The Misery Machine - The Case of Timothy Ferguson

Starting point is 00:00:00 Timothy Richard Ferguson was born on August 6, 2006 in Charlotte, North Carolina. His parents were Eric Nolan Sr. in Shanda Margaret Ferguson. He was the fourth of Shanda's five children. He had two older brothers, Eric Nolan Jr. and Paul, an older sister Millie, and a younger brother named Gabriel, in addition to many step-siblings. Millie was particularly close with Timothy in both age and affection. She held him the day he was born and said that Every picture we have as a family, Timothy was always by my side.

Starting point is 00:00:37 Timothy had blonde hair that darkened to brown as he got older, light blue eyes and a wide smile. He was diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and had some speech and motor impairments. He was very sensitive to loud noises. However, his disabilities didn't matter to his siblings because he was just their little brother. They loved him.

Starting point is 00:00:58 and gave him the nickname Tim Tim. His oldest brother said he was a sweet boy who loved hugs and high fives. Timothy was well liked by his teachers who described him as caring, polite, and eager to please. They said school was his favorite place. He was smart and performed well in his classes. Timothy also liked trains, Thomas the Tank Engine, and tinkering with things. His sister said that he could take anything apart with any tools or none at all. She said he was smart and and charming. He could look at you with those big baby blue eyes and you could never stay mad at him. A picture taken on a fishing trip shows him proudly holding up a fish he had caught with one hand and giving a thumbs up with the other. Between 2009 and 2012, Timothy and his family were living

Starting point is 00:01:46 in Oklahoma when Child Protective Services became involved in their lives. At this time, Timothy was listed as malnourished, underweight, and failing to thrive. The agency did not release their records publicly, so the details are unknown, but Shanda was treating the children in such unusual ways that they substantiated her for CA and threatened to take away her parental rights. Sometime around November of 2009, the children were taken into CPS custody. Millie recounted her memory of being taken away in the caseworker's car. They were young. She was less than five years old and Timothy was not yet three. She said Timothy was right by her side and she held onto his hand. They were squashed in the middle of the backseat on the ride to their placement with a temporary foster family. As the big sister,

Starting point is 00:02:32 she said her job was to protect him. According to Shanda's posts on social media, her children had been removed because, in her words, somebody at our church decided to be an idiot and were paying for it. January of 2010, their scheduled visitation was increased from once every four weeks to once a week. February, she posted that she and Eric had volunteered to take a 12-week parenting course. Because they were only halfway through the classes, she said CPS wouldn't return the children to their home or increased visitation. Shanda never admitted any wrongdoing, instead saying that the stupidity and idiocy of the caseworker and supervisor caused all of these problems. She said that seeing the kids more often was important, but, more than to Shanda, saying goodbye

Starting point is 00:03:15 sucks, especially when several of them cry and don't want to go. People from her church were praying for the family to finally be reunited. That month, February of 2010, Shanda was preparing to celebrate her 11th wedding anniversary and posted several times about her love for Eric. She described him as charming, handsome, intelligent, strong, romantic, funny, everything you want in a guy, and said she couldn't imagine not loving him. But by June 2010, their marriage was over. She posted a Nicholas Sparks quote that read,

Starting point is 00:03:49 watching you walk out of my life does not make me bitter or cynical about love and claimed, I've overcome a lot in my life and this is simply my way of stating and showing that I have overcome this already. And in July of 2010, she posted, find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him. Adam VanderArck responded to that post and said, I love you. She replied that she loved him too. Not much as known about how she met Adam, who was disabled and used a wheelchair. Since he lived in Michigan, it seems only likely that the two met online. It's also possible that Shanda and Adam met through roller derby, as according to her Facebook

Starting point is 00:04:33 page, she was interested in the sport and Adam often took pictures at bouts. It should also be noted that the vast majority of pictures of Timothy in the public domain were taken by Adam, who was an avid photographer. Over the next two years, the children remained in CPS custody, and Shanda and Eric began what was described as a bitter divorce in custody battle. The divorce must have been finalized by August of 2011 when Eric applied for a marriage license to Patricia Renee Gillingwater. A January 2012 exit order from Oklahoma Juvenile Court showed that Shanda stopped fighting for custody and visitation with the children.

Starting point is 00:05:12 She signed paperwork agreeing to supervised visits with the children for only three hours a month. They also agreed to pay child support. Because she voluntarily agreed to waive her rights, her parental rights were never officially terminated. As Shandon no longer in the family home, CPS gave custody back to Eric. Though they again did not release their records publicly, based on customary procedures, it is likely that CPS continued to monitor the children under their father's care for some months. With no new trouble, the family's case would have been closed. In September, Eric remarried.

Starting point is 00:05:44 His new wife, Patricia, known as Trish, had several children of her own. A new blended family, including Timothy, lived together in Oklahoma for the next five years. Shanda rarely saw the children. After the divorce, Shanda moved around a lot. She lived at various addresses in Virginia and Oklahoma before finally moving to Michigan. She married Adam and changed her last name to VanderArk. In late 2014, she gave birth to Gabriel, Timothy's younger brother. In June of 2015, the older children visited Shanda and met her son.

Starting point is 00:06:14 their new baby brother. In 2016, Shanda graduated from Liberty University with a bachelors of science and paralegal studies. In 2018, she applied to three law schools and was accepted at all of them. WMU Cooley offered her a 100% scholarship, so she enrolled there. Her academic career was very successful. He was interim president of the Delta Phi International Legal Honor Society and was one of seven students to receive the school's leadership award. While attending Cooley, she worked as a teaching assistant. Back in Oklahoma, Shanda's children were growing up. Eric Jr., who prefers to go by his middle name Nolan, turned 18 and started his life as a young adult. But when Paul turned 18, he wasn't quite ready to grow up. He and his dad weren't getting along and Paul was angry because

Starting point is 00:07:01 Eric Sr. wanted him to work two part-time jobs. To get away from his dad's expectations, Paul moved to Michigan to live with his mother in 2020. He got a part-time job at Applebee's as dishwasher and helped his mom and Adam take care of Gabriel. He seemed happy in his new living situation and particularly attached to his mother's dogs. Shanda trained service dogs and had one of her own, possibly because of her hypoglycemia. A few months after Paul joined the household, Shanda and Adam moved into a split-level house on Marshall Road in Norton Shores, a city that bordered the Great Lakes. They had a large private backyard and a bedroom downstairs for Gabriel and Paul. Adam and Shanda lived in the upper section of the home.

Starting point is 00:07:46 They installed a camera with an intercom so he could see and talk to the kids whenever they were downstairs since the lower level wasn't accessible by wheelchair. In May of 2021, Timothy moved to Michigan to be with Shanda and Adam. According to Shanda, Eric was having trouble with Timothy's behavior and asked her to take him. Shanda also said Eric and his new wife had recently separated and Eric had moved to Florida. Eric has never spoken publicly, so there's no way to verify. if these statements are true or not. There must have been some urgency involved in his decision, however,

Starting point is 00:08:19 because he pulled Timothy out of school two days before the end of the school year. At the Norton Shore's house, a bunk bed was set up for Timothy in the open area of the basement, outside the doors to Gabriel and Paul's rooms. Shanda believed that Timothy was faking his special needs. He was supposed to be on medicine for his ADHD, but Shanda took him off the meds without consulting a doctor. She never once took him to the doctor during his time there. Now, Timothy really enjoyed going to school in Oklahoma, but Shanda decided to homeschool him.

Starting point is 00:08:48 Instead, she had him complete assignments on a tablet. He was only allowed to go outside to walk the dogs, and he only walked them in the large private backyard. In October of 2021, Timothy and Paul attended Nolan's wedding. Millie and all their step-siblings were there as well. By all accounts, everyone thought Tim Tim looked fine. He didn't share any complaints about life in Michigan. After the wedding, Nolan went back to start his married life in a new career in North Carolina, 600 miles away.

Starting point is 00:09:20 He said he thought his mother had changed and had no reason to suspect that Timothy, Paul, and little Gabriel were anything but safe in her care. Shanda graduated from law school second in her class. A few months later, she took the bar exam. Paul posted a picture of her on his social media on October 31, 2021, 2021 with the message, congratulations Mama for passing the bar exam. You had so much else going on, yet your 400 plus hours of studying have paid off. She passed on her first attempt with a score of 182, a very high score, which put her in the top 1% of Michigan test takers. After graduation, she got a job as a law clerk for Muskegon County Circuit Judge Annette R. Smithley, where she did legal research and wrote

Starting point is 00:10:03 memorandums. After that position ended, she went to work for Nuego County Circuit Judge Robert Springstead in August. There, she was paid $19 an hour to draft opinions and other legal documents. Her next step would have been to take the lawyer's oath in front of a court, but before that could happen, her husband Adam, got very sick. Adam had a stroke on January 3rd, 22. That day, Paul posted, please pray for my stepfather, Adam. He had a stroke around 4 a.m. this morning. The doctor said the clot is in his aorta, so we will need all the prayers we can get. Adam survived the medical emergency and on January 10th he went to a rehabilitation center to recover. Despite his best efforts though, he remained in need of constant care.

Starting point is 00:10:48 Instead of returning to his home with Shanda, he moved in with his parents who agreed to take care of him. After Adam left, conditions in the Norton Shores home changed drastically. When Timothy arrived in Michigan, Paul said he was a healthy weight, maybe even on the chubby side. Like many kids, he had a sweet tooth and liked candy and other snacks. Sometimes he would take food without asking, like Pop-Tarts that Paul had purchased. He would also get into things because he liked taking them apart. Shanda said Timothy acted out and wasn't potty trained. It seems likely that this truthfully reflected his behavior.

Starting point is 00:11:24 Several of his teachers back in Oklahoma reported that Timothy acted out sometimes because he wanted attention. He would make noises or cause distractions, but they said he was never violent. He was often hungry and hoarded food. He also had bladder accidents either because of previous trauma or medical issues. Trish told the teachers that he still wet the bed at night. At his old school, they dealt with him by letting him shower and giving him clean clothes. They'd given him an adult diaper to help prevent accidents, and they sent him home with his backpack full of food and snacks.

Starting point is 00:12:00 They gave him positive attention and outlets for his tinkering so that he wouldn't feel like he had to act. out. Now, Shanda was never a great mother, but she didn't administer severe punishments while Adam was still in the house. He seemed to provide some sort of buffer between her and the kids, even though he couldn't get downstairs to directly take care of them. After Adam left, these behavior enraged Shanda. She described him as sneaky and deceitful, and she was determined to control him. Paul was going to help her. Shanda worked for the judge from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and Paul worked as a dishwasher at Applebee's from 4 p.m. to close.

Starting point is 00:12:40 Since there were times that neither of them could be home, Shandon needed a way to restrain and watch Timothy when she wasn't there. They already had one camera, but she soon bought several others. She also bought locks with a refrigerator, freezer, and pantry, as well as large zip ties to bind his wrists. She bought motion detectors to set up around the house. Later, she bought a vibration sensor she could attach to his wrists or the back loop of his pants. when she let him wear pants, that is. She also placed an Amazon order for handcuffs and leg irons. It was a high-tech operation.

Starting point is 00:13:13 Five cameras and multiple sensors communicated with an app that Shanda and Paul installed on their phones. They could open the app and watch him as well as get motion alerts sent directly to their phones. They also communicated extensively through texts, mostly Shanda giving orders and Paul explaining how he followed them or failed to. On February 18th, Shanda asked Paul via text, Why are his hands free? And what did he get into that he felt he needed to brush his teeth to hide it? Has he not been upstairs against the wall?

Starting point is 00:13:46 Paul replied that he didn't know Timothy was awake and gave several other excuses. Shanda was angry that Paul slept in. He was supposed to wake Timothy, check his cuffs, and make him stand with his nose pressed against the wall. She texted Paul Find out what he has snuck right the heck now Because I know he has snuck stuff Since you weren't doing what you were supposed to

Starting point is 00:14:10 What do you mean you didn't know he was awake You both should have been awake at 10.30 I'm not happy You know he wasn't just sitting there Check the brownies in the kitchen Check everything not locked away Check where the flipping keys have been In another text from February 28th

Starting point is 00:14:29 Shanda ordered Paul to, check his breath. I can almost guarantee he has eaten something. He was chewing on something when he walked downstairs. You and I will be talking about this on a later date when we are both home. Paul responded, yeah, he grabbed chips, I know. This obsession with keeping him from eating would have been terrible by itself, but Shanda did not stop there. As punishment, she restricted his access to water and switched him to a diet of bread covered in hot sauce. Sometimes if he ate the bread with the hot sauce on it, she would let Paul give him a few pieces of plain bread 30 minutes later. Other times, she told Paul to force his mouth open and pour the sauce directly down his throat. She claimed Paul came up with the idea based on a

Starting point is 00:15:13 video he watched online, but she was the one who ordered special hot sauce online because the local stores didn't sell anything spicy enough. Now it is worth taking a second to explain how the heat level of hot sauce is defined using Scoville heat units. A Scoville number reflects the number of times you have to dilute something before the spicy heat sensation is no longer detectable. The average jalapeno pepper has a Scoville rating of 2,000 to 8,000. A spicier pepper like a cayenne or Tabasco sauce has a rating of 30,000 to 50,000. That means you have to dilute it up to 50,000 times before the spicy sensation is gone.

Starting point is 00:15:50 So with this in mind, Paul and Chanda, we're using Elijah's extreme regret. hot sauce. This is a blend of Trinidad Scorpion Peppers and Carolina Reaper peppers, two of the hottest peppers in the world. Scoville's score of this sauce is 1.4 to 2.2 million units. The text on the bottle describes the experience of eating their sauce, and I quote, the pain becomes unbearable and you feel like you just ate a burning hot cold. That's when you realize extreme regret, used with extreme caution, or you will regret it. after day, if Timothy wanted to eat, he had to suffer unbearable pain. Meanwhile, Paul posted several meals he had cooked himself on social media, a meal of ground beef and broccoli over rice and a bowl

Starting point is 00:16:37 of pulled pork that he made extra tender by letting it rest covered in tinfoil. Timothy would have had to smell the food cooking, knowing he would not be allowed to eat it. In April, Timothy got the locks off the doors in the kitchen, and Shanda made Paul put them back on. Timothy got so hungry that he would eat anything he could get his hands on. A few occasions he ate frozen chicken nuggets and uncooked ground beef. Instead of realizing this meant her child was starving like any reasonable person would, Shanda used it as a reason she was doing the right thing when she locked away all the food. She claimed she was only doing it to help him so he didn't hurt himself by eating raw food. The food deprivation wasn't Shanda's only punishment. Timothy was also forced to stand

Starting point is 00:17:22 against the wall, either upstairs near the back door or down in the basement on the wall between Gabriel and Paul's bedrooms. According to Paul, the standing punishment lasted for hours and sometimes even overnight. They also made him do wall sits. He had to lean his back against the wall and lower his body until his knees were bent as if he were sitting on a chair. Another physical punishment was forced to exercise. The backyard had a set of concrete stage. hidden from public view. Timothy had to run up and down these stairs as punishment. When he wasn't running fast enough, Paul would chase him. On another occasion when Timothy made a mess in the garage, Shanda told Paul to make him clean it up while wearing nothing below the waist. Then he had to do

Starting point is 00:18:11 wall sits while still wearing no pants. She made him earn back the right to wear clothes. In late January, Tim had an accident overnight and had to wash his bed sheets. Shanda decided he didn't deserve to sleep in a bed anymore. She moved him to the small room downstairs, which was actually a closet. Instead of a bed, he was given a tarp to sleep on. They installed a camera in the closet so they could monitor him while he slept, an motion detector so he had to remain still. An alarm install on the closet door beeped so loudly

Starting point is 00:18:45 it could be heard through the wall several rooms away. If Timothy triggered the alarm, it would hurt his sensitive ears, causing him pain and letting Paul and Shanda know they needed to check the camera. In the room, he was allowed to wear only an adult diaper. If he wanted to go to the bathroom, he had to ask for permission. His bathroom trips were timed. He was allowed one minute to urinate and two minutes to defecate. When trapping him inside the closet wasn't enough,

Starting point is 00:19:12 they made him kneel in there with his hands above his head and his face pressed into the wall. They would force him to hold this position for several hours. If he shifted, he would set off the motion sensor. Paul and Shanda would watch him on the video feed. That camera also contained a memory card that saved hours of recorded images. Everything was set up so that Timothy couldn't avoid punishment. They forced him into uncomfortable positions knowing his body would eventually cramp up or he would fall. He was so hungry, he couldn't help but steal any crumb of food left unattended.

Starting point is 00:19:47 Later in April, Timothy ate the crust of a burger. Shanda wasn't home, so Paul could have pretended he didn't notice, but instead, he told her and asked what she wanted him to do. She told Paul to stick his finger down Timothy's throat until he vomited. Paul did, not just that day, but three or four other times as well. In March, Shanda became convinced that Timothy was setting off the alarms on purpose. She said, and I quote, there were a couple situations when Tim actually intentionally kept everyone in the house awake. He would intentionally set off the motion detectors.

Starting point is 00:20:24 He would make noise. Because he interrupted her sleep, she decided Timothy wasn't allowed to sleep at all. She had Paul forced his body into uncomfortable positions again to keep him awake. If he fell asleep, she had Paul placed him in a tub full of cold water and add ice to it to make it even colder. At first, these cold baths lasted about 30 minutes, but they got longer over time. Paul said he gave Timothy at least four ice baths. Paul had to stay in the bathroom during the baths to make sure Timothy didn't turn on the hot water or get out. He also had to poke and prod Timothy if the boy rested his head on his shoulder or on the rim of the tub.

Starting point is 00:20:58 Camera in the bathroom allowed Shanda to supervise. March 27th, she texted Paul, let him know if he tries to sleep at all. He'll get another ice bath sometime before you leave for work and another when I get home. After Adam moved in with his parents, Gabriel often visited him there, sometimes staying for several days. His grandmother picked him up at the house on Norton Shores, and Shanda worked with Paul to make sure Granny never entered the house and never saw Timothy. She was on the family's cell phone account so Shanda could use the tracking feature to follow Granny's route. Each time, Shanda texted Paul and warned him to keep her out.

Starting point is 00:21:38 She told him to make sure he had Gabriel packed, dressed, and outside so he could jump in the car when Granny arrived. During one of Gabriel's visits, Adam had another setback. On June 12th, Paul posted to his social media, prayers are once again needed for Adam. He had a seizure a few days back and is once again hospitalized. Also pray for Gabriel as he was unfortunate enough to have been there for it, I am concerned for his mental health at this point, as he was also there for the stroke. I pray that Adam can recover and heal. I pray he can come back to us soon. The next day on June 13th, Paul texted Shanda. It read, Timothy tried to sneak food.

Starting point is 00:22:23 I yelled at him and he became momentarily unresponsive, and then I saw this. Paul sent Shanda a picture of Timothy's emaciated body. He said, he's bone thin. I honestly think we need to actually feed him. Shonda responded, Give him bread. Give him bread with peanut butter. The unresponsiveness is probably fake. But I see what you mean.

Starting point is 00:22:46 That day, Paul made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and scrambled eggs with cheese. This was the first real meal he had had in months. Although Paul showed some kindness that day, the next day he texted Shanda to say Timothy complained about being hungry over and over all day. He said he was so angry he wanted to punch him in the face. Whatever concerns they had were soon forgotten. They returned to feeding him hot sauce bread, and the other punishments continued. On the night of June 27th, Shanda texted Paul, put the handcuffs behind him again.

Starting point is 00:23:18 I'll have to deal with two hours of sleep today, but I'm not letting him get away with this BS. Another text from Shanda said, Please make sure you go downstairs regularly to make sure he is not asleep before you leave. Maybe we should leave the light on. That way, it'll be hard for him to fall asleep. Still another said, feel free to dump some cold water on him. I honestly don't care if you get a little rough with him. As the months passed, Timothy got thinner and thinner.

Starting point is 00:23:46 After his body consumed all his fat, it would have started to feed on his muscle and bone. He would have been tired, lethargic, and would have struggled to maintain his body temperature. He would have lost consciousness or even hallucinated. Anytime he appeared unresponsive or out of it, Shanda was convinced that he was faking it to trick them. On July 3rd, Paul posted a video to his social media. In the video, he and Gabriel had a small Fourth of July celebration in the backyard. Paul said of several types of small fireworks while Gabriel asked questions and shouted happily after each small explosion.

Starting point is 00:24:25 Timothy does not appear any time in the video. It is chilling to know that he is restrained and suffering inside while his brink. brothers play outside. On July 5th, Timothy was unresponsive when Paul tried to wake him up. Paul yelled and screamed at him, but he didn't move. Shanda told Paul to put him in an ice bath. Timothy couldn't stand or walk on his own, so Paul dragged him out of the closet and into the bathroom. He thought he might have knocked Timothy's head against the side of the tub while getting him into the tub. He put him in the cold water around 2 p.m., but Timothy didn't react. That day, Shanda spent half of her workday watching the camera and sending messages to Paul.

Starting point is 00:25:09 When Timothy remained unresponsive, she told Paul to hold a hot pizza roll in front of his face, but to pull it away if he reached for it. Timothy did react to the smell of food, and Paul yanked it away. She texted, crazy thought. Tell him if he actually sits up by himself and stays sitting up, he'll get some pizza rolls. Don't tell him it's only two, and I'm okay if they are frozen rather than cooked. And he didn't respond to the offer of pizza rolls. Shanda had another idea. She texted, I wonder how it would feel, have that hot sauce on your private parts.

Starting point is 00:25:42 I'm not saying touch him there, not at all, but dripping a little bit there, is that horrible? Paul said he refused, claiming that action was too cruel for him to do. Normally, Paul would have ridden his e-bike to work at 4 p.m., but he had a flat tire, so he needed to wait for a ride from Shando when she got home. Around 6 p.m. they left Timothy in the tub while she drove Paul to Applebee's for his shift. Shanda sent Paul a text at 11.30 p.m. saying that Timothy was still in the tub. The co-worker drove Paul home at around 1 in the morning. He got home, Timothy was no longer in the tub, and Paul didn't check on him.

Starting point is 00:26:17 Timothy had been in the cold water for at least nine hours. Already struggling to maintain his body temperature because of the starvation, he must have been unbearably cold. But somehow, he was still alive. when Shanda pulled him out of that tub. On the morning of July 6th, Paul got up early to get a ride to work. Shanda was already awake, and she told him that Timothy was in the closet, and he was not breathing. They drug him out of the closet, shouted his name, and tried to wake him up. She told Paul they needed to do CPR and ordered him to give rescue breaths.

Starting point is 00:26:51 Paul gagged and said there was something wet in his mouth, but continued following his mother's orders. She kept saying, this can't be happening. Paul said Timothy was stiff and cold. Shanda said she couldn't close Timothy's eyes and believed that's usually a sign he's not gone. They tried to get him to drink water, then continued CPR. Their compressions force liquid out of his body. Paul said, he's throwing up still, and Shanda said, that's good. She told Paul to get a towel to clean up the mess and do more compressions. She told Paul, guess I'm going to be late for work, but we've got to get him responsive. After several minutes of attempted CPR, Paul asked if they should call 911 and Shanda said,

Starting point is 00:27:37 Not yet. Timothy was only wearing an adult diaper, so they dressed him in a pair of Paul's pants in a hoodie. Shanda said, where's your belt, Paul? Put it on him. I want to make it look like he's been that way. She told Paul she was going to have to lie and say Timothy had gone on a hunger. strike. She told him to tell the police that Timothy had been sleeping on the loft bed instead of in the closet. 18 minutes later, Shanda finally called 911. She told the dispatcher, I woke up to go to work and my son's not breathing. He's 15. Almost immediately, she started telling the made-up story she had concocted. She said, he's been on a hunger strike. The dispatcher told her to make sure he was on a flat surface to do CPR. She said, I have to put you on hold. I need to get him off his bed.

Starting point is 00:28:25 She told the dispatcher she checked on him at 5.30 a.m. and that he had been breathing then, which was also a lie. She again attempted CPR following the dispatcher's instructions. The dispatcher told her to slow down because she was doing the compressions too fast. When the first responders arrived, they were unable to revive Timothy. He had died overnight in the closet, though. The exact details of his death wouldn't be clear until much, much later. He noted his body was emaciated, and they rightfully suspected some. CA. He weighed only 69 pounds at the time of his death.

Starting point is 00:29:02 When police interviewed her at the house, Shanda came up with stories to explain everything. She also frequently became emotional and cried, or at least pretended to cry. She told police he'd been on a hunger strike, and she hadn't realized how thin he was because he wore baggy clothes all the time. She said she had been planning to call the doctor that day because she had been worried. She also told them that he had done this before. He'd gone on a hunger strike in January when Adam had his stroke. She claimed she had threatened to take him to the ER then, and he resumed eating.

Starting point is 00:29:37 Inside the home, police noticed locks on the fridge, freezer, and pantry. The rooms were dirty and cluttered. When the police asked about the locks, Shanda said she installed them because Timothy was always leaving the appliances in the pantry doors open. When they asked about the leg shackles, she said they belonged to Paul and he was using them to make a video. The emotional alarms were there to make sure the boys didn't get into any of her sewing stuff. She also told them Timothy had fallen out of his bed the night before. She thought he might have bumped his head and might have had some scratches from the fall. And the police asked Paul questions, Shanta often jumped in and answered them for him.

Starting point is 00:30:18 With all of her scheming, she either forgot or did not realize, the cameras were not just transmitting live images to her phone. Soon the police would have access to the video recorded on the camera's memory cards and they would know exactly what happened to Timothy overnight. He also questioned seven-year-old Gabriel who actually told the truth. Information he provided led in part to Shanda's arrest the next day. Shanda cried when the officer handcuffed her, even though he cuffed her hands in front, which is more kindness than she gave Timothy. She said her blood sugar was crashing because she was hypoglycemic. She hyperventilated, gagged, and she said she was going to vomit, but she only spit in the trash can.

Starting point is 00:30:58 Despite her theatrics, she was still processed and placed in jail. All was questioned and released to go back home. July 12th, he posted a video of himself to social media. In this video, filmed inside the home on Norton Shores, he propped himself up on the arm of the couch with one of the dogs beside him. He said, my little brother passed away and further said that Shanda had been taken into custody. buddy uh is it going just says it like okay yeah we got it me got uh hey everybody uh just figured i'd send a quick check for y'all but um we're doing good right now we're i just dozed off on the couch and intentionally i forgot to give a quick check for today but um

Starting point is 00:31:54 Oh, when I can't actually get in contact to you guys, I'll probably post a quick check like this. For those of you who aren't aware, my little brother has passed away, and my mother is currently in the custody of, well, I don't, I'm not sure if it's... It's a lot to deal with, but right now we're doing good. We're fine, but if I can't actually actually... like Facebook you guys like with live because I don't have my phone and I don't know how to access my step-others. I'll post a quick check to let you guys know everything's going on. If you have any questions or anything, just comment them down below and I'll see if I can answer them in the next quick check. Just keep

Starting point is 00:32:54 supporting and pray that the two of us get to do this. But I guess don't I have much that I can say right now. In the comments, I'll leave it something if you guys want to know what's going on. There you go. Well, I got to go and get back to bed. I'll probably post another quick jet tomorrow. Doodles. On July 8th, 2022, Shanda was arraigned in charge with open murder in first degree CA.

Starting point is 00:33:54 In Michigan, a charge of open murder means. as prosecutors can decide later on the degree. She was held with no bond in the Muskegon County Jail. On July 21st, Paul was arrested and his bond was set for $500,000. He remained in jail until after Shanda's trial. Though he lied in his initial police interview, Paul eventually cracked when faced with the thousands of text messages the police were covered from his phone.

Starting point is 00:34:20 In addition to the punishments, Paul told police he had hit Timothy several times in the head in the days leading up to his death, and he banged his head getting him out of the bath. He agreed to plead guilty to first-degree CA and to testify against Shanda at her trial. In return, Chief trial prosecutor Matt Roberts promised that anything Paul testified about would not be used against him in any subsequent trial, that he would ask the judge to remain within the sentencing guidelines. Shanda's trial began on December 13, 2023, with Muskegon County Circuit Judge Matthews.

Starting point is 00:34:55 few case old presiding. Paul testified about all aspects of the abuse at trial, the food and sleep deprivation, the hot sauce, the restraints, the forced exercise, making Timothy puke, the constant monitoring, and the ice baths. Throughout, he made sure to say all his actions were at Shandas orders. During his testimony, he often asked the attorneys to repeat their questions. He seemed like he struggled to understand, but came across as honest. His odd behavior was so pronounced the jury wanted to know if he had a diagnosis on the autism spectrum. Judge asked Paul, who said he had never been diagnosed with autism, though he did have ADHD, reactive attachment disorder, sensory processing disorder, anxiety and depression.

Starting point is 00:35:37 He also admitted he had a history of anger issues. When asked why he followed his mother's orders, he said, I'd say it's something close to Stockholm syndrome. I desire to find a role model that, due to my own low self-esteem, I would do anything to make them proud of me. That's not an excuse, I know, but I feel like I'm glad I was at least able to realize it so I could correct it. Shanda took the stand in her own defense, but claimed she didn't remember anything that happened to Timothy. She blamed her memory loss on PTSD caused by Adam's stroke.

Starting point is 00:36:09 She also claimed she had ADHD, sensory processing disorder, and OCD, which all contributed to her poor memory. When asked if she had ever tried the hot sauce, Shanda said, I have a very weak stomach, so I didn't want to throw up. She said she couldn't eat anything spicier than jalapino Cheetos. Her attorney, Fred Johnson, said Shanda was a busy single mother struggling to put herself through school. He claimed she didn't intend for Timothy to come to any harm. Prosecutor Roberts found this baffling.

Starting point is 00:36:41 He said, no rational person, no person who can score 182 on the bar exam. No parent could not understand the consequence of what she was doing. Ms. Robert, you can continue? Thank you. Just to put a bow on this and clarify things, Ms. VanderArck, is it true that the last custody order from Oklahoma that involved Timothy

Starting point is 00:37:04 indicated that you are only to be allowed supervised parenting? That is correct. Now, Mr. Johnson was, talked to you about the fact that after Adam had his stroke, tragically in January and was out of the home, that that was a significant financial hit for you. Is that fair to say?

Starting point is 00:37:22 Yes, sir. And as a result of that, you didn't have a lot of income coming in. Were you working in Nuevo at that time? I was, yes, sir. So when you worked here, it was not a paid internship. You were working in Newego for paid internship at that time, is that correct? For a paid clerkship, yes, sir. Right, clerkship.

Starting point is 00:37:38 And then what were your other sources of income at that time? Which time? In January, right after the stroke. Right after the stroke. The rental income that I received from my brother from Oklahoma, and then I was down to one dog training client. to one dog training client. Now you're not suggesting to this jury that you couldn't afford to have food for your kids, are you?

Starting point is 00:38:00 No, sir. In fact, you've seen the pictures and you don't even show you the pictures of your freezer, your refrigerator, pantry. All pretty well stock with food, wouldn't you agree? Yes, sir. So there's something with a financial ability for you to provide for your children, at least in the food sense, correct? Yes, sir.

Starting point is 00:38:15 I bought food first. And you're highly intelligent woman, and I'm sure you're aware of multiple resources available in the community if that ever became an issue, right? Yes, sir. United Way, food pantries, anything of that nature, but you never felt the need to reach out to any of those resources, did you? No, sir, because we had groceries covered. You talked about, Mr. Johnson asked you about the motion sensors,

Starting point is 00:38:39 and I'm not sure we got like any real sense of clarity about the motion sensors. When we're talking about motion sensors, we're talking about ones that would not only go off if there was motion, that's what a motion sensor is, obviously, but would give some type of audio alarm, right? Some of them did, yes sir. And Timothy had very sensitive hearing, didn't he? I was not aware of that, no sir.

Starting point is 00:39:02 When Paul said that yesterday, that puzzled me. You didn't know about that? He didn't know he had surgery to put tubes in his ears? I was there for the surgery for his tubes, but no, I mean, it was, at least my experience with Timothy was half the time he didn't hear what you were saying. Did you know that he found it discomforting when those noises happened? Did you know that that was, for lack of a better way of putting it, that was a punishment too, for for those noises to be going on? No, sir, I did not.

Starting point is 00:39:35 And Timothy was autistic, right? He was on the autism. Yes, he was on the spectrum. Loud noises, disturbances, things like that. Those are troubling for folks with autism, aren't they? For some of them. But he never, I mean, he liked to listen to his tablet extremely loud. And I remember, because little man, sorry,

Starting point is 00:39:52 I'm trying not to say his name. You know, when we have thunderstorms, sometimes it would freak him out, and it didn't, things like that didn't bother Timothy at all. And Timothy sat with, me, okay, go ahead and judge me or laugh at me, but when I, before the PTSD, I used to watch, when I watched college football, I would scream at the television every play, offense and defense.

Starting point is 00:40:12 That's just who I am. And Timothy was right there with me hollering at the TV. So the alarms didn't bother him at all? I mean, I wouldn't say that, I mean, they, they bother people probably some, everybody, but they didn't, he wasn't overly sensitive to it. Right, because it begs the question, if the alarms don't bother him, what's the point in having them, right? Yes, sir.

Starting point is 00:40:34 You said that you would, the punishments, and I guess this 3 o'clock in the morning one about not letting him sleep or he gets an ice bath, so he's got to be awake at 3 o'clock in the morning. You said that was because he would keep you guys up in the middle of the night or wake you up in the middle of the night? Yes, yes, sir. And again, you did really well on the logic and reasoning portion of the LSAT exam. Can you explain the reasoning behind keeping somebody awake when they're keeping you awake? To show them how it feels. But they were already awake, aren't they? It made sense to me, sir.

Starting point is 00:41:05 Now that you ask it, but it doesn't seem to make sense, but it made sense to me at the time. You didn't actually mean that as a punishment. That was just out of spite. You were just angry with Timothy for keeping you awake, weren't you? No, it was meant as a punishment, sir. But it's also a punishment for yourself, because you have to stay awake as well, don't you? I don't sleep much anyway.

Starting point is 00:41:23 Yes, sir. Or Paul likes to stay awake, right? Yes, sir. Paul is an insomniac as well. You testified that you gave Timothy? a warm bath the night before he passed away that last night, July 5th. You recall that? Yes, sir. That was the first time you told anybody connected to this case that you'd done that, isn't it? Yes, sir. You never told the police officers you did that, did you? No, sir.

Starting point is 00:41:44 When the prosecutor showed her a picture of Timothy's emaciated body and asked her, did he look like that when you put him in the bathtub? She gagged, ducked beneath the witness stand, and vomited into a trashkin, or at least pretended to vomit. I imagine a warm bath sounds just like, it's just what it sounds like, right? You got him, you took him to the bath, you grew a warm bath for him, and you put him in the bathtub, right? Yes, sir. Hours before he dies, right? Yes, sir.

Starting point is 00:42:25 You look like that when you put him in the bathtub? Ms. Fander up you? Do we have a trash can? Yeah, I guess you did? Yeah, I did. Right? Please rise. After this display, her attorney asked for a break, and court ended for the,

Starting point is 00:43:56 the day. The next day, Shanda didn't return to court. Allegedly, she told jail staff she wanted to self-cancel. The judge told the jury she was suffering from a medical issue would not return for the remainder of the trial. Video footage of Timothy's last night alive was recovered from the memory card of the camera installed in the closet where he slept. The video was so disturbing that Judge Kaisal wouldn't show it to the jury, but instead asked a detective to describe what he saw when he watched it. Said Shanda dragged Timothy by the arms and pulled him onto a tarp on the floor of the closet. She moved him. Timothy let out several weak moans. She called him pathetic and added, but I already knew that. He didn't respond likely because he was no longer able to speak.

Starting point is 00:44:43 His eyes were open, but he couldn't focus and he seemed unresponsive. We were only an adult diaper so the detective could see how very thin he was. His hip bones and knee joint. He was. His hip bones and knee joints protruded through his skin. Fifteen minutes later, she returned to the closet to reposition him in front of the camera. She ordered the dog to lick his face and try to get a reaction. The detective said Timothy was taking short, shallow breaths through his mouth, kind of picture how a fish out of water would breathe. She clamps his mouth shut and tells him he doesn't need to breathe like that. She holds his mouth shut for a period of time and tells him, see, you didn't need to breathe through your mouth like that. You're being a dummy.

Starting point is 00:45:24 Those were the last words anyone ever said to him, you're being a dummy. Later in that video, the detective believed he could pinpoint the moment of his death, he said. He can be seen, his chest rising, lowering very slightly, small little movement. And there's a point in time where you stop seeing that. His body just relaxes. It appears to me he dies at that point. Medical examiner Dr. Joyce D. Young ruled Timothy's death a homicide, which means it was caused by the actions of another with the intent to harm.

Starting point is 00:45:56 She found a hematoma on his head and other bruises and scratches on his body, along with areas where the skin was so thin, she could see through it to the tissue below. An examination of the fluid in his eye showed that he was severely dehydrated. He had no body fat laughed in his body, and he was so bony she could see and count all of his ribs. He was developing pressure sores along his spine because he had no padding between his bones and his skin. Internally, he had no fat inside his abdomen and a few of his ligaments remained attached. She found Wyshniewski spots in his stomach, which are dark brown lesions found in people who suffered extreme hypothermia. She explained that his amaciation made the ice baths even more dangerous because he had no fat left to insulate his body.

Starting point is 00:46:45 He wasn't strong enough to shiver, and he was a strong enough to shiver. his body had no way to generate more heat. She said signs of his failing condition would be clearly visible to anyone who looked at him. Timothy was 5'6 and weighed only 69 pounds, well below the average weight of 132 pounds. He was a little taller than average, but his weight was so low it was off the bottom of the chart. Dr. DeYoung ruled his cause of death as severe dehydration and extreme malnutrition and starvation. She also found that exogenous hypothermia caused by something outside the body like an ice bath was the significant contributing cause of his death. After two hours of deliberation, Shanda was found guilty of first-degree murder and first-degree

Starting point is 00:47:34 CA. At the sentencing hearing, Judge Kassel called Shanda's actions absolute, systemic, consistent, torture. He said the CA guidelines of 11 to 19 years weren't enough to cover Timothy's long-term suffering and decided to exceed the guidelines. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Ms. Vanderhard, do you wish to say anything prior to sentencing? Well, first and foremost, individuals here to speak on Timothy's behalf. I appreciate you being here. It kind of struck me throughout the trial who was here for Timothy. And at one point in time, I worried that we may not have anyone to give a victim impact statement. And that to me made me very sad, quite frankly, horrified more than anything, but quite sad.

Starting point is 00:48:37 And I'm happy that two individuals took time to be here from miles across the country. And out of the horrible situation, that makes me feel a little bit better. better. Not much, but a little bit better. You know, Mr. Johnson makes the same argument today that he made at the trial, that this was just negligence. This was her not understanding what was going on. She was really trying to do the punishment. She was trying to be a good parent, and she just didn't realize that Timothy was in such a horrible condition. And I found myself, especially during the closing argument, quite frankly, finding myself almost believing that. And afterwards, I, after the trial, I sat in my car after leaving that day, trying to understand why I could feel that way.

Starting point is 00:49:51 and what I realized is that I wanted to feel that way because I didn't want to accept the reality of the situation here and the reality of the situation here is that this person, Ms. Vandrarch, you intentionally engaged in these acts. This wasn't negligence, this is not understanding why. you intentionally did this with a goal. And I think Mr. Johnson's correct. I don't believe there was an intent to kill here because you would have lost the very thing that you wanted to torture.

Starting point is 00:50:38 Without him, you have no one to torture except maybe the younger children. So I don't believe you intended to kill. I think you intended to continue on torturing him for as long as you possibly could. The why I don't know. But all the information that I have in front of me and I sat down and really thought about this and I looked over my notes from the trial demonstrate that this wasn't negligence. This wasn't you not understanding what was going on.

Starting point is 00:51:06 You look through, I read through every single text message of the exhibit, 2,000 plus pages to try to understand what the heck was going through your mind. And what became entirely clear to me is that you knew exactly what you. were doing immediately afterwards and police live at the home you're you immediately you know concoct this lie about he's been on a hunger strike he's you know he was in the bed and I checked on him and I gave him some food and all this stuff you got Paul involved in it you know at one point in time you know you're you know put baggy clothes on him you know put clothes on him to make sure you know to make sure I guess that he he looks like he was actually wearing

Starting point is 00:51:50 him that he was hiding his his poor condition, even though you already received text messages you know weeks earlier of how bad he looked. You know, you testified yourself of highly intelligent. In fact, that's the only thing that you testified to that I think was actually true. You're quite proud of that, boastingly, boasting how intelligent you were. And not only that, but your actions in hiding this child. You hit him from his grandparents. You made sure that your other son, G or little man, as you call him, didn't see him.

Starting point is 00:52:33 Those text messages talk about not wanting anyone to see him. I want to see him in that condition. You made sure that the garage was closed when you sent him out there with no pants on to clean out the garage. I don't want to believe it because I don't understand, I can't wrap my mind. I've been trying now for this entire case to wrap my around about how somebody could do something so horrific, not only to another human being,

Starting point is 00:53:06 but to their own child. I'm a father myself. I love my kids. I love him with unconditionally. But quite frankly, there's a mother's love that I've seen that is striking. And anybody who's a parent who's married Most mothers, not all, but most mothers have such a strong love for their children. And to see what you did to your own child. I don't know if there's a word in the English language to describe how to describe it. I only can come up with it's just horrific. You intentionally and systematically tortured this child. And let's call it what it is.

Starting point is 00:53:51 It's torture. You tortured this child. This wasn't punishment. This wasn't trying to curb his behavior. You tortured him. You monitored him obsessively. All the things you did, I look through every one of the messages, bread with hot sauce, wall sits, up and down the stairs, sleep deprivation, ice baths, making him puke up food, monitoring his bathroom time, giving 60 seconds in the bathroom if he went to urinated or five minutes if he had a bowel movement. You made him sleep in the closet. You threaten us to make him sleep in the garage. You put Tabasco directly in his mouth. He put his hands over the head.

Starting point is 00:54:34 Made him work in the garage with no pants. There's two other things that didn't come out in the trial that were in the messages. One that there was talk of blindfolding him, depriving him of his physical sight as a punishment, And the last thing that struck me is just absolutely horrific in terms of your thinking. There was mentioning of giving him salt water as a punishment. One of the text messages talks about, hey, tell Paul or tell Tim that I'm not going to do the saltwater punishment. And your reasoning for not punishing him not was that, oh my God, we can't get him salt water. That could hurt him, that could kill him.

Starting point is 00:55:18 But it was because you didn't want to give him another excuse to sit down on the toilet because he'd have diarrhea. He'd have diarrhea, and so he would have an excuse to sit down for a few more minutes while he was diarrhea from salt water. That was your excuse. That was your justification, not that it would hurt him. And you did so for what? Because of some punishment. You wanted to regulate his food, even though yourself testified that he didn't really gain a lot of weight.

Starting point is 00:56:00 You know, toward the end of these text messages, you and Paul, are talking about not wanting him to win. He's not going to win. I didn't allow pictures to be shown in opening court of Timothy as he was when he died, because I didn't want people to remember him like that. All the things you took away from him, one thing I didn't want you to take away from him

Starting point is 00:56:24 was at least some shred of dignity. And then I also thought, well, I'm a judge, I'm a human being. I don't know how to, I don't know. know how to write this wrong. We try to do that. I try to do that from the bench every day. There's no way to write this wrong except to impose the sentence that essentially takes away your freedom. And I thought to myself, what do I do? He said, and I quote, I will tell you this. I am choosing not to remember your son dead looking like a Holocaust victim, but I'm choosing to remember him like that. And this is when the judge points to a picture of Timothy when he was younger. And you can't

Starting point is 00:57:08 And you can't even look at him. That's how he was. A beautiful child with a lot of life in his eyes. That's who your son was. And you took that from him. I'm choosing to remember him as a happy individual with life. And that is the picture I want people to remember of your son, Timothy won. And he won because we know what you did to him now.

Starting point is 00:57:29 It's not hidden anymore. We know who you are. That's the way that I'm going to honor him. Shanda was sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole for Timothy's murder and an additional 50 to 100 years for first-degree CA. The hearing she remained silent. After feedback from Shanda's jury, Prosecutor Roberts decided not to file additional charges against Paul. Randy Myram, a Wisconsin father, saw Paul's testimony on TV. Paul's speech and mannerisms reminded Randy of his own son who has Asperger syndrome.

Starting point is 00:58:04 Much as the jury had, Randy thought Paul might be on the spectrum. concerned, he called him in jail and befriended him. He also made several deposits into Paul's commissary account and talked to him regularly on the phone. Randy and his son even drove to Michigan for sentencing on February 26th. That day, Paul pled guilty to first-degree aggravated CA in December. Judge Kaisal also presided over Paul's sentencing hearing. As promised, prosecutor Roberts asked him to stay within the sentencing guidelines. He said, by a long shot, this case is the most difficult case I've ever worked on. He said he was struggling to find a balance.

Starting point is 00:58:47 He wanted to acknowledge the help Paul had provided, but he was deeply concerned that Paul would be a threat to the public if he didn't get the mental health treatment while incarcerated. Randy had written a letter asking the judge to be lenient and to consider letting Paul go free. Many other people who had watched the trial on TV wrote letters saying the opposite. it. The judge said he was not going to consider the opinion of anyone who only knew about the case from the media coverage. He said it wouldn't be fair to Paul if he did. Paul's brother

Starting point is 00:59:19 Nolan wrote a letter on his behalf, which the judge did consider. In it, he wrote, I will not sugarcoat and say that I am not deeply unhappy with Paul for not finding the courage to say something to anyone about what was happening in that home. I have to take one last stand for him. He's had issues since we were very young. Issues that are our parents never cared to address or have compassion for. He asked the judge to consider an alternative to prison and said he was willing to help Paul. He wrote, even if your decision is that he does need to spend time behind bars for the sake of justice, I am prepared to take him in at any time.

Starting point is 00:59:54 Unlike Shanda, there is still hope for Paul. During the hearing, Judge Kaisal read relevant portions of two psychological evaluations allowed. He said he understood why observers, including members of the jury, thought Paul might be on the autism spectrum, but neither doctor found any evidence to support an autism diagnosis or any other intellectual disability. Instead, they attributed his overall demeanor and presentation to factors such as lack of socialization, normalization of abnormal dynamics and experiences, poor interpersonal skills, and emotional dysregulation. The judge elaborated saying Paul was the product of neglect, trauma, and CA. He had been moved around a lot and never got any help for his issues,

Starting point is 01:00:36 but there was no indication he was more susceptible to manipulation than anyone else. In fact, the judge found evidence in the evaluations that made him believe Paul would have been predisposed to abuse his brother, independent of his mother's influence. In his evaluation sessions, Paul said he felt a sense of power and pleasure when punishing Timothy. He liked getting praise from Shanda and said having power over someone was good. Evidence from his past revealed he had been observed being physically aggressive with his younger siblings. and tried to lock Timothy in a closet because he wasn't listening to them. One of his stepsisters told detectives Paul was the biggest bully she has ever met in her life,

Starting point is 01:01:15 and that he found genuine joy in tormenting Timothy whenever possible. She claimed that is one of the reasons Paul was asked to leave Eric's house, though that raises the question of why Eric would drop Timothy off with his tormentor. When he was younger, Paul was cruel to animals, stole things, like to boss the other kids around and had trouble controlling his anger. When Randy asked him about this on a prison phone call, he said he didn't know any better when he was younger, but eventually learned how to treat animals. One of the doctors asked if he thought what he was doing to Timothy was wrong, he said,

Starting point is 01:01:49 that thought never even crossed my mind. After reading the evaluations and rereading the thousands of texts Shanda and Timothy sent to each other, Judge Kaisal concluded that Paul was happy to be her enforcer. He said, the court believes Mr. Ferguson is one step away from becoming a psychopath like his mother and sentenced Paul to 30 to 100 years in prison exceeding the guidelines. There was no public funeral for Timothy, but it seems likely that the family held a small private ceremony for him. His body was cremated. In his impact statement, Nolan said, because of Shanda van der Arx's actions, he didn't get to hug his brother again. I instead got to

Starting point is 01:02:30 cradle the bag of his ashes in my arms, just like I did the day he was born. Timothy was buried at the Sunset Memory Garden Cemetery in Mint Hill, North Carolina. The boy who loved Thomas the Tank Engine when he was young was buried under a headstone engraved with the image of a train. After Shanda was accused of Timothy's murder, Adam filed for divorce from her and got custody of Gabriel. A few months later, he was diagnosed with leukemia and died in February of 2023. Gabriel is now living with his grandparents, Stephen and Martha VanderArck.

Starting point is 01:03:06 Shanda's parental rights were terminated after her conviction, though she is currently appealing that decision. She's also appealing her murder conviction. She would have to win both appeals in order to get custody of Gabriel, and that seems very unlikely. According to testimony at the termination hearing,

Starting point is 01:03:25 Gabriel wants nothing to do with his mother. Paul can't appeal his conviction because he pled guilty, but he is allowed to appeal the length of his sentence. His attorney will likely argue that the judge handed down an overly harsh sentence. The attorney might say the judge should have given more weight to the mitigating factors like the CA and neglect Paul experience as a child and the extent of his cooperation. If we hear any news about Shanda or Paul's appeals, you'll post an update at a later date. Also, let us know what you feel about Paul's sentence in the comment section down below. On recorded calls from the jail, both Paul and Shanda have complained about the food they're being served. Paul said he is always hungry, and Shanda said the food makes her sick.

Starting point is 01:04:12 This is not even close to what Timothy suffered, but we hope that they're both hungry forever. Millie loved her little brother deeply. In her impact statement, she said, I want the world to know that Timothy was wanted, if not by her than by me. He was loved by me. Nolan said, the world's a darker place without him, and people need to know that. Both of them are forever changed by Timothy's short life and his tragic loss. Nilly said, I like to say I don't regret things in my life, that every mistake I've made has made me who I am today. When Timothy died, I couldn't stop regretting. I regret not hugging him more. I regret not dancing with him at my brother's wedding the last time I saw him.

Starting point is 01:04:54 I regret not putting aside my differences with Shanda and Paul just to check on him. These are the things that I can't remedy now. There's no fixing what's been done. That's my regret that I couldn't protect him when he needed me most. Nolan still wonders if he, in his words, told Tim Tim, I loved him enough times to remember up until the very end. He said Timothy was so loving. He probably still loved Shanda and Paul even though they tortured him.

Starting point is 01:05:22 He said the only thing his brother hated was saying good. He said, in all of my life, I only knew one thing my brother didn't like. He hated goodbyes. If he had to say goodbye to anyone, he would cry and he would hold you and he would say don't go. But now I'm the one crying, but I never got to say goodbye.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Timothy Ferguson

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