S1: Ep 4 - The Body Keeps the Score

Hi all, we have some exciting news to share. Paramount Plus has turned Burden of Guilt into a docuseries. You will get to meet the people involved, You'll hear from the people who have never spoken before, and you get to see where the story took place. We are so proud and excited to share it with you. You can stream it right now on Paramount Plus. Nearly two decades after her baby brother's death, Tracy Riquel Burns had finally captured the attention of law enforcement. Her fight was now

I remember doctor Burton talking about Matthew using his name, and that really stuck with me that there was a level of compassion about the experience and not just looking at what we were doing is exhooming a body, but looking at it as trying to find out the truth of what happened to Matthew.

Former Decab County District Attorney Jay Tom Morgan.

Our protocol requires that when there's a death of a child, a prosecutor be present for the autopsy. It helps us understand what the doctor is going to testify to you later. When the casket was opened, that putrid smell came out, and I distinctly remember.

It, and everyone was surprised by that smell because it indicated that human remains still existed. Because of that, there was hope that the exhumation would pay off. Lead Assistant District Attorney Jeff Brickman was there.

I remember doctor Burton carefully opening the casket and remember seeing.

A little boy completely intact.

Medical examiner doctor Stephen Duntan.

There was still hair on his scalp, and he was dressed as an infant would be.

It was an unforgettable, horrible, unimaginable moment. I had to step away.

Doctor Burton gently lift the child out of the casket, took him to the hypopsy table and cut the clothes off with the parisers.

The room was equipped to record the evidence.

The medical Issama has anes ray unlike the ones in an emergency room because it's on an autopsy table.

And as much as you wanted the evidence to be there and this was good news, you can only imagine that for everybody in the room, it was just awful. He still looked like a baby frozen in time.

So there's this little infant on the autopsy table with a camera from the S ray machine looking down on its rays are being taken. We can see on a large screen while those s rays are projecting. I had seen multiple skull fractures and babies before, and the first thing I noticed was bilateral fractures on each side of the child's skull.

There was one on the left and one on the right, and it was a very complex fracture.

Part of it looked like the backwards question mark.

Someone may have hit this child with his fist which could have caused the question mark skull fracture.

Then they took a closer look at Matthew's foot.

Doctor Burton pointed out that there had been a burn on the left foot of the child. The discoloration was still there. Held us, a four and a half month old in a crib get a burn inside the foot unless it's put there by an adult, either by a cigarette cigar or maybe even a lighter. After the autopsy, we were all ready to go forward with the prosecution. Not only were we one hundred percent, but this child had been tortured before he had been violently killed.

Based on the physical evidence and the fact that really this had to have been committed by an adult, and Jan Berry Sandlin was the only adult that was left with matt.

The original indictment of Chan was for the murder of Matthew Golder, but after the investigation, exhumation, and autopsy, the prosecution expanded the charges.

Jan Sandlin was charged with malice murder, felony murder, crew to children and aggravated assault, and we felt really good.

About it, and now little Matthew would return to his place of rest.

Matt was taken back to the cemetery and got to go back to sleep, and then we went back to Atlanta and got ready for trial.

And while the prosecutor's office went to work, Matthew's father, Cathy's first husband, appeared.

Someone in my life at the time had sought ted Golder out thinking it would be beneficial to me.

Now, ted Golder was listed on Tracy Raquel's birth certificate as her father, but Kathy was having an affair with Jan when Tracy Raquel was conceived, so she didn't know who her biological father really was. And frankly, she didn't even care that much. But she had taken ted Golder's name because she didn't want to be associated with Jan Barry Sandlin. So tell me about Ted Golder.

Ted Gulder was a very nice man. He really wanted to know if I was his daughter. He asked if I would do a paternity test, which I sure, you know, he was in Atlanta, I was in Savannah, and we did that. Now while we were waiting for the results to come back and we talked daily, just about things and life and people. It was a nice thing. The paternity test came back and he called and he said, you're not my daughter. And he said, you know what,

What was that like for you?

This is where it gets really hard to feel like there's not something wrong with you. And I had his name, so yeah, he said, you know, i'd appreciate it if you don't. He's my name, Golder. You're not my child. And that was it. I never heard from him again.

The situation with Ted Golder was another heartbreak, but Tracy Riquel could not let this latest disappointment deter her. She had to focus on getting justice for Matthew. She knew even with the trial set, nothing about this would be easy. There were no guarantees. The second autopsy of Matthew Golder had been a revelation. What they found out amazed everyone, and one of the things they learned was that there had been a first autopsy. When they exhumed the body,

While we had prosecuted some cold cases, this was the coldest. This was frigid, and we knew when I say we Leanne and I and doctor Burton and j Tom Morgan, our boss, knew there was going to be a hefty fight in front of us at trial.

I was pretty unwavering in my belief that there were only two people, two adults, who could have been involved in Matthew's murder, and it didn't make any logical sense that it would be Kathy.

We were going to have to recreate history. We were going to have to put that crime scene back together. It was not by any stretch of slam dunk, and we knew that.

Putting the crime scene back together started with Matthew's crib.

We contacted Series and Robot. They did not have that crib, but they had the dimensions of the model, and we hired a carpenter to rebuild a crib just like that one, so the jury could see how just unlikely, not impossible for a two year old to climb over in and then throw a four month all out.

It was critically important that the crib was on the second floor of their apartment, which doctor Burton told me meant that there would have been some give to the floor because it would have been on a wood and a subfloor as opposed to being on concrete on a concrete slab, and so there just was no way for the amount of force that would have been required for those injuries to have been generated by a fall onto a floor of that type.

There were several witnesses that had to be prepared for the trial, including Tracy Riquel's mother, Kathy Almond. She would turn out to be one of the state's key witnesses. Lee and Mangum was the person who prepared Kathy, and she had a lot of time to observe her behavior.

I remember that Kathy was quiet and passive. It was clear that Kathy was still scared of jam.

And Kathy was sticking to her story.

She was very clear on the timeline of what happened to the day that Matthew died.

She said that when she came home from running errands, She took Tracy Raquel into the apartment, and then Jan instructed her to get the laundry out of the car. When she came back upstairs, she found Matthew on the floor unresponsive.

I remember Kathy seemingly knowing what really had happened, but not being willing to admit that to herself. But I suspect on some level, Kathy always knew that that story didn't make any sense.

Jeff Brickman said earlier that the case wasn't a slam dunk. One reason for that was Sandland's lawyer.

Krin Mall was Jan Barry Sandlin's defense attorney. Corin Mall was an incredibly effective advocate in every trial where I faced.

Her, Leanne and I knew karenn we had had cases against her. She was very calm, durable. In this particular courtroom, she and Judge Fuller got along well. He respected her, as did other judges, but that was sort of like her home turf, and Karen was a bulldog.

The media and the public were fascinated by the case. A little girl, a two year old who had been framed for her brother's death, grows up and realizes it's all a lie. The courthouse opened its doors on July ninth, nineteen ninety seven.

Everybody gets your sixth place.

Tracy Raquel sat in the District Attorney's office waiting to be sworn in.

All right, all.

Get happenning me see you please.

Facing the bench was Jan Barry Sandlin and a white Oxford shirt and pattern tie. He rocked back and forth in his chair with a wad of gum in his right cheek.

Counsel Great proceed with his.

Attorney seated next to him. Jan's appearance was confident, cocky, making direct eye contact with anyone who spoke to him or about him. So how do we know all those details? Well, the trial was recorded. Today we're used to seeing court cases on television, but back in nineteen ninety seven it was still relatively new. Judge Hilton Fuller Junior felt the public should be able to see the court proceedings in real time. The presence of a TV camera would have

Art the real sequestration has been in Boca. I expect that the attorneys to make sure that all witnesses understand that they're not to discuss the case with each other.

Sequestration also meant that a witness could not watch the trial on television.

We're now ready for opening statements, mister, when you wish to make an opening statement.

Yes, sir, thank you may perceived thank you.

N Stephen Golder was on death's doorstep when he arrived at the Decab General Hospital on the evening of December twenty seventh, nineteen hundred and seventy one.

Jeff Brickman opened the day by describing the injuries Matthew sustained on the day of his death and the efforts the medical team made to save him. He shared details about Matthew's original autopsy and original death certificate that had categorized the baby's death as an accident.

Jan Barry Sandlin while alone and while in immediate control over Matthew Stephen Golder, a four month old child who literally was depended completely on an adult forcibly and intentionally killed him.

He credited Tracy Raquel with being the one person who didn't believe the story that her mother told officials when Matthew died.

The evidence will show you, ladies and gentlemen, that Tracy ram as she gets older, starts asking questions, trying to find out what really happened. Trying to find out the truth.

Brickman had to be explicit that there wasn't a witness or a smoking gun in a case like this. Instead, he previewed the expert and family witnesses the prosecution will present, and then wrapped up with this, and.

I'm confident and submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, that at the conclusion of this evidence, one verdict will be consistent with the evidence. One verdict will be consistent with the truth.

And then he directed his attention to Jan Barry Sandlin.

And that is, ladies and gentlemen, that on December twenty seventh, nineteen seventy one, Matthew Stephen Golder was killed by that man.

Then Jan Sandlin's defense attorney, Carin Maul made her opening statement.

Gentlemen, the only thing that is true that we do know is that indeed that baby did not fall out of that bed, did not get pushed out of that bed, did not get stumbled in the night and dropped on the floor.

So if the defense was saying that Tracy Raquel was not responsible for Matthew's debt, where were they going.

Listen, ladies and gentlemen, for the story about Kathy Alman, who was so distressed that she told her daughter, I can't go talk to the police, I can't go talk to the DA I can't do this all by herself. Twenty six years of line is what you will hear about in the next few days. It is the best example of how a lie begins and how it will come to an end in this courtroom, missus Almond, I believe the evidence will show this is probably her worst nightmare come true.

It is going to be difficult for her to testify it's true.

Kathy did tell different stories over the years to Tracy Raquel, to social workers, to doctors, maybe even to herself. The defense would use that to so doubt.

You will hear State's version of events is but one of many. You'll be asked to reconcile all these different stories and to determine which, if any, you believe.

And then the state called their first witness, neurosurgeon doctor Ellis Keener. Jeff Brickman conducted the questioning. Doctor Keener walked the jury through Matthew's injuries and the treatment he gave him that winter night twenty six years earlier.

I recommended they go right to the operating room where he to be prepared for surgical expiration. Though the situation looked very bad.

Doctor Keener explained that Matthew continued to decline even after surgery.

According to the notes, he had become terminal and an effort was made in the intensive care to give him artificial respiration, and there was also a note that he had cardiac massage, both unsuccessful.

Brickmann asked doctor Keener how Matthew got those injuries.

I was told that the child had been I believe thrown out of the crib by sibling.

But that wasn't the entire story. We did some research and learned that doctor Keener didn't really believe the story that he was told in the hospital. When Matthew was brought in, missus Camilla Taylor, a social worker for Decab Family and Child Services, meanted an interview with doctor Keener. This conversation took place about fifteen days after Matthew died. When asked if he thought that the damage could have been caused by a fall from a baby bed, doctor Keener said no.

More.

Notably, the social worker explicitly writes in her letter. He made the above statement after being assured that this report is confidential. Why would a doctor require his conversation to be confidential? Was it for hip hop compliance? No, that wasn't even a thing until decades later. Was it out of fear for his own safety? That important detail would never come to light? In the courtroom, Brickman continued, as.

Far as you know, doctor Keener, were the police notified?

As far as I know, yes, the defense was up at bat carin Mal asked doctor Keener about something else found in the autopsy, bruising on Matthew's clavical Isn't it true?

Doctor keino that that bruising could have occurred at North Side Hospital in an effort to resuscitate the child.

I think your statement is not correct.

Okay, correct me?

Then correct.

Doctor Keener explained that the placement of the bruising was right around the collarbone, which would not be because of resuscitation efforts. Maul then turned to the burn on Matthew's foot.

You called it an.

Old, dry, ulcerated area, that's correct.

Then she asked if anyone would have noticed the burn if they weren't a physician He responded that it was obvious enough for him to put it in the record.

All that you can tell us is that it was old and that it could have been a burn, it could have been a blister. It's not quite clear. Correct, that's correct.

Maul is trying hard to minimize Matthew's injuries. The bruising, the burn mark, It was all evidence that Matthew was abused and tortured. It implied a pattern of harm, something Mull wanted jurors to lose sight of. And here's a really stunning question.

Now, you didn't do anything to that burn or blister. You didn't put anything on it or tend to it in any way, did you. There's no record that I.

Did anything to there was?

She implying that the burn wasn't significant because doctor Keener didn't put neosporin on it. Matthew's skull had multiple fractures and a brain bleed. Life saving measures were being taken. It went without saying the priority was to save the child. The prosecution had to hope jurors were sensible enough to understand that.

Ki next witness Stay called Tracy Rain.

In nineteen ninety seven. Tracy Raquel Burns was going by Tracy Rain. Rain was the last name of her husband at the time.

You raise your right hand.

If you saw me swear from the testimony you give the court durald dishpan, it would be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but truth.

Say you got yes, I did.

This moment was a culmination of years of heartache and misery and pure tenacity. You're twenty seven years old, you get called to the stand. What was it like for you after you worked so hard.

To get to this place?

It was overwhelming and terrifying. And then, of course I hadn't seen Jan since I was nine or ten years old, so this was going to be the first time I was going to see him face to face in all those years. So it was pretty intimidating.

Did you interact with Jan in any way?

I made a very conscious decision to look over at him just long enough to acknowledge that he was there, and just honestly so I didn't throw up because I was just so terrified.

Leeann Mangone questioned Tracy Riquel.

Tercy, why did you work so hard to have Matthew's death reexaminer.

Well, initially it was a search for truth, There was so many inconsistencies in the story. And then later I realized as I was older, that something bad had happened, and it was to correct that bad thing. And then obviously I realized just several years ago that it had been placed on me. So that's who is part of it as well.

Lee Anne Mangone asked Tracy Riquel why she wanted to record conversations between her and her mother, Kathy Allman, you said that you've spoken with.

Your mother on a number of occasions to try to get information about what happened to Matthew. Yes, at some point did you record a conversation between yourself your mother?

Yes? I did?

And why did you take reported phone conversation between yourself.

And your mother?

Several days prior to that, Actually, the night before she had said to me that it was easier to say that I was responsible for excuse me for Matt's injuries than it was to say that the man she loved was and watch him go to jail.

Leanne Mangun also asked about the push and pull between Terca Raquel and her mother.

How old were you if you remember when you first asked your mother what had happened.

To your baby birth.

My first recollection of that is age seven.

Did your mother give you any explanation as to why she was initially uncooperative with trying to find out what happened to Matthew?

Well, I think that she had originally said it was because she didn't recall, and that it was a crazy time and there were, you know, crazy things going on and she just didn't remember, and later it was because she just didn't want to have to deal with it.

Teresa Raquel did well with the prosecution, and then defense attorney Carin Malt started her cross examination.

When was the first time you were told you were to blame for.

The death of the child in nineteen ninety two and at the time.

That you were talking to police you did not realize that you were to blame at that point, No, I did not, in fact, miss ring. The person who has been hurt the greatest is probably you, wouldn't you say?

I think that would vary in opinion.

Okay, but basically, your mother has blamed you for the death of this child, correct.

As I was informed by those medical records.

Yes, and your grandmother her mother, I.

Don't think that she blamed I think she was passing on what was told to her.

Isn't it true?

You use the words when you were talking to your mother. Your mother said, ask your grandmother, and you said, I did.

All she'll tell me.

Is she did it, but that I did it.

Yes?

Were you ever astonished that anyone felt the need to tell you you were responsible?

I don't understand that.

Okay.

Didn't you at one point in time express to your mother that a mother who cared about her children would seek to shield a child from playing, would not tell the child you're responsible.

Yes, I did, and that would be as.

True, if not true, with regards to your grandmother. Correct.

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean.

I'll rephrase that.

There was no need to tell you, as a child or as a young adult, you're responsible for the death of this child.

Her response was justifiable. I asked her a question and she simply answered it.

But nobody said to you, Oh, when you asked what happened to your grandmother, she said you did it. She didn't say, oh, it was an accident I did it, or somebody else did it.

She said it was an accident. You were responsible.

Yes, who else has said to you Tracy Wayne, you are responsible for either the accidental killing, the accidental injuring the accidental death, the purposeful injuring.

The personal death.

Who else has laid responsibility on you has told you.

My mother, Grin Maul was anxious to question the next witness, Tracy Riquel's mother, Kathy Allman. She wanted jurors to think that Kathy was a liar.

He raised right hand. You saw him squear fum the test.

Wont to give the cord you will.

As Kathy Almond took the stand, she appeared shaky and nervous. I do Twenty feet away sat the man who had betrayed her in so many ways, the love of her life, Jan Barry Sanmon.

Did you kill Matt?

No? I didn't.

Did you cause him to have skull fractures? On December twenty seventh, nineteen seventy.

One, No I didn't.

Kathy described the errands she ran with Tracer Raquel in the morning. She recalled their trip to the laundromat and visited to the pediatrician. Brickman asked about Matt's condition when Kathy left the apartment.

It's best you could tell as a mom. Back on December twenty seventh, nineteen seventy one. Was he content?

Yes, he laughed out elab for the first time that day.

What a devastating piece of testimony from Kathy. The day of Matthew's death was a joyful milestone, he laughed. Before Kathy took the stand. Tracy Raquel was dismissed. She now had to think about her own children, So she caught the first flight home to Savannah, and she spoke to her brother Jason, who told her about threats her father had been making against her.

I was told that he.

Threatened to set me on fire and watch me burn to death, and then some of the stuff Jason wouldn't repeat. He just said it was horrible and he stopped talking to him.

As Tracy Raquel's crusade to get justice for her brother Matthew hung in the balance, she was facing threats of violence towards her and her family. Meanwhile, back in court into cab County, Georgia, Kathy was going to be confronted with the most bizarre story she had told about Matthew's death. I'm Nancy Glass. That's next time on Burden of Guilt. Stay tuned for Burden of Guilt. The documentary coming in