Sword and Scale - Episode 141

Episode Date: July 14, 2019

When 23 year old Bonnie Haim goes missing in January of 1993, abandoning her husband and 3 year old son, all fingers point toward her husband, Michael Haim. With no body, no DNA evidence, and no proof, police couldn’t make an arrest, and couldn’t prove that Bonnie hadn’t just run off to start a new life. The case went cold for over two more decades until new evidence arose in 2014. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sort and scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences Listener discretion is advised I had extreme difficulty locating the torso And I later to most found that it was because it was so deteriorated that It had almost turned to like clay balls. Hello and welcome to the Granddaddy of Truecrime Podcasts. This is season 6 episode 141 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. I'm not going to let you down. I'm not going to let you down. I'm not going to let you down. Children are like sponges. Squishy little sponges of blood and guts that often carry tons of bacteria and are generally a health hazard. What was it going with that? Oh yeah, children are like sponges, absorbing anything and everything around them.

After they've learned to walk, and before they hit adolescence, kids exist in a strange limbo between a lack of understanding of what's going on around them, and a fully socialized state of awareness. Their ability to pick up on social cues and new words so quickly in their formative years shows just how much information passes through their little brains and is retained. That doesn't mean all of that information is able to be accessed though. Ever smell something and have an immediate flash back to a childhood memory?

It happens to all of us. Maybe it was a smell of black top under the hot sun on the playground, or the smell of the bread your grandma used to bake for you. Memories we have from childhood get locked away in the recesses of our brain, only to be released by a trigger of some sort. I know I have some memories that I'm not sure actually even happened. They are so faint and vague, they could have easily been a dream. The case you'll hear today was resolved very recently.

All the facts of this case span over 26 long years, so listen closely to all the pieces of the puzzle. The part of the story that ties all of these pieces together is the vague, dream-like memory of a tiny three-year-old boy. Bonnie Pesudo was a cute petite 16 year old. She met Michael Hame who was a few years older than her, and the two began dating while Bonnie was finishing high school. The relationship moved fast, and in September of 1986, very shortly after Bonnie's 18th birthday, they got married.

It seems like people three decades ago and beyond didn't see the importance of getting to know their significant others before quickly tying the knot. Oftentimes at a very young age. How many times do you hear stories about parents and grandparents having met their spouse and getting married two months later? It was commonplace in the 20th century. The average bride or groom in this day and age is 8 years older than newlyweds back in the 1970s. So we know that couples are now waiting until they are older than previous generations to even begin thinking about marriage or those little sacks of bacteria and disease

we refer to as children. Though Bonnie and Michael got to know each other over the course of a two-year courtship, Bonnie was fresh at a high school and hadn't experienced any sort of independence before marrying. She was young, impressionable, and basically ended up marrying the first man she was ever seriously involved with.

Shortly before, and during the beginning of Michael and Bonnie's marriage, Michael's uncle Bernie Ham started a business out of the trunk of his car, a business that would later employ over 40 people over the course of 31 years. The company was called Bernie's Tool and Fastener. Michael promptly started working for his cousin, Bernie Haim, and the company expanded to an actual storefront where Bonnie took over the accounts. During her time working for Bernie's Tool and Fasner, Bonnie became very close friends with Bernie's wife, Ivan Haim. The two became fast friends.

Best friends, in fact. They knew everything there was to know about what was going on in each other's lives. Working together day in and day out can bring people together quickly. And because Bernie, Ivan, Bonnie, and Michael were all family, that bond was even stronger. Ivan describes the role each of them played

in the early years of the business. Who was the boss of everyone? The boss of everyone was Bernie. And was Michael a supervagerie role over his wife, Bonnie? No. And so she kind of answered directly the burden? Um, Bernie was in charge of the sales and the outside sales and

the employees upfront. I did more of the corporate and the office in bookkeeping. I wouldn't have not even. Bonnie did subbookkeeping and at the time we went on computers, she became our control IT tech. She was handling the computer setup. The next time before IT was a job description. Yes. What did Michael do with the business? At that point, he was the office manager and kind of oversaw the counter and inside sales. Though Bonnie and Michael didn't have a set of work schedules, Bonnie tended to arrive

at work Monday through Friday without fail, somewhere between 8 and 9 in the morning. While Michael usually went in a couple of hours earlier to open up the store. Not long after they were settled in their new jobs and two years into their marriage, Bonnie discovered that she was pregnant. At 20 years old, she was ready. She and Michael had already enjoyed two years of childless marriage, and she was excited to be a mother.

They were living in a home previously owned by Michael's aunt, Ivan and Uncle Bernie on Dolphin Avenue on the north side of Jacksonville, Florida. It had a pool, an outdoor shower, and it was the perfect home to start a family in. When her son, Aaron, was born, she was ecstatic. Everyone describes her as a loving, caring, and attentive mother. Bernie and Avan made things a bit easier for her by offering even more flexibility with

her work hours and understanding when she needed to leave on a whim to attend to her son. This worked well for Bonnie and Michael, and before they knew it it their son Aaron was almost old enough to begin preschool He was three years old a joyful little boy with the classic 90s bull cut While the family of three seemed happy for the most part Ivan was privy to information others were not She had a unique perspective. She saw Michael and Bonnie interact every single day at work, and a van had access to all

the private disputes between the couple, given that she was Bonnie's best friend and confidant. Evann began to witness concerning little exchanges between Bonnie and Michael at the office, instances where Evann could hear Michael yelling at Bonnie became more frequent, and increased in intensity with each episode, to the point where Evann classified it as verbal abuse. Bonnie hinted that it was even worse in the privacy of their home, and she began to make a plan to leave Michael. While she waited for her chance to escape, Bonnie decided to open a separate secret bank account in her name only. She began having a portion of her paychecks funneled into this account and made sure that the statements were delivered

to work rather than the home she shared with Michael. were you supported her in that decision? I stood by her. I was supportive in her decision. You say I have some hesitancy to do that. Well, I'll stay together. That was at my call, my judgment. I supported her and her decision to lead him. It was one of the ways you knew that she was going to lead him the fact that you went searching for apartments with her to see where she was going to take her. Evan went with Bonnie to look at several different apartments.

She signed a document proving Bonnie's employment with Bernie's tool in Vassner. The two apartments she liked the most were in Orange Park, where Ivan lived. She placed deposits on the rentals, and had planned a move into one of the two on January 23rd, 1993, while her husband Michael was away on a business trip. Bonnie also had to look around for a new preschool for her son Aaron to attend, once she made the move. She visited a few and even began the enrollment process toward the middle of January. Soon, the abuse event was witnessing at the office turned physical on at least one occasion. She remembers one day Bonnie and Michael got into a heated argument in the parking lot of the office.

Bonnie came inside crying, and obviously upset. Michael had slammed her hand in the car door, breaking all of her nails. Bonnie began to fear what might happen if Michael learned of her plans to leave him. Those fears came to fruition when Michael discovered her secret bank account. He was furious and he made her close the account immediately, despite his reaction and now the lack of a personal bank account, Bonnie wasn't deterred.

She began to give cash to friends to put aside to hold for her. By early January 1993, she had $1,250 saved. That would be about $2,200 in 2019. There was another secret Bonnie was keeping from Michael. She was having an affair with a coworker of theirs, Kurt Jollaker. How long did you work for British Toad Fatser? Approximately about a year and a half. Did you meet a person by the name of Michael Hayden? Yes, I did.

And what was Michael Hayden to you and that business? He was the coordinator inside. He was the one who coordinated that? I believe he was the coordinator inside. He was the what? I believe he was the coordinator inside. He coordinated what was going on in the office area. So you didn't have a lot of direct contact with him? No. But you knew him obviously from the process. That's me having employees where they're at that time at Bernie's total. Let me just guess. Probably 15 to 20. And you knew everyone would work. Correct.

Do you have, were you close friends with Mr. Hanna? No. Prior to body disappearance, a couple of weeks leading up to it, did you have any personal interactions with Michael Hanna where you would go out to dinner or go hunting together or anything like that? We attended one dinner at his house. And what was that relationship to when Bonnie went missing? Just a few months prior to.

What was your relationship with Bonnie Ham? She worked inside and inside of her. He's here now. Became friends with her. And did you have more direct interaction with money in because you had to go tell her when you were selling? Correct. And we collected money and therefore we interact with the people in the office to give them the money and collect money from the customer that goes with money.

So going to the fall and winter of 1992, did your relationship turn a little bit more from France and more of a foreign potential dating relationship? Yes. And was that true even though you knew Bonnie Haine was married to Michael? Correct. Was that true even though you were recently married? Correct. Did you eventually end up having sex with one? Yes, one time. on January 6th, 1993. Michael Hayme was working at a new store location in Gainesville. Bonnie was back in the office.

He was working at a new store location in Gainesville. Bonnie was back in the office. He was working at a new store location in Gainesville.me was working at a new store location in Gainesville. Bonnie was back in the office, and Michael saw her there when he returned back from the new store. She still had to pick Aaron up from daycare and run to the drugstore before she went home. Michael arrived home far before Bonnie at around 6pm.m. He went over to check on his neighbor. She was an older woman who had been sick and he wanted to make sure she was all right. Since Michael arrived home before Bonnie and Aaron, he remembers seeing them pull into

the driveway. They stopped at McDonald's on their way home. Erin was carrying a happy meal, and Bonnie got out of her car carrying Walmart bags at 7.30 pm. Bonnie was planning to go over to Evance House in Orange Park around 8 pm. We were planning a boat of shower for a co-worker, and she was gonna come out, and we were going to do just invitations and just preparations for the shower. So she was gonna come out and we were going to do just invitations and just preparations for the shower. So she was gonna come to your house?

Yes. That was an orange prop. Yes. So there was a significant drive from where she lived in Dahl. Yes. What happened before she came out? I received a phone call about 830. I was waiting for her. We received a phone call about 830. I was waiting for our received a phone call about 830 and she was upset and crying and

said that she would not be coming tonight. That her Michael was having a discussion and that she would just talk to me tomorrow. And I asked her if she was OK if she wanted me to come out here. We could do invitations there or whatever. And she said, no, I'm just going to bed now, talk to you tomorrow. Evan figured they would work things out.

And she could get the scoop on the situation in the morning when she saw Bonnie at work. Bonnie was supposed to be in the office at 8 the next day for an important early meeting, and on top of that, the employees were all scheduled to have insurance, physicals. The nurse would be at the office taking blood samples and conducting overall health checks. The next morning, around the time the meeting was scheduled to begin, Michael called into work to let the office manager know that he wouldn't be coming in that day. He spoke only to the desk manager, not Bonnie directly, as Bernie was having blood drawn at the time.

When the desk manager told him Michael had called in sick, he brushed it off and waited for Bonnie to arrive. When more time passed, and Bonnie still didn't make an appearance at the office either, Bernie called the couple's home phone to see what was going on. He said he wasn't coming in today. That's okay. I said let me speak to Bonnie and he said she wasn't there So before asking about body to defend and say anything about Bonnie not being home And when he told you that she wasn't home did you ask where she was? I did what was the response? He said they had an argument and she left Did he give you any other details at that time? No sir Michael was claiming that after Bonnie bathed the baby and put him to bed at around 10 pm, he sat down on the bed with his wife

to get to the bottom of what was going on with her. She was acting clearly unhappy, doing suspicious things like creating secret bank accounts. She had stopped making Michael dinner and become more cold and less affectionate. And he wanted to understand why she was so unhappy lately. The conversation took a downturn and around 11 p.m. Michael heard the front door shut and Bonnie's car start. He heard her drive away

and he didn't know where she'd gone or when she would be back. Michael recounts that he called his mother and asked her to come to the house to watch their son Aaron while he went to look for his wife. He was gone for about 45 minutes. And when he returned home, he went to sleep. He did not call the police to report Bonnie missing. And he didn't mention her when he called in sick at work the next day. Bonnie's own father stated, there are thousands of women that leave their husbands and family every year, and it's

always a complete surprise to their families. The assumption was that Bonnie had grown tired of the abuse she was suffering and ran off, abandoning her husband and three-year-old son. But that theory started to grow less and less viable after a few discoveries. Police soon found Bonnie's purse ditched in the dumpster of a red roof in Jacksonville, about five minutes from the couple's home on Dolphin Avenue. A maintenance worker found it and alerted the authorities. Family members were called to a room at the end to look through the purse and identify the belongings. Things were starting to

look dire. We got there, the head set up a room for everyone, the police, and my grandfather was there, and they had the person, the contents laid out on the bed. And when I walked in, I was just distraught and like, what's going on? We're spawning what happened, and he just said, what is she doing with all this money? And how much money, approximately, you're gonna say?

I don't know, maybe between 300 and 400. Did you know what she was doing with that money? She would keep cash in her purse for preparing to move. All of Bonnie's cash, her credit cards, identification, and other belongings were in that purse. All things that she would need if she had taken off to start a new life. Only after he was made aware of the discovery of Bonnie's belongings, did Michael decide to report her missing. The lead detective on the case felt drawn to check the airport near Jacksonville.

This particular airport was very close to the hotel dumpster detectives found Bonnie's purse buried in, and when the search team began to scour the long-term parking lot, sure enough, they found her car, a champagne gold Toyota Camry. The glove box was hanging a jar with books and papers drawn across the passenger seat and the floor below. What triggered officer's suspicion was the positioning of the driver's side seat. The seat was arranged in a way that would only be comfortable for a taller person, someone of Michael's height.

A driver, Bonnie's size, 5'3 and 110 pounds would have had difficulty reaching the pedals and the steering wheel. There was also a clear distinct footprint on the mat on the floor of the driver's side. It looked as if the driver stepped in sand before entering the vehicle, leaving a crisp, sandy footprint on the mat. Despite these curious discoveries made by police, Bonnie's own father was absolutely convinced that his daughter had just abandoned her family. There was no doubt in his mind. She was tired of Michael and tired of being a mom, and she took off to start a new life.

I mean, happens all the time, right? The reality is that one in four children live without a father in the home. It's no secret that men tend to walk out on their families at a higher rate than women. But Bonnie's father deemed her capable of abandoning Michael and her young son, Aaron. Meanwhile, Michael's own family members, people with whom he shared ownership in the business he worked for, thought he was solely responsible for Bonnie's disappearance.

They saw no other option. Jackson homicide soon got involved in this missing persons case. Michael Hayme was more than willing to allow investigators to search his home. They were looking specifically for shoes that may match the print they found on the passenger's side floor mat of Bonnie's camera. Our primary focus of that time was to get into Senate. See if we can locate tennis shoes that may have matched this imprint in the car, Matt. They had three to lock his timeline down to that car. What are we looking at in state 16?

That's true, tennis shoes. How soon after you got into the house, did you see those tennis shoes? It wasn't very long, because they're pretty pretty much right in the hair where we were at. So did you have the art name and talk with Mr. Ham about the timeline of the garden? Yes I did. And did you ask him when the last time he was in the body hand car was? Yes I did.

And what did he tell you? He told me it was January 1st. And did he say, do you remember that because they've been to a picnic or barbecue or something in his office house? And did you do anything to see how certain he was that day? I did. I questioned him specifically on the following days, I guess it was the fifth and sixth, whether he'd been in the car that those days. And what did he say? He said he had none.

Officers wanted to take a look at the shoes they found almost immediately during the search of Michael Hames house. They wanted to make sure those Nike's couldn't be the shoes that made the clear impression on the carpet of Bonnie's car. The print made inside her car had to have been made the same day she went missing. The person who have left the print was the last one to have driven her car, and that was obvious because the Sandy footprint was crisp and undisturbed by other footprints. Set the same pair of shoes. Yes, and then on the stage 148. Are you able to see stage 148? Yes, sir. And what does it appear to be on the bottom of the bottom shoe? It looks like some kind of stand rest to do with some sort. After you left, Mr. Haynes resident on January 8 of 1993, did you look at the bottle of your shoes? I don't recall doing that.

Do you recall any kind of a mask that you had to clean up after you got in your car? Yes, sir. On the soles of Michael's Nike Air Advantage sneakers was the same sandy residue found in Bonnie's car. It was distinctive, light-colored sand, almost white. The shoes matched the size of the print on the floor mat, and things were beginning to point obviously towards Michael as the main suspect. He continued to insist that he loved his wife so much he would never do anything to hurt her.

He even went as far as to mention on several occasions that he would quote, drink water out of a toilet if she asked him to. At this point in the case, Bernie and Yvonne had cut off communication with their nephew due to their strong belief that he was responsible for Bonnie's disappearance. Bonnie's own father, on the other hand, still believed in Michael's innocence. One of the most compelling elements of this case is an interview done with the young boy, Aaron Hame, a day after his mother was discovered missing.

While the investigation of the property was taking place, Aaron was taken to a facility with child protective services and interviewed. When child services interviews kids who have allegedly been abused or witnessed an event, they make sure to put them in a comforting environment. Aaron was interviewed in the company of both of his grandparents in a room filled with bright colors and toys. Because of his age, the social workers had a hard time getting him to focus and answer questions.

When he finally did divulge some information. It was nothing short of shocking. Aaron told interviewers that, quote, Daddy hurt mommy. At just three and a half, it was clear that he had witnessed something. He drew a picture of his father shooting his mother and told the social workers that quote, daddy shot mommy in the stomach. Daddy put mommy in a timeout and daddy could not wake her up. End quote. I want to turn your attention now to Saturday, January 10th of 1993,

was Aaron staying with you after his mom's disappearance? Yes. Was there occasion where the defendant, Michael Hayme, made a phone call to you because there were some conversations that you obtained personal items from Aaron specifically as a journalist call? Yes, he called me and that was the day after Aaron came into my care. And he called and I answered the phone and ran off the bat.

He just said, I don't want Aaron talking to anybody else. So Michael, hey, the person who was just really married to me said, he didn't want Aaron talking to anyone else anymore? Yes. And he said, why? Did you ask him why? He said, he said, because Aaron wasn't there for the incident. Because of Aaron's age, none of the statements he made to child protective services could be used against Michael Hame, and the state felt they lacked the evidence to make an arrest.

There was no body, no DNA evidence, nothing that could directly link Michael to the crime other than the footprint and his son's statements. It was determined by a judge that because Michael was the only person of interest in the case, and because Aaron was the only living witness of what happened to his mother, that his son would be safer in a different environment. Aaron was taken in and fostered by the Frazier family. After years of silence, no answers for the family, no arrests, Bonnie Hame was pronounced

legally dead in 1999, and the Frazier's adopted Aaron and changed his last name. A considerable amount of time passed, and no closure was ever brought to the Jacksonville community or to the family of Bonnie Hame. For over 21 years, this was a cold case. Any memory of his biological father, his life living with his biological parents or the statements he made to police as a toddler dissolved from Aaron's mind. Aaron's adoptive parents, Genie and Ronnie Frazier, helped him to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Michael Hayme for the death of his mother, and in 2005 Michael was ordered by a judge to pay Aaron $26.3 million. As part of the settlement, Aaron also received his childhood home on 2439

Dolphin Avenue, which had been utilized as a rental property in the meantime. John Hame, Michael Hame's father, worked in the insurance industry, and he told one of his clients about the home his son was running out. The woman and her husband moved into the home on Dolphin Avenue in the year 2000. Is that from the phone? Yes. How did you become aware of this particular house? John Hain was our insurance man. And he told us that his son had a house for rent. And did you proceed to rent that house? Yes.

How long did you and your husband, Mr. General, left there for about a year? Did you sign a really secret with the Haynes? Yes. And who did you understand you were renting the property from? For Michael. Who was doing the initial showing of the property to you in your husband? John.

Okay. Did you understand John to be acting on behalf of Michael? Yes. And during the course of the lease that the particular year, who would you think your husband called if he had issues? We usually would call Michael. We would call John sometimes if we can't get a hold of Michael,

but usually it was Michael. And did you have any understanding about where Michael was living back? And this is 2000? I think he was living in Tennessee at that time. Who did you make your rent? I just see that. You were living in approximately 2000.

To John. And you moved into the property approximately in June of 2000? Yes. And how do you know, definitively, that was approximately the day? Because we moved in the day to week. The day that we got married.

That was 17, 2000. He moved in a week ahead of time. So he stayed there for a week before I actually was dead in there. All right. Had you ridden property? Any real estate property before that particular house? No.

If you were in the property after that particular house? No. OK. Was there anything that you found to be unique about the terms of the lease agreement that you had in my claim? I'm sorry, can you repeat that? Was there anything unique about the lease agreement that you had in my claim? Um, yes.

The second agreement that we signed did say that we could not dig or plant anything in the yard and that we could not go into air drain. Okay. And let me take it over to East like he said. He said you could not go into air drain and just try to go back and what? It was his bed room. It still had his bunk beds, his toy box,

that kind of stuff in there. Step that belonged to him when he lived there. And what was the status of that room during the year for you and your husband rented the property of Dolphin F? We didn't go in there. We did at the very end go in there, but for the most part we didn't go in there. And especially you can recall who initially told you that part of this lease was that you

couldn't go in that specific room. John, tell us at first. Okay. And then did you have discussions with Michael Hanger? Yes. And what Michael Hanger told you? Michael said the same thing that we weren't allowed to do any kind of landscaping or digging in the yard.

All right. How about the rain management room? And that we couldn't touch that room if he wanted to just let it was. So let me take you back to the instructions about not digging or doing anything in the yard. Do you recall if who told you that initially? John Den.

And then did you have a specific discussion with Michael? Yes. And what was Michael? Just when we found the lace, when he came down for us to find the lace, he just told us that that was the stipulations that he didn't want us digging or planning anything in the yard, or he didn't want us touching your dream. Okay. Did you call for at least anything about where you could keep your animals? Did you have animals?

Yes. Like a virus, a virus. Yes. Did you have animals? Yes. What kind of animals? We had two dogs and two bearer dragons. Did you release agreement agreement address any special instructions

about the dogs? Yes. We were not allowed to leave the dog outside. Whenever we were gone from property, we had to put him in the master bedroom. Michael Hame didn't want his tenants going into Aaron's old bedroom. He didn't want them digging or doing any landscaping in the backyard, and he wanted the dogs kept out of the fence in yard.

The new tenant and her husband had never rented a property before, so it's safe to assume they were unfamiliar with what a normal these may include. But any landlord that allows pets on their rental property usually has no problem with the dogs being left in the fence to any yard. That's usually safer than keeping the dogs locked inside for long periods of time, with lots of things to destroy. Not only were the dogs not to be left outside, but when the tenants left the house, Michael was clear that the dogs were to be shut inside the master bedroom. The woman living in the house never questioned him about this and was careful to follow all

the rules. Several more years of tenants rented under Michael Hame as their landlord, and there were tenants living there when Aaron Frazier won the home in his settlement. By December of 2014 Aaron had gotten married, started his own business, and was thriving. The tenants that were living in the home in 2005 had moved out, and Aaron saw that the entire property had fallen into disrepair over the years, and he wanted to be able to run it out again, or even sell the home. The pool in the backyard hadn't been used or maintained in years, and the concrete was

cracking. It had to be pulled out and rebuilt or filled in. Aaron determined it would be cheaper just to get rid of the pool. Since the outdoor shower only existed because the backyard contained the pool, he decided it was best to get rid of that as well. The shower was a simple pipe running up the side of the house, with a shower head attached to it at the top. The base of the shower had bricks mortared together underneath a wood pallet, so that whoever was standing on it to shower off wouldn't get their feet dirty.

Below the bricks was a thin layer of concrete. Aaron paid some of his employees from the business he owned and had the help of his brother-in-law during the renovations of the home and the demolition of the pool and the landscaping in the backyard. He spent every free weekend doing bits and pieces of the renovation and reconstruction of the property. It seemed odd to me when we rolled the excavator over it to demo the pool, it cracked, and so that was on that machine working on the pool with me and one of my employees began to pick up the pieces of concrete that cracked off of it.

We were putting in a dumpster, we had a dumpster there for the pulled demo stuff. And so we were just doing that by hand just to stay busy. It was thinner away from the house. It was the shower is up against the house. So the far closer we got to the shower and thicker the concrete guy. And inside the concrete towards the house was a bunch of broken brick pieces. Aaron continued to hit the concrete slab with a sledgehammer and he noticed the steel pipe attached to the shower head starting to move.

He was concerned that the more he hit the concrete the higher his chances that he would hit the steel pipe and cause it to leak. Aaron's brother-in-law, Egtemon, and told him to keep demolishing the concrete slab, and sure enough, he hit the pipe and it began to leak water. Just remember, just because you watch a little HGTV doesn't make you Bob Vila. In order to finish the demolition of the pool, they had to fix this now leaky pipe. They needed water to continue using the concrete saw on pieces of the pool.

Aaron tried to figure out where the leak was actually coming from, so he shut off the water and dug down the length of the pipe with a shovel. I was digging the hole, I noticed. At the time I thought it was a French drain off because on the backside of this wall was a larger room. I assumed it was a piece of corrugated pipe and it was, I've seen like septic systems and stuff, they'll put a styrofoam around them and then wrap them in a filter cloth so that the water can seep out but dirt doesn't't get in it. So it allows this water to drain.

If you have a well or something, you can take that water and run things and I have to pay for soil, you know, that's how I student it was some kind of makeshift, French strain. I was always digging the hole. It wasn't on purpose. I accidentally busted up the bag. And I saw what I described as something that looked like coconut it was a fire burst material just like a like a brown coconut. The bag you describe that a little bit more for the jury. Yes I mean after I busted it

and I had my hands on it I would describe this viscuine I know most people doesn't don't know that it's's like a concrete, they'll put underneath concrete to the moisture, doesn't come up through it, but it's similar to like a contractor bag. So it appeared to you. You thought you had something to do with the actual concrete brick that was protecting the shower, or that you were standing on the shower?

Well, I thought it was for the French train for the larger room, okay. So you thought that something would do with the drainage room, the larger room? Correct. Because you quickly realized that wasn to do with the drain of the larger room? Correct. But did you quickly realize that wasn't the case? I wasn't quick. I picked up the coconut object and it ended up being the top portion of her skull.

I looked at it, I had it in my hand. I didn't really see anything. I handed it to that. And he looked back in the hole and we could see teeth. And at that point, you could see the the hall and we could see teeth. And at that one time, you could, you could see the top portion of her eye sockets. Aaron grabbed his phone. It was a day his adoptive mother would normally be in church. So she didn't pick up when he called her to ask her for the number of the man who had been the lead investigator on Bonnie's case in 1993,

Robbie Henson. Aaron then called his wife, who lived only about half a mile from the Frazier home. She drove over to the house and flipped through Mrs. Frazier's roll of decks, successfully locating a number of the investigator. When Aaron called him, he didn't answer either. He was frantic, shaking over what he believed he had just found. Aaron's brother called one of his police buddies to come over to the scene. They didn't call 911 because they feared the media beating the police to the house

and causing a bigger issue. Police soon arrived, followed by Robbie Henson. Aaron had maintained a relationship with the investigator over the years. They even attended the same church. Over the course of approximately five days, officers exhumed the body of Bonnie Ham, including a 22 caliber shell casing that was found with her remains. 24-year-old Aaron had accidentally stumbled upon his own mother's grave. She had been there deteriorating for almost three decades. We could find, we knew where the skull was, and we knew where the legs were due to they

were still there, where the bones for the legs were still there wrapped in something like a pink cloth, like material. The torso, I had extreme difficulty locating the torso torso and I later found that it was because it was so deteriorated that it almost turned to like clay balls and We were probably during our process. We were probably actually throwing part of the remains away and throwing part of the remains away. And when I realized that I couldn't find the torso, I really couldn't locate it. I stopped the excavation on third day. Did I make it in?

Yeah, because you're having such a difficult time getting out. This is on the third day you still haven't gotten out. Right. Still haven't been rebelled. You've found the torso. So... It's taken this many days because you're being so thoughtful and trying your best not to destroy the law. Yes, when you're doing this in this process, it's you're scraping layers of dirt at a time and you're talking half inch maybe,

maybe in somewhere, you're just scraping the dirt as you go and when you find it like a bone or a piece of something you stop and you work around that to try to determine what it is. But like I said, the torso, it went up basically couldn't find it. So it didn't the third day, I stopped the excavation and said, I don't everybody, I gotta figure something else out to do here because, and then I went home and basically laid there in bed and figured out what to do. The excavation process looked not unlike a group of paleontologists or archaeologists uncovering ancient remains,

carefully brushing around each object so they don't disturb the already deteriorating matter. What was left of Bonnie was scarce and fragile, which is why the process of exhumation was so lengthy. Those in charge of recovering the remains decided to eventually use what is called the pedestal method. They used the excavator Aaron had rented to demolish the pool and removed a very large chunk of the earth containing Bonnie's remains. They then moved that block of dirt to another location where it could be worked on from all angles, and they could more gently remove the bones.

We took out quite a bit of dirt with those remains. It was rather heavy. Even after you did that post or there were significant amount of remains left behind, there were some remains left behind. There was an arm bone sticking out of the ground, which was a concern of mine that I wasn't going to get it all out at that time, but we were able to excavate and recover the remains after I had taken the big bulk of it. I transferred it myself to the medical exam results. The remains were determined to be a positive match for Bonnie Pachudo-Hame in August of 2015. And Michael was located, arrested, and charged with the murder of his wife on August 24,

22 years after she had gone missing. Though Aaron had little to no recollection of his life prior to the age of five, the discovery of his own biological mother's remains has deeply affected him. No, man, I have no memory of her, no memory of him prior to coming to court. Probably my earliest memory that I can think of as being at Liz's house, but I'm not sure if that was when I was in her custody or whether that was when I was visiting after I was already with the Fragers. So, like, I have a hard time pinpointing my earliest memory.

But to expire, we removed some bricks that were on top of the concrete slab that she was under. And I told Gene Frazier, my adopted parents, then, that I thought if she was anywhere in the yard, it would be there. And then two weeks later, when we were demoing the pool and we'd run the excavator over to concrete, and I began to remove it and break the water pipe. There's no thought in my head that she's here. Like I'm not digging to look for when I found the plastic bag

and her skeleton. Like it wasn't this is her. It's so it was all it was I wasn't actively doing it. Maybe, maybe, but I'm not sure. Maybe subconsciously, there was something there, but even when I picked her skull up, it wasn't, oh, this could be her. I thought it was a coconut. It looked like a coconut did not look like bone. It wasn't until I saw the teeth that I knew that it was her. And even through this whole process,

there was part of me that says, why are we going through this if he's not going to be found guilty? Why would the whole family be just tormented again? So I felt like it got, got his hand on this old time. Michael Haymes' criminal trial began on August 8, 2019. On April 12, a jury delivered their verdict on his crime. The jury found him guilty of the second-degree murder of his wife, Bonnie Ham. I couldn't believe it.

I couldn't believe that he himself had dug up his own mother's skeleton and I felt like it was actually, I felt like a miracle. I mean, to be able that he would be the one that would discover this. And really, I felt like it was, you know, justice being done. The defense part of their story was that maybe it was a secondary grave. And when she testified, she was the one that made that seem impossible. Her testimony was the one that, in my mind, let me know that that was the one that made that seem impossible. Her testimony was the one that, in my mind, let me know that that was the primary grave site. I just knew, I just knew to me without a shadow of a doubt,

and then to have Aaron's testimony at three and a half that he had talked to the child psychologist and said, Daddy, hurt my mommy. That was the other piece of evidence that was so strong in my mind when I was making the decision. Jürer's only took 90 minutes to deliberate after hearing a slew of witnesses testify, including Michael Hame himself. This Jürer was shocked that he would choose to take the stand and was blown away by his lack of emotion

while recounting his untrue version of the evening of January 6, 1993. We went through every piece of evidence. We didn't just decide automatically. We went through, well, who else could have done this murder. And there were no real suspects. The boyfriend, you know, cared about her. He hadn't alibi. There seemed to be no one else that even was a possibility. And the fact that you add that the son said, daddy hurt my mommy.

To me sealed it. To me there was no doubt. I had no doubt. During the sentencing hearing for his father, Aaron Fisher read his victim impact statement to the court, including in detail some of the things he is reported to have said to child protective workers during the hours in which they interviewed him following his mother's death. These things were kept out of evidence and not read during the actual trial proceedings. I hold my thoughts, feelings, and emotions inside. I keep pressing forward. As part of the way I have coped through the years.

I keep powering through, staying busy, keeping my mind occupied. Much of my life, especially my adult life, has been constructed this way. Most of us can describe me as a workaholic. I live life like all it's well and that I've not been affected by the events of my early childhood. Much of my struggle with writing this letter and expressing my thoughts and feelings is not wanting to give any satisfaction to those that are the cause and the reason I have to write this letter. I do not want those who are involved in my abuse, the murder of my mother, her burial, and the 26-year-old cover-up to think they have any

control over any part of my thinking or life. People have repeatedly asked me how I feel. Isn't it great that Michael was found guilty? That's not at all how I feel. My mother's still dead. I am forever scarred. Scarred by the trauma of witnessing her mother and the subsequent abuse. Ideal with fear. Fear that was imprinted on my three-year-old brain as a rot, result of the threats and torture from Michael and others who carried out an effort to keep me quiet. I was not silenced. We had a few samples as some of the things that I said. When I was interviewed by Brennan Meadows, a CPT worker, and a day's following my mother's death, once she asked what was my mother wearing, I responded to the light.

I drew many pictures. One of these pictures was my mom being shot in the stomach. As Dr. Haney testified, it's possible that a gunshot could have entered the stomach and deflected off the inside of the hitbone. A 22-show casing was found in her grave. I spent many years sleeping with a brick under my pillow, feeling the need to protect myself if someone came in the middle of the night. Dinnin' now, I wake it throughout the night thinking I hear something or someone. I'm easily startled and constantly on guard. I will never know if I just like to live a normal life and not concerned about my safety.

When I was six years old, I asked Ronnie and Jean, my doctor parents if we could go look for my mother. As we walked out the house to get in the car, they walked towards the car, I walked towards the garage. They asked where I was going. My response to get a shovel. I always knew my mom was buried. I just didn't know where.

I tried to remember but I could not. And my therapist's office, I would line up dolls in the window of a dollhouse. When Lord would ask, what do they see? My response, they didn't see nothing. I dealt with depression, suicidal thoughts from the age of 16. Most of the time it was not immobilizing, just nagging, not wanting to get out of bed and face the day.

Some days are worse than others. When things get real bad, sometimes I think it's easier just to give up. In recent years, seeing the case there has been the driving factor and not giving up. For my therapist has recommended medication for depression and not my mowing. Anytime there's been a time in my life, I have a burning desire to try to resolve where my mother was buried. One of these times was when I was 18, I drove to a place in Nassau County.

I placed where it was suspected I was trying to describe when I was younger. I drove there alone with a shovel. I drove down a dirt road on the banks of Nassau River. I was looking for my mom. I found myself lost as ever. Not physically, I was depressed and suicidal. I found myself lost as ever. Not physically, I was depressed and suicidal.

Whenever I would search for my mom, I would look for a second area in the ground, because it could indicate the presence of a decaying body. Maybe that could be where my mom would be buried. Obviously, this was to no avail. I have searched for my mom my entire life. Michael had the audacity to sit on the witness standing claim as innocence, even though he know him and others know that I know the truth. My hope is one day he won't admit this, and that he will tell the story of how Bonnie died and fill in the blanks.

The rage that Michael must have felt on January 6, 1993, I completely understand. The rage is like a light switch. It flips on. I go from zero to a hundred instantly. The events that took place on that winter night make me ever aware of the dangers of that rage. I'm always cognizant to keep it in check. My credibility was evidenced by the fact that I drew pictures of my mom, any whole, curled in the same position she was found on Duff and Avenue, when I found her. I said she had been shot, I said she had been buried,

I said that Michael killed her. Today, we know all this to be true. From the time I was 18 years old, I've had a burning desire to resolve to recover these memories. I have studied how the brain stores memory and how it can be triggered. It is my understanding that the brain is like a filing cabinet, it stores memory, it is common for the brain to block access to traumatic memories is the coping mechanism to help prevent more trauma. I have many unresolved questions about the night, January 6, 1993. I often wonder if I heard Mike

John or Carolyn speak if it could trigger these memories. To my disappointment, the few times recently that I've had an opportunity to hear Mike and Carolyn speak this did not happen. In writing this letter I hope to convey to you some of the things that shaped my life and made me who I am. I have struggles that started when I was three and a half and continue today. I do not know what a fair sentence would be. I do know that every day Michael Hame was free, I lived in fear that he may come and get me like he said he would. I was the one person on this planet that had knowledge of what he did

and could stand in the way of his liberty. My fear grew in the time following to discover my mother's remains on December 14, 2014. Once Michael was arrested on August 24th, 2015, there was a sense of relief. On December 11th, 2015, when he was given bond, the fear and anxiety rose to a new level. Not only was he out on bond, but he now

lived on my side of town, 15 minutes away, my land, and five from boat. I learned to where he was living through in Equalty, to rent a house on the same piece of property. In 2016, I went with my parents to a restaurant not far from her home, and there in front of us was Michael Hame. I would ask that Michael get a sentence that would ensure that I do not have to be concerned about running into him ever again. Most importantly, I do not want to

have to worry about him doing harm to me or any of my family members. I want everyone to be safe from him. The only way to achieve this is they give him is for him to spend the rest of his life in prison. Michael Hame did get a life sentence. For someone who lived off his dead wife's life insurance policy for decades, no sentence seems fair. Michael spent 22 years as a free man, thinking he got away with murder of his helpless 23-year-old wife, and in front of their young son, no less. It can be frustrating as a child when you know something to be true and no one believes you.

Maybe this case is a lesson to us all. Maybe we should make an effort to value serious things said by and seen by children. If Jacksonville police had been permitted to take Aaron's claim seriously as a three and a half year old, maybe Michael would have been put behind bars a lot sooner. Maybe he wouldn't have had the misfortune to dig up his own mother's remains as an adult. Then again, there are lots of things I remember as a young child that couldn't have possibly happened, things that make no logical sense in the set of rules I've learned the world operates by as an adult. How much credence should the words or memories of a three-and-a-half-year-old be given? And how much could be suggested to such a young mind by an unscrupulous investigator?

It's a question the justice system continues to try to answer. Case after horrible case. That's it for this episode of Sword and Scale. Thank you for listening. Remember you can get over 50 plus episodes. Those are episodes of sword and scale that are available only to paying supporters. Completely new stories, ones you will not hear on the regular feed. Just go to swordandscale.com slash plus to sign up for as little as five bucks a month.

I'll see you there, and until next time, stay safe. you