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- [00:00]
Ann Emerson
Hey everyone. Welcome to Crimly Obsessed. I'm Ann Emerson and the case that we're covering today started with a viral video. Does this sound familiar to you?
- [00:11]
Beth
Uh oh.
- [00:11]
Michelle
They're coming for you, Sharon.
- [00:13]
Joe Newton
They don't want me. They want Reggie.
- [00:16]
Beth
What's up?
- [00:18]
Joe Newton
Well, we're here for you, ma'. Am.
- [00:20]
Ann Emerson
We saw this woman, Sharon. We'll call her being arrested. We now know that woman is Deborah Newton, who kidnapped her own daughter 43 years ago. That video was weird enough on its own, but the story that unraveled because of it is really. It's stranger than fiction. When Debra Newton allegedly kidnapped her own three year old daughter back in 1983, her then husband Joe was left without any answers for 43 years. Can you even imagine? This is a conversation I've been so eager to have. I'm talking with Joe Newton, who has been reunited with his daughter who's been missing from his life and the world up until now. If you haven't yet, go back and watch our previous episodes covering this case so you get the full impact of what Joe has to say. And be sure to like and subscribe to Crimly Obsessed for more conversations with the people who are at the center of these kind of cases.
- [01:22]
Michelle
Joe Newton, I am so pleased to meet you. I have thought about you and I hope you're doing well.
- [01:30]
Joe Newton
I am. I'm doing real well. Great right now.
- [01:34]
Michelle
And tell me, I mean, yeah, this is, this is a special time. I want to ask you, I want to understand how can you take me through what life was like before you lost Michelle in your life? Can you tell me about a little bit about your marriage and how you and Deborah came together?
- [01:59]
Joe Newton
Actually we met each other at vocational school, started dating when we were. She was 15, I was 16. Actually had goals just like everybody else. It was great relationship. I actually asked her to marry me when I was 17 and I kind of got rebuttal from my dad and he thought I was talking about immediately. And I had to explain to him, no, we were finished in high school and stuff. And after that it was okay a little bit. He still kind of looked at us and were you young? But at the same time we were both working, we had goals and we got married. We were 17 and 18. We bought our first house at 18. We started off on the right foot. I mean, we really did. As things went along, I think more than anything we probably forgot what we were working for and led to some bad decisions in our life. And the last year of it, we were Trying to work those problems out, or as I thought, anyway. But we had great parents, we had great family. There wasn't any abuse or anything like that in our marriage. All in all, I thought we were. We were probably great parents at one time, but we wasn't a good husband and wife at one time. We kind of lost what we were really working for. I think we were both good parents. We just lost the husband and wife part of it. As we had some problems in our marriage and we thought we were working them out, she came to me and asked me about going to take a job in Atlanta. The company that she worked for supposedly was going to open up a new branch. Looking back on it, I guess I was kind of naive and really didn't ask the right questions and stuff. But we agreed that she'd go to Atlanta, start the job, and on the fourth week I'd be down there. And at that time, she'd make a decision where we're going to stay or not. And for three weeks, I called every day and she answered and everything, talked to my daughter. And the fourth week come around when I was supposed to come down, she didn't answer, and I couldn't get her to answer. And unfortunately, because I trusted everything, I didn't have enough information to go looking for.
- [04:44]
Michelle
And Joe, let's. Let's remind everybody right now, Joe, you're talking about 1983, when we don't have cell phones, we don't have the Internet.
- [04:55]
Joe Newton
Like, we didn't have anything.
- [04:58]
Michelle
Yes, sir. I mean, this was. This was back. That was when. Yeah, I was 13 years old. I remember that. I remember that feeling.
- [05:05]
Joe Newton
So the laws are not the same. There's a lot of different little things that change from the time that my daughter left until now. At the time, I still didn't know all. All I knew she wasn't answering. I didn't know if she was in trouble. I didn't know what. All I knew is that she supposedly left to go down there. So I went to her dad, moms and asked them if they had heard from her daughter. And her dad asked me what was going on. I said, I'm not real sure at this point. All I know is that she went down to Atlanta. Folks had a job there. That Monday, I went to where she worked in Louisville and got to talk to the CEO just to find out she had quit a month ago. So. Okay, now I know that.
- [06:05]
Michelle
Oh, boy.
- [06:06]
Joe Newton
Yeah, that there's something here. So I asked him a couple more questions. I said, if you don't mind me talking to you a little bit. I know you don't know me and I don't know you, but supposedly you all paid for multiple trips. And he proceeded to tell me, he said, we didn't pay for any trips. So at this point, now I know pretty much this portion of it's a lie. I don't really know what. So at that point, I went back home and I really didn't know what I was going to do next. And I got a phone call from one of the co workers that she worked with and she told me, she said, your daughter's in a very bad situation. I know the address where she's at and the person she left with. So now I know there's a person involved in this. And I went to her dad and I said, I want to tell you what I know. At this point. At this point, I know it's not a company thing. She set this up to leave. I don't know everything, but I know there's a guy involved, so. And I didn't know him until they give me their name, but I had the address where they were that. So I took Mr. Curry and my sister, we drove to Georgia. And the intent was to try to talk to his daughter, to do whatever, you know, straighten it out. But when we got there, we were told not to come back, not to do this. And at that point, when I come back, I didn't have the paperwork I needed to do get my daughter. So as soon as I come back, I told Ms. Curry I was filing for a divorce and I was going to file for custody, and that's what I did immediately. And from there, it was a lot of things that people don't understand, and I didn't either. The first thing I had to do was to get her served, and that was no easy task to do.
- [08:25]
Michelle
So you went down there immediately, you went down to Atlanta pretty much immediately, as soon as you realized what was happening, is that right?
- [08:33]
Joe Newton
The fifth week. I was actually down there the fifth week.
- [08:37]
Michelle
And Joe, who was with you, who was with you when you went down there? Were you on your own or what?
- [08:41]
Joe Newton
No, I took my. My father in law at that time went with me. I didn't want to go down there without him. I told him, you know, this is, you know, you know, it's your daughter, you know, maybe you talk to her, she wants a divorce, whatever it is. At this time, I'm really not sure what her tent it was or. Or what. But as they went on, I realized that she Left for a guy that was 20 years older, had money. I don't understand. And as the investigation at that time in the 80s went on, a lot of things were told to me. Basically, I was dealing with two different people. There was a person I knew then another person. That's another life she led.
- [09:34]
Michelle
There was Deborah that you knew that you married. And then there was a Deborah that was living a totally different existence, totally
- [09:40]
Joe Newton
different life, totally different thing.
- [09:42]
Michelle
Joe, I've got to. I've got to ask you right here, because I think our viewers really need to understand. The people that watch this interview that care so deeply about your story and care so deeply about Michelle is that there were. There were accusations made by Deborah during her interrogation that it was you, that you were the abuser. And I know that you just said this to me, but she said these things about you.
- [10:09]
Joe Newton
Was there any other type of domestic abuse or anything like that? Anything else going on? Anything physical?
- [10:17]
Deborah Newton
Yeah, yeah.
- [10:19]
Joe Newton
What will happen?
- [10:21]
Deborah Newton
Oh, he would hurt me.
- [10:22]
Joe Newton
Yeah, he would hit me.
- [10:24]
Deborah Newton
He would hurt me. He would force me. But most of all, it was the threats.
- [10:33]
Michelle
And I want to give you an opportunity right now to address what she was accusing. That it was you. That was the one that she had to get away from.
- [10:42]
Joe Newton
I. I understand that. I went through that 43 years ago. You know, they went through my background and went through everything. There was no physical violence whatsoever from either side. That was not the case. I would say this. She wanted out, obviously. I think. Cause she was young. As I got older, I started. I think she was manipulated by. That's the guy she left with. I was told a lot of different things. When they investigated about the situation, that they thought there was a lot more to this.
- [11:21]
Ann Emerson
Joe's talking about the man that supposedly Deborah ran off with when she took Michelle and left Joe 43 years ago. Now, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Just to let you know, this story is still developing. And as we have more updates that we can share with you, we will.
- [11:38]
Joe Newton
And go back to the records. When I said 43 years ago, if they go in and pull up all that, they investigated my allegations and stuff and found nothing to be true, I don't have anything there to say to. You could go back and forth with this all. All day long.
- [11:59]
Michelle
Yes, sir.
- [12:00]
Joe Newton
I would tell anybody that if she was leaving because of me, I would understand that maybe. But she left her whole family. She left everybody, both sides, and they were good people. So you got to look at that and say, you know, there's more to this than he's. She's running away from me. She was running to somebody. What she was doing, you know, I don't really care what other people think one way or another. I do care what my daughter thinks. That's the person I care. You know, everybody else can, you know, have their opinions. I don't give a. I know what I've done, what I haven't done.
- [12:43]
Michelle
Joe. I want to know like, I mean, as a parent with two kids myself that are, you know, the. My heart how when you realize that everything had just gone south, that Deborah wasn't telling you the truth, she wasn't where you thought she was. Do you remember that feeling of what went through your.
- [13:09]
Joe Newton
I will say throughout the very first. You know, there was a lot more anger at her. As I got older, that anger went to him because I think more than anything, she got manipulated by him and another his position and his mind. But at the same token, you know, there was times where I got thinking, well, did she get a situation she couldn't get out of? Is she still alive? You know, you know, under the circumstance which she left it, that he had control, the control of her, which I don't think she's good for anybody. But that seemed to be. And what was said to me by the FBI and police that investigated was always something on that line that he was more in control of her by leaving the way they left and cutting off all ties, things like that. They said, I know when it very first started, they didn't actually believe that she cut off all her ties and her parents and stuff, which I greatly regret that they got detectives badgering them, going after them thinking that they know knew something and they did not. They simply wanted, I know, a conversation me and her dad had. He told me, he said, look, I want to do whatever I have to do for my daughter. I said, I told him, I said, I appreciate that, but that's my daughter on the other side. So we both had an understanding, you know, and I. Again, I don't know why she took the route she took because her dad would have done anything for her. She was best friends with Frank Adad in Louisville, and anybody in Louisville at that time would know that lawyer. Basically, I would. I might have got my custody rights, but I would not had any chance of getting full custody.
- [15:23]
Michelle
No, and that's a great point, Joe. I mean, like you're. One thing that I'm hearing is that you were a dad, a young dad who was trying to navigate this legal system, right?
- [15:36]
Joe Newton
It was Not a legal system. And even still today, they. When you get paperwork, it really didn't matter because when you went somewhere, you had this stigmatism that. Especially in the 80s. I was one of the first dads that filed for custody. Asked. All the paper work I went and did mostly was a woman going after a man. So it was. It really was a no win situation. Even if I got the paperwork when you went somewhere, and I would say going to Georgia with Kentucky paperwork was useless. When I went down after I got custody and they wouldn't honor it. So I came back and got another piece of paper which was supposed to be honored anywhere. It's a governor's seal again, you know, trying to do it the right way. If I look back at that, there were the times I could have kicked the door down a couple times. Even an officer in Georgia told me, he said. He said, I'll arrest you, but, you know, and you can take your chances in trial. I kind of regret that multiple times in my life.
- [16:57]
Michelle
So you were right there, Joe. I mean, you were literally right there, right? Is that what you're telling me?
- [17:01]
Joe Newton
When I got the Governor's Hill, I went back down to Georgia. I called CPS and Louisville, and what I wanted to do was to have CPS in Georgia to pick up. And when I got to Georgia and I went to cps, got them, and I had to go to the judge with him, and the judge would not honor it. He would not pick it, pick my daughter up. He wouldn't put her in custody. And I still today do not understand it. Except the only thing I could think of, the guy had enough pool in Georgia and found out it was quite wealthy. And I. It made no sense. I wasn't asking to take. Take my daughter. I was asking to put it in Georgia CPS custody. And he simply wouldn't do it. So that's when I came back and pursued for a felony, and it was a misdemeanor. At that time, the laws had changed. And when it changed, I was explained that she would have a grace period up until that day that the law went in effect. She could have returned Shelley, and it's still been a misdemeanor. She did not. So it automatically went into a felony. That's a simple layman terms is what they. So now today, that's whether or not they'll honor that, I don't know. You know, that's going to come up in court.
- [18:49]
Michelle
Tell me, Joe, do you remember that last time that you saw Michelle and Deborah together?
- [18:53]
Joe Newton
Yeah, I Thought that she left.
- [18:56]
Michelle
Tell me what happened that day. Tell me, tell me what happened. Those. That last moment you saw your daughter.
- [19:03]
Joe Newton
We like said, thought she was going to set up a apartment in Atlanta and loaded up the U Haul with the stuff out of the apartment. And I told her, I'll see you in three weeks or four weeks. It was, you know, three weeks we was calling. And that's the last time I seen my daughter. It's just been a long road to get to here. I wouldn't wish it on anybody. Anybody. Joe, how did you.
- [19:37]
Michelle
For 40 years, 40 years, your family
- [19:41]
Ann Emerson
and you
- [19:44]
Michelle
held out hope.
- [19:47]
Joe Newton
Her family didn't know anything either. Her family missed her. You know, when I told her sister Karen, if I ever got my daughter back, I would make sure that she met them. And the first day my daughter drove back that when we found out, she drove immediately back. And I made sure that she got to meet her mom's sister and her family kept my word. Like I said, they were great people. That's parts always bugged me about, you know, her leaving again, you might justify some not say it justifies what you did, but anyway, right. People could say, well, you left because maybe blah, blah, blah. But she didn't just leave me. She left everything she took away from my daughter. All her uncles, all her cousins on both sides. She literally, the victim was really my daughter. What she lost. And at that point is when I felt like she was no longer a good parent because she put herself in front of my daughter and her daughter. Yeah. You don't get to just say, well, that's somebody else's fault. No, it's not. It's yours. You made that choice, and I don't care what. You made that choice. There's a hundred different ways she could have went and would have been fine, but she took the wrong one. And I would say I hopefully out of anything that people look at it, you know, if you have a problem with your marriage, don't put your kid in the middle of it. I will tell you, I will say after I had the FBI involved, I figured I'd have my daughter back when long time ago. But that doesn't work that way. I do know as time goes on, you get put further and further back on it, especially as old as it is now, I could never thank the woman enough that found her. And I haven't got the opportunity to thank her, fortunately, but. And I might not, but I certainly wanted everybody to know that I can't. Can't thank her enough for what she did. And the way she found her was due to technology. Due to the new technology. You. You do. As the time goes on, you do. I didn't know if I was looking for somebody who was deceased. But you still have hope and you still. It was one of my things. I hope to. To at least tell her that I didn't abandon her. You know, I didn't know if she'd be receptive to meet me or anything, but I did want her to know I never abandoned her.
- [22:44]
Michelle
Oh, my goodness. It. How you figure out that she was alive and that she.
- [22:50]
Joe Newton
We really didn't know. We had no idea she was alive, but we kept looking. My sister, that. Me and her kind of. I think after the. Somewhere around when she was turning 17, 18, they told me that she had the right to not. And I said, well, until that day comes, she's going to have to tell me, because whether she wants to meet me or not, at that point I can at least sell her what I. You know, whether it be giving it a message or something. And all at the time, you're really just wanting to find something to give some type of closure to it. You hope that they're alive. You still look like. Want them to be alive, but, you know, as you getting older, you're wondering, what's her life been like? What did she, you know, go through, what, you know, all the things I missed that I can't get back. But at the same token, though, he really wanted the parent, that she had
- [23:57]
Michelle
his life, that she was safe and happy and that she was healthy.
- [24:02]
Joe Newton
That's kind of.
- [24:04]
Michelle
That's all you can hope for.
- [24:06]
Joe Newton
Yeah, you just hope she's having a good life.
- [24:09]
Michelle
But how did you tell me, Joe, like this year or this past year, what events led up to you finding out that she was. That Michelle was alive and thriving as a human being?
- [24:25]
Joe Newton
November, I get a phone call from my sister, and she said, you think Karen, which is my ex's sister, would do a DNA swab? I said, well, absolutely. I said, she. She'd do anything to find Shelley. So we called her up and hadn't talked to her in years. She said, yeah. So my sister had to. They had the US Marshalled, and they come by and got a DNA and took it back with them. Two weeks later, I'm at work and my sister calls me, says, I need you to come over to the house. I got a water problem. So I get there and pulling in a drought, and she's standing in the doorway and just ball. And I said, oh my God. Their house flooded. What? You know, so I get up the door and she goes, we found her. And I first did Rose. She said, we found Debbie. And I said, I don't know. She said, I want. I wouldn't tell you because me and you went down so many false leads. I knew two weeks ago that they pretty much had her. They wanted the DNA to be positive and I wanted you to know they're going to arrest her at 10 o'. Clock. They wanted you to know before because we didn't want you to get bombarded. So they arrested her 10 o'. Clock. That's, that's when I knew. That's now I know she's, she's definitely alive. I take it about an hour after they had talked to her, she admitted who she was and everything. And then they called back and said, we know where your daughter's at. When she got told that she wasn't who she thought she was, I was just amazed that she had called me. We got to face talk to each other that day. That night I had several of my sisters with it on sitting at the table. She got to see five of them in and she was telling she's always wanted a big family. And I started laughing. I said, be careful what you wish for because you're stepping in.
- [26:47]
Michelle
You've now got a big family.
- [26:49]
Joe Newton
You got a huge family.
- [26:51]
Michelle
You got a huge. What was that first hug like?
- [26:56]
Joe Newton
We just. I didn't want to let go. Still don't want to let go. It was 43 years of. I feel like having my 3 year old again and here's this grown woman. But it was awesome for you, Michelle
- [27:23]
Michelle
in the corner there.
- [27:25]
Joe Newton
It was awesome. And soon as she. Soon. And she did. She literally drove the next day from where she was at to her house. And so when she gets there, you know, I'm waiting on the front porch and it was a very special. And I guess, you know, you get 43 years, you know, it's just overwhelming. Still overwhelming, you know, so. But yeah, and next day I got make sure she got to meet her other family and. And it came in a better time because Thanksgiving she got to go meet. Well, she got to meet all my brothers and sisters. It was that time she met part of the nieces and nephews. There was probably a, a little over 100 of us there at Thanksgiving, but there's probably another hundred she ain't met yet. And hopefully Easter or something, she'll get to meet most of them.
- [28:26]
Michelle
Oh, gotcha. But that's amazing.
- [28:28]
Joe Newton
She got to meet a lot of. She's got great nieces and nephews or nieces that are named after. She got to meet some of them. That was kind of neat.
- [28:40]
Michelle
I want to ask, because Michelle brought it up, and when we talked in an interview when we first were learning about all of this, she brought up that there was a dollhouse. Can you tell me about this dollhouse?
- [28:52]
Ann Emerson
We're going to get a picture of it here on screen so you can see the dollhouse for yourself.
- [28:57]
Joe Newton
We had obviously going. Coming lawyers. My family was helping my brother and the sisters and all, and my one brother was five years older than me. He made a dollhouse to be raffled off. I didn't know it even still existed, but one of our friends, neighbors in that community, actually wanted. And when they seen it aired, they recognized who it was. And my brother called me. Ben. He called me up and said, you know the dollhouse David made? I said, yeah. They said, well, it's still in existence. The Corbett's, when they want it, they had passed it down through their kids, their grandkids, and still had it now and was willing to give it back to my daughter. So me and my brother and my stepson drove to the Florida. Took us 28 hours round trip. So we drove straight there, got it and talk. But it's in good shape as the day he made it with a certain couple. Still had the original paint, original everything on it. So we got to bring that back and give it to her. And that was really a neat thing and everything. But,
- [30:32]
Michelle
Michelle, you can give him a hug.
- [30:33]
Joe Newton
I can.
- [30:34]
Michelle
In the corner there, you got surround
- [30:38]
Beth
sound tears here, so.
- [30:40]
Michelle
You're killing me.
- [30:41]
Beth
You're killing me. I've got, literally, I got mama Beth over here crying. I'm over here crying, so.
- [30:47]
Michelle
I know. I know you do. I mean, this story. I. I just. I. I just can't even believe you said. I think it said you described seeing her as like an angel.
- [31:01]
Joe Newton
Yeah. God, on the. Wow to describe her. I mean, she pretty much is an angel. Daddy's little girl. Yeah.
- [31:22]
Michelle
Y' all are so special.
- [31:26]
Joe Newton
Well, I think we've both been waiting 43 years for, so.
- [31:34]
Michelle
But I wanted to understand, like, the. The. The. The part. The DNA swab that was taken that U.S. marshals were able to, like, identify from there. What was the tip that. That tipped off law enforcement? Is it law enforcement?
- [31:50]
Beth
So what we were told was it was an anonymous tip that came in from Marion county, which is the same county that my mother was living in. And it was someone who was doing some, like, novice AI playing around with like, facial recognition and kind of moving things forward. And they came across this case. That is all that we know. I actually just reached out to the detective in Florida again. I left a message, just trying to somehow connect with this person, even just through a phone call.
- [32:19]
Joe Newton
I was told it was a woman that was it.
- [32:21]
Beth
Okay.
- [32:22]
Joe Newton
That actually got into facial recognition as a hobby. And she liked it so much that she went out and bought her own computers and stuff and actually opened U.S. business up. And she works looking for criminals and missing and exploited children. And if she gets a match, she goes to whoever that that might be. But she's come across the photos that we had sent out 40 some years ago and actually got a hit on her mom. And they were pretty certain at that time that it was her. And that's when they asked for the DNA. She turned it over to a proper authorities and they went from there. So again, it's modern technology and somebody that. To really just enjoyed what she was doing. But we really would like to thank her, but I don't know, she likes the limelight or that's not what she's doing it for, you know. So.
- [33:45]
Michelle
Well, if she. If she goes forward with an interview at all, and I'll. I'll stay in touch with Michelle about this too, Joe. I would love to. I mean, obviously, this is. This is the. This is our audience. I mean, they're armchair detectives. The people that watch our show, hear our stories. These are people that are invested in helping. They are literally the core of our people that watch this show. And I'm so grateful that we have so many people out there that want to know the truth. Yeah. So she. She shows up and. And wants to talk. That would be amazing. I'm gonna take you off again for a minute, Michelle, if that's okay. Off camera now, that I couldn't handle. I couldn't handle. I couldn't handle hearing her crying without you getting a hug. I wouldn't. I want to hug you, Joe. Like, I want to hug you. So I can only imagine what it's
- [34:37]
Beth
like being in that room right now.
- [34:39]
Michelle
You are so sweet. I want to ask you a little bit about after that happened, you know, after you were able to digest this information. And I don't know how much you watched. I don't know how much you're dealing with it right now, but Deborah was put in an interrogation room and her story went in a totally different direction.
- [35:03]
Ann Emerson
Guys, if you haven't seen our Episode on the interrogation video. Definitely give it a watch. I'll play a bit for you here so you can get an idea of the seriousness of what Deborah said in that interrogation room.
- [35:15]
Deborah Newton
Joseph, my husband, and he took pictures of me with two different men, two different times, not together, but two different times. And said that if I left him, divorced him, he would take those films, they weren't videos, they were like film, kind of old fashioned film. And he would share them and show them to my family.
- [35:58]
Ann Emerson
So hearing that, it really puts Joe's response to these serious accusations in context.
- [36:05]
Joe Newton
Whether or not she ever tells the truth, I really don't care at this point. I do care that I don't want to be made out like some kind of monster, that I'm not. I'll take credit for what I did wrong in the way, in the marriage, but outside of that, that's not gonna, not gonna fly. Even when she left, when I went, I never said anything bad about her as a, a mom or anything. She was a very hard working person. And at that time I thought she was a great mom. But that changed when I, I really realized that my daughter was in danger. And under the circumstances which she left, they simply wasn't good. And I don't care what she tries to justify it. This was her decision to do what she did. She wasn't abused and I wasn't abused either. It wasn't like that. So I'll wait for court and go through all that and however it comes out, it comes out. But I got what I wanted, what I've been looking for.
- [37:26]
Michelle
So were you disappointed that she said what she said?
- [37:33]
Joe Newton
I'd already heard some of that back at the very beginning, tried to justify it. They investigated me at that time, found nothing there to be true. And I didn't expect it be any different. I think she was told to say what she said 40 some years ago. And I think she's held on to that for 40 years. I don't think anybody wants to. I think she's looking for a reason that person over here to justify or taking her daughter, taking her away from her, all her family and everything. And I don't care what happened in our marriage, it would never justify it. Never. You can't justify doing what you did by what you saying. There's a hundred different ways she could have went that that was even remotely true and it's simply not true. Like I said, I felt like she was told how to lead. She didn't want departure. I don't think he wanted Anybody involved. He wanted control of her. I think it was all. And again, I base that on what I was told when they started investigating. And all that's will be in files and stuff. If people want to dig through it, you know, I go ahead. I mean, it's public, you know, you can go through it and everything so, so hard.
- [39:02]
Michelle
I mean, I. Men in our culture are immediately looked at as. You're guilty as the aggressor, right?
- [39:12]
Joe Newton
Yes. You're. You're. I fought that in 82. And. And the stuff today is, it isn't any different. You're still considered pretty much automatic. The aggressors again. I really don't care what the media thinks one way or another. I really don't care what they think, what my daughter thinks. I know dog matters. Me rest. Everybody else like you think about it, wonder about it. But I would ask them, you know, to really think about what they're saying because, you know, you have somebody that didn't lead. Just me. She left everybody. There's something got to be more there to it than that. She's disgruntled from where she's at, so. But again, you know, that's. We end up in court with it, and I don't know which way all that is going to go.
- [40:11]
Michelle
Well, Joe, you said you take a lie detector test, right? I mean, you were like, I'll do whatever I need to do, a polygraph or whatever I need to do.
- [40:19]
Joe Newton
Yeah, yeah, I don't really care about that. I would like, if I have to take a pile of grass, she'd have to take one too, but hoping that we would all get passes so we could just go on. She can't give me back 43 years. She can't give her daughter back. But she could apologize, she could say she was sorry. She could do that.
- [40:44]
Michelle
Would that go a long way right now still, even after what she did in that interrogation?
- [40:48]
Joe Newton
It would go a long way to me. The other thing I would. Would like to use to. To retract what she said, but that is so complicated.
- [41:01]
Michelle
It's amazing. Your story, Joe, and the way that your family has stayed together to be able to embrace Michelle at this point, well, we're.
- [41:12]
Joe Newton
We're overwhelmed with her. I mean, she is just as lovely as we could ever expected. I mean, and herself. She's embraced our family and lets us be a part of her life because she didn't have to do that. And it's really. It's been an amazing thing because I was really scared that we Wouldn't. She wouldn't have that bond. But that's far, far from being a true. It was instant when we seen each other. I mean, we just knew. I mean, didn't have to ask, didn't have. We knew. It's just greatest moment in my life outside the day she was born. So it was pretty close. Like it didn't Reborn.
- [42:04]
Michelle
I guess. The one last thing I wanted to ask Keecho, I got a chance to talk to Wayne.
- [42:08]
Ann Emerson
You'll remember Wayne Brookover. He was the second man that Deborah Newton took as a husband. They were together for 10 years. I talked with him in a previous episode, so be sure to check that out.
- [42:19]
Joe Newton
I think the COVID up continues. And I could see that when they arrested her, he's like, oh, they're not here for me. Like, you had to have some idea.
- [42:28]
Ann Emerson
He said he always suspected that she was hiding something, but never thought it
- [42:33]
Joe Newton
was this serious as a dad, because I have raised kids myself that. And I told him, I said, you know, the dad. I always prayed that she had somebody out there that would treat her like a daughter. Because I was telling Shelly when I was raising the kids, a lot of the time I would look at, you know, how would I want my daughter to be treated. And that's how it helped me raise them. I wanted them, you know, to succeed, to have a childhood, have fun, you know, be a dad. And that's what Wagon was to her and still is. I can't thank him enough for it. He's a good man. So, you know, when you look at it, when you are missing somebody like your daughter or your loved one, you hope that there's people out there that, you know, treat them with respect and like they're theirs. And he did that. So I can't thank him enough for that.
- [43:42]
Michelle
You know, it's like when you have one kid, you think, I could never love anybody as much as I love that one kid. Like when I have my first kid, it was like, never, ever. There's no way. I could never love anybody that much again. And then the second one comes along and you're like, oh my God, you can. There is no limit to how much you can love.
- [44:06]
Joe Newton
Well, I found that the kids. I think my situation has affected me in the way that I love kids a lot more than the adults. I have to say. The kids are just kids, you know. So a lot of times I'd think about Shelly through them, and it helped me. So my stepdaughter, she got to meet her and I said, you Got a sister. You need that. So we've. We've tried to meet the ones that. In my life and heard it. She's got siblings that are. That I've raised, and, you know, they just. It's neat. So out of every tragedy, there comes some other good in different directions, and we both have done that. And again, Wang is the best thing I could ask for, you know, for my daughter. And not everybody gets that, you know.
- [45:09]
Michelle
And Joe, you know what I said to Michelle in our first interview? I said, you're so lucky that your dad, Joe, is so young. And she said, well, he had a heart transplant last year. And I said, and he's got a new ticker. Not only do you have a dad that's young, I mean, you're younger than my brother.
- [45:29]
Joe Newton
Yeah.
- [45:30]
Michelle
So you're young. We're young, Joe, we're young. You got a new. You got a new lease on life, and you got it a year before she showed up.
- [45:40]
Joe Newton
Yeah.
- [45:41]
Michelle
Well, a lot of catching up to do.
- [45:44]
Joe Newton
Yeah. I don't know if we'll catch it up all, but we're going to work on it.
- [45:49]
Michelle
Well, thank you. Thank you for sharing your story. I literally am dumbfounded at your ability and graciousness and gratitude through this process.
- [46:01]
Joe Newton
Well, again, thank you all.
- [46:04]
Michelle
Thank you. Thank you. You're a special person.
- [46:07]
Ann Emerson
Now, after hearing Joe's side of the story, I want you to drop a comment, tell me what you think, and bear with us, because there's so much more to this story. I have so many questions myself, and there's so many things that I want to share with you. Please like and subscribe and be sure to follow us at Crimly Obsessed, because we will continue to have conversations like this that are at the center of the stories that you care about. Thanks.