Driven to Extremes

0:00Music

0:06Just five minutes before, they were alive. Five minutes later, your life changes like you never thought that it could change. I saw a BMW, and I thought, what happened here? And it suddenly dawned on me, it looks like my car. I called 911. There was nothing that any person on earth could have done. I've driven that street thousands of times. I have been a good driver my whole life. But I could not stop that car. You had enough time for the world to go quiet, to think, why won't you stop? A Seminole County mother plowed into a tree. I knew I had to get to the children. She lost control of the car.

1:01I could not for an instant think that they were gone. Two girls died on their way home from the very first day of school. It was just the most horrible experience I could ever imagine. The mother of one of them was behind the wheel. Those girls had everything to live for. Why couldn't I have died? My daughter is gone because of Mary Hill. A mother charged with crashing into a tree. I want answers. Why was she driving so fast? Hill's attorneys blame the car. A car like that just doesn't run into a tree. I knew that something like this was going to happen. Mary Hill needs to be held accountable for her actions.

1:44She is charged with vehicular homicide. It was like a time bomb, just waiting for that time bomb to go off.

1:56Driven to extremes.

2:08When I play to her each night, I just hope that she's listening.

2:19This is Dennis Hill's nightly ritual. It just helps me to say goodnight every night.

2:29The song is appropriately entitled Forgotten Dreams.

2:38I just see how hollow my life is now, and I never thought that I would experience that in my lifetime.

2:52In August 2000, Dennis Hill lost his 13-year-old daughter, Amy, in a tragic accident.

3:04How would you describe your daughter? I believe that the reason I was born was to have Amy. Amy just had this capacity for love for everyone. Before the accident, Dennis and Mary Hill appeared to be living the extremely good life outside Orlando, Florida. Dennis Hill here. They owned a successful marketing business, lived in a stately home, and their daughters, Amy... She was always an honors student. Straight A student. And Caitlin... Caitlin is wonderful in dance. Were thriving in and out of school.

3:54Amy excelled at piano. She gave it her all and she was great.

4:01I was just so proud of her. On August 7, 2000, Mary and Dennis Hill went to pick up their daughter Amy from her first day of eighth grade. With her were best friends Carrie Brown and Zach Rockwell. The three were inseparable. They were very jubilant. Everybody was in a very good mood. On the way home, Dennis told Mary he needed to make a stop. I had another vehicle at the gas station that I wanted to pick up. Mary got behind the wheel with the three kids in the back seat and drove off. I've driven that street thousands of times. But the next few minutes would be anything but routine. It happened so fast.

4:53You come out of the turn and you're just starting to accelerate. And I just felt like the rear end wasn't with me and I immediately started to stop. And it wouldn't. Although Mary says she was pumping the brakes, the car kept accelerating. I have been a good driver my whole life, but I could not stop that car. I was spinning. I saw leaves. My last thought was, why won't you stop?

5:36This is Mary Hill's BMW. Investigators believe it was traveling at 73 miles per hour when it slammed into a tree. Here at the point of impact, a divot two feet deep. Amy was sitting here, her best friend Carrie in the middle, Zach at the far end. Mary Hill, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, was thrown 24 feet through this side window. I woke up. I thought I was on fire. The heat was immense. It was just the most horrible experience I could ever imagine. One of the first to arrive on the scene, Dennis Hill frantically felt for his daughter Amy's pulse. And I thought, oh, please, I'm not doing this right.

6:23I'm doing something wrong. She is alive, and I just can't tell. Dennis then checked for Carrie's pulse, but also felt nothing. Zach was breathing, but unconscious. And I called 911.

6:44It was so surreal. I just could not believe this was happening. Just minutes before, they were all excited in the backseat. Just five minutes before, they were alive. We were laughing. Life was good. Five minutes later, your life changes like you never thought that it could change.

7:06This 48 hours animation shows how police believe the accident happened. After Mary made a left-hand turn, her car began to accelerate rapidly. As it started to drift into the oncoming traffic lane, it fishtailed and began a sideways slide. Police estimated the car was traveling 73 miles an hour when it left the road. After it hit the tree, the car traveled 15 feet to its resting spot on the other side of the tree. News of the accident spread quickly. A Seminole County mother plowed into a tree, killing her own daughter. And she lost control of the car on Markham Woods Road. Two girls died on their way home from the very first day of school.

7:52The mother of one of them was behind the wheel. Keith Rockwell assumed his son, Zach, was taking the bus home that day. Until the police showed up at his door. They said, you need to get to the hospital as fast as possible.

8:11Keith found his 13-year-old son, Zach, alive, but unconscious. They basically said he was in a coma, and that the longer he was in, the worse it would be. Carrie Brown's sister, Jennifer, was home alone when she got the news. The life was just sucked out of me. Like, I just remember the most empty feeling. Christmas morning, that's one of my favorite pictures. Carrie's mother, Rita Brown, heard the news from a friend. And all I said was, who? Who? And he said, Carrie. I collapsed. Not my baby. Not my baby.

8:55Once some of the shock started to wear off, naturally, the question started. A car like that just doesn't run into a tree for no reason at all. Was this tragic accident really accidental? And then once the light changed, she floored it. The answers were getting very complicated. The tires were screaming and she took off.

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10:34Why couldn't I have died? I lived a life. I had wonderful children. I had a good life. Those girls had everything to live for. They were such good girls. For Mary Hill, the guilt of driving the car that killed her daughter Amy and best friend Kerry Brown and left Zach Rockwell in a coma has been unbearable. You didn't know would he be out a day or a year, so at that point you were just really scared. Keith Rockwell was terrified, but considered himself strangely lucky. His child was alive. As a single dad, it's just me and him, and he's number one. For four days, Zach's loved ones kept a bedside vigil until one friend gave him a teddy bear.

11:26Then he just went, thank you. Just sat up, just like that. What did you say to him? Welcome back. You feel lucky to be alive? Yes, I really do. Although Zach had no memory of the accident, he was on the road to recovery. But some wounds would never heal. What did you lose when you lost those two friends? I lost a lifelong friend partner, a lifelong partner. I lost a lot of things. I can't come up with a reason as to why they had to die. And I can't accept something that I don't have a reason for. It's like I am angry, and everyone is angry, I know, at me. I felt sorrow and anger. I was mad. Kick over.

12:22Show me a finish. Carrie's mother, Rita Brown, is a world-renowned Olympic gymnastics coach. I didn't know who I was mad at at the time when I first found out because I was just mad that Carrie was gone and it wasn't fair. And why? Why my baby? Why is she gone? Why did this happen? I can't believe I'm reading her name. Takes my breath away. I don't know. Rita's grief turned to anger when she learned the details of what a witness saw just before the crash. She almost sideswiped me. I mean, she just came from no place at a very, very high rate of speed. Jimmy Arthur was attempting to change lanes when he first encountered Mary Hill's BMW.

13:05Did you have any sense that she was struggling to control this car? You know, I didn't feel like there was any mechanical problem. It just seemed like she was either upset or angry or just in a very, very big hurry. She was in such a hurry, Jimmy says, that she overshot a red light. After she shot past that, she put the car in reverse and quickly backed up, burning the tires. And then once the light changed, she floored it. And the tires were screaming and she took off. What direction did she go in? She headed actually south on Martin Wood's road. Jimmy watched as Mary Hill then lost control of her car and wrapped it around the tree.

13:43His eyewitness account would become crucial to investigators as details about Mary Hill began to surface. In a speeding car, I feel unsafe. And I usually did in Mrs. Hill's car. How would you describe Mary Hill? When I went over to her house, she always seemed like she was depressed. In fact, Mary Hill was receiving treatment for depression. In the days leading up to the accident, investigators learned Mary had been behaving strangely, including making a bizarre phone call to Rita Brown. She says, well, I'm going to go in Monday for shock treatment. And I said, shock treatment? For what? She goes, well, I haven't been doing well, and they thought that they might try that.

14:28Rita wasn't the only witness to Mary Hill's unraveling. She was weaving. She was very unsteady on her feet. Neighbor Vicki Hartzell encountered Mary one afternoon in her driveway. After you witnessed this behavior with Mary Hill, what did you end up telling your two girls? I told them they weren't allowed to ride in the car with Mary Hill anymore. Because? Because I felt that there was something wrong with her. But a blood test after the crash revealed Mary wasn't using drugs or alcohol. So was the crash caused by Mary Hill losing control of her car or her emotions? The only person who could answer that wasn't talking.

15:09I wasn't allowed to answer phones, I wasn't allowed to enter doors, I wasn't allowed to open the gates. On the advice of her attorneys, Mary Hill did not speak to the victims' families. To tell you the truth, there aren't any words in the English language that could ever express my sorrow for what happened. To say I'm sorry for what happened to your daughter. I can't, I can't face that woman and say that to her. Because it's, it's just to me so meaningless. Everything I have known is gone from me. My work, my life, my spirit. I don't know what else could be taken. I don't know how it could be any worse.

15:55But eight months after the accident, when Mary was at rock bottom, things got a whole lot worse. Prosecutors say that Mary's reckless driving caused the deaths of Amy and Carrie. She is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and manslaughter. And if convicted, Mary could be sent to prison for 30 years. I never expected it. Not for the most fleeting second. I could think that someone would think I would do something like that intentionally. Now, the Hills are fighting back. We've endured more than our share, and it's time to turn the tables now. And I believe that we're going to be ready.

16:36Dennis hired high-priced defense attorney Gerald Boyle, best known for defending serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, to prove his wife did not intentionally kill their daughter and her friend. I want total vindication. Mary was an exceptional driver, and I never quite understood how this could possibly happen. But defense experts think they have an answer. After examining the Hill's car, they believe a fault in the BMW's cruise control caused the car to speed up on its own. Once the investigators were able to say, you know, hey, there's a problem with the cruise control here and the throttle linkage, well, then pieces of the puzzle start to go together.

17:20I know the first time it happened to me, I had no idea what was going on. BMW owner Larry Gustafson has never met Mary Hill. He said, ah, we got a problem. The car is driving itself. But he knows what it's like to have a car unexpectedly race off. And it went from 35 to 40 miles an hour to almost 60 miles an hour just that quick. Is it believable to you, based on your own experience, that Mary Hill could have gotten up to 70-plus miles an hour in a tenth of a mile? and hit this tree? Absolutely. I went from 40 to 60 and probably a shorter distance than that. Gustafson claims his mechanic fixed the problem on his used BMW by replacing an electrical circuit.

18:03But Rita Brown's not buying the runaway car theory. Does Mary Hill deserve to go to jail? Mary Hill needs to be held accountable for her actions. And if that includes going to jail, then so be it. But the judge and the jury will decide that. And while Mary Hill awaits her trial, stunning allegations as the Hill's marriage is pushed to the breaking point. You were slapped. You were kicked. You were punched. Are all those things true?

18:47What do you miss most about your daughter? Her smile. Here's Carrie. Here's Carrie's. Carrie Brown would have turned 17 on this sunny July day. Happy birthday, Carrie. Happy birthday, Carrie. I love you. But for her mother Rita and sister Jennifer, there are no birthday hugs and kisses to share. She was my best friend. We did a lot together. Just memories of a promising young life cut short in a tragic car crash three years earlier. God, I miss her so much. I miss her so much, Mom. And Rita Brown says there's one person to blame for her loss. My daughter is gone because of Mary Hill. I wish after all this she would come back.

19:39They were very, very kind and giving girls. It's just so hard to understand why they were taken. But these two mothers are unable to share their grief, for the battle lines have been drawn. I never thought I would be charged with a crime. Mary, charged with vehicular homicide and manslaughter, has become a recluse. For over two years, I wouldn't leave this home. It just crashes on her. The pressure, the reminding, and it's tough on her. And making things tougher are rumors flying furiously through their posh community. Rumors that Mary had a history of depression, drug use, and dangerous driving.

20:27I knew that something like this was going to happen. The rumors are being fueled by sworn statements made by this woman. What kind of mother was she? She was a horrible mother. Dean David, the Hill's former nanny. Amy would sit in the kitchen and tell me everything that went on at school. Dean worked for Mary less than a year and left after a falling out over pay six months before the accident. Based on what you saw and what you knew about Mary Hill, did you worry that she was a potential danger to her children? Oh, in the car most definitely, yes. That was my worst fear was her in the car with them.

21:05She accused me of horrible things. Dean David's most scathing allegation? That Mary abused cocaine. Two weeks into the job I found out that Mary had a cocaine addiction. Her purse had fallen off the counter, and in that, a compact had fallen out with powder on the mirror and a razor blade. Mary, were you using cocaine? No, absolutely not. I have tried it. I will not say I have not tried it, but no. I have never had an addiction. But I don't think trying it once makes you an addict. Two and a half years have passed since the accident. The trial is delayed three times, and the pressure on the Hill's marriage has reached the breaking point.

21:51New charges have been filed in court that take this case from the tragic to the bizarre. Once united in their grief, Mary now wants a divorce, claiming that Dennis is violent and sexually abusive. Dennis counterattacks with allegations that Mary has a history of drug abuse and alcoholism. The battle plans are piling up in what has become the War of the Hills. And the War of the Hills is almost as dramatic as the War of the Roses. If they would have followed us around and filmed this thing, it would have made a heck of a movie. Do you still stand by Mary? Absolutely. In spite of Dennis' public support, Mary has thrown him out and even got a restraining order against him.

22:35According to a paper, you were slapped, you were kicked, you were punched, pushed, restrained. Are all those things true? Yes, they are. Dennis is into physical pain for sexual gratification, both giving and receiving. It got to be far too much. How do you respond to that? Well, you said, that's absolutely not true. In 25 years, I never hit that woman. You've never sexually abused Mary? Oh, good Lord, no. Never forced her to do something she didn't want to do? Never. Absolutely not. Well, he admitted openly in court after I filed the injunction to keep him away from me. He was going to slash my faces to pieces and see me disappear.