i said, i have a gun. he s laughing at me telling me i m a coward and i m never, ever going to tell anybody. so he s taunting you, saying you don t have the courage to shoot me. taunting me. calling me, you know, a bitch and telling me what a rotten person i am. screaming at me. and, in that moment of fear, ellen says, she pulled the trigger. not once, not twice, but repeatedly. i emptied the gun. i had never been so afraid in my life. he turned around and ran way from you. he did. and you kept shooting. i did. he just turned and i ran and i kept shooting. how far did he get? ten feet. then what happened? then he fell down. elizabeth, mike and ellen s 6-year-old daughter, was fast asleep in the bedroom. she didn t wake up. but ellen s son michael, 17, was in his bedroom and he did.
he was calling 911. i told him, just hang up, michael. and he hung up. and he hung up. and i sat down on the step waiting for the police to come. but the police never did show. i covered him up. i told michael to get ready for school. i told him, i shot mike, you need to just go to school. how was michael doing at this point? i thought he was doing okay. but evidently michael was not okay. he skipped school that day and he told his friend patrick about the horror he had gone through. did you talk to him about this? or from the first minute that this happened did this sort of become the thing you re not talking about? right. we never talked about it. once you said to him, i shot mike, go to school? we didn t talk about it. later, with michael and elizabeth at school, ellen planned to move the body into the garage, but there was a problem. trying to get him situated to where i could get him a board under him to move him into the garage. and you couldn t do i
but evidently michael was not okay. he skipped school that day and he told his friend patrick about the horror he had gone through. did you talk to him about this? or from the first minute that this happened did this sort of become the thing you re not talking about? right. we never talked about it. once you said to him, i shot mike, go to school? we didn t talk about it. later, with michael and elizabeth at school, ellen planned to move the body into the garage, but there was a problem. trying to get him situated to where i could get him a board under him to move him into the garage. and you couldn t do it alone. i couldn t do it alone. so you asked your son. so i asked my son. yep. you asked michael to help you move the body. yes. he didn t want to.
i emptied the gun. i had never been so afraid in my life. he turned around and ran way from you. he did. and you kept shooting. i did. he just turned and i ran and i kept shooting. how far did he get? ten feet. then what happened? then he fell down. elizabeth, mike and ellen s 6-year-old daughter, was fast asleep in the bedroom. she didn t wake up. but ellen s son michael, 17, was in his bedroom and he did. he was calling 911. i told him, just hang up, michael. and he hung up. and he hung up. and i sat down on the step waiting for the police to come. but the police never did show. i covered him up. i told michael to get ready for school. i told him, i shot mike, you need to just go to school. how was michael doing at this point? i thought he was doing okay.
she worried most about her children. her then 16-year-old daughter elizabeth was a high school junior. she was only six when her father disappeared from her life. you told lying to her. what did she say? she was most concerned about losing her mom. she s been to see me every week. she is such a remarkable young woman. she loves me. but ellen says the greatest regret of her life was putting her son michael in the middle of a coverup. you said that you always looked out for him and he always looked out for you. i didn t do such a good job. you didn t. he s such a remarkable man. i know you wish you d shielded him from that. yep. i get the feeling you have way more regret about that than about what happened. absolutely.