06x08 - My Twisted Sister

[bunniefuu]

It feels like a nightmare

that I can't wake up from.

It doesn't feel real.

You don't know what it's like
to get up every day

and know your sister
did something like that.

I'm classified
as Louise turpin's sister.

I no longer have a name.

That's how I feel.

But you don't know me.

A house of horrors...

That's how some people
are describing conditions

inside the turpin residence.

I am angry,

and I feel sorry for the kids.

So much could have
been prevented

if I would have spoke out
a long time ago.

I just didn't understand
the signs.

He wouldn't believe that
somebody could actually

do something that evil,

and it's just time for me
to tell my side of the story.

- -Captions by vitac...
- www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications.

This is my dad, my mom,
Louise, and me.

I was the middle child
of two sisters.

They made sure that we were
in church every Sunday

and raised us up knowing
the lord and Christian beliefs.

We looked picture-perfect.

But a lot of stuff
happened in this house,

so it brings back
a lot of memories.

My dad was always
good to my mom.

He never laid a hand on her,

but there was a lot of arguing.

I'm trying to
juggle too many things.

Can't you see that?

How hard is it
to keep a damn house going?

I'm working...

When my parents fought,

I was scared.

What else do you
want from me?!

How about dinner on
the damn table when I get home?

I would just start crying,

and Louise would come
and cover my ears and eyes

to keep me from seeing
and hearing it.

Who is the one
taking care of the girls,

taking them to school,

making sure they're doing
their homework?

Many nights, she would
hold my hand all night

for me to sleep.

When she was holding my hand,
I knew, as a child,

that I was safe with her.

She was my best friend,

and she was the only one
there for me.

But something happened.

Everything changed.

By the time
my sister got arrested,

the look in her eyes
and the expressions on her face

were scary, evil-looking.

What went wrong?

How did she...
Become this person?

So, this picture...

These pictures make me cringe.

These are my grandparents,
my mother's parents,

mamaw and papaw.

That's what we called them.

He's smiling here
like he really adores us,

but we knew the truth.

When I was a kid,
I begged for a big wheel,

and so we had a birthday party
at my home.

Happy birthday!

My grandmother and grandfather
brought this big package in.

We've got one more
special present for you.

What is it?

And it was my big wheel.

Grandpa!
This is exactly what I wanted!

I was very excited,

and I thought it was gonna be
one of the best day of my life,

but it ended up turning
into a nightmare.

Papaw never let me forget
that was my big wheel,

and it was from him,

and later on that day,
there was a price to pay.

He took me in a back room.

Do you like
your birthday present?

Come.

Sit on my lap.

And then we would
sit in the chair,

lights would go off.

He would pull me on his lap.

Don't worry.

He would put his hands
in my pants or up my shirt,

and...

I would always feel him
breathing on me.

When I started to make noise,

I remember him putting his hand
over my mouth,

and he would whisper in my ear,
"this means I love you."

And then he would tell me,
"don't tell nobody."

I remember telling Louise.

Louise told me that
she had been molested

all her life by him.

She just became so protective.

Elizabeth...

I'd like for you to come
with me for a bit.

And there would be times

that papaw would
walk towards me,

and she took me behind her.

And she would tell papaw,
"I'll go with you."

And then I started realizing,

"she's taking the molestation
for me."

She was sacrificing her own self

for me,

and I thought about that
and thought about that

and thought about that.

I never told anybody.

He never was charged
with child molestation,

and he died last year
at 95 years old.

When it came to Louise,

I often wonder
if it drove her insane

and made her do the things
that she has done.

This picture
was about four months

before her and David
started dating.

She still looks so young to me.

She still looks like a baby.

David was 6 1/2 years
older than Louise.

A lot of people in town thought
that the turpin family was

just, like, god's gift to earth.

Like, they were the most
Christian as Christian gets.

I think she adored him
because Louise was

looking for a way out.

Elizabeth,
come here.

Louise one day had called me.

She had hollered my name
to come here,

and she said, "come in.
I've got a secret to tell you."

I have something
I want to tell you,

but you have to promise
to keep it to yourself.

I was excited.

I was always excited when
she had a secret to tell me

because it made me feel big,
you know?

You like David, right?

And she was like,
"how would you like it

if I got married,

if I married David
and we had a little baby,

and you could come over
and spend the night sometimes,

and you could hold the baby?"

A family?
Wow, Louise!

And all this stuff,

and she was packing
her duffel bag,

and then she went on
to saying,

"don't tell anybody
I asked you that.

Don't say anything to anybody
about me packing this duffel bag

'cause this is our secret."

Louise was only 16 years old
when she told me all this.

Just remember, though,

you promised
not to tell anyone.

But I still didn't think
of her packing

because she was going to leave.

I didn't put two and two
together.

The next day,
Louise never showed up.

She didn't ride the bus
with us home.

It clicked.

I was like, "oh, my gosh.

She's left with David."

This picture was actually taken
at the end of the wedding.

The police found
Louise and David in Texas.

When Louise came home,
she immediately demanded

that they let her get married.

Daddy always felt like
they would just continue

to try to run away
and be together,

so he felt like it was better

just to give them
their blessing.

So Louise got married at 16,

and I think David was 23.

I felt so many different
emotions that day.

I felt like I was losing
my best friend and my sister

and my protector

and everything.

My parents got divorced
about six months

after Louise had left,

and my dad left the home.

That's when the abuse
of my grandfather

was more focused on me,

and I didn't have her
to shield me anymore.

This is Louise pregnant
with her first.

Louise always talked
about growing up,

she was gonna have 12 children,

and before you knew it,
they had four kids.

At that point in my life,
I was in college,

and I was fixing to take
summer break from college.

I didn't want to go home
to all the chaos.

Just seemed like she was
living the dream life.

I just plain out asked her,
I said,

"could I stay the summer
with you

so I don't have to go home?"

And it was that simple.

That was how it all started.

I knew something
has to be really wrong.

The person that used
to protect me is

now helping bad things
happen to me.

This is the day
that we were leaving

for me to go stay with Louise
and David for the summer.

When I spent the summer
with her,

it changed everything for me.

Within 24 hours
from this picture

is when I realized

that Louise was not someone
I wanted to be around.

What are we doing here?

David and I are just gonna
go do a little gambling.

When I got in the car,

and we started heading
back to Texas,

they stopped at a casino

and wanted me to babysit
their kids in the car

while they go in.

Seriously,
you're going in there?

Ugh, lighten up.

It's just a little
harmless fun.

That was very weird to me
because growing up,

David and Louise
would have thought

she was going to hell
if you went to a casino.

I even asked her
a couple of times,

"are you joking with me?"

We'll be back in a bit.

She said that they didn't
go to church anymore

and that she had changed a lot.

It just got darker and darker.

I was scared to open the door.

I started wondering, I thought,

"man, they're taking
a long time," you know?

And I just made sure
the doors were all locked,

and I fall asleep.

Morning, sunshine.

When they finally came out,
it was daylight.

Where have you guys been?

Playing slots.

I was like, "you left us

in the car all night
with the kids,"

and she kind of laughed it off.

Oh, you're fine.

I was upset,
but I didn't show it.

Here I am almost to Texas,
you know.

I have nowhere else to go.

I really didn't want to create
an issue or an argument,

but it was very confusing
for me.

She was a complete
different people

than what I thought she was.

I thought, "oh, my gosh.

What am I getting myself into?"

It was not just cluttered.

It was just messy,

like papers all over
the floors...

...dishes in the sink.

I just remember thinking,
"wow. This is awful."

I told her, I said,
"Louise, let's just...

Let's clean the house."

We should pick up a bit,

get this place
under control.

Yeah, sure.
I guess it couldn't hurt.

And so that's what we did.

We worked on the house
for a few days...

...and while she was doing that,

I started seeing
strange things happening.

I didn't really get to know
my nieces and nephews

because she kept them
so isolated.

They were in their rooms
most of the time.

Just leave her.
She'll be fine.

The baby would sit
in the playpen all day long.

Nobody ever held it,
hugged it,

and played with it
and loved on it,

and when I would ask
if I could, I was told no.

Don't you think she needs
a little attention?

I'm her mom,
Elizabeth.

I'll take care
of it, okay?

Of course.
I just wanted to help.

She told me it was because
she didn't want my beliefs

being rubbed off on them,

our childhood beliefs,
like, about god and stuff.

I was like, "I'm not gonna talk
to your children about god."

So I knew from that point on

I'd just tend to
my own business,

and the excuse
I made for myself was,

"look, I'm not a mom,

so I have no right to
tell her how to be one,"

and that was what I told myself,

and I just left things alone.

Me and Louise and David
would sit at a table and eat,

and the kids were
always in their rooms.

I thought it was odd.

Where is
everyone else?

I remember the first time
that happened,

I was like, "um, aren't you
gonna call the kids down

and feed them?"

Do you guys eat separately
or something?

They'll get some.

This is just
how we do it.

And she's like, "yeah.

I'll call them down
in a few minutes,"

like it was no big deal.

I feel bad.

To me,
the kids should be going first.

Okay.
We've finished up.

Come on down
for some supper.

Then how it worked was is,

she would call them
down one by one.

She'd call
the oldest one's name,

and she would come down.

That was very weird to me.

I didn't really know
how to react to that.

And then she waited
for permission without asking.

She waited for Louise
to tell her to take a bite.

She could eat now.

Go 'head.

I never saw them do anything
without permission.

I never heard them talk,
not even the oldest one.

It was like they were
forbidden to talk.

I love this stuff,
don't you?

I remember asking Louise,
"do they ever talk?"

And she goes, "yeah.

If I tell them to talk
to you, they will."

It was like everything
was controlled.

And then when she got done...

Louise never asked her,

"are you full?
Do you want more?"

She would just say,
"okay. Your plate is clean.

Go back up,"

and then she would call
the next one down.

In my heart, I knew something
has to be really wrong.

It was like
they were programmed.

Louise, don't you think
you guys are being

a little tough on them?

I did ask why, but, you know,

she was just like,
"don't ask about my parenting."

Go ahead.

I had never heard Louise
laugh like that before.

It was just different...

More of an evil laugh.

About a week into
living with Louise and David,

that's when the rules
were explained to me.

So listen, if you're gonna
start working this summer,

there's a couple of rules
I need you to follow, okay?

She just told me,
"don't have any friends.

Don't tell anybody
where you live.

Don't give nobody my address.

Don't give nobody
my phone number.

You're not allowed
to have phone calls here,

and I don't want you dating."

Okay.

I don't even know
who I would talk to.

You start meeting people,

you start running your mouth,
and I can't have that.

I don't know if she was afraid
I was going to say something

about the house

or about things I saw.

I remember asking her why, like,

"why can't I tell anybody
where we're at

or have anybody call me?"

And she said, "we live
a very private life,

and that's how
I want to keep it."

David and I keep
to ourselves.

We don't like other people
in our business, so...

And I need you
to do the same.

Okay.

But she also wanted me
to get a job,

so she took me to and from work,

and she watched me

real closely,

and she told me, basically,

that if I didn't obey her rules,
there'd be consequences.

"You won't have
a place to live."

Got it?

Hey.

Got it.

So I had to respect her rules.

I didn't have
anywhere else to go.

David began to watch me

and say some really awful,
nasty things, like, you know,

he shouldn't be saying
to his sister-in-law.

I was getting into the shower
to go to work...

...and I heard
somebody coming in,

and I hollered and told them
I was in the shower.

Hey, I'm in here.

And the door opened.

Who is that?

And Louise and David walked in.

Are you insane?

I was in total shock.

Like, I was like,
"what are you doing in here?

Get out."

Let's get a good look
at that body.

He would ask me personal
questions about my body,

and I wouldn't answer him.

Come on.
We're just having a little fun.

Leave me alone!

And then he would make comments
about how good I'd be in bed.

"And you know what they say
about redheads. They're wild."

Come on. I bet you're a demon
in the sack, huh?

Stop it!

And it would make me
real uncomfortable.

Louise supported him
in the conversations.

Louise would be like, "yeah.
I bet she is good in bed,"

and I would get upset
and start crying.

Stop it! Stop it!

Here, you want this? Give it! Stop it!

They would start laughing
like an evil laugh,

especially Louise.

Like, I'll never forget it.

You're too nice
to her, Louise.

She's a bad girl.

I had never heard Louise
laugh like that before.

It was just different...

More of an evil laugh.

Stop it!

Louise, make it stop!

It took me back
to that childhood mode,

where it was papaw.

It was making me feel like
I was molested all over again,

just in a different way.

I want to see it! Stop it!

I want to see it! Stop it!

I really felt betrayed.

The person that used
to protect me is now

helping bad things happen to me.

I knew there was no way
for me to get out

before the end of the summer,

so I thought I would
just have to wait.

When I would talk to my parents
or anyone on the phone,

I was not allowed
to talk in private.

Louise was always sitting
right next to me.

How's it going
over there?

You getting on okay?

My parents were expecting me
to go back to school,

and Louise was
making it impossible

for me to go.

Me?

I'm...

Good.

I like it here.

She wouldn't give me
a ride anywhere,

and I was young,
and I just...

I didn't have anyway
to buy my ticket.

She said that, you know,

I didn't need to go home,

that that was my home,

and then she just kinda
laughed it off like,

"I guess you're stuck with me."

She's got the kids

and could use
some extra help.

This is just what
I want to do.

I just told my parents
that I couldn't come right now,

that I'd have to take
another semester off.

I'll talk to you soon.

I felt like I was
in prison almost.

I had no way out.

I was trapped.

What happened?

It was scary because

you're really playing
with the devil.

My life just went
from normal to hell,

like, within a second.

When it was time for me
to go back to school,

they didn't allow me to leave.

It was like I was
being held prisoner,

but at work,
I had met a guy named Jonathan,

and we started dating.

Well, I'm really excited
to see this movie with you.

I'm excited to go,

even though I don't like
scary movies.

You'll like this one.

Anyway,
I'll call you later.

Okay.

Louise, what are
you doing here?

Louise caught me with him
because she apparently

had stayed in the parking lot
to snoop on me,

and I don't know how many times
she had done that.

Didn't I tell you
the rules?

No phone calls!
No boyfriends!

I-I'm sorry.
I-I-I just needed...

No! I told you there'd
be consequences!

She was really furious.

She was yelling at me.

I'm sorry! I told you my rules!

You disobeyed me! Why
are you yelling at me?

You don't respect me?

Give me your keys.
What?

Where am I
supposed to go?

I don't care,
but not home with me.

Give me your keys!

She locked me out.

She told me I wasn't
getting my stuff back.

I was left by myself.

That really hurt me.

I was very shocked
that it had come to that

all because I had a boyfriend
at 19 years old.

Are you okay?

What happened? I don't know.

I don't know what's
wrong with her.

She just kicked me out.

Hey.

Hey.

We'll figure
this out.

You can stay with me.

Jonathan went
and told his parents,

and I went to his house.

About nine months later,
I married Jonathan,

and we moved about 14 hours away
for me to go back to college.

I was just so relieved
about getting out.

I really didn't think
about the children at all,

like leaving them
in that environment or anything.

She had four
when I moved out of her house.

I was young, and I just wasn't
thinking about anything.

Later on I missed them,

and I thought about them
and prayed for them,

and I worried about them.

But at that time,

I never thought Louise
was capable of doing

to her children what she's done.

It was just like,

"I've got to get out of here."

At this time is when they
started cutting everybody off.

I didn't talk to Louise
for a long time.

Several years went by,

and then by the time
I had children,

she contacted me.

We still had our problems,

but we did speak
every once a while,

and I did see Louise
from time to time.

It wasn't the same relationship
as it used to be.

It's good to see you,
Louise.

I can't believe
how long it's been.

And one day,

it had been about 14 years.

She came over.

We were talking,

and at this time,
she had 12 children.

The kids were very quiet,
waited for...

To have permission
to talk to me.

It was a lot like it was
in their home.

Hey, how are the kids?

Are they doing okay?

Yeah. Why?

And I remember thinking
that they were skinny,

especially the oldest child.

Have they been
eating much?

They get
plenty of food.

When I confronted Louise
about the kids being skinny,

she tried to play it like
it was all hereditary.

She said,
"oh, it's in our genes.

Me and you are real skinny."

We just have good genes.

What do you
want me to say?

I just left it at that.

By the way, I pulled the kids
out of school.

I'm gonna do it myself.

You mean, you're gonna
homeschool them?

But when she told me she was
going to homeschool them,

an argument broke out.

Louise, they're not gonna get
a proper education.

That's a terrible idea.

You have to be
disciplined.

You have to be responsible.

You have to put your kids' needs
before your own.

Listen, we've already
made up our minds.

We're actually moving
to California.

What, California?

Why?

Louise had researched out

what states they come
and check on you,

what states you have
to turn in work,

because some states,
you can homeschool your kid.

They never ask to see
any of the work.

They don't come out
and check on the children.

Look, do what you want
with yourkids.

This is what
I'm doing with mine.

Now that I'm older
and I'm looking back,

I realize she didn't want
anybody calling c.P.S.

She was gonna make sure
she was in a place

where they did not
check up on them.

Come on, kids.
We're leaving.

Louise...

And it haunts me now.

For a long time,
I felt, like, guilty

because I didn't say anything,

but I really didn't know better
at the time.

Like, I didn't feel like
it was that severe

that I needed to get
authorities involved.

This is them
with 12 of the children,

the 12 oldest children.

I got pictures like this
all the time.

She would send pictures
and videos of them

at Disneyland.

She would put all this stuff
on Facebook,

make it look like they were
having a great time.

I thought that they were
happy and well-fed.

I thought over the years
that things had gotten better,

but my oldest niece
skyped with me one day.

How you doing,
honey?

I'm okay.

By this time,
she's like in her upper 20s,

but she looks like
a 14-year-old kid,

but I didn't think
she was being,

like, malnutrition or anything.

I just thought that
she was just small-framed,

is what I thought.

So what's going on?
Anything new?

Nothing new,
just the same old stuff.

And she had her hands
behind her back,

and she was just rocking
back and forth,

and I noticed that Louise was
sitting real close to her.

Sorry, aunt Elizabeth.
I've got to go.

Hello?

You could tell
that she was scared

to answer a lot
of the questions.

It was just really weird.

I remember
laying down on the bed

beside my husband
just to watch some TV.

It wasn't even late,

and somebody on Facebook,
one of my friends said,

"is Louise turpin your sister?"

And before I could even
ask why or whatever,

I go through my news feed...

...and somebody
I didn't even know

that I wasn't even friends with
sent an article

where 13 kids have been starved

and beat and chained.

And I thought,
"that's a sick joke."

That's when it all started.

I started getting
all kinds of Facebook messages

asking me if this was my sister.

Earlier that day,

I got a phone call
from a California number

that I did not recognize,
and they left a voice mail,

but I didn't listen
to the voice mail right away.

I thought it might have been
a telemarketer or something.

Then I got to thinking,

"I really should listen
to that voice mail,"

and it was a woman saying,
you know,

"this is riverside county jail.
It's about your sister."

I called the number to the jail,

and when they first told me
what happened,

she said, "can you let
all the family know

because it's hitting
national news."

On Sunday, January 14, 2018,

just before 6:00 in the morning,

a 17-year-old girl called 911

from a deactivated cell phone

and reported that her siblings

were being held
against their will.

The story was that
they chained and beat

and starved their children.

One of my nieces got out,

climbed out the window,
the bedroom window,

after Louise and David
went to sleep

and ran down the road

with an unactivated cell phone

that was in the home

and called 911 on it.

They say
the escape plan

had been in the works
for two years.

The teen took one
of her siblings with her,

but that child got scared
and turned back.

She didn't even know how
to explain where she was.

She didn't even know
her own address.

The police was able
to track her and find her,

and then she rode back
with the police

to the house in the car.

Investigators arrived,

finding the rest of them,


starving, emaciated,

some chained
or padlocked to beds.

The deputy that went
to the house spoke with me,

and he said that Louise
and David were in shock

because they were asleep
when they got there.

They had no idea that this


and they were trying to hurry up
and get them unchained,

but they didn't succeed

before the officers
got into the home.

One of the children at age 12

is the weight
of an average 7-year-old.

The 29-year-old female victim

weighs 82 pounds.

None of the victims
were allowed to shower

more than once a year.

None of the victims
have seen a doctor

in more than four years.

None of the victims have
ever seen a dentist.

The couple is charged
with 12 counts of t*rture,


of a dependent adult,



and another 12 of
false imprisonment.

It's really hard to think
that those babies that I held

and rocked so many times
to sleep

and fed bottles...

Were treated like animals.

This is David's mug shot.

I remember thinking,

"he looks like a serial k*ller
or something."

My mom used to say,
"oh, he's a turpin boy.

She couldn't get a better guy
than a turpin boy."

That does not look
like my sister at all.

That's what it looked like
when I saw her on TV,

and it made me sick,

and I busted in tears.

To me, she looks evil here.

I remember asking my husband,

"how is she smiling?"

She looks crazy.

I thought,
"is this really possible?

There's no way that Louise
could have done that.

There's no way.

They've blown this
way out of proportion."

I remember wanting
to go to the house

to try to convince myself
that this is real,

and I walked around the house
and looked in the windows,

and...

When I looked in the windows,

my breath was taken
because I saw things.

I thought, "oh, my gosh.

Louise is pure evil."

It was very, very nasty,

and I knew...

I knew immediately

that my sister...
Did a horrendous crime.

I needed to see her for myself.

I needed to look her
in the eyes,

and I needed to ask her,

"what were you thinking?

What happened?
What went wrong?"

I remember being a nervous wreck

because we hadn't talked
in two years.

Thanks for coming.
It's really great to see you.

And she said
that she was sorry.

I didn't mean to be
so awful to you.

She said...
"Something went wrong,

and I wish I could
explain it to you,

but I've been told
to not talk about it."

She told me that she loved me
and has always loved me,

and she knows that's probably
hard for me to understand,

which it was.

I hope you don't believe
everything you read in the news.

I know the truth.
I was there.

She never came out
and said she didn't do it.

She never came out
and said she did it either,

and she says,
"I'm not who you think I am."

You'll never know who I am
unless you give me a chance.

What about your kids?

Did they have
a chance?

How I took that is,
she'd done it,

but there was more to the story
than what I knew.

I think they deserve life,

and that's really harsh for me
to be a sister and say that,

but I think that's appropriate.

She deserves everything
that's she's got coming to her.

My hopes for my nieces
and nephews is that

they will be able to live

a normal life eventually

and be able to put
all this behind them,

and I want them to know
that I'll always be there.

I want them to know that there
is family out there that cares

and that they are loved

and that not all of us

are like their parents.

This picture is actually
Louise holding me

when I was about
a year and a half old.

You can see her arms around me

like I was her baby
and kissing my cheeks.

It was the greatest moment
in the world to me.

Why did she protect me so much,

but she didn't protect
her own children?

I just don't understand.

But I still love Louise.

I mean, nothing ever
changes the fact

that she's my sister,
no matter what she'd done.

People don't understand,
"how can you get on camera

and say that you still
love your sister?"

They see who Louise is today
and what she's done,

and that's all they know,

but I've known Louise
all my life,

and I know who she was before.

We really don't know why
she's changed so much.

I guess my biggest regret
is not reporting what I saw

when I lived there.

You never think
that somebody close to you

could do something like that,

but anybody is capable
of being evil,

and so much could
have been prevented

if I would have spoke out
a long time ago.