Rachelle: Murder wasn't the first thing we came to. You can start to see what the picture looks like even though there's a piece missin' here, a piece missin' there, a piece missin' there. So defense attorney Wells attacked the officers' methods, challenging sergeant Randy McPherron, one of the Alaska state troopers who interrogated Rachelle. At first, Rachelle insisted that she had nothing to do with the murder. Although the other charges against him were dropped, he plead guilty to first degree murder and is now sitting in a prison in Alaska, serving a 99-year sentence for Lauri Waterman's murder. (Don't get me wrong, the others that were convicted deserved everything they got). Due to the severity of the charges, Waterman has been waived into adult court. Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. They then considered whether their daughter, Rachelle, had any connection to the crime. Rachelle was subsequently ordered to serve three years, with credit for time served while awaiting her first trial (479 days). Rachelle: She has raised a knife to me. Arrant: I said, Well yeah, it's uh, we did it; it's done. And she asked what happened to the minivan and I said it had been burned, it was completely destroyed. . McPherron: You didn't do anything.Rachelle: I was scared.Sgt. State Files Notice of Appeal Involving Waterman Prosecution - Alaska Rachelle Waterman | Source M any years ago, Craig, Alaska was known as a safe, tight-knit community where residents often left their doors unlocked at night. In exchange for testifying against the alleged mastermind of the crime, Rachelle, Brian received 99 years for being the actual killer. They had planned to make it look like a drunk driving accident. Although Waterman has been waived into the adult justice system due to the nature of the crime, the Governor of Alaska, Frank Murkowski, has proposed increasing the number of personnel assigned to the juvenile justice system. Alaska law places persons charged with first-degree murder at the age of 16 or older in the adult court system, and most of the records concerning this case are open to the public for inspection. Every summer, Rachelle and her mom would spend weeks with Lauri's family in Tacoma, Washington. RachelleLW (@RachelleLW) | Twitter The fire burned so hot, it stripped the paint off the van, melted the license plates. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age. Rachelle was also found to have dated both men previously. But who would kill one of the most-loved people in town? If convicted, she was looking at a prison term of 99 years. In another incident, her mother grounded her (restricted her to home) for receiving an 89% score on a test. Maybe Lauri feared her daughters life would become like hersendless volunteer work to fill the otherwise boring days. Eventually, though, she finally confessed and admitted the abuse was "pretty much lies," Claus said. I wont have computer access until the weekend or so because the police took my computer to go through the hard drive. A story that included tales of abuse, prostitution, even witchcraft. Arrant was then brought in for further questioning, finally admitting his full involvement. Jason was a 24-year-old high school janitor who lived in his mothers basement. The answer was almost impossible to believe. Setting up an account with the free blog platform LiveJournal, Rachelle gave it a name that left nothing to the imagination about its content: "My Crappy Life." Instead, she was sad about the minivan getting destroyed as she wont inherit it. Prosecutors argued early on that Rachelle played a crucial part in her mothers death, saying she led the two men to believe the mother abused Rachelle, and that Rachelle wanted her mother dead. Furthermore, he stated that Rachelle was not worried about her mother. Absolutely no thought for the horror her mother endured. She said, Can I ask a question? I said, What is it? and she kept repeating, Can I ask a question?. "No one else saw this person. More than a decade after the original crime took place, Rachelle Watermans appeal of her conviction in the death of her mother has been denied by the Alaska Court of Appeals. (The police have seized her computer and are examining the contents of its hard drive for evidence.). Rachelle: People in public probably think my mom would never lose her temper. Brian Radel was arrested on Nov. 18, 2004 and charged with murder. She was sentenced to three years. A for Brian, who says he went along with Jason's plan without even asking Rachelle if - in fact - she wanted her mother murdered Larson: So Brian, you believe, really was just being played. The stories just didn't match. IBEW Local 1547 members are committed to getting the job done. Don Pierce, friend of the Waterman family: He called about 3:00 in the afternoon to ask if Lauri was at our house. It didn't take police long to suspect that Radel Arrant or both men had something to do with the murder. Commercial fishing is the predominant source of income for most of Craigs residents, with lumbering and saw mills running a close second. The jury took one week in its deliberations and returned with not guilty verdicts on first degree murder, kidnapping, burglary and attempted murder, and guilty of criminally negligent homicide. I dont think that the sentence was unreasonable, I mean I can see why the court did what it did. Lauri Waterman, 48, seldom drank more than a couple of sips of wine, maybe a bit more if a friend wanted to drink with her, according to testimony Tuesday from Carl "Doc" Waterman, Rachelle's . Rachelle Waterman, now 22, is on trial, accused of plotting with the men to kill her mother. Son Jeffrey wasn't even in Alaska, as he was attending college in the mainland. Lauri, 48, went missing in November 2004 and her remains were found in her minivan, which had been abandoned in the woods and set on fire. Key evidence of the plot was provided by Rachelles online journal, titled My Crappy Life, which described the struggles with her mom. Her dad, Carl Doc Waterman, was a a real estate agent and president of the school board in small-town Craig, Alaska. Rachelle Waterman's 60-year-old father, Carl "Doc" Waterman, is a real estate agent and serves as president of the Craig School Board. McPherron: You told your friends Monday before the body had been identified, that your mom probably died in a drunk driving accident.Rachelle: It's what I assumed.Sgt. Sgt. When the other sergeant re-enters the room, Rachelle's attitude changes again. AK v. WATERMAN (2006) 16-year-old Rachelle Waterman is accused of plotting with her two ex-boyfriends to kill her mother. After Lauri drank wine, the duo forced her into the familys minivan and began searching for a good accident site. One name kept coming to the forefront: Jason Alan Arrant. Residents of Craig, Alaska were already reeling from news of a beloved mother abducted from her own home and murdered in the middle of the night, but no one could have prepared them for what came next. Rachelle was brought in for questioning and informed of her rights, authorities told "Fatal Frontier," and still agreed to talk without her father or an attorney present. The two were charged with 10 counts each, including conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, burglary, and first-degree murder. They did find her guilty of negligent homicide. It initially seemed like an accident. Once put on trial, Brian Radel pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Or maybe it was just his guilty conscience. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Waterman and her alleged co-conspirators, Jason Arrant, and Brian Radel, faced a 10-count indictment, listing 26 felonies. And the prosecution played its trump card, Rachelle's taped interrogations, which they said proved she was involved in the plot. Brian was sentenced to 99 years in prison while Jason received 50. Brian stated that Jason asked him to kill Lauri and that Rachelle had often complained to him about her mother's abuses. The police, from the beginning, suspected that Jason and Brian might have had something to do with Lauris murder, but when questioned, both men claimed they were at Radels house on the night of the murder. Randy McPherron (interrogation video): A little exaggeration there and a little overacting there - here, can have some dire consequences, right? Hed tried the military, but that didnt work out. Realizing she was about to lose custody of her daughters to her ex-husband, Jessica McCord had to do something. Apart from the online diary Rachelle kept, the case is also unusual because matricide committed by female minors is extremely rare. Waterman was a teenager in 2004 when she was accused of conspiring to kill her mother, Lauri Waterman. Mike Schwab, juror: Too many pieces fit together like, you know, a jigsaw puzzle here and there. Didn't kill her right away when I hit her in the throat. After binding her arms, they led her to the kitchen where they forced her to drink an entire bottle of wine, since a final act of the murder was to make it appear to be a drunken driving accident. Arrant and Radel pleaded guilty to murder and testified against Rachelle. The time had come to arrest this motley trio and start making the trek toward justice. So they drove to another location, doused the inside of the van with gasoline -- with Lauri's body inside -- and lit it. Claus decided to question the two. Anjette Lyles was known for her good cooking, but no one could have suspected the deadly recipes she was brewing up for her loved ones. Jason knew he was lucky to have a girl as intelligent and pretty as Rachelle. Now She's Speaking Out. In a blow to the prosecution, the same judge who allowed Rachelle's videotaped confession to be used in court threw it out, saying she now believed the confession had been coerced. But even the Watermans' best friends say they doubt Rachelle will ever be welcome back in Craig, Alaska, the small village where so many loved her mother. Dina Keyt, Rachelles aunt: I wanna think the best because I love her and she's my niece and she's still dear to me. In Rachelle's trial both Brian and Jason testified. "My whole family is going to hate me," she cried in the tape. The morning after the murder, Rachelles teachers found her demeanor not normal for someone whose mother was missing. Jason was like a lovesick puppy around Rachelle, hanging onto her every word. But if you scratch the surface a little bit, there seems to be a current of anger that maybe goes beyond just your typical adolescent ranting.. At the end of the trial, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, and the judge was forced to declare a mistrial. In an effort to hide the evidence, they set the minivan on fire with her inside. On the floorboard behind the front seat was a pile of ash and a human skull. Rachelle Waterman was in court a few weeks agoto find out when shell serve her time. All other pending charges against the duo were dropped. Troopers continued for hours to lie to, cajole, and scream at Rachelle, demanding a confession. Together, they moved to Alaska. You don't have all the responsibilities that are inherent in a face-to-face real, legitimate relationship. Rachelle, then 16, was a student-athlete who sang in the school choir, played volleyball and competed in an academic decathlon. The prosecution has appealed the judge's decision to throw out Rachelle Waterman's confession, and the indictment. Eventually, however, police elicited a confession from Jason. Magistrate Kay Clark presided over the arraignment and set bail at $150,000. The car investigators had found was clearly a Chrysler minivan. They had talked with the Watermans neighbors, Geoffrey Waterman, Rachelles teachers, and her classmates. Rachelle Waterman looks back during the opening of her trial at the Dimond Courthouse Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006, in Juneau, Alaska. Teens get tough lesson in consequences of crime, https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=American_teenage_girl_charged_with_murder_of_her_mother&oldid=4700349. Dianne Masters wanted to divorce her husband Alan Masters, a powerful Chicago attorney, but he had too much to lose to let her out of the marriage alive. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Teen blogger murder trial - NBC News Pierce: Tears. Wells: If she wanted her mom dead, wouldn't it have been easier if she gave you a key?Arrant: It would have been easier, yes.

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