Money was tight.
So tight that my partner Darin and I were renting a single room in our friend Steve’s house.
We had our three-year-old daughter, Brittany, with us too, so it was a bit of a squeeze.
Luckily, her smile and laughter always made everything better.
‘We’ll get our own place soon,’ I promised her, as we desperately tried to save as much of Darin’s construction job salary as possible.
Steve had a way of taking in waifs and strays, and soon his friend Chuck Johnson, 24, had moved in too.
He’d fallen on hard times and as soon as Steve had heard he was living in his car, he was having none of it.
I tried to be as kind to Chuck as Steve was, but I struggled to warm to him.
My daughter Brittany (pictured) was three years old when we moved in with our friend Steve and his roommate Chuck Johnson
Her smile and laughter always made everything better
And when Brittany said she wasn’t keen either, I really took notice. Three-year-olds don’t dislike people without good reason!
One night, when Darin and Steve were out, Chuck tried to make conversation with me in the kitchen.
While he chatted, Brittany walked past in her undies and Chuck flipped out.
‘Cover her up. She’s walking around naked!’ he snapped.
I didn’t see what business it was of his, but I was nonetheless shaken. I put a nightgown on Brittany and tucked her into bed.
Early next morning, she wandered into our bedroom.
‘It’s too early, Brittany,’ Darin groaned. ‘Get in with us or go watch cartoons.’
She left and we drifted back to sleep.
A couple of hours later, we were woken by a loud thud.
We woke up to find Brittany (pictured with me) missing
I could never warm to Chuck Johnson (pictured) and even though Brittany was only three, she didn’t like him either
Thinking Brittany must have knocked something over, Darin got up to investigate.
By the time I was up and dressed, he’d checked her bedroom and the bathroom.
There was no sign of Brittany.
Steve was up now and he and Darin were checking the garden.
‘Have you seen Brittany?’ I heard Darin ask Chuck. ‘She was watching cartoons 20 minutes ago,’ he replied.
We looked everywhere, all over the house, up and down the street – there was no sign of her.
But we still hadn’t checked Chuck’s room, so I knocked on his door.
‘Go away, I’ll be out in a minute,’ he barked. When he eventually emerged from his room, he just stormed out of the house.
I decided to call the police there and then, minutes later, officers arrived and started searching the house while we waited in the front yard.
Suddenly, a bunch of cops stampeded outside. ‘We need to go to the hospital,’ I overheard one of them saying.
I didn’t see anything as they hustled me and Darin into the police car and rushed us to the hospital, too.
When we arrived, I begged to see my daughter but they wouldn’t let me. Eventually, a doctor came to see me.
‘I’m so sorry, but your daughter has died,’ they said.
I collapsed in Darin’s arms. I was beyond devastated.
We still had absolutely no idea what had happened until we called Steve. ‘The police found Brittany in Chuck’s wardrobe,’ he told us.
My blood ran cold.
‘No!’ I cried, utterly distraught. Those officers running out of the house must have been carrying Brittany.
It dawned on me that when I knocked on Chuck’s door, he must’ve been in the process of hiding her body.
Then a more horrifying thought struck me: the loud thud that woke us… it was Brittany fighting for her life.
We weren’t allowed to see or touch Brittany at first because she was considered evidence.
Soon, Chuck was charged with murder.
Police told us he’d strangled her with her baby blanket, while putting pressure on her chest and neck.
At his trial, Chuck denied murdering Brittany, claiming he had found her in his wardrobe, her face covered by a black plastic rubbish bag.
He said he panicked and covered her with clothes and a toolbox.
The coroner testified it had taken two to three minutes of sustained pressure to kill Brittany. To demonstrate, the prosecutor held a doll around its neck for three minutes.
In the silent courtroom, it felt like an eternity.
Chuck was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life.
Time passed and I married again and had four more children, but obviously nothing could bring Brittany back.
Then, 16 years after she was killed, I was notified Chuck was eligible for parole and had applied. Thankfully, he didn’t get it and multiple other failed attempts followed.
But the idea that he will be out one day after what he did still terrifies me.
