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Sean Babbitt enjoyed a joyful Easter Sunday with his family
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on April twenty first, twenty nineteen, watching The Golden Knights
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and Game of Thrones and playing with hula hoops with
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his nieces. Seawn was in good spirits. His attorney had
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told him that he had a very good chance of
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modifying his custody agreement, and he was hopeful that he'd
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soon be spending more time with his three year old son.
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The next morning, Sean drove to his former mother in
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law's house for his weekly supervised visitation with his son.
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While Sean was feeling positive about the future, his mother
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in law was distraught and decided to take matters into
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her own hands.
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Hi and Welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas
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true crime podcast focus on cases that deal with domestic violence,
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as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I'm your host, Sean.
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And I'm your co host John.
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This week's story is similar to the story of Dennis
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and Ashley Prince, which we covered in episode thirty six.
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Ashley and Dennis were murdered by her ex father in
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law during a deposition in the custody case between Ashley
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and her ex husband. Her ex father in law, Joe Houston,
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was representing his son and Dennis, Ashley's husband, who was
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also an attorney, was representing his wife. Matters of family
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law and custody disputes can be painful, ugly, and contentious,
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and the case we have this week is another heartbreaking
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example of that. Sean Babbitt was a father to a
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three year old boy who was shot and killed by
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his ex mother in law during his scheduled visitation with
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his son. For me, this is an example of the
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court or officers of the court trying to do the
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right thing but ultimately creating a dangerous situation. I don't
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want to get ahead of ourselves, so let's start out
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by sharing what we know about Sean.
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Shaan Babbitt was born in Las Vegas on August twenty seventh,
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nineteen eighty six. One interesting fact we found out about
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him is that he had the same birthday as his
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father and also his son. His parents are Jennifer and Brian,
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and his stepdad is named Dan. He had an older
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brother named Chris and a younger sister named cassiel Sewan
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was a musician, which is something that runs in the family.
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Both his brother Chris and his sister Cassielle played in
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bands with him. According to an article about Chris's music career,
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their dad was a rocker and a hippie, and he
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played Black Sabbath while he vacuumed around my crib. Sewn
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played the guitar, sang, and also composed and published music
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on band camp. He loved Halloween, playing Dungeons and Dragons,
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metal music, and star Trek. He graduated from Cornado High
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School and worked as a manager for a limousine company
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and was also an uber driver. We are so grateful
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to his brother, stepdad, and sister and other family members
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and friends who were so open about Sean and what
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he meant to all of them. He was described as
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being generous, loving, kind, selfless, and brilliant. His brother called
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him a magnificent human being who was easy to love.
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He was a good person down to his core, and
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he showed that to everyone he ever met.
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Shawn married Erica in two thousand and eight, and the
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two of them lived with Erica's mother, Pamela Bordeaux, in
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the far northwest part of Las Vegas, near Floyd Lamb Park.
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Their son was born in August of twenty fifteen, and
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that November, Erica filed for divorce before their son was
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even three months old. According to Shawn's stepdad, Dan, Shawn
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had a passive personality and it was very much like
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him to do what his wife wanted. He didn't complain
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a lot after they divorced. His stepdad described it as
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getting Sean back, which could mean a few different things.
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Perhaps he felt that Sean was trapped in this relationship,
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or maybe they didn't get to spend as much time
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with him while he was married. Dan said he had
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lost a lot of weight and would tremble and shake
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with nerves for the first three to four months after
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their divorce. Under the divorce decree, Erica was granted sole
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legal and physical custody of the baby. Shawn was granted
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only one hour of visitation every week from seven am
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to eight am Monday mornings, contingent on him attending counseling,
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and these visits had to be supervised. Erica's mother, Pamela,
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would be the one to supervise these visits, and the
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visits were to take place inside of Pamela's home. Pamela
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Bordeaux was fifty one years old when Erica and Shawn divorced.
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She had worked as a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police detective.
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She was a single mom and joined the force in
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December of nineteen ninety three, when Erica was a young girl.
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She retired in twenty seventeen after being a part of
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Metro for nearly twenty five years.
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Before we get into what led up to Shawn's murder,
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I want to mention a few things. Sean was paying
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eight hundred dollars a month in child support, and Dan
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told reporters that the big love of his life was
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his little boy. He couldn't wait to see him for
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that hour he got to spend with him. We think
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any reasonable person would be confused or question this custody arrangement.
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Nevada is a state that leans toward a fifty to
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fifty custody split and one hour of supervised visitation each
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week is a very restrictive schedule so restrictive in fact,
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that we think it's natural to wonder what the cause
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of that was. We want to be clear that nowhere
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in our research was it ever alleged or noted anywhere
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that Sean had been abusive toward Erica, Pamela, or the baby.
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There were no stories of neglect, mental health concerns, or
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alcohol or substance use disorder issues, nor was it ever
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mentioned in the press what the required counseling was for.
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Dan said that he didn't know. The closest thing we
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could find to an explanation for this custody agreement was
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that Erica said that Sean had once referred to himself
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as an unfit parent. As these visits had to be
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supervised and held inside of Pamela's home, it's not clear
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to us how much of an opportunity Sean's family members,
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the baby's grandparents, or Shawn's siblings had to spend time
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with him. This arrangement lasted about three and a half
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years until April of twenty nineteen, when Shawn met with
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a lawyer and filed papers to increase his visitation with
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his son. The lawyer believed he had a very good
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chance of succeeding. During this time, Erica had moved on
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and had remarried very shortly after their divorce was finalized.
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She was no longer living at her mom's house and
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had recently had another baby. Shawn's stepfather, Dan, later told
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the court that Erica had asked Seawan for permission to
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change their son's last name to the name of her
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new husband, and Sean had refused. Dan also said that
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he knew that Erica was aware of Sean's petition to
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increase the time he could spend with his son, because
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she had started calling him frequently. In hindsight, the custody
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and visitation of their son was becoming a contentious issue,
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and things were escalating quickly.
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As we mentioned in the opening of the episode, April
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twenty first, twenty nineteen, was Easter Sunday that year. Shawn's mom, Jennifer,
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described it as a Golden Knight's Game of Thrones Easter
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Sunday and said that Sean was in great spirits that
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day playing with his nieces. The next morning, Monday, the
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twenty second, Sean drove to Pamela's house to enjoy his
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one hour visitation with his son. Everything seemed to go smoothly,
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and at the end of the visit, around eight o
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five am, Erica led their son upstairs so he could
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use the bathroom. Sean was putting his shoes on and
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getting ready to leave. Before she could get her son
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to the toilet, Erica heard multiple gunshots coming from downstairs.
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She quickly called nine one one. Las Vegas Metro officers
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approached the house and initially treated it as a barricade
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situation where they needed to get Erica, her son, and
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Pamela out of the house safely. They knew a shooting
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had occurred in the home, but didn't have all the details.
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Erica herself was unsure about what happened. She would later
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state she didn't hear any argument, shouting, or any kind
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of disturbance before she heard the gunshots. Police used a
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ladder to evacuate Erica and her son from the second
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floor of the house. After twenty six minutes, Pamela exited
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the home and surrendered to the police, and she was
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placed in handcuffs. Bodycam footage shows an officer questioning Pamela
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about the shooting in the house. Metro officer is Shawn
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down Bordeaux, Yes Metro officer, is he four nineteen? Bordeaux,
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I don't know, Metro officer. Does he appear like he's dead? Bordeaux?
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I don't know, Metro officer. Is he moving? Bordeaux? I
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don't think so. Metro Officer. Do you hear any moaning
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anything like that? Bordeaux? No, Metro officer.
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No.
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Is he holding the gun or is the gun near him? Bordeaux?
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It was my gun, Metro officer, it was your gun.
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Where is it at? The officer then repeats himself twice,
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saying did you shoot him or did he shoot himself? Bordeaux,
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I'm always armed when he comes, I shot him. Metro officer.
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Huh you shot him? She nods yes.
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When the police entered the home, they found Sean dead
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on the living room floor with his shoes nearby. There
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was no sign of a struggle in the house. The
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autopsy would reveal that Sean had been shot ten or
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eleven times. He had been shot in the top of
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the head and three times through the back, and he
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had significant defensive wounds to his hands that indicated that
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he had had his hands up to deflect the attack.
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Only one weapon, Pamela's gun, was found in the home.
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According to Dan, Seawan had no way to retreat from
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the room, and he was shot by Bordeaux as she
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was standing at the top of the stairs firing down
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at him. Sean's brother, Chris, would later claim that Sean
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had been shot while he was putting his shoes on,
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Although Detective Gary King couldn't confirm that. Erica, her new husband,
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and Pamela's friend Mark were all interviewed at the scene.
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Mark is also a Metro detective who happened to be
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on duty and responded to the call. When they were interviewed,
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all three told police that they thought the motive for
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the shooting was that Sean was trying to increase custody
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and Pamela was distraught with the situation. When Pamela was
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taken into custody, officers noted that she had no blood
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or tissue on her hands, face, or clothes. Her face
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and hands had no injuries, no marks, no scrapes, no
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broken fingernails. According to the RJ Chief Deputy District Attorney
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Michelle Fleck called the shooting a completely unprovoked attack and
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an absolute execution.
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Pamela's explanation was that she had acted in self defense
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that Sean was a violent and dangerous person. Two days
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after she was arrested, her attorneys, Robert Draskovich and Michael Horvath,
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gave a statement to the press where they claimed Sean
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was a deviant. They said he had a dark side
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that it's likely his family members were unaware of. They
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explained that Pamela was a grandmother who was trying to
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protect herself, her daughter, and her grandson. The attorney stated
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that they had reached this conclusion based on the custody agreement.
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They argued that the visitation being supervised in just once
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a week for one hour was evidence that there had
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to be a reason for that, and they claimed they
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would be launching a full investigation into the reasons why.
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Shawn's family and his stepdad Dan in particular, had a
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lot to say about this. As you might imagine, Dan
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believed that the motive was very straightforward. I think for
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the first time he stood his ground and said, no,
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I'm getting more time with my son. I don't think
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she could stand that he wanted more access, so he
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served them with papers and he would have gotten more access,
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and the next visit he was murdered. This is just shocking.
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Sean filed for more time with his son, and this
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is what happened. Seawan was a very peaceful boy and
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he wouldn't harm a fly. I know they know that.
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While this would be the motive that prosecutors stress during trial,
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the investigation did also reveal that during their marriage and
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before their son was born, Pamela and Erica convinced Sean
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that he needed a life insurance policy. They took out
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a policy on him, with Erica as the primary beneficiary
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and Pamela as the secondary. The policy was worth three
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hundred and five thousand dollars and a claim was made
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on that policy on April twenty fourth, just two days
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after his murder. Though her attorneys tried to have the
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charges dropped based on self defense, they failed, as the
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prosecutors explained, a general claim of dangerousness is both unreasonable
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and not a legal defense to murder. This case is
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a clear demonstration that Bordeau's reaction to other family members
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seeking time with her grandchild is to resort to extreme violence.
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As we stated, initially, she was held without bail and
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the judge denied her request to be released, stating that
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she was a threat to the Babbitt family. About two
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months later, on June twenty ninth, twenty nineteen, she had
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a separate bail hearing and bail was set at one
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million dollars. Bordeaux posted that bail and was placed on
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house arrest pending trial. The trial didn't begin until June
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of twenty twenty four and lasted six days. Erica was
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a witness for the state and she testified about what
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we already shared here, that the visit was normal, there
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was no argument or fighting, and that she didn't hear
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anything before she heard the gunshots. Pamela's friend, the detective,
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testified that he knew her to be a steady and