Murder With My Husband - 259. The Therapist That Prescribed Murder!

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

In this episode, Payton and Garrett unravel the chilling murder plot orchestrated by a psychiatrist with a sinister agenda. Links: NEW MERCH LINK: https://mwmhshop.com Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/themwmh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murderwithmyhusband/ Discount Codes: https://mailchi.mp/c6f48670aeac/oh-no-media-discount-codes Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@murderwithmyhusband Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-dark/id1662304327 Listen on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36SDVKB2MEWpFGVs9kRgQ7?si=f5224c9fd99542a7 Case Sources: TheNYPost.com - https://nypost.com/2022/09/07/psychiatrist-admits-to-role-in-bludgeoning-of-baby-daddy/ CBSNews.com - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jake-nolan-case-psychiatric-defenses-often-problematic-in-criminal-cases-expert/ ManhattanDA.org - https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-announces-guilty-plea-of-pamela-buchbinder-for-plot-to-kill-dr-michael-weiss/ ABCNews.go - https://abcnews.go.com/US/york-psychiatrist-sentenced-sledgehammer-murder-plot-case/story?id=91354227 PsychSearch.net - https://www.psychsearch.net/pamela-buchbinder/ CaseText.com - https://casetext.com/case/weiss-v-nolan MedScape.com - https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/982376?form=fpf ABC7NY.com - https://abc7ny.com/pamela-buchbinder-sentencing-plot-murder/12315051/ NBCNewYork.com - https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/psychiatrist-sentenced-for-plot-to-have-bipolar-cousin-kill-childs-dad-with-sledgehammer/3903286/ NewYorkTimes.com - https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/nyregion/jurors-reject-brainwashing-defense-in-attempted-murder-trial.html TimesOfIsrael.com - https://www.timesofisrael.com/manhattan-psychiatrist-charged-with-attempting-to-murder-her-sons-father/ MiamiHerald.com - https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article265486181.html WTVR.com - https://www.wtvr.com/2016/12/03/patient-accused-of-trying-to-kill-psychiatrists-ex-lover Law.Justia.com - https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/appellate-division-first-department/2018/30222-17-30207-17-3160-17-101651-17-101532-17.html Syracuse.com - https://www.syracuse.com/crime/2017/10/nyc_psychiatrist_accused_of_plotting_sledgehammer_murder_of_ex_arrested_in_cny.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. Hey, everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Morland. And I'm Garry Morland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. Well, I'm looking out the window right now, and it's snowing.

It's like not good snow. It's like snowing and's like not good snow. It's like snowing and then just not sticking like slush. It's sloppy snow. Sucks. But everybody hope everyone is, I mean, Monday. So hope everyone has a good week. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

You ever thought about the fact where you're just just bumping in people's ears or speakers? That weird, I listened to podcasts and then the other day I had this weird experience where I was listening and I was like, wait, there's people where this is my voice. Yeah, it's kind of interesting. I don't know, I guess we don't really, I don't really think about it.

I just do. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. But it is kind of weird. It is weird. For anyone interested in who wants bonus episodes and ad free content, you can check out our Patreon or Apple subscriptions or Spotify subscriptions and the link below wherever you're listening or watching.

And I think we still have some ghosty sweaters left, at least as of now could be gone by the time this episode's out. You can check those out as well You guys those are the announcements bonus episodes you get extra murder with my husband episodes and ad-free on all of our shows It's true

That's Double-click right now. You're dumb if you don't You're not dumb you're't. Double click right now. I'm just kidding. You're not dumb. You're loved and so good and smart. Gary, you got your 10 seconds. I don't think, I don't know if I can follow that. The crowds are saying, shut her up.

Yeah. I got a whoop. For those who don't know what a whoop is, like an Apple watch without a screen, but it just tracks all your health. And I like it a lot. It's not an ad. It's just, I got a whoop and I like it

because the Apple Watch is a little too heavy. Also like, I don't check my messages on there. I don't check calls. I do everything on my phone. I always have my phone with me. So it's nice. The whoop just does everything. I think it even does more than what the Apple watch does.

Puts it all on the app. And yeah, so anyways, I got a whoop. I've been using it for pickleball and weightlifting. So I guess that's my fun fact of the day. For those who are curious, I am still eating healthy and weighing my food. It's depressing, but it's also happy at the same time. Hard to explain. Have a lot of energy.

I feel good, but do I want to just go and eat a dozen donuts? Yes, yes I do. Did I want to order three pizzas last night? Yes, yes I did. I didn't though. I Blamed the USA for having a lot of good food That's all I don't know Nothing else other than that

That's what I got going on that note Let's hop into today's episode our sources for this episode are the New York Post calm CBS News Manhattan da org ABC news psych search net case text calm medscape calm ABC 7 New York calm NBC New York Post.com, CBS News, ManhattanDA.org, ABC News, PsychSearch.net, Casetext.com, Medscape.com, ABC7NewYork.com, NBCNewYork.com, NewYorkTimes.com, TimesOfIsrael.com, Miami Herald, WTVR.com, LaJustia.com, and Syracuse.com. Okay. If you know me at all, actually me and Garrett, you know that we are big on mental wellness. I think it's important to journal, check in with yourself,

give your mind a day off when you need it. And frankly, I think we are lucky to live in a world where mental health is finally getting taken a little more seriously. Just a few short decades ago, if you were to ask off of work for a mental health day, you probably would have been laughed out of the office or fired.

But now people understand that mental wellbeing is just as, if not sometimes more important than your physical wellbeing, especially in cases where the mind affects the body. But when it comes to the nuances of mental health conditions, like really understanding how they all work and operate, we have a long way to go. That's where therapy and psychiatry come in. Sometimes the only option someone has is to place all their trust in these professionals. And I have definitely been there.

Sometimes that is the only path towards a normal life it seems. What you never expect is for a mental health professional to break that trust, to manipulate that bond for their own gain, especially when you're at your most vulnerable and especially when they are also a member of your own family. Okay. Let's get into it. Let's take a member of your own family. Okay. Let's get into it.

Let's take a trip to New York City. We're gonna dial back the clock to 2012. Garrett is about to graduate high school. True. He's wearing, he's wearing, he's wearing, What? He's wearing skinny jeans and Vans. What were you wearing?

2012. You're senior. I don't know if I was wearing, was I wearing skinny jeans 2012? No, I think I was wearing more like slim fit jeans 2012. I think the skinny phase was like 2007, 2008. What about shoes? Vans, definitely had Vans, yeah.

I was wearing eyeliner, dark black eyeliner, all the way around my eyes, absolutely no makeup on my eyebrows and Toms. Toms, so many people, I never- You never got into Toms? So many people in my school were Toms and I was like, you know what? I'm not wearing Toms.

I was a Toms girl through and through. Guess what though? Kind of happy about it because Toms. I'm sticking Vans. I was a Toms girl through and through. Guess what though? Kind of happy about it because Toms fell off and Vans never did. Oh, see, I'm happy about it because I can be like, no, I was one of the Toms girls. I think I was just, not that I was anti-Toms. They also just, I don't know, conversation for their day. But sorry, before we get back into it, they did donate a lot of shoes. So it was a good thing. So we're in New York City, 2012. It's there that we meet a 20 year old man named Jacob Nolan.

Now, Jake did not have an easy time up until this point in his life. Though you might not have predicted that from his early years, because seemingly Jake grew up in a stable household, the third of three children to Debbie and Jim Nolan, who was a wealthy real estate investor. But it was clear from an early age, money and wealth aside, Jake was not like the other children. He was incredibly smart, gifted by some accounts,

but if you asked his parents, he was an innovator, always looking to build or create something new. But by the time Jake turned five, his parents noticed a few signs in him that became alarming. And while I don't know what Jake's symptoms were, I know he was diagnosed at that early of an age with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, better known as ADHD. Now let's just be clear, ADHD is a fairly common condition affecting about 11% of kids between the ages of five and 17.

It can lead to lack of focus, make it hard to pay attention in school, control your impulses, as well as mood swings and hyperactivity. But it is one of the better understood disorders, so that means it's a bit easier to treat than other conditions, though not in everyone's case, like Jake Nolans. As Jake got into his teenage years, his family noticed that his mood swings were getting more unpredictable. The highs were higher and the lows were a lot lower. For example, while in high school, Jake put that innovative side of himself to the test

and he actually created an iPhone app that was meant to be a study tool for his classmates. He even won a prestigious award for it. But that feeling of success only lasted for his classmates. He even won a prestigious award for it. But that filling of success only lasted for so long. A month later, Jake was having a hard time getting out of bed in the mornings, let alone packing his bags and heading off to school. It was at that point he was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. And while I don't know what Jake's treatment plan was, I do know that by age 17, he had made a suicide attempt. Jake was hospitalized after the

event, but was then given a more severe diagnosis, bipolar disorder. Now, bipolar disorder can include drastic mood swings like elevated euphoria to severe depression, along with other symptoms like anxiety, irritability, even cognitive issues like memory loss or poor judgment. So by the time Jake actually entered his college years, his doctors have tried upward of 30 different medications to try and manage this. That's a lot. Though none of them really seemed to help in the way he'd hoped.

And honestly, this is like devastating. It is absolutely devastating. And things only got worse for Jake once he was alone. That's when he began self-medicating with things like drugs and alcohol. And making it to class became the least of Jake's problems. But that's when his parents had an idea. Maybe Jake should just go stay with his cousin Pamela in her New York City apartment for a bit. After all, if anyone could help Jake full time, it was her because she was a psychiatrist. They're like, get him out of his environment. Let's switch it up.

Let's have him go stay with his cousin, Pamela, who is a psychiatrist, who knows more about this, and maybe she can help him turn things around. But I don't, I don't think that commonly bipolar disorder is as easy as like, let's him turn things around. But I don't think that commonly bipolar disorder is as easy as like, let's just turn things around. But they're hoping that this can help. So Pamela Buckbinder was a bit older than Jake by about 23 years. But the two had seemingly been close

for a lot of Jake's life. So close that he was practically the godfather to her four-year-old son, Calder. So 43-year-old Pamela made an agreement with Jake and his parents. He could come stay with her, get daily therapy sessions while she helped monitor his medication, which this is like amazing. And in return, he could help around the house and kind of help her raise Calder. Now, Pamela wasn't married. In fact, she and her ex-boyfriend, Michael Wise, had called her together.

But since they had broken up about a year or so prior, they had been splitting custody of their son. So in a way, this situation was beneficial for both Jake and Pamela. The two could rely on one another, and it seemed to honestly be doing good for Jake at least at first. He moved there and Jake started holding himself to a higher standard now that Calder was looking up to him. He felt purpose in life, like he had to set a good

example for him. Jake had always wanted to have his own family, but his mental health seemed to stand in the way of making that possible. But now, in a way, he had achieved those dreams by getting closer with Calder and Pamela. But over time, it became clear there was something wrong with the dynamic between Jake and his cousin Pamela. It seemed to start with a photo of Jake and Pamela in bed together with Calder one morning. So whether or not he posted this on social media, I'm not really sure, but I know that the image started to go around and it definitely made Jake's parents like, why is he in bed

with his 43 year old cousin and her son? Like this doesn't look like their cousins hanging out with the child. This looks like a different type of picture. We've got to be in Alabama or something. They became even more suspicious when they actually found some texts between Pamela and Jake on Jake's cell phone.

Messages that read things like, you are remarkable. My love for you is huge, you're the most fun person to love. What is going on? I have so many thoughts about you. But here's the thing, Jake tells everyone that he and Pamela were never physical or romantic with one another, that it was just words and nothing more. But the truth was Pamela did have an agenda. She knew exactly what she

was trying to do by sending Jake these lovey sweet texts. And the psychiatrist Pamela was not actually falling in love with her cousin. She was trying to manipulate him, weaponize him all for her own gain, knowing that he was struggling with his mental wellbeing. Okay, what? I don't understand what gain though. I mean, I guess we'll get into it because if she's not in love with him, what is she gaining from this?

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You can try on glasses and sunglasses, seeing the realistic color, texture, and size of each style right from home right now. Or head over to warbyparker.com slashband right now to take the home try on quiz and pick five pairs of frames to try on at home for free That's warbyparker.com slash husband warbyparker.com slash husband a little backstory on Pamela So as I mentioned the psychiatrist had fallen in love years before with another New York City psychiatrist named Michael Weiss. He was the father of her four-year-old son. Now, I'm not sure how long Pamela and Michael were together for, but I know it was a while

because while they never got married, Michael was seen as family. I mean, he had attended parties for Jake, so he had been around for at least close to a decade, if not longer, since Jake was now in his 20s. So he had been a part of Pamela's family. Though despite both of them being mental health professionals, the relationship they shared was actually pretty toxic. Not only was it on again off again, both sides claimed that there were instances of domestic violence from the other. And though Pamela had actually been

arrested for it before during one fight, she attacked Michael with a broken glass and he ended up needing stitches. I guess on another occasion, Michael was arrested after Pamela reported him for attempting to assault her. You know, which is... Maybe we're opening up a can of worms, but which is really interesting and happens a lot, whether you're a mental health professional, you're a doctor, whatever industry you're working in, like there's a lot of doctors who are really unhealthy, or there's mental health professionals who we are good at teaching what they do,

but then they're struggling or they're having issues in their marriage. So it's really interesting that, I don't know, it just, it happens with everything within any industry. You know, I will say though, there are a lot of people who are really good at inspiring and teaching and not doing, you know what I mean?

I agree with that. And I do think that's a talent in and of itself. Like there are dance coaches out there who cannot dance. Dance to save their lives. But they can teach dance really well. And I think that that's with any profession. Which is kind of interesting. Don't worry you guys.

I can teach you how to podcast and I can podcast. It's basically do as I say, not as I do. Right. So that's kind of what's going on with them. Both of them have been in trouble with the law for hurting the other person. The whole thing's really ugly, not the kind of loving partnership

you would wanna bring a kid into. And nonetheless, Pamela had their son in 2008, but she and Michael actually broke up for good shortly after she had their baby. By 2012, during the time Jake was in New York City living with Pamela, she and Michael were actually in a heated custody battle over Calder. And Jake was hearing every single update of what was going on, or at least Pamela's side of things. She told Jake that Michael was refusing

to pay child support, that he wouldn't sign the financial aid papers she needed to get Calder into school, which were supposedly all lies and soon got a lot more intense. Pamela told Jake Michael had been abusing Calder when he stayed with him. So Pamela tells Jake,

the boy that she's sending sweet, lovey messages to that also happens to be her cousin, that her ex-husband is abusing her child when he goes and stays with him. There's absolutely zero evidence of that, but Pamela doesn't tell Jake that. She just told him over and over practically daily how horrible it was to the point where Jake was really worried about Calder and it was all he could focus on. But Pamela knew exactly what she was doing. This seemed to be a part of a long con

she had been assembling for months. She welcomed Jake into her home. She preyed on his mental health condition. She manipulated him into believing her and taking her side. And then she was going to use him as a weapon to carry out a sadistic plan. And it was working. Okay. I think I never was going. So from what I could gather took me a second. This was at least a year. Jake lived with Pamela for a year and this was happening the entire time. And by November 2012, Jake was fully indoctrinated into Pamela's way of thinking. She had told him enough horror stories about Michael. She had completely honestly kind of brainwashed Jake.

That's so sad. And that's when she sat Jake down and told him, there's only one way to keep Calder safe. Like this has gotten way too far. This is such a dangerous situation. We need to get rid of Michael Wise once and for all. This is such a long con plan. It's so messed up.

But also the fact that like she's sticking to this and she's like, I'm going to brainwash him into killing my ex-husband. Yeah, that's wild. Now I'm just going to like quickly killing my ex-husband. Yeah. That's wild. Now I'm just gonna like quickly point out, Jake is a full grown adult, but he is in a power dynamic. Not only is Pamela years older than him in her 40s,

she's also established, she's a psychiatrist. She has seen him and helped him through extremely hard times. So you automatically look up to that person and put them on a pedestal for saving you. It is honestly a really easy situation to manipulate for a therapist to manipulate a patient, especially if she's kind of flirting with him and almost leading him to believe that their relationship is even more than that. So Jake listened patiently as Pamela laid out the different plans. See, she didn't just want Michael out of the picture.

She actually told Jake that she wanted Michael, her ex boyfriend, to suffer. She talked about the gruesome possibilities, injecting him, injecting him with poison, making him die a slow death, burning him alive in front of a crowd. How can this lady be a psychiatrist? What do I say? Not as I do, but I mean, another can of worms. I'm going to open it.

Um, I think certain professions being a doctor Psychiatrists, I don't know Attorneys and they do have like precautions and stuff in place But you almost need to like if you're like a psychiatrist like every year you need to go in for a psych eval You know I'm saying yeah, but do they know how to lie they do they do so. I don't know. Maybe it doesn't stop it That's crazy. Okay. There's a lot of people out there who offer guidance. Sometimes they're not even licensed to do so and people will follow. Yeah. Yeah. Like the cult leaders. Yeah. So

Pamela was showing no mercy, but she also knew that none of these were fast or practical. So on the night of November 11th, 2012, she and Jake settled on a plan that they could actually execute. That night, Jake went to Home Depot and bought a 10-pound sledgehammer. Holy crap. When he got home, Pamela hand drew him a map of how to get to Michael's West 57th Street high-rise where he both lived and worked. So the following morning, Jake wakes up early. He laid in bed as Pamela stroked his back. Bid him words of encouragement.

Remember their cousins. She told him how much she loved him, how he was saving their lives, and how life was going to get better once Michael was, quote, terminated. She gave Jake a knife to take along with that duffel bag filled with his 10 pound sledgehammer and that hand drawn map. She even told Jake what song she wanted him to play when the murder was committed. What is going on? Maxwell's silver hammer by the Beatles.

And then she sent the 20-year-old Jake on his way. So Jake said he started to have second thoughts about the whole thing while he was on the way. He was nervous. He wanted to back out. The problem was he knew he couldn't go back to Pamela without saying the job was done, so he kept moving forward. When he got to 57th Street, he checked the map Pamela had drawn him, which happened to show

multiple different entrances to the building, including the ones that had the least security measures. Now, whether or not Jake followed those instructions, though, is unclear because when he got inside, he actually checked in with the security guard at the front desk He said he was heading to a tutoring center called bright kids He even signed in using his real name Then Jake got in the elevator and hit the button for the 12th floor headed straight for Michael Weiss's psychiatry office Now when Jake got there, he noticed that Michael was actually in session with a patient. But rather than take a seat in his waiting room, Jake left the office and went to the building

stairwell while he waited for Michael's session to end. After the patient left, Jake went back inside. Remember, Michael knows Jake. He'd known him since he was a kid. He's gonna recognize him. So when he sees Jake, he's of course like, what are you doing here? What, why did my ex-girlfriend send you? But Jake and Pamela had planned for that. Jake told Michael he needed him to print out and sign some forms for Calder's financial aid.

Michael's like, okay, let's go, let's get this over with. Jake says, great, I'm gonna use the bathroom while you do that. In the meantime, he locks himself in there and he starts pulling out his weapons. Jake then comes out of the restroom. He approaches Michael and he swings that sledgehammer at him, but he misses. Michael saw him. He ducks out of the way.

Jake only manages to hit him on the tip of the shoulder. So Michael starts fighting back. Now eventually Jake drops the sledgehammer, because it's not a very practical weapon, and he gets a hold of his knife and starts jabbing at Michael. He stabs him about seven or eight times in the stomach his back his chest before Michael Actually starts to overpower Jake Oh shoot despite the fact He's stabbed which I do want to say Michael is six foot three. Yeah, he's 205 pounds

Jake is nowhere that big. Let's go. So Michael despite being stabbed that big. So Michael, despite being stabbed, wrestles the knife from Jake's hand and he begins stabbing him. So it's self-defense. So by now, the two aren't even inside Michael's office slash home anymore. They have now made their way out into the hallway. Obviously this is loud. A neighbor comes out, sees what's going on, actually gets the two men separated and calls 911. 911, raise emergency. This guy's screaming like crazy for help. I think it's a psychology suit, might have had a client who was nuts.

Both men at this point are stabbed. Oh, this is going to be a mess. Which I'm glad no one died, first of all. Second of all, I mean, obviously she's insane. I don't know what to say about him because I mean, he's clearly brainwashed. Like, obviously he can make his own choices, but it's hard when you get to that extent.

I mean, can you make your own choices? Is it his own choices? Well, let me tell you the aftermath, what happens next. And I think it will go to show you that I don't think Jake really in his right frame of mind. OK, so Jake does something that shows you just how bizarre this is. So when they separate, they're both stabbed. The neighbors calling police.

He doesn't try to run away. He doesn't try to get out of the building. He just sits there with Michael after this fight, waiting for ambulances to arrive. And in the meantime, he gets his phone out. He takes a selfie of himself covered in blood and sends it to Pamela and asks her, OK, he's not dead. We're just like, I'm just sitting here.

The police are coming. What should I do? Oh, poor guy. I mean, I don't want to say a lie. So I I do? Oh poor guy. I mean, I I don't want to say a lie so I can kind of say poor guy, but I know he's clearly brainwashed like he's clearly a hundred percent brainwashed. He is an adult, but like no no adult in their right mind would sit and ask Pamela what to do next. You would be like shoot. I got to get out of here, but he is looking to her so much for what to do. Same Pamela doesn't respond. So police arrived Jake's like. Well, I don't know what to do. So he says no, no. I came over here to get this sign and and

Michael tried to kill me first. Does Michael initiated this fight? Meanwhile, Michael saying to the police, are you kidding? He came in here with a sledgehammer. I had to fight back. I got the knife from him. But that's all police get out of them before they are both taken to the hospital.

Now, none of them have suffered life-threatening injuries, though ironically, Jake actually was more banged up out of the two of them. So it's from the hospital bed that Jake texts Pamela again. And since he still hasn't heard back from her from the first text, which now he's growing frantic, he feels like he's been abandoned. He writes to her in hospital,

please come Michael bleeding badly. Same. I walked into office. He stabbed me with my knife in the heart. And this time he gets a response from Pamela, but it's just one word. She says, where? So Pamela does eventually go down to the hospital.

Oh wow. But she's told at that point that she's not allowed to see Jake. Because not only is Jake under arrest for attempted murder and handcuffed to his hospital bed, doctors are determining that he is definitely currently suffering from a mental break that was triggered during the attack and he is now in a very manic state. Later, Jake says, I was in a full blown psychotic episode.

Yeah. Like that's what is happening at the hospital. Now Michael is stitched up and is discharged within a day or so, but Jake, he stays in the hospital for the next four days. And one of his first stops when he's released is to the courtroom to appear before a judge. He's charged with second degree murder.

His bell is set at $200,000. He meets it and in the meantime, he heads to his parents' house in Miami to stay with them. But here's the thing, it takes Jacob weeks to finally tell people, I didn't, like, I wasn't actually really, I didn't come up with the idea to kill Michael. Pamela told me.

And when he starts telling people this, they're like, you were manipulated. Like you were in a full blown psychotic episode. You were not in a good mental place. You were manipulated. And he's like, okay, he starts to get his mind around it. He starts to say, wait, yeah, I actually think I didn't want to do this.

Pamela on the other end is like, no way. I did not ask him to do this. I would never ask him to do something like this. Plus there are no texts or emails or any evidence of conversations about it. So it's a bit hard to prove that Jake isn't lying. Like people are like, no, he's in his right mind and he knew what he was doing.

He did this, not Pamela. The only real piece of evidence at first tying her to the crime is the fact that there was that hand drawn map from her. Also, like, I mean, there was lovey dovey messages, right? Which do spark a little bit of, that's your cousin and you're supposed to be giving them therapy. Right. Though when they confront Pamela with like, well, why'd you draw the map? She says she has reason. She's like, Calder's daycare is also inside that building.

Jake was supposed to pick him up. So she's like, I just needed him to pick up my child. I had no idea he was gonna do this. But Michael, who Jake tried to kill, tells police, I think Jake's actually pretty innocent in this. And this was a hundred percent Pamela who- Crazy. Who manipulated him into doing this.

Crazy, dude. So he takes Jake's side. It wasn't just custody of Calder that Pamela and Michael were actually fighting over at the time. In fact, they had just recently reached a custody agreement in court, one that ironed out visitation rights, child support payments, and a life insurance policy. Turns out part of the deal was for Michael to take out a $1.5 million life insurance policy. Turns out part of the deal was for Michael to take out a $1.5 million life insurance policy for himself and that his son would be the beneficiary. But three days before the attack, Michael actually changed the paperwork

to say in the case of his death, Pamela would be the trustee who would then manage the payout for Calder until he's 18. She was gonna steal all his money, all her own son's money basically. So when police go to Jake and they're like did you know about this like this whole agreement they had made he's like no I had no idea there was a life insurance policy. So hearing this the court actually grants Michael Weiss full custody of Calder and they tell Pamela, you are not allowed to make contact with Calder

for the next five years. But here's what's odd. Even though the family court thinks Pamela is a danger to society, like they start to believe this story, the police don't, at least not yet. They don't charge her with any crime. She goes on living her life, albeit not with Calder. And meanwhile, Jake is bouncing from one treatment center

to another trying to contend with his drug and alcohol addictions, as well as his mental health conditions. At one point while awaiting trial, he makes another suicide attempt. And this time his parents don't think he'll survive. He actually is in a coma for several days, but he pulls out of it.

And three and a half years after the attack in March of 2016, he finally makes it to the courtroom. So while the prosecution paints Jacob Nolan as this sort of spoiled rich kid who didn't deserve the jury's sympathy, the defense took another approach. They went with an insanity defense

or rather diminished capacity. This is a huge risk for Jake's defense team and here's why. Insanity defenses are used today in less than 1% of felonies and only 25% of those cases are usually successful for the defendant. But here's what an insanity defense means. Basically, it states that the person who committed the crime completely lacked the capacity to understand the consequences of their actions. This is hard to prove. Now, the jury does get to hear about all the ways Pamela had manipulated Jacob leading up to the murder. In fact, at one point, the defense even calls an expert to the stand who compares Pamela to a cult leader. He says, sure, it might've been a small cult, only the two of them, but the principles are

the same. It's shaping someone's thought process to meet the leader's ideas. The jury also gets to hear all about Jacob's history with mental illness, his bipolar diagnosis, but the prosecution claps back saying, bipolar disorder does not keep someone from understanding the severity of their actions Nor does it make someone lose complete control over their faculties, which yes is true But when you add in manipulation brainwashing, especially by someone who this person holds to high esteem that could change People who are deemed perfectly Mentally well fall for cult leaders. You

know what I mean? Yeah. So the prosecution actually gets some backing on this. They play a tape for the jury. It's a conversation between a different psychiatrist and Jacob in the months leading up to the trial. During one clip Jake was asked about the zip ties that were in the duffel bag and he explained that Pamela wanted him to tie up Michael and torture him before he actually killed him. He goes on to say though, that he wasn't willing to torture Michael. He was just willing to kill him for Pamela. That statement right there was enough to completely discount the insanity defense. The prosecution says,

no, look, like he knew well enough to know, well, I don't want to torture him, but I'll kill him. Here was Jake years later. I kind of disagree with that, but okay. Admitting he was aware of the decision that he was willing to draw a line at some point. Torture, no, but murder, yes. The final nail in Jake's coffin though,

was that he told the psychiatrist in a later clip that he and Pamela were coming up with a plan considering different ways to kill Michael, right? And Jacob was participating in that brainstorm. When asked outright in those clips if he had helped plan the attack, he said, in a way, yeah, I did. So while Jake himself never took the stand in his trial, it was still his own words that were being said.

But you know who else didn't take the stand? his trial, it was still his own words that were being said. But you know who else didn't take the stand? Pamela. In fact, she was never even subpoenaed to testify. According to Jake's lawyers, that's because no one could find her to order her to court. So she just took off somewhere. Still, the jury believed they had all they needed by the end of the two week trial. They deliberated for less than an hour and came back with a verdict for Jacob Nolan guilty of attempted murder. Ultimately, they felt like if Jake could back out of torturing Michael, he could have also backed out of the murder. And yet he still went and gave it a shot. Jacob was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. He told the press,

he lived every day with regret for what he had done and there was something else weighing on him. He told reporters, Pamela is still a threat and he thought it would only be a matter of time before she went after Michael again. But just because Jake was behind bars doesn't mean the investigation was closed. In fact, the police seemingly took what Jake said to heart and they kept looking into Pamela, especially when one giant piece of evidence proved Jake was not alone in this after all, despite what Pamela had been saying. Turns out Pamela went with Jacob the night before the attempted murder to Home Depot to help him buy that sledgehammer. And because she's seen on security footage standing in line next to him and paying for it with cash, there's no pinning this all on Jacob at this point.

No more, he said, she said, it's clear Pamela was definitely involved in planning this. Frankly, if she hadn't have gone to Home Depot with Jacob and been caught on security camera, they might not have had enough. So instead an arrest warrant was finally issued for the 47 year old Pamela in October of 2017, almost five years since that attempted murder. Police track her down to a friend's home in Fayetteville, New York, about four and a half

hours outside of the city. When they knock Pam's the one who answered. She was placed in handcuffs, brought back to New York City to face the charges for her connection to the attack. The pandemic hits, time goes on, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like we see in all these cases. In September of 2022, it's now nearly a decade since the attempted murder. She shocks a lot of people when she changes her tune.

She goes into a courtroom and changes her plea to guilty. But the twists weren't over yet. Pamela went back into the courtroom a month later after, for her sentencing hearing. And she says, ah, nevermind, I withdraw my plea. You know why? She said that on the day she pleaded guilty, she had first gotten maced in prison

and then she didn't take her medication. And then she got a contact high from someone on the bus ride over who was smoking drugs. So she's like, it was just a comedy of heirs. The judge isn't buying it. He rejects her plea withdrawal and goes forth with sentencing, giving her 11 years behind bars. Michael Weiss was there. He witnessed the entire thing. But he's almost had a jail now at this point. Well, during his impact, sorry, not Michael. Oh yeah. Jake, Jake. Yes. So Michael was there.

He says in an impact statement, quote, while I am grateful for this day that's arrived, it has not brought me the sense of relief or the feeling of closure I hoped it would. Although it's been almost 10 years since I was attacked, I still struggle with the emotional and physical scars of what happened to me on November 12th, 2012. Pam will not be eligible for parole until 2027. And I think it's safe to say she will not be allowed to resume her psychiatry practice once she is released. And that is the attempted murder of Michael Weiss. It's kind of sad because the kid's also affected and he didn't do anything Like now he's gonna grow up basically without a mom because his mom wanted to kill Dad

Which is insane. It's a huge gigantic mess. And again We often are talking about mental health in these cases but this was this was one case where a lot of people believe that if mental health had not been a component, there actually would have not been any attempted murder. That's crazy. I guess we'll really never know for sure though. All right, you guys, that is our case for this week, and we will see you next time with another one. I love it.

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