Sylvia- An American Crime

The Testimony

Even though I wanted to be in the light forever after seeing my body in that house, I couldn't move on completely before I got my justice so here I am in that courtroom to stay until I hear what happens to the people that put me through this. And now, Jenny finally took the stand.
"Jenny, did you ever see Sylvia do anything to Mrs. Baniszewski?" Reverend asks.
"No I didn't see her do anything." Her voice was even quieter than usual.
"Did you ever see her do anything to Paula?" He asked, she says no.
"Did you ever see her do anything to Johnny Baniszewski?" But her answer was still no, still telling the truth like everyone promised.
"Jenny, you saw your sister being hit. Beaten, struck, why didn't you call the Police?" I already had the answer for him, but still was left silenced.
"Well umm, Gerdy threatened me that if I told I'd get the same treatment that Sylvia was getting." Like I tried telling Daddy earlier, she's so scared of her and had every right to be.
"You could have told anyone, up and down the Street." He suggested.
"I was scared and.. I guess, I just.." Then she pauses.
"Did what she told me to do, and I wished I hadn't." My heart broke again.
"Did you ever see Sylvia cry?" He asked.
"They said she didn't have any feelings but I knew better." She sighed.
"I have seen her cry before." Then she goes on to put the dots together, realizing that the reason I couldn't cry was because I didn't have enough water.

The trial lasted twenty-four days, and Gertrude was the last one to take the stand. I could've easily left, but I've been waiting for this for a long time.
"What was your physical condition in July and August of last year?" It was about to feel very real for all of us, because I knew she was sick in many different ways.
"Pretty run down, physically." She said.
"Pretty upset, mentally and emotionally." She also added to it.
"What do you mean?" He asks confused.
"If you have as many children around your home all the time as I do, arguing and carrying on, you'd be pretty upset to." She grinned.
"What medication did you take?" He asks.
"Phenobarbital Sulfate, and Coricidin. I was trying to take care of myself… Because I could not afford to go to a doctor." She said.
"Getting into the first week of September, was there any change in your physical condition? Or in the condition of that house?" A loaded question.
"No, Sir." She shook her head.
"What about the third week of September? Do you remember that?" His first answer was not satisfying.
"You mean anything specific that might've happened in September?" She asked.
"Yes, anything specific." He seemed to get more demanding with his questions.
"The kids were fighting a lot." She says.
"The kids were fighting a lot?" He repeats. And she agreed but continued to say that kids were fighting her kids, and her kids would fight them.
"What did you do?" He asks.
"I did not see this fighting, then." She denied it all and said she was very tired at the time, and wasn't involved in what happened between her children and others.
"Did you have any knowledge of any mistreatment going on with Sylvia?" Then she paused, probably thinking of a good answer to lie about.
"No, Sir." Was all she said.
"Did you commit any indignity of making marks on that girls body?" I continued to listen, even though I knew she would lie and she did saying she didn't know how those wounds got on my body. 
"Did you hear the testimony of Jenny?" He asked.
"Yes, I did." For once, she said yes to something.
"Did you hear some of the children state? That before Sylvia died you started branding this girl!?' He got heated, and so did I honestly.
"Yes, I heard it." She says.
"Did they all lie?" He asked.
"That is right." She whispers.
"The fact is your lying, isn't it!?" He shouts.
"No, Sir." But she did lie, even more than she accused me of. Then Bill told her about Johnny's statement, about how I was burned repeatedly with matches and cigarettes, over a hundred on my body before I died. But of course, Gerdy denied it ever being true.
"You were bed a great deal of the time, and the children were doing things you didn't know they were doing." He stated.
"I imagine they were doing a great deal of things I did not know." She explains falsely.
"Why did Johnny lie?" Reverend asked.
"I imagine he is a pretty scared little boy." She said.
"Are you scared?" She was asked.
"I've been scared by a lot of things for a long time." Her voice broke again.

She sacrificed me, to protect her children. And sacrificed them, to protect herself. And now, it was time what I'd been waiting for.
"Will the accused please rise!" A man holding an orange envelope, was the envelope to my eternal peace.
"We, the Jury, find Gertrude Baniszewski guilty of first degree murder. Sentencing her, to life in prison." The case got a lot of attention! It even made Time Magazine. And most people started talking about things, they used to ignore. I stuck around long enough to tell you specifically about what happened to everyone after the fact, including me, so here it is.

The others were tried later. Paula was found guilty as an accomplice, and served a couple years. She had the baby, and named it Gertrude. 

Johnny was convicted too. He was the youngest inmate in the history, of the Indiana State Reformatory. He would later go on to become a Real Minister, way to tell a story I guess. 

Ricky Hobbs, was found guilty of manslaughter. He served time at the reformatory, but then died at age 21, of lung cancer.

Coy also served a couple years. He went on with a life of crime, after being released from prison. But, I don't know what happened to any of the rest.

Mom and Dad went back on Tour and left Jenny with a District Attorney, to help get her back on her feet. 

And Gertrude, she served twenty years of that sentence. She was released on parole in 1985, before she did five years later. She even took responsibility for everything that had happened. But before I tell you where I ended up? I wanna share a memory with you. When Gerdy was first put into her cell, I sat right in there with her and I made her see me one last time before I'd thought she'd spent the rest of her life in that cell. 
"I'm so sorry.." She whispers to me, but I just disappeared to where I want to be now.

I returned to the carnival. The only place, I always felt save. Reverend Bill, used to say: "For every situation, God always has a plan." I guess, I'm still trying to figure out what that plan was..

THE END