Watergate, Deep Throat And Tricky Dick.

The Watergate Scandal was one of the biggest scandals to rock the United States. It stemmed from the Nixon administration's subsequent attempts to cover up its involvement in the June 17th, 1972 failed break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Washington, D.C. Watergate Office Building.

Before i go on about the scandal, i need to pause for a moment and tell you a little bit about Robert Woodward.

Bob was born in Geneva, Illinois and raised in Wheaton. His father was a lawyer who later became chief judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit Court. Bob's parents divorced when he was twelve, and he and his brother and sister were raised by their father.  Bob enrolled in Yale College with a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps  scholarship and studied history and English literature. He received his B.A. degree in 1965 and began a five-year tour of duty in the United States Navy. During his service in the Navy, Bob served aboard the USS Wright, and was one of two officers assigned to move or handle nuclear launch codes the Wright carried.

After being discharged as a lieutenant in August 1970, Bob wondered what he was going to do. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer, but Bob wasn't sure if that is what he wanted to do. That is when he remembered some advice that he was once was given by Deputy director of the FBI, Mark Felt, about sticking with the truth. After thinking about Felt's advice, Bob elected not to attend Harvard Law School, even though he had already been admitted. Instead, he applied for a job as a reporter for The Washington Post while taking graduate courses in Shakespeare and international relations at George Washington University. Harry M. Rosenfeld, the Post's metropolitan editor, gave him a two-week trial but did not hire him because of his lack of journalistic experience. After a year at the Montgomery Sentinel, a weekly newspaper in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, Woodward was hired as a Post reporter in 1971.

OK, now back to 1972. On June 17th of that year, 5 men were arrested for breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. Initially, it was assumed that it was just a simple burglary that went wrong. 

Carl Bernstein and Robert Woodward were both reporters for the Washington Post and were assigned to report on the botched burglary. As Bob sat in court and listened as the judge asked the burglars who they worked for, one of them answered that it was the CIA. This gave Bob the idea to contact his mentor, Mark Felt.

Felt was a distinguished looking man with perfectly combed gray hair who had commanding presence. He was born in Twin Falls, Idaho. His father was a carpenter and building contractor. His paternal grandfather was a Free Will Baptist minister. Through his maternal grandfather, Felt was descended from Revolutionary War general Nicholas Herkimer of New York.

Felt attended the University of Idaho in Moscow where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1935.

Felt then went to Washington, D.C., to work in the office of Democratic U.S. Senator James P. Pope. In 1938, Felt married Audrey Robinson, whom he had known when they were students at the University of Idaho. She had come to Washington to work at the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Felt stayed on with Pope's successor in the Senate, David Worth Clark (D-Idaho). He attended the George Washington University Law School at night, earning his law degree in 1940, and was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1941.

Felt then took a position at the Federal Trade Commission. He was assigned to investigate whether a toilet paper brand, called "Red Cross", was misleading consumers into thinking it was endorsed by the American Red Cross. Felt wrote in his memoir:

My research, which required days of travel and hundreds of interviews, produced two definite conclusions:

1. Most people did use toilet tissue.

2. Most people did not appreciate being asked about it.

That was when I started looking for other employment.

He applied for a job with the FBI in November 1941 and was accepted.

After completing 16 weeks of training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and FBI Headquarters in Washington, Felt was assigned to Texas, spending three months each in the field offices in Houston and San Antonio. He returned to FBI Headquarters, where he was assigned to the Espionage Section of the Domestic Intelligence Division, tracking down spies and saboteurs during World War II. He worked on the Major Case Desk where, under Felt's direction, German agent Helmut Goldschmidt, codename "Peasant", handlers thought that he had made his way to the United States and was giving sending them back Allied plans. But he was really in custody in England and so the Germans were fed disinformation.

After the war, Felt was assigned to the Seattle field office. After two years of general work, he spent two years as a firearms instructor and was promoted from agent to supervisor. Felt also oversaw the completion of background checks of workers at the Hanford plutonium plant near Richland, Washington. In 1954 Felt returned briefly to Washington as an inspector's aide. Two months later, he was sent to New Orleans as Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge of the field office. When he was transferred to Los Angeles fifteen months later, he held the same rank there.

In 1956, Felt was transferred to Salt Lake City and promoted to Special Agent-in-Charge. The Salt Lake City office included Nevada within its purview, and Felt oversaw some of the Bureau's earliest investigations into organized crime, assessing the mob's operations in the Reno and Las Vegas casinos. In February 1958, Felt was assigned to Kansas City, Missouri where he directed further investigations of organized crime. 

Felt returned to Washington, D.C., in September 1962. As assistant to the bureau's assistant director in charge of the Training Division, Felt helped oversee the FBI Academy. In November 1964, he was promoted to an Assistant Director of the Bureau, as Chief Inspector of the Bureau and Head of the Inspection Division. This division oversaw compliance with Bureau regulations and conducted internal investigations.

On July 1, 1971, Felt was promoted by Hoover to Deputy Associate Director and began assisting Hoover's right-hand man, Associate Director Clyde Tolson because Tolson was in failing health and unable to carry out his duties. Felt was also was tasked to rein in William C. Sullivan's domestic spying operations, as Sullivan had been engaged in secret unofficial work for the White House. 

Hoover died on May 2nd, 1972. Tolson was in charge until the next day when Nixon appointed L. Patrick Gray III as Acting FBI Director. Tolson resigned and Felt became Associate Director. On the day of Hoover's death, Hoover's secretary began destroying his files. However, she did secretly turn over twelve boxes of the "Official/Confidential" files to Felt. These contained 167 files and 17,750 pages, many of them containing derogatory information about individuals whom Hoover had investigated. He used this information as power over them. Felt stored the files in his office.

Now, back to Watergate. As the whole thing happened, Felt saw everything compiled on the case before it was given to Gray. And when Bob called Felt, he was more than willing to help, but refused to talk to him over the phone about it. So, wanting his involvement to remain secret, Felt told Bob that on page twenty of the New York Times newspaper, that Bob received at his door everyday, Felt would draw a little clock indicating what time he wanted to meet. When Bob wanted to meet Felt, he would move his potted plant that he kept on his balcony of his house. And that their meeting place would be an underground parking garage in Virginia.

Bob met Felt at the parking garage and asked him how the burglars might be connected to the CIA. Felt told him to do the work, that it was all right in front of him, but to be careful.

Bob couldn't divulge Felt as his source, so he initially referred to him as "My Friend" and then as "Deep Background." Post editor Howard Simons then tagged Felt as "Deep Throat", after the widely known porno film Deep Throat, which was popular at the time.

Bob and Carl Bernstein found out that the burglars had entered the office to repair bugs that they had installed into the office nearly a week earlier and that the so-called burglars were some how connected to the White House and were given the task to spy on the Democrats. One of the was named Jim McCord Jr. and was the security officer for Richard Nixon's Committee to Reelect the President.  

Nixon, who was named after Richard the Lionheart, was born in Yorba Linda, California, in a house that was built by his father. He was raised in he the Quaker faith and  refrained from alcohol, dancing, and swearing. Nixon was a descendant of the early American settler Thomas Cornell, who was also an ancestor of Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell University, as well as of Jimmy Carter and Bill Gates.

Nixon quoted a saying of Eisenhower to describe his boyhood: "We were poor, but the glory of it was we didn't know it". The Nixon family ranch failed in 1922, and the family moved to Whittier, California where Nixon's father opened a grocery store and gas station. Nixon's younger brother Arthur died in 1925 at the age of seven after a short illness. Nixon was twelve years old when a spot was found on his lung. With a family history of tuberculosis, he was forbidden to play sports. Eventually, the spot was found to be scar tissue from an early bout of pneumonia.

Nixon's older brother Harold fell ill of tuberculosis. His parents believed that attending Whittier High School had caused  Harold to live a dissolute lifestyle before he became sick, so they sent Nixon to the larger Fullerton Union High School. Nixon received excellent grades. Later, he lived with an aunt in Fullerton during the week so he would have to take the hour long bus ride to and from the high school. Nixon played junior varsity football, and seldom missed a practice, even though he was rarely used in games. He was a great debater, winning a number of championships.

At the start of his junior year in September 1928, Nixon's parents permitted him to transfer to Whittier High School where he suffered his first election defeat when he lost his bid for student body president. Nixon often rose at 4 a.m., to drive the family truck into Los Angeles and purchase vegetables at the market. He then drove to the store to wash and display them before going to school. Nixon's mother took Harold to Arizona in the hopes of improving his health and the demands on Nixon increased, causing him to give up football. Nevertheless, Nixon graduated from Whittier High third in his class of 207 students.

Nixon was offered a tuition grant to attend Harvard University but he was needed at the store. He remained in his hometown and attended Whittier College with his expenses covered by a bequest from his maternal grandfather. Nixon played for the basketball team. He also was on the football, but he was a substitute because he was deemed to small to play. Whittier had literary societies and the only one for men, the Franklins, snubbed Nixon because he wasn't from a prominent family. Nixon responded by helping to found a new society, the Orthogonian Society. In addition to the society, schoolwork, and work at the store, Nixon also became a champion debater and gained a reputation as a hard worker. In 1933, he became engaged to Ola Florence Welch, daughter of the Whittier police chief, but the two broke up 2 years later. 

Nixon graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in history, and received a full scholarship to attend Duke University School of Law. Nixon was elected president of the Duke Bar Association, inducted into the Order of the Coif, and graduated third in his class in June 1937.

After graduating from Duke, Richard moved back home and began practicing law. 

In January 1938 Nixon was cast in the Whittier Community Players production of The Dark Tower. There he played opposite a high school teacher named Thelma "Pat" Ryan. Nixon fell in love with Pat at first sight, but Pat didn't feel the same way and turned him down several times before agreeing to a date. They dated for two years before she assented to his proposal and they were married.

In January 1942 Nixon and Pat moved to Washington, D.C., where Nixon took a job at the Office of Price Administration and was assigned to the tire rationing division, where he was tasked with replying to correspondence. He did not enjoy the role, and four months later applied to join the United States Navy. His application was successful, and he was appointed a lieutenant junior grade in the U.S Naval Reserve on June 15th. Nixon rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander before leaving the Navy in 1946.

Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. When in the House, he was a member of House Un-American Activities Commission, a group of Congressmen that tried to expose people in the United States who might have been Communists.

In Congress, Nixon supported the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947, a federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions, and he served on the Education and Labor Committee. He was part of the Herter Committee, which went to Europe to report on the need for U.S. foreign aid.  Advocacy by Herter Committee members, including Nixon, led to congressional passage of the Marshall Plan.

By May 1948, Nixon had co-sponsored a "Mundt–Nixon Bill" to implement "a new approach to the complicated problem of internal communist subversion ... It provided for registration of all Communist Party members and required a statement of the source of all printed and broadcast material issued by organizations that were found to be Communist fronts." He served as floor manager for the Republican Party. On May 19th, 1948, the bill passed the House by 319 to 58, but later it failed to pass the Senate.

Nixon first gained national attention in August 1948, when his persistence as a HUAC member helped break the Alger Hiss spy case. In 1948, Nixon successfully cross-filed as a candidate in his district, winning both major party primaries, and was comfortably reelected.

In 1949, Nixon began to consider running for the United States Senate against the Democratic incumbent. He was later elected a Senator in 1950 after running a controversial campaign against Helen Gahagan Douglas. During this campaign, Nixon was first called "Tricky Dick" by his opponents for his campaign tactics.

In the Senate, Nixon took a prominent position in opposing global communism. Nixon also criticized President Harry S. Truman's handling of the Korean War. He supported statehood for Alaska and Hawaii, voted in favor of civil rights for minorities, and supported federal disaster relief for India and Yugoslavia. He voted against price controls and other monetary restrictions, benefits for illegal immigrants, and public power.

In the 1952 presidential election, Dwight D. Eisenhower selected Nixon to be vice-president. People accused him of receiving illegal money contributions to his campaign and some people wanted Eisenhower to pick a different vice president, but Eisenhower still kept Nixon. Nixon after the accusations made a speech on television saying that the only gift he had received, but which he would not give back was "a little cocker spaniel dog ... sent all the way from Texas. And our little girl—Tricia, the 6-year-old—named it Checkers." The speech prompted a huge public outpouring of support for Nixon.

The Republican Party decided to keep Nixon as their vice-presidential candidate and when Eisenhower won the election. During his vice-presidency, Nixon attended Cabinet and National Security Council meetings and chaired them when Eisenhower was absent. 

The Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress in the 1954 elections. These losses caused Nixon to contemplate leaving politics once he had served out his term. On September 24th, 1955, President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack and was unable to perform his duties for six weeks. Nixon acted in Eisenhower's stead during this period. 

Nixon sought a second term, but Eisenhower proposed that Nixon not run for reelection in order to give him administrative experience before a 1960 presidential run and instead become a Cabinet officer in a second Eisenhower administration. Nixon believed such an action would destroy his political career. Although no Republican was opposing Eisenhower, Nixon received a substantial number of write-in votes against the President in the 1956 New Hampshire primary election. In late April, the President announced that Nixon would again be his running mate.  Eisenhower and Nixon were reelected by a comfortable margin in the November 1956 election.

In early 1957, Nixon undertook a trip to Africa. On his return, he helped shepherd the Civil Rights Act of 1957 through Congress.  Nixon then advised the President to sign the bill, which he did. Eisenhower suffered a mild stroke in November 1957, and Nixon gave a press conference, assuring the nation that the Cabinet was functioning well as a team during Eisenhower's brief illness.

On April 27th, 1958, Nixon and his wife embarked on a goodwill tour of South America. When the Nixon party reached Lima, Peru,  he was met with student demonstrations. Nixon went to the historical campus of National University of San Marcos, got out of his car to confront the students, and stayed until forced back into the car by a volley of thrown objects. At his hotel, Nixon faced another mob, and one demonstrator spat on him. In Caracas, Venezuela, Nixon and his wife were spat on by anti-American demonstrators and their limousine was attacked by a pipe-wielding mob. Nixon claimed there was "absolute proof that [the protesters] were directed and controlled by a central Communist conspiracy." 

In July 1959 President Eisenhower sent Nixon to the Soviet Union for the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, during which he had a debate with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. They were both arguing that their country was better.

In 1960 Nixon launched his first campaign for President of the United States. In the first ever televised presidential debate in history, Nixon's performance in the debate was perceived to be mediocre and he narrowly lost the election.

There were charges of voter fraud in Texas and Illinois, both states won by Kennedy. Nixon refused to consider contesting the election, feeling a lengthy controversy would diminish the United States in the eyes of the world and the uncertainty would hurt U.S. interests. At the end of his term of office as vice president in January 1961, Nixon and his family returned to California, where he practiced law and wrote a bestselling book, Six Crises, which included coverage of the Hiss case, Eisenhower's heart attack, and the Fund Crisis, which had been resolved by the Checkers speech.

In 1962, Nixon lost the election for governor of California to Pat Brown. After losing, Nixon said "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore", leading many experts to say that Nixon's political career was over.

In 1963 the Nixon family traveled to Europe, where Nixon gave press conferences and met with leaders of the countries he visited. The family moved to New York City, where Nixon became a senior partner in the leading law firm Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander. When announcing his California campaign, Nixon had pledged not to run for president in 1964.

At the end of 1967, Nixon planned to run for president a second time.

After the Tet Offensive was launched in January 1968, President Johnson withdrew as a candidate in March. In June, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated just moments after his victory in the California primary. Nixon's main opposition was Michigan Governor George Romney. Nixon secured the nomination on the first ballot. He selected Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew as his running mate.

Nixon's Democratic opponent in the general election was Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Throughout the campaign, Nixon portrayed himself as a figure of stability during a period of national unrest and upheaval. He appealed to what he later called the "silent majority" of socially conservative Americans who disliked the hippie counterculture and the anti-war demonstrators.

Nixon waged a prominent television advertising campaign and stressed that the crime rate was too high, and attacked what he perceived as a surrender by the Democrats of the United States' nuclear superiority. Nixon promised "peace with honor" in the Vietnam War and proclaimed that "new leadership will end the war and win the peace in the Pacific".

In 1968, Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey and Nixon was inaugurated as president on January 20th, 1969. In his inaugural address, which received almost uniformly positive reviews, Nixon remarked that "the greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker."

When Nixon took office, about 300 American soldiers were dying each week in Vietnam, and the war was broadly unpopular in the United States, with ongoing violent protests against the war. Nixon had concluded that the Vietnam War could not be won and he was determined to end the war quickly. He slowly began withdrawing U.S. troops, so that the South Vietnamese troops could take over the fighting by themselves. Nixon secretly bombed many enemy targets in Cambodia and North Vietnam while bringing home the American troops, to make it easier for South Vietnam to win. When his spreading the bombing to Cambodia and Laos became known in 1970, it caused larger protests than ever in America, including at Kent State and even in Washington, DC, where more than 12,000 were arrested in May 1971 at the peak of the protests. Partly because of the amount of opposition, Nixon sped up troop withdrawal and ended the draft.

Nixon began a policy called "detente" which reduced tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. The two countries would get along and sign treaties that would limit the production of nuclear weapons between both sides. Nixon traveled to communist China and established a very good relationship with them. Before that, there was almost no relationship between the United States and China. It opened up the door for decades of trade in the future, which is why many items in the United States were made in China. 

Nixon entered his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot on January 5, 1972, effectively announcing his candidacy for reelection. 

Fast forward to June and back to Bob and Bernstein's investigation in to what was going on with the break in at Watergate.

A diary was found which had the contact number of E Howard Hunt, who was an intelligence agent and a member of the White House plumbers, which was a secret team of agents working at the behest of the White House. It turned out that Hunt along G Gordon Liddy were the brains behind the first break in and that there were many agents responsible for spying on the Democrats. A check meant for Richard Nixon's reelection campaign was traced to the bank account of one of the burglars. This led to the conclusion that the campaign funds were being used to fund these illegal activities. 

Nixon wanted to stop the leaks and find who "Deep throat" was. Felt volunteered to head up a task force to investigate to which Nixon agreed. Haldeman later initially suspected lower-level FBI agents, including Angelo Lano, of speaking to the Post. But eventually he began to suspect Felt and told the president about his suspicions.

Haldeman also said that he had spoken to White House counsel John W. Dean about punishing Felt, but Dean said Felt had committed no crime and could not be prosecuted.

James McCord sent a letter to the trial judge naming other people who were part of this conspiracy. With more and more evidence being unearthed, it was soon clear that Richard Nixon was personally involved in the scandal along with several members from his administration. It was also discovered that many of the conversations regarding the conspiracy took place in the Oval Office and these conversations were taped. Initially, Nixon denied the presence of the tapes, but due to US Supreme Court order, he was forced to hand over the tapes containing the damning conversations. However, some important conversations from these tapes were missing.

On November 17th, 1973, during a televised question-and-answer session Nixon said, "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got."

The US Congress was forced to begin the process of impeachment against Richard Nixon. However, before the culmination of the process, Nixon resigned on 9th August 1974. While Nixon himself did not serve any prison time, many of his aides were found guilty by the Grand Jury.

Things That Happened This Week in History

March
22nd

1622 – Jamestown massacre: Algonquians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia.

1943 – The entire village of Khatyn, present-day Republic of Belarus, is burnt alive by Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118. 

1972 – The United States Congress sends the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification. 

1995 – Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to earth after setting a record of 438 days in space.

23rd

1775 – Patrick Henry delivers his speech – "Give me liberty, or give me death!" – at St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.

1945 - Battle of Okinawa: US Navy ships bomb the Japanese island of Okinawa in preparation for the Allied invasion; it would become the largest battle of the Pacific War in World War II

1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" begin their arduous journey home.

1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.


24th
1837 Canada gives its black citizens the right to vote

1882 German scientist Robert Koch discovers and describes the tubercle bacillus which causes tuberculosis ( Mycobacterium tuberculosis)

1944 – 76 Allied prisoners of war begin breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III.

1958 – Rock 'n' roll teen idol Elvis Presley is drafted in the U.S. Army.


25th
31 1st Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus

1948 – The first successful tornado forecast predicts that a tornado will strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. 

1960 1st guided missile launched from nuclear powered sub (Halibut)

1965 – Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.


26th
1812 Earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale destroys 90% of Caracas, Venezuela and kills an estimated 15,000–20,000 people

1942 First "Eichmann transport" to Auschwitz & Birkenau concentration camps

1953 Dr Jonas Salk announces vaccine to prevent polio 

1966 Large-scale anti-Vietnam War protests take place in the United States, including in New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago

27th
1866 – President of the United States of America Andrew Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866. His veto is overridden by Congress and the bill passes into law on April 9.

1914 1st successful non-direct blood transfusion is performed by Dr. Albert Hustin in Brussels 

1915 – Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States is put in quarantine for the second time, where she would remain for the rest of her life.

1964 – The Good Friday earthquake, the most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes Southcentral Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.


28th
1939 Spanish Civil War ends, Madrid falls to Francisco Franco

1946 Cold War: The United States State Department releases the Acheson-Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.

Was Cole Thomas Murdered Because He Didn't Want To Be Involved In A Drug Deal?

Christopher Cole Thomas

Cole, as he liked to be called, was funny. He was also very ambitious and when he had his mind set on something he would get it done. Cole would do anything for anyone. He was very close to his family who said that he gave the best hugs.

In high school, Cole was an honor student and had a scholarship to the University of Florida, which he used following graduation. He also had a on again off again girlfriend named Gabrielle. 

Things seemed to be going good for 22-year-old Cole, and even though he was close to finishing college, he decided to drop out and head to Minnesota with his friend Steven to work as a apprentice electrician. This greatly concerned his parents Chris and Kathy Thomas, but they supported him nonetheless.

Being very family oriented, Cole kept in close contact with his family over the phone. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving of 2016, he called his aunt Darla. That would be the last time any of his family would hear his voice.

Cole sent his last text to his dad on Thanksgiving day, telling his dad that he loved him and to have a good day. His dad text him back and told him he loved him too.

Unbeknownst to his family, on that Thanksgiving day, Cole allegedly volunteered to drive some of his co-workers on a over 1,000 mile trip from Pine Island, Minnesota to Durham, North Carolina. Two of the guys that Cole was traveling with he had only known for two weeks.

Later that night, a surveillance camera from a convenience store in Mount Olive, North Carolina, recorded Cole shopping at 11:30 p.m.

Three days later, Gabrielle claimed that she received a Facebook message from a friend of her and Cole's stating that "Cole is missing and we think he is dead." And that he never made it to North Carolina.

Gabrielle quickly called Cole's mother, Kathy, about the friend's ominous call. Kathy told a shaken Gabrielle that she didn't believe the friend and that she didn't feel as though Cole was dead. Moments later, Kathy received another call, this time from the Benson police telling her that Cole was registered as a missing person. Benson is roughly 30 miles from the convenience store where Cole was last seen.

When Cole's father got home from work, they broke the news to him that Cole apparently went missing between 1 and 3 in the morning, on the day after Thanksgiving. 

Cole's parents rushed right away, 500 miles on a Holiday weekend, to North Carolina to help search for their son. They arrived at the Benson police station at about 3 a.m. There was a Sargent on duty who let them in. The Sargent then called one of the guys that Cole had been on the trip with. The guy claimed that they had told police that Cole had a panic attack, jumped out of the vehicle and took off. He said that they waited a while for Cole, but he never came back, so they left.

The story that the guys, that were the last to see Cole, told police didn't make sense to his family. And over time, that story kept changing.

One of the last people to see Cole alive was his co-worker named Jeremy. Supposedly, Cole and Jeremy were traveling with another co-worker named Julian. They were on their way to Julian's house when they had stopped off at the convenience store. Jeremy told Cole's dad that they made a stop to someone else's house after they left the store because Julian was going to purchase drugs.

Julian had a criminal history which involved drug trafficking of meth. He also wasn't very cooperative when Cole's dad, Chris, tried to ask him questions.

Jeremy told Chris that Cole didn't want to have anything to do with the drug deal that night, but went anyway. He said that all three of them were stripped searched to make sure that they weren't wearing a wire or carrying a weapon. Jeremy said that once the deal was done, they left and that is when Cole freaked out. He then told Chris that Cole thought someone was following them and that made Jeremy afraid that they were going to get caught. Jeremy said he grabbed the drugs from Julian and threw them out the window. 

Cole was driving erratically and then pulled over at the intersection of North Elm and East Morgan streets in Benson. He got out of the vehicle and Jeremy got out as well and tried to calm him down.

A surveillance photo captured what is thought to be Cole and Jeremy walking down a street in Benson around 1 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving.

Jeremy then told Chris that they kept walking until they arrived at a church. He then said that Cole had to use the bathroom and while he was doing that Jeremy went around to the back of the church and got down on his hands and knees and prayed. When Chris asked him why prayed, Jeremy said, "Cuz i threw the dope out the window and this ain't good people."

When Jeremy was done praying, he went back around to the front of he church, but couldn't find Cole. He thought that maybe Cole went back to the vehicle, so he started walking back. After walking for around 5 minutes, Jeremy said he heard what sounded like two gunshots.

When Jeremy got about a block from the vehicle, he said that Julian saw him and asked him, "Where the hell ya'll been? If my boys woulda seen ya out here in this neighborhood it wouldn't have been good. And there wouldn't have been nothin i could do about it."

Cole's phone was tracked to several locations before the trail ended in Mount Olive.
The police used ATVs and K9s to search a wooded area in Benson, but found nothing.

Julian Valles Jr, Jeremy Brian Carpenter, Rudolfo DeLeon Jr., and Anthony Riddell James, were identified as suspects in the case and arrested. Charges against the four have since been dropped, but investigators continue to keep their eyes on them.

Cole's family enlisted the help of private investigator David Marshburn to him them find him. He thinks two of the men, previously arrested, were not involved in Cole's, but the other two were ­— and one of them was set up to take the fall.

Marshburn said one of the suspects has opened up about the case and family members want to make it very clear, they are aware of what happened. They were told that Julian allegedly hatched a plan to tell authorities that Cole had run off after a drug deal with the men. Julian then allegedly called DeLeon and James to come to Benson after Cole, Julian and Jeremy had bought methamphetamine from DeLeon in Wayne County because Cole had thrown the drugs away. When all five met up in Benson, "decisions were made" that led to Cole's death.

At the time of his disappearance Cole was 6 foot 1, 230 pounds, with brown/blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a light blue shirt, black long sleeve undershirt, black pants, dark colored (Hurly) shoes and a blue and white ball cap.

This case remains under active investigation by both the Benson Police department and the SBI. A $17,000 reward is still being offered to anyone who has information that could solve this case.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Benson Police Department at 919-894-2091 or by email at crimeline@bensonpd.org, or the SBI at 919-779-8188, or 1-800-334-3000 after business hours.

https://www.facebook.com/findcolethomas/

Misadventure Or Malice?:The Death Of 5-Year-Old Cloe Chandler.

🌻 Cloe Marie Chandler🌻

“Love is putting someone else’s needs before yours."

Little Cloe or "peanut" as her grandmother called her, was born on November 11th, 2012 in Marshalltown, Iowa to Kelsie Thomas and Steven Chandler. 5-year-old Cloe had graduated in May 2018 from pre-school at Agassiz. She loved riding her bike, sticker books, sunflowers and everything purple. She liked to go to the park, color and blow bubbles. Cloe liked school and would work hard at it. She could count up to thirty. She liked to learn new things. She was a happy kid. Cloe's favorite movie was "Frozen."

Kelsie had Cloe when she was 16. Cloe's father, Steven, cheated on Kelsie and left her to be a single mother. Later, Kelsie met Aaron Thomas. They got married and had a little boy named Phoenix. After the birth of Phoenix, Kelsie grew distant from Cloe and became easily irritated by her. It got to the point where on several occasions, Kelsie asked her mother, Cloe's grandmother, Kaladra, if she'd just take her.

According to Cloe's mother, Kelsie, in their home on 127 North James Street in Ottumwa on July 19th, 2018, Kelsie made lunch for Cloe and then put her down for a nap sometime after 12 p.m. Kelsie said she also took a nap before work. Kelsie woke up around 3:15 p.m. found Cloe unresponsive in her closet. Kelsie said she found pajama pants strangling her neck. She then lifted Cloe down and the knot in the pants came undone. Kelsie then put Cloe on her bed and ravioli came out of her mouth in vomit.

Kelsie called 9-1-1. Around 3:30 p.m., Chief Deputy Fire Fighter, Corey Binge, was first on scene. He went into Cloe's bedroom and found her cool to the touch. Her airway was blocked by vomit. He tried to resuscitate her to no avail.

Cloe was pronounced dead at Ottumwa Regional Health Center at 4 p.m.

Around 8:30 p.m., Kelsie's mother, Kaladra, got a call about Cloe from one of Kelsie's ex-boyfriends. Kaladra then called Kelsie to ask her if Cloe was ok. Kelsie, who was eating dinner asked, "How did you find out?"

The next day, Kelsie told her cousin, Brittney, about how Cloe reminded her of  her ex, Cloe's father and how her behavior was becoming more like his everyday. About how much that had bothered her.

Kelsie said her daughter wanted to make a swing in the closet with those pants, but ended up choking to death and strangling herself instead.

An autopsy was performed at the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner on July 23rd, 2018. The cause of death was determined to be Ligature Strangulation. The manner of death was certified as Homicide. The medical examiner stated to the police that her findings indicated that Cloe had not been hanged like Kelsie had claimed. The examiner said that since Cloe had hemorrhages inside her neck, that a struggle occurred. There was also hemorrhaging on the hyoid bone. 

On July 24th, Kelsie was brought in for an interview. 

On July 26th, Kelsie was brought in for another interview. She changed her story and told the officers that Cloe was never in the closet. She said that she left Cloe home while Aaron was sleeping. She took her father, Cloe's grandfather, Larry, to the doctor with Phoenix in tow. Kelsie said she wanted to leave because she was frustrated with her daughter. “She was misbehaving, acting out, I didn’t know why,” claimed Kelsie.

Kelsie then went to Walmart then back home around noon. Cloe came to the door and opened it for her mom and told her "I miss you." This upset Kelsie because Cloe was suppose to stay in her room. Aaron left for work and Kelsie tried to put Cloe down for a nap, but Cloe wouldn't stay in her room. This frustrated Kelise even more. She looped some pajama pants around her daughter's neck and started choking Cloe. As Cloe eyes looked at Kelsie's, they bulged. The little girl struggled and then went limp.

After the interview, Kelsie wrote a letter saying that she was sorry for doing this and that her family should have stepped up and helped her.

Kelsie was arrested on first degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. She plead not guilty to the charges even though she basically told investigators that she killed Cloe.

One of the calls that Kelsie made in jail was to her husband, Aaron Thomas. She told him that she was sorry and that she didn't mean to do it. That it was an accident. Aaron told her to stop talking and that she needed a lawyer.

Aaron left Cloe and along with Phoenix, went to Arizona with another woman.

Kelsie Thomas Trial - Prosecution Opening Statement

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Opening statements of Kelsie's trial started on March 4th, 2020. The prosecution said that they were going to prove that the last thing that Cloe saw was her own mother strangling her, and robbing her her last breaths of life.

Kelsie Thomas Trial - Defense Opening Statement

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When the defense took the floor they wanted to remind the court that Kelsie was innocent until proven guilty. They also said that the state will never been able to prove that she is guilty in the eyes of the jury and that Kelsie's confession to Cloe's murder was false.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 1 - Kaladra Kochuyt & Brittney Johnson

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Kelsie's mother, Kaladra, testified that after Phoenix was born Cloe stopped getting attention. And that a month before Cloe's death, she ended up by a pond, all alone. Kaladra also said that Kelsie told her she was having a difficult time getting Cloe to listen. Kaladra said that she told Kelsie to spend more time with Cloe and that maybe she'd start listening better. Kaladra also talked about how Kelsie had asked her if Cloe could live with her. Kaladra told Kelise no, that Kelsie would miss her too much. According to Kaladra, when they went to the zoo two months before Cloe died, Cloe's shoes kept coming undone and they had to stop and kept retying her shoes because Cloe couldn't tie them tight enough.

If Cloe couldn't tie her shoe laces tight enough, could she have tied the pajama bottoms tight enough to accidentally strangle herself to death?

Kaladra also talked about the conversation she had with Kelsie after Kaladra found out about Cloe's death via an ex-boyfriend of Kelsie's.

Kelsie's cousin, Brittney then took the stand. She talked about how she grew up with Kelsie. Brittany also testified that after Phoenix  was born, that Kelsie payed him more attention than Cloe. That it seemed like Cloe was neglected compared to Phoenix and sometimes forgot about. That Phoenix was also dressed nicer than Cloe. 

Brittney also testified about how one of the reasons that Kelsie had broken up with Cloe's dad, Steven, is because he had cheated on Kelsie numerous times.

Brittney said that she found out about Cloe's death after reading a news article on Facebook. Brittney said that she then tried to get a hold of family members. When she finally talked to Kaladra, she found out that Kaladra learned about Cloe's death through an ex-boyfriend of Kelsie's. This prompted Brittney to drive to the police station and told them that she didn't believe that Cloe's death was an accident and asked to be wired.

After going to the police station, Brittney went straight to Kelsie's home. Brittney said that Kelsie didn't seem upset. They came to an agreement were Brittany would take care of Phoenix for a while. They then went to a friend's house to pick Phoenix up. On the way to the friend's house, Kelsie told Brittney how Cloe reminded her of Cloe's father, Steven. She also told Brittney that Cloe wouldn't listen and would get out of hand. That Cloe was not controllable  and would get on her nerves. Kelsie also told Brittany how it was sometimes hard to look at Cloe because she reminded her so much of Steven.

Once back at Kelsie's house, Brittney asked to go inside. Kelsie said that she didn't want to go back inside because she just saw her daughter die. Then Kelsie corrected herself and said that she found her dead.

Kelsie told Brittany that she wasn't happy that the police were investigating Cloe's death. She also discussed with Brittney how Cloe had allegedly tied the pajamas in a knot above the rod in the closet, which created a loop.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 1 - Brittney Johnson & Chief Deputy Fire Fighter, Corey Binge

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Binge testified that there was vomit in Cloe's hair and by her face. He also said that when he asked Kelsie what happened she stated that she had found Cloe hanging in the closet. Binge said that he had checked for a pulse and to see if Cloe was breathing. He said that their was no pulse and that her airway was restricted with vomit. He then moved her to the floor and checked her extremities and they were cool to the touch. Binge moved Cloe's head to the side to clear her mouth of vomit and then begun CPR. Binge also said that he noticed ligature marks on Cloe. He then went on to explain about the life saving measures that the EMT's tried when they showed up a few minutes later. Binge carried Cloe to the ambulance when it arrived where they continued to work on Cloe. Binge said that Kelsie seemed upset.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 1 - Chief Tom McAndrew & Aaron Thomas - Defendant's Husband

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I don't know the first guy's name, but he was an EMT that arrived on scene. He stated that when he arrived on scene, he did not see the pajamas tied in a knot, but they did appear like they had been previously pulled or cinched tight. He stated that Kelsie seemed upset and there was nothing odd about her behavior.

Chief McAndrew talked about how he walked into Kelsie's house and saw her holding Phoenix and Binge preforming CPR on Cloe. He then went back outside to wait for the ambulance. When the ambulance arrived McAndrew went back in and told Binge that it was there so he could run Cloe out to it. McAndrew was helping get the ambulance doors shut when Aaron Thomas came running up. Aaron then looked in the ambulance, became upset and then ran into the house. After a few minutes Aaron ran back out and McAndrew offered him a ride to the hospital. They got into McAndrew's vehicle to wait for the ambulance, but Aaron got impatient and went back to the ambulance. He returned a few minutes later with Kelsie and Phoenix in tow. After a few minutes Aaron got impatient once more and went back to the ambulance. As Aaron got to the back of the ambulance it started to take off, so he got back in McAndrew's vehicle and they followed the ambulance to the hospital.

On the way to the hospital Aaron asked Kelsie what happened. Kelsie told Aaron that they ate lunch and took a nap. After the nap she said she checked on Cloe and found her hanging in the closet by a pair of pajamas.

Once and the hospital, they followed EMTs as they took Cloe into the emergency room. Aaron went into the trauma room with Cloe as McAndrew stood in the hallway with Kelsie and Phoenix. Kelsie was crying and said that she felt like she was going to be sick.

After Cloe was pronounced dead, Aaron came out of the trauma room. Then Aaron, Kelsie, Phoenix, McAndrew and a Chaplin walked outside and the Chaplin talked to Kelsie and Aaron. The sun became too much for Kelsie and they went back inside the hospital. Aaraon went into the trauma room as Kelsie and Phoenix walked to the end of the hall with the Chaplin. And that was the last McAndrew saw of them.

Aaron testified that when he started dating Kelsie that Kelsie and Cloe's relationship was great. Aaron also talked about getting a nasty phone call from Kelsie on the day of Cloe's death. Ten minutes later he received a second phone call from Kelsie saying that Cloe was not breathing and that is when he rushed home. When he arrived, that was when EMTs were rushing Cloe out to the ambulance. He also said that he found Kelsie's demeanor very odd when she was talking to police.

Aaron didn't know why Kaladra accused Kelsie of being involved in Cloe's death. And that it was normal for Kelsie to put the kids down for a nap so she could also take a nap before work. He said however, that he had no idea that Kelsie had left Cloe alone with him while he was sleeping on the day of her death.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 2 - Amanda Misencik - Criminalist & Inv Michael Sieren - Defendant's Crime

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Criminalist Amanda Misencik stated that the tests she performed didn't show conclusive signs of sexual assault. She also stated that she found two DNA profiles on Cloe's pillow case. The main contributor was Cloe, but the minor contributor's profile was incomplete. There was two DNA profiles found on Cloe's pajama bottoms that she had died from. They were found on the legs. Cloe's was the Major and the Minor could not be identified. Cloe's fingernails were tested for DNA. Only Cloe's DNA was found underneath her fingernails which suggested that there was no indication of a struggle.

Investigator for the Ottumwa police department, Michael Sieren, testified about Brittney Johnson coming to the police station and speaking about her concerns with Cloe's death.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 2 - Inv. Michael Sieren Part 2

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Sieren testified that it appeared there had been no struggle in the closet. There was no vomit in the closet either. He also said that Kelsie had told him that she had found Cloe hanging by the crotch of the pajamas and that they had been tied around the rod in the closet. Kelsie also had told Sieren that when she picked Cloe up, the child felt like dead weight.

Sieren then talked about the search warrants and about cellphones, cellphone records and computers being seized.

The court listened to an audio clip of Kelsie being arrested. And the defense also talked about Sieren's interrogation tactics.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 2 - Dr Michele Catellier - Medical Examiner Part 1

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I don't what to go into the gory details, so i'll just say that Dr, Catelleier talked about that there was evidence that Cloe was asphyxiated by strangulation. Cloe's autopsy photos were also displayed.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 2 - Dr Michele Catellier - Medical Examiner Part 2

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Catellier talked about the difference between hanging strangulation and when someone is strangled by another person using a ligature. When someone is hanged, there is often no injury at the neck due to rapid loss of consciousness. When a person is strangled, there is often some kind of struggle that leaves injury. However, sometimes, when the aggressor is stronger or the victim is unconscious or barely conscious, there might be no sign of injury. 

Catellier explained that in Cloe's autopsy photos their is slight signs of strangulation as apposed to hanging.  She also stated that she doesn't know how the pajama bottoms would have supported Cloe's weight, but then just came loose. She did say that when she found out about the confession that Kelsie had made, what she had seen during Cloe's autopsy made sense. That Kelsie's confession about her strangling Cloe matched up with the evidence. That there was evidence of a struggle and movement. And in her confession, Kelsie said that Cloe just stared at her as she was strangled. Catellier testified that made sense. She said that the eyes get fixed after there has been compression of the neck causing asphyxia. She said that they stare, they can no longer move their eyes to gaze at something.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 2 - Dr Michele Catellier - Medical Examiner Part 3

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Catellier talked more about asphyxia as wells as reflex actions. She is also questioned about the ligature mark and how it is a sign of suspension, which is not usually present when someone is strangled by someone else. Catellier then said that there was unexplained marks on Cloe's neck that could have been finger marks.

One of the main reasons why Catellier thinks that Cloe was strangled instead of accidentally hanging herself was the prominent and irregular ligature furrow with hemorrhage of the soft tissues underneath it as well as in the back of Cloe's neck. Catellier said that if someone is suspended by a cloth ligature with a broad surface area she would not expect the furrow to be as distinct. More importantly she would not expect to see hemorrhage at all layers of the strap muscles on both sides of the neck as well as adjacent to the cornea of the laryngeal cartilage, the carotid arteries and the vocalist muscle.

So basically Catellier has said that Cloe has a lot of damage that would suggest that instead of accidentally hanging herself, which would have rendered her unconscious faster than a being strangled by someone which would have resulted in there being less time that she had struggled for her life and less damage, that she was strangled by someone which resulted in much more damaged caused by a longer struggle.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 3 Agt Don Schnitker Defendant Police Interview Part 1

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Don Schnitker talked about his interrogation technique. Also, video clips of Schnitker interviewing Kelsie about Cloe's death are played. 

In one of the clips Kelsie told the investigators that she didn't have to untie the pajamas when she pulled Cloe from the closet. She said that the pajamas just came undone. 

After another one of the clips, Schnitker explained how the medical examiner had told them that what Kelsie had claimed happened didn't match up with the evidence, which Schnitker explained that he had reiterated to Kelsie in the previous clip.

In another clip, Kelsie said that she loved Cloe and still loves her and would never have done anything like this to her. Kelsie also said that she was asleep when Cloe died.

Schnitker explained that when they were interviewing Kelsie, that she frequently would talk about how Cloe was frustrating her on the day of her death.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 3 - Agt Don Schnitker - Defendant Police Interview Part 2

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Most of the audio in part 1 and part 2 of the interview have not been the greatest. However, you can hear Kelsie tell the detectives that she found Cloe in the closet and it looked like she was hanging. She also keeps reiterating that she didn't kill her. Kelsie also wanted to know if they had physical proof that she "did it."

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 3-Agt Don Schnitker - Defendant Police Interview - Alleged Confession Part 3

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At this point in the interview is where Kelsie's story changes. Kelsie appears to cry or pretend to cry as investigators talk to her in the clip. The audio is still difficult to tell what they are saying some of the time, but Kelsie talked about how she was frustrated with Cloe getting into stuff and not listening. Kelsie said that as she was trying to take a nap, Cloe kept coming out of her room. She said that at one point, Cloe heard her coming and ran into her bedroom. Kelsie said that she followed Cloe and held her down on the bed with both hands around her neck and told her, "You need to say in your room." Kelsie said that her eyes got big and she saw that her daughter was scared. Kelsie said that she pushed herself off of her daughter, closed the door and left. She thought that her daughter was still alive and that she just scared the "shit" out of her.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 3-Agt Don Schnitker-Defendant Police Interview Part 4-Defendants Letter Read

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Schnitker explained how Kelsie said that she had used the pajama pants to strangle Cloe, place her on the bed and continued assaulting her.

Schnitker talked about how it is not that they were sure that Kelsie killed Cloe as much as that they believed that what she had originally told them happened didn't happen the way she had stated. He also said that strong denials in interrogations like that were common and he thought he wouldn't be doing his job if he took people at their word that they "didn't do it."

When asked why Schnitker and the other detectives focused so much on the pajama pants in the interviews, Schnitker said that it was because Kelsie had brought them up during questioning.

Schnitker was asked that if after Kelsie confessed to choking Cloe to death if she recanted at all. Schnitker replied that Kelsie made no attempt to take back her confession.

Schnitker then read Kelsie's letter to her family that she wrote after she confessed to killing Cloe.

"I just want to say how terribly sorry i am right now. I loved Cloe so much. I never thought anything like this would ever happen. I just wish more of you would have helped me when i asked or tried to get me the help we all know i needed. Please keep her memories alive. Let Phoenix know i love him and that i am very sorry that this happened. I'm sorry i lied to everyone. I was so scared of what i did and what would happen. i don't blame you guys if you never forgive me. I wouldn't either. Love you all so much, Kelsie."

Schnitker was asked if there was ever a stress test performed on the pajama bottoms which he replied that there never had been such a test performed on them.

Two different audio clips were played. The first audio clip is a phone call between Kelsie and Aaron Thomas after Kelsie was arrested for Cloe's death. During the conversation she told Aaron that she was sorry and that she didn't mean to do it. Kelsie said that she didn't mean to "hurt her."

In the second clip, in another phone conversation between Aaron and Kelsie, she said that "it was a complete accident."

Defense told the court that they don't believe that the prosecution proved that what happened to Cloe was an intentional act committed by Kelsie.

The prosecution basically said that Kelsie's anger got the best of her and that she intentionally and violently took Cloe's life.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 4 - Jill Gardner - Victim's Teacher & Dr Thomas Young - Forensic Pathologist

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With the jury absent, Cloe's teacher, Jill Gardner, said that the best way to described Cloe was "that little girl that skipped down the hall." Gardner said that Cloe seemed to be excited to be at school and to learn new things. She did well in school and worked really hard. She could count up to thirty. Gardner said that she looked well taken care of and that Kelsie seemed patient with Cloe and that she seemed like a responsible parent.

Thomas Young reviewed the autopsy report and photos and in his own opinion he believes that Cloe died of a accidental hanging that that Kelsie is innocent of her daughter's murder.  Young said that since there was no broken bones in Cloe's neck that that was one of the reasons why he thinks her death was an accidental hanging. Young also said that since Cloe could tie her shoes and she was obviously so good at it that she could tie a knot strong enough to hold her 45 pound body suspended. 

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 4 - Dr Thomas Young - Forensic Pathologist Part 2

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He talked about how many pounds it takes to totally block an airway, which is not much. He also said that one can lose consciousness relatively quickly. 

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 4 - Brian Cutler - Interrogation & False Confession Expert

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Brian Cutler talked about false confessions. He said that there are various ways that innocent people falsely confess. He said that the most common way is in the process of highly persuasive interrogation, the suspect basically succumbs to the pressure and confesses to the crime. Cutler states that there is 2,500 cases of know wrongful conviction in Michigan and out of those cases, 15% involved false confession.

Cutler said that after reviewing her confession, that he doesn't know if Kelsie was telling the truth or not.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Day 4 - Defense Rests

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The defense stated that Cloe's teacher had no reason to believe that Cloe was in danger and tat the teacher also had said that Cloe could tie a knot. The defense also stated that Young's findings were in direct conflict with Catellier's and that Cloe's death was an accident.

Kelsie Thomas Trial - Jury Instructions

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Kelsie Thomas Trial - Prosecution Closing Argument

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The prosecution talked about how Cloe will never graduate from kindergarten. They talked about how Cloe would never go on to and graduate high school and that she would never go to college. And how Cloe will never have her first job, first boyfriend or get married. That Cloe would never get to see her brother grow up either.

The prosecution said that Cloe's was a beautiful girl who was full of life and had that life cut short brutally when she was strangled to death by her mother. And that Kelsie failed to protect and care for Cloe. That everything became to much for her.

The prosecution claimed that when Kelsie returned home, she found out that Cloe hadn't been in her room like she was suppose to be. Cloe then said that she was hungry, so Kelsie made ravioli for he and Phoenix. After that, that is when Aaron got up and went to work at his friend's house. Kelsie wasn't happy about having to continue to watch the kids. Kelsie was tired and wanted the kids to take a nap so she could take one herself before she had to be to work. The prosecution then claimed that Kelsie told Cloe that she had better take a nap or she was going to beat her ass. Cloe didn't want to take a nap, so she ran away from her bed. That is when the prosecution said that Kelsie took the pajama pants, she threw them over Cloe and pulled her and strangled her with the pants. The prosecution said that Cloe fought for her life, staring at her mother. 

The prosecution said that Kelsie had hours to come up with a story to explain the marks on Cloe's neck. They said that Cloe was already dead before Kelsie made the 9-1-1 call and that the first responder to the scene testified that Cloe's extremities were cold to the touch. And they asked that how are we suppose to believe that the pajama's that Kelsie alleged that Cloe was hanged by accidentally, just came undone by it'self.

The prosecution then explained how Kelsie didn't tell her mother that Cloe had died. And how the mother had called Kelsie four hours after Cloe was pronounced dead and asked her what she was doing. Which Kelsie had responded that she was eating. Kelsie's mother then had asked how Cloe was. Kelsie's response to that was "how did you find out?"

They then talked about how in the interrogation video, Kelsie said that when she went in and saw Cloe hanging in the closet, that the chair was off to the side of Cloe and that it was in the same place it had been earlier that day.

The prosecution then talked about paying attention to Kelsie's demeanor in the first interrogation tape that was recorded 24 hours after Cloe's death. They also talked about how Kelsie's cousin, Brittney, said that the day after Cloe's death that Kelsie's demeanor didn't seem right. And about how Kelsie had told Brittney that she had witnessed her own daughter die. That Kelsie was talking about Cloe's bad attitude and that she couldn't look at her sometimes because Cloe reminded Kelsie of Cloe's father. And that Kelsie was mad at the police for investigating her.

They then talked about how there was sign's of a struggle because force equals injury and Cloe had a lot of injuries. That this was a manual strangulation where Cloe fought for her life.

The prosecution reiterated how Kelsie had stated that she had left Cloe home because she didn't want to deal with her and that how she had said a different story at first. They talked about how Kelsie told investigators that Cloe was acting out and wouldn't listen. And during the interrogation detectives had asked Kelsie if she ever had a break. To which Kelsie responded, "Now."

The prosecution then talked about Kelsie's second interview and her changing stories, ending up with her confession. The prosecution talked about how Kelsie said that she was so angry and that she hoped and thought that Cloe was still alive when she left that room. That Kelsie then went and took a nap.

Kelsie Thomas Trial - Defense Closing Argument Part 1

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The defense stated that the people that knew Kelsie the best, besides Aaron and Phoenix, which was "grandma Jody" and Kelsie's dad, never expressed concerns about Kelsie and never testified.

The defense then talked about how Aaron believed Kelsie until he found out about her confession. They also talked about how Aaron found Kelsie's behavior at the hospital was odd the day that Cloe died even though law enforcement didn't find her behavior odd.

They also said that Kelsie wasn't mad at the investigators, she was mad at the news reporters. And that Kelsie was getting harassed on social media.

The defense claimed that Kelsie wasn't emotionally appropriate  because of the way she was raised. They also claimed that the investigators knew what the findings of the autopsy were and so they influence Kelsie into a confession that would match the findings.

Kelsie Thomas Trial Defense Closing Argument Part 2

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The defense said that prosecutors are so hung up on the fact that there was no vomit from Cloe in the closet that that Kelsie must have been lying when she said she pulled Cloe out of the closet. The defense also said that the reason why there was no vomit in the closet is because nothing could come out of Cloe's airway. They said that her airway was constricted because she had hanged herself and that when Kelsie laid Cloe down on the bed to perform CPR, the airways became clear and that is when the vomit came out.

The defense also said that if Kelsie is guilty of anything it is her being negligent and leaving Cloe alone and that there was no history of Kelsie abusing Cloe. They said that every parent gets frustrated with their child, but that doesn't necessarily result in murder.

The defense then talked about reasonable doubt and that they don't feel that the prosecution didn't prove that in Cloe's case.

Kelsie Thomas Trial - Proescution Rebuttal Closing Argument

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The prosecution said that the defense twisted what the burden of proof is. The prosecution said it is up to them to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kelsie committed the crime. That it's not beyond all doubt, or a shadow of doubt. And it is up to the jury to decide what beyond reasonable doubt is, not the defense to say or to tell the jury what the prosecution has to prove.

The prosecution also said that they proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Kelsie is guilty. And just that because Kelsie didn't post on Facebook or sent texts that she killed Cloe, doesn't mean that she didn't do the crime like the defense insinuated.

The prosecution then said that because there was no vomit in the closet that meant that Cloe was never in the closet. And that even if Kelsie's story was to be believed, why was their no vomit on Kelsie?

They also said that Kelsie's actions before and after Cloe's death prove her guilt along with the evidence that cooberated her confession. At that all of the different stories that Kelsie told before were shifting sands of a guilty mind.

The prosecution then said that just because Kelsie was crying during the 9-1-1 call doesn't mean that she is innocent of a crime like the defense claimed. The prosecution said that it was a traumatic experience and so it probably was upsetting to her. i believe that whether Kelsie is guilty or no of Cloe's death, that she loved Cloe and there for would be upset when she called 9-1-1.

They also pointed out the phone calls between Kelsie while she was in jail and Aaron. And how that if she was really coerced into a false confession that she would have told Aaron so. 

Kelsie Thomas Trial - Verdict

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On count one of 1st degree murder the jury was unable to agree on a verdict and a mistrial was declared on that count.

The State has the option to re-try Kelsie for first-degree murder within 90 days.

On count two of child endangerment causing death, Kelsie was found not guilty.

What do you think of the outcome of Kelsie's trial?

I think it was ridiculous to try to charge Kelsie with first degree murder in the first place. They should have maybe tried for manslaughter.

As for the child endangerment charge, i think she should have been found guilty of that. But that is just my opinion.

How ever Cloe died, her life was cut tragically short. And i have to hope that whether Kelsie was careless or whether she had a hand in her daughter's death, that the history doesn't repeat itself with those in Kelsie's care. And that Cloe's life and death meant something to those around her.