Inclusion Daily Express -- Killpack To Spend Five Years Behind Bars For Daughter's Water Overdose

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Killpack To Spend Five Years Behind Bars For Daughter's Water Overdose
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 10, 2006

PROVO, UTAH--Jennete Killpack will spend at least five years in prison for forcing her 4-year-old adopted daughter to drink herself to death.

In January, Mrs. Killpack, 30, was sentenced to between one and 15 years in prison, three months after being convicted of murdering her daughter, Cassandra.

Last week, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole set January 2001 for her first possible parole hearing date.

Last October, a jury convicted Killpack of felony second-degree child abuse homicide after hearing testimony that she punished Cassandra for "misbehavior" on June 9, 2002 by forcing the girl to stand on a bar stool, then tying her hands behind her back, and making her drink a lethal amount of water.

Mrs. Killpack and her husband, Richard, said they had received advice from a now-closed treatment program to treat Cassandra's "reactive attachment disorder" by giving her what she wanted -- but to give her so much it would be uncomfortable for her. The theory behind the approach apparently was that this would cause her to "bond" with her new mother.

Prosecutors said Killpack forced the girl to drink over a gallon of water as punishment for taking a sip of juice from her baby sister's cup. The large amount of water caused Cassandra's sodium levels to fall, and her brain to then swell to a lethal size within her skull.

The jury also heard testimony that Killpack had choked her daughter, hit the girl in the head with a metal spoon, bit her above one of her eyes, and one day forced her to jump up and down for nearly 3 straight hours.

Jurors who acquitted Mr. Killpack of the crimes, later said they did not find him guilty, because he stopped his wife from giving their daughter more water.

Mrs. Killpack's attorney told reporters that he is appealing her conviction to the Utah Court of Appeals.

Related:
"Jennete Killpack -- Mom Forced Daughter To Drink Herself To Death" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/crime/ut/killpack.htm
NEW: Editor's comments on the Inclusion Daily Express Weblog:
http://inclusiondaily.blogspot.com/2006/04/inclusion-daily-express_12.html

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