Cold Case Files: REOPENED – "The Punishment"

Episode Date: August 21, 2025
Host: Brooke Giddings (A&E / PodcastOne)
Summary by Podcast Summarizer

Overview

This episode revisits the chilling 1978 death of six-year-old Sally Cheesebrough in Battle Creek, Michigan. Initially ruled an accidental drowning, the case stayed cold for decades. Through the dogged determination of her sister Nancy and new forensic insights, investigators brought long-overdue justice to light—even if it felt incomplete.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to the Case

• Sally Cheesebrough, age 6, lived with her older sister Nancy, mother Bonnie, and stepfather David Walton.
• On March 9, 1978, Sally was found unresponsive in the bathtub.
• Despite oddities, her death was ruled an accidental drowning.
• Nancy, then 7, was burdened with guilt after being forced to apologize at Sally's grave. Their parents insisted it was Nancy's fault.

2. Abuse and Hidden Truths

• Nancy reveals the extent of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse suffered by her and Sally.
  • Quote:

    "We would be pushed down the stairs, whipped with anything about... I've had so many hospital emergencies with stitches because of things being thrown at me." (Nancy, 03:35)

  • Sexual abuse and being "pimped out" by the parents are recounted in graphic detail (05:21).
• The "cold bath treatment" was the most feared punishment.
  • Quote:

    "We would have to fill it up with nothing but cold water...sometimes...for hours...They would hold us under, push us down, make us stay down." (Nancy, 04:12)

• Sally died after taking the blame for using nail polish and receiving the cold bath punishment.

3. The Aftermath & Reopening the Case

• Nancy was removed from the home at 12 and entered foster care.
• As an adult, Nancy (now Nancy Spalding) decided to fulfill her promise to Sally to seek justice.
  • Quote:

    "I really wanted justice for Sally... I promised that to her at her funeral." (Nancy, 07:35)

• In 1992, Nancy provides a full account to Detective Dennis Mullen, marking the first real investigation into Sally’s death.
  • Quote:

    "She was present when this occurred and was a witness to a great, a great part of it." (Mullen, 08:15)

4. Investigation Challenges

• Original evidence was thin: only an autopsy and accidental death notice.
• Bonnie (mother) admits during interview to helping hold Sally in the cold bathtub as punishment but claims they never intended harm.
  • Quote:

    "David couldn't get her in the bathtub, so I helped him...while he was ducking her, I held onto her feet." (Bonnie, 09:14)

• David Walton (stepfather) initially denies involvement, later confesses after "finding" Christianity.
  • Quote:

    "I'm gonna tell everything. That's what I came down here for, is to tell everything." (Walton, 10:38) Confesses to holding Sally's head underwater, but blames Bonnie.
    “I’m guilty of second degree murder.” (Walton, 11:15)

5. Medical & Forensic Breakthroughs

• A major challenge: No water in Sally’s lungs—how could it be drowning?
• Expert Dr. Thomas Adams explains the possibility of laryngospasm (involuntary closing of the airway upon sudden cold-water shock), which can cause suffocation and cardiac arrest without water inhalation.
  • Quote:

    "It's an involuntary contraction of the muscles of the larynx that stops people from breathing." (Dr. Adams, 12:24) "Cardiac arrest probably is what killed her so quickly." (Dr. Adams, 12:55)

6. Final Prosecution and Outcome

• In 2002, a cold case unit reopens the file using the parents' videotaped confessions and new forensic understanding.
• Both Bonnie and David are arrested and tried for murder.
• Bonnie is acquitted due to language subtleties and lack of direct evidence of malice.
  • Quote:

    "The entire trial rested on one letter of one word...If she had said she knew what she had done would kill Sally..." (Investigator Howe, 15:53)

• David Walton is convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
• Investigator reflects on verdict:
  • Quote:

    "Makes you feel that justice is done, but only halfway. Bonnie will never pay for her crime, at least on this Earth." (Howe, 17:00)

7. Closure for Nancy

• After 26 years, Nancy gets a measure of closure.
  • Quote:

    "Today, I have closure." (Nancy, 17:22)

Notable Quotable Moments

• On Abuse:

  "Bonnie would tell us how to do it." (Nancy, 03:56)
  "She pimped me out to other guys..." (Nancy, 05:21)

• On the Investigation:

  "She was just being punished." (Bonnie, 09:26)
  "What crime is it? ... Murder one." (Walton, 11:12)

• On Justice:

  "Our heart went out to Sally and to Nancy when we read the case." (Howe, 11:45)
  "Makes you feel that justice is done, but only halfway." (Howe, 17:00)
  "Today, I have closure." (Nancy, 17:22)

Important Segments (Timestamps)

• [01:26] – Nancy describes finding Sally in the tub
• [03:35] – Nancy recalls childhood abuse
• [04:12] – Details of the "cold bath" punishment
• [07:35] – Nancy contacts police as an adult
• [09:13] – Parental confessions in interrogations
• [10:38] – David Walton’s full confession
• [12:24] – Dr. Adams explains laryngospasm
• [15:33] – Prosecutorial challenges over establishing malice
• [16:33] – Walton's trial and conviction
• [17:22] – Nancy's closure

Conclusion

This episode is a haunting portrait of a decades-old child murder, institutional failures, and the perseverance needed to surface the truth. Through Nancy’s courage and modern investigative persistence, the rare cold case is solved, though justice can never fully erase the trauma.
The story is told with empathy, blending raw testimony, police procedural, and a sobering scientific explanation of how the crime occurred.

For more Cold Case Files, visit aetv.com or the A&E Real Crime blog.