The Misery Machine - The Case of Phoebe Jonchuck

Starting point is 00:00:00 Phoebe Jade John Chuck was born on August 22, 2009 in Florida to parents Michelle Care in John John Chuck Jr. Phoebe was a happy child with a free spirit who loved to pose for pictures. She loved to sing, dance, and create artwork. She liked to wear bright colors. Her favorites were pink and purple. Phoebe enjoyed apple juice and Cheetos, wearing sparkly pink sneakers, reading books about dogs. She loved rainbows, butterflies, puppies, and cats. Phoebe had long curly blonde hair, green eyes, and a smile that lit up the room.

Starting point is 00:00:37 Phoebe's parents both came from troubled backgrounds. Michelle's dad had abandoned his family when she was in kindergarten. When she was just 16 years old, Michelle's mother passed away. All that Michelle had left to remember her mother was a small wedding ring. Now, Phoebe's father, John, came from an even more unstable home life. His father, John John Chuck, Sr., was an alcoholic. who beat his mother and was arrested multiple times for DUI. He left when John was just three years old.

Starting point is 00:01:08 John's mother, Michelle Johnchuck, worked at Dunkin' Donuts, but got caught stealing and was busted for drugs. She left when John was just five years old. John was sent to live with his uncle, Brian Morris, and his partner, Tim Maynard. They gave him a necklace with a small gold cross on it. John proved to be a difficult child who got thrown out of multiple preschools, kicked his dog and stuck screwdrivers into electrical outlets. He threw such terrible fit that a counselor suggested he'd be wrapped up in a sheet like a straight jacket. He was prescribed

Starting point is 00:01:41 Adderall and Ritalin, but nothing really helped him. One day, John's father showed up to reclaim him. He said he didn't want two men raising his son and he was pretty vocal about it. After that, John lived with his father and stepmom in a duplex next to a junkyard in Tampa, Florida. CPS visited the home multiple times and John's friends noticed bruises on his face. He was 12, John's father told him to clean his room and John ended up losing it. He attacked his father with soda cans, pulled his hair and then finally grabbed a knife. The police were called and John admitted to pulling his dad's hair, but only after his dad hit him. He also admitted to making a stabbing motion with the knife. The police report from this incident noted that John hates his father and hopes that he goes

Starting point is 00:02:29 to hell. This was only the first time in his life that John was put in the back of a police car. However, it was decided that no treatment was needed for John at the time. At school, John was known for being the smartest, the funniest, and the loudest. He entertained other students and made homemade puppets and plays that he performed in the lunchroom. He never wanted to be at home and preferred to spend time at friends' houses. In eighth grade, John told everyone that he liked men. He was teased for this, but he seemed to enjoy the attention. However, he dropped out of school the next year. His family had him committed to a psych ward after he climbed onto the roof of his father's duplex and, because YouTube can't handle us talking about this in a straightforward

Starting point is 00:03:15 language, attempted to remove himself from this earth with a knife. After his hospital stay, John went back to living with his uncle Brian and Uncle Tim. There he took online classes. to try to earn his GED, but proved to have a volatile temper. When he was caught playing video games instead of studying, his uncle tried to take his computer away. John retaliated by throwing the laptop over a balcony and smashing it to pieces. Another time when he was so angry at Tim, he coated the stairs with wax. This led Tim to fall down the stairs and break three of his ribs. According to his uncles, John just watched and laughed.

Starting point is 00:03:55 Later, Brian described John as a monster. and Tim referred to him as pure evil. At age 17, John moved out and began working at a strip club where he made a lot of money off of older men. He also began using drugs heavily, especially spice, also known as K2. He then moved on to Crystal smoking so much that his fingertips were often charred from holding the glass pipe. At age 18, John was first introduced to Michelle Care. She was 23 years old and already had a young son. and a daughter. But she would go to bars together, putting on their makeup side by side in the mirror

Starting point is 00:04:32 while singing along to pop songs. John told her she was beautiful, and then one night he basically said, maybe I don't like men, because I'm in love with you. The two developed a relationship, bonding over their troubled lives. Michelle told him how she'd been charged with neglecting her son when he was five because a babysitter didn't pick him up from the bus stop. She still had custody of her son, while her daughter stayed with relatives. John told Michelle about his father beating him and how he hated his mother for leaving. He told her he was bipolar, but was on medication. Michelle thought John was handsome, but soon saw that he had two sides. According to Michelle, he was charming, and then the devil came out. On Valentine's Day, he slashed her tires in a fit

Starting point is 00:05:18 of jealousy. She said, he'll be as sweet as anything, then go all Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One day, John was upset that Michelle was outside too long talking to a neighbor, so he took her mother's wedding ring and threw it out of a window. Because of him, the last thing she had left from her late mother was lost in the overgrown yard. Despite this, they soon moved in together and they both enrolled in college classes where she took graphic design and he studied to be a paralegal. He asked her four times to marry him, but she refused him every single time. Despite their rocky relationship, Michelle did stay with him. On August 22nd, 2009, their daughter was born. She was named Phoebe after John's Chihuahua.

Starting point is 00:06:01 Phoebe was a delightful and easy-going baby who was rarely fussy. She loved being sung to and liked to have someone stroke her arm while she fell asleep. Her curly hair and round face seemed to work magic because John became a doting father. He changed diapers, warmed bottles, and wanted to see her. stay home with his febes all of the time. His uncle Brian said, when Phoebe was born, that changed him. He stepped up more than he ever had. Michelle planned to go back to work after her maternity leave, but she started having problems with her leg. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and went on disability. John tried to go back to work, but didn't seem able to hold down a steady job. He tried

Starting point is 00:06:46 various money-making schemes, including fake check printing and stealing other people's credit cards. He even sued the cheesecake factory for $250,000 after faking a fall. Although John seemed to make a turnaround when Phoebe was born, it was very short-lived. When Phoebe was 10 months old, the cops were called for a domestic issue. John had thrown Michelle to the floor and beat her legs. However, Michelle dropped the charges after John completed a DV program. Years later, the cops were called again when John tried to choke Michelle. Phoebe, who was two years old at this time,

Starting point is 00:07:22 locked herself in her parents' bedroom until John kicked down the door to get her out. The report from April 2012 stated, Family Violence threatens child. However, this was changed to signs of present danger is low five days later because John and Michelle agreed to counseling. Phoebe grew into a shy child. It began going to from here to their daycare. The owner, Linda Matos, described Phoebe as almost nonverbal.

Starting point is 00:07:51 She always sat by herself for 30 to 45 minutes each day after being dropped off. Only then would she come out of her shell to join the other children. Linda would take Phoebe to Chucky Cheese and even to her own backyard pool. Linda's teenage son, Nick, tried to teach Phoebe to swim, but she was terrified of water. She didn't even like to take a bath. Despite her troubling home life, Phoebe still seemed to be a happy toddler. John's mother, Michelle Janchot, came back into their lives and finally sobered up. Phoebe called this newly reacquired grandmother, Mama.

Starting point is 00:08:28 She sometimes lived with John and Michelle's family as they moved from apartment to apartment. Although she developed a new lease on life, John couldn't forgive his mother for leaving him as a child. If she tried to help him with parenting Phoebe, John would fly off. the handle and would say, you didn't raise me. Why do you want to raise my daughter? The family's life worsened, with John erupting into rage every few months. It is possible that the rejection he felt from both of his parents leaving him as a child translated to fear and resentment as an adult. If he felt like he was being abandoned or rejected again, he would lose control. John punched holes in walls and broke windows when he was angry at his mother or Michelle. It would continually run

Starting point is 00:09:14 out of money or get evicted, and John thought every place they lived in was possessed by evil spirit. Now, throughout Phoebe's toddler years, John continued to abuse both his wife and mother. Phoebe was there to witness John punched his mother in the face and drag her down the stairs by her feet. She watched as John poured boiling coffee over Michelle, tried to strangle her with Christmas lights, and threw a concrete block at her. She was there witnessing John chasing Michelle into a closet and stabbing the door with a knife. When John punched Michelle in the face and cracked her head against the bathtub, Phoebe was there to witness it. John was arrested for the bathroom incident, but Michelle dropped the charges again. However, this time she decided she was done with him,

Starting point is 00:09:58 finally moved out. Fortunately, when John got out of jail, he told the judge that Michelle had sliced him with a box cutter, even though it was obvious that John had inflicted the wounds himself. Despite the dubious nature of his claim and his prior arrest history, John was able to get a restraining order against Michelle. He got Phoebe's share of Michelle's benefits as well as Phoebe herself. Michelle could not afford a lawyer and didn't even get a notice about the court hearing. As such, she couldn't contest the restraining order and she ended up not being able to see Phoebe for over a year. In June of 2013, the Florida Department of Children and Families concluded, and I quote, there are implications for child safety.

Starting point is 00:10:42 This is due to the family's history of prior reports and to the father's history of CA and neglect. A month after this, John was arrested for DUI and Michelle was arrested for theft. The DCF noted, the father interacts with Phoebe in a caring manner. The case is being closed with verified findings for family violence threatens child. Now, it was clear that the state was aware that Phoebe was in a dangerous situation. but no actions were being taken. John had been arrested seven times

Starting point is 00:11:13 on family violence charges since the age of 12. Nevertheless, the years of calls to police and to child services amounted to nothing. Phoebe never had a caseworker that was involved enough to notice that her father was abusing her mother and grandmother. They didn't notice that John was still using drugs and hallucinating. They didn't notice that John bounced Phoebe

Starting point is 00:11:33 from place to place with her clothes in a trash bag. When a DCF investigator visited Phoebe at her daycare, she told the investigator that she missed her mommy. Although John had violent tendencies towards Michelle and Mama, he adored his daughter. He painted her toenails, taught her how to count trees, and took her out for slushies that turned her mouth blue. He brushed her long curly hair and let her win at Tick-Tac-Tow. He taught her the alphabet and how to write her name with a crayon.

Starting point is 00:12:03 When Phoebe was afraid of the dark, he let her fall asleep watching blues clues. John moved with Phoebe into a succession of different homes over the next year or so. He never had money to pay the rent for their own place, and he preferred the company of others anyway. They lived with eight different friends or family members during that time, including five different single moms. It seems that they couldn't turn away of the little Phoebe, so John was able to wheedle his way into their lives.

Starting point is 00:12:32 However, John was still smoking crystal and wasn't a very good house guest. Something would set him off, and he would end up trashing the place. One time he freaked out some friends when he was driving high on drugs and suddenly floored it to a hundred miles an hour. However, there was only one time anyone saw him get rough with Phoebe.

Starting point is 00:12:51 On that occasion, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the room after she asked for a fruit cup before dinner. Otherwise, his rage was reserved for others. Each time a new roommate had enough and kicked him out, he'd leave behind broken furniture and piles of trash. The only thing he ever took

Starting point is 00:13:08 when he left was his own daughter. For a while, Phoebe did get to go live with John's uncle Brian and Uncle Tim while John slept at a friend's house. They had a big, beautiful Victorian house with a coy pond, and Phoebe got to enjoy taking Reese's peanut butter cups from a crystal candy dish. Brian and Tim worried about Phoebe's safety, and even drafted up adoption paperwork to keep Phoebe. However, John had the same response that his own father had two decades earlier.

Starting point is 00:13:38 In 2014, Phoebe began attending kindergarten at Cleveland Elementary School. She turned five, two days after school started. John brought cupcakes for the class. When he went to leave, Phoebe hung on to his legs and cried. Her teacher, Micah Oliver, said it was the worst case of separation anxiety that she had ever seen. Phoebe threw these fits for a month until John snapped in front of the teacher and said, why does it have to be this way? After that, Phoebe's grandmother, Mama, rearranged her work schedule so that way she was the only one to drop off Phoebe each day, which made things easier.

Starting point is 00:14:13 Soon, Phoebe moved into her grandmother's house while John crashed elsewhere. That autumn may have been the most stable time in Phoebe's life. She slept in her grandmother's big double bed, set her prayers, and hugged her life-sized baby doll named Lucy. Mama would often wake Phoebe in the morning by singing You Are My Sunshine. Phoebe made friends at school and began to flourish. She liked to tell jokes and told her teachers that she was going to grow up to be either a doctor or a dancer. Her teachers knew that her mom wasn't around but believed she had a loving father and adoring grandmother. To them, there were no signs of neglect or abuse.

Starting point is 00:14:50 She wasn't a child that teachers were worried about. She was always clean and knew how to share nicely and politely said please and thank you. Although Phoebe missed her mother, she clearly enjoyed her cozy, life with Mama. At one point, Phoebe awoke screaming from a nightmare and told Mama, I dreamt someone was taking me from you. Still, Michelle continued to press John to let her see her daughter, and John finally agreed. John and Phoebe met Michelle and her new boyfriend for Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel. It should have been a nice family dinner, but when Phoebe asked if she could stay with her mother, John refused. In the month after Thanksgiving, things worsened for John. He lost, he lost.

Starting point is 00:15:32 Lost two different jobs, old friends wouldn't return his calls, and now this, Michelle was getting ready to be married and she wanted to see more of Phoebe. Seems likely that his old fears of abandonment and rejection were rising to the surface, leading to feelings of deep betrayal. He ended up calling a hotline to accuse Michelle of abusing or neglecting Phoebe, all while two other people called to report him for the same thing. He started sending bizarre text to a friend, accusing Michelle of being a demon who needed God, and saying that he was going to come kill her. Then John got a letter about his cheesecake factory lawsuit, asking for X-rays to prove the extent of his injuries. Another letter arrived from the Social Security office,

Starting point is 00:16:13 threatening to cut off the benefits he received for Phoebe. With one rejection after another piling up for John, he began to spiral. Phoebe and John spent Christmas Eve at Michelle's house along with Mama, Michelle's new boyfriend, and his son. They enjoyed takeout barbecue, and John even said a prayer before they ate. Mama was happy with this latest detail, relieved that John finally believed in God. John's stepmother, Mickey, had an old family Bible. It was written in Swedish and was over a hundred years old. John started carrying around this huge old Bible, evidently drawn some inspiration from the book. On Christmas Day, he texted Michelle and

Starting point is 00:16:54 and said she didn't have to worry about him keeping Phoebe from her anymore. Phoebe received some wonderful presents from Mama that Christmas. New bubbles, a sparkly doll, Plato, and a kit to make a scrapbook. Alas, the nice holiday morning turned sour when John raged at Mama, screaming that she had never bought him presents like these. After Christmas, John again got hired for a new job, this time with a telemarketing company. The only jobs he had for months was working one day at a cafe before quitting and then part-time at Burger King. His new boss didn't know what to make of John's erratic

Starting point is 00:17:29 moods. He said, in one breath, you could have the most educated conversation in the world with this guy, and I'd be thinking I could take him to a board meeting. Then he'd flip, and the devil would appear. John soon got fired, but his boss took him back after John begged him for another chance. Meanwhile, tensions between John and Michelle grew even worse. Text message conversations grew more and more hostile. John called her nasty names and threatened to pursue full custody for Phoebe again. On December 29th, Michelle called the DCF hotline to report John for hitting Phoebe years earlier, that he had no stable housing for Phoebe. No one ever investigated this complaint. And John called the next day to claim that Michelle was using drugs. A drug test proved his

Starting point is 00:18:14 accusation to be false. On New Year's Eve, John filed for another restraining order, claiming that Michelle's new boyfriend had weapons in the house. This request was denied. Meanwhile, Phoebe enjoyed the evening with Phoebe's grandmother, mama, watching the fireworks display put on by her two great-uncles. In the following week, John was in an unusually humble mood, texting multiple people to ask for forgiveness. Seemed he had burned too many bridges because no one replied to him.

Starting point is 00:18:44 He spent that Sunday at his mother's house doing yard work, listening to her talk about how much she would like to keep Phoebe. This set him off. That evening, he yanked Phoebe out of his mother's bed and yelled, You're not taking my kid. His mother was too startled to stop him. Said later that if I'd try to take her, he'd have beaten me up. John took Phoebe to his dad and stepmom's house in.

Starting point is 00:19:09 Phoebe didn't return to school for the next two days. Meanwhile, John was at his dad's house getting more and more obsessed with that ancient Swedish Bible. He told his stepmom that Phoebe was a demon and spread salt in the doorways throughout the house to ward off evil spirits. When John went to work on Monday, he kept rambling about the Bible. He talked about Abraham and Isaac and about sacrificing a lamb. His coworkers were concerned, thinking that maybe he was on drugs or mentally unstable. They talked about getting him help, but knew that he might lose his daughter if he was checked in anywhere. On his way home that evening, John said something cryptic.

Starting point is 00:19:46 to his coworkers. He said, I'm going to be fine. I've got to walk that pyramid. I just hope when I get to the top, I don't have to do it. I hope I don't have to make that sacrifice. I hope someone stops me. On Wednesday, January 15th, John brought Phoebee while he met with his lawyer Genevieve Torres. He was still trying to get custody of Phoebe so his attorney had drafted up the forms for him to sign. Phoebe waited downstairs drawing a house with paper and crayons that a paralegal brought to her. John's lawyer just needed him to sign the paperwork so they could move forward, but she couldn't get him to focus. He kept rambling and waving his hands around. He brought the Bible translated to Swedish, which he put on the table.

Starting point is 00:20:30 He told Genevieve to read it, but the lawyer didn't know the language. He said to her, you're the creator. You can read any language. He told her that he had an appointment with a priest in an hour because he wanted to get baptized. She tried to get him back on topic. He dismissed her with a chilling statement. He said, don't worry about filing the paperwork. None of this is going to matter tomorrow. Genevieve was understandably concerned by John's behavior, but wasn't sure what to do about it. She ultimately determined that this went beyond attorney-client confidentiality.

Starting point is 00:21:01 She decided to call the police after she got him to leave. On the way out, John asked if he could leave Phoebe at the lawyer's office while he was at his appointment with the priest. Genevieve considered it, but worried that Phoebe would be scared or John might return an accuser of kidnapping. She also reasoned that Phoebe would be safe at a church. As soon as John left with Phoebe, Genevieve had her paralegal called the police. She told the dispatcher, he's crazy, he's nuts, he's out of his mind and he has a minor child with him driving to a church now, and I should have kept the child. The dispatcher asked if John wanted to harm himself.

Starting point is 00:21:35 Genevieve replied, no, he kept saying, I was God and he needed to get baptized, and not to file anything because things are not going to matter anymore. I don't know if he's on drugs or one. but I should have kept the child. Between about 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. that day, John took Phoebe with him to four different churches across Tampa in his mission to get baptized. The first church was the St. Paul Catholic Church. We told the priest that he was possessed and asked him to do an exorcism.

Starting point is 00:22:02 He also asked him how many people had jumped off the Skyway Bridge. The priest ultimately told him that there was a process to go through before getting baptized, so John left. Outside, there were two Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies, waiting to speak with him. Deputies Jessica Hallberg, Halebrough, and Aaron Rizzo asked John if he thought his lawyer was God. He replied, no, but God spoke to me. He told them that he had a new clarity on life, and that he used to be on 37 different medications. During this interaction, Phoebe was smiling while she held her father's hands. The deputies asked the priest if John seemed like a danger to himself

Starting point is 00:22:43 for others, and the priest said no. He told them John was just feeling paranoid, but he didn't mention John's exorcism request or the question about the skyway. When the officers left, the report said this of John. He did not exhibit any signs of mental illness. The little girl appeared happy and waved at me when she was leaving with her dad. John then drove across town to a different Catholic church before picking up his stepmom and returning again to the first church. He again, demanded to be baptized immediately, but the priest refused. It was about 1 p.m. at this point. John then went to a Methodist church nearby and met with the receptionist there. The receptionist remembered Phoebe skipping on her way in. She gave Phoebe a lollipop, and Phoebe waited with

Starting point is 00:23:29 John's stepmom while John inquired about a baptism. He showed the receptionist his oversized Swedish Bible. He said that he was related to the Pope, but that the Catholic Church would not baptize him. The receptionist gave him the email for the minister to contact. That seemed to work because John grabbed his Bible and left with Phoebe. Meanwhile, John's lawyer Genevieve heard back from the sheriff's deputies who told her they didn't think John was a danger to himself or others. Around 2 p.m., John started calling her office repeatedly. He called eight times over the next hour, ranting and insisting that Phoebe wasn't really his daughter. Realizing that the police weren't able to help, Genevieve called the DCF hotline and spoke to a counselor for 18 minutes.

Starting point is 00:24:12 She explained how John was obsessed with the Swedish Bible, thought she was God, and was claiming that Phoebe was not his child. During this conversation, John called again and spoke to repair illegal. He said he was back at his dad's house and everything was fine. Genevieve relayed this info to the counselor who put her on hold. She came back, she said, based on the information provided, unfortunately it doesn't rise to the level of Florida statutes for us to be able to accept the report at this time. Now, whether or not you feel this response is by the book based on Florida's laws, you have to admit it is infuriating. I can't even begin to comprehend the level of helplessness that Genevieve felt in this moment

Starting point is 00:24:54 after witnessing behavior from somebody clearly not mentally fit to have a child in his care. However, Genevieve kept insisting, desperate to get some sort of further action from the counselor. but this counselor had only been on the job six months, and she told Genevieve that it sounded to her like John had support from other adults. In the end, the report was closed at 3.25 p.m. John and Phoebe stayed at his stepdad's house that afternoon and evening, suddenly calm. Everything seemed fine, and they all watched TV on the couch. At 8 p.m., Mama got up to leave and said she'd take Phoebe with her so that she could drop Phoebe off at school the next day. It had now been three days of school that Phoebe had missed.

Starting point is 00:25:38 John promised to bring her to school the next day, and Phoebe wanted to stay with him. Mama went home by herself, but shortly afterwards, John called and said he wasn't feeling well. He asked if Phoebe could come over after all, but Mama had told him that she had just gone to bed. At around 9.30 that night, John began texting his friend Nomi. He told her that they belonged together and ranted about sea salt in the Bible. He also said he asked a priest how many people had jumped off the skyway. Nomi was disturbed and didn't reply to his texts. At around 10 p.m., John's dad and stepmom heard John leave the house and drive away.

Starting point is 00:26:17 They assumed he was taking Phoebe to her grandmother's house and went back to bed. In reality, John had packed up all of Phoebe's Christmas presents into trash bags and stashed them in his car, which was a white PT cruiser. He made her wear the gold cross that he had gotten from his uncle. when he was a kid. He drove them to Nomi's apartment complex and pounded on her door. Nomi hid thinking he'd come to kill her and her son. A neighbor saw him pacing around the parking lot and noticed that Phoebe didn't have any shoes on and wasn't wearing a coat. Shortly after, someone called the police to report that a white PT cruiser was driving a hundred miles an hour down the highway headed south. John sped down the interstate crossing

Starting point is 00:26:59 into the city of St. Petersburg. He suddenly slammed on the brake so, hard that he left smoking skid marks. Sergeant William Drew Vickers of the St. Petersburg Police Department was off duty and headed home that night, but he happened to see the PT Cruiser jam on its brakes. He decided to follow the car as it sped towards the skyway. It was just after midnight on January 8th, 2015. Sergeant Vickers radio dispatch to give them the plate number, but didn't turn on his lights or siren. He told dispatch that he was following a white PT cruiser traveling at a high rate of speed down 275 southbound. He followed the speeding car out of St. Petersburg and onto the Dick Meissiner Bridge that goes over lower Tampa Bay. While Sergeant Vickers was still talking to dispatch,

Starting point is 00:27:43 John's vehicle suddenly slowed down, swerved to the right, stopped on the shoulder of the bridge. John got out of the car wearing his plaid pajamas and carrying that huge Swedish Bible. Sergeant Vickers yelled at him to get back in the car, but John kept walking back toward him. John shouted you have no free will and then walked to the rear passenger side of the PT cruiser opening the door. Sergeant Vickers drew his Glock pistol and yelled Let me see her hands.

Starting point is 00:28:10 John emerged from the car holding a young girl. Sergeant Vickers saw her long honey-colored curls and she pressed her face into her father's shoulder. He thought he saw her stretch like she was just waking up. John calmly walked to the edge of the bridge holding eye contact with the officer pointing a gun at him. Without looking away, he reached the concrete railing and suddenly threw Phoebe over the side. Sergeant Vickers thought he heard a scream and then heard a splash as Phoebe hit the frigid ocean

Starting point is 00:28:41 waters 62 feet below. John didn't even look to watch his daughter fall. He simply walked back to his car while Sergeant Vickers yelled into his radio. He just dropped his kid over the railing into the water. He's fleeing south to the toll plaza. Give me rescue. I'm right on the interstate. kids in the water. Sergeant Vickers ran to the edge of the bridge, and tried in vain to see down into the dark water below. He saw a service ladder nearby and climbed down. Other officers arrived

Starting point is 00:29:10 while Vickers reached the bottom and searched frantically with his flashlight for any sign of the little girl. It was a cold night, only 42 degrees, a 25-mile-an-hour wind. Meanwhile, John had sped away down 275, first south, but then he pulled a U-turn and started back up the wrong side of I-75. He nearly hit a police cruiser and was finally stopped with spike sticks. He ignored demands to get out of the vehicle, so the driver's side window was smashed, and he was pulled out through the broken glass of the pavement, where he was placed under arrest. Rescue professionals and volunteers were swiftly deployed to search for Phoebe. Everyone knew there was a slim chance that Phoebe had survived the fall in the freezing water.

Starting point is 00:29:50 Spotlights swept across the water while helicopters circled overhead. Tide patterns and currents were put into a computer to try to guess which directions Phoebe might have been swept in the choppy water under the bridge. Finally, Phoebe's pale face was spotted in the dark current, framed by her long hair. She'd been swept under the bridge by the current and pulled nearly a mile to the southeast. The student search and rescue team that spotted her pulled Phoebe's cold body from the water into their boat. They attempted CPR and tried to revive her with warm blankets and ivy fluids, but she was already gone. Phoebe, who feared war. Febeard

Starting point is 00:30:28 water so much, she didn't even want to take a bath and been in the water an hour and a half before she was found. In an interrogation room at the sheriff's department, John said to the deputies, My name is God, and you shall address me as such. I command you to take me to the city of Babylon now. He then said he was the pope, and he wanted his Bible, and that this was all a conspiracy. He didn't want to be left alone in the room and told the office. serves that for the last few weeks he had been feeling different. At some point during the interview, John asked, is Phoebe okay? The officers asked who Phoebe was and John's replied, Phoebe was my daughter, Phoebe J. Johnchuck. Note the past tense, Phoebe was his daughter.

Starting point is 00:31:17 I went looking for answers. I've always had problems growing up, like wondering who I was and how and what my purpose was and ever since yesterday and a couple days before like what? Problems? How do you think you're different?

Starting point is 00:31:48 Well, it's like I don't know. Like when I went to the church today, St. Paul's Catholic Church and I spoke to Father Bill he told me that I wasn't going to be ready

Starting point is 00:32:08 this Easter but next Easter and that I was the Pope that Francis or whatever is not is not like He's not the real Pope Yes And my grandma's name

Starting point is 00:32:28 And I do have Greek heritage Believe it or not My grandma's maiden name is Volatimir And it's always been weird. And I've had people coming up to me recently and asking me what my name is, and I've only been able to say John prior to this, weeks prior to this. And they would ask me what my last name is, and I would just say John. How about you just physically couldn't say your last name?

Starting point is 00:32:57 It just John, John Chuck, or he's just John? It was just John for some reason, and it's like I really had to kind of think about it. for a minute. Then that's just been going on this past week? Yeah. How about the island crew? You like working there? You said it's a Jamaican restaurant?

Starting point is 00:33:19 I kind of felt uncomfortable. Uncomfortable? Mm-hmm. How so? I mean, it's a job. All this stuff. I mean, you told me when I was asking you what your name was and what you're...

Starting point is 00:33:39 You said that you worked at Island Crew and that it was a Jamaican restaurant, or it's like a cafe. That's how you put it. I did, but I felt like he was dishonest. Who's that? The owner, like, he was... He said you're...

Starting point is 00:34:04 Is it the owner that was being dishonest? What made you think he was being dishonest? Going to different restaurants. Mm-hmm. He was going to different restaurants and working there to find out their main dishes and then putting it on his menu. Really? So you go to different restaurants to find out with their...

Starting point is 00:34:42 You guys see signature dish or the main dish is on their menu, bring it back to the restaurant that you worked at? Yes. I could see how that would be dishonest. Is Phoebe okay? Phoebe? Who's that? He was my daughter.

Starting point is 00:35:44 He did John Chuck. Is she okay? I don't know, John. I haven't heard. I've been here watching it talking over you or talking with you. At the end of the interrogation report, the officer noted, I observed there to be no remorse or regret for what he allegedly did. The only time he showed any emotion was when he asked me if Phoebe was all right.

Starting point is 00:36:13 When he asked me that, he put his head down into his hand and began to shake his head back and forth. Despite John's strange behavior and appearance, a drug test was not administered. When he was taken to Pinellas County Jail, the deputies checked off no on the form of for indications of drug or alcohol. influence or mental health issues. Phoebe's death shocked the community around Tampa Bay. So many people had seen her with her father on that final afternoon or in the weeks and months leading up to her death. Phoebe's relatives wondered if they could have pushed harder to get her away from John

Starting point is 00:36:50 sooner. Her kindergarten teacher wondered if she should have known that something was wrong. Sergeant Vickers wondered if he could have handled the interaction with John and the the bridge differently to save Phoebe's life. John's lawyer Genevieve wondered how things would have been different if she had kept Phoebe in her office that day. Phoebe's grandmother, mama, blamed herself, first for abandoning John as a child, then doting so heavily on Phoebe, wondering if this could have triggered John's resentfulness and jealousy. She said, what if I killed her because I loved her too much?

Starting point is 00:37:24 Authorities had been called out of concern for Phoebe seven different times in her short life, but none of that made a difference. The disputes between Phoebe's parents garnered so many reports to DCF that they weren't taken seriously. Phoebe's death helped bring attention to serious flaws in the system. The very next day after Phoebe's death,

Starting point is 00:37:45 changes were made to address the way in which hotline counselors handled calls. If the caregiver was believed to be experiencing a psychotic episode, like John was reported to have been, and officials were now required to respond within four hours to check on the child. In just one year after that change,

Starting point is 00:38:03 more than 900 calls had been forwarded to investigators. At least one baby had been saved because of these changes. An autopsy was performed on Phoebe's small body. It was determined that she was alive before she entered the water. The fall from the bridge to the water would have lasted two seconds before she hit the water at about 60 miles per hour. The water temperature that night was 67 degrees, with an air temperature of 42 degrees.

Starting point is 00:38:31 By the time she was found, her body temperature had dropped to 44.6 degrees. The attempts to revive her with the warm blankets and an ivy brought her body temperature back up to 75 degrees before she was declared dead. She had huge bruises on her back, jaw, and lip from the impact with the water. She had a layer of blood on her brain, scrapes near her ear and ankle, and frothy fluid in her lungs. The cause of death was determined to be drowning with hypothermia as a contributing condition. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.

Starting point is 00:39:08 John John Chuck was charged with first degree homicide and held without bond. At his first court appearance, Pinellas County Judge Michael Andrews asked him if he wanted an attorney. John replied, I want to leave it in the hands of God. The judge responded, I'm pretty sure God's not going to be representing you in this case. You're going to be standing trial. John pled not guilty by reason of insanity. For years after Phoebe's death, the defense in prosecution went back and forth on whether or not John was mentally stable enough to stand trial.

Starting point is 00:39:42 He had psychiatric evaluations, and eventually he was declared competent enough to stand trial. John's trial was held in early 2019 and lasted a month. During his trial, the defense argued that John was insane at the time of the killing. He was driven by imagined voices and delusions and was unaware that what he was doing was wrong. However, experts testified that while John did indeed suffer from delusions and mental illness, it was not the driving force behind his decision to kill Phoebe. Prosecutors argued that John was acting out of vengeance, killing Phoebe so her mother could never get custody of her,

Starting point is 00:40:17 because he was resentful that his own mother loved the little girl more than she had ever loved him. On April 16th, the jury found him guilty of first-degree homicide. He was sentenced to life in prison. John's mother, Phoebe's grandmother, mama, said after the trial, I want to tell him I love him because he's my son. When it comes to what he's done, I hate him. He took my sunshine away. Phoebe's funeral was held on January 14, 2015, at the Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church.

Starting point is 00:40:49 About 150 people gathered to say goodbye. to the little girl whose life had been cut so tragically short. There were yellow and purple roses and pink balloons. The sermon focused on messages of forgiveness, and the mourners wear bright colors instead of black to honor Phoebe's sunny personality. Her mother, Michelle, wore a multi-colored sundress, while her grandmother, Mama,

Starting point is 00:41:12 carried Phoebe's precious baby doll Lucy. Her tiny casket was covered in flowers in pink tool, and a smiling baby doll and a stuffed animal were placed next to her small body. Mama said of Phoebe, Every time I see a rainbow, I will think of you. After the ceremony, four pallbearers carried her casket to awaiting hearse. A caravan led by three Hillsborough County Sheriff's Cruisers

Starting point is 00:41:38 with sirens blaring rolled a mile away to Lake Carroll Cemetery. A local funeral home covered the cost of her burial. She was buried in a sliver of ground between her two grandparents. Her gravestone reads, Phoebe J. John Chuck. August 22nd, 2009 to January 8th, 2015. Mammas Princess Angel, forever in our hearts. The community continued to remember Phoebe. Memorial with flowers, teddy bears, and white crosses appeared on the bridge. There were Facebook pages dedicated to her memory. A 5K race in her honor and local students raised money to sponsor a service dog that now

Starting point is 00:42:18 bears her name. The petition was started to rename the bridge. Ridge in her honor. Each year, a Memorial Motorcycle Ride and Flower Drop is held to raise money for a scholarship fund created in Phoebe's memory. The scholarship is awarded to a student at St. Petersburg College who is studying social services. Mama kept Phoebe's favorite life-size baby doll Lucy, which Phoebe used to hug while snuggled in her double bed. Now her grandmother kisses the doll every night before tucking it into bed like she used to do with Phoebe. A year after her death, Phoebe's mother, Michelle, was interviewed to reflect on the loss of her daughter. Still living with MS, Michelle was learning to cope, but her heart was still breaking for her little girl.

Starting point is 00:43:02 Michelle found the manner of Phoebe's death particularly cruel because Phoebe could not swim and was terrified of the water. She said, why that way? Why anyway? Michelle also shared the morning ritual she does to remember her daughter. She wakes up in time to watch the sunrise and turns on Phoebe's favorite song good morning sunshine

The Misery Machine - The Case of Phoebe Jonchuck

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