Chapter 7 - MARTHA’S DEFENSE
Martha pleaded not guilty initially.
Her defense centered on intent.
Yes, she applied the cast.
Yes, the electronic components were inside.
Yes, Leo developed skin injuries.
But she claimed she never intended harm.
Her attorney suggested Martha suffered from severe health anxiety regarding her children after Emily’s death.
She became overprotective.
Obsessive.
Medically misguided.
The cast, they argued, was an irrational attempt to treat pain Leo reported.
The prosecution responded with searches about pressure sores and infection.
Martha’s attempt to prevent removal.
The nonexistent fracture story.
The antihistamine.
The history of symptom fabrication.
Intent remained contested.
Then investigators recovered deleted messages Martha sent to a private online support group.
The group was for parents of medically complex children.
Martha had presented Leo as chronically ill.
He was not.
She wrote:
We may finally be getting admitted again. His arm is getting worse.
Again.
That word mattered.
Another message:
Sometimes you have to make doctors see how serious things are.
And then:
If his fever climbs tonight, they won’t be able to dismiss me tomorrow.
That was sent before Leo arrived at our ER.
Before his temperature reached 103.8.
She anticipated deterioration.
The defense could still argue she merely recognized signs of infection.
Then came the final message.
I need the cast to stay on until they admit him.
That destroyed the innocent-treatment explanation.
Martha knew removing the cast might expose what was underneath.
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She needed Leo sick enough to require hospitalization.
The medical crisis itself appeared to be the goal.
