Women Behind Bars in HD - Season 3, Episode 9 - Helen and Jennifer - Full Episode | Forensic Files

On this episode of Women Behind Bars, one woman is accused of masterminding the murder of her son-in-law.
I was very shocked. If you ever had to clean up anybody's brains, it was very traumatic.
In the span of over 500 jury trials that I've presided over, this case still stands out, and I've heard some real doozies.
Then Jennifer Latham tells her story. She snatched a one-day-old newborn from a Florida hospital.
The information we had was a female kidnapped a child from the maternity ward of the hospital, and as she left,
they tried to stop her, and she fled away from them. I was very much thinking that he was mine.
I was going to love him and nurture him and raise him and do all the things a mother does.
Two women, two brutal crimes. These are the stories of Helen Shreves and Jennifer Latham.
[MUSIC PLAYING] On September 5th, 1986, police were called to a dry cleaning store where they found the body of 40-year-old manager Tony
Martinez. He was lying in a pool of blood with a half-eaten tortilla in his mouth.
He was eating at the time that he was killed, and he was shot in the back of the head.
The counter in front was brains and part of his face. At first glance, store owner Helen Shreves had two concerns.
The victim was her son-in-law, and the killing occurred at her business. My mother was saddened.
It hit her hard what happened. The crime went unsolved for three years, until 46-year-old grandmother Helen Shreves was accused
by a former employee of instigating the murder because the victim allegedly beat Helen's daughter.
In over 500 jury trials that I've presided over, I've heard just about everything,
and this case still stands out. And I've heard some real doozies. I was the boss, and I got things done.
But does that make me a murderer? Was Helen Shreves the mastermind behind Tony Martinez's murder because he abused her daughter?
Or was she a scapegoat for a crime she didn't commit? Helen Shreves was born in coal mine country, the third child
of a dirt poor family. All three children were placed in orphanages. At a young age, Helen was adopted by a local couple.
My mother was adopted into a family that really didn't care for her. She slept on a porch outside.
I felt so put down. I was told I wasn't worth nothing. Helen claims her adoptive mother
treated her more like a housekeeper than a daughter. But the worst abuse allegedly came from her new father.
I was raped by my adopted father from the first time I can remember him It's hard to think about your mother
when you love her so much and you find out things that happened to her. It's sad.
The alleged rapes became a daily ritual throughout Helen's childhood and into her teens.
Finally, Helen decided enough was enough. One morning he called for me to perform my duty again.
And I just went ahead and went to work. I collected my paycheck and caught a bus
and came to Houston, and never looked back. Helen was only 16 years old when she began fending
for herself in Houston, Texas. The next day I found me a job. In 1960, Helen married Lewis Wyatt.
The young couple had three daughters in three years-- Jonda, April Marie, and Twilight.
Twilight was very hard headed. I enjoyed my children very much. But the financial problems began
to plague the young family. My husband had a problem working and being responsible.
I had to work the whole time to try to keep things together. I decided I could do a lot better without having
to support him too. Helen divorced Lewis and enrolled in school to study the dry cleaning business.
I spent six months in the school, more than doubled my salary. It made me feel more worthy to support my children.
In 1985 Helen met husband number two, Harold Demny. He was 30 years older. He really adored my children.
The couple had two kids together, Rosemary and Blaine. With a partner to help her raise the children,
Helen threw herself into building her own dry cleaning chain. Helen's hard work paid off.
She built a strong business that employed 28 people, bought a home for her family, and a rental property.
Even though she was the owner, she would work the counter, press the clothes, wash the clothes.
I didn't feel like I was worth very much. I was always going out and trying to do a little bit better.
Despite professional success, Helen's personal life was strained and her second marriage ended.
10 years later, Helen tried marriage again with Howard Phifer, a railroad worker and gun collector.
I felt like you needed to have father in the house. You need to have a husband. At first it was good, but then he
focused more on his drinking and his work and not so much on us. My mother didn't like that, so she told him it's going
to be best that we divorce. In danger of losing his job and his marriage, Howard went to treatment for alcohol and drug abuse.
During this difficult period, Helen's third daughter, Twilight, announced that she planned to marry family
acquaintance Tony Martinez. I didn't really have a right to tell her she couldn't marry.
But he smoked a lot of pot. He didn't have a steady job. Twilight, she had a true love for him.
But it seemed like he kept her and she paid the bills, she had the house. Helen's husband immediately clashed
with his new son-in-law. My mother would constantly tell Howard to behave, try to be more supportive.
But I really think Howard just didn't like Tony, period. Howard thought that Tony was a piece of [BLEEP].
He smoked dope. He wasn't good enough. Helen tried to help the young couple by giving Tony work.
She even gave him a second chance after she allegedly discovered he was selling marijuana out of her store.
Tony was a likeable person. He got along with kids. He got along with customers.
But drugs weren't Tony's only problem. He allegedly was also a heavy drinker. Twilight was afraid when Tony drank.
He'd slap her around, and you'd see bruises on her arms and her hands. My mother would tell me you need
to work more toward the relationship rather than being very hurtful for each other.
We would console her. We'd try to go talk to him about it, tell him, hey, there's another way to do it.
But then later on it would keep happening. Then, one morning in September, 1986, the unthinkable happened.
Helen received a call that Tony Martinez was shot to death in one of her dry cleaning stores.
I was very shocked. If you ever had to clean up anybody's brains, it was very traumatic.
When Women Behind Bars continues-- We could not believe that grandma killed Tony.
Nah, there's no way. They had to clear the jurors five times for laughter. We're talking about a person going to prison.
But my god, some of the stuff they did was just, you couldn't help but laugh. At 7:00 AM on September 5th, 1986,
51-year-old Helen Shreves and her 25-year-old daughter Twilight went to work at her dry cleaning headquarters.
The three-time-married grandmother frequently employed friends and family members
at her multiple facilities. On that particular morning, Twilight's husband Tony Martinez was covering a shift at a substation just minutes away.
Twilight and I was cleaning and pressing clothes. At around 10:30 in the morning, I
got a call from the clothing store, and he told me, your man is hurt. And I said how bad, and he said, pretty bad.
So I called Twilight to the phone. She said, I'm going to see what going on. I was walking down the street and I heard Twilight crying.
And I was thinking, you know, they had got into an argument and he had beat her again.
And then when I walked up and she explained to me what happened-- Twilight called me and told me that he was dead.
I was completely shocked. Tony Martinez died from a single shot to the back of his head.
Helen was among the first family members to visit her store that was now considered a crime scene.
I've known him since he was about 19. I had never seen anything that graphic firsthand.
Investigators searched the scene for evidence. The ransacked register suggested robbery as a motive.
But after authorities found drugs in Tony's truck and in his bloodstream, they began
to suspect his murder was the result of a drug deal gone wrong. Tony Martinez was known to be a violent person.
He was believed to be involved with drugs. Police questioned Helen and her family extensively.
But with no solid leads, they were forced to drop the case. The Shreves family tried to return to normal.
It almost felt like a haze of paranoia over you, to where everybody outside, I don't know about this person, paranoia
just put over everybody. It wasn't just one person that was hurt. The whole family was devastated over it.
Helen went back to overseeing her dry cleaning company. It was business as usual until three years later,
her second husband, Harold Demny, was killed in an alleged home invasion. In a strange turn of events, ballistics
matched the bullet with the one that had also killed Tony Martinez. Detectives saw their chance to reopen this investigation.
Authorities then looked at former employees of Helen, Nancy and Larry McElroy. According to court documents, the couple had not
been on good terms with Tony. Tony Martinez was a hothead. He was also known to have carried a gun.
And the testimony was that he had pointed it not only at Nancy, but also at Larry,
and that he and Nancy had an ongoing hostile relationship. Detectives saw an opportunity to elicit more information
from Nancy, who was already on probation for unrelated charges. Nancy had sex with some neighborhood kids.
The detectives said, if you'll give me the shooter, we'll reduce the charges on your molestation.
For Nancy to save herself, she threw her husband under the bus, so to speak, with a tape recorder.
Fearful of violating her probationary status, Nancy readily agreed to record her husband Larry as she coaxed
him into a partial confession. The fact that a wife agrees to wire a bedroom to tape incriminating statements from her husband
was very bizarre. Nancy testified her relationship with her husband had deteriorated considerably.
Police arrested Larry McElroy on December 28, 1989. He broke down and confessed to the murder of Tony Martinez.
Larry testified when he walked through the dry cleaner that Tony Martinez was sitting behind the cash register.
He walked in back of the cash register, took his gun, fired a single shot. But Larry maintained the true ringleader behind Tony's death
was his former boss, Helen Shreves. He told police while he also wanted Tony dead,
Helen had had enough of Tony's abusive behavior towards her daughter Twilight. The police, they said, well, who helped you to do it?
I believe for him to save his own self, he pushed blame over to my mom. Why would I want him dead?
I got along with Tony. We went out fishing together. We went swimming with the kids and worked together.
McElroy went on to say that Helen had been with him at the time of the murder, and that she
had even provided the gun. I never gave him a gun. I didn't personally own a gun.
My husband owned a gun, but I did not. Larry also implicated Shreve's husband, Howard Phifer.
He alleged the three attempted to have Tony killed on two other occasions. There were discussions with various people, particularly
Helen Shreves and her husband, about how to do away with Tony. Howard and Larry plotted to electrocute
him or take him on a fishing trip and do something with him there. My mother had no knowledge of this.
I never did really figure out exactly what all they said I'd done, because it was so mixed up.
He said, she said. Facing charges himself, Helen's husband Howard sided with Larry
and pointed to Helen as the mastermind behind Tony's murder. Helen's family believed their mother had been shafted.
Larry had something to gain by getting rid of Tony, because he wouldn't have to worry about his family being
bothered. Howard would gain the home and the business. Within eight hours of Larry's confession,
police arrested Helen Shreves and charged her with the murder of Tony Martinez. The 54-year-old grandmother faced
a life sentence if convicted. They said they was arresting me for murder and I said,
whose murder? I didn't know what was going on. They gave me a polygraph test, and being insulin diabetic,
I didn't pass the test. So automatically I was guilty, they said. There was physical evidence of a robbery.
There was physical evidence of a dead body. But in terms of physical evidence that specifically linked the defendant, or even Larry
McElroy, no, there was not. Coming up on Women Behind Bars-- It was really bizarre because everybody's casually
talking over dinner table conversation about killing somebody. My mother was convicted by a murderer, a child
molester, and an alcoholic. How does this happen? And later-- I walked back across the hall, took off the nurse's uniform,
placed the baby in a blue canvas bag. I was basically thinking that he was mine.
In the early morning hours of September 5th, 1986, Helen Shreves' son-in-law Tony Martinez
went to work at one of Helen's dry cleaning stores in Houston, Texas. Hours later, he was shot execution
style in the back of the head. It took police three years to arrest two suspects
and charge them with murder, 54-year-old Helen Shreves and Larry McElroy, a former employee of Helen's who
confessed to killing Martinez. It was a very unusual trial in that people who had been involved in plotting how to kill Tony
Martinez provided the bulk of the testimony against Helen Shreves. The prosecution's star witness was Larry McElroy.
He testified that he was a weak-willed man who succumbed to Helen's powers of persuasion.
Tony had pulled a gun on Larry, and his son had come home with drugs from Tony. So Larry was very angry.
Larry's position was that Helen effectively took advantage of that. Larry was being pressured by Helen Shreves
to do something about Tony. Larry was trying to make a deal to get out of trouble.
I had nothing to do with Tony's death. She was characterized as a very domineering,
manipulative woman. But nobody testified that they were in fear of Helen. In fact, two of her former sons-in-law
testified as character witnesses in her behalf. Although McElroy may have had plenty of reasons
for wanting Tony dead, Helen's defense argued that she had none. The defense painted a loving mother-in-law
who was very supportive of the relationship between Twilight and Tony. The prosecution's position was that Helen
was intent on seeing Tony gone because her daughter was in an abusive relationship.
I don't think Twilight would ever leave him. Helen was gonna stop it one way or the other.
McElroy also testified that Helen had been with him when he shot Tony. This was refuted by Twilight, who
was her mother's only alibi. Twilight got onto the stand, and she told them that she'd worked that whole morning with my mother.
How can my mother be in two places at the same time? She was very passionate in her mother's defense.
She still loved the guy, but she loved her mother too. I don't know what side she wanted to be on.
Next, Helen's third husband, Howard, took the stand and described how Helen would invite Larry
and his wife Nancy over to discuss ways to eliminate Tony. According to Howard, Helen what have
"Kill Tony Martinez" parties to drink and figure out ways to kill this poor guy.
It was really bizarre, because everybody's casually talking over dinner table conversation
about killing somebody. My mother had no knowledge of this. There was no "let's go kill Tony" parties.
Howard went on to detail several failed attempts on Tony's life before the fatal shooting.
According to Howard, they were going to take him fishing. He did not know how to swim, so they were going to taser
him and throw him overboard. Well, his car broke down and they didn't make that one.
I had no knowledge of the prior attempts on the life. It was an attempt to get him to go up on the tin roof
and have it wired so he would be electrocuted. However, the people involved weren't very good electricians.
We had a metal roof, but I don't know how you could hook up electricity to it. They had to clear the jurors maybe five times for laughter.
We're talking about a person going to prison and a person that's dead, but my god, some of the stuff that they did
was just, you couldn't help but laugh. The defense countered that the claims were more than laughable.
They were simply untrue. The witnesses against Helen Shreves were all flaky. Howard told everybody that he was a war hero.
Come to find out he was in jail for theft. Judge Cosford ruled the ballistics match
between the bullets that killed Shreves' ex-husband and Tony Martinez as inadmissible.
The entire case hinged on whose testimony was the most convincing, Helen Shreves' or her accusers'.
The defense was arguing, look at the cast of characters that are in this trial. Do you believe any of these people?
There was so many things said during the trial, and I don't think anything was ever proved to nothing.
I thought it was very compelling that the prosecutor, in her final argument, pointed out that Howard, Nancy,
and Larry were all fairly inept, unsophisticated people who could not possibly have
pulled this off on their own. Their testimony that Helen was the mastermind was believable.
The jury deliberated less than a week before they found Helen Shreves guilty of formulating
the plot to kill Tony Martinez. I looked at Helen Shreves and I thought, just some grandmother.
By the time I walked out of the courtroom, I could see where she could cold-blooded
have someone killed. After reviewing all the evidence, the judge sentenced the 59-year-old to 50 years
in prison. It's so sad. A whole person's life was taken just because someone said you did something.
This whole trial is just tragic. But the judge's decision to give her 50 years, I think that that was fair.
I was very shocked. My whole family was shocked. I was railroaded all the way down the line.
How could a mastermind get more time in jail than the person who actually killed him?
I have no idea why the jury assessed Larry McElroy's punishment at seven years. If the jury believed that Larry was very angry at Tony, very
protective of his wife, and that Helen had capitalized on that anger, perhaps that
factored into their decision. Three years into her sentence, Helen filed an unsuccessful appeal.
Now, at age 75, the grandmother faces the prospect of dying behind bars. I've forgiven Howard and Larry.
I cannot continue my life and carry a grudge against them. They have to deal with god, not me.
She was like everybody's mother, to where she would listen to your brother and give you advice.
She held us together. That's about the main thing I miss. My mother is a very loving and caring person.
She would reach out and help Tom before she'd reach out and find someone to murder someone.
I'm sorry that Tony's dead. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't ever let him work for me.
I'd just like people to know I'm not a murderer. I didn't kill anyone. Next up on Women Behind Bars, a woman
disguises herself and steals a newborn from a Florida Hospital. Because Jennifer Latham was dressed like a nurse,
the mother handed over her son. I was scared. I was nervous. I was excited because I was going to get
somebody to care for and love. For more information about Women Behind Bars, go to weTV.com.
Code pink, we have a code pink. At 1:46 PM on March 28, 2008, code pink alert was issued at Central Florida Regional Hospital.
The information we had was a female kidnapped a child from the maternity ward of the hospital.
As she left, they tried to stop her and she fled away from them. I didn't think about what would happen afterwards.
I didn't realize that I would be taking somebody else's child. I was basically thinking about my needs and my wants.
An emergency blockade was set up at the hospital exit, but a lone Chevy Blazer defied the security stop.
Eyewitnesses got a partial license plate number from the fleeing SUV. Police soon identified 41-year-old Jennifer
Latham as the prime suspect. I saw the suspect, so I made a decision to go ahead and stop
the vehicle at that time. Her vehicle was full of newborn baby items, brand new stuff
with tags on it. Clothes, diapers, baby bottles. I mean, it was a rolling nursery to go.
Despite her efforts to persuade the police that the tiny newborn in the car seat was hers,
authorities were unconvinced and took Jennifer Latham into custody. I was very much thinking that he was mine.
I was going to love him and nurture him and raise him and do all the things a mother does.
An investigation revealed that her family believed she'd been pregnant for the last nine months.
I don't think she was in her right mind when she did what she did. I honestly don't think it was that planned to where she knew
what she was doing. Was Jennifer Latham acting out in a moment of emotional despair?
Or did she methodically plan to kidnap a newborn and raise it as her own? My childhood was good.
We took family vacations every year. I didn't have a lot of friends. It was mainly just me and my sister.
When Jennifer was very young, her family relocated to Central Florida. We had a house in front of an orange grove
that we played hide and seek in. Our church was right through the orange grove. Me and Jenny were very close.
We were always together, always. My mom worked when we were in school. My dad was a tool and die maker.
They were really good parents. A lot of love. While other kids were dreaming of college and careers,
Jennifer wanted nothing more than to have a family of her own. I've always liked kids.
I had a lot of younger cousins that I would take care of. And I always just thought that having my own kids
would be great. After graduating high school, a friend introduced Jennifer to a man by the name
of Scott who was legally blind. Within a year the two were married, and Jennifer took a job working with children.
She worked as a nanny taking care of handicapped kids, two of them. My sister always, always wanted to help people.
The newlywed also looked after her paraplegic brother Joseph, who came to live with the pair
for a brief period in 1993. He had brain cancer. Hospice would come in and take care of him,
but when they weren't there, I would take care of him. She felt good that she was the primary caretaker
in some regard. This is what gave her confidence and made her happy. At age 25, Jennifer finally took on the role
she'd always dreamed of. In March of 1994, she gave birth to her own baby boy at the Central Florida's Regional Hospital.
I was in labor for 29 hours with my son. It was worth it, though. He was perfect.
It was the happiest day of my life. Two years later, she returned to the same hospital
to deliver her daughter. I loved being able to be there for my children. When they cry.
You pick them up. You nurture them. You know that they need you to love you. Jenny was a really good mother.
Wherever the kids needed to go, she would take them. Baseball practice, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, it didn't matter.
She was there. Content with what seemed to be the perfect family, Jennifer had a tubal ligation, a procedure
to prevent further pregnancies. But over the years her happiness waned, and she and her husband
drifted apart. There were times she was happy. But predominantly it didn't seem like it
was a nourishing relationship. I didn't want to get out of bed some days. Cried all the time.
I always made sure the children were taken care of, but inside it was just killing me to do that.
To deal with her pain, Jennifer began abusing prescription medication and says she smoked
marijuana on a daily basis. But according to Scott, Jennifer was a pathological liar
and was not depressed. He didn't understand it. Scott said, you're lazy. You don't want to do anything anymore.
There was some infidelity, and that really hurt me. Scott claims that Jennifer also had an affair.
In an attempt to make a fresh start, the couple moved to Indiana, but tensions remained.
One night in 2002, the young mother wanted a break from family life and decided to party
with one of Scott's cousins. At the time I was taking prescription Xanax. I took a little bit too many.
His cousin decided that he wanted to rob these campgrounds, and I was with him. That automatically made me guilty of the crimes.
In 2003, Latham was charged with 10 counts of felony theft. The court sentenced her to 90 days
in jail followed by 18 months of probation. After that, we hear from Scott that that was his final straw
and he filed for divorce. Scott says the couple got joint legal custody of the kids,
but the court awarded Scott primary residential responsibility. He ended up getting permanent custody.
It was just very heartbreaking knowing that I only got to see my children every other weekend
and once a week. My sister called me when she found out that she had lost custody of her kids.
She felt kind of lost. Jennifer tried to move on with her life. In 2006, she married Jeff Latham,
but the relationship dissolved within a year. When her ex-husband Scott returned
to Florida with the kids, Jennifer followed. She moved back in with my mom, and her ex-husband and two kids
moved in with his mistress right down the street. I wouldn't come out of my room.
I thought about suicide for maybe two minutes, and then I thought about my children.
And I just-- I couldn't do it. Longing for companionship, Jennifer found a new boyfriend.
Within a few months, she surprised her family by announcing she was pregnant. We were very shocked because she had had her tubes
tied after her second child. We actually joked around, oh, are you sure? Are you sure?
And she said yes. I had taken two home pregnancy tests and they both came positive.
I was kind of wondering how, but there's been cases where tubes have come untied.
So of course I thought I was pregnant. Five months later, Jennifer says she went to a doctor who broke the news
that there was no baby. Latham hid this from her family and continued preparing for the arrival of a newborn.
She had told everyone she knew she was pregnant. She'd even had a baby shower. She'd gone shopping for clothes.
I wanted to believe I was going to have a child of my own that Scott couldn't take away from me
that I could give my love to and that would love me back. Within weeks of her supposed due date,
Jennifer made a final plea to get custody of her children. The courts, they wouldn't do anything.
I felt very desperate. This desire to be a mother gave her her drive to live. Now when she wasn't able to have custody of her children,
this was a devastating blow to her. When Women Behind Bars continues-- I took off the nurse's uniform.
And I had placed the baby in a blue canvas bag. I was basically thinking he was mine.
By 2008, Jennifer Latham was distraught by the fact that she was only able to see her children
every other weekend. The twice-divorced mother told family she was pregnant again despite having
undergone a tubal ligation. But when doctors informed her there was no baby, she said nothing.
With her phony due date fast approaching, Jennifer was at the end of her rope. I was very confused.
I was very depressed about not having my children. I had just pretty much lost a baby.
I was not in a very good state of mind. Authorities believe the 39-year-old then came up with a desperate ploy to find a newborn.
I had called her that morning and asked her if she would go pick up my daughter from daycare.
She brought her home to my husband. There was no indication that anything was wrong with her
at that time. I took him to lunch, went home, and just decided, today is the day.
I don't really remember thinking anything in particular. It wasn't planned. It was just a thought and I acted on it.
Jennifer left her sister's home and drove to Central Florida's regional hospital, the same location where she gave
birth to both her children. She entered the building carrying a duffel bag and nurse's scrubs.
The nurse's uniform I had from when I worked at a assisted living facility. I basically just walked in, got on the elevator,
went up to the second floor, went in the secured maternity ward. I didn't really even think about security
or cameras or anything. What Jennifer didn't know was that motion-activated cameras
were tracking her movements as she slipped into the ward. Once in the unit, she entered a broom closet
and changed into her scrubs. With no hospital ID, she then set out to find a baby.
I was scared. I was nervous. I was excited because I was going to get somebody to care for and love.
Blending in seamlessly with the staff, Jennifer entered a room and explained to a new mother that her baby
needed to go for tests. The woman balked a little bit and was like, are you sure,
because she just had that test last night. And when she encountered resistance, Jennifer Latham then left the room.
Determined to leave the hospital with a child, Jennifer made a second attempt. I just walked directly across the hall.
And there was just the mother and the baby laying there beside her on the bed. He was asleep.
And I told her the same thing about the test. And I took him. Because Jennifer Latham looked like a nurse
and was dressed like a nurse, the mother handed over her son. I walked back across the hall, took off the nurse's uniform,
placed the baby in a blue canvas bag. I got on the elevator, got out on the first floor,
and walked directly out to the parking lot. According to hospital policy, the newborn
had a microchip implanted in his umbilical cord. His departure prompted a code pink.
Code pink, we have a code pink. Hospital security put the building on lockdown and searched for the missing infant room by room.
A couple of the staff members went out to the parking lot on the north side of the hospital,
and their job is to stop cars and check them. Two employees immediately spotted a suspicious woman
carrying a duffel bag. Security was able to chase her to the parking lot, see that she got into a blue Chevy Blazer
and take off, and get part of her plate. Using the partial license plate and descriptions of the vehicle
and driver, investigators determined the likely suspect was Jennifer Latham. We put out the description of the vehicle,
description of the suspect, and also the description of the child that was abducted.
At that point all surrounding agencies were out on the streets looking out for this vehicle.
Unaware that ground and aerial officers were hunting for her, Jennifer returned to the home she shared with her mother.
Took him home, changed him, fed him. Then I knew my mom was coming home from work,
so I wanted to leave before my mom got there because I quite hadn't worked out the rest of what
was going to happen next. Latham says she began driving with no particular destination
in mind. I never once thought that I was on the run from anybody. I never thought about getting caught.
I was basically thinking about the baby, very much thinking that he was mine. Across town, Sergeant Joseph Gowan had received the bulletin
and positioned his vehicle on I-4 heading westbound. Within minutes he saw the suspect's Blazer
and stopped it. While I was talking to her, I did notice that there was a car seat in the back
and that there was a small child in it. And I could tell that it was a newborn. She had her head down, didn't offer
much in terms of explanation. At that point I knew that this was most likely the child that was abducted.
Paramedic took the baby out of the back seat, and then they put me in the back of the police car.
Showing no visible emotion, the former caretaker sat silently as paramedics headed
back to the hospital to return the day-old infant to his family. Those 90 minutes had to be the longest
90 minutes of their lives. They just were in complete shock. And it was a horrible situation.
At the Sanford Police Department, Jennifer refused to talk. But the officers believed they had everything they needed.
We had the witnesses who witnessed Miss Latham leaving the hospital with the child.
We had the car seat, the baby clothes, the baby bath inside of the vehicle. We had Miss Latham with the baby,
and we also had Miss Latham on the video removing the child from the hospital. And with all that information, it
was just an open and shut case. The prosecution maintained the kidnapping was a planned event
and made it clear they would push for life. Jennifer's attorney mounted a defense.
When I got the subpoena for a deposition, I was shocked. I was like, how can they be taking this to trial?
We found that her defense attorney had brought some psychologists on staff. They were going to present her state
of mind, her past, her issues. Not an insanity defense. They were just saying she was in a compromised
mental state at the time. We suspect that her motivation was wanting to be a mother, to be in that role
again in order to feel good. A few months before the trial was set to begin, Jennifer was assigned a new attorney, Tim Caudle.
It took an entire day to pick the jury. They were seated the next morning and ready to go.
Instead, it was a very big surprise from Mr. Caudle. Before court started, he had pulled me
into an interview room. He suggested that I change my plea from not guilty to guilty,
and the judge would be more lenient on me during sentencing. Tim Caudle stood up and said, Jennifer Latham
is changing her plea to guilty. A ripple of shock went through the room. All of a sudden there was not going to be a trial.
Furthermore, there was no deal. Jennifer basically threw herself at the mercy of the court.
The judge explained to Jennifer that the maximum penalty for her crimes was two life terms plus 15 years.
A sentencing hearing was held April 1st, 2009. In the state of Florida, kidnapping
is a serious offense. It's just as serious as a homicide in the eyes of the public.
It's even worse when it's a baby. The day of her sentencing, a psychiatrist testified that her entire personality
was based on caretaking for her children, her previous husbands. She lost that identity and it started a downward spiral.
We were able to determine that there was a significant depression. The judge was very stern.
She was not buying any of the psychological defense. She said this had been planned for a long time.
This was not the act of someone desperate or depressed. This was someone out to steal a baby.
Jennifer was given 30 years for her crimes. I was very shocked. The prosecutor was pushing for life,
so I'm very thankful that I did I get life, but I feel that I was way over sentenced.
I don't think it's fair. I have three children of my own, and I don't know how I'd
feel if someone took my child. I would have liked to have seen her taken it to trial
and gotten the maximum. Jennifer is being held at Lowell Annex Correctional Institution.
She says her only contact with her children is through her sister Penny. She's currently receiving treatment
for her psychological issues. Depression is something that's serious. I just wish that I would have been diagnosed
and treated a lot sooner than having to wait to be incarcerated. Despite the quick actions of the staff
of Central Florida Regional Hospital, the facility also faced criticism. The hospital took a lot of heat for this.
They made a lot of changes in their security to make sure something like this never happens again.
In April of 2009, Jennifer appealed for a reduced sentence. It was denied. I'm very sorry for what I did.
I would never do it again. I didn't really think of the consequences at the time,
but now I realize that it was a terrible thing to do. I wish that I could go back to March 28, 2008
and do that day all over again.

Helen was convicted, along with a former employee in the 1986 murder of her son-in-law, Tony Martinez. Martinez was shot execution-style in the back of the head. In, 2008, 39-year-old Jennifer walked into the maternity ward of a Florida hospital and smuggled a 1-day-old baby out of the facility in a duffle bag. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Brief Summary

Helen Shreves is accused of her son-in-law's murder, while Jennifer Latham kidnaps a newborn from a hospital.

Key points

The Shocking Crime Scene. Tony Martinez was found dead in a dry cleaning store, shot in the back of the head.
Helen Shreves Accused of Murder. Helen Shreves is accused of masterminding the murder of her son-in-law, Tony Martinez.
A Mother's Love or a Murderous Plot?. The trial reveals conflicting testimonies about Helen's role in Tony's murder.
Jennifer Latham's Desperate Act. Jennifer Latham kidnapped a newborn from the hospital, believing the child was hers.
The Aftermath of the Kidnapping. Jennifer's actions led to a swift police response and her eventual capture.
Trial and Sentencing. Jennifer changed her plea to guilty, resulting in a 30-year sentence for kidnapping.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

If you ever had to clean up anybody's brains, it was very traumatic.

0:11WatchSep 23, 2014

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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