The Babysitter from Hell - Christine Falling

Cassidy, the Johnson family's 2-year-old daughter, required a babysitter on February 25, 1980. Various tales circulated regarding Cassidy's parents' plans to go on a date or to work, but regardless of the situation, they need caretaker for their daughter. They so made a call to Christine Falling. Falling was trusted by the Johnsons since she had babysat for them on several occasions.

But the night would not conclude with Falling being paid and going home at the end of the evening. Falling reported to Cassidy's parents that their daughter had unexpectedly become ill and tumbled out of her cot. She was hurried to the emergency room by her parents. Additionally, according to information I uncovered, Cassidy's parents transported her to the emergency room four hours after she started exhibiting severe symptoms. Regretfully, Cassidy's injuries would prove to be fatal.

The official cause of Cassidy's death was encephalitis, or "brain inflammation." Following the autopsy, one doctor concluded that Cassidy's death was due to natural causes; however, a second doctor expressed doubts and informed the authorities that Falling had injured the kid, which may have contributed to Cassidy's death. Falling was questioned by police on the child's unexpected sickness and fall. There was no proof of foul play, just one doctor's concerns, and her narrative didn't vary much (all tales change a bit, even when they are true, because individuals recall or forget facts they offered in the first interview). Falling was made available. Following many weeks, Falling relocated to Lakeland, Florida.

A 911 call was made in Lakeland, Florida, in May of 1980. The caller reported to the operator that the 4-year-old youngster under her supervision had abruptly stopped breathing. Despite their best attempts, the paramedics who were dispatched to the residence were unable to rescue the youngster. Later on, the little child was recognised as Jeffrey Davis, who was four years old. Falling took care of Jeffrey, even though she had only been in the Lakeland region for two months at the time.

The cause of death was identified in the autopsy report as myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart typically caused by a virus. Although this wouldn't normally cause suspicion, the same virus claimed the life of Jeffrey Davis' cousin Joseph Spring, age 2, three days later. Autopsy reports provided this diagnosis.

Falling was reportedly recruited to watch Joseph while his parents attended Jeffrey's burial, according to many accounts. Noticing that Joseph was unconscious and that she was unable to wake him from his snooze, Falling dialled 911 once more.

Relocating to Perry, Florida was Falling's decision in 1981. She accepted a position as William Swindle's housekeeper, aged 77. He was discovered unconscious and slumped on his kitchen floor the day Falling started working for him. After being taken to the hospital immediately, he was declared dead. His cause of death was given as a heart attack, and no autopsy was performed.

Falling went with her stepsister to the doctor a few weeks after Swindle's death. The baby daughter of the stepsister was receiving her immunisations. After that, they made a visit at a store to buy diapers. Falling and the 8-month-old infant remained in the vehicle. She informed her stepsister that the young child had stopped breathing abruptly as she came out. The emergency room declared her dead. It was believed that her death was a result of her immunisations.

Death seemed to follow Falling wherever she went. All of it, though, was intentional.

Christine Falling had already had a full life filled with disease, frustration, and unhappiness by the time she started her homicidal career at the age of seventeen. Looking back, it seems that this uncontrollably drove her to use more and more extreme violence.

Her adoptive parents' last name is Falling. On March 12, 1963, in Perry, Florida, Christine Laverne Slaughter was born. Her mother Ann, who was only sixteen at the time, had already given birth to her elder sister Carol. Thomas, her 65-year-old woodsman father, was a violent and inattentive man by nature.

Frequently, her mother Ann would disappear for several months at a time. Ann's small girls realised that she was constantly pregnant when she returned home. After Christine was born, Ann went on to have two more boys, Michael and Earl, over the course of the next two years. Only Earl was identified by Thomas as his biological kid out of all the children.

At the time, many people in Perry were also quite destitute, including the Slaughters. Thomas took care of the kids while Ann was away by taking them to the woods where he worked. Nevertheless, Ann was compelled to reunite with the family after he had an accident at work. After that, Carol claims Ann essentially abandoned the kids, dropping them off on a bench at a Perry shopping centre. The kids were then often passed around to other family members.

Dolly Falling was unable to become a mother, despite her desire to do so. Within a few years of Christine's birth, her husband Jesse, who was related to the Slaughter children, chose to adopt Carol and Christine.

The two girls' lives in the Fallings' house were precarious. Christine experienced seizures as a result of her epilepsy. She also struggled greatly with development and learning. She was fat, unattractive and had a strangely empty expression in her eyes.

Christine showed concerning personality tendencies from a young age. She would act antisocially and have violent outbursts of rage. She became fascinated, for instance, with tormenting cats. After giving them a chokehold, she would drop them from a height to verify whether they indeed possessed nine lives. Even though she quickly discovered that they didn't, her experiments continued.

As Carol and Christine grew older, they both developed defiant and disruptive behaviour. The daughters were also the victims of physical and sexual abuse by Jesse Falling, but the Fallings both denied this, according to author Madeline Blais in her book "The Heart Is an Instrument."

But the pastor of the church intervened since things were so problematic at the Falling house, and the Fallings decided to send the daughters away.

The girls were taken to an Orlando community called Great Oaks Village. The purpose of this group foster home was to assist mistreated and neglected kids. Although social workers said that Christine was a thief, a compulsive liar, and frequently got into trouble for attention alone, Christine subsequently remarked on how much she had liked her stint there.

However, Falling already had an eerie predisposition towards odd and aggressive behaviour. Torturing and murdering cats to see whether they truly possessed nine lives was one of her favourite past times.

Numerous studies, including one conducted in Romania, have examined the connections between animal abuse and subsequent, more severe crimes. Independent News reported on the study's findings, which indicated that youths who believed it was typical to witness homeless animals being mistreated or put to death were more likely to injure themselves or consider suicide. International Animal Torture and Cruelty (IATC) offences often start in infancy or adolescence, according to the US Department of Justice (USDOJ). It states that while it is frequently a sign of fury, it may also be used to threaten and dominate other people.

According to the USDOJ, studies have linked bullying, hostility, school shootings, and sexual abuse to animal mistreatment. The perpetrator often does it to feel in charge of something defenceless and helpless to fight back.

The social workers' records also revealed that Jesse Falling had been arrested twice for molesting Carol. A hung jury resulted from the first arrest, and Dolly Falling withdrew the charges in the second instance.

The girls were sent back to the Fallings after a year in the sanctuary. The physical violence persisted, but there was no sexual abuse this time. The last incident occurred in October 1975, when Christine was accused of receiving a violent beating from Jesse for being late by ten minutes. Additionally, he ordered that she wear shorts to school the next day so that the "justice" markings would be visible to everybody. The females ran off the next day.

Christine made the decision to move to Blountstown and live with Ann, her biological mother, after six weeks of being with Carol's friend. She was able to maintain that for a while until marrying a guy in his twenties, who was supposedly her stepbrother, in September 1977 when she was just 14 years old. After only six weeks, the violent and contentious marriage came to an end.

Christine's marriage ended, and she became obsessed with visiting the ER of hospitals. She would always complain of various illnesses that the physicians were unable to identify. She once complained of bleeding, which was really the start of her monthly cycle. She once believed she had been bitten by a snake. She visited the hospital more than fifty times in a span of two years.

The Great Oaks Village counsellors had seen that Christine needed attention, and it appeared that this need was being met in the hospital. By then, she could have been developing Munchausen syndrome, a condition when victims seek medical attention for exaggerated or self-inflicted symptoms of disease.

Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP/MSP), in which an individual abuses another person, typically a kid, in an attempt to get sympathy or attention for themselves, is closely linked to Munchausen syndrome.

Researchers are examining the potential roles of biological and psychological elements in the development of Munchausen syndrome, however the specific causation of the condition remains unknown. According to certain ideas, the condition may emerge as a result of a history of childhood maltreatment or neglect, or of recurrent diseases requiring hospitalisation. A potential connection to personality problems, which are prevalent among Munchausen syndrome sufferers, is also being investigated by researchers.

The Munchausen Syndrome is uncommonly prevalent. Although accurate figures on the number of Americans with Munchausen syndrome are unavailable, the disorder is thought to be uncommon. Since this condition is frequently accompanied with dishonesty, obtaining reliable data can be challenging. Furthermore, the fact that Munchausen syndrome sufferers frequently visit a variety of medical facilities for treatment might result in numbers that are not accurate.

This takes us to the death of Travis Cook. Falling was watching the 9-week-old kid on June 20, 1982, when he suddenly developed respiratory trouble. After a week-long stay in the hospital, he went home on July 1, 1982. Falling was once more seeing the son, who was now ten weeks old, on July 2, 1982, when she said he passed away unexpectedly.

When Cook's parents complied with the request for an autopsy, it was found that the baby had suffocated to death. Local police enforcement officers questioned Falling about the Cook death right away.

Once she was under arrest, Falling started admitting to her misdeeds. She accepted a plea bargain because she was worried about receiving the death penalty. She admitted to the investigators that she had learnt how to murder her victims via "smotheration" from watching television. She took great pride in applying her own unique interpretation of the method, covering the kids' faces with a blanket. In addition, she reported hearing voices advising her to "kill the baby."

She detailed the circumstances leading up to each child's "smothering" in a confession that was recorded. As said by Falling:

Because Cassidy Johnson had "gotten kind of rowdy or something," she was suffocated. Jeffrey Davis “made me mad or something. That morning I was already furious. I simply lost it on him and began strangling him till he passed away. “Joe Boy was dozing when “I don’t know. I had the sudden impulse to murder him.”

The reason behind the death of her niece Jennifer Daniels was that "I got angry because she kept crying and crying and crying, so I just put my hands around her neck and choked her until she shut up."

While Travis Coleman was asleep, she killed him "for no apparent reason."

Christine Falling was given two consecutive life sentences after entering a guilty plea on September 17, 1982, for the murder of three children. She acknowledged to having strangled William Swindle after serving a few years in jail. In 2007, she turned 44 and qualified for parole for the first time.

When her release eventually arrived, the panel was unforgiving. Falling is still legally eligible for parole, despite their denial; nevertheless, prosecutors informed the review panel that the so-called babysitter from Hell deserved no mercy.

Five infants, ranging in age from two months to four years, were slain by this lady. She claims that she simply followed what she saw on TV. She claims she is unsure of her motivation. They used to cry sometimes, which enraged her. Joy Powell, an assistant state attorney in Perry, claimed that there was a moment when she simply felt the need.

At her parole hearing, Falling's representative did not appear. It's assumed that she will be released in 2254, which will probably be after her death.

Curiously, Christine's physicians denied her claims of hearing voices while she was incarcerated, yet she did not stop visiting the medical bay for vague symptoms and unexplained ailments. Although her formal diagnosis of Munchausen Syndrome is pending, a doctor indicated during her parole application that they believed she may have the condition and so constituted a risk to the public.

Thank you for reading! You can also check out my other true crime stories :)

See you in the comments!