The Senseless Murders of Faith and Liberty Battaglia

0:00 Welcome to True Crime Stories with Crimeatrorium. On May 2, 2001, Mary Jean Pearl dropped her two daughters off for their weekly visit with their father, and even though they didn't want to go, Wednesday was his visitation night, as stated in their divorce decree. Their father, John Battaglia, was a man who had a long list of domestic abuse charges on his record and probably some jail time was looming over him several days following this visit. Mary Jean and John Battaglia, a CPA, were married on April 6, 1991, six months after they met.

1:04 She was 29 and had never been married. Battaglia was 36, and this was his second marriage. Mary's parents presented them with a four-bedroom, two-bath, two-story brick house as a wedding present near downtown Dallas. Up until their wedding night, John had treated Mary Jean well, complimenting her and treating her with utmost consideration and respect. On the night of their wedding, however, John snapped at her and used vulgar and abusive language towards her, and it was a side to him that she had never seen.

1:42 His first wife, Michelle, endured black eyes, a broken nose, a dislocated jaw, and all-around terror from this man. No protective order would keep him from stalking, surveilling, threatening, and hurting her. After he was finally arrested and charged with a felony, it made it more difficult for him to follow her over state lines to Louisiana to visit his daughter from this marriage, Christy.

2:13 Mary Jean got only a glimpse of the many sides of Battaglia on their wedding night and at the time, she thought it was an isolated incident. Batalia had convinced her during their courtship that it was his first wife Michelle who was abusive during their marriage and she felt sorry for him that he had to endure this.

2:38 Mary Faith Batalia, who went by Faith, was born on January 2, 1992. Her father was attentive and playful with her and nicknamed her Faithy Mouse. Faith was a bit of a tomboy who liked to play soccer, and she played the violin. Three years later, on January 17, 1995, Liberty Mae Battaglia arrived, and just like with Faith, John Battaglia was a loving father, soon giving her little names of endearment, like Libby, Libby Bear, and Baby Bear. Liberty liked ballet and she was a student at John S. Bradfield Elementary School.

3:23 Mary Jean observed her husband interact with their girls and felt that he was the best father ever. She knew he loved his daughters.

3:34 It wasn't long after the birth of Faith that John began to display anger and resentment towards Mary Jean. living in a house that belonged to his wife was a bruise to his ego this manifested in him belittling dominating and criticizing her although Mary Jean didn't have the education John had she was successfully running her family's antique business as well as managing rental properties the Battalias entertained guests in their home on holidays and other occasions Battaglia would endearingly tell stories about their daughter's antics, showing a side to him that made everyone love him.

4:18 Everyone around them thought they were the ideal family. During their marriage, Battaglia's oldest daughter by his first marriage, Christy, was able to visit. His first wife, Michelle, felt that Battaglia was in a good place now after marrying Mary Jean and agreed to let her visit on occasion. The three girls loved each other and Christy was treated like part of the family by Mary Jean, her parents, and friends. Michelle knew what John was like and she was concerned about Mary Jean, but when she heard that her brother Rick, a military man, lived across the street from John and Mary Jean, she felt reassured of her safety.

5:00 Battaglia was a supervisor for RTC, the Resolution Trust Corporation, a temporary federal agency created to resolve the savings and loan crisis of the 80s. He was not very well liked amongst his co-workers due to his abrasive and abusive conduct. Eventually, he lost his job as a supervisor and was relegated to checking invoices from different companies for accuracy. By December of 1995, the work for RTC had dissolved, so Battaglia opened his own accounting practice. A discrepancy he had noticed while checking invoices while working at RTC made him optimistic that he could cash in on the find.

5:52 He was sure he was going to make millions. Once this case went to court, it ended badly. It cost the RTC millions due to the court finding accounting mistakes on its end. John was devastated, humiliated, and embarrassed. Not only did he not win millions, but it cost the government millions because of what was uncovered during the trial.

6:21 After this event, tensions rose in Mary Jean's and Batalia's relationship. he became more verbally abusive and started to get physical. One night in December of 1999, they had an argument in front of the girls and Mary Jean told him to get out. Knowing that this was Mary Jean's house and she had every right to throw him out, he left and went to Deep Ellum, a neighborhood in Dallas known for its art galleries, restaurants, and concerts where he rented a loft apartment.

7:00 Mary Jean and the girls celebrated their first Christmas without Batalia, although he was due to visit at around 9.25 a.m. that morning. The doorbell rang at 8.45 a.m. and it was Batalia and Christy a half an hour early. The girls were excited to see them and invited them in, Even though Mary Jean had taken out a protective order against him, she allowed it.

7:27 Mary Jean left the girls to visit while she went upstairs to get close for faith and liberty John followed her into the girls bedroom and shut the door His anger and resentment towards Mary Jean was obvious and she was scared He quickly lunged at her and she threw herself on the bed for protection. He began hitting her over and over on the back of the head, pounding it deeper and deeper into the mattress. She called out to the girls to call 911. The attack escalated to kicks and punches, and soon the girls were in the same room witnessing all of it.

8:10 They were all crying, stop it, Daddy, stop it. As the girls were trying to comfort Mary Jean, she noticed that John was gone.

8:23 The police arrived within 10 minutes along with paramedics. They strongly advised her to go to the hospital as she looked seriously hurt. But Mary Jean declined, saying it was Christmas and she was expecting people over for dinner that night. So they tendered to her wounds with bandages and peroxide and the officer took a report and took pictures of Mary Jean for evidence.

8:52 Christy had nowhere to go and her dad left with all of her belongings. She stayed and enjoyed dinner with Mary Jean's family and friends and took a plane to Colorado the next morning to be with her mother, Michelle.

9:07 Up until the early hours of Christmas morning of 1999, Christy loved and adored her father. But after what she saw that day, she wanted nothing more to do with him. Mary Jean immediately filed for divorce but as per usual with Batalia he wasn't going to make it easy he disputed most anything that Mary Jean proposed at one point he told Mary Jean he would go away for $250,000 with the protective order still in place he began to call Mary Jean and leave voicemails telling her to quit interfering, and he even addressed Faith and Liberty by saying, I'm sorry for whatever may be coming down the road for you.

10:00 It may be very bad.

10:06 On July 12, 2000, there was a hearing scheduled in regards to the misdemeanor assault against Batalia for beating Mary Jean. A few days before the meeting was to begin, Battaglia called Mary Jean and told her that even though he didn't like the terms laid out in the divorce, he would sign the papers. All she had to do was meet him at his attorney's office at 8 30 a.m. the morning of the hearing and he would sign the papers. Then they would head over to the hearing. Even though she was concerned about being late to the hearing, she agreed to meet him.

10:43 Mary Jean arrived at the office at 8.30 a.m. and told the receptionist her name and why she was there.

10:52 The receptionist looked over the calendar and there was no appointment for Batalia or Mary Jean for that day or time. She was furious. He had fooled her and now she was going to be late for the hearing. Mary Jean arrived at the courthouse a few minutes after 9 a.m. and by that time, the judge had ended the hearing due to the prosecution not being prepared. Mary Jean pleaded with the judge telling him how dangerous Battaglia was and not to dismiss the charges. The judge relented and told her she could refile in six weeks.

11:32 Another hearing was scheduled and this time Battaglia pleaded no contest before the judge for the assault charge. The judge found him guilty and fined him $1,000 plus court costs for a total of $1,182.48 to be paid to Mary Jean within 30 days. His sentence of one year was suspended to two years probation and 80 hours of community service. He was also ordered to monthly alcohol and drug testing, along with meeting with his probation officer at a monthly cost of $40 a visit.

12:19 Not long after the hearing, the divorce was final. Mary Jean was to pay Batalia $75,000. Batalia was granted visitation with Faith and Liberty every Wednesday and every other weekend, as well as various holidays throughout the year. They would meet at a local grocery store for the dropping off and picking up of the girls, and under no circumstances was he to come to their house. Batalya was able to abide by his probation for three months when in November, his urinalysis tested positive for marijuana.

12:59 Even though a motion for a hearing to revoke his probation was filed, none was ever scheduled. Batalya was able to pay a $500 bond and after that, he abided by his probation and nothing was ever done about his violation. In February of 2001, things were going well for Battaglia. He began working for a big corporation as the chief financial officer, and he was also continuing his private practice. Also, Christy agreed to visit him on Easter after a long separation. Mary Jean and the girls invited her over for Easter dinner, and Battaglia agreed to let her go.

13:46 The girls opened their holiday gifts, and inside a card, Mary Jean had tucked in a $50 bill for Christy. Later that evening, after Christy returned to her father, Batalia left a seething voicemail message for Mary Jean saying, The next time you give my daughter $50, why don't you tell her how you screwed her out of her college fund, you filthy pig? How do you feel, pig? Mary Jean took the recording to Highland Police. They took it to the judge in order to obtain an arrest warrant for Batalia. Due to various circumstances, the warrant wasn't filed until May 1st, two weeks after Mary Jean presented it to the police department.

14:37 Batalia's probation officer tipped him off to the fact that something was coming down that could affect his probation terms. Batalia immediately knew where it was stemming from, the phone message he left from Mary Jean about the $50 she gave to Christy. He started making phone calls to various friends of Mary Jean's, asking them to persuade her not to go through with the charges. Feeling desperate, he decided to go to the Highland Police Department and speak to a detective he had become familiar with throughout his various run with the law He asked her if she was going to arrest him that night and she assured him that she wouldn do it due to it being his night to have his daughters She told him to enjoy his visit with Faith and Liberty and talk to his probation officer and turn himself in the next day.

15:33 Batalia, not knowing whether he would be allowed to have his normal visit with the girls that night asked his girlfriend at the time to call Mary Jean and ask Mary Jean replied yes that plans were on as usual and that he could call the girls on their phone to set up their plans A few minutes later, Batalia called the girls and asked them if they would like to go to dinner that night, and they answered that yes, they would. He also added that he didn't know how much he would be able to eat since he was sure he was going to be arrested soon and put into jail.

16:14 If that happened, he said, he probably wouldn't be able to see them for a year. The girls were sad thinking about not seeing their father for a year. They loved their dad. Faith asked her mom, We won't see dad for a year? Mary Jean answered, no, don't worry about it. It'll only be 30 days or so. With that, Faith said, why do I have the worst daddy in the world? Mary Jean assured her that she didn't have the worst daddy in the world.

16:49 Mary Jean got the girls ready to go spend time with their dad, but not before she had to coax Liberty out from under her bed, her brown eyes filled with fear.

17:04 Mary Jean pulled into the normal meeting place and the girls gave their mom hugs and kisses then reluctantly got out of the car. Batalia and Mary Jean locked eyes as he pulled away with Faith and Liberty Faith giving her one last wave before they took off down the road. She couldn't help but feel sad and lonely. Those little girls were her world.

17:34 Mary Jean was planning on going to a meeting that night, one that wouldn't be over until 10 or 10.30. Because of this, arrangements were made to have Batalia drop the girls off to her good friend Melissa's house when his visit was over. Then Mary Jean could pick them up on her way home. At the last minute, though, she decided to just go to Melissa's house instead of going to the meeting. Batalia and the girls decided to go to a barbecue restaurant for dinner, but first he needed to go home and change his clothes.

18:12 During the drive, he was getting increasingly more resentful towards Mary Jean for something Liberty and Faith had told him shortly after he picked them up. They mentioned the fact that their mom told him that he might be going to jail.

18:29 It was around 7 p.m. when they arrived at Batalia's loft. The girls waited while he changed his clothes.

18:40 Batalia entered the room where the girls were and told them that he wanted them to call their mom and get to the bottom of why she wanted him to go to jail. Faith responded, you can't do that, you're not supposed to call mom He then said, why don't you call her? If she doesn't answer, just leave her a message to call you back Faith did as her father asked and called her mom from his phone Mary Jean's voicemail picked up and Faith left a message that said Hi mom, call us back, okay? Call us back disappointed he called Doris Pearl Mary Jean's mom and asked her to call Mary Jean and have her call the girls at his place Mary Jean was just arriving at her friend Melissa's house when she got the call from her mom relaying the message from Batalia to call the girls thinking that Liberty and Faith wanted to come home she stepped into Melissa's house around 7.20pm and called Batalia's house, hoping one of the girls would be the one to answer.

19:54 Disappointingly, Batalia answered and immediately pushed the speakerphone button. Ask her, ask her, he said in a loud and harsh voice. Faith spoke up and said, Mommy. It was obvious that she was crying. Why do you want Daddy to go to jail? Infuriated, Mary Jean responded, Oh, come on, John, don't do this to them. Then Mary Jean heard screams and Faith crying out, No, Daddy, don't, no, please don't, Daddy. Don't do it. No, no, no. She then heard a shot. Her anger turned to panic as she cried into the phone, Run, babies, run!

20:41 As fast as you can! Run for the door! Feeling completely helpless, she heard five or six more shots, and then it was quiet. Battaglia yelled into the phone, Merry fucking Christmas, Mary Jean.

21:01 Melissa rushed to Mary Jean, and when she was told what happened, she called 911. They gave the operator Battaglia's address and the operator instructed Mary Jean not to go to hers or Battaglia's house under any circumstances.

21:19 After shooting Liberty and Faith, Battaglia went into his bathroom and took tranquilizers, left his apartment and climbed into his truck and drove away. His first stop was a bar he went to often where he ordered two drinks. He then drove to his office, where he placed a check in an envelope for his daughter, Christy. He called her afterwards and reached her voicemail and said, I'm putting your money, a check, in an envelope. This is your college money. Love you, sweetheart. Talk to you soon.

21:57 Mary Jean rushed to Batalia's apartment, despite the operator advising her not to, hoping and praying that he just shot up the apartment.

22:08 Once she got there, she looked around and noticed that no police had arrived yet. Not wanting to wait, Mary Jean walked into the apartment and saw Liberty and Faith lying lifeless on the floor.

22:25 Officer scoured Batali's apartment, and upon realizing he wasn't there, Patrol cars were sent in search of him after being given a description of his truck.

22:38 After six hours of searching, officers spotted Battaglia's truck parked near some shops in Deep Elem Shortly afterwards he was seen walking to his vehicle and arrested but not without a fight Battaglia swung at the officers and tried to reach for his gun It would come out later that he and a friend named Missy Campbell had been out drinking and had stopped and gotten a tattoo, his being two roses, one for faith and one for liberty, placed on his upper arm. When Battaglia first appeared in court, two weeks after he murdered Liberty and Faith, he was charged with two counts of capital murder.

23:25 His court-appointed attorneys argued against having cameras in the courtroom. Battaglia was unpredictable and he looked every bit a criminal due to his unshaven face and wild-looking hair. No decision had been made yet from the prosecutor, Howard Blackman, on whether or not they would seek the death penalty.

23:49 Battaglia's father, John Sr., flew in to assist his son and wanted to help with the defense. He turned out to be a nightmare due to the interviews he was granting to various media outlets against Battaglia's defense attorney's wishes. Prosecution eventually decided that they would seek the death penalty after conferring with Mary Jean.

24:17 Finding an impartial jury took several months. This case was big news, made even bigger by the interviews Battaglia and his father were granting to the media. After much pretrial difficulty and the type of chaos that seems to follow Battaglia, His trial finally began on April 22, 2002.

24:42 Mary Jean testified about the tumultuous relationship between her and Batalia. She also described the night she received the phone call from Liberty and Faith. She also told the court about the voicemail from Batalia on her phone when she came home the night the girls were shot. Hi girls, I just want to tell you how very, very brave you were, and I hope you are resting in a better place now. I wish that you had nothing to do with your mother. She's evil, vicious, and stupid.

25:18 Dr. Joni McLean was the medical examiner that performed the autopsy on Faith. She told the jury about the three shots fired to her body, the first one entering the front of her body, traveling down and exiting out from her lower back. The second shot occurred while Faith was on her stomach. It destroyed her spinal column and perforated her heart and pancreas. The final bullet occurred while the gun was pressed tightly against her scalp, and it fractured her skull. Dr. Janice Parchment Townsend was next.

25:56 She performed the autopsy on Liberty. She was shot five times in the back with one bullet lodging in her body near her heart. Liberty was running for her life when Battaglia coldly shot at her five times. While this and other facts were presented to the court, Battaglia seemed absorbed and interested in the testimony, showing no remorse.

26:26 The defense called no witnesses to the stand and closed by telling the jury that there was no proof that Battaglia shot Liberty in faith. Evidence had also been raised about the legality of how some evidence had been obtained. So for these reasons, Paul Johnson, Battaglia's defense attorney, asked the jury to find his client not guilty.

26:54 After the prosecution's closing, the jury was released to deliberate. The trial lasted for eight days and it took the jury 19 minutes to find Battaglia guilty of capital murder. The punishment phase of the trial began the next day, and the defense presented several experts testifying to Battaglia's various mental illnesses, specifically bipolar disorder. Despite this, the same jury that found him guilty also recommended the death penalty after six and a half hours of deliberation. Mary Jean directed her impact statement to Battaglia saying in short you are one of the most heinous murderers of modern times Hitler did not kill his own children Dahmer didn't kill his own children I would like to say that the last time I see you is when they put a needle in your arm but I'm not going to waste my time to be there

28:00 during Battaglia's time in prison he granted several interviews with the media. He also had a website that is still active today, although it is no longer just dedicated to him and his writings. He was given three different execution dates. He was granted a stay twice due to lingering questions about his mental health. Some say that he was so intelligent that he faked mental illness to get out of being executed. Some believe he was truly mentally ill. His oldest daughter, Christy, stated that he had been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder.

28:44 Regardless of whether he was mentally ill or not, the judge ruled that he was able to understand the situation he was in, and with Mary Jean in attendance, Battaglia was executed on February 1, 2018. His final words were, Well, hi, Mary Jean. Then turning to the warden, he said, I'll see y'all later. Bye. Go ahead, please.

29:13 Faith and Liberty's Place, a center for supervised parental visits, was established by the Family Place, a domestic shelter in Dallas, in honor of the two girls. The Texas Senate passed a bill that would ask judges to consider domestic abuse history when considering allowing unsupervised parental visits. The funeral for Faith and Liberty was held on a cloudy Saturday morning at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. Mary Jean chose the Christian hymn, Jesus Loves Me, and at the close of the service, the clouds parted and the sun shone on Liberty and Faith's grave, almost like it was letting everyone know that the girls were safely in heaven now.

30:08 Thank you all for listening. And if you like the podcast, please consider leaving a five-star review. And until next time, take care.

30:26 Thank you.