Without Charity (2013) - full transcript

(slow somber music)

- I mean I read a thing
just here recently saying

we leave you and

and we're sorry that
you had to spend

seven years of
your life in prison

for a stupid mistake that
you made when you were 17.

But you know a stupid mistake

is when your mom and dad aren't
home and they left the car

and you back it back and
forth up the driveway

and hit the garage door

or you steal pumpkins and
you smash them someplace.



That's a stupid mistake.

In my opinion she made
a very conscious choice

on what she did.

It was a lot more
than a stupid mistake

that affected lots and lots
and lots people's lives.

She didn't pull the trigger

but in my opinion she put
the gun in Stroud's hand.

I mean do you really
think that Stroud

and the rest of them would've
ever went to the Sears' home

without Charity.

It wouldn't have happened.

(slow somber music)

- On September 14th of 2000
the St. Joseph's County Police

dispatch center had
received a 911 call



from a secretary at Arndt
Construction telling us that

there were three
construction workers

that had been found
by another employee

on Oak Road at a job site that

were found in the barn
down, hands bound,

lying in pools of blood.

If I had to describe the
crime scene in one word

it would be horrific.

You got three hard working men

construction workers
at a job site.

They're down on the
ground face down,

hands bound behind their backs

and each one of them executed.

(electronic static)

- [VOICEOVER] It's a crime
that has rocked Bremen.

- It doesn't happen here.

It shouldn't happen here.

- I'm just shook up that
three people got killed

and we can't find out who it is.

- We're worried.

We live out in the country.

We're kind of worried.

- [VOICEOVER] Folks who
live here are frustrated

over the killings.

- They know nothing and
they wonder what did happen.

- There was a lot of
anger in the community

and I just remember so many
people coming over to give hugs

and offer support
and share memories.

I just remember feeling
really safe and protected

and really loved.

My son's teacher Mrs. Huff

at the time he was
in kindergarten

I remember I talked
to her and I said

"Just please watch over him"

(woman crying)

'cause it was really
hard to let him leave

to go to school because
at that point I felt like

anytime somebody left me I
might not see them again.

(slow somber music)

- [VOICEOVER] A normally
quiet rural part of southern

St. Joseph County busy
with investigators

and squad cars late
in the afternoon.

- [VOICEOVER] As
police look for answers

to this murder mystery.

- We're at the very
front end of this thing.

It's going take us
sometime to get a picture

and a handle on what
really transpired here.

- [VOICEOVER] Special crimes
commander Mike Swanson

remains cautiously optimistic
about finding who's

responsible for
Thursday's triple murder.

- We're all tired.

We're gonna to work
throughout the night

and I can just tell you that
we're gaining some ground.

♪ And know the regret

♪ Where it's such a shame

♪ And all that we say

♪ Is who's

♪ Who's to blame

- Through the investigation
we were able to learn that

the four individuals involved,

in case the four suspects,

had made a plan to
burglarize this home.

They had received information
from Charity Payne that the

people who lived at this
home were extremely wealthy

and were told that
there would be

a lot of money in the house.

The four individuals
got up that day

on the 14th of
September in 2000.

They left Walnut
Street in South Bend

in route out to the
house on Oak Road

to the Sears' property.

A long the way they
stopped at a gas station

at Prairie and Olive Street.

They went inside.

They bought some gloves
and some other items

and then they drove to the home.

They'd been there
the previous day

knew where the house was at

how far back off the
road the house sat.

The gate evidently was open.

They were told by Charity
that if the gate was closed

that indicated that
somebody was home.

The gate was probably
left open that day for the

construction workers, the
deliver of the lumber.

When they got there they
were evidently startled that

the construction workers
were in the barn.

And from that point
they made the decision

or Phillip Stroud
made the decision that

they were going to have
to kill these people

because they had seem them.

They had seen their vehicle

possibly even seen
the plate on the car.

(slow somber music)

(slow piano music)

- We were close.

I was the daddy's little girl.

I was the only
girl in the family.

My mom would tell stories
about how when I was born

he wouldn't hold me because

he was afraid he
was gonna break me.

- I remember my biological
father once saying to him

that he was glad that I had
someone like him in my life

to help raise me, to be
there at times when he

couldn't always be.

We were all his kids.

If someone said how
many do you have

he would say I have six kids.

And when people
talked about steps

and stepchildren or step
parents he would say

we don't have those kind
of steps in our house.

The only kind of steps we have

are the ones that go
downstairs to upstairs.

- My last experience was
when I had to have cancer

removed from my side.

I needed to borrow
some money for the

the doctor's visit basically

and he loaned me $500.00

And he said "I'm not
loaning it to you.

"I'm giving it to you
because I'm your dad."

And that's I think the
last time I seen him.

- The last time I
saw my dad alive

he had stopped by the house
during lunch and I was home.

And we just spent about an
hour just eating lunch together

and talking and then
hanging out with the kids.

His birthday was in September

and the last time
I called my dad

he didn't call back

'cause I called him
to see if he wanted to

meet for dinner
for his birthday.

And it was the day he died

and he never returned
my phone call.

- My children were born
on September the 7th.

I was told I'd never have kids

and he was always an
encouragement saying

"You know what it'll
happen someday."

And so when I did become
pregnant he was probably

just as excited as I was
to see that it finally was

gonna happen.

My children were born
on September the 7th.

He was murdered on
September the 14th.

Unfortunately

they were three
months premature.

So they were iddy-biddy babies.

He could've held them
but he was afraid.

So he was gonna wait
till they came home.

(slow somber music)

Unfortunately by the time
they came home he was gone.

So he never got to see them.

On that day he had just
recently retired and

his brother had a doctor's
appointment, Calvin

and called Wayne to see if

he wanted to come
to work that day

because he was gonna be gone

and so they were gonna
be short a person.

My mom has this board,
a dry erase board

and the morning that he left...

He would always tell
her he loved her goodbye

very predictable, home
at 5 o'clock for supper

meat and potatoes kind of guy.

She wasn't up right
then when he left

and so on the dry
erase board he wrote

"Love you" to her on there.

And she still has that board.

It's never been erased.

It sits and

that's the last thing
I know that he wrote.

- [VOICEOVER] On Thursday
three construction workers

were found murdered.

And tonight we may know why.

- Eighteen year old
Charity Payne...

- [VOICEOVER] More
on this case...

- [VOICEOVER] Charity Payne.

- [VOICEOVER] Eighteen
year old Charity Payne...

- Led the group of suspects
to the Lakeville home.

- When Charity's picture came up

I remember in the
beginning it being odd that

there's this white girl
that's from this community

but the other's weren't.

I mean I think a couple of them

they actually got
from Detroit maybe.

So to place them
in that community

to do a robbery
was very puzzling.

- She seemed like a small
town girl not much different

maybe than me growing
up in this small town.

It just kind of seemed familiar.

And to do something like that
to a family that she knew

because she was involved
with that family previously

just was shocking to me
that somebody could do that.

- Well, as far as I knew
she was always a happy child

thought life was good

seemed like a normal family.

I guess those there
was things going on

that I didn't know about.

She grew up

different things that happened
to her when she was a child.

We were so close.

I mean we were
like best friends.

We talked about everything.

She always told me everything.

I guess I should've been
a little bit more aware

when she quit talking.

- Charity is the first friend
I ever remember having.

We went through elementary
school, middle school

and high school all together.

Later on with the things
that happened you kind of

you could see the
pattern forming.

- That summer we were hanging
out together every day

and almost once a day

I found myself in a position
where I did not feel safe

because she just
doesn't understand that

people you've known for 20 years

you should trust a
lot more than people

you've known for five minutes.

I mean she's just got
that kind of personality.

She's really outgoing

and she really likes to talk
to people which is great.

But she doesn't understand
that there are certain

indicators that maybe they're
not the kind of people

you wanna be talking to.

- Right before we
graduated our senior year

she kind of started to
hang out with people

that I wasn't really
comfortable hanging out with.

- I think Charity
never really knew

what you're taught as a
little kid of stranger danger.

She never really knew
that you should be

afraid of certain people

or maybe you shouldn't let
people in quite as much

as she always just did.

(slow somber music)

- I can think back
very specific things

see their faces very clearly

remember very
specific things but

(electronic static)

I don't really have much audio.

It's almost like
everything's surreal.

It's like looking at a picture

and having no sound.

- That day she was
borrowing my car to go

to her work orientation

but I didn't hear from
her for a really long time

after she dropped
me off at work.

- I was driving towards
where my job interview

was going to be and I
ended up in a neighborhood

that I didn't know where I was

didn't recognize any of
the streets or people

and made a wrong
turn at a stop sign

and at the stop sign Phillip

then was in the middle
of the road and saying

"Hey, come over here, hey."

Well, he had started
talking to me

through the driver's
side of my window.

We had talked about
friends we had in common

names that popped up.

I was like, "Hey,
I know that guy"

so a lot of common ground.

I know that John
the boy I was dating

knew a guy named Punkin

who is actually
Phillip's cousin.

Then in conversation came up

"Yeah, that family's wealthy"

or "They're rich".

"They have this huge pool"

or "They have this pond."

Still at this point you don't
know you're sitting next

to a cold blooded murderer.

Just no idea, have no idea.

They never used the word
burglary or robbery.

That they were going to go
actually commit a crime.

And at that time I
really didn't understand

the unwinding of it all.

I know at one point

he had already made it
clear that he had a weapon

and he needed me to run
him somewhere real quick.

But he ran in there and
he came back out with

another co-defendant of mine

which became known as Tyrone.

And that's when he was like
you're gonna drive us by

the Sears' residence.

At that point I was like well

I don't really have much choice

but to do what he's asked me to

because he's in my
car with a weapon.

And he had already told me
I do remember that he...

We don't have to stop.

That was a very, very
clear memory I have.

He said we're not gonna stop

or we don't have to
stop or anything.

We were just gonna drive by it.

They just wanted to see it.

(slow somber music)

- When she came to
drop the keys off

she was a lot later than
I expected her to be

since she was just
doing a orientation.

She wasn't gonna be
gone for a long time.

And when she came
to drop the keys off

she was getting ready
to go to her other job

and when she handed me the keys

all I remember her saying is

"I really need to talk to you."

Something was wrong

I didn't know what it was

and I didn't know it
was as bad as it was.

But I know that when
she handed me those keys

she was not anything
except for scared.

- He was pretty...

a person of habit.

At our house the
whole time growing up

supper was at 5 o'clock.

We sat at the table all
together as a family.

When it came around that
time and he hadn't called

and he wasn't home

my mom called his
cellphone a few times.

Didn't get any
response or anything

which was not like him at all.

And as time went on and she
continued to call his phone

and got no response

I think sometimes you
just get that feeling that

something's not right.

- All the kids were in bed.

My husband and I were in bed.

Everybody was sleeping and

I had just gone to bed

and I got a phone call from
my oldest brother, Tony

and he said

he said "Dad's been shot."

And I said, "Okay, well what
hospital do I need to go to?"

And he said, "You
don't understand

"he's not alive."

- I didn't really
believe it until

I went and seen him

and that was at
the funeral home.

Because I was told not to
even touch my dad's body

in the funeral home because
his head was totally

blowed off, half of it

and they had putty fillin' it.

What really got me is when
I got the death report

when it said multiple gun
shot wounds to the head.

How many times does it take
to shoot somebody in the head

before you kill 'em.

But I never got his wallet
back, his cellphone back.

But I got his
watch, his glasses,

his lighter, his ring.

But I keep them in a
bio hazard bag because

there's blood everywhere on 'em.

I tried to clean them
up the best I could

but I couldn't.

- [VOICEOVER] Three
more suspects.

- [VOICEOVER] Three
construction workers

- [VOICEOVER] The
grieving continues for

families and friends.

- [VOICEOVER] And
who's responsible for

Thursday's triple murder.

- [VOICEOVER] Corby Meyer's
was part of the Bremen Lion

football tradition here.

- He's always been
a real good friend

ever since he's left school
and just it's a shame.

- These are the kind of people
that wouldn't have enemies

who'd be looking to do
something like this.

Hoping St. Joe County will be to

to get to the bottom of
this and get some answers.

- I got the call that
they had discovered

three bodies in
the Lakeville area

shortly after the
police knew about it so

and I went to the
scene that afternoon

or that evening.

So I was involved in it from

almost the beginning of the
discovery of the bodies.

So I was able to
view the scene from

one of the doorways where
the bodies were located.

I just remember
vividly thinking that

we're gonna need a
miracle to solve this one

simply because we were so

out in the middle of nowhere and

it just didn't make any sense.

It wasn't one of the
kind of crimes where

you'd round up
the usual suspects

'cause it was just so bizarre.

- I received the phone call

the morning after the homicides

from our dispatch center saying

that a woman had called in

that Charity Payne
worked for her.

And on the previous
evening Charity Payne

had broke down after finding out

that the triple
homicide had occurred.

And started crying and
said that she thought

she was responsible
for those deaths.

- I just remember
my heart sinking

everything draining
out of my body

and dropping to my knees

and because even knowing
what I talked about

with those guys that day

not thinking it could've
been turned into even

a burglary then you hear murder.

- We went to bed and about
2 o'clock in the morning

she called, needed a ride.

She was done workin'.

So I went and got her.

And all the way home she
was just really quiet.

She didn't say anything.

She just kind of watched
out the passenger window

like didn't look at me
or anything you know.

So anyhow the next morning
at about 10 o'clock

somebody came and
knocked on my front door.

So I opened the door and
there's two gentleman

standing out there.

And they told me who they were

and that they wanted
to talk to her

that they thought she
might know something about

what happen out there.

And they said would
you mind going with us

down to the special crimes
place and talking to us.

And I still had
no idea, nothing.

You know if I'd a had a clue

I'd a never let
her go with them.

- I believe she was at the
special crimes unit building for

I wanna say seven hours.

At the time we did that

she was not technically
under arrest.

We had brought her parents down

and she wasn't being
interrogated the entire time.

A lot of it she was
sitting in a room

waiting for us to
bring people in

for her to identify through
the closed circuit system

we had there.

- A few times I even

because of the
exhaustion and the trauma

and the stress was sleepy and

would fall a sleep
curled up in a ball

in the corner in a chair.

And they would come
back in and wake me up

and ask me more questions.

And it went on for
about 12 hours.

- Through the investigation
we were able to learn that

Charity Payne had
met four individuals,

four male blacks at Scottsdale
Mall the previous day.

She was with her girlfriend
ran into these individuals

just before leaving.

Charity had a
conversation with them

and had given her phone number

as well as I believe her
girlfriend's phone number.

- She was just really naive.

And I think it's
really hard for people

to understand that

because even myself with
her knowing she was that way

I would always find myself going

why did you do that?

Why did you give those
people my phone number?

Why did you let those guys
in the back of my car?

I mean she just was
always doing things that

any rational person would know

was not a safe thing to do.

- On Wednesday Charity had
taken her girlfriend's car

after dropping her off at school

on the premise that
she was going to go

for an orientation
for a job on the

westside of South Bend
at a local supermarket.

Charity actually
was not going there.

All indications
are is that Charity

had every intent of
finding some marijuana

and contacting these
individuals to do it.

- I don't know necessarily
that it was drugs.

I mean I really don't
think that's probably

why she went there.

I mean I think it was someone
was paying attention to her

and Charity would...

I mean she would
drop her best friends

at the drop of a hat if
somebody else was giving her...

and that's just kind of
always the way she was.

And then I think she
got in a situation

that she couldn't really
get herself out of.

- I can tell you I was not
over there to buy drugs.

It ate me up, tore me up,

just irritated the...

irritated me to death

because they wanted
me so bad to say that

because it would
make sense to them.

- Initially her
story to us was that

basically she was stopped on
the street, someone got in.

They knew her
ex-boyfriend John Sears

and they started asking
her the questions

which was completely untrue.

None of these individuals,
none of the suspects

knew of the Sears family,
John Sears anybody.

It was during the
course of conversation

that she brought
up the Sears family

and how much money they had.

And during the course
of conversation

between the suspects they were

kept talking about "the
white girls got lick".

And "lick" is street
lingo for a robbery.

- I'm not saying I was
completely innocent

never at any point in this.

But more of this has
gotten thrown on me

in the picked a part details.

I can only go so far

and accept so much
responsibility for that

regardless of how it turned out.

- From court documents
of a videotaped interview

18 year old Charity
Payne told investigators

that she told the other
suspects about the

families financial status,

how to bypass the
home security system,

about the maid service schedule,

and their unpublished number.

She states suspect
Phillip Stroud had a gun

and claimed he would kill
anyone found in the home.

- When it went from
conversation to taking them

to the location that's when

she should've known
that this is for real.

And they're probably
really planning on doing

what they're
talking about doing.

- You're not me.

You didn't go through
what I went there.

So you're not gonna sit there

and pick it a part like that.

That makes sense to me though.

You're not gonna
understand that.

I didn't sit in the car
with Phillip that day.

I didn't plan a robbery.

- We thought we were
taking her home with us

that she was just talking to 'em

and then about 10
o'clock at night

they called us in
this little room

and told us that they were
charging her with murder.

It just didn't even
seem real, okay.

I literally beat my
head against a wall.

When I got home sat on the
floor and just cried and...

You just can't even
imagine honestly

what goes through
a parent's mind and

I mean it just crushed us.

- When this all happened
it happened quickly.

It was she met
these guys one day

and the very next day
the crime occurred.

So she didn't have
time to think about it.

And I think she thought

that she could talk to me

and I could tell her
either this is dangerous.

I mean like that this
really may happen.

I think she thought she
had more time to stop it

if there was something
to be stopped.

And you gotta understand
too that Charity

hung out with a
lot of people that

said they were gonna
do a lot of stuff

that they were never gonna do.

I think she was torn between

being scared for herself and

hoping that what these
guys were talking about

was all talk and nothing
was really gonna happen.

- Knowing her she
wouldn't have hurt a fly.

She wouldn't hurt a fly.

She just ran her mouth
to the wrong people

and very bad people.

- We have prepared
charges for felony murder

against Ms. Payne

and they're awaiting a
judge's determination of

probable cause tomorrow.

- About two years
had lapsed between

when the crime happened
and when she went to trial

and I could tell that
things weren't going so well

as far as the way that
they were portraying her

in the media.

It was a huge case.

It was publicized nonstop

every chance they had
to bring it all up

they did in media.

So at that point I
felt like everybody

if you talked to any
random person on the street

they would know about
the case based on

the things that they'd
watched on the news.

So I didn't think that

there wasn't a single
person in this area

who didn't already have a
predetermined opinion of her

before the trial.

So I felt like there was no way

she was ever gonna get a
fair trail in this area.

- She was the first
one to go to trial

and I knew at that
point it was gonna be

all about someone
needs to be punished.

- She planned it.

(inaudible dialect) this
would've happened without her.

She planned it.

She was responsible.

She should be held accountable.

- Had the killer actually
gone to trial before her

I think her case would've
worked out very differently.

- She was charged first
just simply because

we had the information
on her first

and then the others
as we worked the case

the charges came in later.

And it simply was just

there was no reason
to continue her trial.

We were ready to go.

Defense was ready to go.

It just happened that way.

It really wasn't a conscience
decision on our part.

- The trials went over forever.

They went on for seven years.

We were in and out
of the courthouse

because of the number
of people involved

and all the appeals and
everything that happened.

The most troubling memories
for me during the trial

involving Charity would be that

when she always tried to
play the sweet innocent girl

and the first time
she came to court

she came to court in
cornrows in her hair

and her lawyer had
gotten really mad at her.

And said this is not the
look we're going for.

So I think that her lawyer
was trying to make her

look like a sweet innocent girl

and really that's not
who she is inside.

I think that she portrayed
herself as who she was

that first time when she
came into the courtroom.

- I read in the papers and stuff

how she was portrayed as
such a little princess

or whatever cheerleader all this

it just made me more angry.

Well, I don't care
what she used to be.

She's not that today.

I used to be a high
school football star.

I'm not today.

I don't know just everybody
acted like she was the

victim out of the deal.

- You had in this
case a dichotomy.

You had a group young black men

from the rough side of town

and then you had
this young white girl

with good parents,
good family background.

One of the things that I
really wanted to have happen

is that everyone be held
accountable for what happened

not just the one that
had the private rich...

'Cause she was the only
one that had private

retained counsel.

All the other defendants
couldn't afford that

so they had public defenders.

And nothing against public
defenders or anything

but you had not kind of
social issue going on here.

- Police believe eighteen
year old Charity Payne led

the group of suspects
to the Lakeville home.

Right now she is charged
with felony burglary.

Tomorrow the
prosecutor hopes to add

three counts of felony murder.

- The fact that I had charged
her with felony murder

was not necessarily a
popular decision among

some of my colleagues
just simply because

some of them felt that
well she wasn't present.

She wasn't there.

In essence how would she have
known that was gonna happen.

All she knew maybe
was that this burglary

was gonna happen.

The way our law is if you're
in with a group of people

and you're helping this group
of people commit a crime

everyone's responsible for
everyone else's actions.

In this particular situation

if you go out to
break into a home

and someone dies
as a result of it

that's felony murder.

(slow somber music)

- Most of all the
trial I did attend.

It was overwhelming.

I never thought that
I would learn about

gun ballistics and
how a bullet spins

when it's shot and how
they can get this bullet

to line up with this gun.

I think that a lot
of times I felt like

the person on trial
really has more rights

and more things that
can be said about them

than the person who's dead.

I felt sometimes like
maybe the jurors didn't get

didn't know who Wayne and
Corby and Lynn really were

didn't know that they were...

Corby's fiance was pregnant
with his first child

or Lynn's family or Wayne.

I don't know I guess in
a trial I just think that

it should be more fair

that the jurors should
also have to hear

about the victim.

Some of that stuff was
just they need to hear

that society has made you do
the things that you've done

or that you came
from a battered home

or that you had beer
put in your bottle

when you were you
a baby and those...

You hear all of
those things kind of

in my opinion was trying
to get the jury to be

sympathetic that oh my
gosh this poor person.

They had all of these
things bad happen to 'em

when they were growing up

and that's why they
did what they did.

I remember

(slow somber music)

the day that they
talked about the autopsy

and

learning where
the bullet went in

where the bullet came out

and then seeing pictures

that

sort of made the
person unrecognizable

if you didn't know
who they were.

You see gun shot things
on TV all the time but

it doesn't really
prepare you for

what it actually looks like.

And I remember that day
having to cover my mouth

and not being able to breathe

and wishing I
wouldn't have looked

but it was too late.

It was already there on the
screen in the courtroom.

- We had asked to be told

when they were gonna
show those pictures

because we didn't
want to see them.

And so instead I
watched her face

and there was no
reaction to what she saw.

And I guess that always
just kind of set in my mind

kind of her feelings
towards what had happened

that she felt like
she wasn't involved in

that this wasn't her doing.

- I was advised to
keep everything in.

Because if I were to have
said I was sorry or cried

or any of those things that
I was feeling as a human

that they would
be taken by people

or the victim's family members
anyone else as insincere.

I didn't want to
come across and...

What do you say to
someone in that case?

I'm sorry will never be enough.

- I felt like she
should've spoken

that she should've got up

and been honest about her
involvement in the crimes

because not only did
it effect her trial

but it effected all the trials.

And the fact that she wasn't
speaking kind of made it

harder to prosecute the other
people that were involved.

- Her attorney was
very experienced

very capable defense attorney.

And usually it's been my
experience as a prosecutor

that whenever a defendant
gets up and testifies

in their behalf they
essentially dig their own grave.

They don't come
across very well.

So it was probably one
of those situations where

he didn't wanna put her on
the stand because he felt

maybe she would come
across worse than she did

just by sitting there
and portraying this young

innocent girl

that just simply was on the
wrong side of the tracks.

- Her trial was really hard.

I remember sitting
in the witness stand

and looking at her
lawyer waiting for him

to ask me a question that
might actually help her.

I mean 'cause I had sat
a couple of days before

in the witness stand
for the prosecution

and answered a lot of
questions that I knew were

gonna hurt her.

And tried to not make
them twist my words

into something that
were gonna hurt her

but it's kind of hard to do.

'Cause there were
something that just

did make her look bad.

- [VOICEOVER] The prosecutor
countered that the murders

of three construction
workers killed

during a burglary
on the job site

simply would not have
happened without Payne.

Payne told the murderers
a way to enter the home

without sounding
the burglar alarm

that being through the
same second story window

her ex-boyfriend
used to sneak out of

to meet Payne when
the two were dating.

On the witness stand
today that ex-boyfriend

also talked about a letter
Payne once wrote to him

the letter pointed out
how easy it would be

to rob the restaurant Payne
was working at at the time.

- I felt that the fact that
we found this other letter

where she was attempting
to have someone else

commit a serious crime kind
of negating that argument

that this was just a mistake
'cause she did it before.

- Nothing that's
documented in the letter

ever actually took place.

We tried to fight
and get it thrown out

just had no relevance

but of course it
was taken as their

character reference
of me and my mindset

and my ability or
capability to do these

types of things.

- Her attorney would
not ever let us

talk to the media

and put our side
of the story out

or her life or what kind
of person she really was.

Sometimes I think if we'd
have been able to do that

it may have helped how
the media made her look.

- At first I was very
thankful for the media

because really that was
the only information

that we were getting

because the police were
not giving us much.

They were call and they
would give you little tidbits

just enough to
make you want more

and then they would come to
your house and interview you.

They went as far as to...

We asked them not to
come to my dad's funeral.

And they were outside
trying to videotape

and ask people
questions at that point.

And that was really
troublesome to me

that they would
push it to the level

to where it was almost
intrusive on the time

that you were trying to grieve.

- [VOICEOVER] A simple
burglary authorities believe

started with this woman.

- [VOICEOVER] She provide
a lot of information

about the house in question.

- [VOICEOVER] A home
Payne told her new found

friends all about when they
told her they needed money.

- The Charity that
I saw on the news

was not the Charity that I knew.

A lot of people formulated
their opinions of her

through what they
saw on the news

and I don't blame them
because if I didn't know her

I would probably think
the exact same thing.

- I just feel that they
had already all had

their minds made up before
the trial even began.

The media, the public, everybody

they had their minds made up

that she was the ring
leader, the mastermind

and deserved every bit
of whatever she got.

- [VOICEOVER] Charity Payne
didn't fire the shots.

She called the shots that
turned the home of her

ex-boyfriend into the
scene of a triple murder.

- You would ask people

"Well, was she there
when that happened?"

And they'd say, "Yeah, she was."

They had no idea
what really happened.

That she was nowhere
near that house

when those people were killed.

And honestly if she was

she would probably be dead

because there's no way
she would let that happen.

- I wish that it would
have went differently where

those people could've seen me

and not what the media and
everybody else painted.

They just made me to be a
monster and a mastermind.

- [VOICEOVER] Payne first
suggested Stroud burglarize

the upscale home of
her ex-boyfriend.

- [VOICEOVER] Provided
the inside information

about the home of
her ex-boyfriend.

- [VOICEOVER] She
told the killers her

ex-boyfriend's house was
a good target for robbery.

- People like this just
shouldn't be allowed to

be on the streets.

- I would say

just so broken

(slow piano music)

to be looked at like this
thing and picked apart

to know yourself
better than anyone else

nobody's listening
it's horrible.

To stare at people and
watch them judge you

and they just don't know

It's like I'm a human too.

I'm a person.

(loud bang)

- A jury decided she
was just as responsible

for the triple homicide as
anyone who carried it out.

- [VOICEOVER] Charity Payne
left the courtroom in tears

facing hard time learning
a lesson the hard way.

- I hope it offers some
kind of message that

you're not gonna be
able to be excused

for certain things that you do.

- My first reaction

honestly was a
little bit of relief

to know that she
would be in prison

for the rest of her life
for her involvement.

A little bit later then I
started thinking about it

as a parent's side

and my heart kind of
broke for her mom.

Because I started thinking
if that were my child

how that would hurt to
see her go through that

and then to hear that sentence

and just to know
that my daughter

was forever be locked away.

- Yes, she was involved

and things may have not
happened to way they did

had she not talked
to these people

and said what she said to them.

But I did not believe that
she should've been found

guilty of three counts of murder

and spend the rest of
her life in prison.

She should pay for her
role in what happened.

But I didn't believe that
she got a fair judgment.

- I also had the judge that
proceeded over her trial

come into Luigi's Pizza

and told me that she would
never see the light of day

as long as he was alive.

But I still feel that they
used her as an example.

Like I said everything
was overruled,

objected to, thrown out,

not even the right
representation.

They just wasn't for Charity,

the State nobody.

- I mean in my opinion I
think she should've been on

death row too but

I think that all of
the family members had

a relief that these
people heard the story,

saw the evidence,

and knew that she was
guilty of the crime

that was committed of

and set her sentencing
accordingly.

- You know somebody that
has been your best friend

your whole life

and who's been there for
you through thick and thin

and has been such a
strong friend in your life

it's really hard to
hear somebody say

that they deserve death.

- After the sentencing
I really did feel like

she was going to
go die in prison.

I thought for the
rest of my life

she's going to
get one day a year

where she gets a
picnic with 30 people

and that's gonna be the
highlight of her year

and that's all she's got.

(slow somber music)

(slow somber music)

- My first memory
of Charity Payne was

I'm on the block standing
out basically doing

what I was doing every day

was hustling in my neighborhood.

Where I'm from car any car
that we don't recognize...

It's really not supposed
to be no cars that come

through our neighborhood
that we don't recognize.

Then when I see
that it was a female

then I just stood in
the middle of the street

and stopped the car.

That was really it

that's how I first met her.

She told me her name.

Told her my name and

I think we went looking
for some weed or somethin'.

Stopped by one of my
spots and got some

got some weed and

I think we smoked.

Matter of fact I know
we smoked a blunt.

I can't really remember
all the details completely

but we end up going out to

what I later found out
was the Sears' residence.

But it's really nothing
too much that I can say

about Charity Payne
because I didn't know her

but for a brief second.

And I mislead her.

I mislead her.

The reality is I
killed three people.

I killed Wayne Shumaker,
Corby Meyers, and Lynn Ganger.

And I wanna make that clear
because I know in prison

everybody else in this
prison is innocent

of the crime that
they were convicted of

but I'm not.

And I'm not proud of that.

And it took me a long
time to admit that.

For a long time I had
to even get over the

mental hurdle of referring to

my victims as my victims.

I would always say the victims

to like separate it from myself

another way of really
not taking ownership.

I accept full responsibility.

This is not Charity's fault.

This is not my mother's
fault for being poor.

This is not my father's
fault for being gone.

I gotta live with the
fact that I killed

three innocent men for nothing.

(slow somber music)

- I did spent a big chunk
of my growing up life here

even if it wasn't...

A long time when you
think about the years

I grew up majorly here.

And actually this little
fenced in area right here

it's kind of hard to
see through right here

'cause all the layers but

right in through here

that's where we would have
our picnic every year.

If you were sentenced
to 35 years or more

you got a picnic once a year.

You could pick 30
people to come in.

And I would get to come
over for four hours

and eat food with my family

and definitely something
we looked forward to

every year if we were
serving an indeterminate

amount of time.

- I can't change the
way nobody else feel but

I know she didn't instruct
me to do anything.

She didn't instruct
me to kill nobody.

She didn't instruct
me to rob nobody.

What I get from her
if she knew that

anything that she said

would lead to
anybody gettin' hurt

let alone killed, murdered

that she wouldn't have
had no parts in that.

And she just unknowingly

gave me enough information
to do the wrong things

that I already wanted to do.

- Yeah, I remember a
million times walking out

this door to get something

or out this door to unload
a truck and thinking

it's so weird.

The whole world's right there.

Like that truck driver
just drove in here

and he gets to drive right out.

You have to always remind
yourself that the world

didn't stop turning around you.

Life did go on.

If you stayed trapped
where you were

when you walked in that place

you'd come out the same person.

You need to see life
going on around you.

- But the reality is she
was a 18 year old girl.

I mean she was a
18 year old girl.

And I been on the streets
since I was 11 years old.

So that was 10
years at the time.

So I know manipulation and

all of that when I see it.

And she wasn't

a mastermind.

She was just a young girl
really at the wrong place

at the wrong time.

(slow somber music)

- My birthday is March 13th

and I believe on the 14th
my counselor called me down

and told me my attorneys
had contacted her

and needed me to call them.

So I called them right
after my birthday that year.

And they said,

"How would you feel about
going home in April?"

(woman gasping)

I was like, "Are
you kidding me?"

And I think verbatim
that's what I said.

And my lawyer said I would
not kid you about this.

- The two issues that I thought

were central to the reversal

one was frustrating
because it was based upon

law that hadn't
existed at the time.

After we did that
and tried the case

another case came down
from the appellate court

that established kind of
what they call a per se rule

that after so many
hours is looked upon it

as a coercive kind of
interview situation.

And we happen to go beyond the

certain of amount of
hours that this case sat.

And that parameter or that case

didn't exist at the
time we did what we did.

- There's more too it than
just the Miranda rights

being screwed up and
things that went wrong.

There were details that
were swept under the rug

and public did not
get to hear or see.

Jurors did not get
to hear or see.

And there was more than enough

for my lawyers to dig up and say

why was this not
shown to the jurors?

Why did her parents pay for
a psychiatric evaluation

and it was never allowed even
to be entered as evidence.

And so only their side of
who they depicted me to be

was shown to my jurors
and shown to the media,

shown to the public.

And reading those 30 pages
that day was the first time

I felt like somebody
finally heard me.

I had a court date
on April 23rd.

If the judge agreed to it

I would be offered
a plea agreement

from the prosecution
for a time served

sentence and lesser charges.

The things the judge said

he made it very clear to
me that it was his decision

whether or not I left that day.

And he read over it and said

"In the court of Indiana
State versus Charity Payne

"offender is to be
released today."

(loud bang)

Just cried and broke down.

I'm sure I felt every emotion
that I can't even label.

- Everybody knows
that she is guilty

and she is out on the
street walking free.

And my dad and Corby
and Lynn are all dead.

(camera clicking)

- The media I just
remember a lot of

lights and shouting

I don't think I heard
any one question.

I think it was more
like a tunnel vision

type of thing for me.

When my eyes saw the
other side of that door

all I wanted was to be on it.

I ran.

I wasn't stopping to
answer any questions.

- It was amazing.

You know I never dreamed
that she would spend

anytime behind bars.

Then when she got out

it was like life
started all over again

and I had her back.

It was almost like
the day I had her

when she was born

which is another
whole story in itself.

I didn't want anymore kids
after her two brothers.

And her dad's like

he wanted to have another baby

and I'm like I don't
want another boy.

I wanna have a girl
if I'm gonna have one.

And we prayed for a daughter.

And we named her when I was

four months pregnant with her.

So it was kind of like
that when she got out.

- I think by the
technically or whatever

that she was released early

and only served seven
years of her sentence

that she got a huge, huge break

a break that would
be the equivalent of
winning the lottery.

She certainly is as
culpable and guilty in this

as if she pulled
the trigger herself.

- I feel like part of
the justice that was

given for those
men was taken away.

I believe she needs to be
where she's supposed to be

which is locked up.

I don't think she's out
because she's not guilty

because obviously she is.

I mean she sat through
the jury and the trial

and the 12 people
that found her guilty.

She's out because somebody
didn't do their job right.

But I look at it like the
day that she got 165 years

my mother got a life sentence.

And she's not gonna get
off on a technicality or

in this many years
it's gonna be done.

She's gonna have to
serve her full term

and so are all the
other family members

of all three of them.

It's a forever thing with us.

It is a life thing.

And for Charity it's
not and it should be.

- So I was very
angry at the police

for not doing their job.

I was very angry at the
court system for not

holding her responsible
for what she did.

I was angry at her lawyer.

I was angry at everybody.

And then I sat back
and thought about it

and I thought this just
comes down to one person.

It comes down to Charity.

She still is not admitting
her part in this murder.

- I don't think
she's sorry at all.

I think she feels that
she beat the system.

I'm not a real religious man

but I do believe in God and

karma is really gonna come
back and haunt her someday.

I think I hate her more
than I hate Phillip Stroud.

I don't know if
that's right or wrong

but that's just my feelings.

- I don't know that she
could ever apologize

and be forgiven.

Now that being said
I think probably

it would still be a good idea
to openly apologize about it

and then they can
make their decision

if they're gonna
forgive her or not.

I think she's afraid
to do that 'cause she's

afraid she is admitting
that it's all her fault.

And I think to her it's

if she admits any responsibility

that's admitting I mean
that she pulled the trigger.

- Why say it because
it'll never be enough.

I'm sorry cannot do it.

And until if they ever
would let me show them

if they would ever
get to know me and

if there was anything I
could do by knowing them

then maybe they would
know I was sorry.

But to say I'm sorry
wouldn't cut it.

(slow piano music)

- I'm not just glad that
she got the opportunity

to get out of prison and
move on with her life

because Charity Payne
she didn't deserve to be

locked up no more than Kerel
Seabrooks or Tyrone Wade

deserve to be locked up
for the rest of they life.

I'm where I'm supposed to
be because of what I did.

For a long time I just thought
about how it affected me

and my incarceration
affected me and my family

but the real victims are

Wayne Shumaker, Corby
Meyers, and Lynn Ganger

and their families that
have to live with that

and try to put they
lives back together

to this day, man.

And Charity Payne was a victim.

Not a victim on a level of them.

I don't wanna

by any means do I
wanna equate that

but she was a victim
in her own way.

I'm the only person
that's not a victim.

I'm not a victim at all.

That's just really what
I have to live with.

And that's a part of my legacy

and that's the worst
thing that I've ever did

worst thing that's ever
happened in my life.

(slow piano music)

(thunder rumbling)

- Jobs, I got a job right away

and have always
maintained a job.

I never went without that.

But that gap between 18
and 25 I missed was more

more than just missing
out on saving money

it was building foundations

and getting jobs that
you can move up in pay.

So I have to start
at the bottom.

It's really hard for
me as far as a career

or a certain type of job because

as a child I had dreams,
what I wanted to do

but having a felony keeps
me from certain things.

I can't work for banks,
any federal institutions

schools, there's certain
places I can't work. Period.

- She just recently got
hired at a retail store

and I think that to
some people might think

that's no big deal

but it is a big deal for her

and it could lead to
better things for her.

- Think of all the
changes you go through

even between 18 and 25,
which I think was probably

about the time she was released

there's a lot of growing
up and maturing you do

during those years.

She kind of got frozen
at 18 being in prison

and someone making
all of your decisions

during that time when
everybody figures out

how to do it on their own.

- [VOICEOVER] Alright there we.

- Get get a picture.

(camera clicking)

- My name is Tammy and I...

The relationship I had
with Charity is I met her

through the dog program when
she was at prison in prison

and from there we began to write

and eventually when
she left prison

she moved here with us.

When the neighbors found out
they weren't quite so happy but

- They still hate us.

(woman laughing)

We don't get along with
our neighbors very well.

- The neighbors were
upset that we would bring

somebody into the house
who had been in prison

and not tell them

and so it began some conflict.

I guess I was naive.

I said really.

I said, "Well, why don't
you get to know her?

"Why don't you come over?"

I invited them.

I said, "Come over. Let's sit.

"We'll have dinner.

"You'll find out.

"Don't believe what you read."

And absolutely not they said no.

"No, we know what people
like that are like"

and just absolutely refused.

- It effects me
obviously every day

but it's something

that I can't let destroy me.

I just like everybody else

have to get up and
go to work every day

to make money to pay my bills

in order to survive.

And the only reason that I even

came back to that area

is because that's
where my family is

and that's my safety net

regardless of what
happened there.

I don't have
anywhere else to go.

As much as they
want me out of there

it's hard.

It's not easy to
walk into a room

and not know who hates you.

(slow somber music)

- The bottom line is she's
going to live in our society.

Do you think it's
better to support people

that are coming
back into society

or do you think it's
better to shun them?

Your daughters are gonna
be standing next to people

in the grocery store

and you don't know
everybody's history.

So you could be
standing next to her

and never have any idea.

Yeah, so it's been
five years and

that was it they really...

We have neighbors who
just still will not

talk to us.

- I sincerely hope that she
thinks about the victims

and their families
every day of her life

and she takes that

and does something
positive with her life

now that she is out

and maybe help some other
people along the way

or makes that a huge
part of her life.

That'll never make up for

for what's already happened

but she certainly at this point

has an opportunity

that most people don't
ever get a second time.

- People ask that all the
time "How are you doing?"

I mean you go on.

You don't have a choice but
to go on and live your life.

So you go on and you enjoy life

because the people that you love

are still here with you

but there's always
just this little ache

that you can feel

just a little reminder

that one important
person's not there.

And not because he died natural

and not because he
doesn't wanna be there

but because somebody
else made it that way

and they took his life.

- Time doesn't heal anything.

The only thing that
time does for you

is help you to be able to
get things into perspective

and time helps you to be
able to control yourself

and your emotions

but time doesn't heal anything.

It's not any less
of a pain today

than it was 11 years ago.

My mother I watched

go from being one person

to becoming another person

and she'll never be
that one person again.

And I couldn't tell
you for how long

that she wouldn't get dressed.

She wouldn't come
out of her room

that she had to take pills
to get through the day.

And that just didn't last
a few weeks or a few months

that's her life.

- I think when you're going
through a loss like this

the only other people that
can understand it maybe

are the people that are
going through it with you.

Corby's girlfriend at
the time was pregnant.

And every time I
see his little girl

she looks just like Corby.

My heart just skips a
beat because I think

that little girl will
never know her dad

never get to hear his voice.

Never. He never got to hold her.

And being my dad was the
person that was killed

and being a daddy's little girl

I thought she'll never have
that experience with her dad.

- I'm thankful for

for the time that

he was a part of my life.

A lot of life lessons from him

that I will pass over to my kids

who will never know him.

I mean I know that you're
supposed to forgive

in order to move
on and stuff but

they also say God
knows your heart

so God knows that I'm not there.

And I don't know that
I'll ever be there.

And I know

that a part of him would
probably want me to let it go.

- I can't deny my
involvement in any of it.

I have to accept it and grow
and learn from that too.

And now I feel like
even if I did good

for the rest of my life

you can't ever make
up for the bad.

I can never possibly
even those family members

make right for all
of that wrong but

for me I just have to live right

and make right
choices from now on

and not end up that person

that some people expect me to.

- I can remember him...

You'd get upset when
people talk about you

or put you down and you
always have that go on

growing up in school
and things like that

he would always say that...

He would say, "Sheila, do
you know what the truth is?"

and obviously yes I did.

He would say, "As long
as you know the truth

"it doesn't matter
what people say.

"People are always gonna talk.

"There's always
gonna be something.

"But as long as you
know in your heart

"what is and what isn't

"that's all that should matter."

- I think it would probably
be overwhelming to just even

walk in the same room as them.

They would already feel it.

They would know that they
didn't walk into the presence of

something horrible or
evil when they met me.

They would walk in and
feel the human being in me

that has the remorse

and everything you can attach
to living with this every day

every day.

'Cause it won't ever go away.

(slow somber music)

(slow somber music)