Jason Bautista

I am currently reading the book Such Good Boys by Tina Dirmann. Not surprisingly I read almost exclusively true crime books. My problem is that I do most of my reading when I go to bed and I have trouble staying awake so it often takes me a very long time to read a book despite the fact that I read very fast. This book is not taking me as long as it normally would because the story is keeping me engaged longer.

I believe that most people could argue that unless you live inside a home you have no idea the extent of what goes on. That is doubly true when you live with someone who has a mental illness. Some people may get a glimpse now and then that the person may not be completely living in reality all of the time but again, unless they live with the person they really have no idea. Those with mental illnesses often have periods where they are well and seem normal. A lot of the time when they are having periods in which they are not they isolate themselves in the home or those around them either attempt to hide it from others or attempts to make sure the mentally ill person does not do a lot of engaging with others. This often means that the mentally ill person has few true friends as they often distance themselves from others. This also means that those who live in the home with the person are often also isolated, Some of that isolation is forced on them by the mentally ill person while some of it is even chosen by the person, often a child. When a child lives with a mentally ill person they do not invite friends to their homes for fear that the person will do something to embarrass them in some way. They do not want others to see that the person, usually a parent, says and does things that are inappropriate.

All of the above was especially true for Jason Bautista and his half brother, Matthew Montejo. Their mother, Jane Bautista was the mentally ill person in their home. The family had originally lived in Illinois where Jane was from and her family still remained. Jane's parents and grandparents were fairly well off financially. While finances has little to do with mental illness or even if one has a good childhood, it can, and often does play a role in what one can and cannot do. It appears that Jane had signs early on of “being different” or at least going back to at least high school. Often full blown mental illness such as paranoid schizophrenia does not fully appear until one is in their early to mid twenty, but there are generally little signs that are thought to just be odd or inappropriate behavior. By 2003 Jane had nearly completely isolated her immediate family. In fact, she had moved from Illinois to California some six years prior with her two sons. Jane was never known to hold a job and lived exclusively first on money her grandmother sent her every month and social security payments that Jason received after the death of his father when he was just a toddler. Later when the social security payments stopped Jason helped support the family working two part time jobs while also attending college.

In the six years they had lived in California there had been much chaos. There was a period of about a year and a half where the family lived in their or went from motel to motel. Much of this had to do with the fact that Jane was having full blown paranoia. Early on they had lived in a few hours in different towns in the area but each time moved quickly and unexpectedly because Jane would once again decide that the home was not safe and that she was being watched or stalked. Depending on the stage of her sickness would depend not just on how fast they would move but also just how much others saw. A neighbor here or there may have seen things or heard her make comments and know she was not well but often before anything could really be done the family would be gone and the neighbors would move on in their own lives. We also have to remember that this was, and is, a time in which it is uncertain just what help could have been given or done. As long as Jane refused to admit that she was ill, and there was never any indication that she ever realized she was unstable, she would have never allowed herself to be admitted for care. Now, the fact that she had two children could have changed things, if not for her, then for them.

Jane had been married to Jason's father but before he was two his father committed suicide. Jane and Jason's father had broken up and he was found in his car at her place of employment, one of the few and only jobs she ever had before her grandmother started supporting her. Some say that Jane would admit to being in the car with her ex-husband when he committed suicide but that she had left the area only to return and call the police saying she had driven by and seen his car and found him. Some dispute that he committed suicide but even those who do believe it was suicide agree that it was over him being distraught at losing his family. A few years later she would meet a new man and have another child, her son Matthew. Matthew's father would say that it was while they were together that he felt she was beginning her down slide. He would later say that first, Jason had been treated horribly by Jane even as a young child. He was uncertain if she resented him because of his father or if, as is the case with many that are mentally ill, for whatever reason he was the focus of her anger and illness. Matthew's father would not be the only one to claim that Jason was at the very least emotionally abused at a very young age. Matthew's father would say the relationship eventually ended when her paranoia reached new heights. He would claim that he could not right down a phone number to anyone or any place because if Jane saw it she would go into a rage accusing him of cheating. He claims she would search through things looking for evidence that was not there and then would eventually make things up. Finally he had enough and he left the relationship. He would later recount an incident in which after the break up he was working on a neighbors car when Jane drove by his home and saw the woman neighbor and once again went into a rage. He would claim this was one of the last times he ever saw his son until he saw his picture on the news in 2003. He would also claim that while he did feel Jason was abused that, at least while he was still in the picture, Jane had doted on Matthew and treated him much differently.

Jason Bautista would say at one point that he could tell story after story of incidents with his mother where her mental illness had not just taken over her life, but theirs also. As I said earlier, the first few years the family resided in California they lived in a few homes in the Oceanside and Riverside area. They would jump from town to town because of Jane's paranoia. She would become convinced that she was being watched and stalked. At one point it was by immigrant workers. She would repeatedly call one friend and neighbor to the home and point out an area in her back yard where she was convinced one of these people were but the friend never saw anyone or anything. However, she would still go back to Jane's house, often her boyfriend in tow, because when Jane would call her she could tell that Jane fully believed this and was fearful. In this same area, during this same delusion, Jane would often call the police about the supposed immigrants, even at some point telling them that they were sleeping on her roof and saying that it was the neighbors fault for hiring them. The neighbor that she alleged hired the immigrants reported later said that it occurred so often that the the police would come to her door, almost snickering, to tell her to stop hiring them so they would stop living on Jane's roof. So, people knew that things were not right. Other neighbors would report hearing lots of yelling in the home, almost exclusively directed at Jason, and reported that he never raised his voice. Another neighbor reported once that Jason had been locked out of the home because Jane had one of her delusions and believed, as she often apparently did, that Jason was helping those that were “watching” her. In the same respect there were times in which she would be convinced a neighbor was a pedophile and either decide to move or instruct Jason to help protect Matthew because she was sure the pedophile would be after him. These are just a few incidences that people saw (there were many more) or that was reported later, and I will say believed, by Jason and Matthew later. And still I doubt that it even scratched the surface of what it was truly like to live in that home with her.

In late 2002 the boys were finally able to convince Jane to find an apartment for the family. They had been bouncing from motel to motel when they were not sleeping in their car. Fourteen year old Matthew had not regularly attended school in quite some time. According to both boys there seemed to be a period of a few months in which things were good, but they knew that could change in a second. They moved into an apartment in Riverside. Matthew got to go back to school and Jason felt more stable continuing his studies toward a biochemistry degree at Cal State San Bernadino. He also worked the overnight shift at a local hotel, something he had picked up doing when the family was homeless, and he was working part time at the computer lab at the school. All was not perfect at home, but it was better than it had been in a while. When they had moved out of their last stable home Jane had put most of their belongings in a storage unit. She refused to take most of it out when they got the apartment, including mattresses and other furniture. While she was better she was not completely convinced that the “stalkers” would not return so she wanted to be able to get out fast. The family had a television but they were forbidden to have cable or Internet for the computer that they had. Jane was convinced that these were ways to be tracked and found. So Jason had taken to making discs of television shows from the Internet and taking them home for at least Matthew and himself to watch. One of their favorite shows was the HBO series “The Sopranos.” And then came the night of January 14, 2003.

I will start with just giving the absolute facts and then I will get into what people would say happened or theorized what happened. Late that night a security guard for a housing addition named Pete Martinez saw a vehicle parked next to a dumpster to a house that was under construction. Two boys got out of the vehicle and retrieved something from the trunk. Martinez could tell whatever it was they intended to put it in the dumpster, which was illegal, so he approached the boys who were holding what looked to be a sleeping bag. The boys seemed nervous and agreed to put what they had back into the vehicle and leave. But, before they did Pete Martinez believed he saw a foot in the sleeping bag. As the boys left Martinez decided to jot down their license plate number. He would later call the police with this information.

The following day the headless, hand less, body of a woman was found in the mountains off of a highway in Orange County, the next county over from Riverside. The body was recovered but without hands to get fingerprints or a head to be able to describe the woman it would be nearly impossible to identify her. Within a few days the report from Martinez made it to the hands of the investigators in Orange County. They ran the license plate number and discovered that the vehicle was registered to Jane Bautista and while all they had was a torso they were convinced she was the body they had found.

Investigators quickly learned that Jane had two sons and they were able to determine through the BMV that Jason, fit the description of the older boy given by Pete Martinez. They also learned he worked at a local hotel and attended the University. On January 24^th they found Jason at the University and took him to the police station for questioning. He was asked several questions about where his mother was and he told them that he had not seen her in weeks. He claimed that she had a habit of running off with boyfriends and that was exactly what she had done this time. He stated she called him every few days but he had no way to reach her. Authorities were convinced that he was lying. They asked Jason where his brother Matthew was and again he lied, saying Matthew was on a trip to Disneyland. After a few hours of interrogation with investigators pushing hard it did not look as if Jason was going to crack. They informed him that they were getting a search warrant for his vehicle and his apartment. Still he seemed not to break. Investigators left him alone for a few minutes and watched as he was video taped picking up his phone, apparently calling Matthew and telling him not to go back to their apartment. In the meantime an officer made his way to the Riverside home to stand guard until the search warrant came through. Then, it seems that unexpectedly Jason had had enough and he decided to talk. It seems that he had finally realized that the police had all but figured things out and it was time to fess up and tell his side of things, if for no other reason than to protect his brother.

Jason would claim that on the night of the 14^th he had returned home and he quickly knew their tranquil time was over. As someone who had dealt with a family member who has mental illness I can tell you over time you can see it coming whether they admit it or not. It may start as little things. For example my family member will begin licking her lips repeatedly and twirl her hair with her finger. These are things that even those who know she suffers from mental illness do not catch but when you have enough experience with it, just as Jason and Matthew had, you catch those little things. Jason had seen things starting to slide but according to him it would come to a head on that evening. He claims that it started out with once again Jane believing a neighbor was not just a pedophile and stalking them but convinced it was part of a “ring” of some sort. She started talking about protecting Matthew and of course the issue of moving was brought up again. Jason claims this was one of the first times that he fought back against her delusions. He was not about to go live on the street again. In fact, recently he had began thinking of attempting to get away and find a place of his own. Part of what held him back was his brother. The boys had already been a bit scared they were going to lose the place because Jane had insisted on bringing her dog with them to the apartment despite the fact they were not to have animals. The dog had a tendency to want to bark at night and they had been successful in getting Jane to put him in a kennel several days a week. On this particular night though as I said Jason fought back, first with words. He would finally tell his mother that her delusions were not real and argue with her over them. According to Jason at this point Jane decided that Jason was in on the “conspiracy” against her and she ordered him to move out of the apartment. He claims that first Jane began packing his clothes for him and he proceeded to help her. During this time Matthew, decided to attempt to ignore things and went to Jane's room to watch some television and play with the dog. Jason would go on to say that at this point Jane had retrieved a knife from the kitchen and began waving and lunging it at him. He would claim that he was forced to put her in a headlock of some sort to calm her down, as well as to protect himself. Jason would tell investigators that he realized that he had held on too tight and too long but not until it was too late and Jane had died.

Jason would admit to the investigators that they were correct. The torso they had found belonged to his mother. Authorities wanted to know what had happened next. According to Jason after realizing that his mother was dead he had gone into the bedroom where Matthew was and told him what happened. He had told him to stay in the room but Matthew had come out and saw their mother on the floor. Both boys agree that at this point Matthew left the home for a while. Jason stayed and moved his mother's body to the bathroom. It was here that Jason decided to use a method he had seen on an episode of The Sopranos , hoping that it would prevent identification of Jane's body. While the exact weapon that he had used is unclear what is clear is tat he removed his mothers head and hands. He would wrap those body parts in plastic bags and place them in a duffel bag that he would leave in the hallway closet. At this point Jason needed help so he went to Matthew.

There seemed to be a bit of a dispute as to whether Matthew knew when Jason asked for his help if he really knew what he was being asked to do or not. Matthew would later say that Jason simply asked him to help take out some trash and that on their trip they did not speak. But, to be fair this seems to be unreasonable. Regardless however if he knew what he was being asked to do, the two boys began driving around the area while the torso of their mother was in the trunk of their vehicle. Their first stop was at the housing addition where Pete Martinez would see them. Since they were unable to use the dumpster there, the boys drove around some more until Jason pulled off the side of the Ortega Highway and decided to simply it was the place to end their night. It was here that Jason removed Jane's body from the back of the vehicle and tossed her over the side into the canyon. After this there was a lot of cleaning up to do at home. The bathroom was a mess.

Once everything was cleaned up, at least the best that could be the boys seemingly went on with their lives. One of their first moves was to go to the storage unit and bring out some of the furniture, including mattresses. They did have to go out and buy a rug to lay in the front room. There was an area of blood there that despite severe scrubbing would not come out all of the way. The boys bought cell phones too. It was the first time in their lives they had been allowed to have them because Jane had seen them as another way she could be tracked. Matthew was able to have friends over to play video games for the first time too. But, most importantly it appears this was the most peaceful and normal time they had ever had in their lives. It does not appear that these two boys who became wild in spending or in their actions.

After Jason told his story to investigators before they even had a chance to check out his story, or even talk to anyone else involved in the case or in Jane's life they had decided that they did not believe him. They were also still on stand by for the search warrant. It seemed to take just a tad bit longer because although the Orange County District Attorney, who was in charge of procuring the warrant knew there may be an issue later, especially when he was informed that Jane had died in her Riverside apartment and not in the county where the torso had been found. Once it did come in the investigators informed the officer waiting outside the apartment that he could now enter and they would be there shortly. They also informed him that Jason had stated where the remaining body parts were located in the apartment. The officer was not excited to enter the apartment after hearing this news. He had not been in the apartment long before the investigators arrived. They had discovered a knife and a few other items missing from the kitchen, and they had discovered the blood mark on the carpet that the rug had been placed over. They then made their way to the hallway closet. The men were confused already and even more confused when they opened the closet. There did not seem to be an odor, something neither of them were too upset about but they were at first convinced there was no way that body parts had been left in the apartment for over a week decaying. They even found the duffel bag in the closet that Jason had said would be there. One of the officers had a mask close by to use when the smell hit him, but it never did. It took a bit of digging in the bag before the officers discovered exactly what Jason told them they would find. Surprisingly they realized that the reason they had never smelling the undeniable odor of decomposition was because the body parts were unbelievably well preserved.

While in the apartment they had sprayed down the bathroom where Jason had said the dismemberment had occurred. This too seemed obvious and corroborated Jason's story. But the one thing that could not be proven was what had exactly happened as the murder occurred, at least not yet. Prosecutors and a medical examiner would later claim that the body parts that were found gave them that answer. Personally I am not so sure but we will get into that in a bit.

Back at the station Jason had already been arrested but investigators wanted to get Matthew in, but they dd not want any trouble. They had Jason call him on the phone and tell him to meet him somewhere. When they got to the destination investigators interceded and brought Matthew in to talk to him. At first he attempted to tell the same story that Jason had about not seeing their mother but knowing she was with a new boyfriend somewhere. When confronted that Jason had told them the story, the fifteen year old started talking. He claimed, just as Jason had, to not see exactly what transpired between his brother and mother. He claimed after hearing the argument, that did seem to confirm Jason's story, he heard a thump but did not know what it was until later when Jason had told him that his mother was dead. Matthew also talked about Jane's issues concerning mental illness and told much of the same story as Jason about their lives growing up. When all was said and done Matthew too would be arrested. Both boys would be charged with murder and prosecutors would later announce that they planned to charge Matthew as an adult.

The media would announce that the mystery behind the torso that had been found was finally solved. The fact that a woman had been murdered by her own sons added to the sensationalism and spread the story across the country. It was said that investigators would call to Jane's family in Illinois and they would make their way to California and speak to investigators there. It appears that soon the relationship between Jane's family and the investigators would be severely strained. Jane's family had had little contact with Jane and the boys over the last few years but they were standing behind them, they even paid for their attorneys. According to investigators things went sour between the two groups when the family asked to see the boys and were initially told that would not be possible. That alone did not sit well with the family. Despite planning to charge Matthew as an adult, which Jane's family did not agree with, he was initially housed at a juvenile facility and the family had to have a judge's order before they could see him. It is unsure just how much the boys were appreciative of the support they received from their family. Despite knowing obviously their mother had her issues, it is not clear how much of what she said about her family they believed. There is also a question of whether there was possible resentment from the boys towards the family members because there seemed to be little help from them when it came to Jane.

Matthew was able to make a deal with prosecutors that not only prevent him being charged as an adult but it required him to testify against his brother. In the same respect the defense would also call Matthew to testify. He was beneficial to both sides really. He would admit at Jason's trial that he had made the deal for a lighter sentence. On the prosecution side he testified as to not just the events of that night but he would say that Jason has spoken of ridding them of their mother for up to a year. In fairness, while I am sure the prosecution read this one way and wanted to attempt to make the jury see it there way as premeditation on Jason's part, I am unsure that I agree. Whether he literally said it this way or the prosecution twisted it, is unclear, but Matthew would say that Jason indicated that he could goat their mother into an argument and then after killing her, and in essence free them, he could claim self defense. On the surface this would almost appear to be what happened but in my opinion there were some holes in that theory. First, Matthew would say that this was first said over a year prior to the actual event. I cannot say for sure in what situation it was discussed between the brothers. My point is I want to know what had preceded this conversation and just in what context it was said. I think we all have experience frustration with someone or a situation at one point or another and may have said words along the lines of “I could kill.... “ Secondly, at no point did Matthew indicate that Jason had started the argument with their mother. In fact, he indicated that the base of the argument was just as Jason had said. Their mother was having another of her delusional moment that the boys had seen time and time again throughout their lives. She was on the edge of uprooting the family again, they both knew the signs.

Jason's trial would begin in January of 2005. The prosecution had a very different theory as to what transpired that night and why. They would portray Jane's mental illness simply as “erratic behavior” and would argue that Jason see this as “cramping his lifestyle.” They would proclaim that Jason just wanted to get rid of his mother. It seems that the prosecution could not totally dismiss Jane's behavior because they knew the defense had plenty of witnesses to say differently that were not solely the two boys. They could not argue that the claims of her delusions were completely made up by two boys attempting to get away with murder for no reason when there were others who saw much of what the boys would say. They would however argue that as the defense argued abuse, physical and emotional, especially against Jason, that it was exaggerated. These were more things that happened in more private settings where only the two boys and Jane were present. The prosecution felt they had two big things going for them. One was the dismemberment of the body. Much was made about the idea coming from a television show. In fact there would be a lot of arguments on social networks and other sites condemning not just the show but the producers, demanding they be held in contempt. The media had jumped on this point and the prosecution used it to their advantage. The other thing they had was testimony from the medical examiner. When the body parts had been removed from the apartment they were of course delivered to the ME. He would testify that he found bruises on Jane's chin and cheek areas. He would also say that the area above one of her eyes was crushed and that the bones “disintegrated” upon touch. He would testify that in his opinion, while he believed her official cause of death was strangulation, that Jane had also been beaten. He would also say that he had found a thumbprint, allegedly matched to Jason, on Jane's neck. The prosecution would argue that this testimony disputed Jason's theory of having his mother in a headlock and the death being accidental. I am not sure that I agree. Without more information I am unsure how the ME was able to determine that for instance the thumbprint had not occurred during the dismemberment or that the bruises could not have come from the struggle that Jason had described. Not to mention, while the officers had said there was little visual decay and smell when they found the remains that the brittle bones had not been part of that. Of course I am not a medical examiner but I feel it left questions and there is a chance that a second opinion would have been different. In fairness it would appear later that the jurors apparently would not have these questions.

The defense it seems never argued that Jason had not been responsible for his mothers death. They would argue though that it was not to the point of first degree murder, which is what the prosecution was asking for. They continued to argue, as Jason had stated in the beginning, that it was self defense. As stated earlier they had a lot of witnesses who would testify to incidences in which they had seen Jane having some of her delusions and the treatment they saw of both children, especially Jason. This is why after testifying for the prosecution, the defense would call Matthew back to the stand to testify for them. He would say that while things were bad for them both throughout their lives living with their mother, it had been particularly bad for Jason. No one knew why Jane seemed to focus so much anger towards him but there had been several incidences in which Jason had been subjected to emotional and physical abuse. In one incident he had to go to the ER to receive stitches after his mother had hit him with something. Both boys had been severely warned that they were never to tell anyone about what went on in the home.

After fifteen hours of deliberations the jury returned with their verdict on February 4, 2005. They would find Jason guilty for the first degree murder charge. They would later say that they had a lot of compassion for Jason and believed that he had been abused but they did not believe that his story went with the evidence as to what happened on the night that she died. Before he was sentenced on April 8^th several things happened. First a juror had filed an affidavit saying that she had changed her mind about the first degree murder charge. According to the juror she felt that neither the defense or the prosecution had fully disclosed just how much abuse Jason had been subjected to and that she had learned of more things since the trial. Secondly, Jason attempted to fire his lawyers before his sentence was given. The judge denied both motions. Addressing the juror issue specifically, the judge stated there were “no provisions for juror remorse.” Before handing down his sentence Jason was asked if he had any words. He would simply state that he did not feel that he was guilty of first degree murder. The judge adamantly disagreed and sentenced Jason to a term of twenty-five years to life. According to the California Department of Corrections website Jason's first chance at parole is in the year 2025.

I found that after Jason' s trial Matthew had been able to plead guilty to accessory to murder. He was sentenced to 749 days, the days he had served and was released from jail. While there is a part of me that totally agrees with this sentence for Matthew I find the hypocrisy in this sentence from the prosecutors. Prior to the trial the prosecutors had made statements to the media about how heinous this crime was and that their intentions to try Matthew as an adult. The quotes within the article I read about this had the prosecutor saying that a juvenile sentence was not strong enough for Matthew and he deserved more. They argued that under a juvenile sentence he would have been released in ten years at the age of twenty-five and the prosecutor said this was wholly insufficient. And yet this same prosecutor allowed him to serve a mere one fifth of that time, all because they could get him to testify for their side and boost their case against Jason.

One thing I found odd about this case is that I attempted to dig a bit deeper than I normally would have, to see if I could find any appealed filed in this case. I was unable to do so. Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part. This case has really touched me. I believe that it comes from not just knowing what it is like dealing with mental illness in a family but also seeing and hearing of so many cases in which extended families often distance themselves or allow themselves to be pushed away from or by the person ill and seeing the impact this has on the children. I have seen so many cases in which the children end up becoming the adults way sooner than they should have been while the real adults sweep things under the cover. I realize that no one can make someone who is mentally ill get treatment when they are not accepting of it but that did not mean that the children had to be subjected to this. I know of one particular case where it is the grown child of a person who has suffered with mental illness of her life has said that if there was anyone who should not have had children it was his mother. He realizes this means he would have obviously not been born and I am sure he is thankful to be alive but in the same respect he was left with the responsibly of his mother long before any child should be. He has long said they have a father/daughter relationship and not a mother/son relationship as it should be.

The physical abuse aside, these boys, especially Jason, were neglected and seemingly forgotten in my opinion. I by no means believe she deserved to die because she was mentally ill but I feel as so little attention, doubt or compassion was given to these boys. I truly do not believe that her death was intentional. It was documented that while only Jason was able to say she had come towards him with a knife, that if true it was not the first time it had happened. I feel as if the prosecutor wanted to focus so much on the dismemberment and the disposal of the body, which of course neither should have been done in that manner, and less on Jane's issues. In my research it noted in some comments that so few of the articles about the case or the trial touched very much on just how severe Jane's mental illness was. As I stated the prosecutor could not fully say that she was not mentally ill but it was as if he wanted to pretend that her mental illness played no role in her murder where in my opinion it was the key. There was no indication that Jason instigated the argument that led to her murder and as I said earlier considering that they had lived with her all their lives it is likely they may have seen this coming in the few days, or at least the day before. The problem is that when someone with mental illness is about to have a breakdown and those little signs are there where you can see it coming and you think you can do things to head it off, it manifests fast. Although these young boys had dealt with it their entire lives it does not mean that they had found a way adequately deal with it. It was documented that Jason had almost always stood by and let Jane do her thing. When she decided she was being watched and wanted to move, they moved. No one fought back with Jane and the last time she had had a severe episode the boys ended up without a home for nearly a year and a half. Sure I am sure he argued back with her this time out of frustration but also because it was something new and maybe he thought that would work that time. It did not and only made the situation worse but he did not know that before he confronted her. In my personal experience with dealing with those with mental illness I can say that everyone is different. With one if you argue back she will not pull out a weapon and come after you but she will shut you out to the point of making sure you cannot get any information from doctors, friends, any one no matter if you have intentions to help. On the other hand another relative will not “listen” if you are nice and only “hears” you when you become firm and angry.

While I have said often that I do not necessarily believe that Jane deserved what she got, or how she got it, I do understand and I do not think the boys got not just the help, but the understanding they deserved. I am not saying that they should not have gotten some jail time but I have to agree with Jason that I do not believe this to be a first degree murder case. I do not often give a lot of weight of mitigating circumstances for defendants such as those who are a bad childhood...etc. I think I have a soft spot for these boys for two reasons. One of course is the life they were forced to live with their mother's illness and because they were not very “adult” when this happened. Yes, Jason was twenty at the time of the crime but that is barely an “adult” in years and he had never been able to distance himself from his childhood. This is not a case of a serial killer who got caught and then at court argued that mommy was neglectful and daddy was an alcoholic and that was their excuse for their actions against strangers.

I truly hope that Matthew has been able to do something good with his life and learn what he should have received as a parent. If Jason receives parole on his first try in 2025 he will be forty one upon his release. I am hopeful that he too could possibly have somewhat of a normal life once he is freed.