The Misery Machine - The Story of Amora Bain Carson

Episode Date: April 25, 2023

This week, Drewby and Yergy discuss the story of Amora Bain Carson - this is the case that made us no longer want to cover kids. Amora was just a baby when she was killed by her mother's fiance, Blaine Milam. After smoking meth, Blaine convinced Amora's mother, Jessica Carson, that her daughter was possessed by a demon. She died during the botched exorcism, but after learning about what that little girl endured, the only demon here was Blaine.  Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material: https://www.facebook.com/143635335704379/posts/1875594285841800/ https://inmate.tdcj.texas.gov/InmateSearch/viewDetail.action?sid=08289449 http://www.angelizdsplace.com/child122.htm https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tx-court-of-appeals/1622523.html https://casetext.com/case/milam-v-director https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-blaine-milam-in-texas https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2021-01-15/death-watch-despite-scotus-ruling-inmate-again-faces-execution/ https://www.thesun.ie/fabulous/734991/we-speak-to-four-ordinary-readers-with-to-find-out-what-drives-them-to-write-to-men-awaiting-execution-for-horrific-crimes/ https://abc13.com/archive/6540228/ https://www.kltv.com/story/9460888/accused-stepfather-was-registered-sex-offender/ https://www.insideprison.com/state-inmate-search.asp?lnam=carson&fnam=jesseca%20bain&county=&st_abb=TX&id=904909 https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Conroe-jury-hears-horrific-details-of-injuries-to-1696955.php https://www.kltv.com/2019/01/14/execution-set-east-texas-man-who-fatally-beat-child-during-exorcism/ https://www.facebook.com/justiceforamora/ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39642684/amora-bain-carson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOFFiS7fqIA&t=371s&ab_channel=MidnightCrime http://www.basic-ballistics.com/about.html https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008973310294 https://www.facebook.com/RuskCountySO/photos/a.10151187824517898/10156367100622898/ https://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=46940 https://www.cunninghamkilgore.com/fh_live/15600/15642/media/Shirley-Broyles.pdf  

Jessica Carson was only 17 years old when she met 18-year-old Blaine Millam in 2008. He proposed to her on prom night, and she happily accepted. Jessica was a teen mom with a baby from a previous relationship. Her 13-month-old girl's name was Amora. And during this time, Blaine appeared to love Amora like she was his own daughter. Soon Jessica left her mother's home and moved in with her fiancé in and apart. in Longwood, Texas. Amora Bain Carson was born on November 12, 2007 to Jessica Carson and Arlen Moutina. Arlen only saw Amora twice as he was serving in the armed forces overseas. He and

Jessica eventually separated. Amora was described by family as a happy toddler, full of life who never cried. But what seemed like a fairy tale romance was not all that it was cracked up to be. During the summer of 2008, Jessica's family began to see her less often. In October, she no longer had any contact with her mother. In fact, she began telling people that her mother killed her father. Jessica became very withdrawn and unconcerned about her appearance. The once neatly dressed an outgoing girl was a complete shell of her former self. Blaine was a jealous man who started controlling every ass

of his fiance's life. Jessica never left their apartment except with Blaine. Friends were no longer allowed to visit, and Jessica was with Blaine at all times, even as far as to be forced to stay with him during his work hours. Blaine began using Jessica's passwords

to gain access to her social media accounts where he'd pretend to be here. Blaine also had prior run-ins with the law. In March of 2007, he had gotten into trouble for breaking into an area home. While inside, he found the bedroom of a 13-year-old girl and went through her belongings.

According to Russ County District Attorney William Brown, quote, he went through her underwear drawer and then took adult magazine pictures he cut out and wrote obscene notes on the pictures, telling her he would like to perform each act with her, end quote. Blaine was charged with second-degree felony criminal solicitation of a minor, and was sentenced on August 22nd, 2008 to spend 180 days in jail. Now, that sentence, if it was actually followed, would have put Blaine behind bars until February of 2009.

This is an important thing to note for later on in our story. Those conditions also prohibited him from being around children except for his own biological kids or siblings. Now, as such, he should have never been allowed near Amora. Blaine only served 48 days on work release, meaning that he went to work each day, but was locked up in the Rust County Jail each night. Then he stopped returning. During this time, Blaine, Jessica, and Amora had moved out of their apartment in Longwood and into his mother's trailer in Tatum, Texas. Blaine never updated his address with the courts and failed to register as an offender, which he had been ordered to.

by court. As such, officials in Russ County lost track of Blaine and never bothered to look for him. But what occasioned the move? Jessica had purchased a Ouija board so that the couple could communicate with their dead fathers. Jessica's father had taken his own life when she was just 10 years old. Jessica was the one who discovered his body. Allegedly, the Ouichi board began telling her things that only her father would know. It also allegedly told Jessica that that her mother had killed her father and that the only way to get peace from it was to do something about it.

In September of that same year, Blaine's father passed away from a stroke. Now, according to reports, the two had been very close. Blaine had left public school in the fourth grade with his father acting as a teacher and homeschooling him thereafter. At some point, Jessica began having delusions

that both Blaine and their apartment were possessed by demons, which prompted their move. She felt that her fiancé was possessed based on his expressions, tone of voice, and, as she put it, something that wasn't what I knew Blaine to be. Blaine explained that after the demon came into him, he could talk to God, and he said Jessica was causing this by lying to him. Jessica claimed that she no longer questioned Blaine because he told her,

quote, God says there's things that you don't need to know right now, end quote. According to their former landlord, Blaine and Jessica left the apartment in shambles with rotting food left in the refrigerator. She also found a knife that was hidden in the tank of the toilet and a light bulb that had been used to smoke crystal. Perhaps this is how Blaine was able to talk to God. On December 1, 2008, Blaine woke Jessica to tell her that Amor was possessed by a demon and was walking. Amora was just over a year old and she personally had not yet learned to walk.

He claimed that this occurred because Jessica had not been honest with him and that God was tired of her lies. Really, Blaine was just smoking stuff out of light bulbs again. Jessica asked him if there was something they could do to which Blaine claimed that God would show him how to do an exorcism and that it would help Amora. According to Jessica, Blaine conducted this exorcism in the mouth. her bedroom while she remained in another room watching TV. The next part of her story gets even more delusional. In Jessica's mind, Amora was like Chucky from Child's Play or Gage from Pet Cemetery.

In her words, quote, the boy dies and comes back to life, all evil and stuff, end quote. She claimed that Amora was biting Blaine to where it was drawing blood on his hands. Blaine allegedly took pictures of Amora and gave them to Jessica. According to Jessica, one of her eyes was stretched downward and all warped like that. Jessica claimed that she heard horrible cries from Amora as Blaine was attempting this exorcism. Once he left the door open and he told Jessica that Amora ran out. Keep in mind, Amora couldn't run anywhere. She couldn't even walk yet.

The mother entered the master bedroom where Blaine told her that Amora was under the bed hiding before he ordered her to weave. According to Jessica, when she saw Amora, she wasn't harmed, but this was not the case at all. Amora had been very badly beaten. Blaine told her that God told him that Amora was hitting herself in the head with a hammer. At some point during the evening, they decided to take a little trip. They placed Amora in her car seat and then drove to Walmart, where Blaine went inside and Jessica waited in the car. According to Jessica, Blaine was tempted to sell his his soul to the devil and thereby gain Amora's release from demonic possession. He said it might be required of him, but Jessica urged him not to be trapped by the devil in

that way. He agreed and went back to the master bedroom with the baby to resume the exorcism. Jessica told Blaine that she would rather have her daughter go to heaven now and spend a life with Satan having her soul. Except Blaine didn't save her soul. He killed her. As a result of this exorcism conducted by Blaine, Amora suffered innumerable injuries that led to her death. This little girl was beaten so severely that the fractures to her skull connected with each other as if they were a jigsaw puzzle. And her brain was torn and severely damaged. An arm and leg had spiral fractures indicating that they were twisted in two. Her torso was either struck by a blunt object or squeezed until the ribs and her sternum broke.

She had 18 rib fractures in total. Her body was riddled with no less than 24 distinct bite marks. Her head and face were so scraped and so bruised that all of the injuries combined into one giant injury. She had bleeding in her eyes around her optic nose. nerves and around her jugular vein, which indicated strangulation. The underside of her tongue was lacerated from blunt force trauma. Her liver was torn, and her private parts were so horrifically damaged that both orifices became connected as one opening. Let that sink in for a second, and keep this fact in mind when we discuss evidence later on in the episode.

Because of all the injuries of Mora sustained, it was not possible to determine which one was the final injury and no specific, singular cause of death could be determined. Several of the injuries on their own would have been fatal. The little girl was left in a hole in the bathroom. floor. Police were called several hours later, and when they arrived, she was entirely stiff and in rigor. At 10.37 a.m. on December 2, 2008, Blaine called 911, and the first thing he said was, quote, my name is Blaine Millam, and my daughter, I just found her dead, end quote. Russ County Patrol Sergeant Kevin Roy arrived at the trailer 20 minutes later. Two ambulances were

already there. EMTs were standing in the doorway of the master bedroom where Blaine and Jessica were kneeling on the floor with Amora. She wasn't moving or breathing and she was heavily bruised. In fact, her whole face was one large bruise, with circular marks all over her body that looked like they were caused by a coat can. After lead investigator, Sergeant Amber Rogers arrived, Sergeant Roy took Blaine aside to talk while Sergeant Rogers talked to Jessica. Blaine told Sergeant Roy that he and Jessica had left Amora alone in the

the trailer and walked up the road to meet a man named Clark who was going to clear some land for him. They were gone for about an hour, and when they came back, they claimed to have found their baby in that condition. Blaine was calm, collected, and completely cooperative. After the interview, Sergeant Roy read the pair their Miranda rights. He told them that when the crime scene investigation was done, they would be taken to the sheriff's office for more questioning and to have their close collected. Shortly thereafter, Texas Ranger Kenny Ray arrived at the scene and noticed Jessica and Blaine embracing. To Ranger Ray, the two looked like grieving parents, not suspects. Ranger Ray conducted an hour-long interview with Blaine in the front seat of his patrol car. Blaine told the

Ranger that authorities were more than welcome to search his car in his home. He denied any involvement in Amora's death. He also gave Ranger Ray the names of possible suspects and said whoever did this should be hung. In the recorded interview, Blaine explained that Jessica was his fiance and that Amora was Jessica's child, but that they both lived with him and that he was raising that baby. Blaine then told Ranger Ray the same story that he had told Sergeant Roy. He added that when he and Jessica got home, they found Amora, not in her crib, but in a hole in the floor of the bathroom that he was remodeling. He said that Amora had a blood ring around her mouth, and that it looked like she had been biting the insulation.

She was still breathing, so they called 911. However, Blaine later told Ranger Ray that Jessica called 911 before they found Amora, and that when they found her, she was dead. Ranger Ray's tone eventually became accusatory. He told Blaine that he knew that he was lying, and that no one would believe his story, and that everyone would think that he had beat the baby because he was the only man in the house. Blaine again denied any involvement in Amora's death and offered to take a polygraph test.

Finally, Ranger Ray told Blaine that he was free to go, meaning that he was free to get out of the patrol car, but not to leave a scene. By then, Ranger Ray considered Blaine a suspect. The Ranger also interviewed Jessica. Now, according to Ranger Ray, at first she was crying and acting very distraught. But then there was a pretty drastic change in her demeanor. She referred to Amora as That Baby and told Ranger Ray the bizarre story that we shared with you earlier regarding the exorcism.

Of course, the two were immediately taken into custody and they were held at the Rust County Jail. The investigation quickly poked holes in Blaine's story. Shane and Dwight Clark of Clark Timber denied meeting with him on December 2nd. Crystal Dobson, manager of the Instacash pawn shop in Henderson, said that, shortly after she opened her shop on December 2nd, Jessica and Blaine came in and pawned an electric chainsaw and an air impact tool. Surveillance video showed the two in the pawn shop for about 15 minutes.

The couple were seen on surveillance video from the Exxon and Henderson shortly thereafter. Blaine also called his sister Teresa Shay that morning before 9.30, crying and saying that he had found Amora dead. Teresa told him to call 911, but Blaine did not do so until 10.000. 1037. More on Teresa in just a moment. On December 11th, investigators conducted a second search of Blaine's trailer and determined that the south end of the trailer, rather than the master bedroom, was probably the crime scene. They found blood spatter stains consistent with blunt force trauma near the south bedroom. Among the items collected from the south bedroom were bloodstained bedding in baby clothes, bloodstained diapers and wipes,

a tube of astrogly lubricant, and a pair of genes with blood stains on the lap. DNA testing later showed that Amora's blood was on all of these items. On December 13th, Teresa went to see her brother in jail. Later that night, she told her aunt that she needed to find a way to get to the trailer because Blaine asked her to hide evidence that he had stashed underneath. In turn, the aunt called Sergeant Rogers and told her that she needed to get to the trailer immediately. Sergeant Rogers obtained a search warrant, crawled under the trailer, and discovered a pipe wrench inside a clear plastic bag. This pipe wrench had been shoved down a hole in the floor of

the master bathroom. Forensic analysis revealed components of astroglyde on the pipe wrench. The diaper Amora had been wearing, and the diaper and wipes collected from the south bedroom. Dr. Robert Williams, a forensic odontologist, compared the bite marks. found on Amora's body with bite-tentation models obtained from Blaine, Jessica, and Blaine's brother, Danny. Dr. Williams found that to a reasonable degree of certainty, Blaine matched eight bite marks found on Amora. He could exclude Jessica from all but one bite mark,

and he could exclude Danny from all of the bite marks. The medical examiner, Dr. Keith Pinkard, ruled Amora's cause of death as homicidal violence due to multiple blunt force injuries and possible strangulation. Shirley Broils, the nurse at the Rust County Jail, testified that Blaine called for her one day in January. She found him crying in his cell. He handed her a written request to talk to Sergeant Rogers and told Ms. Broils, quote, I'm going to confess, I did it. But Ms. Shirley, the Blaine you know, did not do this.

My dad told me to be a man, and I've been reading my Bible. please tell Jessica, I love her, end quote. Jessica Carson admitted to her role in Amora's death and is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole and the Christina Melton Crane unit in Gatesville, Texas, which houses several of the worst Texas mothers that we've covered on this channel.

Blaine Millam was found guilty and sentenced to death under Texas law of parties, which allows accomplices in a homicide to be fully responsible for it, no matter what role they play. Blaine's post-conviction attorney, Jenaes Swergola, argued that the prosecution has never offered any meaningful evidence that Blaine caused Amora's death. She also argued that Blaine is intellectually disabled, presenting evidence of IQ scores in the low 70s,

that he is very easily manipulated. Such a disability, according to the defense, would rule out a death sentence. His attorneys had previously argued that Blaine's guilt is mitigated by his lack of education beyond the fourth grade, and his being under the influence of drugs when Amora was killed. Defense attorney Stephen Jackson said that he spent about four months total with Blaine, and it was the longest case of his career. Stephen said that Blaine was like a child, allegedly talking about cartoons and other childish things the way his own children did. While the jury was out deciding if Blaine would get the death penalty or not, they watched Scooby-Doo. When they knocked on the door to

announced that they had reached a verdict, Blaine wanted to finish the cartoon. He had no idea the seriousness of what was going on. While anyone else would be upset or praying for their life, Blaine allegedly only wanted to finish watching Scooby-Doo. Blaine was scheduled to be put to death on January 21st, 2021. However, his execution was stayed and his case remanded to a lower court for further proceedings. He's currently being held at the Polonski Unit in Livingston, Texas. Amora Carson was laid to rest at the Rosewood Park Cemetery in Longwood, Texas. A granite grave marker with a heart-shaped copper plaque bears her name, date of birth, and the date that she left this world. As we reported in other episodes, Blaine has, or at least at one time had, a profile

on a prison pen pal website. Through this website, he met a British woman called Laura Ellison. Laura works as a nurse and has a child of her own. According to Laura, quote, I read last year about people who writes prisoners on death row. I found a pen pal website and Blaine's profile caught my eye because he liked reading. I wrote a letter introducing myself and chose not to look at his crime. I wanted to know him as a person first. Our letters were mostly about books and his turbulent upbringing. Three months after I started writing, I googled his name to see his crime, end quote. She went on to state, quote, Does his crime shock me?

Of course. I have a son who's 13 months old. It sickens me, but it's not my place to be angry with him. I've had to separate the person I write to from the crime. He's mentioned his crime in a letter, but I've chosen not to ask anymore, end quote. So what do you think? Could you look past Blaine's crimes and have a meaningful conversation person to person?

Or is what he did to baby Amora just, unforgivable. If the Rust County Sheriff's Department actually went to look for blame when he skipped out on his work release, he would have been locked up, and this would have likely prevented this whole tragedy. Are they liable for this? Additionally, do you think that Blaine's intellectual disability and drug use should bar him from being executed? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.