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Former pathologist showed no tenderness to daughter, relatives testified

Posted January 09, 2008 10:00 pm

Kevin Sampier

Karen McCarron wished her autistic daughter was dead, said she'd rather have a child with cancer and even refused to call the girl by name before killing her, McCarron's mother in-law testified Wednesday.

"She said at least three to five times that I can recall, 'I really wish Katie were dead,'" McCarron's mother in-law, Gail McCarron, said during the third day of testimony in Karen McCarron's murder trial in Tazewell County Circuit Court.

She is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of obstructing justice and one count of concealment of a homicidal death after telling police she suffocated her 3-year-old daughter, Katherine "Katie" McCarron, with a plastic garbage bag.

Gail McCarron, Katie's grandmother, said Karen McCarron became very detached from Katie in the months leading up to the child's May 13, 2006, death.

"She wouldn't even call (Katie) by her name toward the end. She would just call her 'the kid,'" she said.

Gail McCarron also told the jury Karen McCarron suggested institutionalizing the girl and said she would rather have a child with cancer than autism.

"Karen once said to me 'if Katie had cancer, I could deal with it. But I'll never accept autism,'" Gail McCarron said.

During a telephone conversation with Karen McCarron, Gail McCarron once asked how long Katie suffered after Karen McCarron, 39, of Morton wrapped the bag around the girl's head as she played with some toys.

"She said it was about two minutes," Gail McCarron said. "At one point, she said it was terrible."

Prosecutors say Karen McCarron also confessed to her husband, her mother, her father in-law, a friend from church and three times to police.

Witnesses have said Karen McCarron showed no emotion and shed no tears after her daughter's death and spoke about it in a matter-of-fact manner before confessing.

Katie's aunt, Jennifer McCarron, told jurors the rest of the family was devastated when they heard the news of Katie's death.

She recalled trying to talk to Karen McCarron to offer some words of comfort.

"I said, 'I just can't believe this,' and she said, 'yeah, and after all we did for the kid,'" Jennifer McCarron testified.

Attorneys Marc Wolfe and Steve Baker have entered a not guilty by reason of insanity defense for Karen McCarron, which says she committed the crime but shouldn't be held criminally responsible for it because of her mental state.

While prosecutors interviewed witnesses about specific events surrounding the slaying, Wolfe and Baker spent little time addressing specifics themselves.

During cross examination of witnesses, the defense repeatedly asked general questions that often steered clear of the crime.

All of the witnesses who knew Karen McCarron, a former pathologist, said she was a woman obsessed with curing her daughter's autism and was a perfectionist who would not accept the fact her daughter wasn't "indistinguishable" from her peers.

"It was embarrassing for her," Jennifer McCarron said. "She said she didn't want anyone saying her kid was slow."

Witnesses have said she constantly criticized her daughter's progress and the team of family members, therapists, teachers and care providers hired to help her.

They said the topic of every conversation with her revolved around curing Katie's autism. Negativity and hatefulness were ceaseless when she discussed the child, who they say she never hugged, kissed or praised after she was diagnosed with autism.

"It was never good enough," Jennifer McCarron said. "She looked at Katie as a problem and she got rid of her problem. There's nothing more to it than that."

Testimony is scheduled to continue at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Kevin Sampier can be reached at (309) 346-5300 or ksampier@pjstar.com.

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