They Said It Was A Tragic Mistake... But Investigators Saw Something More _ Police Interrogation

A child dies in a hot car. The temperature was mild. The windows were open. The parents are devastated. The community rallies around them. Then the medical examiner notices something odd. The child's body temperature was inconsistent with the time of death. The parents' phone records show internet searches for how long it takes to die in a hot car. The tragic mistake was not a mistake. It was murder.In this episode, I examine the case of a father who left his child in a hot car on purpose. The father had been unhappy in his marriage. He had researched child death statistics. He had searched for life insurance policies. He had told coworkers that he sometimes fantasized about being single. The day of the death, he drove to work, parked in a remote area of the lot, and turned off the ignition. He went into the office and told his boss he had forgotten something. He waited. He did not check on the child until over an hour had passed. He knew exactly what he was doing.The jury convicted him of murder. The father's defense attorney argued that he simply forgot. The prosecution argued that forgetting is not a crime but that searching for how to kill your child on the internet is. The father is serving life in prison.Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the tragic mistake was not a mistake. It was a plan.