Let Me Tell You A Story

Fact V

Candace Newmaker

Candace was adopted. And it was her fraught relationship with her adoptive mother which led to one of the strangest murders of the modern age. Candace was killed during a therapy session, designed to make her as though she was being born again.

Candace was adopted at the age of five. She'd been born Candace Tiara Elmore. Her father was violent; her mother was only a teenager. Although they loved Candace, they struggled to provide for her. The home was chaotic and, like many unfortunate children, she was put up for adoption. Candace bounced around families, living in numerous trailer parks. That changed when Jeane Newmaker entered the picture. 

Jeane was 42-years-old and unmarried. A nurse in her professional life, she promised Candace a better future. Unlike Candace's six foster homes, Jeane represented stability. At first, everything seemed to be going well. The adoption had made Candace just like every other girl her age.

Yet, according to Newmaker, Candace was anything but a sweetheart and had problems. Newmaker remembers a litany of psychological issues, all of which made her difficult to control. Jeane confided in friends that her newly-adopted daughter was 'assaultive' and she considered her to be a 'handful'. She flew into furious flashes of anger tantrums which could last for hours. Candace started fires in her home.

At some point, she may even have sexually assaulted two other children. Jeane struggled to deal with the difficult child. She told friends how Candace would tear down a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf or smash ornamental glass horses. The little girl was 'extremely defensive and extremely negative.'.

To the teachers at Candace's school, however, it was a different story. They remembered a little girl who was not particularly bad-behaved. Candace was much like other girls her age. But Jeane was determined to do something about her adopted daughter.

After consulting with medical experts, she decided that a course of mood-altering drugs would help Candace settle into her home life. When the drugs didn't work, Jeane looked for more extreme solutions. She believed Candace suffered from Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). At the time, it was an increasingly-common diagnosis, especially in adoption situations. But to this day, RAD sparks disagreements in the medical community on how to treat the condition. For some doctors, there is even the suggestion that the condition doesn't exist at all. They suggest RAD is a medical excuse for poor parenting. The treatment for RAD is a holding therapy.

It involves a child laying across their parents' lap or being contained or held. Typically, this causes the child to become angry. When this happens, the parent tightens their grip. The aim is to show the child that there is always someone who can control them, while simultaneously helping them to feel safe. It's a controversial therapy for a controversial diagnosis.

For Jeane Newmaker, desperate to control her troubled daughter, it was the only option. The home of this controversial therapy is Evergreen, a town in Colorado. In April 2000, Jean took Candace to visit a therapist to try and bring her behaviour under control. They signed up for a two-week course. According to the advertising material, the child would be 'reborn' after.

The therapy involved three-hour 'rebirthing' sessions. During these sessions, children were told to "imagine yourself as a teeny baby inside your mother's womb and what it felt like.". The sessions were recorded on videotape. On tape, Candace talks to one of the therapists, Connell Watkins. She tells the adults that she remembers a time when she was dropped from a two-storey window. She remembers a dream from the previous night, in which she was murdered by her mother. Candace says she wants to feel safe.

The adults authorised a 'rebirth'. A 'rebirth encourages children to feel like a newborn. That means crying, screaming, and making noises like a newborn baby. At the same time, the child wriggles out of the blanket which is held down by the therapists and parents. The blanket represents the birth canal. 

"You're going through the birth canal," they told Candace on tape. "While you're in the womb, you'll have plenty of air to breathe.". Candace is in a room with four adults, including Jeane. Candace weighs 70 pounds, while the adults weigh almost 700. The little girl crawls beneath the blanket, doing as she is told. The adults begin to apply pressure. Ever the precocious youngster, Candace says to whoever is pressing on to her head, "It's not helping.". The adults shift and the session continues.

Candace is under the blanket. "I can't do it," she calls. "I can't breathe.". However, the adults keep applying pressure. Candace was meant to feel as though they were in control. "I'm going to die," Candace shouts a few minutes later. The adults keep their pressure on the blanket, telling her to wriggle free along the fake birth canal.

"Please, please stop pushing," the ten-year-old begs. "I can't breathe.". The adults keep their weight in place. "I'm dying," Candace shouts through the folds of the blanket. "I'm sorry!".

"You want to die?" one therapist asks. "Go ahead, die right now.". They don't let up. They keep the pressure on the blanket, trapping the girl beneath.

Ten minutes pass.

Twenty minutes pass.

Candace calls out again, says that she struggling for oxygen. She needs to use the restroom. She begs. She pleads. But the adults don't let up.

Jeane and the therapists are determined to make the session work. They call her a "twerp" and a "quitter.". Finally, they ask if Candace wants to be reborn. "No," comes the muted answer. Then, there is nothing but silence from under the blanket.

The adults continue, keeping the pressure on the blanket and taunting the child. They try to get her to wriggle free, to be born again. But there's a problem.

The little girl has stopped moving.

Eventually, they rip back the pink blanket. Candace is beneath, her skin blue. An ambulance is called. Candace is rushed to the hospital and put on life support. Before the morning arrived, she dies from a brainstem herniation and cerebral oedema, brought on by mechanical asphyxiation. She had told the adults elven times that she was going to die.

The state pressed charges. Candace death was described as a tragedy, as was her life. As a result of her death, a law was passed -named Candace's Law- which outlawed rebirthing as a treatment in Colorado. Jeane Newmaker was charged with a litany of crimes, as were the therapist. With everything caught on tape, the trials didn't take long. They were all sent to prison.