The Last Appeal - Ep. 2: “I’m Astonished”
episodePreviously titled “2 - “I’m Astonished”” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 2, 2026
Transcript
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What events led to Robert's conviction for his daughter's death?
You're about to be put to death.
Yes, sir.
I have to ask you, did you harm your daughter, Nikki? No, sir, I did not harm my daughter.
Did you ever violently shake her? No, sir. You did nothing that led to her death? No, sir.
Robert Robertson is scheduled to die on October 16th, 2025. He's been on death row in Texas for 22 years, convicted of killing his two-year-old daughter, Nikki. Robert insists he's innocent. From the beginning, he said Nikki fell out of bed and hit her head.
And you told the medical staff that she had fallen. Yes, sir. And what did they say to that?
How did Gretchen Sween become involved in Robert's case?
They didn't believe my story. They called the detectives in the police department in. Did you understand why? I didn't understand because I brought her to the hospital and stuff, you know? Then the next thing you know, the way they was acting kind of funny and stuff, strange and stuff, acting like I did something, you know?
Robert swears he would have never hurt his little girl. I'm not sure what happened to her because I can't explain what happened to her exactly. The state says it knows exactly what happened.
Based on the totality of the evidence, it's upstated a murder took place here.
But what if Robert is telling the truth?
I saw Robert with Nikki many times. What I saw was a loving father.
If they go through with it, they're killing an innocent man.
I'm Lester Holt, and this is The Last Appeal, a podcast from Dateline, Episode 2, I'm Astonished.
One, two, three, four.
What overlooked medical history of Nikki is revealed?
We'll be chatting like this. Hello. Lester. Gretchen. Pleasure. Thank you so much. Pleasure, Mary.
Gretchen Swinn doesn't look like the kind of lawyer who would pick a fight with the state of Texas. You're from Texas, right? Right here. Oh, my goodness. She's 5'2", calm, measured, approachable. But beneath that demeanor, Gretchen is a bulldog, relentless.
I just always had that hunger. I wanted to do something meaningful.
She began her career as an actress in local theater productions. But in her mid-30s, she gave up the stage for law school.
I always had this sort of dueling force in myself, this sort of artist and then the social activist, and had trouble putting them together.
About a decade ago, Gretchen was working at a Texas public defender's office that handles death penalty cases when she first heard the name Robert Robertson. Turns out, Robert's upcoming execution on October 16th is not the first time he's had a date to die.
What is the significance of shaken baby syndrome in this case?
This was like April 2016, and he had a June 2016 execution date. So it was a crisis situation. There was this commotion with Robert, who was trying to get lawyers to take on his case. He'd long claimed he was innocent, and yet nobody had ever investigated that claim.
So one of her colleagues asked her to take a look at Robert's case. Stacks of paperwork landed on her desk. Gretchen had no clue whether or not Robert was innocent. But she wanted to know more after learning that shaken baby syndrome had been a key argument to prove Robert's guilt.
So I said yes, not really knowing entirely what I was getting into. And there was that race against the clock. Got a Ph.D. in shaken baby very fast.
The theory of shaken baby syndrome was this. If a child showed three symptoms, swelling in the brain, bleeding on the brain, and bleeding behind the eyes, also known as the triad, there was only one cause, violent shaking.
A young British nanny went to America for a job opportunity. Now she's in big trouble, accused of shaking a baby to death.
Most of America first heard of shaken baby syndrome in 1997 because of a case that made international headlines.
Today we focus on what has become known as the nanny trial.
Louise Woodward, a British nanny, was charged with murder when Matthew Eapen, an eight-month-old baby, died in her care. Doctors found that triad of symptoms, concluding Matthew had been shaken to death.
An angry Woodward lost control, violently shook the little boy.
At her trial, Woodward's attorney, Barry Sheck, argued that shaken baby syndrome was junk science.
That's not true. That's not science. That's based on the data.
The jury sided with the prosecution.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What events led to Robert's conviction for his daughter's death?
0:00–1:14
2
How did Gretchen Sween become involved in Robert's case?
1:14–2:13
3
What overlooked medical history of Nikki is revealed?
2:13–3:20
4
What is the significance of shaken baby syndrome in this case?
3:20–5:46
5
How did Gretchen gather new evidence for Robert's defense?
5:46–7:45
6
What challenges did Gretchen face in proving Robert's innocence?
7:45–9:50
7
How did Robert's autism affect perceptions of his behavior?
9:50–11:51
8
What conclusions does Gretchen draw about Robert's innocence?
11:51–25:49
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from Dateline NBC
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