The two 24-year-old men, Jason Arrant, of Klawock, and Brian Radel, of Thorne Bay, later confessed to killing 48-year-old Laurie Waterman and were charged with first degree murder. She stated that "I think that we're starting to see more violence with kids who are younger, and the behaviors that they're exhibiting are more aggressive and more violent." Together, they moved to Alaska. her aunt Dina. She would then get to leave Craig with Arrant. Rachelle, then 16, was a student-athlete who sang in the school choir, played volleyball and competed in an academic decathlon. Rachelle Waterman looks back during the opening of her trial at the Dimond Courthouse Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006, in Juneau, Alaska. He also testified that Rachelle helped them get rid of evidence like fingerprints or marks from her house. Soon, their focus turned to someone they knew had been a source of friction in the Waterman house -- Rachelle's 24-year-old boyfriend, Jason Arrant. You have permission to edit this article. "No one else saw this person. Realizing she was about to lose custody of her daughters to her ex-husband, Jessica McCord had to do something. Don Pierce, friend of the Waterman family: As painful as the loss of Lauri was, I think that the arrest of his daughter was even harder. Its not surprising Lauri was not thrilled with this being her daughters boyfriend a guy who is nearly a decade older, who doesnt seem to have any real goals for the rest of his life, Coyne says. Rachelle and her father were overwhelmed. Other strange items were found: a tip of a rubber glove and fibers of a synthetic rope in the bedroom, and a footprint on a window sill. State law stipulates that for the most serious crimes, including homicide, defendants as young as 16 years old are treated the same as adults. Rachelle Waterman, (aka Rachelle Ann Monica Waterman and "smchyrocky"), a 16-year-old girl from Craig, Alaska, USA, has been charged with the first degree murder of her mother. Investigation Discoverys People Magazine Investigates: The Darkest of Nights portrays the brutal murder of Lauri Waterman at the hands of Brian Radel and Jason Arrant. And then, they would hand the judge a message no one wanted to hear. McPherron: So Jason says this would be a good weekend.Rachelle: Uh huh. In July 2011, Rachelle was sentenced to three years in prison. After help arrived, the body was sent in for an autopsy, where dental records confirmed the victim was Lauri Waterman. She tells them her mother tried to push her down the stairs, beat her with a baseball bat, even threatened to sell her into sexual slavery. This was the first time Rachelle had heard a description of her mother's death from the killer himself the story of how he kidnapped her mother, took her to a remote logging road and then slowly killed her. Oklahoma Man Gets Life in Prison for Murders, Including Cutting Out and Cooking Woman's Heart, Texas Toddler Was Smothered to Death by Mom's Boyfriend, Who Staged Scene to Look Like Child Fell from Crib, Alaska Teen Killed 'Best Friend' After Man Online Allegedly Offered $9M for Videos of Murder in Catfish Scheme, Suspect in Death of Pregnant Mom Found Next to Car with Son Inside Was Recently Acquitted of Unrelated Murder, Texas Woman Accused of Strangling Best Friend, Then Stealing Her Newborn Girl Expected to Plead Guilty, Alex Murdaugh's Surviving Son Buster Is on Witness List for Father's Highly Anticipated Murder Trial, 'People Magazine Investigates' Examines How Authorities Cracked 1991 Cold Case Murder of Pa. Now, a jury would have to decide whether she was an innocent victim or as guilty of murder as the two men who had killed her mother. Honor student plotted mother's murder, police say, People flock to online journal after 16-year-old's arraignment. Lauri Waterman Find-A-Grave: Lauri Ann Martelli Waterman One Waterman killer won't testify in daughter's murder retrial Waterman's former boyfriend refuses to testify in Alaska murder conspiracy trial Convicted killer testifies at Waterman trial Waterman killers land 50, 99 years in jail Jason Arrant & Brian Radel have been sentenced in Craig American teenage girl charged Breaking her neck, I definitely wasn't successful at that. The next morning, Lauri didn't show up for church. McPherron: Well, you don't need to be a smart aleck with me.Rachelle: Well, you don't need to question everything I say then. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular collections. Brian Radel, convicted of murdering Lauri Waterman: It's not like Im a professional killer. Join Facebook to connect with Rachel Waterman and others you may know. Rachelle claimed that her mother mentally and physically abused her over her love for black nail polish, and obsession with witchcraft. When she returned, Radel continued Radel: She didn't die.West: How could you tell that?Radel: She was still breathing. Larson: What did she say to you?Radel: She said, Can I ask a question? 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. I recommend it. Family and friends could not believe it -- Lauri Waterman was loved in town, always the first to volunteer and the last to leave when a job needed to be finished. The word innocent didn't come up very often.Schwab: No. Luckily, they both quickly implicated themselves in the murder. Rachelle emphatically told them they were wrong, her post was simply short and to the point. Her Chrysler minivan was also gone. "You don't need to be a smart aleck," the interviewer said. McPherron: You didn't tell anybody.Rachelle: I was scared. At first, Rachelle insisted that she had nothing to do with the murder. Rachelle approved of the murder of her mother and admits that when she said she tried to call it off -- she was telling another lie. On being asked, Rachelle said that her mom probably got drunk and ran off the road somewhere. The same report went on to state, "Trooper Robert Claus, Klawock resident Jan Bush and Deputy State Medical Examiner Susan Klingler testified before the grand jury.". And when Doc and Rachelle returned home that afternoon they discovered Lauri and the family van were gone. She wrote that her mother was critical of her weight. Currently, Rachelle is single. So thats one year and four months, thats 16 months.Since she got a three-year sentence, that means that she has to do roughly another eight months in custody unless for some reason shes not given good time.. Apart from the online diary Rachelle kept, the case is also unusual because matricide committed by female minors is extremely rare. When asked what Rachelle had to do it with it, he initially insisted she knew nothing. Listening to Rachelle's stories, it's difficult for even these seasoned troopers to know whether she's exaggerating typical mother-daughter battles or whether something Dangerous was going on. Judge Patricia Collins: I have concluded that that testimony, should this case proceed yet again to trial, is inadmissible. So troopers brought Rachelle in to try to find out what was going on. The stories just didn't match. Facebook gives people the power. "The fire was clearly set by someone and not an accident in any shape or form. Sgt. She appeared to be a normal, high-achieving junior in high school. The Waterman family is a locally prominent, middle-upper class family. (ANCHORAGE) - Susan Parkes, Deputy Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Alaska Department of Law, announced today that the State filed a notice of appeal this week in State of Alaska v. Rachelle Waterman. Lauri Waterman was suffocated after her killers failed to break her neck and make her death appear to be a drunk-driving accident. By Becca van Sambeck Lauri Waterman Didn't Approve of Her Daughter's Friends 1:11 Exclusive Investigators Found a Letter of Apology from Lauri to Rachelle Waterman Now Playing Exclusive She was trapped in this hellhole called Craig and she was suffocating. Watch our new true crime show, People Magazine Investigates, which airs Mondays at 10 p.m. This girl got off way too light imo. She played 2 losers, and walked away laughing. At the center of the prosecution's case was Jason Arrant, the man who said he loved Rachelle so much that he killed for her and he was now the prime witness against her. Arrant agreed to wear a wire to get proof. And after an hour and a half of interrogation, she tells them a new story. Arrant then allegedly watched as Radel doused the body and van with gasoline and then used a roll of paper towels to set it on fire, in an attempt to destroy the evidence. On the night of November 14, 2004, Lauri Waterman finally had the house to herself. "You don't need to question everything I say," Rachelle responded. Did former Indiana State Trooper David Camm kill his wife and two children? I don't think any of us would have felt good about totally letting her go. The case of Lauri and Rachelle Waterman has been explored in various media projects. Geoffrey Waterman, Lauri Watermans son: She was loving. In June 2005, Brian Radel pleaded guilty and received a 99-year sentence. More than a decade after the original crime took place, the Alaska Court of Appeals denied Rachelle Waterman's appeal of her conviction in the death of her mother. Protect Rachelle? For a time she dressed all in black, with black nail polish to match, and when she picked out a black velvet dress for prom, her mother told her I couldnt pull it off, she wrote. Rachelle, overwhelmed, bolted from the courtroom and according to witnesses, vomited in the restroom. Pierce: Tears. Jason Arrant was one of a handful of Craigs youth who didnt seem to break free. The case has rapidly received a wide following on the Internet, partly because Waterman kept a public record of her thoughts and activities on LiveJournal, a popular blogging service. Brian Radel: If she made it up, she made up a story but that's all she did.Larson: Hell of a story. The Appeals court conceded in its decision, which was released Friday, that there is a scientific basis for the appeal. Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Borough-wide tobacco tax indefinitely postponed, Mission Statement/Financial Statement/Code of Integrity/Diversity Statement, https://www.krbd.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/18-Waterman_Correction1.mp3. John Larson, Dateline correspondent: If everything had gone perfectly, how would this story have played out? Don Martelli, Sr.: Far as she's concerned, it's gone and forgotten. Update the categories youd like to receive notifications about. They then considered whether their daughter, Rachelle, had any connection to the crime. See Photos. Its not unusual for underage teen girls to date men in their early twenties in a place like Craig. Larson: Did you ever see the bruises?Radel: Yes, I did see bruises.Larson: Where were they?Radel: The ones that I saw were on her upper thighs. Arrant: She mentioned that a good window of opportunity would be coming up, when she would be going up north for volleyball, and when her dad would also be gone from the home. Rachelle: People in public probably think my mom would never lose her temper. And inside the Waterman house, Lauri's husband and daughter had found some strange things -- the bed unmade, odd fibers, the fingertip of a rubber glove on the bedroom floor and on the kitchen counter, an empty wine bottle: odd because Lauri rarely drank. The last entry, which has since been removed from public view, was posted on November 18, 2004 and read: Just to let everyone know, my mother was murdered. I won't have computer acess [sic] until the weekend or so because the police took my computer to go through the hard drive. The foreman voted not guilty. Ted Kimble wanted his wife dead so he could collect the life insurance, so he convinced his brother Ronnie Kimble to do it for him. Doc and the couple's children were all out of the house the weekend Lauri was killed. So he returned home and roamed aimlessly around the island with no real sense of direction. But nothing could have prepared them for what came next -- the men claimed it was Lauri's teenage daughter who put them up to it. Both men confessed that they were involved in Lauris murder. I dont think that the sentence was unreasonable, I mean I can see why the court did what it did. IE 11 is not supported. Clark also appointed a public defender to represent Rachelle, who was sent to the Juneau Department of Corrections facility. If you piss me off, you die.. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. Ten and a half years after her mothers murder, Waterman is scheduled to appear at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center Aug. 31st to serve the remainder of her sentence. ET) on Investigation Discovery. Don Martelli, Lauri Watermans brother: She's making up stuff to get attention. And when it came to Jason, who testified that Rachelle sought his protection from an allegedly abusive mother, jurors agreed on one thing: the confessed killer would say anything to get Rachelle's mother out of the way. Lauri Waterman Didn't Approve of Her Daughter's Friends, Investigators Found a Letter of Apology from Lauri to Rachelle Waterman, Rachelle Waterman Claimed Her Mother Abused Her. When the police investigated, they found out that Lauris husband had reported her and her car missing. And the defense questioned Jason's motive for implicating Rachelle, saying he'd gotten a "sweet deal," a plea agreement that would cut his prison time in half in exchange for testifying against Rachelle. Wells: You have in mind what you want her to say. They also argued that the harsh police interrogation was not proper as Rachelle was too young to understand her Miranda rights fully. She was afraid, Rachelle says, that her mother would kill her. And she's right there with me all the time. After her arrest, Rachelle Waterman was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and five other counts in her mothers killing. Rachelle Waterman faced up to 99 years in prison if convicted in her mother's murder. Brian, per Jason, all but said the words Sure, why not? and they began developing a plan for murder. She was also a member of the Academic Decathlon team (ACDC) and sang in the choir, a profile that has left many people questioning her involvement in the killing and asking what motive there might be. The next day, the police department received a call: Arrant said he had been attacked by a man in a parking lot wearing a black hood who told him to stay away from Rachelle. Defense attorney Wells asked, If all they wanted was the truth, why did they ignore Rachelle when she said in the interrogation 19 times she told the killers she didn't want the murder to happen?. The Alaska Court of Appeals ruled in February to deny the appeal of a Craig woman who was found guilty of negligent homicide for actions that led to her mothers murder in 2004. Yes, she did but police had searched Rachelles computer, interviewed friends, and checked into her past activities. And I didn't feel complete. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. Investigators asked Jason to meet with Brian while wearing a wire. At this point in time, Ms. Waterman went into custody in Nov. 2004 and was released on bail in Feb. 2006. Now, with her father standing by her, Rachelle would face the prosecutor and her mother's killers. However, when things didnt go exactly as they imagined, they set the vehicle on fire and fled. Absolutely no thought for the horror her mother endured. Brian stated that Jason asked him to kill Lauri and that Rachelle had often complained to him about her mothers abuses. Rachelle told Jason and Brian that her mother would be home alone, and left the front door unlocked. But they didn't think a judge would grant her request. Rachelle's attorney cross-examined Jason Arrant and immediately began attacking his credibility -- beginning with his claim that Rachelle helped plan the killing, that she told him Brian could sneak into the house through a window that she used to sneak out of. She was found guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced to three years in prison. When Don and Rachelle arrived at the house, police did, too and shared the devastating news: the van found smoldering in the woods some 40 miles away from their home -- was, in fact, Lauri's. Previously, Radel had gone to shoot Lauri as she exited from the school but had to call it off after noticing he had forgotten the bolt for his rifle. Wells called clinical psychologist Marty Beyer to the stand. Radel had also dated Rachelle at one time. IBEW Local 1547 members are committed to getting the job done. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.. Showers in the evening, then partly cloudy overnight. Anchorage jurors found Waterman not guilty of 1st and 2nd degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder. Rachelle served her time and was subsequently released. Eventually, though, she finally confessed and admitted the abuse was "pretty much lies," Claus said. But, you know, behind closed doors, other things happen. The jury all agreed Rachelle had been involved, but to what degree? Rachelle: My mom was really mad at me and they were low on money and she was talking to me about selling me for prostitution as a punishment. With a little more prodding, Jason finally admitted that Rachelle was aware of the murder plan that was to take place. On the day Lauris remains were discovered, investigators caught a man named Jason Arrant loitering around the Waterman home, asking suspicious questions about the crime scene. The police suspected Jason and Brian from the beginning of their investigation. The only difference was she lived in a place many would say is the end of the earth; a place too small to offer resources for parents dealing with adolescent challengesissues that undoubtedly stemmed from boredom. The defense cast Arrant, the prosecution's key witness, as a deranged child predator who plied Rachelle with alcohol, cigarettes and sex and then twisted her words, using them as an excuse to get her disapproving mother out of the way. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Randy McPherron (interrogation video): A little exaggeration there and a little overacting there - here, can have some dire consequences, right?
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