Chapter 12 - THE NOTARY
The notary, Caroline West, had lied initially.
She told police she left because the situation felt uncomfortable.
Bank records showed Trent paid her through a shell company.
When confronted, she requested counsel.
Caroline eventually admitted she had been asked to witness my signatures without speaking privately to me.
Trent told her I suffered severe pregnancy anxiety and might appear distressed.
Linda instructed:
“Do not treat crying as refusal.”
That sentence became part of the indictment.
Caroline claimed she never agreed to notarize a signature I did not make.
She did agree to ignore obvious coercion.
The prosecutor charged her with conspiracy and attempted notarial fraud.
Her cooperation agreement required testimony.
No immunity from professional discipline.
She surrendered her commission.
The evidence reconstructed the planned evening.
4:00 p.m. — Trent and Linda confront me with documents.
4:30 — Linda confiscates my phone.
5:00 — I refuse.
5:15 — Trent restrains me.
5:30 — burial begins.
6:00 — Caroline arrives.
6:07 — she sees the pit from the driveway but is told I am “doing a grounding exercise.”
6:10 — she leaves after refusing to approach the yard.
6:25 — Trent returns with water and insects.
6:38 — my hidden phone connects to dispatch.
The insects were ordinary garden insects Trent scooped from a bait container.
No poisonous species.
No elaborate torture device.
He used what was available to frighten and humiliate.
That reality was enough.
Linda’s phrase “hunger makes them compliant” supported deliberate deprivation.
They had withheld food since morning.
I had been given water only when Trent poured it over my head or allowed small amounts through the straw.
Medical experts described dehydration and pressure risks without exaggerating attempted murder.
The prosecution charged aggravated unlawful restraint, domestic assault, coercion, endangerment of a pregnant victim, conspiracy, and document-related offenses.
Whether the facts supported attempted homicide remained contested.
The district attorney declined that charge after reviewing evidence.
Trent had provided a breathing straw and monitored me.
That did not make the act safe.
It did weaken proof that he intended death.
Some people online called the decision too lenient.
I supported accuracy.
“I want him convicted for what he did, not for the most dramatic word available.”
Naomi agreed.
Linda faced conspiracy, coercion, deprivation-related abuse, fraud, and witness intimidation.
She had not physically placed me into the pit.
Her voice and planning established participation.
Mara’s role remained witness, not defendant.
She had been threatened, controlled, and underage.
The prosecutor did not charge her for failing to stop adults.
That mattered to me.
I was angry with her.
I did not want the state to turn fear into felony participation without evidence.
At the end of Caroline’s proffer, she revealed one final instruction from Linda.
“If Emily signs, destroy the prenatal guardianship draft.”
“Why?” investigators asked.
“Mrs. Carter said it was only leverage.”
The baby document was never meant to protect my daughter.
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It existed to frighten me into believing Linda could take her.
That knowledge was somehow worse.
