E2: Dee Dee Blanchard Murder Trial: Defense Opening Statement

Good morning. Nicholas, Goe, John, Stab, and Gilman's body and plancher. We're not contesting that. We're here because the state has charged Nick with murder in the first degree. You'll hear some evidence that Nick was autistic and perhaps he was unable to form the necessary intent to commit murder in the first degree. When everything's said and done, I ask that you find Nick not guilty of murder in the first degree and consider other themes of homicide. Now Nick didn't come into this world like most of us. He was born in the spring of 1989. He was born with his millilicle cord wrapped around his neck. His tiny brain was deprived of oxygen and his family knew that there were going to be developmental delays. Nick went to school, an elementary school. He was diagnosed with autism. Nick was raised by his mother, a single mother at the time, who went through boyfriends back and forth. She worked several jobs to try to make ends meet. But she didn't give Nick the emotional support. He needed it. She was often absent. Wasn't there a big sign with spent on the internet. He stayed in an upstairs bedroom on Cherry Street. The big bend was constant. And that was his outlet to the world. And while on that computer, he met J.C. Blanchard and on October 2012 on a Christian day's site. Wasn't too long before they were in love. J.C. was always hard. Now, Nick was autistic. Had a different perception of the world. And J.C. knew he was autistic. She accepted that. Nick knew that J.C. was in a wheelchair. And he accepted that. But it didn't take too long for Nick to learn from J.C. that she didn't need to be in that wheelchair. And this is what the world was led to believe. J.C.'s mother kept her in this condition for cherry, the sympathy, attention, money, for a number of reasons. J.C. was held captive in this wheelchair. At one point in time, I believe that 2011 J.C. tried to escape. She left the house, walking without a wheelchair, made a phone call, and had a friend pick her up. They'd take too long for Claudine Blanchard, D.D., J.C.'s mother to pick her up. J.C. was taken home. He was chained in bed. J.C. was not allowed to leave her mother. She wasn't allowed to be free. And she wanted a relationship outside of her home. She wanted a relationship with Nick. They talked about murder a year before it happened. But J.C. formulated another plan. Why don't I try to bring you into my life? Introduce you. My mom will get to know you, and we'll go from there. J.C. stole some money from her mom. Said it to Nick. Purchased a busted. Nick drove down on a bus from Wisconsin in the first time in 2015, and March of 2015, and stayed in a hotel that J.C. paid for. Now, the idea was that they were going to go to an IMAX movie. They were going to go see Cinderella together. And they did. They both met there at the movie theater, talked to one another and they didn't have any idea who each other was. And J.C.'s hope was that she would bond with this man in front of her mother to help a friendship and that her mother would accept that. Ultimately, they sat next to one another during my movie. And eventually they were able to get out of theater. They went into the men's room and had sexual intercourse. And then with back into the theater, J.C.'s mother made sure they didn't set next to one another. And J.C. was heartbroken. She wanted her mom to accept Nick. And her mom described Nick as creepy. J.C. knew there was only one way she was going to be able to spend the life with Nick. There was only one way to get out from under the grasp of her mother. And that was to kill her mother. J.C. formulated this plan and she wavered on it for a while. She was committed to it. Later she decided, no, that's not the right thing. Nick was happy to do whatever J.C. wanted. He was always compliant. And finally J.C. said, it's getting worse here. This has to be done. She stole some more money from her mother. Provided that to Nick to come down on a bus and stay in a hotel. She stole the knife from Walmart so that Nick could use that as the murder weapon. And provided Nick with gloves and tape and everything he would need to go through her plan. Nick arrived there at the house. The knife was ready. The gloves were ready. The tape was ready. He entered that home. The sawed J.C. standing there. A girl who could walk, not someone captive in a wheelchair. Looking around the living room, there were wheelchairs. The devices that found her. And Nick went through the J.C.'s plan. Before they left town, they mailed the knife back to Wisconsin. J.C. got everything ready for that. They put J.C.'s address there in a volunteer way. Is the return address. They dropped it. The mail. And they went to Wisconsin. Once I got to Wisconsin, J.C. put a Facebook post on a shared account. And the account she shared with her mother that said the VHS dead, etc. etc. The goal there, and J.C. will tell you this, was that she wanted her mother's body to be found. She wanted her mother to have a proper burial. And J.C. will also tell you that she never thought she would be caught. That people would just forget about her. That they would bury her mom in the road to move on. Before she left the house, she sold approximately $5,000 from her mom. That her mom kept in the house and cash. Her goal was to start a new life with that. For a Nick, we live off that money for a while. And then start a family together. You're going to hear testimony about Nick's autism. You're probably in the air from a couple of doctors who are going to tell you Nick is autistic. He has a low IQ. He suffers cognitive disabilities. And in the end, folks, you're going to understand the dynamics of this case. That Nick wasn't able to formulate the necessary mental state to commit murder in the first degree. I expect you'll find Nick not guilty of murder in the first degree. And you will have the opportunity to consider lesser degrees of homicide. I ask that you keep an open mind and I appreciate your attention as well.