An Alabama father calls police after his son throws a house party. Just 11 minutes after a deputy leaves his house, another 911 call is placed. Josh Mankiewicz reports. Josh Mankiewicz and Blayne Alexander go behind the scenes of the making of this episode in ‘Talking Dateline’ Listen on Apple: https://apple.co/3SNpgKAListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3XuJjRS4mBNwtutmZNCSJm?si=fef30b7869534d21
Chapter 1: What happened at the house party?
Did you shoot your parents?
No. Either one of them? No. You're not a murderer? I'm not a murderer.
I literally got chills. This is a huge deal.
The father had come home and found a lot of drug paraphernalia.
They were having issues with him. It was hurting her heart.
That situation goes from calm to murder in 11 minutes?
Yeah. I mean, it's a homicide. I didn't hurt either of my parents. I don't think anybody's jumping up and down about having to put a 17-year-old boy in jail.
This was a lot bigger and a lot deeper than what initially we thought.
They thought they picked out some weak-minded kid. They didn't know who they were playing with.
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Chapter 2: How did the situation escalate in 11 minutes?
I sat down with him and I had a long talk with him and I said, look, this is not the lifestyle you want to choose.
At the same time Madison was going through his teenage rebellion, his parents, April and Michael, were separating. They were united in their message to Madison. Mess up again, and you'll go to jail. He had one chance left, and on September 11, 2016, he blew it. While his dad was at work, Madison threw a house party.
Someone else called Michael and said, my kid came home from your house under the influence of something, and I want to know why. So Michael's embarrassed at that point. Michael calls everyone and says, you need to get to my house. We've got to deal with this.
Chris has a twin brother, Mike, who thought Madison's dad had good reason to be embarrassed. Michael Holton had a reputation to protect in Eclectic.
He was the former mayor, the former fire chief, very well known. How dare you embarrass me in this community? So I'm sure he was pissed. I don't blame him. I'd be pissed too if my child had thrown a party.
When Michael Holton walked into the house, he found the remnants of a teenage party. Homemade bongs were scattered throughout the house. A box that smelled suspicious.
That was it. And what he did, he called the sheriff's office and we sent a deputy up there.
Bill Franklin is sheriff of Elmore County. and the deputy sent to the house that day happened to be his son. When Deputy Franklin arrived, Michael had something to say.
Mr. Holton had actually greeted him in the yard. and told him, hey, when you come in, you're going to see my son is handcuffed. And he said, I'm trying to discipline my son. Sheriff Franklin says he's seen parents discipline their kids in all sorts of ways. I don't think that his intent was to harm or hurt the kid. He was merely trying to see what he could do to try to get his attention. To me...
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Chapter 3: What were the family dynamics before the incident?
Made it seem effortless?
But I knew it wasn't, but yeah, she did. You know, she always looked good. She always, you know, put her best foot forward.
Michael Holton's friend Tony remembers him as a fixture in Eclectic.
You couldn't go around town without him being recognized. He'd worked his way up from paramedic to fire chief and then mayor. Everyone knew him, knew him as a leader.
He was always very nice, very funny, very, you know, very easygoing.
He and April seemed happy.
Yeah, they did seem happy for a long time.
And then that changed.
Yeah.
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Chapter 4: What were the parents' concerns about Madison?
Law enforcement was never able to lift a full print from the gun. And the only DNA they found was April's on the trigger. And what about that head wound? The one a pathologist said made Michael's death look like a homicide?
I've consulted with a forensic pathologist who said he looked at the wound and he said that it is more probable that it is suicide than homicide.
If investigators thought it was difficult for Michael to shoot himself at that odd angle, defense attorney Biggs demonstrated for us how easy it could be using an unloaded gun identical to the one found at the scene. This is the same make and model of gun.
Same make as a .380 Cobra. Not impossible, is it?
Greg said he didn't even need the forensics to show Madison was innocent. Common sense, he claimed, said it all. Remember, Madison's dad had handcuffed him behind his back. And when deputies arrived after the shootings, they found Madison still in those handcuffs.
My hands were like this on my back last night. I couldn't move them.
The sheriff's theory? Madison had been able to take the cuffs off using a handcuff key investigators found in the living room.
Our primary investigator is in his mid-30s. Our chief investigator is in his late 40s. They were both able, in about 12 to 15 seconds, stand up, slip it below their feet, get in front of them, take a handcuff key that's been placed right in front of them, and get out of the handcuffs.
Wait, wait, wait. That's what you think Madison did? You think he took his handcuffs off and shot his parents and then put the handcuffs back on? Yes. Yes. I think that's what happened. Did you slip out of the handcuffs? No. And commit murder and then put the handcuffs back on?
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