McCarron Trial: Day 4

The jury saw McCarron's hospital room confession, videotaped just two days after her three year old autistic daughter Katie died. On the tape McCarron is seen hunched over on the side of her hospital bed holding her husband's hand. She spoke softly while telling a Morton police detective how she suffocated Katie with a white, plastic garbage bag. On the tape the defendant said "I just wanted autism out of her life."

She admitted having thoughts of hurting Katie for more than a year before the death. But McCarron said it was a spur of the moment decision to kill her daughter. She told the police detective she removed the murder weapon from the scene of the crime and disposed of it at a Casey's General Store because she thought for a moment she could get away with it. At the end of the tape, McCarron told the detective, autism left her hollow and drained her of all emotion. As the tape played in the courtroom -- McCarron’s head could be seen sinking farther and farther down.

The prosecution rested its case early this afternoon and the defense began calling witnesses. The judge actually dismissed the jury at around 2:30, saying lawyers were way ahead of schedule. The trial resumes tomorrow morning at 9.

Jurors watch videotaped confession

During the videotaped confession, Karen McCarron said that she loved her daughter very much, but that she hated autism so much.

McCarron said she had thoughts of killing of her daughter Kathryn also known as Katie for about a year before she allegedly took Katie's life.

On the day she's accused of killing Katie, McCarron described the thoughts as "so intense."

McCarron said it was a spur of the moment decision and she didn't wake up thinking she was going to kill her daughter.

McCarron described her disappointment with Katie's autism saying she didn't know what to do next.

She said Katie's condition made her feel inferior because she couldn't help her.

During the confession Karen's husband Paul was sitting next to her.

He asks her if she was sorry.

She said she was sorry for the hurt she caused her family, and that she was sorry the child is no longer here.

Karen McCarron is accused of suffocating her daughter in May of 2006.

She faces up to 100 years in prison.

McCarron told police she felt `relieved' after daughter's death

PEKIN, Ill. - A former pathologist accused of suffocating her 3-year-old daughter with a garbage bag said she felt relieved after the child's death because she no longer had to deal with her daughter's autism, according to a videotaped confession played in court Thursday.

"Maybe I could fix her this way, and in heaven she would be complete," Karen McCarron told police during the May 15, 2006, interview, two days after she allegedly killed Katherine McCarron.

McCarron told investigators she wrapped the bag around the child's head while she played with toys on the floor of her mother's house, the (Peoria) Journal Star reported.

"I didn't wake up that morning thinking I was going to do this," McCarron said on the video, calling her actions a "spur of the moment" idea. "It was just so fast. Everything happened so fast."

McCarron, 39, of Morton, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of first-degree murder, a count of obstructing justice and one count of concealment of a homicidal death.

She has been found mentally fit to stand trial. But a medical expert hired by her attorneys has said McCarron was insane at the time of the killing.

Prosecutors rested their case Thursday after testimony from forensic pathologist Violette Hnilica, who performed the autopsy on Katherine's body.

The child had teeth marks on the insides of her lips, a bite mark on her tongue and signs of pressure against her mouth, Hnilica testified.

Katherine also had scratch marks on the sides of her head which were likely self-inflicted as she struggled to remove the bag from her face, Hnilica said.

Earlier Thursday, McCarron said on the videotape that she took her daughter's body back to her own house and put her in bed. She then went to the store, bought ice cream and returned to her mother's home to get the garbage bag because, "if things get bad, their house would be searched."

Interviewers asked McCarron if she knew what she did was criminally wrong.

"I have enough education to know that," she answered.

McCarron told police she felt like a failure because of the child's autism and was heartbroken when she failed at simple tasks.

"I just wanted autism out of my life," McCarron said.

A service of the Associated Press(AP) © Copyright 2008, The Quad-City Times, Davenport, IA

Jury hears McCarron's video-taped confession

McCarron, 39, of Morton, a former pathologist, is accused of murdering her 3-year-old autistic daughter, Katie, in 2006 by suffocating her with a trash bag. The murder took place in McCarron's mother's home one day before Mother's Day.

McCarron has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. This morning McCarron took the stand to testify in her own defense. After about five minutes, the defense completed its questioning. At that point, the judge called a recess.

Tazewell County Assistant State's Attorney Kirk Schoenbein called Morton police detective Ray Hamm to testify about how he obtained the video confession of McCarron and when she was actually arrested.

Hamm testified that on May 15, 2006, two days after the murder, he and another Morton detective arrived at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria to interview McCarron.

McCarron had been admitted to the hospital on May 14 after she attempted suicide following the murder.

Hamm said he informed McCarron that she was not under arrest and that she was not required to speak to him. However, she willingly provided him with a confession.

After McCarron provided Hamm with a hand-written confession, Hamm informed McCarron she was under arrest.

The detective then asked McCarron if she would allow him to videotape her confession. She complied.

Schoenbein then submitted, as evidence, the taped confession for jurors to view.

As the video played, McCarron, seated at the defense table, rarely looked up to watch.

The videotape shows McCarron sitting on the edge of a hospital bed, in a gown, next to her husband, Paul McCarron, with Hamm seated in front of her.

McCarron told Hamm the idea to kill Katie came to her that day on the way to her mother's house, where she knew no one was home.

According to McCarron, her emotions were running high as she felt overwhelmed by the amount of time and energy she put into providing care for her autistic daughter and that everything she did to help Katie was not working.

"She was a tough nut to crack," McCarron said, describing her daughter in the video.

When speaking of the killing, McCarron was seen crying as she told Hamm what happened.

"I wanted a life without the autism," replied McCarron after she was asked why she did it. Paul was heard crying in the background.

After putting the bag in her mother's garbage can, McCarron returned to Katie and checked for any vital signs. There were none. She then returned to her home with Katie's body.

McCarron said she took the child's body upstairs to put her to bed, as if she was sleeping. But she first changed Katie's diaper.

After her brother, Walter Frank, arrived moments later to celebrate Mother's Day early, McCarron said she told him she was leaving to get ice cream.

At that time she returned to her mother's home and retrieved the trash bag. She said the reason for doing that was because she expected police to investigate the home.

McCarron then ditched the bag at a nearby Casey's gas station.

Walter Frank testified on Wednesday that his sister returned home with the ice cream and then went upstairs to wake Katie from her nap. Walter then heard screaming as McCarron brought Katie downstairs, where she began CPR.

The former doctor said in her taped confession that she didn't remember a lot after her husband came home from North Carolina the same evening she killed Katie and attempted suicide.

"I don't remember a lot when Paul came home." Paul, whom McCarron described as her best friend, found McCarron on the bathroom floor next to several Tylenol pills.

"I was still struggling with my emotions at that time," she said.

It was while she was on the bathroom floor that Paul testified he heard McCarron say, "I hurt Katie."

McCarron told Hamm that her thoughts about hurting Katie that day were "so intense."

When Hamm asked McCarron what she was feeling at the time she put the bag over Katie's head she told him that she knew it was wrong.

"I was completely out of my mind but I knew it was wrong. It just happened so fast Š I had enough education to know it was wrong."

After informing Hamm of her mental history and that she was seeing a psychologist in Chicago, McCarron finalized her confession by saying how she felt about her family, including Katie.

"I love Paul very much and my daughters very much. I tried very hard to get autism out of our lives, I was just so overwhelmed.

"I loved Katie very much. I hate the autism so, so much. I hate what it has done."

When asked if he had any comment during the confession, Paul told Hamm that McCarron's issue with autism was too much for her to handle.

"I think this (Katie's autism) was very difficult for my wife to accept," Paul said.

Paul McCarron filed for divorce shortly after the murder. It is still pending.

After excusing Hamm from the witness stand, Schoenbein brought in Violet Hnilica, a forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Katie.

Hnilica testified that while she was analyzing the 3-year-old's body she found what appeared to be scratch marks above Katie's left eye.

Hnilica said the marks could have been caused by Katie when she attempted to pull the trash bag away from her own face.

When asked by Tazewell County Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Johnson what the cause of death was, Hnilica said that Katie died due to asphyxia and that death occurred between one and four minutes after her oxygen was cut off.

After Hnilica's statement's were heard, jury members were then presented with pictures of Katie's body in order to have visual under standing of Hnilica's testimony.

After the autopsy testimony was complete, the state prosecutors rested their case.

Defense Attorney's Marc Wolfe and Stephen Baker are expected to present their case Friday starting at 9 a.m.

If the jury finds McCarron guilty on the two counts of first degree murder she is charged with, Tenth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Stephen Kouri could sentence her to life in prison.

However, if McCarron is found not guilty by reason of insanity, state law would allow Kouri to have McCarron released from custody or have her committed to mental health services for an evaluation of her mental needs.

Photographs of Katie have been made available for public use by her grandfather. Download yours here: Katie McCarron Photos

Initial news reports on Katie's murder
Daughter's murder puts focus on 'toll of autism' With a cautionary note by us on that "toll of autism" thing.
'This was not about autism', grandfather says
Katie's father files for divorce, citing 'extreme mental cruelty'
Karen McCarron admitted to planning the murder
'She told me she killed Katie'
Karen was described as 'lucid' and 'very calm'
Karen's taped confession played in pretrial hearing: 'I wanted to take the autism out of her'
Pretrial and opening statements
Katie's grandpa testifies: Karen thought her life would be 'perfect'. Also, Katie's dad says Karen wanted to institutionalize Katie; Katie's teachers said she was doing fine.
Relatives testify: Karen told Katie's grandma many times she wished Katie was dead
Karen testifies: 'I thought I was killing autism'
Experts testify to Karen's 'insanity' -- 'She thought Katie and autism were two different things'. (If so, what about those NYU autism ransom notes?

More analysis of the Journal-Star articles.
Murder of Autistics (Archive)

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