The Dark Son is about a young man name Matthew Heikkila,who was tried and convicted of murdering his adopted parents. Matthew was a troubled child. He had been adopted by Richard and Dawn Heikkila not long after birth. Because he was adopted, Matthew felt that his brother Josh, who was the Heikkila�s biological son, was loved more then he was. This was far from true.
The Heikkilas did everything for Matthew. They knew that he had problems and needed to get help for them, which they tried to do. Matthew had been put in the Carrier Foundation more then once to try to get him the help that he needed. They stood by Matthew no matter what he did. No matter what Richard and Dawn did to help Matthew is just never seemed to work. But both Richard and Dawn were scared of Matthew and many people knew this. But who knew that Matthew would end up killing the two people who loved him the most.
On the afternoon of January 29, 1991, Dawn Heikkila arrived home from her job as a real estate broker. When she entered the house it was quiet and dark. It looked as if there was no one home. This relieved Dawn, because this meant that she adopted son Matthew had already gone out and she would not have to worry about him becoming upset at her for something. Just a few minutes after she entered the house and began to relax Dawn found out that she was not home alone. She adopted son Matthew appeared behind her with a shotgun and aimed it at his mother's head. Two seconds later Dawn was lying dead on the floor with parts of her head scattered around the room. She most likely did not even see her son behind her.
Approximately 30 minutes later Dawn�s husband Richard Heikkila arrived home. He to thought that Matthew had gone out because the house was dark. But when he pulled into the garage and noticed that his wife�s car he knew someone was home. When Richard entered the house he was greeted by his adopted son Matthew with a shotgun in his hand. Richard�s first thoughts were of his wife. Matthew told him that his wife was in the cellar and for him to go down there with her. As Richard started down the stairs, Matthew once again fired the shotgun and blew his fathers head off too. In just a short time Matthew had killed both of his parents with a single shot to each of their heads.
Matthew still believed he had to kill one more person before his killing spree would be complete. By killing this last person Matthew thought that his life could be happy. The person whom Matthew still had to kill was his girlfriend, Linda Perez. January 29 was Linda�s birthday. This was going to be a special night for Linda and her boyfriend Matthew had something special planned for her. Matthew had made plans to take her to New York City�s Windows on the World Restaurant. Before leaving his house to pick up Linda, Matthew stole his father�s credit cards and his mother's car. Matthew could not finish his steak dinner because it was reminding him of what he had done at his house earlier that evening. After dinner Matthew took Linda back to his house to give her the birthday present he had gotten her. Once at the house, Matthew informed Linda that is would be her last night alive. He showed her what he had done to his mother and told her that his father was dead too. Matthew promise that the same would come of her by the end of the night. Linda could not sleep a wink that night. She was handcuffed to Matthew so she could not get away from him.
In the morning when Matthew woke up, Linda managed to talk Matthew into not killing her and the two of them running away together. Matthew had decided that they would go to Jamaica. Before they could leave Linda had to stop at here mother�s apartment to get her passport. Once at the apartment, Linda�s mother, Estelle Perez, would not let her daughter leave with Matthew. Finally, after a few minutes of arguing, Matthew left the apartment. Before leaving to go to Jamaica, Matthew called Linda and told her that if she went to the police and told them what happened he would kill her.
On January 30, the day after the killings, co-workers of both Richard and Dawn received phone calls from Matthew telling them that his parents had to go to Josh�s college because Josh had been in a serious car accident. Karen Jackson, a co-worker of Dawn, had decided to check into the story Matthew had told her office on the phone. When she called Josh�s college and found out that he wad fine and that he had not spoken to his parents in a few days she began to worry. This was all that Karen needed to go to the police and have them check out the Heikkila�s house. The police agreed to check out the house. Once they had gained access to the house, they found the remains of Richard and Dawn Heikkila.
Matthew fled to Jamaica to avoid being arrested for murdering his parents. Matthew told everyone he meet in Jamaica that his parents were killed by a mugger in New York City. He made many friends with this story because people felt sorry for him because of his loss. While in Jamaica, Matthew used his father�s credit cards to get cash to buy all that he needed. Because he was using his father�s credit cards it made it easier for the police to find him.
On February 4, 1991, Matthew Heikkila was arrested in Jamaica. Once arrested, Matthew was questioned about the murders of his parents. While in the custody of the Jamaican police, Matthew�s story change frequently. One moment he would say he didn�t remember anything and the next he could give you the exact details down to the second. Captain Anthony Bucarey of the Somerset Police Department, who went to Jamaica to aid in the arrest of Matthew, read Matthew his Miranda rights and had him sign a card stating that he was read and understood his rights. A FBI agent was sent to Jamaica to extradite Matthew back to the United States to stand trial for the murder of his parents.
Once back in the United States, Matthew was held in the Somerset County Jail. From the moment he arrived there, he began a letter writing campaign to Linda Perez, Prosecutor Nicholas Bissell, an ex-girlfriend Melanie (who had gotten pregnant by Matthew just previous to the murders), his brother Josh, Captain Burcarey, many members of the media, and many others. After Matthew�s arraignment, many lawyers were asked to take his case and all refused. Matthew finally ended up with two defense lawyers from the public defenders office, Michael Shale and Neill Hamilton. Shale would defend Matthew during the trial and Hamilton would represent Matthew during the penalty phase.
During the trial, the prosecution presented all they evidence that they had collected to prove Matthew committed the murders. Some of the evidence the prosecution entered was, the statements taken from Matthew in Jamaica, a video tape of the crime scene, the shotgun used in the killings, two shotgun shells, and the letters Matthew had been writing. The two shotgun shells that the police found at the crime scene where labeled by Matthew. He had labeled one with the word �Mom� and the other with �Dad.� He had also hollowed the shells out for a bigger effect.
The video shown to the jury was taken before any evidence was removed from the house. As the video was being played, Sergeant William Armstrong narrated it. The video showed the placement of the bodies and how pieces of their heads had been scattered from the blast of the shotgun.
There were over 200 letters collected by the prosecution that Matthew had written during the pretrial and trial phase. All mail that Matthew sent out had to go through the prosecutors office before going out to their recipients. But Matthew got around this because he would have other inmates or friends that came to visit mail out his letters of torture. Because of this not all the letters written to people were collected.
The Defense only had one witness, Dr. Harry Brunt. Dr. Brunt examined Matthew three times prior to the trial. Those examinations where on March 5, and March 21, 1991 and on January 8, 1992. After the three meetings with Matthew, Dr. Brunt believed that Matthew could not distinguish between right and wrong at the time he committed the murders. Dr. Brunt was the only doctor the defense had to support their not guilty by reason on insanity (NGRI) defenses. According to Brunt, Matthew has a mental illness, disease or defect (example: depression). Because of the defect it was impossible for Matthew to have known what he was doing or what he was doing was illegal at the time of the killings. The defense had a hard time proving this because Matthew, against what his lawyers told him, continually sent letters to the media telling them what exactly happened on January 29, 1991. Not only were the letters explaining what happened on that night sent to the media but one was also sent to the prosecution.
Judge Michael Imbriani, who has had Matthew in his courtroom previous to this incident, read the charge to the jury and sent them out for deliberation on December 4, 1992, at 11:25 a.m. At 4:10 p.m. on that same day, only three hours and forty-five minutes later, the jury had reached their verdict. Matthew Heikkila was charged with six counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, one count of terrorist threats, one count robbery and two weapon charges, a total of 12 charges against him. He was found guilty on all charges. Now it was up to the same jury to decided whether or not Matthew should receive the death penalty for the killing of his parents.
During the penalty phase, the defense had planned on using his adoption as the cause for the killings. They brought in Dr. David Kirschner to testify on Matthew�s behalf. Kirschner, who had coined a phrase �Adopted Child Syndrome� (ACS), was the key to the defenses strategy. According to Kirschner the adoption is the root of the problem for most child who are adopted and brought to therapy for reasons other then their adoption. ACS is found in ten percent of adopted children, but not all of that ten percent will turn out to be violent. ACS describes an adopted child as having feeling of not belonging and a lack of identity. Children who have ACS also tend to have a feeling of rejection from family and friends because they are adopted. The feeling of rejection tends to trigger the violent nature of the child. According to Kirschner this is what triggered the want to kill in Matthew. The prosecution did not buy this defense on the fact that �Adopted Child Syndrome� is not in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. After the jury heard all the testimony on ACS, the next part would be for Matthew to decide whether or not he was going to testify. At the advise of his attorneys, Matthew did not testify.
On January 14, 1993, the first thing the jury was once again read the charge and left for the deliberation room. At 4:15 p.m. on the same day the jury was back in the courtroom with their decision. Matthew Heikkila was sentenced to two consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole in sixty years. At the time this book was published the Matthew Heikkila case had not yet been brought up on appeal. The appeals would not be heard until 1995.
Matthew�s brother Josh refuses to have any contact with Matthew or anyone who reminds him of the case. Matthew�s grandparents are split on their feelings when it comes to Matthew. His adapted maternal grandparents have forgiven him for the crime and now visit him and accept phone calls from him. Where his adopted paternal grandparents have not been able to forgive. His paternal grandmother�s blood pressure never went down after the murder of her son and daughter-in-law and eventually killed her. His grandfather was quoted as saying after her death �Matthew has claimed another victim.
The Matthew Heikkila story is one of the first cases I remember hearing about where the defendant was a juvenile. As I read the book, it disturbed me that someone could kill anyone that loved them so much that they would adopt the person. But it seems like every other day when I look in the newspaper another juvenile is committing a violent crime. Just recently in Colorado, two teens decided to go on a killing spree in their high school. And that was not the first time that a student has gone on a killing spree in the school he attended. Criminal violence in teens is escalating to a high that it has never reached before.
The Dark Son is a book about an adopted child, Matthew Heikkila, who felt because he was not loved by his parents that he needed to kill them. He was so filled with hate that he never saw that what he felt was the opposite of what everyone who knew him was feeling. Richard and Dawn Heikkila loved both of their sons. But one of their sons turned that love into a reason to kill.
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