Speaker 1: Nearly two decades after her baby brother's death, Tracy Riquel
Speaker 1: Burns had finally captured the attention of law enforcement. Her
Speaker 1: fight was now their fight. And despite medical records that
Speaker 1: stated mother says two year old threw baby out of
Speaker 1: crib and that's what led to his death, Decab County
Speaker 1: officials did not think Tracy Riquel killed the four month
Speaker 1: old baby. In fact, in December of nineteen ninety six,
Speaker 1: they felt they had enough evidence to indict Tracy Riquel's father,
Speaker 1: Jane Barry Sandlin. They unearthed Matthew's tiny casket from the
Speaker 1: grave twenty six years after his death. They dug into
Speaker 1: the ground, expecting dust. Instead, they struck gold. I'm Nancy Glass.
Speaker 1: This is burden of Guilt. Episode four, The Body keeps
Speaker 1: the Score. After four month old Matthew's casket was exzoomed
Speaker 1: from the cemetery, it was driven to the medical Examiner's
Speaker 1: office in Birmingham, Alabama, where a new autopsy would be performed.
Speaker 1: Medical Examiner doctor Burton, his team, and the prosecutors were present.
Speaker 1: Former Assistant District Attorney Lee and man Bone.
Speaker 2: I remember doctor Burton talking about Matthew using his name,
Speaker 2: and that really stuck with me that there was a
Speaker 2: level of compassion about the experience and not just looking
Speaker 2: at what we were doing is exhooming a body, but
Speaker 2: looking at it as trying to find out the truth
Speaker 2: of what happened to Matthew.
Speaker 1: Former Decab County District Attorney Jay Tom Morgan.
Speaker 3: Our protocol requires that when there's a death of a child,
Speaker 3: a prosecutor be present for the autopsy. It helps us
Speaker 3: understand what the doctor is going to testify to you later.
Speaker 3: When the casket was opened, that future smell came out
Speaker 3: and I distinctly remember it.
Speaker 1: And everyone was surprised by that smell because it indicated
Speaker 1: that human remains still existed. Because of that, there was
Speaker 1: hope that the exhumation would pay off. Lead Assistant District
Speaker 1: Attorney Jeff Brickman was there.
Speaker 4: I remember doctor Burden carefully opening the casket and remember
Speaker 4: seeing a little boy completely intact.
Speaker 1: Medical examiner doctor Stephen Duntan.
Speaker 5: There was still hair on his scalp and he was
Speaker 5: dressed as an infant would be.
Speaker 2: It was a new, unforgettable, horrible, unimaginable moment. I had
Speaker 2: to step away.
Speaker 3: Doctor Burton gently lifted the child out of the casket,
Speaker 3: took him to the ipopsy table and cut the clothes
Speaker 3: off with the pair of scissors.
Speaker 1: The room was equipped to record the evidence.
Speaker 3: The medical issama has ans ray unlike the ones in
Speaker 3: an emergency room because it's on an autopsy table.
Speaker 1: And as much as you wanted the evidence to be
Speaker 1: there and this was good news, you can only imagine
Speaker 1: that for everybody in the room, it was just awful.
Speaker 1: He still looked like a baby frozen in time.
Speaker 3: So there's this little infant on the autopsy table with
Speaker 3: a camera from the S ray machine looking down on it.
Speaker 3: SS rays are being taken. We can see on a
Speaker 3: large screen while those s rays are projacked. Team I
Speaker 3: had seen multiple skull fractures and babies before, and the
Speaker 3: first thing I noticed was bilateral fractures on each side
Speaker 3: of the child's skull.
Speaker 6: There was one on the left and one on the right,
Speaker 6: and it was a very complex fracture.
Speaker 4: Part of it looked like the backwards question mark.
Speaker 3: Someone may have hit this child with his fist, which
Speaker 3: could have caused the question mark skull fracture.
Speaker 1: Then they took a closer look at Matthew's foot.
Speaker 3: Doctor Burton pointed out that there had been a burn
Speaker 3: on the left foot of the child. The discoloration was
Speaker 3: still there. How does a four and a half month
Speaker 3: old in a crib get a burn inside the foot
Speaker 3: unless it's put there by an adult, either by a
Speaker 3: cigarette cigar or maybe even a lighter. After the ontopsy,
Speaker 3: we were all ready to go forward with the prosecution.
Speaker 3: Not only were we one hundred percent, but this child
Speaker 3: had been tortured before, he had been violently killed.
Speaker 4: Based on the physical evidence and the fact that really
Speaker 4: this had to have been committed by an adult, and
Speaker 4: Jan Berry Sandlin was the only adult that was left
Speaker 4: with matt.
Speaker 1: The original indictment of Jan was for the murder of
Speaker 1: Matthew Golder, but after the investigation, exhumation, and autoxy, the
Speaker 1: prosecution expanded the charges.
Speaker 4: Jan Sandlin was charged with malice, murder, felony, murder, cruelty
Speaker 4: to children, and aggravated assault. And we felt really good.
Speaker 1: About it, and now little Matthew would return to his
Speaker 1: place of rest.
Speaker 4: Matt was taken back to the cemetery and got to
Speaker 4: go back to sleep, and then we went back to
Speaker 4: Atlanta and got ready for trial.
Speaker 1: And while the prosecutor's office went to work Matthew's father,
Speaker 1: Cathy's first husband appeared.
Speaker 7: Someone in my life at the time had sought ted
Speaker 7: Golder out, thinking it would be beneficial to me.
Speaker 1: Now, ted Golder was listed on Tracy Raquel's birth certificate
Speaker 1: as her father, but Kathy was having an affair with
Speaker 1: Jan when Tracy Raquel was conceived, so she didn't know
Speaker 1: who her biological father really was, and frankly, she didn't
Speaker 1: even care that much. But she had taken ted Golder's
Speaker 1: name because she didn't want to be associated with Jan
Speaker 1: Barry Sandlin. So tell me about ted Golder.
Speaker 7: Ted Golder was a very nice man. He really wanted
Speaker 7: to know if I was his daughter. He asked if
Speaker 7: I would do a paternity test, which I sure. You know,
Speaker 7: he was in Atlanta, I was in Savannah, and we
Speaker 7: did that now while we were waiting for the results
Speaker 7: to come back, and we talked daily, just about things
Speaker 7: and people, and it was a nice thing. The maternity
Speaker 7: Jess came back and he called and he said, you're
Speaker 7: not my daughter, And he said, you know what, you're
Speaker 7: a really nice woman. I wish the best for you,
Speaker 7: but I don't want anything else to do with you.
Speaker 1: What was that like?
Speaker 4: For you.
Speaker 7: This is where it gets really hard to feel like
Speaker 7: there's not something wrong with you. And I had his name,
Speaker 7: so yeah, he said, you know, I would appreciate it
Speaker 7: if you don't use my name Golder, You're not my child.
Speaker 6: And that was it.
Speaker 7: I never heard from him again.
Speaker 1: The situation with Ted Golder was another heartbreak, but Tracy
Speaker 1: Raquel could not let this latest disappointment deter her. She
Speaker 1: had to focus on getting justice from Matthew. She knew
Speaker 1: even with the trial said nothing about this be easy.
Speaker 1: There were no guarantees. The second autopsy of Matthew Golder
Speaker 1: had been a revelation. What they found out amazed everyone.
Speaker 1: And one of the things they learned was that there
Speaker 1: had been a first autopsy. When they exsumed the body,
Speaker 1: they saw the markings. So where did that report go. Well,
Speaker 1: apparently in nineteen seventy one, it went home with the coroner.
Speaker 1: But this was still a very old case and there
Speaker 1: were no witnesses, so that created a lot of challenges
Speaker 1: for the prosecution. Former Assistant District Attorney Jeff Brickman.
Speaker 4: While we had prosecuted some cold cases, this was the coldest.
Speaker 4: This was frigid, and we knew when I say we
Speaker 4: Leanne and I and doctor Burton and j Tom Morgan,
Speaker 4: our boss, knew there was going to be a hefty
Speaker 4: fight in front of us at trial.
Speaker 2: I was pretty unwavering in my belief that there were
Speaker 2: only two people, two adults, who could have been involved
Speaker 2: in Matthew's murder, and it didn't make any logical sense
Speaker 2: that it would be Kathy.
Speaker 4: We were going to have to recreate history. We were
Speaker 4: going to have to put that crime scene back together.
Speaker 4: It was not by any stretch of slam dunk, and
Speaker 4: we knew that.
Speaker 1: Putting the crime scene back together started with Matthew's crib.
Speaker 3: We contacted Sears and Robot. They did not have that crib,
Speaker 3: but they had the dimensions of the model, and we
Speaker 3: hired a carpenter to rebuild a crib just like that
Speaker 3: one so the jury could see how just unlikely, not
Speaker 3: impossible for a two year old to climb over in
Speaker 3: and then throw a four month all out.
Speaker 2: It was critically important that the crib was on the
Speaker 2: second floor of their apartment, which doctor Burton told me
Speaker 2: meant that there would have been some give to the
Speaker 2: floor because it would have been on a wood and
Speaker 2: a subfloor as opposed to be on concrete on a
Speaker 2: concrete slab, and so there just was no way for
Speaker 2: the amount of force that would have been required for
Speaker 2: those injuries to have been generated by a fall onto
Speaker 2: a floor of that type.
Speaker 1: There were several witnesses that had to be prepared for
Speaker 1: the trial, including Tracy Riquel's mother, Kathy Alman. She would
Speaker 1: turn out to be one of the state's key witnesses.
Speaker 1: Lee and Mangon was the person who prepared Kathy, and
Speaker 1: she had a lot of time to observe her behavior.
Speaker 2: I remember that Kathy was quiet and passive. It was
Speaker 2: clear that Kathy was still scared of Jan.
Speaker 1: And Kathy was sticking to her story.
Speaker 2: She was very clear on the timeline of what happened
Speaker 2: to the day that Matthew died.
Speaker 1: She said that when she came home from running errands,
Speaker 1: she took Tracy Raquel into the apartment and then Jan
Speaker 1: instructed her to get the laundry out of the car.
Speaker 1: When she came back upstairs, she found Matthew on the
Speaker 1: floor unresponsive.
Speaker 2: I remember Kathy seemingly knowing what really had happened, but
Speaker 2: not being willing to admit that to herself. But I
Speaker 2: suspect on some level, Kathy always knew that story didn't
Speaker 2: make any sense.
Speaker 1: Jeff Brickman said earlier that the case wasn't a slam dunk.
Speaker 1: One reason for that was Sandland's lawyer.
Speaker 2: Karen Mall was Jan Berry Sandlin's defense attorney. Corin Mall
Speaker 2: was an incredibly effective advocate in every trial where I faced.
Speaker 4: Her, Leanne and I knew Karen we had had cases
Speaker 4: against her. She was very comfortable in this particular courtroom.
Speaker 4: She and Judge Fuller got along well. He respected her
Speaker 4: as did other judges, but that was sort of like
Speaker 4: her home turf, and Karen was a bulldog.
Speaker 1: The media and the public were fascinated by the case.
Speaker 1: A little girl, a two year old who had been
Speaker 1: framed for her brother's death, grows up and realizes it's
Speaker 1: all a lie. The courthouse opened its doors on July ninth,
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 8: Everybody, get you sixth place.
Speaker 1: Tracy Raquel sat in the District Attorney's office waiting to
Speaker 1: be sworn in.
Speaker 4: All right, get that name be see please.
Speaker 1: Facing the bench was Jan Barry Sandlin and a white
Speaker 1: Oxford shirt and pattern tie. He rocked back and forth
Speaker 1: in his chair with a wad of gum in his
Speaker 1: right cheek.
Speaker 9: Counsel Va proceed with.
Speaker 1: His attorney seated next to him. Jan's appearance was confident, cocky,
Speaker 1: making direct eye contact with anyone who spoke to him
Speaker 1: or about him. So how do we know all those details? Well,
Speaker 1: the trial was recorded. Today we're used to seeing court
Speaker 1: cases on television, but back in nineteen ninety seven it
Speaker 1: was still relatively new. Judge Hilton Fuller Junior felt the
Speaker 1: public should be able to see the court proceeding in
Speaker 1: real time. The presence of a TV camera would have
Speaker 1: a major impact on the case. Because Judge Fuller gave
Speaker 1: clear instructions during the trial.
Speaker 8: Right the real sequestration has been in Bolca.
Speaker 6: I expect the attorneys to make sure that all witnesses
Speaker 6: understand that they're not to discuss the case with each other.
Speaker 1: Sequestration also meant that a witness could not watch the
Speaker 1: trial on television.
Speaker 8: We're now ready for opening statements. Mister Brickman, you wish
Speaker 8: to make an opening statement? Yes, sir, thank you, maye.
Speaker 4: Proceive Thank you.
Speaker 5: N Matthew Stephen Golder was on death's doorstep when he
Speaker 5: arrived at the decad General Hospital on the evening of
Speaker 5: December twenty seventh, nineteen hundred and seventy one.
Speaker 1: Jeff Brickman opened the day by describing the injuries Matthew
Speaker 1: sustained on the day of his death and the efforts
Speaker 1: the medical team made to save him. He shared details
Speaker 1: about Matthew's original autopsy and original death certificate that had
Speaker 1: kept a garize the baby's death as an accident Jan.
Speaker 9: Barry Sandlin while alone and while in immediate control over
Speaker 9: Matthew Stephen Golder, a four month old child who literally
Speaker 9: was depended completely on an adult forcibly and intentionally killed him.
Speaker 1: He credited Tracy Raquel with being the one person who
Speaker 1: didn't believe the story that her mother told officials when
Speaker 1: Matthew died.
Speaker 9: The evidence will show you, ladies and gentlemen, that Tracy
Speaker 9: ram as she gets older, starts asking questions trying to
Speaker 9: find out what really happened. Trying to find out the.
Speaker 1: Truth, Brickman had to be explicit that there wasn't a
Speaker 1: witness or a smoking gun in a case like this. Instead,
Speaker 1: he previewed the expert and family witnesses the prosecution would present,
Speaker 1: and then wrapped up with this.
Speaker 9: And I'm confident and submit to you, ladies and gentlemen,
Speaker 9: that at the conclude vision of this evidence, one verdict
Speaker 9: will be consistent with the evidence. One verdict will be
Speaker 9: consistent with the truth.
Speaker 1: And then he directed his attention to Jan Barry Sandlin.
Speaker 9: And that is, ladies and gentlemen, that on December twenty seventh,
Speaker 9: nineteen seventy one, Matthew Stephen Golder was killed by that man.
Speaker 1: Then Jan Sanmlin's defense attorney Carinn Maul made her opening statement, Ladies.
Speaker 8: And gentlemen, the only thing that is true that we
Speaker 8: do know is that indeed that baby did not fall
Speaker 8: out of that bed, did not get pushed out of
Speaker 8: that bed, did not get stumbled in the night and
Speaker 8: dropped on the floor.
Speaker 1: So if the defense was saying that Tracy Raquel was
Speaker 1: not responsible for Matthew's debt, where were they going.
Speaker 8: Listen, ladies and gentlemen, for the story about Kathy Alman
Speaker 8: who was so distressed that she told her daughter, I
Speaker 8: can't go talk to the police, I can't go talk
Speaker 8: to the DA. I can't do this all by herself.
Speaker 8: Twenty six years of line is what you will hear
Speaker 8: about in the next few days. It is the best
Speaker 8: example of how a lie begins and how it will
Speaker 8: come to an end. In this courtroom, missus Almond, I
Speaker 8: believe the evidence will show this is probably her worst
Speaker 8: nightmare come true. It is going to be difficult for
Speaker 8: her to testify it's true.
Speaker 1: Kathy did tell different stories over the years to Tracy Raquel,
Speaker 1: to social workers, to doctors, maybe even to herself. The
Speaker 1: defense would use that to so doubt you will hear.
Speaker 8: Stay this version of events is but one of me.
Speaker 8: You'll be asked to reconcile all these different stories and
Speaker 8: to determine which, if any, you believe.
Speaker 1: And then the stake called their first witness, neurosurgeon doctor
Speaker 1: Ellis Keener. Jeff Brickman conducted the questioning. Doctor Keener walked
Speaker 1: the jury through Matthew's injuries and the treatment he gave
Speaker 1: him that winter night twenty six years earlier.
Speaker 6: I recommended they go right to the operating room where
Speaker 6: he had to be prepared for surgical expiration. Though the
Speaker 6: situation looked very bad.
Speaker 1: Doctor Keener explained that Matthew continued to decline even after surgery.
Speaker 6: According to the notes, he had become terminal and an
Speaker 6: effort was made in the intensive care to give him
Speaker 6: artificial respiration, and there was also a note that he
Speaker 6: had cardiac massage, both unsuccessful.
Speaker 1: Brickman asked doctor Keener how Matthew got those injuries.
Speaker 6: I was told that the child had been thrown out
Speaker 6: of the crib by.
Speaker 1: Sibling, but that wasn't the entire story. We did some
Speaker 1: research and learned that doctor Keener didn't really believe the
Speaker 1: story that he was told in the hospital when Matthew
Speaker 1: was brought in. Missus Camilla Taylor, a social worker for
Speaker 1: Decab Family and Child Services, documented an interview with doctor Keener.
Speaker 1: This conversation took place about fifteen days after Matthew died.
Speaker 1: When asked if he thought that the damage could have
Speaker 1: been caused by a fall from a baby bed, doctor
Speaker 1: Keener said no more. Notably, the social worker explicitly writes
Speaker 1: in her letter, he made the above statement after being
Speaker 1: assured that this report is confidential. Why would a doctor
Speaker 1: require his conversation to be confidential. Was it for hip
Speaker 1: hop compliance? No, that wasn't even a thing until decades later.
Speaker 1: Was it out of fear for his own safety that
Speaker 1: important detail would never come to light? In the courtroom,
Speaker 1: Brickman continued, as.
Speaker 5: Far as you know, doctor Keener, were the police notified?
Speaker 1: As far as I know, yes, the defense was up
Speaker 1: at bat carin. Mal asked doctor Keener about something else
Speaker 1: found in the autopsy, bruising on Matthew's clavicle.
Speaker 8: Isn't it true? Doctor Keiner that that bruising could have
Speaker 8: occurred at North Side Hospital in an effort to resuscitate
Speaker 8: the child.
Speaker 6: I think your statement is not correct, correct me correct?
Speaker 1: Doctor Keener explained that the placement of the bruising was
Speaker 1: right around the collarbone, which would not be because of
Speaker 1: resuscitation efforts. Maul then turned to the burn on Matthew's foot.
Speaker 8: You called it an old, dry, ulcerated area.
Speaker 6: That's correct.
Speaker 1: Then she asked if anyone would have noticed the burn
Speaker 1: if they weren't a physician. He responded that it was
Speaker 1: obvious enough for him to put it in the record.
Speaker 8: All that you can tell us is that it was
Speaker 8: old and that it could have been a burn. It
Speaker 8: could have been a blister. It's not quite clear. Correct,
Speaker 8: that's correct.
Speaker 1: Maul is trying hard to minimize Matthew's injuries. The bruising,
Speaker 1: the burn mark it was all evidence that Matthew was
Speaker 1: abused and tortured. It implied a pattern of harm, something
Speaker 1: Maul wanted jurors to lose sight of. And here's a
Speaker 1: really stunning question.
Speaker 8: Now, you didn't do anything to that burn or blister.
Speaker 8: You didn't put anything on it or tend to it
Speaker 8: in any way, did you.
Speaker 6: There's no record that I did anything to that.
Speaker 1: Was she implying that the burn wasn't significant because doctor
Speaker 1: Keener didn't put neosporin on it. Matthew skull had multiple
Speaker 1: fractures and a brain bleed. Life saving measures were being taken.
Speaker 1: It went without saying the priority was to save the child.
Speaker 1: The prosecution had to hope jurors were sensible enough to
Speaker 1: understand that.
Speaker 8: My next witness please stay, called Tracy Rain.
Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety seven, Tracy Raquel Burns was going by
Speaker 1: Tracy Rain. Rain was the last name of her husband
Speaker 1: at the time.
Speaker 5: You raise your right hand.
Speaker 6: If you saw my swear from the testimony to give
Speaker 6: the court durald distend, it would be the truth, the
Speaker 6: whole truth, and nothing but truth.
Speaker 8: Say you guy, yes I did.
Speaker 1: This moment was a culmination of years of heartache and
Speaker 1: and pure tenacity. You're twenty seven years old, you get
Speaker 1: called to the stand. What was it like for you
Speaker 1: after you worked so hard to get to this place?
Speaker 10: It was overwhelming and terrifying. And then, of course I
Speaker 10: hadn't seen Jan since I was nine or ten years old,
Speaker 10: so this was going to be the first time I
Speaker 10: was going to see him face to face in all
Speaker 10: those years, so it was pretty intimidating.
Speaker 1: Did you interact with Jan in any way?
Speaker 10: I made a very conscious decision to look over at
Speaker 10: him just long enough to acknowledge that he was there,
Speaker 10: and just honestly so I didn't throw up because I
Speaker 10: was just so terrified.
Speaker 1: Leanne Manngon questioned Tracy Riquel.
Speaker 11: Tracy, why did you work so hard to have Matthew's
Speaker 11: death reexaminer?
Speaker 12: Well, initially it was a search for truth. There was
Speaker 12: so many inconsistencies in the story. And then later I
Speaker 12: realized as I was older, that something bad had happened,
Speaker 12: and it was to correct that bad thing. And then
Speaker 12: obviously I realized just several years ago that it had
Speaker 12: been placed on me, so that who is part of
Speaker 12: it as well?
Speaker 1: Lee Anne Manngon asked Tracy Raquel why she wanted to
Speaker 1: record conversations between her and her mother. Kathy Allman, you
Speaker 1: said that you've.
Speaker 11: Spoken with your mother on a number of occasions to
Speaker 11: try to get information about what happened to Matthew. Yes,
Speaker 11: at some point did you record a conversation between yourself
Speaker 11: and your mother?
Speaker 7: Yes?
Speaker 12: I did?
Speaker 11: And why did you take report of phone conversation between
Speaker 11: yourself and your mother?
Speaker 12: Several days prior to that? Actually, the night before she
Speaker 12: had said to me that it was easier to say
Speaker 12: that I was responsible for excuse me for Matt's injuries
Speaker 12: than it was to say the man she loved was
Speaker 12: and watch him go to jail.
Speaker 1: Leanne Mangon also asked about the push and pull between
Speaker 1: Terca Riquel and her mother.
Speaker 11: How old were you if you remember when you first
Speaker 11: asked your mother what had happened to your baby birth?
Speaker 12: My first recollection of that is age seven.
Speaker 11: Did your mother give you any explanation as to why
Speaker 11: she was initially uncooperative with trying to find out what
Speaker 11: happened to Matthew?
Speaker 12: Well, I think that she had originally said it was
Speaker 12: because she didn't recall, and that it was a crazy
Speaker 12: time and there were, you know, crazy things going on
Speaker 12: and she just didn't remember, and later it was because
Speaker 12: she just didn't want to have to deal with it.
Speaker 1: Teresa Raquel did well with the prosecution, and then defense
Speaker 1: attorney Carin malt started her cross examination.
Speaker 8: When was the first time you were told you were
Speaker 8: to blame for the.
Speaker 12: Death of the child in nineteen ninety two and.
Speaker 8: At the time that you, if you were talking to police,
Speaker 8: you did not realize that you were to blame at
Speaker 8: that point. Now, I did not, in fact miss ring.
Speaker 8: The person who has been hurt the greatest is probably you,
Speaker 8: wouldn't you say?
Speaker 12: I think that would vary in opinion.
Speaker 8: But basically, your mother has blamed you for the death
Speaker 8: of this child.
Speaker 12: Correct as I was informed by those medical records.
Speaker 8: Yes, and your grandmother her mother.
Speaker 12: I don't think that she blamed. I think she was
Speaker 12: passing on what was told to her.
Speaker 8: Isn't it true you used the words when you were
Speaker 8: talking to your mother your mother said, ask your grandmother,
Speaker 8: and you said, I did. All she'll tell me is
Speaker 8: she did it, but that I did it.
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 8: Were you ever astonished that anyone felt the need to
Speaker 8: tell you you were responsible?
Speaker 12: I don't understand that.
Speaker 8: Okay, didn't you at one point in time express to
Speaker 8: your mother that a mother who cared about her children
Speaker 8: would seek to shield a child from playing, would not
Speaker 8: tell the child you're responsible.
Speaker 1: Yes, I did, and that would.
Speaker 8: Be as true, if not true, with regards to your grandmother.
Speaker 12: Correct, I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean.
Speaker 8: I'll rephrase that. There was no need to tell you,
Speaker 8: as a child or as a young adult, you're responsible
Speaker 8: for the death of this child.
Speaker 12: Her response was justifiable. I asked her a question and
Speaker 12: she simply answered it.
Speaker 8: But nobody said to you, Oh, when you asked what
Speaker 8: happened to your grandmother, she said you did it. She
Speaker 8: didn't say, oh, it was an accident. I'm I did
Speaker 8: it or somebody else did it.
Speaker 12: She said it was an accident.
Speaker 10: You were responsible.
Speaker 8: Yes, Who else has said to you, Tracy Wade, you
Speaker 8: are responsible for either the accidental killing, the accidental injuring
Speaker 8: the accidental death, the purposeful injuring the personal death. Who
Speaker 8: else has laid responsibility on you? Has told you?
Speaker 1: My mother, Grin Maul, was anxious to question the next witness,
Speaker 1: Tracy Riquel's mother, Kathy Almond. She wanted jurors to think
Speaker 1: that Kathy was a liar.
Speaker 5: You raised right hand, you saw my square pumb that
Speaker 5: test want to give the cord.
Speaker 1: As Kathy Almond took the stand, she appeared shaky and nervous.
Speaker 1: I do twenty feet away sat the man who had
Speaker 1: betrayed her in so many ways, the love of her life,
Speaker 1: Jan Barry Sandlin.
Speaker 8: Did you kill Matt?
Speaker 6: No?
Speaker 7: I didn't.
Speaker 4: Did you cause him to have skull fractures?
Speaker 5: On December twenty seventh, nineteen seventy one.
Speaker 6: No, I didn't.
Speaker 1: Kathy described the errand she ran with Tracy Raquel in
Speaker 1: the morning. She recalled their trip to the laundromat and
Speaker 1: visited to the pediatrician. Brickman asked about Matt's condition when
Speaker 1: Kathy left the apartment.
Speaker 9: It's best you could tell as a mom back on
Speaker 9: December twenty seventh, nineteen seventy one. Was he content?
Speaker 3: Yes, he laughed at lab for the first time that day.
Speaker 1: What a devastating piece of testimony from Kathy. The day
Speaker 1: of Matthew's death was a joyful milestone, he laughed. Before
Speaker 1: Kathy took the stand. Tercy Raquel was dismissed. She now
Speaker 1: had to think about her own children, so she caught
Speaker 1: the first flight home to Savannah, and she spoke to
Speaker 1: her brother Jason, who told her about threats her father
Speaker 1: had been making against her.
Speaker 10: I was told that he threatened to set me on
Speaker 10: fire and watch me burned to death, and then some
Speaker 10: of the stuff Jason wouldn't repeat. He just say it
Speaker 10: was horrible and he stopped talking to him.
Speaker 1: As Tracy Rekills crusade to get justice for her brother
Speaker 1: Matthew hung in the balance, she was facing threats of
Speaker 1: violence towards her and her family. Meanwhile, back in court
Speaker 1: into cab County, Georgia, Kathy was going to be confronted
Speaker 1: with the most bizarre story she had told about Matthew's death.
Speaker 1: I'm Nancy Glass. That's next time on Burden of Guilt.
Speaker 1: Stay tuned for Burden of Guilt, the documentary coming in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four and airing only on Paramount Plus. If
Speaker 1: you would like to reach out to the Burden of
Speaker 1: Guilt team, email us at Burden of Guiltpod at gmail
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Speaker 1: If you or someone you know was worried about maltreatment
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Speaker 1: in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is hosted and
Speaker 1: executive produced by me Nancy Glass, written and produced by
Speaker 1: Carrie Hartman and Ben Fetterman. Also produced by Andrea Gunning
Speaker 1: and associate producer Kristin Melchiori. Our iHeart team is Ali
Speaker 1: Perry and Jessica Crincheck. Special thanks to Tracy Riquel Burns
Speaker 1: and her husband Bart. Audio editing by Matt Delvecchio, sound
Speaker 1: mixing by Dave Sayah. Burden of Guild's theme composed by
Speaker 1: Oliver Baines. Music library provided by my Music and for
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