The Misery Machine - The Brooke Skylar Richardson Story

Starting point is 00:00:00 On July 14, 2017, two police officers arrived at the home of the Richardson family, located at 104 Eagle Ridge Drive in Carlisle, Ohio. The father, Scott Richardson, answered the door. Lieutenant John Fane and Officer Katie Gee from the Warren County Sheriff's Investigative Unit asked if they could speak with Scott's daughter, Brooke. It should be noted that Brooke went by her middle name, Skyler, so we'll be referring to her as such for the rest of this episode. Scott told the officers that his daughter was swimming at her grandmother's house and asked what the problem was.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Was she in some kind of trouble? But both officers assured him that this was not the case and that they only wanted to speak with her because she may have witnessed something. Scott contacted Skyler at her grandmother's house and asked her to come home. Upon arrival, Scott drove her to the Carlisle Police Department. For Skyler was interviewed, Scott asked the lieutenant if his daughter needed an attorney present, to which the lieutenant dishonestly replied, no, absolutely not. Scott was advised that since Skyler was 18 years old, they would need to speak with her alone.

Starting point is 00:01:05 And once again, they assured him that his daughter wasn't in any trouble. Scott had no reason to doubt what they had told him for two reasons. The first being that Skylar had never been in any trouble before and the second, was that he couldn't imagine the police would have any reason to lie to him. However, he would later discover that the police really had lied, to him from the moment he opened the door. They were not there because Skyler had witnessed anything, and she definitely would be needing a lawyer when this was all over. Located in Southwest Ohio, the town of Carlyle had a population of around 5,000. This is where Scott Richardson and his

Starting point is 00:01:40 wife, Kim, purchased a two-story home to race Skyler and her younger brother Jackson. The two parents were from the general area, and they chose to make Carlisle their home as it was close to family, and it was a convenient commute to work, with Kim being an HR manager and Scott being. an accountant. Skyler had just graduated from Carlyle High School, where she had been a member of her school's swim team and cheerleading squad. Now, as a cheerleader, Skyler was a flyer. For those not familiar, a flyer is the member of the squad that's picked up or thrown during a stunt formation. Generally speaking, flyers are smaller in stature due to the fact that they have to be picked up and thrown multiple times within a routine. Skyler was petite standing at about five foot, two inches tall.

Starting point is 00:02:22 Skyler just graduated with high honors and had been accepted to the University of Ohio in Cincinnati where she planned to major in psychology. She was very much a people-pleaser, and a teacher joke that they knew whatever mistakes Skyler makes on a quiz or a test would only be made once because she required perfection of herself. Additionally, Skyler was described as an incredibly sweet person, someone who would go out of her way to make people feel better. She wasn't your stereotypical blonde, mean girl type of cheerleader. Whenever she noticed a student sitting alone, she would keep them company at lunch. After school, Skyler worked at the YMCA in their daycare.

Starting point is 00:02:58 She loved small kids, and as an added perk, she could work out for free. When Skyler was in eighth grade, she was in a relationship with a boy that she trusted and cared about deeply. But on her 12th birthday, that boy violated that trust by essaying her. They later broke up and Skyler started to get bullied in school after her classmates took sides. During this time, she grew increasingly concerned with her physical appearance. She said it started by just counting calories and wanting to lose a few pounds. But before long, Skyler had a full-blown eating disorder that became all-consuming. She started by restricting how much she ate and labeling foods as good or bad,

Starting point is 00:03:36 but this progressed quickly to eating only what was required to get her through classes and through cheering. And then finally this ended up with a cycle of starving or alternatively binging and purging. She also began to use weight loss pills and laxatives. When a coach noticed the change in Skyler's weight, she was spoken to directly and her parents were notified. Initially, the Richardson's had Skyler speak to their youth pastor. After a few months, they decided that she needed more help. So they sought the help of both a dietitian and a counselor. Schuyler had stopped seeing her counselor and allegedly never fully faced her SA in counseling. By her senior year, the bullying was so bad that Skyler began eating her lunch in a teacher's classroom. And in just a few months,

Starting point is 00:04:23 her weight would fluctuate from 90 pounds to 150 pounds. The summer before her senior year, Skylar briefly dated a boy named Trey Johnson, who was a year older than her and was starting college soon. They dated for about a month from mid-July to mid-August and were intimate on two occasions. In the third week of August of 2016, Skyler broke up with Trey saying she wanted to focus on her senior year and cheerleading. Shortly after the breakup, she blocked him on social media, although neither had anything bad to say about one another. However, in January of 2017, Skylar began dating a boy who was also a senior named Brandon

Starting point is 00:05:00 Sailor, and she was absolutely smitten over him. Skyler told her friends that he was her first love and that had been understandably difficult to trust others after what had happened to her when she was 12. She had never really let anyone into her heart fully because of it. With prom season approaching in just a few months, Skyler and her mother went shopping for a dress. Skyler was really looking forward to prom because she finally had someone to go with that she truly loved.

Starting point is 00:05:29 They had found a beautiful red dress that day and picked it up on February 15th after it was altered. The next month, the Richardson's went on vacation to the beach and Brandon came with them. Kim noticed that Skyler and Brandon were getting closer, so she told Schuyler it was time for her to get on birth control pills. She made an appointment for Skyler with Kim's OBGYN, Dr. William Andrew, who had delivered both Jackson and Skyler previously.

Starting point is 00:05:52 Skyler's paternal aunt also work there as the office manager. But Skyler had never seen a gynecologist before and was terrified at the idea. There are texts between Kim and Skyler and the days leading up to the appointment where Skyler tries to talk her mom out of it, and even says she doesn't want to get birth control anymore because she's so afraid of the exam and feeling uncomfortable. comfortable seeing a male doctor. But Kim's reply was, you're doing adult things, you need to take adult actions and be responsible. I only want you to reach your potential and not have roadblocks.

Starting point is 00:06:22 On April 26, 2017, Skylar attended her appointment at Hilltop OBGYN with Dr. Andrew while her mother waited in the lobby. After finding out that Skyler had already been intimate with a boy, the doctor had her complete a pregnancy test while he called in her birth control prescription to her pharmacy. Unbeknownst to Skyler, she was indeed pregnant and she had been for some time. According to Dr. Andrew, Skylar was visibly shocked. Panicked, she looked at him and said, I can't be pregnant, I'm going to college. She also begged him not to tell her mother, which he did not.

Starting point is 00:06:57 Dr. Andrew did not complete a pelvic exam during Skylar's appointment, but he did examine her stomach using a measuring tape to determine a fondle height measurements. Dr. Andrew told Skyler that she was 32, weeks pregnant and that she only had about eight to ten weeks before her baby would be born. Dr. Andrew did note that Schuyler's belly was incredibly small for how far along she allegedly was. Keep in mind, Skyler was on the school swim team and was seen in a swimsuit almost daily. Furthermore, she had just been on a family vacation to the beach where she wore a two-piece swimsuit. No one had noticed Skyler was pregnant, including Schuyler. Due to her eating disorder,

Starting point is 00:07:33 she would sometimes miss her period, so irregularity in her cycle was not uncommon for her. her. Dr. Andrew told Skyler that if she was having any thoughts of harming herself or her unborn child to please think of him as a resource and call him. However, he would later state that he says this to all women in their final trimester. He also advised Skyler that she needed to come back the following day for blood work, a detailed ultrasound, and prenatal care. When Skyler came out of the office, her mother noted that she looked like she had been crying, but chalked it up to her initial fear about the exam. Of course, Kim didn't have much cause to question anything, considering that the doctor had called in a birth control prescription for her daughter.

Starting point is 00:08:13 Skyler and Brandon went to prom on May 6, 2017, and she looked beautiful wearing that red dress. Despite being purchased three months earlier, no further alterations to that dress were needed despite the fact that Skyler was in her third trimester. The couple did not have the best night as Skyler was having horrible stomach cramps. In fact, she'd been having cramps the night before as well. But being a people-pleaser, she tried to pretend that they didn't bother her. She told Brandon she had never experienced pain that bad before and apologized many times for it cutting into their evening. But Brandon was a very kind and understanding person. He held her hand

Starting point is 00:08:50 and rubbed her lower back to try to comfort her when the pain was exceptionally bad. When Skyler arrived home that evening, she laid down her upstairs bedroom with a heating pad on her back, but she still could not get comfortable. By three in the morning, the level of pain she was experiencing was scaring her. She couldn't even make it downstairs to get pain medication. Her legs were too weak. Instead, Skyler turned and took a few short steps into the bathroom after feeling a sudden urge to pee. Instead, she delivered a baby. It happened so fast that the baby slipped through her hands and fell into the toilet.

Starting point is 00:09:26 Skylar grabbed a towel and placed her baby on it. The baby was a girl. She was extremely pale, her eyes were closed, and the umbilical cord was not attached. Her daughter, whom she named Annabel, was not breathing. Completely distraught, Skyler swaddled Annabel in the towel as she sat on the bathroom floor crying, partially closed and bleeding. Dr. Andrew had told her that she had 10 weeks left. She hadn't told her parents or even a friend. She thought she had time. It had only been 11 days. Now she didn't know what to do. Her brother Jackson's bedroom was right next door to the bathroom. Her parents' bedroom,

Starting point is 00:10:06 was downstairs, but no one heard a thing. Eventually, Schuyler got up and went downstairs and then out to the garage where she got a small garden shovel. She carried Annabelle across the backyard to the tree line. There she laid the tiny baby in the grass while she dug a small hole between two trees and gently put her into the makeshift grave and covered her with soil. She dragged a 25-pound terracotta pot over and placed it on the grave site, later adding pink carnations that she found in the fire pit. She said she chose that spot specifically as her bedroom faced the tree line and she could look out at Annabelle from her window. Afterwards, she cleaned up the bathroom and finally went to bed, crying herself to sleep. On July 12th, Skyler had another appointment at Hilltop OBGYN to get a refill

Starting point is 00:10:52 of birth control. Dr. Andrew wasn't in the office that day, so she instead saw Dr. Casey Boyce. In the examination room, Dr. Boyce asked Skyler what happened to her baby. The doctor Dr. would later testify that Skyler immediately burst into tears while she explained that she delivered a stillborn baby at home and that she had buried her in her family's backyard. People in the office, adjoining rooms, and even the front lobby could hear Skyler sobbing. After she left the office, Dr. Boyce and Dr. Andrew had a conversation, spoke with her attorney, and ultimately called the police and reported what Skyler had said. This is the real reason that the Carlisle Police had been at the family home, looking to talk to Skylar. During the first police interview, they informed Skyler that her OBGYN had contacted them. Now, if you're wondering how the doctor was able to do this and not break confidentiality

Starting point is 00:11:45 laws, it's because they were mandated reporters who had a fear about what had happened to Skyler's baby. Skyler told the investigators that she didn't realize that she was in labor and thought she had eight to nine weeks left, plenty of time to tell her family and get prepared for the baby. Skyler maintained that she very, very much wanted her baby Annabel. She told the officers that when Annabelle was born, she was pale and was not breathing. When they asked how she cut the abilical cord, she said it wasn't attached. When they asked about the placenta, she said it came out the following day. Skyler told them that she swaddled Annabelle and held her.

Starting point is 00:12:27 She felt for a heartbeat. She listened for breaths, but with no signs of life observable, she told them that she buried her at the tree line so she could see her grave from her bedroom window. We lost track of how many times she said, I'm sorry, and how many times she wanted to know if she was going to jail for burying her. Not killing, burying Annabelle.

Starting point is 00:12:48 She said right away and kept saying that she did not kill her baby. Multiple times during the interview, she was told that she wasn't in any trouble and she wasn't going to jail, just that the police simply wanted to know what happened. At the end of the interview, Lieutenant Fane stepped out to get her parents, told them what their daughter had just confessed to,

Starting point is 00:13:06 and brought them into the room to visit Schuyler. Something that her father will later point out is that the police did not tell them that they were being recorded. I'm sure many of her viewers know it's a given that the police will record you, but if you're not into true crime or have never been in trouble with the law, you may not know that there is no expectation of privacy in a police station. Now, what followed was likely what the police hoped would happen. Skyler's parents practically continued the interrogation for the police unknowingly. Schuyler apologized immediately for not telling them.

Starting point is 00:13:51 Her mother told her that pregnancy is not the end of the world and that she should have told them. Then she said, quote, if you go to jail, it's in the papers. It's everywhere. The neighbors have already called me, end quote. To which Skyler replied, mom, please, you're supposed to support me. I didn't do anything wrong. I just didn't tell you. Her father felt that that was exactly.

Starting point is 00:14:12 what Schuyler did wrong. Richardson spent close to 30 minutes in the interrogation room. After the interview, the Warren County prosecutor Doug Fornschel held a press conference stating that they had evidence that Annabelle had been born still born, and no charges were going to be pressed. Annabelle's bones were removed from the earth and taken for autopsy. There were no signs of violence to her bones. None of them were broken or had tool marks on them.

Starting point is 00:14:39 However, Dr. Elizabeth Murray, the forensic anthony, that was studying her bones said that she believed there were thermic changes to them. In other words, she said that they were exposed to intense heat. Lieutenant John Fane and Detective Brandy Carter were asked to interview Skyler again and ask her about the fire because the anthropologist was certain that the baby had been burned. This time when Scott Richardson brought his daughter back to the police station, he had no reason to think it would be any different from the first time. They just had a few more questions.

Starting point is 00:15:10 Lieutenant Fain started off by telling her that they really wanted to get baby Annabel back to the family, but there were a few things they need to clear up first. Skyler told them again what happened the day she gave birth. Then they asked her about the fire. She said she knew for a fact that she did not burn her baby. She stated many times that there was no fire. The officers then began to use what is called the reed technique of interrogation. There are nine points, but two are used,

Starting point is 00:15:50 quite aggressively. The first is confrontation. They told Skyler that they know to a degree of medical certainty that the baby had been burned. They do not give her a chance to deny it. This part of the interrogation is supposed to cut off all denials and also scare and cause anxiety in the suspect. Finally, Skyler gave in and said that maybe she tried to cremate her just a little. The officers asked what she used and she said a lighter. As absurd as this sounds to us, the detectives went with it and got Skyler to describe lighting her baby on fire with just a lighter. No accelerant was used, just a lighter. Next, they get her to confess to maybe squeezing Annabel a little too hard, and maybe

Starting point is 00:16:36 killing her. At the end of four hours, they arrested Skyler, and again, they bring her parents in. This time she has to tell them what's happens. She told them that she tried to cremate the baby a little. It doesn't seem clear while watching the interrogation that she knows that she's about to be charged with killing her baby. Skyler was charged with aggravated homicide, involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a minor, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. Her bond was set at $15,000, which her parents had to pay 15% of to bail her out.

Starting point is 00:17:12 Scholar had to wear an ankle monitor and was placed on house arrest. She was allowed to visit her lawyer's office and the courthouse and had to submit to unannounced visits from law enforcement. At this point, the prosecutor held another press conference where he announced the charges, accusing Schuyler of killing her baby and then burning her. There was a lot of press converging on the small Midwestern town, all of which had started with the discovery of Annabelle's remains. People were sitting on the sidewalk in front of the Richardson home in lawn chairs day and night,

Starting point is 00:17:42 just hoping to catch sight of them. Two Facebook groups popped up, one of them looking for justice for baby Carlisle, as they called her, and the other for baby Richardson. At this early point, they did not know her name, but they were vicious towards the family. Presiding Judge Donald Oda placed a gag order, but it was a little too late because the story about the burning was already out there.

Starting point is 00:18:06 And the worst part, it wasn't even true. Dr. Elizabeth Murray, the forensic anthropologist, apparently made a comment about the possible thermic reaction in passing. She didn't even have the equipment needed to determine that. After Annabel's bones were examined using the proper equipment by another forensic anthropologist, Dr. Crystal Latham, there was no charring present and no thermic reaction. Nothing. The prosecutor's office was pretty upset, but not upset enough to do anything about it. To be clear, there was a gag order in effect, so Skyler's attorneys couldn't come out on the record and say that there had been an error. The prosecution continued with the same charges leveled against Skyler.

Starting point is 00:18:48 If the prosecution openly agreed that part of Skyler's confession about burning Annabelle was false, that might call the whole confession into question, and this was a big case for them. The trial lasted seven days. Several texts between Kim Richardson and Skylar were read, many of which were regarding losing weight, and in most of them, her mom was cheering her on. This included a selfie that Skyler took while in the gym showing that her stomach was once again flat. Keep in mind, this is a young woman with a history of disordered eating who once weighed as little as 90 pounds. The prosecution still tried to introduce the burning into the case, stating, quote,

Starting point is 00:19:27 just because the bones weren't charred doesn't mean the skin wasn't burned, end quote. Every doctor that testified stated that it's absolutely impossible to light a baby on fire with just a lighter. Newborn babies are roughly 75% water, so an accelerant of some type would be required. Interestingly enough, there was a charcoal lighter fluid taken from the Richardson home, but it was never dusted for fingerprints, nor was it used at trial. The pathologist hired by the prosecution ruled Annabelle's cause of death as homicidal violence of undetermined ideology. However, when pressed further on the diagnosis, the pathologist noted that nothing pertaining to Annabelle's bones or any medical or scientific evidence pointed to that. Rather, after seeing Schuyler's interrogation and reading the case file,

Starting point is 00:20:13 that is what she chose. The defense also hired a pathologist that testified there was not enough information to determine a cause of death. An OBGYN testified that Annabelle had died as a result of intrauterine growth restriction. Now, this is when a baby in the womb does not grow as expected, and this can happen for many reasons. But it's usually a problem in the placenta causing the baby to not get the nutrients they need to survive. Although the visit to Dr. Andrews showed the baby's gestation at 32 weeks, she was actually closer to 38 weeks. He just did not know this due to the intrauterine growth restriction. The psychologist that evaluated Schuyler testified that she had dependent personality disorder.

Starting point is 00:20:49 This is a mental disorder that causes her to be predisposed to comply and submit to people in authority. This makes her more susceptible to falsely confessing to something that she would never do. The prosecution pointed out that those are the same traits seen in women who are guilty of neonaticide. The term used for when a parent kills their own baby within 24 hours of birth. After the prosecution rested, the defense asked for the dismissal of the tampering with evidence charge, stating that Schuyler had no reason to think there would be an investigation. If she hadn't gone back to the same doctor and told them the truth, no one would have ever known. Skyler maintained that she had never told anyone about her pregnancy. She had only known

Starting point is 00:21:31 for 11 days and was trying to get used to the idea herself. The one thing that truly sets this case apart is that Skyler had several witnesses. For professional, and four character witnesses, including a teacher and a school counselor. The prosecution never called their only detective Brandy Carter to the stands. The defense mentioned this in their closing. She was available. They just didn't call her. Would the defendant please rise.

Starting point is 00:22:00 With regard to count one, we the jury in the above caption case find the defendant, Brooke Skyler Richardson, not guilty of the offense of aggravated murder. The jury deliberated for just under four hours and found Skyler not guilty on all counts except for abuse of a corpse, which is a fifth degree felony. Several jurors spoke out after the trial despite being highly criticized for their verdict. In their minds, the prosecution could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the baby had been born alive and they thought the state had overreached on their charges. They said that when they saw the interrogation videos, it was clear to them that it was a false

Starting point is 00:22:40 confession. The fact that the prosecution kept trying to bring back burning into the case annoyed them. Schuyler was sentenced to three years of community control or probation, but was released after 14 months. The judge reasoned that she had essentially been serving the sentence anyway for two years while waiting for trial. Since then, Skyler began taking classes at the local community college and began working for her lawyers at Rickers and Rickers. She had previously applied for a job at over 40 businesses, but due to the negative publicity surrounding her trial, no one would hire her. So, the law firm did. In October of 2022, after three years, Skyler's conviction was sealed. A sealing of the conviction essentially means that the case no longer exists in the criminal

Starting point is 00:23:25 justice system. It cannot be viewed publicly as part of the clerk of court's records. This was helpful when applying to law school, which as of the date of this recording, is where she's headed in hopes of becoming a public defender. It would be ridiculous for us not to mention that there are still many people out there who believe Skyler is guilty of killing her baby. If you've watched this channel for any length of time, you know that we pride ourselves on presenting neutral information and allowing you to make up your own mind.

Starting point is 00:23:55 Quite often we cover cases where the evidence speaks for itself and there's no question on that person's guilt. It is horrifying to hear a story about a dead baby, no matter what the circumstance. And our immediate instinct is to find something or someone to hold accountable for the death of an innocent being. This is natural. We want someone to pay for harming our most vulnerable before they even have a shot at life. But in Skyler's case, information justifying a guilty verdict was shaky at best.

Starting point is 00:24:25 Go ahead and call us bias, but our body of work speaks for itself. We have never had a problem condemning anyone who is guilty in the past, and that's no different in this case. Warren County originally stated that they weren't pressing charges until a forensic examiner made a comment about Annabelle's body without evidence to back it up. And then the police pressured her to make a false confession. This never would have gone to trial otherwise.

Starting point is 00:24:50 I have to state this because while I'm sure most of you know this, if one or two people learn something here, it is worth it. If the police want to talk to you about something they think you did and you truly are innocent, don't talk to them without a little. lawyer. If you are a parent and the police want to talk to your son or daughter, you can legally refuse on their behalf and require that a lawyer be present. It doesn't matter if you are innocent and have nothing to hide. Police interrogation is manipulative. And yes, that manipulation can be used for getting confessions out of guilty people. But it can just as easily be used to manipulate

Starting point is 00:25:24 innocent people in order to get the charges to stick. Protect yourself legally in situations like this. let the case of Skyler Richardson be a lesson that you can learn from. Now, should Skyler have buried Annabelle in a makeshift grave? No. While Ohio law doesn't prohibit home burials, in most counties, there are zoning rules that must be followed and records must be submitted. Legally, Schuyler could have buried Annabelle on her property, but according to Warren County law, she needed to apply for a permit first. Consider the traumatic nature of an unexpected stillbirth, especially for someone only 18 years old. The law has decided that Annabel was a stillbirth, and so if Annabel was a stillbirth, is it unreasonable to think that in a moment of extreme grief and panic that Skyler would go and quietly bury her in her backyard? As someone who has experienced this firsthand, let me tell you, it's excruciatingly painful mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Starting point is 00:26:25 If this is all that Skyler truly did, I cannot in good conscience call someone evil for that. Can you prove me wrong in the comments down below?

The Misery Machine - The Brooke Skylar Richardson Story

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