#262: Killer Breaks Down Crying After 8-Year-Old Victim is Found ALIVE (Case of Jennifer Schuett)

0:02We're talking about Dennis Bradford. Dennis Bradford had been keeping a secret for the past 20 years. That's a very long time. Like not a single person knew his deep, dark secret that he has been just holding inside of him. He made sure that nobody knew. Nobody found out. His life depended on it. His ex-wife, his current wife, his children, his legally adopted children, none of them knew what he did 20 years ago. the only person that knew his secret they died with the secret 20 years ago and that was his only comfort that was the only reason he could sleep at night that was the only thing that kept him going but almost 20 years to the day that he had his big secret he was pulled over for this routine stop and somehow Dennis found himself in this interrogation room for a routine traffic stop so things are going down he's being asked about that dark day from 20 years ago and what happened and, you know, he's being asked all these things that make him feel like someone out there knows his secret.

1:07I mean, it doesn't make sense. Why would they suddenly ask him these questions about a day from 20 years ago? Maybe the detectives read his mind because they looked at him and they let him know. Hey, you know, 20 years ago, you know, that little eight-year-old girl that you left in a field completely naked, the one that you tortured and then slit her throat from ear to ear? That girl, the only one that knows what you did? well she's alive and she's been hunting you down every single day for the past 20 years she was the one that caught him this was his reaction

1:49so let's talk about the incredible survivor story of jennifer shuett and dennis bradford's dark secrets because he would have more than just this one secret that he's hiding As always, full show notes are available at RottenMinglePodcast.com. But with that being said, let's get into the story. There were a group of kids that were gathered to play at the field. It was like the best type of field to play in. And when you're a kid, I used to love fields with long grass. It's so much better than an empty flat field because you feel like you can hide better. And it's just more of an adventure. You feel like you're in the jungle.

2:24So that's what these girls are doing. They're probably between the ages of six and 10 years old. So, you know, they're pretty young and they would all huddle around in a little center of the field and they decide who's it. They're like, you're it this time. You're going to be the one chasing all of us. And then all of them would just make a run for it. They would just web out into these different directions and just carelessly run through the field. They would turn their head back recklessly every so often just to see, just to see if that person is close to catching them. So they're screaming, shouting, giggling.

2:54They're not being quiet, you know, but most importantly, they're being very, very carefree. They're kids. They're acting like kids. It's a beautiful thing. Now, one of the young girls was running so fast, she could feel her hair just blowing in the wind and the grass was tickling her all through her sides. And she's looking back and she's laughing because she's getting ahead. And boom, she falls face first onto the ground. She had tripped on something. I guess due to the overgrown grass, she didn't see it earlier. But she turns to her left or her right to see what she tripped on. Maybe it's a giant tree branch, a discarded tire, you know, who knows, a log.

3:34She looks down and sees that she had tripped on another girl. The foot of a naked eight-year-old girl who had her throat slit ear to ear, who had been left for dead. I mean, she was practically on her last breath. Oh, my God. I mean, it's pretty disturbing to think about while these kids were playing, Jennifer, a child who's not that far in age from them, was barely holding on to life in that same field. I mean, she had been there for over 14 hours, paralyzed, in shock, losing blood, actively dying. And Jennifer had tried to move, you know, for the past 14 hours, she tried to move. She tried to sit up or at least crane her neck to see where she was.

4:17But all she felt was stinging all over her body. She was frozen. She couldn't even roll over. It's like her body was still unconscious and her mind-body connection had been obliterated. She's trying her best to figure out where she is, but all she could do was move her eyes back and forth and scan the area. Even though she tried to scream, nothing came out. It's like one of those nightmares where you just, you want to scream, nothing's pushing out. You feel this strange sensation. So Jennifer is able to force her right hand to her neck, to her throat, and it feels so weird. There was something thick and wet on her neck and suddenly she felt pain.

4:58She lifts her hand in the air and she sees blood, like a whole lot of blood. Jennifer's arm went cold. I mean, it collapsed. She went cold again. I mean, all over her body, there was just wounds, tiny wounds everywhere. You know where she had been left in the field? Someone had discarded her on top of a fire ant hill. Oh my goodness. She was completely unclothed. There were hundreds and thousands of fire ants biting every single surface of her body that they could find. Jennifer had been tortured, assaulted. Her throat had been slit and left for dead on a fire ant hill. So Jennifer gets rushed to the hospital where police officers, doctors, nurses, I mean her mother, everyone is telling her she's safe now.

5:46Everything's going to be okay now. and it wouldn't be for a while that they discovered that whoever did this, the monster that did this to her was also a patient in that same hospital the same time that she was there. Oh yeah, it gets really crazy. So let's start from the beginning. Jennifer says, you know, when you're a kid, you think there are monsters in your closet. But when you become an adult, you realize the monsters are outside your window. and I think most adults out there do everything they can to protect these innocent little children for as long as they can but sometimes these monsters find a way like no matter how much you try to keep them out they find a way in that's probably one of the scariest things about becoming a parent just protecting your children from the scary world so Elaine Jennifer's mom was very nervous when she found out she was pregnant I mean it would just be her she was gonna be a single mom, I mean, it's a total mix of emotions.

6:41She's frightened, hesitant, excited, but also very, very lost. But once baby Jennifer was born, the two of them were like this. Okay, they're inseparable. I know it sounds like a cliche. Okay, I know it sounds like one of those she lit up the rooms, but I'm telling you, the two of them had this incredible bond. I mean, think Gilmore Girls. Like, it's just the two of them in this scary world. They only have each other. Most people said they were more like best friends than they were mom and daughter. They kind of had this perfect life going for them. You know, they rented this ground floor apartment in a nice area in Texas, Dickinson.

7:18And it's a small town. It's basically known for faith family football, one of those towns. And at this point in time, Jennifer was on summer break. She just finished second grade. And even though she's excited that she's on break, she's also very excited to go back to the third grade. I mean, Jennifer said that she loved life. She loved school. She loved all of her school friends. She loved learning. I mean, this was the best time in her life. She was so carefree. She loved hanging out with all of her friends. But more importantly, she liked hanging out with her mom. So naturally, Jennifer liked to sleep in her mom's room and she's eight.

7:53Okay. She's got her own room and her room is great. It's decorated all cute, but she just really likes sleeping with her mom, I think. I mean, when you're a kid, there is no other comfortable feeling than sleeping with your parents in the same bed as them. No. Okay. Okay. Okay. I feel like I don't remember a single time that I felt more at peace than at those ages when you're just sleeping with your parents because you can just turn your brain off. It's just the ultimate comfort. So one summer evening, August 10th, 1990, Jennifer and her mom are settled in her mom's bed. Elaine had work the next day, right?

8:29Because, you know, there's no summer break when you're an adult and you get a job. Shocking. So she tells Jennifer, we got to sleep early. I got to wake up early for work. And then we've got some childcare coming for you. But like, it's a whole thing. So they tell each other good night, turn off the light, and both of them start drifting off. and then boom, Elaine jerks awake and another boom. Jennifer is fast asleep and is kicking her. I mean, she's probably sprawled out on this bed like a starfish at this point. Elaine is getting bullied off of her own bed by her eight-year-old daughter and she's got no room to sleep.

9:03She's trying to push Jennifer to the side, but Jennifer's not budging. So she gently wakes up Jennifer. Sweetie, I'm so sorry, but you're kicking me in your sleep and I've got work in the morning. would you mind going to your own room tonight Jennifer wakes up and says because I love you mom I will I'll go to my own room so she grabs her little pillow and this is the exact conversation she rolls out of her mom's bed and walks into her room which her room has this twin bed next to the window which is probably why Jennifer's mom didn't go to Jennifer's room herself it's a small like a kid bed, a twin bed.

9:39She's got a nightstand beside that with a globe on top of it. And it just looked like your average cute eight-year-old's room. So typically, if Jennifer sleeps in her own room, Elaine will go over there, tuck her into bed, read her bedtime story. They do their I love views, check under the bed for monsters, check in the closet for monsters, then finally turn off the light, and then Elaine would leave the room. But technically, they already did all of that. And And since Jennifer was already sleepy, everyone just assumed that she would just go into her room and fall asleep again. But when Jennifer opens the door to her room, it's so dark.

10:16So she starts getting a little freaked out, okay? She flicks on the little light bulb lamp that she has, which sounds like just a light bulb. But it was actually a light bulb shaped lamp that had a light bulb inside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she liked to keep the light on because, you know, she's eight and monsters are scared of the light. So her version of monsters at this point are furry bears with claws. Like think monsters, Inc. She's not thinking people outside, people inside. She's thinking monsters, Inc. She flicks on the light and she decides I can't fall asleep right now. So I'm just going to go through my bedtime routine by myself.

10:50I'm going to pick a book from my shelf and start reading it in bed and hopefully I'll fall asleep. That was the whole plan. She starts reading to fall asleep. And although the lamp was still on and bright, Jennifer drifts off into sleep in no time. She's like knocked out. Now, a couple of things to note. Her shades were not drawn or they were not closed. So there was no curtain or shades or blinders that were blocking her window. Her light is on and her window was open a crack to let in that nice summer Texas breeze. Jennifer had a nightmare. Really felt like she was having a nightmare, okay? One where she was getting tossed around like a doll.

11:35And she opened her eyes, expecting to be in bed still. But she looked up to see her body being moved by a man that she did not recognize. He was carrying her. He had one hand over her mouth and her nose. And he's booking it down the sidewalk. He's running full speed while she's being bopped around in his arms. And she's trying to hit him to make him stop and let go. But she's eight. This is a full grown man. Jennifer was barely four feet. She weighed under 50 pounds. Yeah, this man overpowered her in every single physical aspect. But I think that's where some people underestimate children. Okay.

12:11Jennifer was very, very sharp. Even while she was being smothered by this giant hand, she wanted to stay alert. So she's looking around and she thinks to herself, two doors, blue yucky paint. Wow. That was the car that this man threw her into. he gets in locks the car doors and within seconds they were already on the road he forces Jennifer to sit on his lap and he had one hand on the wheel and another hand on her head to yank her head down anytime another car passed them Jennifer was so terrified she's just analyzing the situation trying to find a way out when finally the man speaks it's okay everything's gonna be okay I'm an undercover police officer.

12:52A police officer? Jennifer felt a little bit better because at the time, you know, this is in the 90s, 1990. Most parents, most teachers tell their children, if you get lost and can't find your parents, what do you do? You find the police. I mean, there was ultimate trust in the police at the time. There was ultimate trust for the general public, for doctors, teachers. There was no concept of like, don't listen to these authority figures because they might not be good people. So Jennifer is confused. I mean, what is going on? I'm supposed to trust this guy. I want to believe him. But there is just something so off about him.

13:28He doesn't feel like a police officer. So she tells him, well, can I see your gun and badge then? I don't have my gun or badge with me right now. what? Jennifer was confused but she looks up and right at that moment she sees that they're driving past her grandparents house so Elaine's parents house they live nearby and she's eagerly telling him oh that's my grandparents like you should drop me off here you need to drop me off because they can help me if you're a police officer and you took me because I'm in danger you need to drop me off with my grandparents he didn't stop driving and Jennifer realized if he was a police officer surely he would have taken her to a trusted family member's house right This is the moment that Jennifer started to believe that she was being kidnapped.

14:10But she didn't just panic. She was quick on her feet. She remembered looking at him and repeating in her head, glasses, mustache, yucky hair, scar on face. Suddenly, the car stops moving and Jennifer pops her head up and she sees that the stranger pulled into the parking lot of her elementary school. Did he know it was her school? Did he pull into the lot by chance? I don't know. But he tells her and it's very strange. he tells her, look out the window at the moon. When the moon changes colors, your mom will meet us here to pick you up. Mind you, Jennifer has never seen the colors of the moon change before, so what is he even saying?

14:47She tries to stay hopeful, though, and she stares out the window, just waiting for the headlights to approach. But they never approach. I mean, it felt like an eternity that she's waiting for her mom. Later, it's suspected that he was using this time to psych himself up for what he was about to do next. he kept offering her to eat some candy but jennifer knew better she's like no way absolutely not a stranger giving me candy nope and she starts trying to think of a way out because it was clear to her that there's no headlights coming her mom's not coming this man's not a police officer and even if he was that would have been scarier she realized she was in extreme serious danger he starts driving the car again and he goes down this gravel road while he tells her well your mom's not coming.

15:33Jennifer's trying to self-soothe because while this is happening she has no idea what's going on. She doesn't even know what this man would want with an eight-year-old little girl. She tries not to panic and she makes it her mission to just remember everything. She remembers seeing cigarettes, Marlboros, the red and gold ones, empty beer cans, bottles. She remembers all of this and then finally the car turns off and the man pulls her out into this overground field with tall grass. He lunges for her throat and holds a knife up to it. Am I scaring you little girl? Am I scaring you? She said he dropped the knife and started choking her over and over and over again.

16:12She was completely blacked out and when she came to he would choke her again and she would black out and it felt like he was trying to kill her. It didn't even feel like he was just trying to strangle her but he was full-on trying to snap her neck. That's how she felt. She lost consciousness again. And during these times, we later find out that she was brutally assaulted. And the next thing that she felt was her body being dragged through the field by her ankles. She was barely able to stay awake at this point, let alone even fight back or even move or talk. She felt him drop her legs and walk off.

16:45He had already slit her throat at this point. His car door slammed and he drove off, just leaving her in the field for dead. any time that she woke up and tried to figure out what the hell was going on, she would fade out into unconsciousness again. She said, I would come in and out of consciousness and every time I would come to, I would just be in disbelief that I hadn't died yet. Now, before she knew it, the sun was rising and it's the next day already. Jennifer could feel all of these little stings and nips all over her little body and she felt these things crawling and biting her and she tries screaming for help.

17:18But that's when she discovers that big gaping wound, basically a hole in her neck. Her hand was covered in blood. Anytime she tried to hold her neck together, whether from shock or pain or from loss of blood, she would just drift back into darkness. This kept happening all day long. So that's what she was doing all night long into the morning, then all day long until early evening rolls around. And this time she could hear passing cars on the road. She tried to turn her head to see if she could make out these cars, but all she saw was them driving past in the distance she can move she can't scream and at this point she said she just felt exhausted just tired she felt like she had been fighting for so long it had been at least 14 hours since the man dragged her into the field completely naked on top of a fire ant hill beaten bitten and her neck slit i mean she just wanted rest Jennifer said she felt this kind of peace in this moment like a wave of peace she wasn't afraid anymore she didn't care about the cars that were driving past anymore she didn't care to try and move or scream she didn't even care that there was nearby voices in the field she just felt very peaceful at just eight years old Jennifer was dying and she closed her eyes one last time thinking it would surely be the last time.

18:45I imagine she thought about her mom or her friends from school or I don't know but speaking of her friends from school it felt like she could hear them right now or at least she could hear people right now like young little kids playing in the field and those voices started coming closer and closer to Jennifer and she could make out the sound of a young girl giggling and running through the field laughing with her friends. These weren't Jennifer's friends, but they were all very close in age. That little girl ran, giggling, not a care in the world, until she tripped over Jennifer's limp foot. Wow, that is crazy.

19:21Jennifer remembers the girl's little voice turning into multiple voices that become louder and louder, and it felt like there was a whole commotion over her. She tried to wake up, and all she could see was a police officer, which was probably traumatizing. But this one was in uniform and they told her, you've been found. You're going to be okay. Stay with us. Just please stay with us.

19:49Sharon McBride is a pediatric ICU nurse. She clocked in for her night shift and she starts reviewing her patients charts and her heart drops. She was assigned to a room with an eight-year-old girl, which is the same age as her own daughter, which is always hard for Sharon. But the alarming part about this was that there was a police escort stationed in front of this 8-year-old girl's room. That could only mean two things when police and pediatrics are involved. It's either child abuse or juvenile offender. Sharon asks around and she gets filled in on what happened and decides it is her mission for however long it takes to make sure that Jennifer heals and gets out of this hospital stronger than before.

20:29The doctors and nurses inform Sharon that Jennifer was airlifted to the hospital via helicopter and everyone thought that she was going to die. Her chance of survival was slim to none, practically non-existent. Her skin was completely pale, drained of all color and blood. Her body was covered in ant bites. I mean, every single surface area of her body was bitten by fire ants. She had contusions that indicated that she had been beaten. And of course, doctors speculated essay because she was found unclothed in a field with intense scratches on her back. Jennifer was in and out of consciousness and the only part of her body that she could control at the time were her eyes.

21:10She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She just had these, she has these piercing blue eyes that are beautiful and she's staring at the doctors. She's so, so scared. I mean, the whites of her eyes were bloodshot to the point of being a thick opaque color. so think just red and blue in her eye and this is so heart-wrenching but the doctors noticed that anytime a male doctor or a male nurse or any male staffer would come anywhere near her eyes would widen and panic reaffirming their belief that something horrendous had happened before she was left for dead her mom wasn't allowed in the room because they're performing life-saving treatments and they can't risk a parent intervening so they need to focus all their attention on saving Jennifer.

21:54The hospital decides female doctors and nurses would be taking the lead when Jennifer is conscious and they would be reassuring her that she was safe and nobody was going to hurt her. She's rushed into the OR and Jennifer was put to sleep once more and they called this a ENT specialist. So ENT, eyes, nose, throat, right? Or ears, nose, throat. And because Jennifer's trachea had been slashed in half. That's why she couldn't scream. I mean, it was a genuine miracle that this laceration on her neck missed all of the major blood vessels. If the knife had gone any deeper or had cut any wider, it would have resulted in practically instant death in that field because all the vital blood vessels in that neck, she would have bled out instantly.

22:35Wow. So yeah, the doctor's work to ensure her airway is intact and that the bleeding has stopped, but it's, it's not a day to celebrate. Like it's not a good day. Every single medical professional in that OR knew that Jennifer would never be able to speak again. The trauma to her throat was so extensive, it slashed her voice box, her vocal cords were slashed in half. There was just no way. So being caught up to speed, Sharon was adamant that she was going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Jennifer feels safe. Nurse Sharon. She's not going to allow anyone to re-traumatize this young girl.

23:11Sharon would slip into the room and watch Jennifer even when she slept. and she just could feel all these tears threatening to come out because all she can think about is her daughter at home. Like, who is doing this to someone this young? Sharon was a seasoned nurse, though. Whenever she was scared or emotional, she never let it show. She said, standing there looking at Jennifer, the fact that this little eight-year-old girl had suffered something like this horrendous trauma, my heart aches for her. What on earth was her life going to be like now? How was this going to affect the rest of her life?

23:48So no matter what Jennifer was doing, Sharon was always in her room. Even if she was sleeping, even if she was eating, Sharon literally never left her side. Jennifer's mom was also allowed to be there now. And she was beside herself with grief and anger. She had woken up the next morning to get ready for work. She slowly opened Jennifer's door, expecting her to still be fast asleep. But instead, her bed was empty. Jennifer was nowhere to be seen and the window was wide open. She called 911 and she had not stopped searching for Jennifer until she got the call that she was in the hospital. And now, just like Nurse Sharon, she's not going to leave Jennifer's side.

24:25Sharon quickly becomes one of the first few people that Jennifer trusted. So Jennifer later said that she was very difficult to deal with in the hospital, which I don't agree with it, but she said, you know, I had a lot of male doctors. I was scared of men now. And side note, the man who assaulted her told her he was a police officer. And she said, I learned in school that police were good. The man that hurt me said he was a police officer and he hurt me really, really bad. So in my eyes, who's to say that these doctors can be trusted? Like at that point, everyone was a suspect in my book. At one point, she even kicked one of the male stomachs in the doctor to get him away from her.

25:01And she was just in this constant state of fear and panic in the hospital, which is not good for your recovery. Now, just to clarify in case I forgot to mention, Jennifer was able to move now after her operation. She was actually never paralyzed in a sense. It was just fear, pain, and trauma that prevented her from moving because her body went into ultimate survival mode. So she's like kicking these male doctors, which a lot of them were not offended. They just felt like it was good. It's improvement in her situation. It's her recovering. She's got strength. She's a fighter. Even just looking into the mirror, though, was traumatic for Jennifer.

25:38one of her uncles brought her this tinkerbell makeup set as a gift while she was in the hospital and that's how she saw herself for the first time she saw blood vessels were bursting in the whites of her eyes and she just said she felt so so ugly that little girl that she saw in the mirror she's like i don't know who that girl is that's not me i mean it must have been so alienating and disorienting for her like her reflection was a literal stranger so jennifer's mom and nurse Sharon, they would be pivotal in catching whoever did this to Jennifer. This is in Dickinson, Texas. Like I said, very, very small community.

26:13The police are like, we need to catch who did this to Jennifer before everybody starts freaking the fork out and we don't have much to go off of. So right now we've got Jennifer's pajamas that were found in the field. We've got a blue men's t-shirt and a pair of men's underwear that was also discarded nearby in the field where Jennifer was found. But at this point in time, I know you're like looking at me like, that's amazing. that's all you need. In this point in time, DNA evidence was not specific enough to ID a suspect with such a small sample. Like DNA back then, you would need like a blood sample.