View: https://youtu.be/NZ3iAi-EHo4
Vander Ark's attorney spoke to the court about welcoming Timothy into her home while working as a single mom who was putting herself through school and the difficulties that came with it.
"This is a survivor. A person who pulled herself up by her bootstraps," said Fred Johnson. "We're not looking at evil, we're looking at sick."
"This case makes no sense to anybody. She did not gain from this," said Johnson, "this was not her intention."
Vander Ark chose not to speak at the trial.
Judge Matthew R. Kacel then spoke to directly to Vander Ark.
"I don't believe you intended to kill, I believe you intended to keep torturing him as long as you possibly could. Why? I don't know," he said.
"This wasn't negligence or you not understanding what was going on. You knew exactly what you were doing," Kacel said. "You testified yourself how incredibly intelligent you were. In fact, that's the only thing you testified that I believe was true. You were incredibly proud of that, boasting about it."
"I'm a father myself," he said. "Most mothers have such a strong love for their children
. To see what you did to your own child... Only thing I can come up with is horrific."According to Paul, Timothy was forced to live in a small closet in their basement. A detective showed pictures of the closet to the court, indicating that the only objects in it were a blue tarp and an Amazon box. Police say the room had an overwhelming odor of urine and feces.
Paul testified that handcuffs and zip ties were used to restrict Timothy's movement, while cameras and motion sensors were used to monitor him, both in the closet and the bathroom. Shanda and Paul often discussed ways to keep him uncomfortable, like forcing him to stand facing a wall for hours at a time or doing wall sits.
Timothy was punished by being fed Carolina reaper hot sauce, either on pieces of bread or poured directly into his mouth, which Paul admitted to doing to his younger brother.
All of this, Paul says, was per Shanda's orders, claiming low self esteem made him want to make his mom proud.
The day before his death, Paul says Timothy was unresponsive in the morning and Shanda asked him to use a painful method to wake him up.
Paul says the morning Timothy was found dead, he attempted to resuscitate him for 18 minutes before they called 911. He says Shanda told him to lie to police, saying Timothy had been on a hunger strike.
