Madison's Father
Appearances
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
My opinion is they picked a fight. They thought they picked out some weak-minded kid they didn't know who they were playing with.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
Oh, yeah. I just want to be set up for a polygraph test, honestly. As soon as y'all can do it, I want a polygraph test. I asked like three or four times.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
Yeah, sometimes I could, sometimes I couldn't. Sometimes they would be giving each other the silent treatment. Sometimes they would be arguing in front of us. But most of the time, it's more of like behind closed doors.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
I wanted to go do my own thing, and that included partying and smoking pot and stuff like that. So, I mean, I couldn't do it at home when my parents were around, so I decided to go other places.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
He like freaked out and then he called her and was like going off on her about it. Saying what? It was like, I need you. Like, I can't live without you. Stuff like that. And whenever we got back home, I had never seen my dad cry before, but he was bawling.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
I would just think about the light at the end of the tunnel, you know. My favorite Bible verse, Jeremiah 29, 11, is like, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
I think I asked like three or four times for a polygraph. I just want to be set up for a polygraph test, honestly. As soon as y'all can do it, I want a polygraph test.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
Yeah, I mean, it's a lie detector test. I mean, yeah, some people can find a flaw in that. Some people can beat it, even when they are lying. But I mean, I was 17 years old. I mean... I didn't know nothing about it. I just knew it was a lie detector test.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
Before everything happened, I never really even had more than a five-minute conversation with him. But whenever I got to the jail, I mean, we'd sit there and talk on the phone until the time ran up on the phone.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
After 15 months and seven days, the guards said, today's your lucky day, pack it up.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
Yeah, they seemed pretty determined, but I was pretty determined myself. This is the start of war, you know? Everything's at stake. I was like, if this goes downhill, I'll have two life sentences and be in prison for the rest of my life.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
If this goes downhill, I'll have two life sentences and be in prison for the rest of my life. And I was like, it's okay. Like, if you don't want to be with me anymore, you can go. That was pretty tough having to tell her that, you know?
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
From everything that I've been through, I have no doubt in my mind that the sheriff will try to put me back in jail. I don't know why he has such a grudge against me. Well, he thinks you're guilty of murder. Let him think that. He's going to think wrong for the rest of his life.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
Yeah. I want to find that kid who's put in the odd predicament that I was put in, that doesn't know what to do, that doesn't know how to act and fight for them. It's not about the money for me. Yeah, lawyers make good money. It's not about the money. It's about that one life out there that could be saved.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
I've forgiven him for what he's done, but I can't come to the point where I'll visit his grave like I do my mom's.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
They thought they picked out some weak-minded kid. They didn't know who they were playing with.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
I jumped up. I ran to the master bedroom door. I kicked it open and my dad was holding her like this. I was like, I need to go get help.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
My dad, like, signaled my mom to come into the room, and she did, and he shut the door.
Dateline NBC
11 Minutes
I jumped up. I ran to the master bedroom door. I kicked it open, and my dad was holding her like this. I was like, I need to go get help, and then I sprinted, screaming help to my neighbor's house.