The Breaking Point: John Caudle

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Human Wreckage, where we delve
into stories that are not justabout crime but about the hidden
truths beneath it, about thepeople who were silenced and the
ones who finally spoke.
I'm your host, thomas, andtoday we're exploring the deeply
disturbing and haunting case ofJohn Cottle, a 14-year-old boy
from Monte Vista, colorado, whocommitted the unthinkable he

(00:22):
killed his mother and stepfather.
But as with many stories wecover here, this one has layers
of trauma, of silence, ofpowerlessness and, ultimately, a
desperate cry for help that noone heard until it was too late,
october 26, 2009.

(01:10):
It was just another chillyautumn evening in rural Colorado
.
John Cottle had just gottenhome from school.
His mother, joanne Reinbarger,was waiting for him, furious,
angry over chores that hadn'tbeen done.
That day, something brokeinside John, and what followed
would shock not only the quiettown of Monte Vista but the

(01:30):
entire country.
John Cottle was just 14 yearsold, A skinny kid, quiet, a
little awkward.
People who knew him said he waspolite, intelligent, he liked
video games, he got decentgrades.
But the John that the world sawat school wasn't the John who
existed at home.
He was born in Arkansas, raisedby his mother, joanne, who

(01:52):
remarried a man named TracyReinbarger.
From the outside they were aworking-class family living in a
rural home, but inside thathome something far darker was
happening.
According to testimony fromfamily members and friends,
john's home life was a nightmare.
His mother was controlling,abusive and often cruel.
Joanne reportedly called Johnnames like idiot, donkey,

(02:14):
asshole.
She allegedly withheld food,forced him to do physically
exhausting chores like haulingheavy rocks, sometimes as
punishment.
John wasn't allowed to havemany friends.
He didn't have a cell phone.
He didn't go to parties.
He couldn't even eat the foodin the house without permission.
His maternal grandmother saidJoanne was too strict, that John

(02:36):
didn't have anyone to turn to.
And then there was Tracy, thestepfather.
According to John, Tracy didn'thit him, but he didn't protect
him either.
He sided with Joanne.
So what happens to a child whenhe's never safe, when the
people who are supposed toprotect him become the people he
fears?
The day it happened, john hadbeen grounded again for weeks.

(02:58):
That Monday Joanne was yellingat him again about chores, about
his attitude.
She mocked him, called himstupid, told him he was
worthless.
That was the moment John made adecision that would change and
end two lives.
He walked to the family gunsafe.
He took out 2.22 caliberpistols.
He walked back upstairs intothe living room and he shot his

(03:21):
mother Once, then again andagain, nine times in total.
She never got a chance toscream.
Then he waited.
He sat calmly until Tracy camehome.
As Tracy opened the front door,john hid in the laundry room.
When Tracy saw Joanne's body,he screamed, he shouted her name
and that's when John steppedout.

(03:42):
He raised a gun.
He shot Tracy in the head twice.
And when he saw Tracy stillbreathing, still gasping for
life, john stuffed his nostrilswith earplugs, then dragged his
body into the bedroom.
He laid his stepfather next tohis mother, he covered the
bodies with blankets and then hecleaned the house, he did
laundry, he watched TV and thatnight he slept in the same house

(04:06):
with their corpses, only a roomaway.
The next morning John went toschool.
Like that night, he slept inthe same house with their
corpses, only a room away.
The next morning John went toschool Like nothing happened.
Teachers would later say he wascalm, participated in class,
didn't seem nervous.
That afternoon John took hisstepfather's truck and started
driving Alone.
He didn't have a plan.
Police pulled him over forerratic driving.
When they questioned him, johntold them everything Calmly, no

(04:30):
emotion.
When officers searched thehouse, they found the bodies
Covered, peaceful, and theyfound notes John had written.
One of them read I'm sorry foreverything, but I just couldn't
take it anymore.
Prosecutors had a choice to makeTry John as a juvenile or try
him as an adult.
They chose the latter.
Two counts of first-degreemurder.

(04:52):
He was facing the possibilityof life in prison, but John's
defense painted a differentpicture, not of a cold-blooded
killer, but of a child raised inconstant fear, a boy whose mind
had snapped under pressure andcruelty.
After months of deliberation, adeal was struck.
John pled guilty tosecond-degree murder for killing
Tracy and to manslaughter forkilling his mother.

(05:14):
He was sentenced to 22 years inprison, with a concurrent
six-year sentence formanslaughter.
At the time of his sentencing,john Cottle was just 15.
He won't be eligible forrelease until he's in his
mid-30s.
What makes this story sohaunting isn't just the violence
.
It's the silence before it, theyears John lived in a home
where he felt voiceless, wherethe abuse he suffered went

(05:36):
unnoticed, unreported or, worse,accepted In court.
One of John's surrogategrandparents said he was not a
bad child.
He just wanted someone to lovehim.
There's a larger conversation.
This case forces us to haveabout how we treat young people
who commit terrible acts andabout how we miss the warning
signs long before they happen.

(05:56):
How many children like John areout there living in silence,
counting the days untilsomething breaks?
We like to think we can spotevil, that killers are born, not
made, but in stories like JohnCaudill's nothing is black and
white.
Maybe if someone had listened,maybe if someone had asked the
right question, this boywouldn't have become a killer.
Thank you for joining us onHuman Wreckage.

(06:19):
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