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Thanksgiving night of 1999,
I did something really ignorant
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to someone that did not deserve it.
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I let my anger turn to rage.
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But that's not who I am anymore.
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I've had to deal with
reliving that night for almost 24 years.
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I really don't know
what it was that triggered me,
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but I believe the state should release me.
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I'm nowhere near as violent as I was.
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I think we could all be dangerous people.
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People say you're a monster.
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I'm not sitting here saying I'm innocent.
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I just murdered some guy in cold blood.
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Growing up, I always wondered
what my life would be like
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{\an8}if my dad was here.
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And how different things would be.
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Hey, get that camera out of my face.
Hey! Hey!
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He would be the person
that I could call no matter what,
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and he would be there.
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{\an8}I feel like if my dad was here,
we'd be best friends.
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There is no excuse
for what Michael Highley did.
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Whether it was drugs,
or just mental illness,
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or a combination of the two,
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I don't think there's any excuse
for killing my father.
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Since I've been locked up
for almost the last quarter of a century,
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I've had to do a lot of self-reflecting.
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And I still do not understand
why I reacted that way.
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Let's get this one on you.
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It still brings up
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some messed-up feelings
when I think about that day.
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It wasn't something I intended.
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My life should have been so much better.
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Growing up
in the south suburb of Chicago,
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I lived with my mother,
my grandmother, my grandfather,
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and a couple of siblings that I had.
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The only thing I knew about my father
was he was in the Marine Corps,
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and the only real memory I have
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was watching him in his vehicle
pull out of the yard and drive away.
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I started drinking
around the age of seven or eight.
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One of the friends that I had growing up
was part of a local gang.
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Him and his friends were always showing up
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with 12-packs of beer, bottles of whiskey.
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And...
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by the time I reached my ninth birthday,
I would say I was a full-blown alcoholic.
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Being intoxicated,
it helped hide some of the confusion
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and anger that I had.
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And it helped me hide some
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intimate details about myself
that I didn't want to face.
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It was one of those things
of trying to fit in
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and... make sure that I had, you know,
people I could call friends.
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I was, uh, definitely exposed
to a lot of violence.
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I was kind of a hothead,
and I had a lot of anger.
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Got angry at someone,
you tried to beat him up.
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You were throwing punches,
you were throwing kicks,
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you were headbutting people.
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That was how you proved
you were one of the boys.
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After moving to Montana,
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I was supposed
to be working for my stepdad,
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but he wasn't paying me.
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So I decided to try and get even
by stealing some rifles.
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I knew some people that... that were willing
to purchase them for... for cash and drugs.
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But some of the individuals
that I did business with
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turned in some of the hunting rifles
to the police.
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So I was, uh, arrested,
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and that was the start of my...
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my prison life.
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Prison wasn't the learning experience
that I think they wanted it to be,
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and, uh, even being incarcerated,
I... I was still intoxicated.
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Coming out of prison,
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I had buried the issues
with my feelings deep enough
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to where I wasn't dealing with them,
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and my main concern was
where my next 12-pack is gonna come from.
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Where my next quarter gram
is gonna come from.
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I had that attitude,
"Nobody is going to tell me I can't."
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So I kept drinking, kept getting high.
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Unfortunately, that wasn't
a really good attitude to have.
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It was just making me more explosive.
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The night before
Thanksgiving of 1999,
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I rode my pedal bike to my local bar.
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I brought the bike inside
and left it in the corner.
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An old acquaintance of mine,
Mr. Harris, told me he would be willing
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to keep an eye on it for me.
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So I told him I was going to be
over at the pool table,
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and that was pretty much the start
of a bad night.
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One of the bartenders approached me,
and he accused me of being
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one of several people
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that he suspected went back
behind the bar a night or two prior
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and took some money out of what they call
the "shake a day" container.
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- My anger meter was raising quickly.
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If you're going to accuse me of something,
make sure I did it.
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I wasn't out-of-control angry,
but I was just about there.
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I'm not exactly sure
how much time went by,
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but the bartender
caught my attention and said,
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"I'm sorry, the individual
that did take the money confessed to it."
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But I just kept
thinking about being accused
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of doing something I didn't do.
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I continued to drink.
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I dwelled on it.
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And when I glanced up,
I noticed the bike was gone.
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My... anger level instantly started to boil.
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I asked Mr. Harris, "Where's the bike?"
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And I slapped his shoulder.
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He turned and looked at me and told me,
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"Even if I knew where it was,
I wouldn't tell you."
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And...
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that... that was it.
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I went from being angry
to being in a full-blown rage.
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I remember the bartender yelling,
"Take it outside."
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I remember
Mr. Harris coming out of the bar,
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walking across the street.
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As soon as he got close enough to me,
I stabbed him three times.
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I still do not understand
what it was that triggered me.
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I cannot even begin to speculate
what was going through my mind.
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Throughout his life,
Michael had a habit.
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He gets angry, he does something,
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and he doesn't think about it
until after he does it.
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I couldn't understand it.
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I'm Carol,
and I'm Michael Highley's mother.
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When Michael was younger,
he was drinking all the time.
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And he was doing drugs,
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but I didn't realize he was doing that
because he didn't do it here.
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{\an8}I'd come home, he'd be...
he'd be home for dinner,
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and he'd ask to go play with his friends.
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But what he was doing
was actually going to a drug dealer.
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When he got in trouble,
Michael always had this "fight or flee."
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This one incident,
the dope dealer was chasing him home.
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Probably he was getting chased
'cause he owed the drug dealer some money.
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And he went and took
his sister's .22 rifle.
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He just stuck the rifle out the window,
and he shot him.
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I thought if I took him away
from this environment,
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that things would smooth out.
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But it seemed like
no matter what we say or what we did,
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somehow or another
it didn't get blocked into his head.
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I think it just went, psst,
one ear and out the other.
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But as far as the anger issue,
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I took him to the doctors
trying to find why he blows up like that.
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Everybody tried to pinpoint it,
but nobody knew what was going on.
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And that's why I always told Michael,
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"Think before you do something.
Just turn around and walk away."
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But he don't listen,
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and that's why this last incident
with the knife happened.
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When I found out the person
that Michael knifed had died,
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I was thinking...
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..."This is something
I can't get him out of."
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I don't know why he was that angry.
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I don't think it ever stuck in his brain
to think about something
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or the consequences of doing it
before he did it.
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When we get these cases,
they're always tragic.
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{\an8}There should've been different ways
to handle a dispute than this.
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{\an8}But now this happened,
and someone is dead.
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My name is John W. Larson.
I'm a district judge in Montana,
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and I presided over the case
of Michael Highley.
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Prison is generally a last resort.
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We have to give them
a chance to change their life.
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{\an8}You're not thrown back in jail
for every... violation.
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But Highley was given a lot of chances,
and chances can't be unending.
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Mr. Highley did have
sufficient opportunities to change,
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but he had these violent tendencies.
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And in the end,
someone was stabbed to death.
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And when there's such violence,
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we have to make sure
that everybody else is protected.
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The sentence in Highley's case
is one that is appropriate.
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It had enough punishment,
but it wasn't extreme.
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It had a component,
uh, for rehabilitation.
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There was a requirement
that before he'd be considered for parole,
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he complete rehabilitative programs
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both in chemical dependency
and mental health.
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So Highley needs
to take advantage of his sentence
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and utilize these chances to change.
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The first few years in prison
were really tough for me.
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I shut down mentally.
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I didn't want to think
about what got me here.
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And that was pretty much
what I did for my first few years.
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But I had gotten to a point
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where I was trying
to make changes in my life.
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And listening to gay individuals
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try to explain how things
are so much different in the world now,
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and how things are so much more accepted...
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It was 2016 that I came out
as being transgender.
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And mentally, I have never looked back.
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And it's helped me move forward
from where I was back in 1999.
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I should have faced it
a long time ago.
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But an individual had to die,
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and I had to be sent to prison
for pretty close to the rest of my life
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for me to realize
that facing the world the way I did,
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it... it wasn't a life I should have lived.
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And it had me reviewing
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everything that I have
ever done in my life.
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It helped me...
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realize that I shouldn't have been ashamed
of who I was.
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I started wearing
women's clothes at a really young age.
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It was right around the time
that my father had left.
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I did a lot to try and suppress it
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because...
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the way society looked at people
that were transgender back in them days
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wasn't remotely socially acceptable.
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And I had been caught a few times
dressed up in women's underwear
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when I was in junior high school.
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They... caught me in the...
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in the boys' locker room
wearing, uh, a teddy
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and... my gym shorts around my ankles and...
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I was laughed at and made fun of and...
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Yeah, it was, uh... it was traumatizing.
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I would have to say
that trying to fit into a man's world
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while inside, I felt different.
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I didn't process it very well.
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The way I dealt with it
was by drinking all the time,
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trying to medicate myself
to where I didn't think about it anymore.
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And being intoxicated to help deal with
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feeling so down on myself.
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So I kept drinking, kept getting high,
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and there was a lot of violence.
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But since I came out as being transgender,
I've been the happiest I've ever been.
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I've been trying for parole
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00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,200
because my thirst
for rehabilitation has never been
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00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,960
so far to the forefront
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00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:32,320
like it has been since I made the decision
just to accept that this is who I am.
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My current name is Ezdeth Antinua Highley.
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You can like me or... or not.
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I've got to live with me, not you.
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We received notifications
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that Michael Highley
wanted to change his name.
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And they told us what he wanted
to change his name to.
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I had the lady on the phone
spell it for me,
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and it was E-Z-D-E-T-H.
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And I said, "Easy death?"
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I was shocked.
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{\an8}That's kind of a slap in the face
to a victim's family
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where that's what it looks like
that's what his name is.
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Eventually, when they told us
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Highley wants to transition
as much as you can in prison,
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I... I don't know.
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It's a lot to deal with
and to try and understand.
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And I'm...
I'm sure it is for him internally,
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for what he's feeling.
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Paul was hilarious growing up.
A little prankster.
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We always had to watch what he was doing
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so we didn't get in trouble
and join in in the shenanigans.
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He was just fun to have around.
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A good brother.
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In the late '90s,
Paul was living in Missoula.
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00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:57,840
And he met
his girlfriend Tracy in about '97.
242
00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:01,040
And then they went on
to have twin baby girls.
243
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,560
And they were born in 1999.
244
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,720
He was really excited about being a dad.
245
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:13,880
I think it's unfortunate
246
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,760
that he had to pass away
and didn't even get that chance.
247
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:31,600
I'm not really sure why Highley
248
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,320
thought that he should stab my brother.
249
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:38,560
But they ended up getting into, uh,
an argument about the bike.
250
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,680
Paul told his friend,
"Put that in the back of your truck,
251
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,520
and it'll be funny
to see him say, 'Where's my bike?'"
252
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,320
You know, it was just
a simple joke that went wrong.
253
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,240
I think that's pretty severe anger issues
254
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,200
that you have if you want to stab somebody
255
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,160
um, over a bicycle
that wasn't even stolen.
256
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,880
Highley has been up for parole
multiple times.
257
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,160
But I feel that
when you take somebody's life,
258
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,840
that you should spend
the remainder of your life incarcerated.
259
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:23,400
At the last parole hearing via video,
260
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,800
Highley said that he felt
like he was a woman,
261
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:31,440
and maybe that that's where some of his
anger or rage came from.
262
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,480
It's hard to say what you feel about that.
263
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,800
I mean, I feel for people that feel...
feel that way anyways in their life.
264
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,360
But he killed somebody violently,
265
00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:45,680
and it doesn't make it go away
'cause your name changes.
266
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,880
There's a lot more going on
contributing to Ezdeth's behavior
267
00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:13,760
than just her gender identity.
268
00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:17,280
I think it provides context
269
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,480
for some of the things
that she was going through,
270
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:21,880
and some of the things
that she was struggling with.
271
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,400
But the vast majority of people
with gender identity issues
272
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:26,720
do not commit murder.
273
00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:33,160
My name is Laura Kirsch.
274
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:36,120
I'm a clinical
forensic psychologist in Montana.
275
00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:39,640
And I primarily evaluate
criminal defendants
276
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:42,280
for the Montana judicial system.
277
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,600
Human behavior
is very hard to parse apart.
278
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:05,680
{\an8}Why anyone does anything
is an interaction of so many variables
279
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:10,640
that are internal to a person
and then external as part of a situation.
280
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,440
I think a large driver
of her behavior at that time
281
00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:19,880
seems like anger, substance use,
282
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:22,920
and antisocial personality traits.
283
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:27,000
Is some of that
due to her gender identity? Probably.
284
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:31,040
But being able to draw a straight line
from her gender identity to the murder,
285
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,360
I think, would be highly impossible to do.
286
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,000
Based on the information that I've read,
287
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:45,480
it sounds like she had a pretty antisocial
and delinquent childhood.
288
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,880
And I think when you have someone
who perhaps doesn't start out
289
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:54,080
with a whole lot of
great emotion regulation capacity,
290
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:58,400
and they're raised in an environment
where they don't get the extra assistance
291
00:29:58,400 --> 00:29:59,880
that they need with it,
292
00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:02,960
that could certainly lead
to using violence
293
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,760
as a means to solve problems
or as a means to express herself.
294
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:11,920
{\an8}But I don't think they provide an excuse
or a justification for her behavior.
295
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,000
Since I came out as being transgender,
296
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,840
I've been the happiest I've ever been.
297
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:41,240
It gave me a body high
like nothing I have ever done before.
298
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:48,440
The thing that made me decide
to start facing my issue
299
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:52,160
was remembering the contentment
300
00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,600
and freedom it caused me to feel
301
00:30:55,600 --> 00:31:00,400
every time I'd be in the basement
wearing a dress and high heels.
302
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:06,640
And I had decided I just don't care
what people think anymore.
303
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,080
But an individual had to die,
304
00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:13,600
and I had to be sent to prison
for pretty close
305
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:19,120
to the rest of my life for me to realize
that facing the world the way I did,
306
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:23,320
it... it wasn't a life I should have lived.
307
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:25,880
My life should have been so much better.
308
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,360
One of the characteristics
309
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,360
that's pretty consistent
with antisocial personality
310
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,600
is kind of a self-centeredness
or self-absorption.
311
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,520
And I thought it was striking
in all of the material
312
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:45,520
that she was very self-focused.
313
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:46,560
So it's possible
314
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:50,760
that a lot of her behavior was driven
by antisocial personality traits.
315
00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:54,360
And I think it's striking
how much she's focused on herself
316
00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:58,600
and how little she's spoken
of the victims and the victim family.
317
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,280
I think if Ezdeth
would like a better chance
318
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:12,560
of getting paroled in the future,
319
00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:16,520
she needs to show
genuine remorse for what she did.
320
00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:21,680
So part of her journey that she's on
321
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:26,800
should incorporate really considering
the impact of her behavior
322
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,760
on... her victim's family,
323
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:31,480
on his young daughters,
324
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,520
who have faced significant obstacles
growing up without a father.
325
00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:38,960
And it's not totally clear
from what I've seen and heard
326
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,960
that she recognizes that and understands
327
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:45,720
that she was a major factor
in their difficult childhood.
328
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:22,480
I have some pictures
of my brother Paul Harris.
329
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:26,560
{\an8}There's some in here that my niece Madison
has never seen before.
330
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:33,560
At the time of Paul's death,
331
00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:35,920
we didn't know
what was gonna happen with the girls.
332
00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:40,040
I was a single mom to a five-year-old,
and I wasn't sure, you know,
333
00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,320
could I take two babies,
and all of a sudden have three kids,
334
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:45,200
and be a single mom.
335
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:48,760
You know, now I think
I should have just made it work.
336
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,400
I think this is the first picture
that I saw of you girls.
337
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,720
Look at how tiny you are.
I don't even know who's who. Can you tell?
338
00:34:17,720 --> 00:34:20,640
Yeah, you can tell that's Brianna
because of her dark hair.
339
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:25,280
After my dad passed away,
my mom was in and out of the picture,
340
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:30,840
and my twin sister and I were in and out
of group homes for years.
341
00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:33,160
Because of what Michael Highley did,
342
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:39,040
{\an8}I was surrounded by drug use, abuse,
neglect, all those things growing up.
343
00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:42,200
I just remember thinking all the time,
like, I would give anything
344
00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:44,400
to just have, like, a regular family.
345
00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:51,000
It does anger me
that we didn't get that chance
346
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:53,080
because of somebody else's choice.
347
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,720
I definitely feel like if he was here,
348
00:34:58,080 --> 00:34:59,640
things would be different.
349
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:14,440
But I'm just thankful for,
you know, the family that we do have,
350
00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:17,400
and, um, that they stepped in to help
351
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:18,320
'cause...
352
00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:24,240
...you know, through everything
that we went through as children...
353
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:28,560
I think we're pretty okay.
354
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,920
It doesn't matter to me
if Michael Highley has changed or not.
355
00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:47,320
Whether he was suffering
with a mental illness or a drug problem.
356
00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:51,680
I don't think there's any excuse
for killing my father.
357
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:05,480
They didn't give me
very long to talk.
358
00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:10,280
It was just, "Why do you think
he shouldn't be released early?"
359
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:12,880
And I just said,
360
00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:17,320
"Because he took my dad
away from our family."
361
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:22,400
I believe that he should serve
the sentence that he was given for murder.
362
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:25,800
Any and all future parole hearings,
363
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:30,040
I will testify that Michael Highley
should not be released early.
364
00:36:58,240 --> 00:36:59,760
It feels terrible.
365
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:03,080
Somebody calls and tells you
your son is dead.
366
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:07,200
You know, every mother's fear
is losing their children.
367
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:12,840
But I have forgiven Highley.
368
00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:18,240
{\an8}You can't keep holding on
to things like that
369
00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:21,240
{\an8}because they hurt you
more than anybody else.
370
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,360
I'm Cheryl, and I'm Paul Harris's mother.
371
00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:38,960
I always run the scenario
through my mind about,
372
00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:41,400
"Well, what if Paul
wouldn't have moved his bike?"
373
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:42,920
Would he still be here?
374
00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:46,800
If it wasn't for that one little thing.
375
00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,120
I mean, there's all these parameters
376
00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:54,320
that we can bring in and try to make sense
of something that happened.
377
00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:58,000
But trust me when I tell you,
I've gone through 10,000 of those,
378
00:37:58,000 --> 00:37:59,280
and they don't help.
379
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:05,560
Nothing that I could say or do
would bring my son back.
380
00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:07,240
Nothing.
381
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,080
So I decided
that I was gonna forgive him,
382
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:19,200
and I wanted to at least give him a chance
that he could change.
383
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:38,320
I asked about having
Michael's sentence reduced.
384
00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:39,840
I didn't want to punish him,
385
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,800
just lock him in a corner
and leave him there forever.
386
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,680
I asked
if he was gonna be getting any training.
387
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:51,720
I was trying to find the...
a good side to him being in prison
388
00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:54,800
and taking different classes, and...
389
00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:57,920
one that would help him.
390
00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:06,360
I am glad
that Michael Highley is changing.
391
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,200
I think he is learning the hard way.
392
00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:15,280
But he's coming to terms
with being transgender,
393
00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:18,040
and I think it's hard for him
394
00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:22,240
being in prison and trying to find
those changes and those answers.
395
00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:24,320
I hope he gets out of prison
396
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:27,400
and can live a life
that everybody deserves.
397
00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:30,400
I would like the best
to happen to him that could,
398
00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:33,480
but he also has to do some of it too.
399
00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:50,520
Everything I have done
in the last 13 years
400
00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:56,680
has been to better myself,
but I am a work in progress.
401
00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:11,840
I shouldn't have put my victim
402
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:14,800
in the position of being a victim.
403
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:20,880
But I am always thinking about
his mother and his children,
404
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:27,800
and it definitely means a lot to me
to hear that she has forgiven me.
405
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:32,880
That... That definitely takes a...
a strong woman to say that.
406
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:48,680
Coming to terms with what I did
407
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:55,560
Thanksgiving night of 1999
has taken me a really long time.
408
00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:59,880
But that's not who I am anymore.
409
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:06,960
Transitioning has helped me
maintain my thoughts of rehabilitation
410
00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:10,840
because it gives me
something to strive for.
411
00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:17,800
I'm steps away from being the person
that I've always wanted to be.
412
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:21,000
I am a woman
trapped inside of a man's body.
413
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,240
I am not this Michael Highley.
414
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:25,760
My name is Ezdeth.
415
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:34,720
Highley has been
up for parole multiple times,
416
00:41:34,720 --> 00:41:37,080
but I feel that when you take
somebody's life,
417
00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:40,680
that you should spend
the remainder of your life incarcerated.
418
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:45,000
When they told us
what he wanted to change his name to,
419
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:48,560
I had the lady on the phone
spell it for me,
420
00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:52,200
and it was E-Z-D-E-T-H.
421
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:54,080
And I said, "Easy death?"
422
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:56,320
I was shocked.
423
00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:58,280
That's kind of a slap in the face
424
00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:01,240
to a victim's family
where that's what it looks like
425
00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:02,760
that's what his name is.
426
00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:13,040
I'm sorry that she sees it that way,
427
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:17,840
and I really do hope
that she will be open-minded enough
428
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:20,480
to give me the opportunity to prove
429
00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:23,280
that it is not intended
430
00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:27,520
as a slap in the face
to any of her family.
431
00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:29,680
When I came up with the name,
432
00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:35,280
it was a made-up character
in a role-playing game
433
00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:36,600
that had...
434
00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:42,840
qualities that I appreciated.
435
00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:49,600
She would always try to deal
with situations in a communicative way.
436
00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:53,840
And she always tried to find balance.
437
00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:58,680
It's not supposed to mean anything
438
00:42:59,240 --> 00:43:01,160
to anybody else but me.
439
00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:11,880
I think what comes across
440
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:15,400
in everything that I've read
and seen about Ezdeth
441
00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:20,080
is that she's got a number
of antisocial personality traits.
442
00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:22,560
And one of the characteristics
443
00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:25,080
that's pretty consistent
with antisocial personality
444
00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:28,960
is kind of a self-centeredness
or self-absorption.
445
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:32,080
I think it's striking
446
00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:36,120
how little she's spoken
of the victims and the victim family.
447
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:39,520
And it's not totally clear
from what I've seen and heard
448
00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:42,520
that she recognizes that and understands
449
00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:47,440
that she was a major factor
in the daughters' difficult childhood.
450
00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:00,360
How... How... How do you say I'm sorry
451
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:05,200
for... for... for taking a...
taking away someone's loved one?
452
00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:08,640
How... How do you say you're sorry?
453
00:44:09,560 --> 00:44:12,160
Maybe that's something I need to do is
454
00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:16,320
learn the fancy words
that people will accept.
455
00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:21,440
I regret the fact that they had
to grow up without their dad.
456
00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:26,760
But to me, actions do speak
louder than words.
457
00:44:26,760 --> 00:44:32,240
Twenty-five years ago,
I was a drunken, addicted jackass.
458
00:44:32,240 --> 00:44:34,280
Everything was about me.
459
00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:36,680
That's not who I am anymore.
460
00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:40,960
It's your actions that have to prove
461
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:44,520
that you've learned,
that you're trying to change.
462
00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:47,040
You know, I would like
for my victim's family
463
00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:52,520
to find peace in...
in this atrocity that I have caused.
464
00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:57,520
I want the few remaining family members
465
00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:01,960
that I have to find peace
out of all this bullshit.
466
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:07,960
And nobody else
is gonna find it until I do.
467
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:10,840
And I am doing my best.
468
00:45:12,240 --> 00:45:14,600
That's what I want my actions to show.