The Misery Machine - The Case of Zachary Dutro Boggess

Starting point is 00:00:00 Zachary Dutro Bogus Jr. was born on August 13th, 2008 in Hawaii to parent Zachary Bogus and Jessica Anelani Dutro. Zachary had an older sister born in 2005 and later a younger brother born in 2009. Zachary was a cute little boy with big brown eyes and brown hair. When Zachary was four months old, he was placed in foster care along with his older sister when his mother, Jessica, was facing legal problems. She was convicted of assaulting her mother's foster son, and afterwards a judge ordered her to take parenting and anger management classes. Zachary and his sister lived with her foster mother, Kate Cruz, for more than a year. Kate later described their time together, saying, He learned to walk, talk, and laugh at my home.

Starting point is 00:00:52 He had a sneaky little giggle when he thought he was hiding from you. He loved to be chased and tickled. I called him the kissing bag. bandit because he loved to be snuggled and kissed. He would leave his play and run across the room to get a kiss and then go back to play. Everyone who met him just wanted to hold and hug him. He was a typical boy who tended to gravitate trucks, cars, and loud noises. He was a little troublemaker to his sister and my daughter because he always wanted to be right in the middle of their play. He had such an infectious giggle that you had to laugh with him no matter the mood you

Starting point is 00:01:30 were in. He was so loved and valued. Meanwhile, Jessica apparently completed the court-ordered classes because she regained custody of her two children and then gave birth to her third child. In December of 2010, she left with her children and moved to Oregon without their father. Some time over the next couple of years, Jessica met a new boyfriend named Brian Cody Kennedy. They had a son together in 2011 and the couple lived together with their four children. After Jessica and Brian had been dating for about two years, he lost his job and the family had to move into the Good Neighbor Center, which is a family homeless shelter in Tigard, Oregon. This 54-bed emergency shelter could hold up to nine families for up to 90 days at a time. The couple and their four children were assigned private living quarters and began the process to obtain independent housing.

Starting point is 00:02:22 The family were at the shelter for about three weeks when Little Zachary turned four years old on August 13, 2012. Now we wish we could say that his birthday was filled with love and celebration with a beautiful cake and colorful balloons. However, it seems much more likely that his birthday was instead filled with agonizing pain. On August 14th, Jessica and Brian called 911 because Zachary had collapsed in the room at the shelter. Emergency medical responders arrived at the shelter and took Zachary to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, where he stopped. stopped breathing. The staff were able to perform life-saving procedures to revive Zachary, and he was transferred to the Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emmanuel, also in Portland. Medical staff discovered that Zachary had suspicious internal injuries. He had two perforations

Starting point is 00:03:16 in his small intestine, which was caused by blunt force trauma crushing the boy's intestines against his spine. A doctor told the investigating detective that they believe the injuries occurred 24 to 72 hours before his collapse, and that the injuries appear to have been caused by physical violence. Jessica and Brian were interviewed by the police detectives in the hospital conference room. Both denied knowing how Zachary had been injured. Brian told the detective how they'd been living at the family's shelter for about five weeks and that no one else had been caring for Zachary during that time. Zachary remained on life support at the hospital. The next day on August 15th, the detective interviewed Brian again after reading him his Miranda rights. This time,

Starting point is 00:04:02 Brian admitted to hurting Zachary and both Brian and Jessica admitted that they knew Zachary's current injuries were related to being kicked in the abdomen. Brian confessed that he did not seek out medical attention for Zachary because he didn't want the violence to be discovered. He also admitted to hurting the other children in the past, that he had previously beaten Zachary with a belt and kicked him in the legs on multiple occasions. The incident that led up to Zachary's hospital stay actually began two days prior on August 12th. That day, on around 8 p.m., Brian had gotten into an argument

Starting point is 00:04:36 with another resident at the homeless shelter. This apparently got Brian all fired up, and he was still angry when he went back into the family's room. There, he told Zachary to sit in front of the TV. Zachary did not listen and wanted to take his shoes off first. Brian again told him to sit in front of the TV, and again, Zachary to sit in front of the TV, and again, Zachary did not listen to him and went to the corner to remove his shoes.

Starting point is 00:04:56 Brian then kicked Zachary in the stomach while wearing his own hard shoes. Zachary fell back onto his bottom and started to cry. Later, Jessica and Brian both noticed that Zachary was showing signs of medical distress, including vomiting and diarrhea, but they didn't think he needed to go see a doctor. Next day on August 13th, it was Zachary's birthday. He was turning four years old, but instead of celebrating, he likely spent the day in torment from his internal injury. injuries. Brian told Jessica that he had kicked the little boy, but neither of them made any move

Starting point is 00:05:26 to get Zachary the medical help that he desperately needed. Finally, on August 14th at around 4 a.m., he noticed that Zachary was doing far worse. He was having trouble remaining alert and couldn't walk without help. Jessica put Zachary in the shower because he had wet the bed. His body was limp and his head and eyes rolled around. At around 7.45 a.m., Zachary was completely unconscious, and neither Jessica nor Brian could get him to wake up. This was when they finally thought it was appropriate to call 911 and he was subsequently brought to the hospital. Sadly, on August 16th, two days after he collapsed the homeless shelter, Zachary was removed

Starting point is 00:06:06 from life support and died as a result of his injuries. The doctor told the detective that had Zachary received adequate medical attention soon after receiving the abdominal trauma, there would have been a very very very, very important. very high likelihood that Zachary would have survived. Zachary's cause of death was ultimately ruled to be blunt force trauma to his abdomen in a delay in medical treatment. After some investigation, Jessica, age 23, was charged with one count of first-degree manslaughter in the death of her four-year-old little boy. Brian, also aged 23, was charged with one count of homicide by abuse. They were arrested on Monday, August 20th, in a rain the next day. The couple's three remaining children

Starting point is 00:06:54 were taken into protective custody by the state's Department of Human Services. Brian told police that Jessica's children did not grow up around their biological dad, and that, in his own words, he is the only father that they have known. One can only imagine what those children experienced if the only father that they ever knew was the kind of person who would kick a toddler in the stomach for wanting to take off their shoes before watching TV. Jack Schwab, who was the executive director of the Good Neighbor Center Homeless Shelter, said that the case had devastated the staff at the shelter. Multiple members of staff had called 911 on the morning that Zachary had collapsed.

Starting point is 00:07:31 He said, I would love to leave you with the impression that we're knights in shining armor, but I just can't give you any of those details because of the ongoing investigation. But I will say that we are mandatory reporters under Oregon state law. We are very vigilant about reporting any signs of abuse. added, we're in the business of providing a safe harbor. Jessica and Brian were housed in the Washington County Jail without bail. Their charges were later increased with Jessica facing four counts of homicide by abyss and Brian facing one count of homicide, four counts of homicide by abuse and one count of second

Starting point is 00:08:07 degree assault. On March 18, 2013, Brian had a bail hearing in which circuit judge Don Laterno heard testimony from Tigard police detective Jan Su Lee and Dr. Danny Leonhardt, a pediatrician and CA specialist at Randall Children's Hospital. Ultimately, the judge denied bail for Brian, and both he and Jessica remained in jail. A few months later in June, Jessica was indicted with additional charges, one count of homicide, five counts of homicide by abuse, and one count of second-degree assault. These extra charges were because the prosecution alleged that she engaged in a pattern of violence against another child in the family, in addition to Zachary.

Starting point is 00:08:52 On March 4, 2014, Brian accepted a plea deal for his role in Zachary's death. He pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault, with the other charges being dismissed. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to testify against Jessica in her upcoming trial. Senior Deputy District Attorney Megan Johnson told the court that if Brian's case had gone to trial, jurors would have not heard his admission to detectives. Because much of his case hinged on that confession, not using it would have been a major obstacle for the prosecution, hence the plea deal.

Starting point is 00:09:29 In his written plea petition, Brian wrote that he recklessly caused the child's serious physical injuries and death. In the manslaughter charge, Brian admitted to engaging in a pattern of violence against Zachary. He gave a statement to detectives about the case, and if he testified consistently with that statement during Jessica's trial, he would receive ascendance of 12 and a half years in prison. According to the plea agreement, Brian would also receive credit for time served,

Starting point is 00:09:57 but he would not be eligible for another time reduction program. Jessica's trial began on March 25, 2014. Deputy District Attorney Dustin Staten spoke for the prosecution saying that Brian had taken the blame for Jessica when he previously told detectives that he had kicked Zachary. In his new statement, Brian told police that Jessica called him and said she had given Zachary a licking for misbehaving. D.A. Staten described how Jessica ran her family, in his words, like an army. Her children were known to be exceptionally well-behaved. They would march in a line from the room at the homeless shelter to the communal dining table.

Starting point is 00:10:34 They were finished eating. They would rest their heads on the table. Many parents are strict with their children, but according to D.A. Staten, Jessica took discipline to a violent, extreme. Zachary died on August 16, 2012. He was covered in bumps and bruises. However, ultimately, what killed him was the two holes in his intestines caused by blunt force trauma. Duren and feces seeped from the holes and harmed his vital organs. During their initial investigation, Zachary's seven-year-old sister and three-year-old brother also showed signs of violence. Three-year-old boy had multiple fractured ribs. Only Bryans and Jessica shared by

Starting point is 00:11:14 biological child, who was a baby, was reportedly completely uninjured. Jessica's seven-year-old daughter told investigators that she had seen both Jessica and Brian beating Zachary before he died. She said that some of her own injuries were from beatings by her mother. The prosecution pointed out that Jessica's violent past began before she ever met Brian. After all, she had already been convicted of assaulting her mother's foster son back in Hawaii. Clearly, the court-ordered anger management and parenting classes were not enough for her. Meanwhile, Jessica's defense argued there wasn't a single credible source of evidence that Jessica had caused serious bodily injury or killed her child.

Starting point is 00:11:56 Defense attorney Chris Colburn said that Jessica would admit to using discipline with her children, but that a lickin was just a spanking. The defense still argued that Brian had delivered the fatal kick to Zachary's abdomen. According to attorney Colburn, a day after the deadly kick, Jessica, took Zachary to the shelter cafeteria for dinner. It was Zachary's birthday and taco night. However, Zachary could only take one bite of his tacos. Jessica took him back to the room to lie down, thinking that he might have the flu. Attorney Colburn said that only Brian knew that the boy was seriously injured. Brian noticed Zachary was a little wobbly when the little boy got up in

Starting point is 00:12:37 the middle of the night to use the bathroom, but that he did nothing about it. Dr. Danny Leinhardt, a CA specialist at Randall Children's Hospital also testified in court saying that little Zachary was beyond help by the time help arrived. He said, we didn't see him until he was essentially dead. We didn't get a chance to fix him. Dr. Leonhardt said that Zachary's bowel was torn in two places. Contents of his intestines had leaked out into his body for at least two agonizing days. The resulting shock and infection had ultimately killed Zachary. Doctors concluded that, that abdominal trauma had caused the rips in Zachary's gut. Dr. Leonhardt said that high-velocity car crashes or bike accidents could cause similar injuries,

Starting point is 00:13:22 but otherwise, it takes forceful, violent kicking or stomping to cause such horrific damage. The doctor also said that there were bruises all over Zachary's body, suggesting that the child had likely curled his little body into a fetal position to protect himself during the beating. The various injuries indicated he had been harmed multiple times. In addition to the bruises, Zachary had old dead tissue from a deep cut hanging off his lip. Dr. Leonhardt could not recall another case where a child had that injury. He said, that thing would have bled a lot. You just let this flap of lip hang there?

Starting point is 00:13:58 He said most children with such a wound would have been brought in for emergency care immediately. Dr. Leonhardt said the medical team at the hospital tried to save Zachary, but the damage was far too great. As he was working on the child's case, he ran into Zachary's aunt. and three-year-old younger brother in the hospital. The little brother's face was covered in bruises, according to the doctor. Dr. Leonhardt also evaluated Zachary's other siblings. He diagnosed all of Jessica's children with CA

Starting point is 00:14:26 except for their youngest, which is Jessica and Brian's mutual biological child. Zachary's three-year-old brother had five fractured ribs. The break showed at least two different stages of healing, indicating multiple instances that he was attacked. Zachary's seven-year-old sister also had extensive bruising on her back, chest, butt, and hips. When Dr. Leonhardt informed Jessica of his diagnosis, he said she became very angry, very upset. He said she was mad at the doctors for not telling her and Brian sooner about the details of Zachary's injuries.

Starting point is 00:15:00 He recalled her saying that they had already talked to the police and now they looked like idiots. Dr. Leonhardt wrote down Jessica's words because he had never heard anything like them before. He said, she told the doctor, had they been made aware, they would have been able to talk to each other and get their story straight. During the trial, jurors listened to an interview between Jessica's seven-year-old daughter and detectives in which she told them how Zachary got dead. These are her words. She said, Jessica and Brian, they kept hitting him and punching him. He didn't listen to them, so they kicked him and punched him and stuff and they kept doing it and doing it. it. She said the couple often hit her and her siblings for not being good. She spoke about another

Starting point is 00:15:47 time when Zachary was in trouble again. She said they kept hitting and hitting him because he wasn't listening. She said that he got sick after that and after a while he made soft groaning sounds. He eventually stopped breathing. She said that Jessica and Brian knew Zachary was sick, but they didn't tell anybody. Later, the seven-year-old sister now aged eight, appeared in court. court in person to testify. She wore a pink shirt and jeans while she sat in the witness stand to answer questions. During the audio and video recording, she was talkative in one-on-one interviews, but in front of a courtroom of lawyers, jurors, the judge, and her abusive mother, a girl often gave soft one-word answers to questions. She told the court how Jessica used to give

Starting point is 00:16:31 her and her brother Lickens when they were bad. She also described how she and her two little brothers were put in time out for very long stretches of time. We're forced to face the wall with their hands in the air, and if they dropped their arms, Brian or Jessica would hit them in response. She said that these lickens hurt and left marks, but that her mother told her she wasn't supposed to talk about getting hit. She could remember a time when Zachary got hit in the stomach, though she couldn't recall the specifics. The girl and her two surviving brothers now live with Jessica's relatives. When asked what it was like living with relatives, she said it's fun. A therapist for Zachary's sister testified as a witness as well.

Starting point is 00:17:12 He shared that after a few months of counseling, the girl made spontaneous disclosure about her brother's death. We're into the therapist, she said, Zach, he's my real dad and Brian is my stepdad. My mom is Jessica. Went into a picture she had drawn of her mom and Brian, she reportedly said, They're in jail right now.

Starting point is 00:17:30 Zach is okay with us. Them are not. They would punch me and slap me. They beat my brother up, and he died. I seen them. At the end of the first week of the trial, the prosecution pulled out their most inflammatory evidence against Jessica,

Starting point is 00:17:46 her Facebook messages to Brian. In these messages, Jessica used profanities to express her frustration with her children and referred to one as stupid. Her seven-year-old daughter upset her by falling asleep on a pile of laundry that the little girl was supposed to fold. The message said, after an hour I go in there and her sweaty ass is sleeping on top of the clothes

Starting point is 00:18:11 sleeping is one thing but to plop her dirty ass on the clean clothes and sleep later Jessica sent a follow-ups saying that she had given her daughter Lickens and that now all of the laundry was done she concluded amazing right Jessica wrote another message that Zachary's two-year-old younger brother was facing the wall because he had an accident in his pants Later messages indicated that the toddler had been standing against the wall for two hours. She wrote to Brian that she would have kept the child in his dirty pants, but she had the

Starting point is 00:18:45 seven-year-old daughter change him so he wouldn't stink. In another message, Jessica told Brian that Zachary, then only age three, was facing the wall. She then said that she thought Zachary liked boys, although she used a derogatory slur to describe him. She said he walks like it and talks like it, ugh, that that made her angry and Brian needed to work on the boy big time. This last message exchange provided the prosecution with Jessica's motive for treating Zachary even worse than his siblings, the fact that she thought that her three-year-old son liked boys. The judge allowed the Facebook messages to be admissible as evidence, as well as internet searches that Jessica had made on the day of Zachary's death.

Starting point is 00:19:32 On August 16, 2012, the day Zachary's life support was ended, Jessica apparently searched for terms such as anger management and parenting classes. That might sound like she was feeling some remorse for what she had done to Zachary, but while her son lay dying in the hospital, she also found time to search for things such as free stuff and sex with strangers. Neither the defense nor the prosecution ended up calling upon Brian to testify despite his plea agreement. Both sides felt that his statements would not be considered reliable since he had changed his story. However, the defense still tried to point the blame for Zachary's death on Brian.

Starting point is 00:20:14 Defense attorney Chris Colburn argued there was no evidence that Jessica fatally assaulted her own son, saying it is clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that Brian Kennedy did it. He also tried to argue that the testimony of Jessica's seven-year-old. daughter could not be trusted and that she was influenced by adults talking to her. But obviously, the jury disagreed because they only had to deliberate for a little over an hour before finding Jessica guilty on all counts. She showed no visible reaction in court when the guilty verdict was handed down. April 14, 2014, a sentencing hearing was held for Jessica and Brian. Prosecutors put up a poster-sized picture of Zachary's smiling, surviving siblings in the

Starting point is 00:20:53 courtroom. Those children now aged 8, 4, and 2. Be safe from any further beatings from their mother and her boyfriend. Jessica's parents and sister, who now cared for her children, wrote a statement which was read aloud during the hearing. The family wrote that under the care of Jessica and Brian, the children were ruled by violence and lacked any sense of joy. They wrote, these four beautiful children lived every day in fear, fear of wondering if they would be beat or not. Family said that when Zachary died and his siblings began living with their grandparents, the children showed clear signs of neglect. Two youngest siblings didn't move or play like normal children their age.

Starting point is 00:21:29 All three children were behind in their physical, social, and educational development. However, the family wrote that over time the surviving siblings had begun to catch up. Zachary's older sister was a sweet, caring third grader. His younger brother, now age four, rarely ever stops talking and plays joyfully with his many friends. His two-year-old baby brother learned on fast forward to hold himself up, crawl, and walk. Family wrote that they want Zachary's memory to draw attention to CA neglect. They wrote, His short life will always be cherished, never forgotten.

Starting point is 00:22:01 Judge Don LaTerno kept his comments brief before sentencing Jessica. He said, Parents are supposed to protect their kids, and you were the most dangerous thing in your kids' lives. He admonished her for failing to learn from her previous assault conviction in Hawaii, and the court-ordered parenting classes that she had taken there. He said, And then you made an eight-year-old come here and testify in front of a jury

Starting point is 00:22:21 when he had no triable case. That is low. He then sentenced Jessica to life in prison. Under Oregon State law, she will have the chance for parole after 25 years. She was escorted from the courtroom in tears before the judge turned his attention to Brian. The judge told Brian that he was a close second to Jessica

Starting point is 00:22:38 and dangerousness to the children, but that's a very slim distinction in the judge's words. Brian was ultimately sentenced to 12-5 years in prison as previously negotiated during his plea agreement. We do begin with breaking news. The verdict is in in the murder case of a four-year-old boy. Prosecutors say his mother did it because she thought the boy was gay. Welcome to Coin Six News at 530. The jury has found that mom guilty. Tim Becker is following the case. He joins us live as at the Washington County Courthouse. So what is the latest here? Well, Dan, I'll tell you what, both the prosecution and defense held their closing arguments today before the jury.

Starting point is 00:23:19 And the defense was saying that, well, they were telling the jury that the onus is on the prosecution to prove that Jessica Dutro did not herself cause the fatal injuries to her son, Zachary. Well, from the outcome today, guilty on all seven counts that she is charged with, the prosecution was obviously able to do that. And his reply is, Daddy kicked me. Why did he kick me? Because I wasn't listening. The defense told jurors there is no way. Jessica Dutro killed her four-year-old son. Despite evidence, the prosecution brought forth. Among it, a Facebook message she sent saying her son was being punished because she believed he was going to be gay. Is it motive for beating the child to death? That's ridiculous. That is patently ridiculous. It occurred three months before that message occurred three months before the injury was sustained.

Starting point is 00:24:21 As Dutro listened earlier, the prosecution painted a picture of a mother with an extreme indifference to the value of human life. Not only do we know that she did it because the said so, but because the evidence about her off Jessica Dutro's opportunity to do it, that's up what Anthony said. Dutro's then seven-year-old daughter, who testified seeing both Dutro and Kennedy commit the deadly beating. Her testimony among the most convincing evidence, according to prosecutor Megan John. who reiterated part of it for the jury. They kept hitting him and hitting him because he wasn't listening. But they, according to the defense, is the wrong word. They say Jessica's boyfriend alone caused the fatal injuries to Zachary.

Starting point is 00:25:07 It is clear beyond the shadow of it. Again, the verdict just in minutes ago here, the jury finding Jessica Dutro, rather, guilty on all seven charges against her. Those are one charge of felony murder. Five charges of murder by abuse, which is defined as recklessly causing the death of someone 14 years old or younger and one charge of second degree assault as well. Sentencing now is set for April 12th. We'll be sure and follow up when that happens. But for now, reporting live in Hillsborough, Tim Becker, Coins six news. Jessica later appealed her sentence requesting a new trial. This appeal was denied. She's currently serving out her sentence at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon.

Starting point is 00:25:55 Brian is serving his time at the South Fork Forest Campy, minimum security work camp outside Tillamook, Oregon. Zachary's biological father shared his thoughts via phone and email. He said that his son was loved during his brief life and that little Zachary was a really happy child. When he learned that something had happened to Zachary, he was shocked and heartbroken. He said,

Starting point is 00:26:20 Still to this day, I blame myself that I couldn't protect my children. from abuse. In February of 2014, about 40 people gathered at sunrise in Hilo, Hawaii to remember victims of DV. They held placards bearing the names of those killed, and among those was Zachary Dutro Bogus, who was born in Hawaii. The Aloha State was probably the last place where Zachary felt love and peace before his mother dragged him away.

Starting point is 00:26:51 We were unable to find information on a memorial service or gravestone for. for little Zachary. We can only assume that his family remembers him in their own way. Zachary's siblings, who were also beaten and forced to face the wall by their own mother, can now live happier lives with their loving relatives in Hawaii. Zachary, whose birthday was on August 13th, would be 16 years old today. He would have been in high school preparing for college or maybe even a technical school that he could work on cars and trucks that he enjoyed as a child. We'll never know what kind of young man Zachary could have been,

Starting point is 00:27:27 because his life ended when he was barely four years old. All we can do is remember the little boy as his foster mother described him in that brief window of time when he was in her care. She said, he had such an infectious giggle that you had to laugh with him no matter the mood you were in. He was so loved and valued.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Zachary Dutro Boggess

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