Texas Mom Makes Chilling Confession After Burying Son in Backyard: Police

The mother December Mitchell and. stepfather. Jonathan Mitchell were arrested and. charged with tampering and fabricating. physical evidence [music] with intent to. impair human corpse. A secondderee. felony. >> A 26-year-old man with special needs was. found buried in his own backyard and. police say it was his own parents who. put him there. Jonathan [music] Kinman's. body was discovered after a welfare. check in Texas. And a newly unsealed. search warrant reveals shocking details.

[music] about what allegedly happened. inside that home. From his mother's. apparent [music] haunting on camera. admission to a cleared out room that. smelled of decomposition to social media. posts [music] that raised alarm. We are. going to break down these latest. developments in this disturbing case. [music] with homicide detective Eric. Barnes. Welcome to Sidebar presented by. Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Okay, we're diving into this shocking. and sad new case out of Texas where.

police say a 26-year-old man with. special needs was found buried in his. own backyard. His name was Jonathan. Kinman and investigators say it was his. own mother and stepfather who put him. there. A search warrant lays out these. new details about what police say may. have really happened inside of that. Berles home. From what police found in. Jonathan's room to what his mother. allegedly said as cadaavver dogs closed. in discovering his body. Her words.

reportedly caught on police camera. They. are absolutely haunting. Quote, "I did. this. This was my decision. I'm sorry. I. just wanted him close to me." Yet, even. with that startling revelation, there. are so many questions in this case that. currently remain unanswered. For. example, how long had Jonathan been gone. before anyone noticed? Why did his. parents allegedly bury him instead of. reporting his death properly? How did he. even die in the first place? What.

exactly happened inside that home in the. days leading up to this? And we're going. to attempt to answer those questions as. best as we can as we break down what's. inside this warrant. how this seemingly. quiet suburban home turned into the. center of a heartbreaking discovery in. North Texas. And what's hard to wrap. your head around with this kind of case. is how normal everything seemed, at. least from the outside. Neighbors are. reported saying that December and. Jonathan Mitchell, okay, the parents. here, they were friendly. They were the. kind of couple who waved over the fence,

hosted weekend gettogethers. But as of. now, and this is pretty remarkable, we. couldn't find any neighbor who has gone. on the record and said that December had. a son living there that they didn't know. this, that a 26-year-old man named. Jonathan Kimman. And Jonathan, by the. way, had special needs. He had this rare. genetic disorder called Russell Silver. syndrome. It's a condition that affects. how your body grows. But on October. 14th, that's when everything changed. Everything changed with a welfare check.

That day, according to a release from. Berles police, they were called to the. home on White Oak Lane to check on. Jonathan because officers were told that. he might have died and that his body. could be buried somewhere on the. property. The way this all unfolded was. apparently had a family friend who. contacted police after seeing a Facebook. post from December Mitchell claiming. that her son had died. So when officers. reached out, Mitchell apparently told. them that Jonathan had passed away at a.

local hospital. But as investigators. checked her story, they didn't find any. record of that. Then later that same. evening, Jonathan's stepfather. apparently calls 911. And that is when. police returned to the home with the. cadaavver dogs and they began searching. the property. The next day, October. 15th, that is when police, with the help. from the Texas Rangers, uncovered this. shallow grave near a shed behind the. house. Inside, they find Jonathan's body.

wrapped in a camouflage blanket. So, both of them were arrested on the spot. They were charged with tampering with. physical evidence with intent to impair. a human corpse. And at this point, investigators say the cause of death is. still pending. The Taran County Medical. Examiner is waiting on final autopsy. results. So, there are questions. There. are a lot of questions. So, aside from. how just on earth something like this. could happen, how long had Jonathan been. gone before police were alerted? How did. he die? What was going on? Well, as I. mentioned, there are these newly. unsealed search warrants that are.

shedding light on those final days, what. police say Jonathan's parents told them, what they found inside the house, what. was captured on camera the night that. everything came crashing down. This is a. horrible story. It's a horrible story, but we didn't want it to be put on the. wayside. We definitely wanted to bring. attention to this. And the reason that. we can do that is because we get this. amazing support from our sponsor, Upside. Now, this is the free app that. gets you cash back on daily essentials. like gas, groceries, food. It's great. I. want to tell you about it. So, I pump my.

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every gallon on your first tank of gas. So, to help break all of this down, I. want to bring on Detective Eric Barnes. Detective, thanks so much for taking the. time to come back here on Sidebar. Sorry, this is the case we're talking. about. But I mean, this is a strange one. because in cases where you have a. vulnerable person, a vulnerable adult. who is suspected of being harmed by. their own family, it is a different kind. of case, right? It is a different kind. of case for investigators maybe looking. for what kind of signs they can. Um,

what stood out to you so far about the. story? I think the the first thing that. jumped out to me, Jesse, was the fact. that they received a tip. So, that right. away let me know that there was someone. that had a moment of weakness that was. involved with this that actually leaked. the information out. So, that's great. for the detectives because they actually. have an independent party that has. knowledge of some of the facts of this. case, which is going to help the. investigators kind of unravel. everything. And the fact that I mean. it's being reported what that no. neighbor as of right now knew that they.

had a son there that you know let alone. maybe even had a son but that their son. was there. Um what does that tell you? >> It means they kept a a pretty low. profile. Um either he was confined to. the house or he's been in the backyard. for a very long time. And when you have. a vulnerable person, whether it's a. child uh you know a baby or you have. somebody who has special needs, there. does become a complication in terms of. uh you know that person actually being.

able to speak out for themselves or. report or something of that nature. That's where I do think when you have a. vulnerable victim um it can get. complicated. >> 100%. You know, uh detectives on this. case are going to have to take their. time. you know, you have obvious signs. of foul play right off the bat and you. can't you can't let that overplow your. judgment because it could be very it. could be something very simple, but on. the other hand, it could be something. that's very complicated. So, they're. going to have to take their time with. this one and they can't rely they're. going to have to independently develop.

all of their information outside of what. the husband and or the wife say because, you know, they could be parties to the. offense. >> And to be clear, they're only right now. charged with this tampering count, right? that could escalate once we know. what the cause of death is. Are you. surprised they haven't been charged at. this point uh with murder or. manslaughter or some sort of homicide. charge? Or is it too early? >> In my opinion, it's definitely too. early. I think at this point they're. going to have to rely on very heavily. what the medical examiner rules. Um.

they're going to have to lean on. science. there's going to be a whole lot. of of dots getting connected outside of. the office for them to come back with. this being that it could have been a. significant amount of time since all of. this took place. Science is going to be. the way that leads the investigation. >> and we don't know the state of the body, right? That could complicate it too. >> 100%. You know, being that being that. the body was actually placed. underground, you know, you there's a. whole lot of things that that go with. body breakdown and and just the science.

part. So again, the what the medical. examiner's rule, law enforcement is. going to follow suit with medical. examiner. >> What what are ways if you arrive at a. crime scene where you have a buried. body, what are the steps you take to. preserve that evidence, confirm the. victim's identity? Um because that's a. very delicate scene. [gasps]. >> You know, whenever whenever the body is. exumed, you know, everything actually. the the body itself and then the soil. around it actually becomes part of your. crime scene. So you have to be very.

delicate, very careful with it not to. disturb it any more than it's already. going to be disturbed from removing it. from the ground. There may be something. that's in the dirt beside the ground. that may be a clue that may help lead. law enforcement in a different. direction. So everything in the area, immediate area and surrounding areas of. the of the corpse is going to be very uh. very heavily weighed into the. investigation. There was this other. aspect uh that I mentioned that the. cadaavver dogs uh helped investigators. find Jonathan's body. How reliable are.

those dogs and locating buried remains. and maybe other, you know, evidence? Well, I'll tell you this, you know, when. it comes to law enforcement work. canines, kines are highly reliable. I. kick my partner out of the car seven. days a week for a K9 to ride next to me. A cadaavver dog is very, very specific. they can pick up scents of uh. decomposition miles away from the actual. burial site. So, they're highly reliable. and and it's a very needed piece in this. investigation.

>> And there's so many weird parts about. this. The idea that a Facebook post is. what helped trigger start this. investigation? Just taking it back to. where you brought it up. How important. is social media? How important is. community observation in starting an. investigation, uncovering hidden crimes? >> Well, you know, in the age of social. media, any information that is out there. is going to be put out, you know, once. it's put on social media, you never know. who it's going to contact. So, there. could have been people that had heard. something strange or maybe noticed. something a little weird. And so, now.

with that post, you know, the wheels. start turning and pieces of the puzzle. start to connect. It generates outside. conversation and before you know it, you. know, people can say, "Hey, if it uh if. it's quacking and it walks like a duck, it is a duck.". >> Yeah. Um, I want to go into these newly. unsealed search warrant affidavit. uh. they provide more information. They were. obtained by WFAA and NBC5. They basically paint a disturbing. picture of what investigators say. happened inside the Mitchell home in the. days leading up to the discovery of.

Jonathan's body. And we mentioned. earlier that police first learned of. Jonathan's possible death after this. family friend reached out reporting a. Facebook post from December Mitchell. And she had claimed that her son had. died at Texas Health Hugle Hospital. This is a claim that investigators. looked into. They determined it wasn't. true. It was false. And when. investigators checked, the hospital had. no record of it. There was no paperwork. There was no documentation. Nothing. That's when police realized that. something wasn't adding up. Mitchell.

then reportedly calls police and and. Mitchell also reportedly told police. that she wasn't going to hold a funeral. saying that Jonathan would be cremated. Admitted that she had no documentation. of his passing. How much of a red flag. is that detective? That's a huge red. flag. Um you know the the silver lining. in all of it is that she's actually. already created a narrative, one that. you can easily prove is false with one. phone call to the hospital. you know, you're able to able to determine is.

there a record of death for this. individual at the hospital. And once. they tell you no, now that just opens. the floodgate at that point, she becomes. the first person of interest in this. investigation. >> Shock. Is that an excuse? Hey, I was. shocked. I wasn't thinking clearly. I. don't know what I was saying. I was. confused. In your experience. interviewing people, is that a fair not. a fair explanation? >> I think that one is very thin. I think. that um I think that that was in my.

opinion it looked like what she was. trying to create was was an alibi for. for his death and for his disappearance. creating an illusion that you know he. passed away and that he's no longer. here. There's nothing here that is uh. foul play. It's just a very natural. situation. And so I don't think I think. she was throwing bait out there and. hoping that people would bite it. >> Yeah. I don't I don't necessarily. believe it either. I think the idea of. if she said cremation, that's. problematic because that would go to,

well, where's Jonathan's body? Oh, well, there you go. That's why it's not there. As opposed to it being buried in the. yard. I mean, that specific detail about. mentioning cremation. Prosecutors would say it's pretty. incriminating. >> I agree 100%. you know, um, burying a. loved one in a backyard. I wouldn't say. that it's never happened before, but. it's highly odd and very uncommon for. someone to do that. It seems very in. line with you're trying to uh get. something done without raising red.

flags, without raising a lot of. attention to your situation. So, I think. that that all of the all of the signals. point towards that there's some foul. play in this one. >> And was it was it surprising to you that. police followed up on that? What do I. mean? you know, if parents say, you. know, their child died and they died at. the hospital, when would police actually. follow up on that and look at the. hospital and see if there were records. there as opposed to just taking the. family's word for it? >> Well, you know, as we said earlier, being that it was posted on social.

media, I believe people close to the. family, people that were in the. community, around the family, and just. kind of in the loop of things going on. with them probably picked up on that. there was something that was weird going. on here. And I think there's a little. bit more to the story that, you know, that is added in by people that are that. were in the loop which would help police. kind of follow up on it. I think the. post alone is enough to cause suspicion, but when you start adding um outsiders. who may have some more information, I. think those facts alone will force you.

to figure out, okay, where where is the. child? Maybe he's at the house harmed or. something. So, it it's definitely. something that you have to follow up on. I thought the timeline was interesting, too, because you have later that. evening, and we mentioned this, that. Jonathan's stepfather is the one who. called on 911. He reportedly told. authorities that he learned that his. wife had buried uh her boy in the. backyard. It's unclear when exactly he. says he learned this, but according to. NBC 5, the warrant describes how a. family friend had basically warned the.

couple that if they didn't call police, he was going to do so. That's an. interesting tidbit to this detective. >> I think so too. I think that the outside. the outside information, you know, that. is going to be very valuable to this. case. Just figuring out when the. information was exchanged, that timeline. is going to be huge in in piecing this. case together. And I think that once you. look at it, if you have an extended. timeline where between the Facebook. post, the time that the neighbor was. notified, and then the neighbor coming.

forward and say, "Hey, either you do the. right thing or I will," is going to. weigh very heavily in the future charges. on his case. >> And to be clear, even though they're. both charged, and I don't know this for. sure, you do wonder if there's the. beginning of I had no idea what she was. doing. She told me this, you know, I I I. didn't know. Now, how successful is. that? What do I mean by that? I mean, how often do you see that where one. caregiver or one parent is saying, "I. had no idea what my wife was doing. I. had no idea what my husband's doing.". Then again, if you think about the.

allegations here that they, you know, buried this 26-year-old in the backyard, again, I'm not sure this is where the. defense is going to go, but it may be. hard to believe that she was able to. just do this on her own, right? >> 100%. What you would typically see when. there's multiple parties to any crime is. that uh one party will definitely start. uh minimization. wanting to kind of water down their. roles and and typically when that starts. happening you see a separation between.

the two parties and where um one party. will be a little more um culpable than. the other. And as an investigator, you. want to kind of exploit that you it's. it's actually working in their favor. that these two individuals may be. separating themselves from what their. roles were because you can play them. against each other. And and there's. another aspect of this that's incredibly. disturbing because it's police and the. cadaavver dogs, they were searching the. property. And I want your opinion about. what you think this means and how it. plays into the investigation. December.

Mitchell was reportedly caught on the. patrol car camera saying to her husband, "It was all me. that dog was going in to. find him. And in a statement that was. reportedly captured by police, she says, "I did this. This was my decision. I'm. sorry. I just wanted him close to me.". Now, detective, I just said it might be. hard to believe. One is responsible, one's not. What do you take away from. those statements? >> Those statements are pretty they're. pretty damning. I think that um.

definitely until you have any facts to. point you otherwise, you have to take. them as being uh you know pointing you. in the right direction of of who had the. most involvement. Now I do believe also. that there's been some time that could. have passed between the actual incident. that causes death and also the burial. which could help you kind of. distinguish. Okay, there definitely was. enough time that that two parties would. be able to create a story. So I think. there's going to take some deep digging. Also, um, like I said, you're going to.

have to spend some time speaking with. each individual to get their accounts. and then go back and try to cooporate. that information. By the way, assuming. that she made this statement and. assuming she didn't know it was being. recorded, how many times do you see. that, how many times do you see suspects. saying things that are caught on dash. cam camera or body camera and and I. guess the person doesn't realize it? >> It happens pretty commonly, you know. Uh. that's what we call an excited utterance. where a situation is is very heavy and. uh in the heat of passion of the moment.

you know you you make a statement and. it's unsolicited. It just comes out. because of stress and I think that's. that's what a statement sounds like. It. sounds like she was super stressed out. really felt like she had lost control of. the situation and the only thing left. for her to do was for her to say. something and and ultimately ended up. being recorded. >> Let me talk about what was found inside. the home. So, the affidavit says that. investigators noticed that Jonathan's. room appeared completely cleared out. There are items that had been removed. The mattresses reportedly shown showed.

signs of and smelled like human. decomposition. According to NBC 5, hair. follicles were collected from the scene. for forensic testing and analysis. DNA. samples were taken from Jonathan. Mitchell as part of the investigation. What are you expecting happens there, detective? And um what does this tell. you? >> What it sounds like is that law. enforcement was playing everything by. protocol. Uh typically in these. investigations, the standard in which. you start the investigation is you work. it as if it's a murder. Treat every.

death as if it's a murder. And then that. way you check all the boxes. You you. complete the forensic side of it and. then you can kind of scale down if. needed. But in this case where you have. an individual that could have been. missing for months, um it's it's a. situation where you have to you have to. take everything step by step. You have. to be slow and methodical with your. process. And again, you have to treat it. as if you don't have any witnesses and. see where the evidence leads you. Let's. say there's a complication with the.

actual body, right? Jonathan's body, and. you can't determine cause of death. How. much can the scene how much can the room. tell you? Whether cause of death, manner. of death, uh time frame, right? How long. he's been dead for? I you wonder what. evidence could be found there that might. help lead to answers. >> You know what I would be interested to. see is typically like, you know, situations like this when you're. searching a scene or you're searching a. a room, you want to see if there's any. maybe some blood stains. Also look for.

any bodily fluids that may be out of. place in this room. And definitely if. you are able to find bodily fluids, how. much bodily fluids is it going to be? Something that would be uh consistent. with a cut, a small cut, or does someone. get seriously injured here? And I think. all of those things are going to factor. into the police kind of piecing this. puzzle together from behind the scenes. >> There's something else that I want to. talk about here as well. So you have. December's post, the one that reportedly. alerted a family friend into seeking a. welfare check. That wasn't the only one.

that was apparently made online. So. authorities say Jonathan's stepfather. shared his own message about the laws. sometime before police arrived to the. home for the welfare check. His message. that was apparently posted on October. 14th at 6:35 p.m. reads, "So even at. your strongest, certain things can make. a man, a father, and friend break you. down to your core. I loved you so much. more than I can express, even if I. didn't always show it. But my heart is. broken in pieces right now, and I cannot.

contain the hurt I'm feeling for you. right now. I know you're in a better. place, but it still hurts." Detective, what do you make of that? the post is. coming off, you know, it's giving the. the vibe that a a individual's lost. someone very close to them. And. [clears throat] I think as a detective. and and the law enforcement agency. that's investigating this, it it's very. important to follow up on that. statement. I need to speak with with the. stepfather independently. I need to talk.

with him to figure out what was going on. during that time period. And also again. that post is another valuable piece to. kind of see Ben this timeline and and to. determine if when in fact you know he. was actually buried in the backyard. because I think that there's a lot of. answers a lot of time has passed since. then. So I think that in order to in. order to get a clearer timeline on this. you have to nail down the facts and that. post is a great starting point. >> And I want to go back to something else. just cuz it's so shocking. I want to. shift gears and talk about this.

particularly troubling incident. I mean, so much of it is, but what the neighbors. knew, right? Or what they didn't know. Up until last week, the couple, this. couple next door, December and Jonathan. Mitchell, they seem like, as I mentioned. before, perfectly normal, friendly. neighbors. Betty Nyola, who lives. nearby, told CBS Texas, "We've talked to. them in the backyard. We've talked to. them in the front yard. We've seen them. out there having parties. They know that. my kids come over every Sunday for. dinner." And when police showed up at. the Mitchell's door on October 14th for.

a welfare check, no one had any idea. what was happening inside that home. Noa. said, "Never have we ever saw the kid. Never did she ever mention that there. was one. We never saw anybody come and. go with them. All they ever talk about. is their daughter and their. granddaughter." Again, detective, we. talked about it how that might be. significant, but also the neighbors here. do play a role. They are important. witnesses. And I and I you also goes. back to this idea of if they really did. commit this crime and maybe other. crimes. How many times do you do you.

interview people that know the suspects. and say this is like comes out of. nowhere? This is a 180. The face they. put to the public is completely. different from what they're accused of. >> I think that's pretty typical. Um what. what it appears is that they they. completely altered their pattern of. life. Um and and went into a separate. mode of of trying to create a a certain. lifestyle and project a certain. lifestyle. And it looked like they moved. past the point of of even acknowledging.

that, you know, that they had a son. And. I think that that is it is very huge to. hear that from the neighbors to hear the. shock because you're talking about. someone first person that has. experienced them living their lifestyle. been has even been over to their home. and like you said that paired with the. fact that the room had been cleared out, you know, gives the impression that they. were had already the incident happened. and they were moving on to the next. phase of their life. And had it not been. for that tip, who knows where we'd be.

And police are probably in interviewing. these neighbors for any sense. Did you. see anybody moving? Did you see hear. anything? Right. If this all happened, if we're talking about this all this. house in the backyard, these neighbors, again, I imagine they're being. interviewed by law enforcement. These. neighbors are probably being questioned. in the last few months about anything. that they might have thought was not. significant at the time, but maybe. significant now, right? I mean, how how. do those interviews go? >> 100%. like those those interviews are. going to be uh very detailed because.

they are going to be your eyes and ears. for the investigator. Anything that. stands out now, maybe now even knowing. these circumstances, what you figured. out uh today and with law enforcement. being here looking back over the last. few months, has there been anything that. just stands out to you that is out of. the normal with this situation? Any. times you've even questioned them on. certain things and maybe their answers. or responses weren't right? All of those. are going to play a huge factor in this. because when you line them up witness by. witness, neighbor by neighbor, again, I. think you're going to get a large piece.

of the puzzle that indicates there was. something going on here. And Detective. Barnes, one of the reasons I also wanted. to have you on, aside from your. incredible, you know, expertise in this. area and what we should be thinking. about is I'm sure unfortunately you've. had a lot of conversations with victims, family members, deceased family members. So Jonathan's father's family, the. Kinman's, released a statement and they. call this situation, quote, "a living. nightmare." They say, "We were horrified. to hear the news about our precious. Jonathan." This is a living nightmare. for the Kinman family. Please know that.

we are in full cooperation with law. enforcement, and we will fight for every. last ounce of truth and justice to come. to light for the sake of our sweet boy. Also, by the way, the Center for ASD uh. in Berles, which provides services to. the special needs community, they. released a statement expressing concern, writing, "Though the Center for ASD did. not know Jonathan, our hearts go out to. his family and friends. We cannot. speculate as to what happened, but we. know that this individual deserve. better. As a community, as a city, and.

as a state, we need to show up better. for this vulnerable population. 17-year. wait list for services and programs that. are constantly running out of funding. should not be the normal. Living life. with a special needs loved one is. lifelong and we need to recognize that. and provide support to them and their. families. Our loved ones get older and. their needs change. They don't just go. away. Now, uh, detective, let let me ask. you this. What do you say to this family. if if you were investigating this case? What do you say to this family? Um, and.

also, what information can you share. with them? I can tell you that uh I know for me it. dealing with the families of of your. victims is a very it's very delicate and. it's a tough situation. Um you know my. conversation with this family would be. simply just give me some time. You know. you have to have time because I want to. make sure that I get it right for. Jonathan and for you guys as well. This. family is in a situation where they've. definitely been victimized. It's tough.

for anyone to lose a loved one. Um, but. for other family members to be. implicated or have some role and not at. this point not be clear as to all the. details, it's just a horrible situation. and my heart goes out to them. But I my. plea for them would just be simply. please let me get some time to work. these things out. And I would definitely. keep a very tight communication with. this family. I want to keep them in the. loop obviously because you know with the. coverage I want to make sure that if. anything comes out that they hear it.

from me first. So, we definitely will. have open communication and I would. definitely want to keep them updated on. every every information as it comes out. >> Yeah, absolutely. Really tough to think. about. Uh well, right now December and. John Mitchell, they remain behind bars. at the Johnson County Jail on a $250,000. bond. Detective Eric Barnes, thank you. so much for taking the time. It was. great to see you. >> Thanks, Jesse. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple.

Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. You can follow me on. X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time.