She's abusive!
[sighs]
[sniffs] I couldn't [bleep] stand up to that woman!
I could today.
I could now, with distance and space and clarity.
I could now.
I couldn't!
I just couldn't.
[crying]
[Jacob] Oh, no, that's just...
That's just all I wanted to talk about,
but now I feel like a moron because I have my microphone on.
[Jacob] Uh, [bleep].
[interviewer] Were you disciplined by Kristine and Mike?
-Mmm. -[interviewer] Okay. Tell me about that.
Um, they didn't, like, really, like, whup me or nothing like that.
[interviewer] Okay.
Did anyone ever put their hands on you?
-Um... -[interviewer] Do you know what that means?
Like physically, did anyone...
-No. -[interviewer] ...physically harm you?
[Natalia speaking]
[Beth] Initially, Natalia,
in her interview with the forensic interviewer,
with the prosecutor's office,
she's made a lot of conflicting statements
and they are memorialized in police reports.
Now, they whupped me, like, you know, how, like,
sometimes, um, parents they whup you with a belt.
They did whup me.
She literally let the boys whup me.
-[interviewer] She let the three boys whup you? -Yes.
-[interviewer] Okay. -Uh, Jacob, he just dropped me.
-[Natalia mumbles] -[interviewer] When you say he just dropped you,
-what does that mean? -Like, he literally...
[interviewer] Just... Oh, he just dropped you?
-Yeah. -[interviewer] So did he, like, pick you up?
-Mmm. -[interviewer] Okay.
[interviewer] So when the three boys were whupping you,
who was in the room?
Kristine, she was sitting right on my left.
First she whupped me. Then she had the boys,
and then Michael whupped me.
[interviewer speaking]
-[Natalia speaking] -[interviewer] Okay.
So, so this is actually, uh, this ties in to one of the things I, uh...
didn't know whether or not to talk about here.
But...
Uh, I think I decided I will anyways.
One of Natalia's problematic behaviors
was that she would frequently soil, urinate,
in places where she shouldn't.
Um...
Such as, for example, on blankets
or on furniture, such as a couch,
uh, or a bed.
Because it was happening frequently, whatever, my, uh, mother
was trying to do to address the situation,
uh, wasn't working.
So, uh...
One solution my mom came up with
was for me to urinate in Natalia's bed.
She had pink blankets.
The vivid part is just, like, basically the action.
I remember feeling anger, while I was doing it, like...
Like, uh, experiencing a thought, like,
"Oh, this will, this will show her."
Do... Do we need more on this topic, or are we good or...
[sighs]
She... She didn't give me instructions, man.
Like, she didn't, like,
"Oh, let's aim that way!"
Like, I was never... [groans]
[sighs]
[Jacob] I had performed this, uh, action of urinating in Natalia's bed,
and, uh, yeah, to this day I feel horrible that I actually did that.
Uh... It's one of those things that keeps me up at night.
Like, I , uh, kind of feel like a Nazi following orders, in a way.
So there is definitely guilt.
I don't think Natalia was treated fairly.
In the unlikely scenario that Natalia, uh, listens to this,
and doesn't just, like, turn it off,
I hope she understands that I'm apologetic.
Uh... I've had a lot of time to really... just...
think about stuff and grow up.
But... uh...
I don't know if I wish to talk about this further.
I mean, I've gotten a lot of stuff off my chest, that...
I haven't really had a chance to speak about publicly.
Yeah, I'm good.
[gulps] Yeah, I don't think I have anything else to add.
Jacob has relayed to me
that Kristine made him specifically,
we're not going to talk about anybody else...
[sighs] While I was at work,
Kristine made Jacob pee all over Natalia's things.
Jacob's words to me,
his mom explained it to him as, "It is therapeutic."
It is something that a therapist told her to be done.
Kristine told Jake that it's okay.
And my wife made my [bleep] 12-year-old son
pee all over Natalia's things as a get-you-back.
Give me a second.
[inhales deeply]
Parents that are out there...
[sniffs]
...you hear your kid tell you something like that...
12 years later...
I heard about this for the first time this week.
[exhales]
You don't know how to react.
I don't know... I don't know what Jacob needs from me in that moment.
I tried to put my arm on him as he was telling me
and he smacked me away.
Kristine controlled her children,
and used them to control Natalia.
It was all about control and manipulation.
The Barnett's are supposed to, like all parents, protect their children.
Kristine put Jacob on the frontlines.
And it makes you wonder, what did she force Natalia to do?
Natalia was abused by that woman!
I was abused by that woman!
Jacob was abused by that woman!
My other two sons are abused by that woman right now, today!
That woman is a controlling, lying, manipulating woman!
We were all abused!
[crying]
[Kathy] Kristine's a monster.
One time she yelled at me
because she was standing on a step,
on a chair, to change a lightbulb,
and I want her to get off the chair,
because she was pregnant and due the next day.
And she's up on a...
Yelling because Michael hadn't changed a lightbulb.
And I said, "Kristine, you need to come down."
She told everybody I hit her.
And then she told me I had to leave their house,
that I wasn't welcome there anymore.
But the really hard part is what this has done to my son.
He's been raked over the coals.
He's been treated like crap.
When... He's a... He's a good person,
and I know every mother is going to say that.
But I think that a piece of him has been carved out
and thrown away.
So...
There's the easy definition of sexual abuse,
which is obvious and visual.
And you can see it and you can know it.
And then there's what I went through.
Did she sexually abuse me by physically violating my body?
No, she did not.
Did she sexually abuse me by using it as a tool?
Yes, she did.
[sighs]
So, Kristine's sexual things to manipulate me was basically holding it from me.
Keeping it from me.
She knew I was attracted to her.
There were many years
that the number of times that she permitted it to happen
was single digits.
She never came on to me.
She never told me I was attractive.
She's the attractive one, I'm the ugly one.
So, invariably,
I get a wee bit addicted to pornography.
Pornography is not going to tell me I'm ugly.
It's not going to reject me.
So...
Kristine would use the pornography stuff against me.
It made it worse.
October, 2013,
I leave Canada.
We were not yet divorced at this time,
and Kristine decides to start using sex as a weapon
to make me come back
and get back in role and serve.
So she would start sending naughty pictures to me.
Teasing me, tempting me.
"If you just come back, you'll get this."
Kristine was leveraging her body, her sex,
to get what she wanted in the divorce.
You can have this,
but give me what I want, which is custody of the boys.
And he agrees!
[Michael] Kristine is the walking epitome of evil.
At first, for a very long time,
I thought the brainwashing was only on me.
I didn't see it happening to anybody else.
Until I saw how my sons had been manipulated after divorce.
She told my kids over and over and over and over and over,
"Your father is going to kill you, I'm going to protect you."
And, for a young developing mind...
How often do you need your mom
to repeat to you, "Your dad is going to kill you,"
until you start buying it?
My middle son and my youngest son,
I've not seen them in over eight years.
And they want nothing to do with seeing me.
Evil. She's earned it.
She's earned every single letter of it. Evil.
Given the bitter divorce between Michael and Kristine,
they really hate each other.
There's a war between them
and the criminal cases against Michael and Kristine are coming up.
The prosecution had to file charges separately against Michael and Kristine,
I suspect because Michael told Detective Davenport
about a lot of alleged criminal conduct by Kristine,
and Michael's trial is first.
So was he trying to put all the blame on Kristine,
to escape any accountability?
Or is he motivated by revenge?
[Michael] For the first year, after the divorce,
we were using the one communal phone.
The one communal phone, at that point in time,
had been set up to automatically back up
pictures and videos.
So, every time she takes a picture of my sons.
It's automatically backing up to my Dropbox account.
So I'm opening Dropbox every day,
hoping to see my kids.
Hoping to see smiles. Hoping to see a video.
Hoping to hear their voices.
And, nearly immediately after, I'm seeing pictures.
Pictures of her in various states of undress,
that I know are being sent to other people.
[Kristine] You saw those pictures, they were tame.
I could have been wearing a fricking pair of shorts in those pictures.
And you've not... And...
You don't know which ones I sent to him,
because there were some really, really tame ones,
and then there were the ones that I sent to you.
-[Michael] You didn't... -[Kristine] And why did I send them to you?
-[sighs] -[Kristine] Why did I send them to you?
-Tell me the truth. You know. -[Michael] You didn't...
[Kristine] Tell me why I sent them to you.
[Michael] ...send me anything, Kris.
-You didn't email me any of them. -[Kristine] What?
[Michael] You didn't text me any of them, you didn't send any to me.
[Kristine] I know that you stalk the frick out of me.
[Michael] It was in...
-[Kristine] I know it. -[Michael] ...Kris, it's in my Dropbox.
[Kristine] I know that you go on Spotify on my computer.
-I know that you search my internet. -[Michael] Spotify...
Wait, wait, wait, stop. Do you know what Spotify is?
[Kristine] I do not, no. It's a... I don't know what it is but...
[Michael] Spotify... Spotify is like Pandora, it's a music player!
Kristine was not tech-savvy.
She didn't understand computers.
She didn't understand technology.
She would take pictures of herself in lingerie
and save them there.
And this whole time Michael is living with me and my family and...
these are just appearing on his computer.
And... to watch him go through the devastation is...
It was almost like his life was being ripped apart from the inside,
and not only his life but his heart.
There has been a lot of pain in their 15-year broken marriage.
She has twisted, convoluted,
lied publicly, privately, repeatedly,
over and over and over again so she can maintain power, money, control
over everything and everyone.
Natalia was manipulated, brainwashed, engineered
into looking as crazy as possible.
Summer 2012, Marion County Court has ruled
that Natalia is, and has been, an adult.
A month or two before that moment...
Kristine has taught and rehearsed
a greeting with Natalia.
"Hi..." I... I even have to do it in the voice and everything.
So, let me get me a little sip of water.
Because I can see her do it.
Because I can see her, with her hands, her fingers don't bend
due to one of her dysplasias, and it's just the way it is.
"Hi, my name's Natalia.
I might look young but I'm actually 23 years old,
and I'm dangerous. I have tried to kill people before."
[sighs]
This is going to sound terrible.
I don't think I ever witnessed her
say that greeting to a stranger, publicly aloud.
I don't think I was ever present
when Natalia, on her own, met a stranger.
It was something Kristine had taught Natalia
for when we weren't around
and Kristine couldn't warn the people herself
that she's dangerous.
Should I have been more of a man?
Should I have stood up and taken control
and put my foot down? Yeah.
Take that back.
That's not being a man. Should I have been a different person?
Yes. Absolutely.
Was I at all, mentally or emotionally, capable of doing such a thing?
No.
She's abusive!
[sighs]
[sniffs] I couldn't [bleep] stand up to that woman!
I could today!
[heavy breathing]
I could now, with distance and space and clarity. I could now!
I couldn't.
[sobs] I just couldn't.
[crying]
[Melanie] When she told me that she had tried to kill her mom,
it's like, "Why was that?"
And I felt like either she was coached to say that,
and those things didn't happen
and somebody was just saying, like, "This is what... This is what happened."
And kind of made her believe that.
Or she was just so far disconnected emotionally
from what was happening.
[Michael] Abuse, in general, is all about power.
Kristine was the one in power
at all times.
Kristine's the one in power right now, today.
If it's true
that Kristine was manipulating Natalia
to say things that were false
then it's really disturbing.
And it begs the question of whether or not
this is evidence of Stockholm syndrome,
or is it evidence that Natalia was a child
following the orders of her mother?
Now, that may explain
some of Natalia's inconsistencies.
For example, Natalia admitted trying to poison Kristine.
She just said, "I tried to poison them,
so I had to live in the garage for a while."
And then she denied it.
Did you try to put a foreign substance into her coffee?
-No. That's what she told me to tell them. -[Mark] Okay.
It sure sounds like these statements
were things that Natalia didn't necessarily
want to say.
That sounds like compulsion,
like she was being forced to say certain things.
[Beth] Everything in this case
boils down to Natalia's age.
Is she a child or is she an adult?
Could she really have been born in 2003?
How old is Natalia Barnett, really?
It's clear that the prosecution believes
Natalia was a child when she was left alone
to fend for herself in this apartment in Lafayette, Indiana.
Getting her re-aged to an adult
could have been a way for Michael and Kristine to protect themselves
from child neglect charges.
There are two sets, or theories, of charges.
One is based on Natalia being a child.
The other set of charges is based on Natalia being a dependent with a disability.
This is where Natalia's age becomes extremely important.
If the prosecution can prove that Natalia was a child,
despite her re-aging,
it should be an open and shut case with any jury.
[Bob] In regards to Natalia being re-aged,
there could be a motive factor here.
And the motive factor could be
that whatever abuse might have taken place,
the age makes a big difference
in how that's looked at, legally.
[Davenport] Hey, doctor, my name is Brandon Davenport,
I'm a detective with the Indiana state police,
and I was trying to get hold of you
about Natalia Barnett.
[Davenport] Yes.
So what's curious is that this emergency petition
to re-age Natalia is based, in large part,
on Dr. McLaren, the family doctor,
a general practitioner.
Dr. McLaren's opinion is apparently what ruled the day
for the judge, and it was enough.
This becomes a central issue for the prosecution.
Would you agree that the fact that you personally believe
that Natalia is a child, that that biases your investigation?
I don't think my investigation is biased.
[Mark] Okay, so do you believe that Natalia,
back in 2013, do you believe she is child?
The facts suggest that she was a child at that time.
Actually the facts are there's a court order
saying that she's...
[Jackie] Uh, Mr. Nicholson, we're not going to fight over this.
Okay.
[Jackie] He has said that it's his opinion
the facts show she is a child.
Is that would you said, that it's your opinion
that the facts show she's a child?
If you're asking me? Sir, yes, sir.
[Beth] Natalia's age, her birth year,
was so important that prosecutors
and Detective Davenport went to Ukraine.
They went there to track down this woman,
Anna Gava, who is, allegedly, Natalia's biological mother,
and get a DNA sample from her.
[translator speaking]
[Davenport] So, we came a long way to meet you.
[translator speaking]
[Davenport] Our goal, and I think your goal,
is we want the best for a little girl.
So, we're going to take this test,
to swab the lower part of the cheek.
-[woman] Everything is done? -[Davenport] Yes, we are.
[Beth] The DNA test results came back,
it is a match.
She is indeed Natalia's biological mother.
This is a huge deal,
and may put this whole age issue to rest.
This changes everything.
[Mark] Can you go ahead and state your name
and spell it for the record, please?
Natalia Barnett.
[Mark] And how old are you?
Biologically, 32... 33, sorry.
Uh...
I'm 33...
legally.
Biologically 19.
[reporter] Ukraine's president says 30% of the country's power stations
have been destroyed in just over a week,
prompting residents to restrict their use of electricity and water.
[woman] It's part of Moscow's campaign to drive the nation
into the cold and dark.
[in Ukrainian]
[coughs]
[Anna clears throat]
[Anna sniffling]
[quavering]
[siren blaring distantly]
[audio distorted, cuts out]
Anna Gava was born in 1979, which means she would have been 10 years old
if Natalia was born in 1989, as the courts ruled when they re-aged her.
So there aren't a lot of good reasons, besides seeing pubic hair on her,
to believe she was born any time before 2003.
Also, we know that Michael's attorneys have the DNA results of Anna Gava,
because they got it in discovery in preparation for the trial.
So they know Anna Gava is a match for Natalia.
So... so, regarding, uh, the... the woman in the Ukraine...
that supposedly is... is her mom, or any of that stuff,
I don't know the truth of anything.
And that is... that is the God's honest truth. I don't know.
And this is where my... if my attorney were hanging out with me,
he would jump in and say some attorney things.
And he would say something about due process, and inspecting the evidence,
and researching the validity of such things.
I've never met her, I've never been to the Ukraine,
I didn't conduct any test, I've done none of these things.
Is it somebody that I was present for during any kind of screening? No.
Has... has the... has this information
been validated in a court of law,
and been made official that yes, this is all legit? No.
I have this test submitted by a prosecutor
who has a... a... a... a reason to want to win their case.
[newscaster] The Tippecanoe County Superior Court judge
sided with the defense's argument
that Natalia's age cannot be part of this case.
A judge ruled years ago that Natalia was an adult
when this series of events took place.
For that reason, no one can portray her as a child.
A big setback for the prosecution.
[Beth] Despite this DNA evidence
that Anna Gava is Natalia's biological mother,
the court ruling that Natalia's age was not gonna be relitigated
at this criminal trial is a huge blow to the prosecution.
All of the witnesses were prepared to testify about Natalia's age,
and now they're being muzzled, and silenced.
I am attorney Mark Nicholson for Kristine Barnett.
Jackie Starbuck, deputy prosecuting attorney.
Attorney Terrance Kinnard, representing, um, Michael Barnett.
Now, you have evaluated Natalia. Is that correct?
-Um, I did... I treated her, back... -Treat... treat...
...2010, I believe.
You know that Natalia is not a child?
When I saw her, her growth plates were open,
so she was not an adult when I saw her.
She has been legally declared an adult.
Not at the time of treatment, just so we're clear.
By time of treatment, she was not legally an adult.
She came in, and I was told that she was six.
It's not me that's saying it, Doctor, with all due respect. It's the court--
-[Joseph's audio garbled] -[Mark] Well, sir, let me finish, please.
Let me finish. It is the court order that gave her a date of birth.
And the point I'm trying to get across to you is,
that when you testify, and the prosecution tell you
there's not gonna be any testimony of you
trying to tell the jury that, "Well, when I saw her, she was a child."
What I am telling you is...
X-rays don't lie.
Your growth plates are not open, sir.
-Once you-- -But, Doctor, you understand
that we can't talk about that at trial, right?
So I'm to refer to her as an adult?
Uh... a... a person.
So we're not really interested in the truth, what we're interested in,
is what was legally put out there?
I don't appreciate you saying
that we're not interested in the truth.
-Because I am interested in truth. -Okay.
-There's been a lot of lies that have been going on. -Hold up, hold up, hold up.
-We are not going to argue about-- -Stop, stop.
-I'm not arguing. What I'm telling him is... -[Jackie] Okay. But...
-but, basically... -...he will... he will not... he will not disrespect me,
and say that I am not interested in the truth.
-Okay. Look... -You know what I'm saying?
Because, you know, because he...
-he just said that, well, "We're not... -[Joseph's audio muted]
-...interested in the truth." -Um, Mr. Michaelson, can we... can we get back to the point?
Her birth date, Doctor, is September 4th, 1989.
[Michael] We are at the attorney's office, and it is game time.
We're here for court prep.
Uh, we have my three attorneys waiting on the fourth floor,
uh, for us to go in and figure out exactly what the game plan is.
I wish I could tell you what comes after trial.
I have zero idea or control of what my life will hold,
what my future will be like, none.
But when we go upstairs, you're gonna see,
uh, I've got three full-time attorneys
working on this case, and only this case, 24-7.
We've got Riley. Riley is a new attorney on the case.
Kind of the... the new kid. He's sharp, he's skilled.
He's bringing in something a little extra that we hadn't seen before.
Then I've got Vincent Scott.
Vince is calm, to help the jury understand,
and see, plainly and clearly, the lies.
Then I get to the leader.
Got my attorney and savior,
-Terrance Kinnard, on my side. -Let's do this.
Terrance and I have really gotten close.
He truly feels like family.
He feels like a friend.
I'm 100% behind you.
I absolutely believe you're innocent.
I don't have to tell you this, 'cause you already know, the stakes are high.
You can't predict what 12 people in a room will do.
And neither can I.
These men have dedicated their lives to saving me.
I'm up against the impossible, but I can do it.
[Terrance] The state of Indiana versus Michael Barnett.
-Mmm-hmm. -[Terrance] This trial is about you.
We're not defending Kristine Barnett.
So, no part of our case will we attempt to, uh, pave the road for her.
We will not use the name "Kristine" in trial.
Well, we know their overall message
-is gonna be abandonment, right? -[Michael] Mmm-hmm.
[Terrance] The word "adoption" can't be used.
In this case, you know, it's kinda crazy,
'cause everybody's expecting this to be about this crazy adoption.
But it's not.
-It's not. -This case is about an allegation of neglect.
If the jury looks at Natalia, and her physical stature, they'll know she's an adult.
But even as an adult, they say,
"But still, how can parents leave someone
so tiny by themselves?"
-Well, that's-- -And if a jury believes that one thing,
they can find that you've abandoned a person that... that's in need.
They can convict.
-[Riley] In that order? -Here's the deal. We can't use the word "adult."
-I don't know the [bleep] why. -You can't use the word "child."
[Terrance] Can't... Well, we don't wanna use the word "child."
-What is Natalia to you? -She is my daughter.
She's legally my adopted daughter.
-Your 21-year-old daughter? -Yeah, look it. These...
-Thank you. -...[bleep] graduates, man.
-They impress me. -That's what it is.
-[Terrance] Yes. -[chuckling] Yes.
We're gonna say, "Did you abandon
-your 22-year-old daughter," right? -[Michael] No.
That's... that's gonna be the phrase to counter that she's not a child,
"She's an adult," without using the phrase.
In terms of like, an ideal jury, I know it's hard to predict...
-[whistles] -...but what are we looking for?
People that like me.
-Um, and that's hard. -[Vincent chuckles]
Uh, ideal jury?
I would want...
educated, middle-class jurors.
So you're gonna have a very conservative mix.
-You want to be relatable to them. -[Michael] Yes, sir.
Facial expression and demeanor? Smile.
[Terrance] A little less. There you go.
Don't overexpress yourself, because it...
it can come off as weird, or creepy, or detached.
So, as I'm sitting there, facial expression-wise.
So obviously not a hap... super happy smile. I'm not...
-[Terrance] No. No. -Not happy to be in court.
Um, it's also not... [sighs]
-I'm not mad, I'm not upset. -[Terrance] No.
It's just the truth of the matter.
I'm an innocent person
-being reviewed and judged, so... -[Vincent] Right.
[Terrance] Yeah. And, the elephant in the room, you know,
-whether or not Michael's taking the stand. -[Vincent] Mmm-hmm.
[Terrance] All that's gonna depend on what we need to get out that's not there.
This is the [bleep] Super Bowl.
Our goal is, we're gonna win.
-[Michael] You're gonna go whoop somebody's ass. -[Terrance chuckles]
[Michael] I know you got this.
-I love you, man. -[Michael and Terrance laugh]
-[Terrance] All right. -All right.
-See you tomorrow. -Take it easy, Mike.
-Bye, fellas. -All righty.
-See you tomorrow. -[Michael] Bye, guys.
[Terrance] The one thing I'd be worried about with Mike?
He wears his heart on his sleeve.
As lawyers, it's the scariest time, because it's like,
what if I [bleep], what if I [bleep] up?
If he gets convicted of this crime,
I have every expectation he would have to do prison time.
And in Indiana, with a Level 3 felony,
he's looking at 16 years in prison.
So, as much as I gotta be strong, and give the rah-rah speech to him,
internally, I'm [bleep] terrified.
Because I know he's not the kind of guy
that could do well if he had to go to prison.
The battle begins.