RedHanded - Episode 144 - Candace Newmaker: When "Therapy" Kills

Episode Date: April 23, 2020

New Merch Release: www.redhandedshop.com 10 year old Candace‘s adopt mum, Jeane Newmaker, wanted nothing more than to help her little girl overcome her attachment disorder. But all the medication in the world wasn’t doing much to ease Candace’s difficult behaviour. Then, a desperate June found a “therapist” who promised quick results. But horrifically the 70 minute rebirthing ritual that followed, ended in Candace’s brutal death.  References: https://culteducation.com/group/1115-rebirthing/17893-her-name-was-candace.html https://culteducation.com/group/1115-rebirthing/17881-no-prison-for-candaces-adoptive-mom-.html https://peoplepill.com/people/candace-newmaker/ https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/19/us/therapists-are-sentenced-in-girl-s-rebirthing-death.html https://www.denverpost.com/2008/08/01/therapist-in-rebirthing-death-leaves-prison/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1310733/Rebirthing-death-video-leaves-jurors-in-tears.html https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/hconres435/summary https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-apr-21-mn-53812-story.html https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,,509588,00.html https://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/comment/candace.htm https://petscop.fandom.com/wiki/Candace_Newmaker_theory https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/rebirthing-the-new-way-of-unlocking-your-future-26201857.html https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1174742/ http://www.childrenintherapy.org/victims/newmaker.html https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=124076&page=1 https://allthatsinteresting.com/candace-newmaker See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, very quick announcement before we kick off with today's show. We have some very exciting news.

We are launching a brand new line of merch. It is the Get In The Bin merch, which you guys have been asking us for months to do, and we are finally delivering. So if you would like to get early access to the merch store, as well as an exclusive little discount, all you need to do is click on the link that's in the episode description, stick in your email address, and then just wait. The store is going to open for everybody next Thursday, so that's the 30th of April. If, however, you sign up now, you will get access to the store on Wednesday, the 29th of April at 9am. And you'll also get that exclusive discount code. If you are a patron, don't need to do anything. Just kick back. We'll send you a link and we'll send you the code. If you are a patron, don't need to do anything. Just kick back. We'll

send you a link and we'll send you the code. And another important thing about this merch is that I'm sure you guys have seen that there has been an unprecedented spike in domestic abuse and domestic violence during the lockdown for COVID-19. We wanted to do something to help some of the amazing charities and organizations supporting victims during this difficult time. So we are going to be giving a percentage of all the proceeds from the sales of this match to Solace Women's Aid. So thank you very much and on with the show. I'm Hannah. I'm Saruti. And welcome back to a normal episode. I feel like we don't do normal episodes anymore. Every time we do one, I'm like, oh, this is like putting on an old pair of shoes. Exactly. It's like worn through, it's got like holes in the toes, but you know it's going to

get you there. That's all we need. Welcome back to the original Red Handed, everybody. The orig, ready salted Red Handed.handed god now i want crisps i want a wee but there's always someone in the fucking bathroom so i can't so i'm going to be like one of those politicians that like speaks with like loads of urgency because i really need a wee and i haven't been able to get in the bathroom all fucking morning oh maybe you need a little uh a little contraption a bottle a cath? We've all weed in weirder things. I once weed in a pot noodle. Did you? Did you eat it afterwards? No, it was an empty pot noodle pot. But I was desperate. I was at a festival and I was like, it's going to have to happen. Oh, festivals don't

count. Try to think of weird places I've weed in my house. I mean, I feel like you get free rain during this. I'm not going to say it because then I'll be in my house. I mean, I feel like you get free reign during this. I'm not going to say it because then I'll be in the sin bin during this period of time. During this, the thing. Well, I'm going to have to say it in the introduction, so I'm going to have to put a quid in anyway. It was worth it for the alliteration. So send in the weirdest place you've weed in your house. My washing basket was looking pretty tempting this morning.

They're already dirty clothes. What's the difference? Absolutely not a single difference. Apart from the fact you have to pick your pissy clothes up out of the basket and put them into the washing machine. Didn't the Romans used to wash their clothes in urine though? Didn't they think it was like... To dye it, I think.

I think the Vikings too. Just a nice little pale yellow tingeinge depending on how dehydrated you are. It doesn't matter anymore especially not related to anything we're going to speak about today so fuck the Romans. And on that incredibly pertinent and relevant note let's get on with it. If you listen to our upcycled episode on the Silent Twins that we released on Saturday as part of our Corona Confinement Confrontation Programme I'm going to put a quid in the bot for that because twins that we released on Saturday as part of our corona confinement confrontation program. I'm going to put a quid in the bot for that because it was worth it. You might remember that both June and Jennifer Gibbons, the twins from the story,

had a recurring shared nightmare about being suffocated by a large man. Jennifer was born second and was the larger baby. She was also born breech, so it's possible that she was in effect sitting on June in the womb. And June is the less dominant smaller twin. So you could argue that this was the dynamic that followed June and Jennifer throughout their whole lives. Jennifer was always the leader and June was always the follower. And strangely, as outlandish as that might sound, there are a selection of people, some even call themselves therapists, who argue that the circumstances of your birth can shape the person you become and even dictate

your biggest struggles with the crushing psychological pressure of being alive. And I know we're all feeling that quite heavily at the moment. Especially me. Have you seen that tweet that's like, I'm a really laid-back person i only care about two things one every person on earth and their opinion of me to the crushing psychological pressure of being alive yeah that is me that is who i am as a person well shall we have a zoom red-handed rebirthing where we all just virtually get together and have a little rebirth. You can't spoil it. We haven't said rebirthing yet. I'm sorry. I just read the notes.

God, can't get the staff. Move that into later. So these people reckon that, for example, if you feel like you are controlled by everyone else around you and find it difficult to speak up, it might be because you had an induced birth and you didn't feel ready. And if you don't like confrontation, that could be a result of a difficult labour,

where you were held back in the womb, meaning that you're afraid to come forward for anything. People born via caesarean section might find it difficult to be tactile with other people. Apparently, even drug problems in adulthood can be connected to drugs administered during childbirth. So how do these, inverted commas, therapists, suggest we combat these issues? That's quite simple. They argue that we have to completely invalidate our original experience coming into the world

with a practice they call rebirthing that gives you a new birth experience and solves every single last one of your problems. Funny that, isn't it? Just like magic. Just like magic. Just give them $7,000 and it's all fine. Better than magic.

Magic doesn't even solve all your problems. It just makes you go, oh. I know we're obviously going to spend a lot of this episode talking about rebirthing. Surprise. But I do immediately just hate, apart from what it tells the person about their challenges and that they may be facing in life I also just hate what it says about like the way in which women choose to deliver their babies like oh well if you have a cesarean this kid's gonna have real issues being tactile in the future you taking drugs oh my god your child is gonna be a drug addict

like yeah fuck off totally and it's just, oh, none of this is your fault. This was completely preordained for you by your silly mum. Yeah, exactly. I hate it. I hate everything about it. Yeah. Spoilers. We hate it.

According to rebirthing counsellor DK Begg, who guides rebirthing ceremonies in Ireland, so-called rebirthing is essentially an advanced yogic breathing technique, which has been specifically developed to reach the parts of the body that normal breathing just don't. She also claimed that, quote, memory is stored in minerals within our cells, and this rebirthing stimulates these memories. Does it? I feel like, probs, not. But maybe, maybe. I mean, there are a lot of things about the human body that we don't understand. But I don't think this is one of them.

No, I feel like there are lots of things we don't understand. So we should continue to strive to try our best to understand and not just say, hey, I think you need a rebirthing ceremony. And then you're going to be totally chill and all your problems will be gone. Beg sessions if you are, I don't know, interested in partaking in one. They last about two hours, last two hours. And she claims to have cured people from conditions such as asthma and even IBS. Yeah, who knew breathing could solve your poops? Not me.

Not me. And not medical science because there's not even a test for IBS, let alone a cure for IBS. If you can cure IBS, you will be a billionaire like that, my friend. I don't know. I feel like I have difficulties being tactile with people and I have IBS. Maybe I need a rebirthing. Let's do that. Let's have a Zoom red-handed in unison rebirthing

and let's see what happens. Maybe we can get Beggin on it. I think they have to do it to you. I don't know if it's a remote. I think in the current situation, rebirthers are going to be having a real hard time in the economy. Oh, poor them. As you can imagine, rebirthing has come under pretty severe fire from both the academic and the psychiatric community as being unfounded quackery that is practiced by unlicensed people calling themselves therapists. But that attitude hasn't stopped around 40 rebirthing centres cropping up all over the United States.

Rebirthing first pushed its head through the cervix of the new age movement. I'm so pleased with myself. I had a little chuckle to myself for about 10 minutes after I wrote that. So obviously the new age movement, that's the 70s and rebirthing as we know it today was pioneered by psychotherapist Dr. Leonard Orr. So he was a real life doctor. His treatment plan included lots of breathing and only lasted about 15 minutes so that's pretty mild compared to what we're going to be talking about today and we see that quite a lot like the original the sort of seed of an idea is always quite mild and then it just gets concentrated by everyone who practices afterwards

and that's exactly what we're going to be looking at today. Rebirthing had a quick 15 minutes of fame as being a superstar treatment for attachment disorder, which is recognised in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. People, or most of the time children, suffering from attachment disorder find it difficult to establish relationships. Symptoms include failure to make eye contact, lying, stealing, poor impulse control, cruelty to animals, and a perceived lack of conscience. Attachment disorder is split up into two different categories, both of which arise in the first five

years of life. So we've got reactive attachment disorder, which is RAD, and that's associated with emotional disturbance. So children won't be reactive to circumstance, they'll have poor social interaction, withdrawn attitude, they'll show aggression towards others and they won't seek out comfort from others or their caregivers when they are in distress. The second subcategory is disinhibited attachment disorder. Children diagnosed with this disorder are attention-seeking and indiscriminately friendly. An attachment disorder can be caused by a few different things that all come under the umbrella of childhood trauma. Things like maltreatment, neglect, multiple care placements, separation from primary caregivers, drug and alcohol abuse by the parents.

These things can all contribute to the development of an attachment disorder in a child. And diagnoses of attachment disorder soared in the late 90s and early 2000s, as international adoption also saw a similar rise in popularity. To the untrained eye, it seems that loads of new parents were not getting on with their new babies as well as they'd hoped. Parenthood was not the dream that they had hoped for. So they slapped a disorder label on the child. We're not saying that attachment disorder isn't real. It definitely is real. But I think that we see this quite often, like a child is not practically perfect in every way. And then suddenly they get diagnosed with all of these things. And I think it is an important thing to

point out that attachment disorder takes off when international adoption does. And I don't think we can ignore the correlation in those numbers. So attachment disorder cannot be medicated. The only way to make progress with it is to improve the relationship between the caregiver and their child through CBT and interpersonal therapy and family therapy. The answer is certainly not wrapping that problem child in a blanket and making them fight their way out as four fully grown adults sit on them. But unfortunately, that is exactly what we're dealing with today. The only name the child at the centre of our story today managed to keep hold of for her all too short life was Candice.

Her surname and her middle name were changed by grown-ups without her consent. Candice was formally adopted when she was seven years old and her name was changed from Candice Tiara Elmore to Candice Elizabeth Newmaker. Candice was adopted by a middle-aged lady called Jean Newmaker who was significantly better off than Candice's birth family. Jean lived in a five-bed house in Warren, Pennsylvania, paid for by a trust fund set up by her grandparents. Jean's father ran a very successful furniture company, and as a kid, Jean never wanted for anything. But when she was all grown up, she didn't start a family of her own. We don't really know why. It seems like something she

wanted to do, but for whatever reason couldn't, until she adopted Candice. But it wasn't all sunshine and daisies in the Newmaker household. Jean's father had a severe drinking problem and when he died Jean was the only sister out of the three to even attend his funeral. As traumatic as that may have been for Jean and her sisters I'm afraid it is absolutely nothing compared to the life Candice's family led. Candice's birth family were from Lincoln County, North Carolina. She was born on the 19th of November 1989 to Angie Elmore, who was just 18 years old, and Candice was her second child. Angie's firstborn was given away for adoption, and so Candice was Angie's second chance. She wanted to prove to everyone in her life that she could be a good mother.

She had married Todd Evan and his lengthy criminal record at just 17 years old to try and create the family unit that she had longed for but never had. Angie's own mum, Mary, had grown up in the care system. She and her older sister were abandoned by their mother. Mary's earliest memory was being caught eating out of her neighbour's bin. Mary married young and had Angie and another son. But her marriage fell apart, she lost her job and she was sleeping in her car. Angie and her brother were taken into care.

Mary couldn't think of anything worse than her children growing up on the streets. In one of the many homes that she spent her childhood in, Angie was forced to eat dog food as a punishment. Mary moved around a lot and would occasionally drop in on her children. But what Angie described as part-time motherhood put a significant strain on their relationship. Through the years, Angie had all of her children taken into care. Candice was briefly returned to her

and she begged her mother to never let them take her away again. And she promised that she never would and that her and Candice would be together forever. Whether Angie knew it or not, that was a lie. Candice's grandfather David Davis, that's on my list, all along with Christmas Humphreys and Brad Bradley. Is that a failed Tory leader as well, wasn't he? David Davis. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I think we've talked about it.

I think we called him the greyest man in the world. I can't remember. Somebody remembers. Just why would you do it to your child? Anyway. No idea. So this particular David Davis, not failed Tory leader David Davis, knew that Candice's environment was not stable

and the increasing violence from her father was a constant worry that Candice's environment was not stable and the increasing violence from her father was a constant worry. Candice was always loved, but there was a level of neglect difficult to overlook. In 1992, Angie left her husband and she held a third birthday party for Candice in a woman's shelter. David Davis knew that this life on the road couldn't go on forever and he also knew that parents who adopt children have to go through a rigorous vetting process. He beat himself up about this decision for years. But Candice was put up for adoption in the hopes that someone somewhere could give her a better life. Oh, well, last night I started watching that documentary with Prue Leith and her Cambodian adopted daughter.

Oh, no, I've never heard of it. Really interesting. I think it was on Channel 4 on Tuesday night, but I recorded it and was watching it. And basically, I didn't know this, but Prue Leith, who, if you guys watch The Great British Bake Off, she's obviously one of the judges on there. And she adopted a Cambodian baby, a little girl just before the Khmer Rouge started their like genocide it is so intense and um I was watching it with my mum and fuck me if you don't cry buckets watching it I I don't think anything will make you cry they basically go to Cambodia to try and see if her mum is still alive like her birth mum. Wow. It's intense and in it actually I think Prue

is very brave because she talks about the fact that she adopted this baby in the 70s and you know international adoption blah blah blah and that she now is filled with so much guilt because she just thought well I'll just bring her here we'll bring her up in the Cotswolds and she'll be English and she never talked to her daughter about her Cambodian roots or her heritage and now she's just like wracked with so much guilt about it. It's really interesting. Back to today's story. Candice was put up for adoptions in the hopes that she would find herself a better life

instead of being moved around constantly with things happening to her, like her father pawning her high chair. And so with that, on the 14th of June 1996, Candice Tiara Elmore became Candice Elizabeth Newmaker. Her old name and her old life erased as she was adopted by Jean Newmaker. The records of Candice's adoption are tightly sealed and this leaves quite a disjointed paper trail of her life. Nurse practitioner Jean took two months off work to welcome her newly arrived child. Candice was given everything she could have possibly dreamed of. There was nothing Jean

didn't do for her. Candice had ballet lessons, swimming lessons, horses and a little pink bike. She was sent to a good school and her first few days were a bit tricky. She told the other children not to look at her and not to talk to her. I think that's a pretty normal defense mechanism for a child that has been bounced around several group homes. Candice also had issues with male teachers initially refusing to enter their classrooms, exclaiming that she didn't like boys. But after this slightly rocky start,

Candice settled down and made friends with pupils and teachers. Many of the teachers from Candice's school and her Sunday school teacher said that they all thought she was fine. She wasn't the ideal student, but she certainly wasn't a nightmare one. Candice did experience teasing, however, from her classmates about being adopted. She told one of her friends, quote, You're lucky. You're with your family. Your mama loves you.

Sometimes mamas don't want their children. This feeling of being unwanted caused significant problems in the new maker house, according to Jean. Candice was almost unmanageable. She abused animals, was emotionally distant, she pulled down bookcases, avoided all forms of affection, and also started fires. So Jean decided to tackle this issue with a number of different strategies. She started off by consulting Dr. Ava Lachowicz, a pediatrician who described Candice as not a normal happy kid. Quote, she could smile and be real cute, then she could be mean. It was like having the average

18-year-old adolescent in your house. Candice was carted around all sorts of different doctors and therapists and was told that all sorts of things were wrong with her. Before the age of 10, Candice was on an antidepressant, an antipsychotic and an amphetamine. This is difficult territory. Like obviously as a parent, you're going to want to do anything to help your child. And if you're going to doctors and doctors are saying this is going to help, you're going to do it. So what we're not doing is passing judgment on Jean just yet. I think at this stage, I mean, I actually throughout the whole thing, I think she's trying to do the best she can. She's a nurse. She was a pediatric nurse. She worked with children all the time. So she would have seen similar situations. So I think it would be easy to fly

off the handle at her, being like, how dare you medicate your child? And what the fuck do we know? We're not doctors or parents. So it's not a judgment. It's just a statement of fact. She was on pretty heavy stuff. It's also something that is sort of a point of discussion

and discussed within the medical community. I mean, have you seen that? I don't remember which Louis Theroux documentary it is, but that one about kids who have got like, I can't remember what it is. Like it's got like love in the title. I don't remember. But in that when they're talking about at what age do you start to diagnose children

with pretty serious conditions? What age do you start to label them with things? And at which age do you start to medicate them? As Hannah said, we are not parents and we are not doctors. I can't even imagine how difficult it must be. And of course, when you take your child to an expert, you are going to want to believe what they're saying. But it's so difficult because are you causing more harm than good?

No one knows. I don't know. But it's a question worth having a discussion about for sure. But none of these drugs worked. Jean kept reading and researching until she eventually came across attachment disorder. I think it's important to point out now Jean adopts Candice when she's seven years old. All of this happens in the space of about three years so you could argue that Jean isn't necessarily giving enough time to like unravel all of because like Candice has time to like unravel all of it.

Because like Candice has had a fucking horrible time of it. Like I challenge anyone to go through what Candice went through and come out like quote unquote normal. Absolutely. And I feel like at seven, she's already experienced a lot. And a lot of that stuff is deep.

So I'm not going to start being like, oh, well, you know, they say all personality is formed by this point, by this point. But she's quite an older adoption, isn't she? At seven years old. I don't know what the average age is. Oh, yeah.

But she's obviously lived a life. But loads of people don't want kids that are not babies. Loads of people won't adopt over the age of like six months. Exactly. Because it's, quote unquote, not a clean slate. She's lived a life by seven years old. You do kind of want to say, I wish she had spent a bit more time trying to, as Hannah said, unravel what happened in those seven years, rather than jumping straight into this. But again, this isn't us judging. And it's very easy to look

back on this with hindsight and say that. When Jean came across attachment disorder, it was a real light bulb moment. Suddenly, Jean could see that she wasn't on her own. After all, loads of other people out there were having the very same problem. All of the symptoms of the disorder matched Candice's behavior perfectly. Jean took herself off to an attachment disorder workshop all the way in North Carolina, which seems like an absolutely outrageous distance to go. But maybe she thought going back to Candice's like birth place would make a difference. I don't know. Potentially. And I also think what you just said there is so important for parents who are going through challenges with their children is when you find a condition and it fits everything,

the relief you must feel must be completely overwhelming. It's like, finally, it's here. Other people are going through it. Somebody says they can treat it. Let's go. And of course, you would move mountains probably to get to that answer that's what gene is doing uh she's about to get quite misguided but uh that's all she's doing she's just trying to help her daughter after the good north carolina conference gene came across the association for the treatment

and training in the attachment of children. She attended their national conference, and there she met therapist Bill Gobble. Bill listened to all of Jean's concerns about her adopted daughter and asked her to fill out an inventory sheet of all of Candice's behaviours. I imagine this like the thing you get from Ikea, where you just have to, like, write down all of the little numbers. Like, I think it's just a list of, like, do they put their fingers in animals' bumholes? do they set things on fire do they piss in their washing

basket etc like I think she's literally just given a list exactly does she piss in pot noodle box that are left around from zero to ten strongly disagree to never never at all like I don't know it just seems I don't know it's weird because obviously when you are with a patient or with somebody in front of you, there is an element for that therapist or for that physician to work their way through how a person might be presenting, how a child especially would be telling them what they would be telling them. Are they telling you the truth? Are they revealing everything? But then to get that information secondhand from a parent and to be like, fill out this form and tell us what she's doing. It's just like, it all just is off to a weird start. But I think it probably might have been reassuring for Jean because she sees all

of these things and she's like, yes, yes, this happens so often. There is a list and I just have to tick it. Absolutely. I can totally see from Jean's perspective why this feels like, oh my god, thank fuck, everything on this list matches up perfectly but from gobble's part yeah gobble not sure how i feel about you my friend gobble has a look at this list of behaviors and without even meeting candace even once didn't even speak to her on the phone he told jean that her daughter had a quote fairly severe case of attachment disorder bill warned jean not to lose hope and recommended a pioneering, quote-unquote, therapist based in Colorado

who was making real progress with attachment disorder kids using her unique rebirthing technique. This woman's name was Connell Watkins. We are not going to call her a therapist. She is about as qualified as Jez Osborne is as a life coach. I don't even think she went to British London to print off a certificate with four stars. I think she just started calling herself a therapist and people for some reason believed her. No. Connell does not and has never had a license to practice any kind of therapy. But Connell Watkins was mentored by Dr. Foster Klein, who is essentially like the Jesus of rebirthing slash attachment therapy in that world.

So Dr. Klein reckons that if parents don't respond to baby's immediate needs, that child's brain never grows enough to trust people. These kids then develop into dangerous children who lie all the time, have no conscience and don't give a single shit about anyone's feelings. In the gospel according to Jesus Dr. Klein, the way to fix these problem kids is to recreate what the child missed out on as a baby. This therapy involves restricted movement and forcing the child to physically surrender to their carer. The child is laid on the lap of their parent, and their arms are held down until they submit. It's called holding therapy.

And it isn't pretty. But as Klein argues, neither is heart surgery. I hate that argument so much. Be like, oh, well, neither's a leg amputation and we have to do that. Like, you've just made this up that's literally like me like oh well I had to set my hair on fire because uh the cookie monster told me to do it and it wasn't pretty but you know neither is fucking lungs good good good good it's like saying I set my hair on fire and it really fucking hurt, but so does heart surgery. It's just such a nonsense point to make. But I don't know, I guess when you sort of dress it up

in the way that they do, and I'm sure they're very convincing, it could make you believe, yeah, maybe this is all that needs to happen. We just need to readdress that issue and then it's all going to be fixed and it's going to be fine. Have you seen the Bob's Burgers episode where Linda makes Louise go to a rebirthing class with her? Yes, I have. I might even put it in our references for this episode. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made.

A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Radin was found dead in a canyon near L.A. in 1983, there were many questions surrounding his death. The last person seen with him was Lainey Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite. Together, they were trying to break into the movie industry.

But things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth of cocaine and cash went missing. From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of The Cotton Club Murder early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Harvard is the oldest and richest university in America. But when a social media-fueled fight over Harvard and its new president broke out last fall, that was no protection. Claudian Gay is now gone.

We've exposed the DEI regime, and there's much more to come. This is The Harvard Plan, a special series from the Boston Globe and WNYC's On the Media. To listen, subscribe to On the Media wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jake Warren, and in our first season of Finding, I set out on a very personal quest

to find the woman who saved my mum's life. You can listen to Finding Natasha right now, exclusively on Wondery Plus. In season two, I found myself caught up in a new journey to help someone I've never even met. But a couple of years ago, I came across a social media post by a person named Loti. It read in part, Three years ago today that I attempted to jump off this bridge, but this wasn't my time to go. A gentleman named Andy saved my life. I still haven't found him. This is a story that I came across purely by chance,

but it instantly moved me, and it's taken me to a place where I've had to consider some deeper issues around mental health. This is season two of Finding, and this time, if all goes to plan, we'll be finding Andy. You can listen to Finding Andy and Finding Natasha

exclusively and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Jean knew that this school of therapy was provocative, but she became convinced that it was her only chance. So Jean tracked down unlicensed therapist Connell Watkins in the January of 2000 and she signed a contract promising to pay a total of $7,000 for two weeks of intensive rebirthing therapy. I think that just proves as well is how serious Jean is and how much she clearly cares about Candice. She's willing to pay $7,000

for a two-week intensive course. Yeah I mean. Completely misguidedly. Totally I mean she's got money like I don't really think money's an issue for her. But like, what I think is more of a red flag is they've just said, oh, just two weeks and she'll be fixed. That's not how therapy works. Yeah. Imagine if therapy could fix you in two weeks.

Sign me up. Another red flag is that this therapy did not take place in an office or like a therapist hospital or a psychiatric ward. This therapy took place in the house that belonged to one of Watkins's assistants. And the two-week intensive began on the 10th of April. In the preceding weeks, Candice had been taken off all of her medication. When Candice and Jean arrived at the house in Evergreen, Colorado, they were greeted by Watkins and her entourage. This entourage was made up of pretend therapist Julie Ponder,

Watkins' office manager Britta Sinclair, and a guy called Jack McDaniel. Neither Britta nor Jack had any medical or therapeutic training. Jean was told that this pair were therapeutic foster parents and that Candice was to address McDaniel as Daddy Jack. Oh, I hate her. No shade on office managers, but you should not be part of any therapeutic practice

without any training. And Daddy Jack. What the fuck? Yeah, it's really gross. Oh, I hate it. And this Daddy Jack character is about to get worse. McDaniel was there during the therapy session because he had been paid $700 to write a report

on the following two weeks of therapy. His highest educational achievement was completing high school. I don't think that's the kind of person to be writing a medical paper. And it just immediately starts to scream of like, just experimentation. They're just like siphoning off kids that are presented as having problems like that guy, Gobble, just was like, yep, I got you another one. I didn't even meet her, but her mum filled in this questionnaire.

Let's have a go. Yeah, exactly. So over the next week, Candice was subjected to hours and hours of these holding sessions. In one of these sessions, Candice's face was grabbed and she

was forced to make eye contact 90 times. Her head was violently shaken a total of 309 times. She was screamed at 68 times, right in her face, as she was being held on Watkins's lap and Daddy Jack sat on her legs. And remember, as we're telling you all of this, Candice is 10 years old. In another session, Jean lay on top of Candice for 42 minutes and licked her face 21 times. Candice's hair was cut off and she was forced to kick her legs like scissors until she was physically exhausted. That shit hurts, man. They make you do that in Pilates. It's fucking horrible.

Honestly, I was going to say, I did 20 minutes on the cross trainer this morning and my legs feel like jelly. Imagine being forced to kick until you're exhausted. And maybe you're thinking, how on earth do we know all of this? It's very specific. Well, we know all of this because every second of Candice's ordeal was filmed. All of these attacks made little difference. And after a week, Candice was put back on her antidepressant. On day one of week two, Candice progressed on to the next phase of Watkins' programme. And Watkins called this particular brand of bullshit compression therapy. Candice was wrapped in a blue sheet with her head exposed

and told to lie on the floor. Then, the four adults covered her in sofa cushions. After three hours, Candice was unwrapped and ordered to crawl into her mother's lap like a baby. Jean then fed Candice with her hands. This all went according to plan. Candice even made eye contact, and Jean was so happy she cried. The following day, Tuesday the 18th of April,

Candice was told that she was going to be reborn. She was told that she would have to act just like a baby and that it would be difficult, that she would cry and that Candice would have to fight to be born. Watkins went on to explain, if the baby doesn't decide to be born, she will die. Ponder also chimed in saying, quote, you have to push really hard with your feet. If you stay in there, you're going to die and your mummy's going to die. Jesus. At 9.44am, Candice was wrapped in a blue flannel sheet as she lay in the fetal position.

This time, her head was not left out of the wrapping. Candice was wrapped tightly in the sheet, and she was told that she was going to go through the birth canal, and that while she was in the womb, she would have plenty of air to breathe. Then Watkins propped four sofa cushions over Candice like a tent. Watkins sat at Candice's feet, Sinclair leant against the 10-year-old's knees, Daddy Jack lay on Candice's chest, and Ponder held the sheets tightly closed over Candice's head. Jean was told to wait by Candice's head where she was supposed to emerge, reborn as the perfect loving child. Then all four adults began to push and tug Candice. Altogether, the grown-ups weighed about 673 pounds.

Candice weighed just 70. Ten minutes into this pushing, Candice said, I can't do it, I can't do it, I can't breathe, I can't breathe. Just a minute after that, Candice said, I'm going to die. She begs for air and the adults just kept pushing. Watkins reminded Candice that she was being reborn and it was the hardest thing she was ever going to have to do and she needed to fight for it. Candice constantly asked for help and instruction. She didn't understand how to get out or what was expected of her but the adults just kept pushing. Candice cried, Please stop pushing. I can't breathe.

Okay, I'm dying. Sorry. Watkins and Ponder both screamed at the 10-year-old. You want to die? Okay, then die. Go ahead. Die right now. Candice asked,

You mean for real? Like you want me to die for real? Watkins said that she did want Candice to die and added that human life is very difficult to live. Watkins told Candice that if she wasn't willing to try, then she should just die because it was easier. The adults kept pushing. At some points in the video footage of this, it's clear that all four adults are sitting directly on top of Candice. A dejected Jean was asked to leave the room. She had been warned that kids often tried to get out of the rebirthing ceremony

by pretending that they were ill or they needed to go to the bathroom because unattached children are manipulative. But how Watkins knew that this was so incredibly common is beyond me because she'd actually only conducted four rebirths prior to this one. It comes as no surprise that she was absolutely no authority on anything at all. After 20 more minutes of sitting and pushing, Candice told the room that she was throwing up and that she had to go number two. And Watkins told her to stay in there with her poop and vomit. That is a direct quote. Candice then went quiet. She was ordered to scream for

her life and asked if she wanted to be reborn. And Candice said, no. Ponder and Watkins shouted at the girl that she was a quitter multiple times. And then, only silence. The adults kept pushing, this time for another 10 minutes. Watkins insisted that little Candice was breathing just fine and was sweating, so they should just keep going. Watkins left the room to go and speak to Jean. When she returned, she speaks to her accomplices for a few minutes about holidays and dream homes. Then she said, let's talk to the twerp. The twerp, of course, being ten-year-old Candice. They unwrapped the makeshift womb

and found Candice to be lying completely still in her own vomit. Watkins thought that she was just sleeping. But Jean, the only person on the premises with any medical training, rushed back into the room and saw that her daughter was not asleep at all. She was blue and she wasn't breathing. The frantic Jean began administering CPR and Watkins called 911. Ten minutes later, the paramedics arrived. It was clear to them that Candice had not been conscious for quite some time.

There was vomit and blood on Candice's face. Her body was cold, her pupils were fixed, and she had no heartbeat. By 11.20, the paramedics had managed to reinstate a heartbeat and Candice was airlifted to a children's hospital in Denver. She never regained consciousness though and at 9am the next morning, Candice was pronounced brain dead. She died of a brain stem herniation and cerebral edema as a result of asphyxiation.

Jean returned from Colorado to Pennsylvania without her daughter. A funeral service was held but the reason for Candice's death was kept strictly secret. People didn't find out what had actually happened until Watkins, Ponder, Sinclair and McDaniel were arrested and the story made the headlines. Dr. Leischowitz, the pediatrician that we heard from earlier, told the press that she had no idea. Jean was taking Candice off to, quote, some wackos in Colorado. This doctor thought that Candice was no different from any other child who'd been through that kind of traumatic childhood. Dr. Lejkiewicz thinks that Jean didn't give Candice enough time. Quote, she wasn't the most damaged kid. I think this kid could have made it. It took five months

for the news of Candice's death to reach her birth family in North Carolina. Angie had always held on to the hope that Candice would make her way back to her. So the news was absolutely devastating. Angie said, quote, it's stupid you don't put a child under a pillow and push on her. Angie might not be winning any Mother of the Year awards,

but she certainly does have a point. What Watkins was passing off as therapy was incredibly unforgivably stupid I mean we talked about this before we started recording but it it feels like the closest thing is an exorcism that's what it feels like they've done in even in the same way like when we've done um exorcism episode like the one I think about the most is janet moses in new zealand the maori one and within the family's paradigm they thought they were doing the best thing like within their maori belief system they thought that was the right thing to do and there's a lot of stuff that i read running up to that things that because they're they thought she was possessed like a makatu which means like witchcraft and in maori culture there's a lot of discussion of Makatu being

misdiagnosed by western doctors as mental illness so like it's a real crossover and I think what's difficult for Jean here is that she felt like she tried everything and then this was this miracle cure but you do have to wonder as a pediatric nurse why she didn't give it more time like she must have seen situations like this and apparently she was really good at her job too but I then I suppose when it comes to Candice she's not a nurse she's a mum and maybe that is a different kettle of fish. I think so I think that kind of objectivity that you could have with a patient possibly goes out of the window when it's your child and unfortunately she she put her faith in the wrong people because unlike with the Janet

Moses case where it was within the family paradigm and within their cultural beliefs they believed what they were doing was right but even in there we obviously talk about the fact that they should have seen what was happening and that it was damaging this child and ultimately killing her. Here, it just feels like experimentation from the point of view of Kennell Watkins. Like, you know, the fact that she's referring to this 10-year-old child as a twerp, the fact that they're telling her to die,

how could they not hear her vomiting and choking on that? There was no belief system. It was just, let's have a go and let's see what happens. And it's just completely... Yeah, I can see that from Watkins' point of view, but I think Jean really believed. But I think you're right, like, Kennell Watkins, like, she's just seen a niche and is like, I'm going to take this to the absolute extreme so people will only come to me for it. Yeah, exactly.

And it's just, it's horrific. And I don't know, I think from Jean's perspective, when she is being told all these things, there is all of that stuff, you know, even when we've done exorcism episodes, we've talked about the fact that for some people there has been, there have been shown that exorcism as a ritual can help them deal with certain issues because they believe in it so much. Candice didn't believe in this. She didn't want to do it. She couldn't have even grasped the ideology behind it to believe in it because it was so alien. Just how was this ever going to work? Of course it fucking wasn't. So the trial of Connell Watkins, Julie Ponder, Britta Sinclair, Jack McDaniel and Jean Newmaker began almost a year later and they were all charged with reckless child abuse resulting in death.

Watkins had three additional charges, including the unlawful practice of psychotherapy, obtaining his signature by deception, and criminal impersonation. The defense made the argument that no harm was intended, that the rebirthing was meant to help Candace, that the technique had been shown to help in other cases of attachment disorder, and that it was a high altitude and a heart defect that may have contributed to Candice's death. They all pled not guilty. But Watkins accepted responsibility for Candice's death. Two qualified psychologists and a qualified psychotherapist testified in the trial that none of the techniques shown to the courtroom via video recording

had been shown to be effective in any circumstance. And they added that the treatment not only violated the professional code of ethics, but the practice also violated the Nuremberg Code of Permissible Experimentation. And that, of course, was the standard used in the trials of Nazi doctors after World War II. It does feel like, Candice, here's a damaged child, here's a troubled child. Either we'll fix her or she can just die because like, I don't know, she's so broken anyway. It almost feels like they're to Watkins. Candice felt like nothing more than just like a disposable lab rat. I can't shake that feeling. And $7,000. Like this is for profit. Like 100%.

100%. It's snake oil. They're selling a miracle cure that's done in two feeling. And $7,000. Like, this is for profit. Like, 100%. 100%. It's snake oil. They're selling a miracle cure that's done in two weeks. And all you have to do is fly to my house in Colorado. No, my assistant's house in Colorado. I don't want to be making a mess at my house, please. Watkins told the court, quote, Candace's death is a tragedy and so is her life.

I think of her story as being an American tragedy. I can't even get fucking through this, man. Okay, an American tragedy because there are thousands of children in this country today who have suffered trauma during their first two years of life. They will also be misdiagnosed and mistreated and ineffectively treated for years. Many of them, if they're lucky, will be adopted by loving parents

much like Jean Newmaker. And they will devote all their resources and all their energies to heal their child from the emotional and behavioral problems that they didn't create. And when and if they fail, they will be blamed. Wow. That is some brass neck to say that after you've just killed a 10-year-old girl. Jesus. Fucking don't you even dare say her death was a tragedy. It's a lot.

It's a lot right now. Watkins was facing a possible sentence of 48 years in prison, but it wasn't to be. Judge Jane Tidball presided over the trial, and although the jury found all of the defendants guilty, she said, quote, there was no evidence at the trial that the defendant wanted to harm Candace. Which is the same argument from the Janet Moses case.

They didn't want to harm her. They didn't want to kill her. That's not really the point. And that's the thing, isn't it, with homicide is like you have to prove the intention. And if the intention isn't there, this is child abuse. It's a bit of a different thing. But if it were an adult, I think this would have been manslaughter also. I mean, in the US, though, they have second degree,

which I feel like that's what this would be, because it would be like without the intention, but you acted in a reckless manner in which you should have known that your actions could have led to death reasonably. But that's their manslaughter equivalent, isn't it? Yeah, I don't. Second degree? Very confusing.

So Jean Newmaker served no time in jail at all and she was allowed to return to her job as a nurse practitioner. She was given 400 hours of community service and she was barred from working with children for four years. Watkins and Ponder both received 16-year prison sentences. St Clare and Jack McDaniel, or Daddy Jack, were both handed 10 years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service. Watkins was released from prison in 2008. After serving seven years of her sentence, she was sent to a halfway house at the age of 62. And she has an ankle tag and is under intense supervision and significant restrictions on how she is allowed to interact with minors.

I don't know what happened to Ponda. I don't know if she's still in. I know she had an appeal that wasn't granted. This case has had major repercussions in both North Carolina and Colorado. In 2002, Candice's law was passed, which explicitly prohibits dangerous reenactments of the birth experience. As far as we know, and we could be wrong here, so please let us know if we are, Candice is the only child to have died in the United States as the result of a rebirthing. But attachment disorder has been used in multiple defences. In 1997, Renee Paul-Reese was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the death of her adopted son, and she argued that he was not beaten to death with a wooden spoon,

but suffered from attachment disorder, which made him impossible to control and caused him to mutilate himself. Similarly, Joseph and Heather Kayambron claimed that attachment disorder led to the death of their adoptive son in 1995. He was covered in more than 200 bruises when he was taken to hospital. They too said the wounds were self-inflicted. Joseph was sentenced to life imprisonment and Heather pled insanity. I feel like you've got to pick one. Is it attachment disorder or are you insane? We have absolutely no doubt that attachment disorder is real and a lot of people are struggling with it.

It exists but it's difficult to ignore the fact that it's been hijacked by people abusing their children and so-called therapists offering a catch-all cure for their own financial gain absolutely obviously we talked about this in oh yeah last week's episode Charlene Downs episode I used to produce you know child protection conferences I used to spend a lot of time speaking to child therapists, child psychologists, and child psychiatrists. And one of the ones I respected the most, she told me that the number one concern for most schools, most parents, most people, especially in our country,

is children with attachment disorders. It is absolutely real. It absolutely exists. There's no even questioning that. The fact is what's happening here is that these parents are desperate because it's manifesting itself in a way in which they feel that this child is destructive. They feel sad. It's, of course, incredibly stressful. And these people are manipulating these incredibly vulnerable people at the worst time

because they're so desperate, like you for experimentation status and money and it's just so sick and i don't know how much this must be happening to kids that just end up even more traumatized and don't die we only find out about the cases that they're dead imagine what else is going on and because it isn't a regulated therapy because they're not real therapists we genuinely have no idea it could be going on in back gardens, in paddling pools. No, absolutely no clue at all. Totally unregulated. It's completely terrifying. So there you go.

Two dead kids in a row. You're welcome. Yeah, that's that. That is Candice Newmaker. And you can come and look at our faces on social media. Ooh, merch. So go and sign up for your merch.

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