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Foster dad gets 15 to life for
toddler's death in closet
February 27, 2007
 BATAVIA,
Ohio (AP) -- A man pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday, admitting he
left his 3-year-old foster son bound up in a closet where he died
and then burned his body and threw the remains into the Ohio River.
David Carroll Jr. was sentenced to
15 years to life in prison, with an additional year in prison for
his guilty plea to gross abuse of a corpse.
He and his wife, Liz, were charged
with causing Marcus Fiesel's death by leaving the developmentally
disabled boy wrapped up with a blanket and packing tape in a closet
for two days while they went to a weekend family reunion in Kentucky
in August. Carroll admitted his role, but continued to blame a
live-in companion, Amy Baker, for playing a major part in the boy's
confinement and the subsequent cover-up of his death.
"We left him there," Carroll told
the judge. "And when we came back, he was gone ... he was dead."
Clermont County Judge Jerry McBride
accepted the sentence proposed by prosecutors. Dressed in an orange
jail jumpsuit, Carroll answered "yes sir" as McBride explained the
plea and his rights. Carroll told the judge he was on medication for
bipolar disorder, but was thinking clearly Tuesday.
A jury last week convicted Liz
Carroll, 30, of murder and six other charges, including involuntary
manslaughter and kidnapping, in the boy's death. She was sentenced
to 54 years to life in prison.
As part of the deal with David
Carroll, prosecutors agreed to drop six charges against him.
Carroll, 29, had faced the same seven charges as his wife, plus the
eighth charge of gross abuse of a corpse.
While Liz Carroll's judge told her
last week she showed no remorse, David Carroll urged prayers for the
boy in his statement to the court.
"Marcus was a sweet, gentle and
loving child who did not deserve this," he said.
Daniel "Woody" Breyer, an assistant
prosecuting attorney, told the judge prosecutors agreed to the deal
because they felt it would be difficult to seat a jury in Clermont
County after Liz Carroll's trial and other extensive publicity, and
to avoid the risk of an acquittal.
"We would rather have a guarantee,"
Breyer said.
Afterward, he told reporters that
prosecutors don't believe David Carroll's statements that Baker was
directing the Carrolls and threatened their family if they didn't go
along with a cover-up.
Prosecutors didn't pursue charges
against Baker after she agreed to cooperate. Baker, who had an
affair with David Carroll and then moved in with the couple,
testified for the prosecution in Liz Carroll's trial.
Prosecutors say the couple found
the boy dead when they returned home from the reunion. The Carrolls
then claimed the child had disappeared from a park in suburban
Cincinnati, sparking a search by thousands of volunteers.
Prosecutors in Hamilton County also
agreed to drop charges against David Carroll of making false alarms
and inducing panic, Clermont prosecutors said. The charges were
related to the claim that the boy was missing.
Copyright 2007 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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