Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS)

Trial for a Paradise Cove survivor starts.

(1/16) > >>

Oscar:
Son's trial begins in `hit' on parents, by David Ovalle and Mara Rudolph BY DAVID OVALLE AND MARA RUDOLPH,  Miami Herald, July 8, 2010

Ursus:
The Miami Herald
Posted on Thursday, 07.08.10

Son's trial begins in 'hit' on parents

Christopher Sutton is accused of dispatching a hit man to kill his parents in their luxury Coral Gables home in 2004. His mother died and his father was blinded.

BY DAVID OVALLE AND MARA RUDOLPH
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

It began as a murder mystery: In the black of night, a mysterious assassin slipped into a luxurious Coral Gables house, pumping a volley of bullets into wealthy lawyer John Sutton and his wife Susan.

The investigation ended, a Miami-Dade prosecutor told jurors Wednesday, with the unraveling of a murder plot fueled by greed, hate and revenge -- planned by the Suttons' own son.

Accused of a twisted tale worthy of a Greek tragedy, Christopher Sutton finally went to trial Wednesday, six years after he was charged with masterminding the plan that left his mother dead and his father blind.

Enraged that his parents shipped him off to an abusive boarding school in Western Samoa -- and standing to inherit his father's wealth -- Sutton seethed for years, complaining often to his girlfriend, prosecutor Carin Kahgan told jurors.

"How his parents had taken two years of his life. How his parents deserved to pay. How he could find someone to kill his parents,'' Kahgan said. "Like a broken record, on and on and over and over.''

Sutton, 31, is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. Seated in the audience for the next few weeks will be his father, John Sutton -- no stranger to courtrooms, he is still a practicing civil attorney even though blind.

During the trial, prosecutors will paint the picture of a black-sheep son bent on vengeance and money who dispatched his friend, Garrett Kopp, to kill his parents.

The defense will portray Kopp as the sole culprit, shifting blame to Sutton to avoid a harsh sentence.

Defense attorney Bruce Fleisher, in his opening statement, said Kopp broke into the Sutton house while in a drug-influenced stupor, looking for cash and narcotics.

"He was doing a lot of drugs. He needed drugs to use, needed drugs to sell, and he needed money,'' Fleisher said of Kopp. "He knew where to get them because Chris kept things at his parents' house.''

Kopp knew the layout of the house because, as Sutton's pal, he had visited the home before. Surprised by Susan and John Sutton, Kopp shot the couple and escaped, Fleisher said.

Sutton is facing life in prison.

The shooting was initially a whodunit.

In dramatic prose, Kahgan laid out the shooting that took place about 10:30 p.m. Aug. 22, 2004, at the house on the 4700 block of Orduna Drive.

"Shrouded in black, the gunman left his car and headed out in the stillness of a Sunday night down the tree-lined streets of Coral Gables, in the shadow of the country club where he parked his car,'' Kahgan said.

Sutton, Kahgan explained, had earlier taken Kopp on a walk-through of the house.

The dog rarely barked. The back sliding door was never locked.

Kopp wielded a 9mm Glock pistol.

"He was on a mission, a mission to murder John and Susan Sutton,'' Kahgan said.

Shots rang out, cutting down Susan Sutton as she talked on the phone in the master bedroom. Kopp shot John Sutton in the torso and face. Gravely wounded, Sutton called 911.

"I need police and an ambulance,'' he groaned in agony during the emergency call played in court Wednesday.

Kopp escaped. Police swarmed the normally quiet neighborhood.

Suspicion soon fell on Sutton, who when first approached by a Miami--Dade detective, immediately offered up an alibi -- he was at the movies with his girlfriend -- without being asked for one, Kahgan said.

Phone records showed a call from Kopp to Sutton immediately after the shooting.

Shortly after the murder, Kopp was arrested for an unrelated assault case in Homestead, and his gun was confiscated by police. Ballistics tests showed the weapon was the same one used in the Sutton shooting.

Kopp told authorities that Sutton and he planned the crime for months -- Sutton even gave him $50 to buy at Walmart black clothes to wear during the crime, Kahgan said.

In February 2008, Kopp pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to a prison term of 30 years in exchange for testimony against Sutton.

Witnesses also told police Sutton hated his parents for shipping him off to the Paradise Cove program in Western Samoa, a boot camp style program with a history of abuse complaints from participants.

His parents even obtained a court order to ensure he stayed there after he turned 18.

Fleisher downplayed Sutton's anger toward his parents, and disputed the idea that he had any plans to cash in on his father's demise.

"The state says there is a financial motive in this case -- I disagree,'' Fleisher said. "John Sutton and Susan Sutton were very good parents to Chris.''


Copyright 2010 Miami Herald Media Co.

Whooter:
Link to Comments


HenrikKnudsen wrote on 07/08/2010 04:31:26 PM:
The camp was shot down by the authorities in Samoa based on work by the US Consulate. The firm behind the camp did also get camps and school shut down in the Czech republic, Mexico and Costa Rica. When she was a senator, Clinton aided the Jewish community in New York to save a kid from a camp in Jamaica. I have found photo of kids hogtied in dog cages down in Mexico at another camp.

There is no question that such a treatment would create a very sick mind and because I do find the hit on the parents wrong despite their choice of treatment solution, I hope that a guilty verdict will put him in a real hospital for a very long time so he can recover and understand his actions.

miamigal427 wrote on 07/08/2010 04:02:50 PM:
I grew up with the Sutton's younger daughter. Her parents were like my parents throughout my childhood. It breaks my heart over and over again to hear about the case. Mr. Sutton and his daughter are 2 very strong people who deserve the best in life. Chris was always troubled child/teen.I remember his terrible anger fits and abuse His parents loved him very much though. I hope he is given the punishment he deserves.

rosafadul wrote on 07/08/2010 03:41:28 PM:
I haved the pleasure of knowing Mr. Sutton and I can tell you honestly this man is not only the kindest human being but a wonderful and honest lawyer. What he has encountered over the last couple of years, his son should pay. He took the life of his mother and left his father blind. Justice must always prevail even thou it will never bring back Mr. Sutton his sight, his wife and his son. May god bless Mr. Sutton and his family.
 
•   
rbquinn wrote on 07/08/2010 03:38:45 PM:
Christopher is an ungrateful adopted child!

Littlemiss wrote on 07/08/2010 01:48:39 PM:
Wow if his parents obtained a court order to leave him in Samoa till he was 18,the guy must have been really bad to the bone. Poor Damien.

•   
jacksonprivatei wrote on 07/08/2010 01:04:52 PM:
Replying to HenrikKnudsen (07/08/2010 07:34:26 AM):
"Everyone who search for "Paradise Cove" on the Internet will learn about a torment to a degree which you never would be something any parent would impose on their child.

Even 10-15 years later the survivors of this place is tormented by nightmares and they will have to live with it the rest...":
Oh really ? You have no idea what this SON put them through. I wouldn't judge unless you knew the whole story.
•   
dee65 wrote on 07/08/2010 11:15:44 AM:
Having children is the luck of the draw some are good, some are bad and some in between. The parents may have made a bad choice in sending their "troubled" child to paradise cove but that is NO excuse for murdering them. He was born a bad seed and probably thought that because he was an only child that his parents "owed" him he could get away with it. Parents don't "owe" anything to their children especially an inheritance, make your money I'll spend mine how I please. Rich or poor kids who kill their parents don't make a distinction between right and wrong, they want to place blame on the parents or society but never themselves. I say give him life, I'm sure right now he's tormented by the fact his friend didn't finish the job and he's father is still living. I hope his father realizes its not anything he may have done some are just bad from the get go.
 
•   

Kopp would testify Mother Teressa hired him to kill the Suttons for 30 years instead of the "needle"!



...

DannyB II:
THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS, have a training school.

wdtony:
I'm surprised this kind of thing doesn't happen more often. It's really sad. The kid suffers, the parents suffer and the program is not held accountable at all.

I guess this program didn't deliver.... can the father sue the program for failing to help his son or has the name and location of the program changed a few times since?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page