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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
GIRL, 2, DIES IN SCORCHING CAR WHILE DOCTOR'S HUSBAND SURFS PORN, GUZZLES SHOPLIFTED BEER
00:44:30
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- [00:00]
iHeart Podcast Announcer
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Nancy Grace
Starring Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette and Jason Clark. The new Hulu Original series, Murdoch Death in the Family, dives into secrets, deception, murder and the fall of a powerful Southern dynasty. Inspired by shocking actual events and drawing from reporting by Mandy Matney in her hit podcast, this series brings the drama to the screen like never before. Watch the Hulu Original series Murdoch Death in the Family, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundled subscribers. Terms apply.
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Narrator/Reporter
You know what your customers are doing right this second?
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Nancy Grace
The exact same thing.
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Investigator/Reporter
You are listening to me. Which, let's be honest, is kind of flattering. But my point Is, ads on iHeartRadio.
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Narrator/Reporter
Actually get heard in the car, at the gym, on the couch while people are walking their dogs.
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Investigator/Reporter
Who's a good boy?
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Nancy Grace
Who's a good boy?
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Investigator/Reporter
You're a good boy.
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Erica Wurst
That's right, dude.
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Ad Voice
You're a good.
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Narrator/Reporter
So why not make the next ad about you?
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Investigator/Reporter
Get started today. Call 844-844-IHEART or go to iheartadvertising.com that's 844-844 IHEART or iheartadvertising.com Crime stories with Nancy Grace.
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Nancy Grace
A little girl, just 2 years old, bakes dead, dies in a scorching hot car while daddy, the doctor's husband is inside in the air conditioned surfing porn and guzzling shot lifted beer. Okay. What? I said that correctly. I'm sure that I did. A female doctor's husband, they have money to buy beer. Is guzzling shoplifted beer and surfing porn while his two year old daughter strapped in a car seat facing the sun directly, bakes dead in a car while mommy is at work. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being.
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Erica Wurst
With us in a shocking incident. An Arizona father left his two year old daughter in a car as temperature soared to a deadly 109 degrees, resulting in a heartbreaking tragedy.
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Nancy Grace
Just imagine the heat in Arizona when little Parker is strapped in her car taking a nap for what, three, four hours while dad claims he's playing games. Turns out he's surfing porn, guzzling shoplifted beer. One thing I found very effective when trying cases is to start the case off right. And that is taking the jury to the moment of the incident, whatever that incident might be with a 911 call. The real thing, the unvarnished truth, the unedited, unfiltered reality. Let's listen.
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911 Caller
911-9113.
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Nancy Grace
What's the address? What's going on?
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911 Caller
My baby was in the car. She's not responsive.
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Nancy Grace
Okay, hold on. I'm going to try and see the medical dispatcher. Stay on the line.
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911 Caller
Oh my God. Oh my God. How long has it been? Half hour. It was, but it turns off. I've been checking. My God. She was in the car sleeping. She's unresponsive. Okay, and who is she?
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Nancy Grace
Please, please.
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911 Caller
My daughter. My daughter. And this was out in the driveway? Yes.
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Investigator/Reporter
Dr. Erica Schultes arrives home around 4pm and sees husband Chris and two daughters, ages 9 and 5, but doesn't see Parker. Chris begins looking in all the rooms of the house and suddenly runs outside. The Acura in the driveway is off. The air conditioner is off. The outside temperature is 109 degrees. When 2 year old Parker is removed from the vehicle, unresponsive, strapped in her child restraint system.
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Nancy Grace
Hold on, because I'm hearing two people speaking to the 911 dispatch operator. I hear a man and a woman and I hear the man saying, oh my God. Oh my God. I hear the woman saying, how long has it been? And the man says, an hour. The woman says, you didn't have the car on? It was, but it turns off right there. I'm looking down because I'm reading verbatim what was said on that 911 call. Right there. The dad acknowledges he knows that car, that type of car, that make and model turns off. After 30 minutes the engine turns off and so does the air condition. He knew that when he went inside to watch porn.
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911 Caller
Yeah, listen, is she still breathing? No, she's not breathing right now. Okay, we need to start CPR right now. Yes, we are. We're starting cpr. Yes, the help is on the way to you. I need to hear cpr. I need them to count it out for me. One, two. One, two, three. My wife's a doctor. My wife's a doctor. She's home. Okay. Oh my God. Oh my God.
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Investigator/Reporter
Christopher Schultes returns home from running errands and realizes his two year old daughter Parker is asleep in her car seat. Leaves her in the running car with the air conditioner on.
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Nancy Grace
What in the world? Straight out to Dr. Bethany Marshall, renowned psychoanalyst joining us out of LA. You can see her now on Peacock and she is the author of Deal Breaker. She's at Dr. Bethany Marshall dot com. Wow. Daddy has been living the good life. All he has to do is watch porn and drink beer. Wait a minute. While mom's out working. She's the doctor. She's making the living. Fine. My mom Made a living, too. My dad also worked, but all he has to do. Can I see Bethany, please? Bethany, all he has is one job. And granted, it's a big job. The most important job. Forget the doctor. The job of raising the three girls and ensuring their safety day in, day out, that's his job. He has one thing to do. Does he have to cook a gourmet meal at night? No. Does he have to clean the house? No. One job, one thing, and he didn't do it.
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Dr. Bethany Marshall
Nancy, you know, I have not treated or evaluated this guy, but if this family was my patient, I would wonder a couple of things. First of all, did this guy have children so that he didn't have to work? Sometimes people hide behind children. They have them to avoid responsibility. What about the shoplifted beer? Is he shoplifting beer because he knows he's not supposed to drink? And if he buys it and has a receipt or it's on a credit card, his wife is going to find out? And then finally, that pornography. Nancy, you know, pornography addiction is such a problem. When men, and sometimes women, but mostly men, watch pornography, they try to delay ejaculation as long as possible. They do not use it for immediate masturbatory purposes. And because of that, once they start watching pornography, it can go on for hours and hours and hours. So this guy knew that once he started watching, he was not going to stop in a short period of time.
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Nancy Grace
Bethany, look at your screen right there. There is Schultes, AKA Doctor's hubby. There he is. There. He's got the beer. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What, did he go in the bathroom? He went in the bathroom, I guess, and stuck it down his pants and out he goes. Hey, Dave Mack joining me, investigative reporter with crime stories. Dave is the stealing the beer. By the way, that video is from our friends over at cases we follow on YouTube. Dave, is he stealing the beer the same day that Parker dies in the car?
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Dave Mack
It is the exact same day. That's how they pulled the surveillance footage and were able to build a timeline for him.
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Nancy Grace
Okay, that leads me to a whole nother thing. You know what, Dr. Bethany, let me go to Josh Colesrude, criminal defense attorney, former assistant U.S. attorney and founder of Colesrude Law Offices. That's quite mouthful. Coles rude. Let's see him. Coles rude. This leads me to where are the children while he's inside shoplifting beer, out in the parking lot waiting to get kidnapped?
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Erica Wurst
Well, you know, the. The father in this case certainly failed at his duties. Now, you know what we want to do, though, is really look at what's going on with, you know, try to take emotion out of this, you know? So we have somebody who certainly is not good at being a father.
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Nancy Grace
Now, wait, excuse me. I think I just choked because of you. Not good at being a father. I've got him on video going in to shoplift beer, stuffing it down his pants in the bathroom. Where are the children? Sitting out in the car in the heat again, just before. And you say he's not good. Is that a little bit of an understatement?
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Erica Wurst
Yes. You know, not good. He's a failure as a father. And that is true. To see for everybody there, it's inexcusable and it's indefensible. You know, having your children in the car, especially when you're shoplifting, it really goes to show not only negligence, but criminal conduct.
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Nancy Grace
He stole the beer at 12:07. Just imagine stuffing a cold one down your pants. He gets home at 12:53 and leaves the daughter in the car. This one, he says, is dozing off with the car seat on, and he wants to let her sleep. That's his story. So he takes his beer and goes inside, leaving her outside. And you say, quote, he's not a good father. Is that a tiny bit of an understatement, Colesrud?
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Erica Wurst
No, I think that it's not. You know, this isn't a case where a father did something out of hatred or greed or even that he intended something bad to happen. This was simply a father who was distracted not only in what he was doing in the moment, but also through his arrogance. And because of that, you know, we obviously know the result in this case, but it isn't more than that, and we shouldn't make it into something that it's not. This is simply a father who, through neglect and his own arrogance, failed at his basic duties. Nothing more than that.
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Nancy Grace
Let me just clear something up. Erica Wurst is joining me with the. She's the public safety reporter for the Arizona Daily star@tucson.com. erica, thank you for being with us. Erica, we just heard Josh Colesrud state that this was just a case of dad being negligent. Erica, let me do a lightning round with you so we can establish the actual facts in this case, not the wonderland that Josh Colesrude would like us to believe to enter in and get lost. Erica? Yes. No. Isn't it true that the dad in this case, Chris Schultes, drives home from the liquor store? Correct. Yes. No. Correct. Then he goes in with his beer, leaving his daughter pictured here, two year old Parker in the car, strapped in, unable to get out. Is that true? Erica Wurst?
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Dave Mack
Absolutely correct.
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Nancy Grace
He opens the door of the home. He goes back to his computer claiming that he is playing games while his other two girls go somewhere else in the home. And he begins to surf porn and drink beer. Right? Yes. No.
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Dave Mack
Yes, absolutely.
- [12:44]
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- [13:46]
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Nancy Grace
Crime stories with Nancy Cole's rude. You see one intentional act after the next. How are you coming up with the defense of negligence? It just quote happened through no one's fault. He has one intentional act after the next. That's intentional. That is not negligence.
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Erica Wurst
Well, you know the way that the case was charged with child abuse and first degree murder. You know, you have to prove that intentionally committed the act. And if you look at his actions, you don't see the Motive or intent to cause the death. You certainly see recklessness. That he was aware of the harm and he disregarded the harm and forgot what time it was. And by the time he realized what happened, unfortunately, his daughter had passed away. That's not intentional. That is recklessness. And you can see that where he's done this before, right? So he. He was aware of the danger and he disregarded the danger. And by being on the porn website and playing the PlayStation.
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Nancy Grace
Coles. Rude. Do I look like I just fell off the turnip truck?
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Erica Wurst
No, you certainly don't. But I do know that you're reasonable.
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Nancy Grace
That was a yes. No.
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Erica Wurst
And you care about.
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Nancy Grace
Colesrude. That was a yes. No. Colesrude. Isn't it true under the law? The law presumes we intend the natural consequence of our act. In other words, if I pick up a beautiful, thin, fragile china plate and I throw it to a cement floor, the law presumes that I intend to break it. The law presumes we intend the natural consequence of our act. Isn't that true?
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Erica Wurst
I respectfully disagree. You know, context matters. And here what we have is a.
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Nancy Grace
You want me to read the black and white Arizona law to you? Can you not admit that that is the law in Arizona?
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Erica Wurst
There. There is a different mens rea for every crime on the statute book. Not all of them are intentional. Many are a lesser mens rea, which is what the. What you intended to happen or. Or were reckless about. Right? So here you can either be reckless, knowing, intentional, or willful. Those are four different states of mind you're talking about. Just one of them. Intentional. But here the actions speak of recklessness. That he knew of the danger and he disregarded that danger by his distraction and arrogance. That context matters. There's nothing in the motive here that says that he intended for this act to happen. There is no hatred. There's no greed. There's nothing of that sort.
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Nancy Grace
I see where you're going cold. But now you have forced me to read the black and white letter of the Arizona law. I thought you would concede that that is the law. But let me read it. In Arizona law, a person is considered to intend to a natural and probable consequence of their act. Okay, so you leave a child in the car. Chris McDonough. The heat, the temperature on that day was 109 degrees outside. And you know, the car temperature vastly increases in a stifling, hot, enclosed car indirect sun.
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Narrator/Reporter
So.
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Nancy Grace
Have you ever heard of, like, serial killers when they're little, they'll take a magnifying glass and put it on an insect and they burn it dead. They know what's going to happen. Right? You've heard of that, correct?
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Narrator/Reporter
Yes, absolutely.
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Nancy Grace
Okay. God bless you for a single syllable answer. So, McDonough, leaving a child and 109 degree outside strapped in a car with the windows up, what do you assume the natural consequence would be?
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Narrator/Reporter
100% death. Evident of the fact that he didn't leave his family dog in the car. The child is an inconvenience for this guy. I mean, he goes earlier at the heat of the day between 12 noon and 2pm and in the middle of July where the highest temperature in that area is 115 degrees, he steals a beer, brings the child home and leaves her in the car. If that's not intent, I don't know.
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Nancy Grace
What is under the law. Also, thank you for schooling the veteran defense attorney. He's tried a lot of cases. Josh Cole's rude. I'm afraid to open his mic, but I'm going to go out on a limb. Josh Colesrude, isn't it true that murder one can be proven under the theory of the abandoned and malignant heart? Example, there's a street festival and I get in my beat up minivan and I sit on the brake and at the same time I gas it and I take off at 100 miles per hour through that festival and I mow down several people and kill them. That is an abandoned malignant heart. Abandoned to the suffering of others. And that can equal murder one. It is a theory that supports murder one. Abandoned and malignant heart. Isn't that true?
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Erica Wurst
Well, context matters. And what you're talking about is circumstantial evidence. So, you know, let's look at the circumstantial evidence to determine what the defendant's state of mind is. So we know that he was drinking and that he was aware of the risk that the car's air conditioning was shut off after 30 minutes. And this had happened before. And he left his daughter in the car so he could go look at porn and play on his PlayStation and allegedly play games with his other kids. And during that time he lost track of time. There's no evidence that he intended for this act to occur or that he had some malignant heart.
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Nancy Grace
Okay, back to my question. If I can get us back in the middle of the road, I was prepared for this. I'm ready for you. I looked up the law so I could read it to you again, verbatim. Out of Arizona abandoned malignant Heart is a legal concept known as depraved heart murder. It is implied malice and a basis for murder. In Arizona, it is a killing that results from extreme indifference to human life, even though defendant did not specifically intend to kill. So that said, there are three lines, three avenues under which a state can get a murder conviction. One, the law presumes you intend the natural consequence of your act, the plate of china to the cement floor. Number two, abandoned a malignant heart. He did something with such extreme indifference to the life of his daughter that it results in a murder charge. And three, felony murder. That is when a death occurs during the commission of a felony. The felony here would be child neglect. A death occurred during child neglect. Now, I know what you're about to do. You're about to throw some contextual argument at me. But I know for a fact that those three theories of murder apply to this case. I'm not arguing he intended to kill his daughter when he slammed the door. I'm not arguing that. I don't believe that's true. But I believe all of the other three avenues to murder fit Schultes.
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Erica Wurst
Well, those three theories may or may not work in front of a jury, but what does matter is circumstantial evidence. Because in order to prove that he had some malignant intent or that this is a felony murder, you have to really delve into his motivation. What was he doing at the time that this happened? He was drinking. He was distracted by watching porn, playing on the PlayStation and playing with his other children. You know, there's no indication he wasn't playing with them.
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Nancy Grace
He sent them to another room so he could watch porn. You know, naked ladies.
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911 Caller
Okay, we're two copies. Two copies. Oh, that's compressing. Oh, my God, baby. CPR is still going on? Yeah, CPR is still going on. Okay, you're gonna perform that until the units arrive and take over for you. Baby, Baby, baby, baby, baby.
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Erica Wurst
The child's mother returned home to a scene of unimaginable grief, finding her daughter lifeless after being trapped in the sweltering.
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Investigator/Reporter
Vehicle for over three hours.
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Nancy Grace
So Daddy has the other two girls at a trampoline park with friends. Okay, so they're at a kind of a jumpy house type thing. And it's our understanding that that trampoline park is indoors in an air conditioned facility where literally the floors are all trampolines. Okay, so the two older children, 5 and 9, are there. He only has to take care of one child. One. Okay, welcome back, everybody. Daddy under suspicion in the death of his two year old little girl Parker. Daddy's inside drinking stolen beer and watching porn while this child dies out in a baking hot car.
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iHeart Podcast Announcer
Listen.
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Investigator/Reporter
Schultes calls 911 as Erica performs CPR on her daughter. When responders arrive, the temperature is 109 degrees and Parker is transported to Banner University Medical Center. 4:58pm 2 year old Parker pronounced dead. The medical examiner says the temperature inside the car was 108.9 degrees when first responders arrived confirming she died of heat exposure.
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Nancy Grace
How hot does it get in a car when the temp is 109 outside? Watch this.
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Erica Wurst
So let's start a timer and let's see exactly how hot it gets in here. I'm at five minutes in. It is unbelievably hot in here. We're nearing a hundred degrees already and I can tell you that it is stifling in here. Okay, I'm at 15 minutes now and it's about 110 in my car. The temperature right now is about 115. What I really wanted to set out.
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Narrator/Reporter
To do is see how it felt to be left in a parked car.
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Nancy Grace
He's talking about a pet in a parked car, not a child. But the physics, the law of nature applies. And that is from our friend Dr. Ernie Ward. Joining us now, Dr. Kendall Crowns. He is a renowned chief medical examiner in Tarrant County. That's Fort Worth. Never a lack of business in the morgue there. He's the esteemed lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine at tcu and he is the star of a hit podcast series, Mayhem in the morgue. Dr. Kendall crowns. Control room. Could you show me a picture of two year old Parker? Every time I look at her, I think of my twins at age two. Age two. While we look at Parker, Dr. Kendall Krause, could you explain what happens to a child in a stifling hot car? Temp outside 109.
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Narrator/Reporter
Certainly. So when a child's left in a car that it's at a high temperature of 109, their bodies heat up about three to five times faster than an adult. So within minutes they're already starting to sweat and then their body becomes overwhelmed and they start feeling dizzy. They start having headaches and begin vomiting at about a temperature of 104. When the core body temperature of the child reaches 104, they're starting to really feel the signs of heat stroke and they're beginning to go even further. Passing out, going into a coma at about a body temperature of 107. Their entire organ Systems begin to fail and shut down, they go into a coma and die. So it takes a matter of minutes, especially in a temperature of 109, for a child to go from normal to fatal. And it'd probably be about 20 minutes tops.
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Nancy Grace
When they endure that, Dr. Kendall crowns what does the child live through? Because in a case that we went to the courtroom and watched gavel to gavel, Justin Ross Harris Baby Cooper died in a hot car while he was inside his workplace at Home Depot Corporate texting, sexting with underage women and other women. Baby Cooper died in the car. And I recall distinctly that his head was scratched in the back and I think across his neck, but I'm sure the back of the head where he was banging it, banging it against his car seat, trying to get out and trying to breathe. So that tells me, Dr. Kendall crowns that the child doesn't just pass out and die. Like they told us in Bryan Kohberger, that the four Idaho students went to sleep and they woke up in heaven. That's not at all what happened. Kelly Goncalves was stabbed like 30 times in the face alone. So I know the child is awake based on what Baby Cooper's body revealed and the way you. You said it, it just gets hot and they die. That's not what happens.
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Narrator/Reporter
Dr. Kendall crowns well, that is. I agree with you. That is not what happens. And I did say that there is a time period between the initial beginning of the heat stroke where the child is feeling hot, sweating, having to breathe in this hot air, and begins to become confused, dizzy, starts vomiting, and eventually after several minutes, will pass out and then go into a coma and die. But that time period between the beginning and the coma is a very difficult time period with the sweating, the vomiting, the dizziness, and it can even result in a seizure. At some point. Kids strapped into their car seat, they just crackle themselves. Why is it so they'll be.
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Nancy Grace
When you are in a hot car, it feels like there's air in there, but it feels like you can't breathe.
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Narrator/Reporter
It's because the heated air actually makes your mucosa of your mouth and your airway kind of and become edematous. And it's almost burning your airway to breathe in this hot air, so it's uncomfortable.
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Nancy Grace
Dr. Kendall crowns in preparation for tonight's show yesterday, I sat out in the car and I turned it off and let the wind. The windows were already up and sat there in the sun, and it got harder and harder to breathe. And up here, I knew there was air in the car, but it didn't feel that way. It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the car. How does that happen?
- [31:56]
Narrator/Reporter
It's your body's reaction to the heat and it's starting to decompensate because of the heat. You're sweating and you're slowly becoming dehydrated and your organs are starting to shut down because the elevated temperature eventually would cause you to go into multi organ failure and die.
- [32:14]
Erica Wurst
Scholtice claims he was putting up groceries and got distracted playing video games on PlayStation. Investigators find out he was drinking beer.
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Investigator/Reporter
And watching porn on the Internet while.
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Erica Wurst
His older daughters, 9 and 5 are playing nearby.
- [32:27]
Nancy Grace
Joining us, Erica Wurst, public safety reporter with the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson.com Erica so at the beginning he lied. He said that he was putting away groceries and playing PlayStation.
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Dave Mack
Yeah, he said he was home way after he actually got home and that was caught on neighbor security camera. So she was not in there for 30 to 45 minutes and they were able to prove that she was in there for hours based on his lies, which they were absolutely able to prove. We're lies.
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Erica Wurst
Christopher Scholtice, the father failed to rescue his daughter from the scorching car reportedly.
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Investigator/Reporter
Consumed by video games and explicit online content.
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Nancy Grace
Police immediately, as you just heard, Erica Wurst from the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson.com report police were first told and you hear him saying this in the 911 call, he's already saying this in the 911 call that baby Parker was only in the car for minutes. Minutes. But based on security cam from neighbors videos, their ring cams or surveillance videos, he was actually in the home for hours and he knew the vehicle cut off. The engine and ergo the air conditioner both cut off after 30 minutes.
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Investigator/Reporter
Investigators begin creating a timeline. Schultes tells them he got home 2:30pm and Parker was asleep in the car. Surveillance footage shows Schultes did not arrive home at 2:30 as he claims he got home at 12:53pm Schultez is seen walking into the house alone and not coming back out again until after his wife gets home at 4:08pm When Schultes is seen running out to the car.
- [34:22]
Nancy Grace
Running but too late. I want you to spend see daddy when I compare him to my dad. He really doesn't deserve that title. Christopher Schultes speaking on body cam to.
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Erica Wurst
Police so any, any death we have.
- [34:38]
Narrator/Reporter
To treat like a crime scene. I know this is extremely difficult for you.
- [34:48]
Erica Wurst
This is a normal process that, that we have to follow through with. I don't want you to be blindsided by anything. But that's. That's what's going to be going on for right now. Okay, so I'm being treated like a murderer? No, I just lost my.
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Dave Mack
Not at all.
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Erica Wurst
I know that.
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Narrator/Reporter
And I know this isn't easy for you.
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Investigator/Reporter
That's.
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Erica Wurst
That's why I'm trying to be straightforward and honest with you, okay? I don't want to keep any secrets. I don't want to hide anything for you. Someone's going to talk to you about what happened though, all right?
- [35:20]
Nancy Grace
Quote, so I'm being treated like a murderer and he starts crying because he's being treated like a murderer. Josh Colesrude, don't you hate it when your clients are caught completely self absorbed?
- [35:36]
Erica Wurst
Well, this is a situation where a father is dealing in grief. I think we can all see that. He just lost a two year old daughter and he's reacting like somebody who loves his child. He's not acting like somebody who intended for this to happen. And you know, there is an element here of mercy. You know? You know, justice demands accountability, but it also demands a dose of mercy. And we're looking at human emotion at its most raw form. And, you know, what would you expect a father to do or act like if he lost?
- [36:22]
Nancy Grace
You mean the father that's getting himself some cold water out of the fridge right there? That father, he probably doesn't even know.
- [36:29]
Erica Wurst
That he's doing that. He's lost in grief, which is what you would expect for somebody who truly loved their daughter. You're not seeing crocodile tears here. You're seeing genuine emotion and love for somebody.
- [36:44]
Nancy Grace
I see him genuinely get himself a glass of cold water on ice out of the fridge after his daughter just thirsted in the heat in the car. Yeah, okay. Fill her up. And that ain't all. Listen, we will keep you updated.
- [37:02]
Narrator/Reporter
My whole family is going to be.
- [37:03]
Nancy Grace
Ruined.
- [37:11]
Erica Wurst
So we can't let you do that right now. We have to stand by with you. Okay? As soon as you can.
- [37:15]
Narrator/Reporter
We will let you stay in the room if you want, but I'm gonna talk.
- [37:19]
Erica Wurst
I know this isn't easy for you.
- [37:21]
Narrator/Reporter
But the quicker we get this done and finish up, the sooner you can.
- [37:25]
Investigator/Reporter
Be with your wife.
- [37:26]
Narrator/Reporter
All right? I'm trying. I'm trying to.
- [37:29]
Nancy Grace
So I can go to the hospital.
- [37:30]
Erica Wurst
We're not going to shower or anything right now. You need to stand by with us.
- [37:33]
Narrator/Reporter
I don't understand why.
- [37:40]
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- [38:42]
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- [39:43]
Nancy Grace
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Dr. Bethany Marshall. Help me. He's saying I have to get to my wife at the hospital. But first I'm going to luxuriate in a hot shower. What? This isn't fitting together for me. Now I'm just a trial lawyer. You're the shrink. You're the renowned psychoanalyst out of la. What is going on? He's fighting about taking a shower.
- [40:12]
Dr. Bethany Marshall
Parker is not a real person to him. He stuck her in the car so he could watch pornography while the other girls were away at a trampoline party. That's what he wanted to do. He itified her. He treated her like she was an it. I have watched all the police surveillance and what I noticed, he does not get upset until they say it's a crime scene. Prior to that, he looks panicked, not sad. Getting into the shower is to kind of pull Himself together to go to the hospital. If your baby died, you would be rushing out the door. You would be saying to the police officer, take me in the car now. I'm going to run to the hospital if you will not put me in the car. He is taking time to pull himself together, which tells me that he's.
- [40:59]
Erica Wurst
Hold on.
- [41:00]
Nancy Grace
Wait a minute. Dr. Bethany, I have a question which may bear on what you're saying. Erica Wirsch joining us. Arizona Daily Star. Erica, wasn't baby Parker pronounced dead at the hospital?
- [41:16]
Dr. Bethany Marshall
Yes.
- [41:18]
Nancy Grace
So, Dave Mack, crime stories investigative reporter. Is it possible that he wanted to take a shower before Parker had even been declared dead?
- [41:29]
Dave Mack
Nancy, he actually gets a phone call from or a text from Erica, and that's when he tells the police, my wife wants me at the hospital. I'm guessing based on the fact that he didn't start screaming, my daughter's dead. He actually is. You know, he says, I gotta get a shower. I gotta rinse off before I go to my wife at the hospital. I need to be there with her. But look at him. He's not focused on anything except himself. And the police are going, he's trying to wash off evidence.
- [41:57]
Nancy Grace
Oh, okay. I was wondering about the desire to wash. Chris McDonough. I've seen it in gunshot cases where the defendant can't wait. He suddenly has to go to the bathroom or take a shower to get that GSR gunshot residue off his hands, which you can do really easily with tap water. But here I was trying to figure out why is he so hell bent on taking a shower. His wife and daughter are at the hospital. What? What's with the hot shower?
- [42:26]
Narrator/Reporter
Yeah, I think Dave may be onto something here. Is there something else that we're just not aware of? But he is in his mind. And talk about malignant intent, Right. The one question where's Parker at that moment? That guy is in a whole different world. And this video shows us it's his world, it's not her world.
- [42:46]
Nancy Grace
Okay, Dr. Bethany Marshall, weigh in.
- [42:49]
Dr. Bethany Marshall
Nancy, the act is because he was watching pornography. He could have lubricant all over himself and he's trying to clean himself up. Because the evidence in this case would not be gunshot residue. It would be evidence that he's masturbating while his daughter's in the car. I think that would be the evidence he would want to wash off.
- [43:09]
Erica Wurst
Investigators uncovered text messages hinting that this tragic oversight was not an isolated incident, raising questions about a history of negligence.
- [43:21]
Nancy Grace
Joining us, an all star panel to make sense of what we know tonight. Do I understand correctly, Dave Mack, crime Stories investigative reporter, that Daddy Schultes knew the car would cut off? And he had been warned before by his wife not to leave the girls in the car. And we hear Mommy saying that when she gets home, I told you not to do this.
- [43:48]
Dave Mack
Yes, exactly, Nancy. He knew exactly how long that MDX stayed on in idle before it was cutting off automatically. And she had continually warned him about leaving the children in the car unattended. This was a regular habit of his. And she warned him not to do it.
- [44:06]
Nancy Grace
You know, over and over, we learn he knew very well not to do this. Look at this text mom sent him. I told you to stop leaving them in the car. How many times have I told you? And he says, babe, I'm sorry, but I want you to hear what Mommy does in court. He's charged with murder, and Mommy insists the judge let him out on bond. Says he is a, quote, good dad and he needs to come home out of jail so he can grieve.
- [44:38]
Dr. Bethany Marshall
Listen, I'm just asking if you can allow him to come home to us.
- [44:42]
Nancy Grace
This was a.
- [44:43]
Dr. Bethany Marshall
A big mistake.
- [44:44]
Nancy Grace
And I think that it. This doesn't represent him. That. From our friends at KVOA TV and 857tucson, Erica Wurst joining us. Arizona Daily Star. Is it true that when the judge lets him out on bond, he goes with the family on a vacation to Hawaii? Is that true?
- [45:07]
Dave Mack
That's 100% true, Izzy. One of the weirdest things I've seen.
- [45:12]
Nancy Grace
Jos Cole's rude. How's that going to look to a jury? That Mommy goes in front of a judge and begs for a lower bond so he can. Can come out and grieve? And what he grieves at the Big island, on the beach with one of those big drinks and a pineapple?
- [45:31]
Erica Wurst
Well, I think it says a lot about the victims in this case. And the mother is a victim and she's the next of kin and she's grieving and she understands the context in which this happened. And she knows her husband and she knows that he's not a danger to her family anymore, and she wants to forgive him. And the judge saw it the same way and ruled.
- [46:04]
Nancy Grace
I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying. You're talking crazy talk. Dr. Bethany Marshall. Can't she forgive him while he's in jail? Does he have to be forgiven? On the beach at the Big Island?
- [46:16]
Dr. Bethany Marshall
You know, Nancy, on the body cam footage, you see her comforting him very calmly. It's the same woman. It's the doctor mother. You can tell by the tattoos on her arms. And she's calmly saying it's okay, babe, something that extent. So she is more concerned about him than she is about the baby. It's very, very perplexing, Nancy. She's an anesthesiologist. You know what that means. She, her profession is keeping people alive while under surgery. She knows that these kids have been left in the car. She knows the risk to them. She may be one of these mothers again. I've never treated or evaluated her who is more bonded with the father, with the love object than with her own children.
- [47:01]
Nancy Grace
Shockingly, the hubby dad turns down a sweetheart deal for maximum 10 years. He would probably have been out on in about five years. I don't know why the deaths of children are treated differently than deaths of adults. Why did he turn down the deal? Because the judge gutted the state's evidence. Listen.
- [47:32]
Investigator/Reporter
Sholta faces a first degree murder trial and the prosecutors intend to introduce evidence of Sholta's porn search at trial. But the request was denied by judge Kimberly Ortiz. The judge decided the state is precluded from any eliciting testimony in its case in chief regarding the defendant looking for pornography on PlayStation before his daughter's body is discovered.
- [47:52]
Nancy Grace
Well, thanks, judge. By doing that, you gutted the state's case, showing his course of conduct, frame of mind, his motivation at the time the child was was killed. Did that really happen? Dave Mack, the judge ruled out any evidence of porn surfing.
- [48:12]
Dave Mack
Absolutely, Nancy. And this is something that shocked everyone involved in the case, that the judge said you can't let anything in about it. You can't let anybody talk about it. This is off the table.
- [48:24]
Nancy Grace
Take a look at this body cam video. Parker has been brought into the home and you see everyone there. It looks like some of the police know that Parker is dying while one person administers cpr. In the end, Dave Mack, as he approaches trial after he's turned out a sweetheart deal, he suddenly pleads guilty when he looks at the evidence against him. What's the sentence, Nancy?
- [48:49]
Dave Mack
The sentence comes out as a flat time sentence of 20 to 30 years without parole. And with the sentences for the various charges to run consecutively, Schulte now facing.
- [49:03]
Nancy Grace
A sentencing range of 20 to 30 years flat time. What does that mean? Will he get out early? Will there be a sudden turn of events like there have been in the past? And what, if any, duty does mommy face? We wait as justice unfolds and we remember an American hero, Lieutenant Albert Stout. Robin Police, Texas. Killed at the line of duty after 31 years on the force, leaving behind his wife and three children. American hero Lieutenant Albert Stout. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend.
- [49:48]
Erica Wurst
Wishing the holidays could come early. If you own or manage your business, they can. With help from iHeartradio. People are already shopping for their loved.
- [49:57]
Investigator/Reporter
Ones and hunting for deals wherever they.
- [49:58]
Erica Wurst
Can find them, including right here. They're listening to the radio. They're listening to podcasts. They could be listening to you. Don't wait for everyone else to kick off the holidays. Get your best season of the year up and running today. Call 844-844-IHEART or visit iheartadvertising.com.
- [50:19]
iHeart Podcast Announcer
This is an iheart podcast.