anyone. Gross.

My intention's never heard anyone shot up. How do we ask you to don't consider the what? Master Bateman. Because we start getting with that I'm going to over again, I had a little over again. Also, he mentioned that I I run the in the trailer. You have to realize that most of the time

when I stayed, we were in that trailer, it was just the little tea, picnics and drives and in the city around my area. When I'm a house, most of the times on dirt roads, as there was, there was paint and it was just around town and on very slow speed in the roads. And also realized that that whole town

is whether the more likeness town you've ever seen your entire life. There's more motor bikes going everywhere all day pretty much. And so we kind of grow up in that kind of mindset. And I think before I mentioned this, but I'm realizing when I accidentally it was really so concerned because we slowed to much, much slow speeds. And that's why it apparently it seems like it crossed all those turnoffs because most of slow. I was looking for sometimes somewhere out of the way where the wasn't smoke probably. Because, yeah, we have these streets being mocked by people because of the way you're

dressed. It's just a really fun. So we always like to get over there. I found a lot of people. Okay, so you may wonder why do you cross the family these female fetuses? And it's because I care about them. and you know what I can really express and I decided a year ago that I would not ask them one question to make them feel uncomfortable because I know what a sweetheart and I'm not sure what you're afraid to about me saying extremely dangerous

but I don't think I ever said that no I would never have anyone in an extremely dangerous condition you know even calling the enemy I would not do anything that I thought would harm me and as we heard before read this testimony I think there was there well been a whole lot but there was a veneration I tried to my help in there the time right there and also the door was partially secure in which the match show I don't know much I'm trying but when it's last on the bottom it's just I can't get open Brandon thought that they might have shook open, but sorry, it's gonna have no big, big long to get that thing to come open.

So if that's, if their, a lot of camp footage was actually, it was similar, that door was lax and the girls weren't related to any danger. They just might have seen that way. And they said there's like a half his gap on the top where it has finger fingers out. I don't know, I was back there, but by all the videos and stuff, they had to open that door and then the last. door and then latched when they got there. So it didn't really appear from each by the Lodgy Kim footage that it was extremely dangerous. I also realized that I was totally unaware that the door was open until I entered the freeway. So I got the country club drive on a on a day off or 30 million a half I guess you

called. That's when I realized that they were in there and I didn't drive for miles mile of mile I just I didn't want harm it. It's not my intention and I never will be. And frankly you just can't prove that it is my life can testify. I don't like harm me or anybody. Perhaps what I did was reckless. I don't like, I don't think you say about that as I've been a little reckless. But I don't do it for like anything. feel so good. I felt like there's even the chance of something happened when they're going to be harmed and I realize that there may not be a lot of faith these days but I was a very very beautiful person. So I ask God bless this every time they do you like that we're going

for this buddy. You know what I need to write more likes or whatever. It was mentioned several times by here. Some of the witnesses that they came on rapids were really really don't be. They are bumping but just slow down. Just a little breaky thing and just close right down and something. And as far as some of your questions about the disorganization of the trainer, I don't know if you ever ask children to organize stuff like that and then sometimes don't get organized very much so I don't think that was that disorganized because I'm sure it was some shaking around of course but I don't think it was because of stuff falling over and And one last three, I did not use the restroom.

I just didn't use the restaurant. That's just not what I do. Why would I use the restroom where they can smell that trash and fumate the whole inside of the traymium? So I'm not sure what... Of course, I remember that, but I did not happen. And that concludes my remarks. And I just...

I would just help me ask you to... we ask you to consider the facts and consider my hand, next to can, and judge me not guilty. It's just my humble prayer. Thank you. He ends with, this is my humble prayer. Well, first fumigating. Yeah, he, that restroom moment. So there you go. There you have it. So the sound wasn't bad. I'm glad we played that together. So there you go. After that, what essentially happened was the prosecution got a rebuttal. They always do. They get the last word and final say,

and they essentially reiterated sort of their same basic points. And then it was time for the jury to deliberate. And as many of you know that have followed Hidden True Crime, one thing I am not good at is predicting when, how long a jury will take to deliberate. But I did speculate it would be very short. Grayson suggested 20. I think Dr. Christine suggested 25.

or three, I don't know, maybe 22. 20 minutes. I went across the street to grab myself some caffeine and they came back and they were like verdict. Grayson randomly ran into someone she knew in her middle school math class. I kid you not. He was just on a road trip. It was very random. I came back and she's like, a lot of classes together.

They were like, what's up? No long time, no C. And she's like, anyway, I work in true crime. I got to go up and see Sam Bateman's verdict being read. And he's like, oh, yeah, that's Dr. Christine. I saw the doc. And then he came with us. So that was a fun little addition.

So we were all up there. Grayson, her old classmate and, you know, his crew joined us. We all went and watched the verdict come down after 25 minutes of deliberating. And it was guilty on all three counts, as you know. And there were hugs in the courtroom. There was relief in the courtroom. There were many survivors of Samuel Bateman. Sam kind of just looked disappointed, but as I've told you, I lingered a little bit longer.

And he shook his head and then he did this thing. I don't know. If anybody knows Sam, is that, if that's something he typically does, let me know. That's kind of what he did after everyone sort of like started to go out of the, the courtroom, outside of the courtroom, there were still more hugs and gratitude people, again, that were his victims, his surviving wives, you know, wives, spiritual wives, that were grateful to see this conviction. Another one. So outside, we all hung out for a little bit longer. We were kicked out pretty quickly because, you know, it was five o'clock. Everybody wanted to go

home and jurors then came out and talked to us and they all said the same thing one of the jurors was like you know honestly we went in we all raised her hand we all knew he was guilty but we decided just to kind of go around and explain our why and one juror I spoke to just said you know again I've kind of shared it if he put those girls into a trailer in a in a in a driveway and shut it and locked it. Like, that's abuse. Never mind, you know, everything else. So, and then another juror just said, this is ridiculous. We did ask the jurors, too, if they knew what else he was capable of. One juror said, you know, I've just started Googling it. Another juror, so he was just barely starting to Google and learning more. They really didn't know. Another juror was like, no, I need to learn more. And then we

mentioned a Netflix doc and he goes, there's a Netflix documentary about this? We're like, yeah, yeah. And he had to go and run to work. So, so yeah, the jurors, they knew. It was clear cut, and they knew what this was. Yeah, and in a wonderful moment where one of Sam Bateman's survivors thanked the jurors, and she introduced herself and said, thank you. I'm trying to keep her identity private, but I'm so-and-so, and I was one of his wife's, and they said, wow, we're so sorry. And we and she was able to say those girls were what considered his wives and their minds were blown. You know, they find him despicable. So yeah, master abatement is not their favorite person.

All right, everybody. Have a great night. What a marathon. Thank you for being here. It is the greatest way to support us. It doesn't cost a thing. We value covering these trials, especially one. where not many people were covering it.

We felt it was important. We wanted everyone to know what was happening in that courtroom. So there you go. Guilty again on three counts of child abuse, justice for those three girls in the back of his trailer and hopefully justice for his many, many victims and survivors. May you all be healing. So we'll see you.

Good night.