The Girl No One Believed: The Sleepover Slayer Murder | The Case of Brooke Sutton & Clarence Elkins | UNSEEN

This episode is brought to you by Nordstrom. For 125 years, Nordstrom has been part of your story. The stylist who found the perfect outfit for your big interview. The first pair of walking shoes for your one-year-old. The tomato soup you shared with your sister at the cafe. These are the moments that make Nordstrom, Nordstrom. Big or small, we're here for all of it. Celebrating 125 years with new moments still ahead. Discover it all in Nordstrom stores and at Nordstrom.com. Do you think it was Uncle Clarence? At first, yeah. At first, yeah. But do you think so today? No. This is 10-year-old Brooke Sutton. Four years before this footage was recorded, Brooke was sleeping at her grandmother's house when she witnessed something she should have never seen. Do you recognize that picture? Who's in that picture? A guy. A guy. On June 7th, 1998, Brooke's young life takes a turn for the worse when an ordinary night at her grandmother's house turns into a living nightmare. Okay. Can you tell us what happened that night? I woke up in the middle of the night because I heard someone screaming. Barely awake, the little girl rushes to help her grandmother, only to end up face-to-face with a killer. I was like. I was scared because she was a guy. She was a guy. She was a guy and I was a little. Okay. He hit me with something or hit me or something. Heavily injured and traumatized, Brooke is then manipulated into accusing her own uncle of the attack. I know this isn't coming from her. This child is like my own, one of my own children. Do you think today that Uncle Clarence was the same man you saw in the kitchen that night with your grandma? No. But it's a little late, so I'm going to have to reveal the truth. Brooke's uncle has already spent three years in prison at this point. And even if his wife, Melinda, can prove he's innocent, the police refuse to listen to her. Yes, I am his wife. And yes, I know that some women do stand up for their man and lie for them. But you're missing the biggest point here. That was my mother. And I want the person who did this to pay. While Clarence sits behind bars, the real killer is still out there. To set things right, Brooke and Melinda will have to retrace what happened to Brooke and Melinda. Brooke and Melinda will have to retrace what happened that night, build up their own investigation, and uncover the truth themselves. What do you want to happen next? I want my uncle Clarence to get out of jail. And I want the man who killed my grandma to be punished. June 7th, 1998. Brooke and her grandmother Judith are on their way home from a cousin's birthday party. Brooke is Judith's only granddaughter, so the 58-year-old is especially fond of her. My name is Brooke Sutton. On June 7th, 1998, I was in the hospital. I was six. And I just finished kindergarten. That night, I ended up staying the night at my grandma's house. My grandma Judy was like my best friend. The pair has dinner, watches some cartoons, and soon enough, it's time for Brooke to go to bed. Judith gives her bedroom to her granddaughter. She will sleep on the living room couch. I took a bath, and I got dressed in her nightgown, and then she tucked me into bed, and then I went to sleep. A few hours later, in the middle of the night, Brooke and Melinda are back in the house. Brooke and Melinda are back in the house. In the middle of the night, Brooke wakes up to the sound of screams. She follows them to the kitchen and walks straight into a scene she should have never witnessed. So I ran back to my grandma's room because I was scared. He heard me run back to her room and hit me or knocked me out. Someone has broken into the house and violently assaulted Judith. After knocking Judith unconscious, the man does the same to the six-year-old. When Brooke regains consciousness, she doesn't understand what has happened. There's blood everywhere. And she can only see out of one eye. She stumbles out of bed and returns to the living room, where she finds Judith lying face down. Brooke tries to wake her up, to no avail. She then starts looking for the phone to call for help. After what feels like forever, she finally finds it outside, discarded in the bushes. Panicked and disoriented, she can't remember the police's number. Instead, she leaves a voicemail at her friend's house, the only number she knows. Hi, I'm not here right now. Just leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Bye. Judith, I'm sorry to tell you this, but my grandma died. And I need somebody to get my mom for me. I'm all alone. Somebody help my grandma. Help, please. But you can hold me as soon as you can. Bye. When Brooke puts the phone down, she notices it's covered in blood. Confused, she reaches for the side of her face and is shocked to realize she's bleeding. Panicked, the six-year-old runs down the street to look for help until she reaches a neighbor's house. Twenty-five-year-old single mother of three, Tanya Brazeal, answers the door. She recognizes the little girl immediately. Her own daughters are some of Brooke's best friends. She was crying, like, I don't know, she just was a mess. She definitely looked like she was in pain. My mom's like, "Oh, yes, I guess it was him, it was him." Like, kind of like putting that in her mind that it was her uncle. Brooke came to my door. She said, "Please help me. My grandma was dead. My Uncle Clarence killed my grandma. I don't have no reason to lie about it." And Tanya's behavior with Brooke only gets stranger from there. The six-year-old is clearly terrified. Yet Tanya refuses to call the police. She doesn't even tend to the child's injuries. Instead, she tells Brooke to wait outside while she gets her own children ready for school. And so, the little girl waits. Alone for nearly an hour. Eventually, Tanya drives her back to her mother's house. But when they arrive, the woman starts speaking on Brooke's behalf. And suddenly, the story of a traumatized child who only ever saw a shadow in the dark turns into a full-blown accusation. The neighbor, she kind of told everybody that I told her that it was my uncle. And everyone was questioning me. And I guess I kind of was agreeing with it. While this was happening, no investigator ever took the time to question any of Tanya's daughters about what they witnessed that morning. I just feel like if someone would have came to us first, stuff would have been different with the Elkins case. Minutes after Brooke arrives at the hospital, investigators burst into the intensive care unit. She tells them she didn't see who did it. But this isn't enough for them. They press her further. And in Brooke's young, exhausted mind, the only way to make them stop is seemingly to repeat what she heard from her neighbor. But even then, the six-year-old is careful with her words. She doesn't outright say it was Clarence, but that the man might look like her uncle. But that's all the police need. Less than an hour after Brooke arrives at the hospital, officers raid her uncle's house. And I remember Clarence going out the back door. And I seen him cross the window. And he kind of had his hands up like, you know, like, "What's going on?" They were telling me to put my hands in air and turn around and walk away. Turn around and walk slowly backwards. Clarence, shocked and confused, doesn't carry out the order, and things quickly escalate. And then I seen two or three police officers running down the hill of our backyard in, like, helmets and vests and guns. And of course, you know, I'm, "What the heck is going on here?" Melinda runs outside, but the police intercept her before she can reach Clarence. They inform her that he's under arrest for the murder of Judith Johnson. Melinda's own mother. I screamed, you know, because I just couldn't believe what they were telling me. My uncle was on the phone, and he said, "Yes, she's dead." And Brooke is saying that it was Clarence. And so I went to the police station. They tried to put words in my mouth saying why I did this and why I done that. And I just could not answer one question they had. The police then ransack Melinda and Clarence's home. They're looking for evidence, but leave empty-handed. In the days following the arrest, they never interview anyone except Brooke and totally dismiss Melinda, assuming that whatever Clarence might have done, she had to be in on it. Clarence was at home with me and our sons at the time of the murder. Not even one time did I ever, ever feel that Clarence could have done it. And I said to them, "Yes, I am his wife. That was my mother. And I want the person who did this to pay." Before we continue Brooke's story, we'd like to thank this episode's sponsor. 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Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash unseen. Go to Shopify.com slash unseen. That's Shopify.com slash unseen. Following the botched investigation, authorities quickly brought Clarence before a judge. During Clarence's arraignment, they brought him in in handcuffs and leg shackles. He was formally charged with aggravated murder for the murder of my mother. Three counts of rape. One count against my mother, two counts against my niece. Aggravated assault for the brutal attack on my niece. He was going to be facing the death penalty. The proceedings would last 11 months. In that time, Melinda would lose everything. Her job, her house, but worst of all, her family. Even her young sons, Clarence Jr. and Brandon, notice it. At the funeral home, I remember walking in and it was just my brother, myself, and my mom, you know. We're all, we were just alone. Everybody was staring at us. The tension, you could have cut it with a knife. This isn't the first time Melinda has felt estranged from her own family. Years ago, her mother revealed a secret that completely shifted their perspective towards her. Not just any clinic, it was run by infamous baby smuggler, Dr. Thomas Hicks. He would tell mothers that their baby died during delivery, when in reality, the child had already been sold to someone else, without the mother's knowledge. Melinda was one of these babies, and Judith adopted her, unaware of what was going on. Years later, when the truth finally resurfaced, the two went on a mission to find Melinda's biological parents, even appearing together on The Maury Show, mere weeks before Judith's murder. So then they wrote out the birth certificate. They did not write it out in the mother's name. They wrote it out in my name. If anything, the truth about Melinda's past only strengthens her resolve. Judith may not have been her biological mother, but she was her mother in every way that mattered. And Melinda is determined to get justice for her, even if it means turning against her own family. My mother was buried on June 12th. I remember sitting at her graveside with my sons and making that vow to her that I would find out who did it. If it took me the rest of my life, I was going to find out who did that to her. And I didn't take that vow lightly. I meant what I said. Justice for Judith is Melinda's ultimate goal. And to get there, she'll first need to prove her husband's innocence. And uncover what really happened to Brooke that night. But at this point, putting her faith in the system feels like her only option. Although it's a decision, she quickly comes to regret. We hired what we thought were, you know, good attorneys. The trial was a joke. There was no DNA testing done. There's no forensic evidence that links him to this crime. The attorneys have kept Melinda in the dark. By the time she realizes how unprepared they really are, it's too late. The prosecution is calling Brooke to the stand. They asked me to point out the killer. And I turned around and I pointed at my uncle Clarence. It wasn't really me saying it. It was just everybody assuming it. Clarence is powerless. He can only look up at his niece in disbelief. You know, the only thing I could think of was mistaken identity or persuaded by someone. I coached. The jury hears Brooke's desperate call for help, recorded on her friend's answering machine, and sees the horrific pictures of the aftermath of the attack. The final blow comes from a familiar face, Judith's not-so-helpful neighbor, Tanya Brazeal. She became Tanya Brazeal, the woman two doors down, the key witness against Clarence Elkins, in addition to the little girl, because her testimony at trial was, when the little girl knocked on my door, she was screaming over and over again, it was my uncle Clarence, it was my uncle Clarence, I'm positive it's my uncle Clarence. And so you actually had an adult sort of corroborating and backing up this weak testimony from the six-year-old girl. I just kept going back to that, and I kept, why would somebody do that? What would be the reason? What are they, is there something they're trying to hide? After deliberation, the jury returns with the verdict. Clarence is acquitted of aggravated murder and cleared of the death penalty. Heavy sighs of relief resonate for Melinda and their sons. But the judge isn't done yet. For the remaining charges, the murder of Judith, plus two counts of assault involving Brooke, Clarence is found guilty. Melinda breaks down crying as he's sentenced to two life sentences without parole. And it was the most excruciating feeling when he looked at me, and I looked at him, and he put his head down on the table. I thought I was going to die. I couldn't believe it. And they stood him up, and they removed him from the courtroom, and I told him that I loved him. And he looked back at me, and he said, I love you. And I think there was a picture of that, what I was feeling, because I just couldn't believe it. Absolutely couldn't believe it. Clarence is sent to one of Ohio's most notorious maximum security prisons. Melinda knows her husband is innocent, but nobody's listening. It becomes increasingly clear to her that if she wants the case solved, she'll have to take matters into her own hands. After that, my whole thought process changed. I no longer trusted the justice system. I no longer trusted the police. And I said to myself, I am going to figure this out. I had to figure this out. I had no experience investigating a homicide, obviously. But anyone could have done a lot better than what Barberton Police Department did. Melinda starts watching true crime shows and learns more about forensic science and how DNA can help pinpoint a suspect. For the first time, she sees a path forward. Using her local library and the early internet, she begins building a list of potential suspects in the area who have committed crimes similar to the attack on Judith. The list quickly grows past 100 names, and one by one, she sets out to collect each of these suspects' DNA, no matter how. I would show up where they were frequenting and strike up a conversation. I would flirt, talk, seem interested in them, just so that I could gather their DNA. I had cigarette butts. I had hair. I had a beer bottle. Ultimately, my freezer looked like a laboratory. Now, for over three years, Melinda has lived a double life. By day, she works two jobs to support her family. By night, she becomes an investigator. Quietly collecting evidence. But her efforts don't go unnoticed. Barberton is small, and word travels fast. Before long, people start recognizing her. The closer she gets to the truth, the more noticeable she becomes. Eventually, the attention forces her to make a choice. For the safety of her sons, Melinda is forced to pause her investigation. I was afraid that the person that had murdered my grandmother was going to catch on to what she was trying to do and hurt her as well. My brother and I, we always slept. We slept with knives under our pillows. We were, you know, just in fear of somebody coming to harm us because we were trying to find them. Not only is the investigation becoming dangerous, but it's also draining what little money Melinda has. In the early 2000s, a single DNA test could cost up to $800. And with nearly 100 samples on her list, she needs a different strategy. So, she goes back to the beginning. The facts are that only one person was actually there that night: Brooke. Being the now 10-year-old would also mean confronting someone Melinda has long avoided. She has not spoken to her sister, April, Brooke's mother, in almost four years. After Clarence got convicted, we just tried to go on with our lives, but it was hard. My mom wasn't there. Brooke had nightmares, and I didn't talk to my sister anymore. I couldn't see my nephews. Just our entire family was ripped apart. Melinda drives up to April's place in Barberton, but once at her door, she freezes. A rush of emotion hits her, but she knows she has to do this. Gathering up her courage, she knocks. April's husband opens the door. Melinda sees her sister at the other end of the room with her back turned. For a moment, she's convinced April won't even look at her. Melinda wants to leave. Just as she's about to step away, April turns around. She's crying. Slowly, she walks toward her sister, arms outstretched. We hugged for like 10 minutes, I think. I never thought that my sister and I would ever talk again. When we hugged, it was like all that pain had just, you know, melted away. I knew that that was the moment that we could actually sit down and talk. It was a hard moment for Brooke because she didn't know how to react. The reunion is emotional. Melinda, April, and Brooke have a lot of catching up to do. But Melinda remains focused. She needs to ask Brooke a few questions. She starts with the most important one. Is she still certain it was Uncle Clarence she saw that night? Without hesitation, the 10-year-old answers that she was never certain, shattering both women's entire understanding of the case. April is speechless. For the first time, she is forced to reconsider her daughter's testimony. And this is all Melinda needs to get started. She pulls an inch-thick folder from her bag and lays it out on April's kitchen table. In a single afternoon, she sums up three and a half years of investigation to her sister. Gradually, April realizes she may have made a terrible mistake. At first, I thought she was just insane. But then I stopped and I listened to her. And. Some things really made me think maybe we were wrong. Because there really wasn't any physical evidence against Clarence. A few weeks later, Brooke decides to recant her testimony. Now that she's a little older, she understands she had been influenced by the prosecutor, the police, and her neighbor. At only 10 years old, she takes it upon herself to clear her uncle's name in the hopes that her recantation would allow him a second chance at a trial. Why did you say it was Uncle Clarence? Because it looked like him. It looked like him. At first, yeah. At first, yeah. No. The reason I'm here today is to support my Uncle Clarence and my grandma. I want everyone to understand that I was not told to say that I was someone else. Another year passes, and in a cruel twist of fate, the prosecutor now claims the adults. have influenced her recantation. However, he never applied that same logic to her original testimony during the trial five years earlier. The other side would intend that she's now being coached. Oh, absolutely. It is outrageous what they have done to this child. Trust me, based on the evidence and based on everything I know, he did it. A strange argument to make in a case without any physical evidence, the entire thing rested on a fragile testimony of an impressionable six-year-old but, by chance, that shaky foundation catches the attention of a non-profit organization dedicated to defending the wrongly convicted. I'm Mark Godsey. I'm a law professor here at the University of Cincinnati College of Law and director of the Ohio Innocence Project. Our mission is to look at old cases where the inmates have steadfastly maintained their innocence from the beginning to the end and see if there's some sort of evidence, new evidence that might be able to shed light on it. I was in my office. When Melinda called the first time, she was calm and rational, and she knew the facts. She was immediately talking about DNA, so it was more like talking to a lawyer or an investigator. Between 1998 and 2004, DNA testing had evolved from a technology in its infancy into a proper science. Godsey believes modern testing could yield usable results from the original swabs. He also agrees to test several of the samples Melinda has collected during her investigation, but he's not sure if this is the right time to do it. He says, "I'm not sure. I'm not sure if this is the right time to do it. I'm not sure if this is the right time to do it." When the results come back, none of the samples link Clarence or any of Melinda's suspects to the crime. This is good news. It further confirms that Clarence had nothing to do with the attack. But it also means Melinda's entire investigation has led to nowhere. For years, she had tracked down dozens of potential suspects, sometimes putting her own life on the line, all for nothing. And her failure does not go unnoticed. "The driving force behind all of this is the evidence. The person behind all of this is Melinda Elkins, who just likes to be the center of attention." "The prosecutors, you know, they were kind of validating their thoughts of me in the media. It's like, 'See? We told you. She's crazy.'" But Melinda refuses to back down. With the help of Godsey and her sister April, she files a motion for a new trial. Citing Brooke's recantation and the DNA results, they argue that Clarence's conviction cannot stand when nothing ties him to the crime. Yet, to the surprise of everyone involved, the motion is still in the works. "I just couldn't believe this. The DNA doesn't match Clarence. Then that means it had to have been someone else." "What more do they want? Do they want us to serve them who did this on a silver platter to them? Well, OK then. That's what we'll do." By now, Clarence has spent nearly seven years behind bars. And if the man who killed Judith is truly as dangerous as Melinda believes, there's a real chance he has already been arrested for some other crime. If that's the case, Clarence might be closer to the truth. "I'm going to tell you this. I'm going to tell you this. other case where the wrongfully convicted person himself is the one that participated as his own detective. Even after everything Melinda and Clarence have uncovered, the judge rejects their motion yet again. Left with no choice, Godsey takes the case one step higher and presents their findings to Ohio's Attorney General. Now pressured by the state, the judge is forced to reconsider, and two months later, Melinda finally has good news for her husband. Hey Clarence, what are you doing, honey? You okay? You ready to come home? Then get your stuff packed, honey, because you're coming home today. Don't worry, I won't give you a shot. Thank God. I'm very proud of everyone who stepped forward on my behalf for justice. What are you going to do? I don't know. One day at a time, slow and easy, putting my life back together with my family. The prosecution against Earl Mann lasts another three years. During that time, the trauma shared by Melinda, Clarence, and Brooke reaches its breaking point. The couple, finally reunited after seven years, end up getting a divorce in 2006. All the while, Brooke faces her own predicament. What began as chronic nightmares during childhood grew into complex PTSD during adolescence, and she struggles to get out of it. She's now a mother of three, and struggles to let go of the guilt she still carries over what happened to Clarence. But as August 18th, 2008 approaches, one important moment lies ahead. For the first time, Melinda, Clarence, and Brooke will finally be able to address Earl Mann directly. I don't know. It's not so kind words. I'm not going to forgive you. It's a difficult thing. I will. I will. I'm praying to God that's mercy on your soul. Poet Daunton once spoke about hell as being frozen ice that was frozen to death. I'm a man. I can only say I find that. There seems to be a depth of depravity in you that is beyond understanding. I hate to say this, but I know that you are not fit to be in society with the rest of us, and you will not be. With the case finally closed, Melinda turns the page. She remarries and starts a new life. Ten years later, in an effort to honor her mother, she decides to reopen the investigation they had started together back in 1998 to reunite the stolen babies of Hicks Clinic with their biological mothers. Melinda Dawson is considered the leader of the so-called Hicks Babies. She's also the group's top sleuth, and for good reason. Melinda garnered international acclaim more than a decade ago, solving her adoptive mother's murder with DNA, proof that also exonerated her former husband, Clarence Elkins. Once again, she's relying on DNA testing. For Clarence, however, the story did not end there. Adjusting to his new life proved deeply challenging, and the trauma he carried with him made the transition even harder. Seven years in prison took a debilitating toll on Clarence Elkins. He was 35 years old and married to a single mother. He was the only child in his family, and the only father in his family. He was the only father of two when he was wrongfully convicted in 1998 of raping his six-year-old niece and raping and murdering his mother-in-law. He was confined to a maximum security prison. It took time, but Clarence eventually got better. He remarried in 2010, and remains close to Melinda and her family to this day. Yet, he never forgot Brooke. When he learned that she still felt responsible for what happened, he took it upon himself to show her she had nothing to be forgiven for. "He never blamed me. Clarence never blamed me." "I really would have blamed myself if I were him, 'cause I'd be angry if someone put me in prison for something that I didn't do." "She was the daughter that I didn't have. She was just a sweetheart of a child, and I've never had any resentment towards her." In the end, Earl Mann was sentenced to 55 years to life for Judith's murder, but not everyone involved in the case was held accountable. His girlfriend, Tanya Brazeal, who pushed Brooke to accuse her own uncle, never faced any consequences before her death in 2024. Clarence, however, was eventually able to hold the system accountable, settling with the state of Ohio and the Barberton police for over $6 million, even though no amount of money could ever make up for the years he lost. "It's very difficult, very sad at times. It's not like it used to be, but at the same time, you know, I gotta move on. And that's our goal, is to move on." "Hank joined BJ's Wholesale Club the day he became a father of 30. Now Coach Hank saves up to 25% off grocery store prices, 30 pounds of pasta, three cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks. 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