02x04 - Houses of Horror

[bunniefuu]

[Natalia] Everybody
in that apartment complex
was just like,

"Yeah, you can't
be here anymore,"

so I left.

The truth is that everywhere
that I would go...

neighbors who knew me
saw what was going on,

but... nobody
said anything,

especially when I was living
with the Barnetts.

Why? I don't know.

I wanna know the answers
to these questions.

I was a little girl.
I was seven years old.

[softly] Oh, my gosh!

[panting]

Oh!

[whispering] I'm just looking
at the house.

It's just like everything
is coming back.

Yeah.

[Natalia] Like, I'm just like,
my brain is everywhere
right now.

-Yeah?
-[Natalia] And...

Like, just looking
at the house,

like, it just reminds me
when Kristine

had me walk all the way
around the block...

-Hmm.
-...with no shoes.

And my feet were bleeding

by the time
I got to the steps.

Wow.

[Natalia] And she...
she was mad about it.

I couldn't even go
in the house. Like, she had
to clean my feet outside.

But she used this brush...

And it hurt.
And I told her it did,

but she didn't
listen to me.

There's just...
there's just so much...

my brain is
like everywhere.

It's, like,
replaying everything

over and over again.

Well...

I'm sorry
about those experiences.

[Natalia sobbing]

[Antwon] But it's gonna be
all right.

-It's gonna be all right.
-[sniffles]

[whimpering]

Even, like, just looking
at the front of the house,

I just remembered
what happened in there.

[sobbing]

It literally feels
like a haunted house.

I'm blessed
to even be alive.

The time that
Kristine made me walk
all the way around that block.

She wouldn't even let me
get my shoes. [sniffles]

Neighbors were driving by
and nobody stopped
and said anything.

And nobody even tried
to help me.

From Natalia's perspective,

the abuse was, you know,
like, in the open.

And, you know, nobody
in the neighborhood
came to assist her.

[Natalia] When I was
with the Barnetts,

I wanted to tell the neighbors

everything that happened
to me,

but they knew Kristine
and Michael really well.

Like, they were really
good friends, I guess.

And... they wouldn't have
believed me.

They would've just thought
I was just making up a story.

So it was just like
I didn't know what else to do.

And...

I was scared.

I was scared
if I did say something
what would Kristine do.

Gracie was like
my best friend.

Natalia came
to our house a lot

to play
with my daughter, Grace.

For a long time,
I thought they were,

like, connected
at the hip, and then...

Kristine, she just...

said that Natalia
was trying to k*ll her

and... I...
went to Grace

and said, "You know what,
we need to find some
new friends to play with."

'Cause I didn't want to have
anything to do
with that little girl.

If she was trying
to k*ll Kristine, my friend,

she wasn't welcome
in our house.

I don't want her try k*lling
my daughter or me.

[Natalia] Gracie's parents,
they were so nice.

But with everything
that Kristine said about me,

it changed their minds.

I couldn't even
see Gracie anymore.

Nobody stood up for me.

I wanna find out why.

-[Natalia chuckles] Hi.
-Hi.

-How are you?
-I'm all right.

[Rachel] Good.

-I don't know if you
remember me.
-I do.

-[Rachel] Okay. Good.
-[both chuckle]

-You look so good. All pretty.
-[Natalia] Thank you.

-[Rachel] Aw! Wanna sit down?
-Sure.

-[Rachel] All right.
You all right?
-Yeah, I'm okay.

-[Rachel] Okay.
-[Natalia] I'm just... I'm
gonna leave that right here.

[Rachel] Okay.
Yeah, that's perfect.

-Do you remember coming over
here and playing and stuff?
-I do.

-You do?
-Yes.

We had lots of fun.

We really did.

-We went in our playroom
and when we...
-Yeah.

...played down here
and colored and did
all that kind of stuff.

-Feels like forever ago.
-I know. It really was.

But yeah, I mean,
it's been a while.

So it's like hard for me
to remember what we've done,

-but we did a lot
of stuff together.
-I know. Yeah.

What exactly did Kristine
tell you when she came here?

So she came over,

and she was crying
when she told me this stuff.

So she was like,

"Um, Natalia was putting
thumbtacks on the steps,

so when we walk up the steps,
we would step on them."

And I was like, "Okay."
And she said,

"Um, hiding knifes
in the mattress." I'm like,

"Okay."

And, like,
that's what scared me.

And I just sat here
in such shock.

So I was like, "What?"

There's so many things
that the Barnetts have said

that they've tried to paint me
as some crazy person.

And literally I'm a...
I'm a kid wanting to play
with other kids

and everybody is looking at me
as a 22-year-old.

So they're all creeped out...

and thinking I'm trying
to be a pedophile to a kid.

I didn't even get a chance
to say goodbye to Gracie.

I... it was just like a...
like...

scissors going through
a piece of paper.
It was just cut off.

I didn't know why.

All I knew was I missed
my best friend.

I was a kid.

And you didn't
think twice about it,

didn't think twice about,
you know, the fact like,

"But she looks like
a little girl, how are they
saying she's an adult?"

You just took
their word for it.

Nobody investigated.

Why didn't you ask about...
did you ask?

No, I asked them.
I didn't ask you.

Why didn't
you come to me?

-I should have.
-Like, why...

You... I was around
all the time, you said that

you didn't
see anything.

So why was that
so easy to believe?

I... I didn't wanna
believe any of it...

but I felt...

like she pushed me
to believe it.

That's what she did
with a lot of people.

I mean,
they are good talkers.

-Trust me, I feel terrible.
-Nobody ever asked me.

Nobody ever thought,

"Hey, like, maybe we should
get both sides of the story."

Everybody just went with what
Kristine and Michael said.

And the fact is that they...
[inhales]

[sighs wearily]

The fact is...

when I got into my apartment
in Westfield,

I was on this medicine.

And...

she'd pretty much
overdosed me.

-[Rachel stuttering] I--
-Did I ever try
to hurt Gracie?

-Did I ever try
to do anything? [sniffles]
-No.

And I...
I explained that to them.

I said this was all
so hard to believe

because you were always so--

Why did you
believe it though?

-Do I look
like a m*rder*r to you?
-[Rachel] No.

Honey, if I knew
what was really going on.

I... I should've asked,
I would've snatched you up
in a heartbeat.

Why didn't you?

I'm not gonna lie.

I think I was kind of
scared of her...

and what she could do.

Did you ever think of what
she was doing to me?

Unfortunately, no.

I'm very ashamed... of it.

I mean, I am. I...

-I had no reason
not to believe her.
-[sniffles]

Like, she...
she manipulated me.

-I mean, I--
-She manipulated everybody.

I mean, I'm angry as well,
trust me.

Like, seeing...

all of this and you
and hearing this, like... I...

I mean, she's a horrible,
horrible human being.

Hands down.

Hands down.

[Natalia] I don't want to talk
to Kristine again.

Never.

I don't wanna see her again.
I didn't even wanna see her
in the trial.

But Michael...

reached out
and said he wanted to talk,

said he wanted to apologize.

Well, he can try again.

I'm, you know, like,
"I'll talk to you. I'll listen
to what you gotta say,

but I have
a lot of questions."

And I am hoping that this time
he will be truthful
and answer them.

[Michael] I've never tried
to forget Natalia

as much as
I wanna forget it.

One of the five
best days of my life

was the day
that we adopted Natalia.

As much as I want to
block that,

put that in the past,
put that away...

it's real. It's still there.

I have very little things

that survived from...
from my previous life.

This is actually a cross
that was given to Natalia

with... with her middle name,
"Grace" on it

right after Natalia
came home with us.

It was hanging up on...
on the wall of her bedroom.

Natalia, I would like
to apologize directly to you

and not the world.

If we ever get a moment
where... we can

have a conversation

where we can speak,
where we can talk...

you'll get that.

But at the same time,

I'm realistic enough
to know...

that from other people's
points of view...

I'm probably the devil.

[Kenneth] My name
is Ken Maxwell.

I have over 30 years
of law-enforcement experience,

the vast majority of which
was with the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.

My last position,
I was the assistant
special agent in charge

of the counterterrorism branch

in the New York field office.

Following my retirement
from the FBI,

with my considerable
investigative experience,

the Natalia Grace case...

was more than intriguing
to me.

When we first started out,
it was a classic whodunnit,

but as we gathered
more information,

it has evolved
into a how and a why.

Why did all these things
take place?

We can't get
into Kristine's mind
or Michael's mind.

However, based upon...

the evidence
we've been able to uncover,

interviews with people,
documents,

their own messaging
between each other,

it amounts
to circumstantial evidence

that gives us a glimpse

into what they
were thinking at the time

that helps support

the notion that there
was a purposeful plan.

Securing an apartment
for Natalia in Lafayette

was the next step
of the plan

to get rid of Natalia
from the Barnett family...

for good.

Placing Natalia
in this apartment
in Lafayette

that was totally unsuitable
for a disabled person.

Was Kristine exhibiting
a depraved indifference
for Natalia as a human being?

Or was
the hate so strong

that she just didn't care

as to leave somebody
in an environment like that

with little or no safety
or protection?

Kristine dropped me off
at that apartment.

I didn't know
how to take care of myself.

I didn't know what to do.

[Karas] It seems Kristine
has one move left...

to try to get rid of Natalia,

but she's not
gonna stop there.

She's moving on
to Michael next.

[Karas] A disabled
nine-year-old left alone

in a dangerous neighborhood
to fend for herself.

This was no accident.

This was intentional.

Natalia was left
in harm's way,

in what appears to be
Kristine's final move,

to get rid of her for good.

[Natalia] I found out
I was moving to Lafayette

once we were already there.

She helped me move in.

And then, once we
were done moving in,

I find out that that's where
I'm gonna, like,

actually be living...

and they're moving to Canada.

Through the investigation,
we find out that
she got moved

into the Westfield apartment

and her specialized shoes
were taken from her

and her walker.

And here in Lafayette,
the same scenario.

She didn't have
either one of those things.

She just doesn't
have them.

When I show up
to this apartment,

I mean... it is not...

catered to a person...
that is a little person.

I'm just
completely shocked.

There was nobody there
to help me get anything
from the top shelf

or anything like that.

It was not a easy thing
doing it on my own.

But I had to,
kind of, adapt to it.

Kristine came
maybe twice.

After that,
Michael came once.

And, um...

I never saw them again
after those three months.

[Cynthia] It's okay.

This it? Wow.

[Natalia] Oh, my goodness.

Talk about memories.

[Natalia] For real.

-These stairs were not easy.
-[Cynthia] I know.

[Natalia] Ow!

[Cynthia] It's okay.

I would have
to climb up there,

and then when I would get
to the second step,
I would just pull the thing.

I had to stand on that step
for five minutes

just to unlock the door.

And once
I would get it open,

I'd already be tired
from standing,
trying to open it.

And then I was like...

Twelve steps after walking up
these five plus that step.

-And then...
If I remember right...
-Plus the actual--

...there's like a...

flooring when you first go in

then there's


Yes.

I couldn't even
reach the mailbox.

Yeah, I probably should
sit down though.

-Oh, Jeez, okay.
You know what?
-I got you.

-You wanna sit?
-Yeah.

You know, this was like


so she had to do all this
on her own

when she was so much
more smaller and...

-Yeah.
-...and less stable.

-You know, she was--
-[g*nsh*t]

-Jesus, that scared me.
-[Natalia] Are you for real?

[chuckles nervously]

-[producer] What was that?
-Please, tell me
that was a firework.

Oh, Jesus.

Not today, Satan.

-That sounded real close.
-It sounded like,

not this block,
but the next block.

[Natalia] That sounded
really loud.

Yeah.

-I was... eight.
-Nine and a half?

I was eight. I turned nine

-when I met you guys.
-Okay.

-So nine years old...
-Yep.

...and she was walking
through this area herself.

Anything could
have happened.

-I thank God it didn't.
-[g*nsh*t at a distance]

Jesus.

-[g*nsh*t]
-Oh, okay.

I'm ready to go.

[chuckles nervously]

Her family just dropped
her off in Lafayette
and went to Canada.

Who does that?

It makes me angry.
It makes me wanna...

just scream at Kristine.

Because why would you
do that to her.

Why did Natalia
deserve that?

Because... "Kristine,
she didn't fit
into your agenda?"

[Michael] I'm at work,
I get a phone call
from Kristine.

The exact words
are... "Michael...

quit your job,
call your boss,

you need to come home
right now.

We're moving to Canada."

And she hung up.

So I come rushing home.

Kristine...

rents a car, takes the boys,

leaves the country,
goes to Canada

to go find a place to live.

And Kristine tells me that,
"You have to sell
everything we own."

And then I join my family
up in Canada.

[Kenneth] The steps
that Kristine took

with Michael in Canada

are at least indicative
of part of her plan possibly,

that she got rid of Natalia,

"Now it's time to rid myself
of my husband, Michael."

[Karas] It culminates into...

she's even gonna alienate
his sons against him.

[Michael] While we
were in Canada,

there were fights
every day.

I was driving
with the family

and Kristine was just
screaming and screaming

and yelling and yelling at me.

"You are not helpful!

You are nothing.
You are worthless.

You are replaceable.

The book money,
it's all mine.

The Hollywood money,
it's all mine."

Mentally...

this was
my snaping point...

with Kristine.

I tell her, "I've had it.

I'm leaving you."

Anger builds...

"Shut up or I'll k*ll you."

"Mine, everything is mine.
You're worthless!"

"Shut up or I'll k*ll you."

"You're nothing... mine..."

"Shut up or I'll k*ll you."

I shouldn't have said it.

Absolutely shouldn't
have said it.

Angel voice comes out...

public persona
hits the brakes
and comes out.

She spins, turns to the boys
in the back seat...

[mimics Kristine] "Boys...

Dad's gonna k*ll all of us.

It's okay.

I'm gonna protect you."

[in normal voice] Every day,
Kristine would tell them,

"You're dad's dangerous,
he's gonna k*ll you."

Next thing you know, suddenly,
my kids are terrorized.

And they sleep with knives
next to their bed

because they're afraid
of their dad coming to Canada

to kidnap them
and k*ll them.

[Kenneth] Kristine went to

a Canadian therapist,
a mental health professional

and told her
what had occurred,

that Michael was a danger
to Kristine and to the boys.

A physical thr*at
to the family.

[Michael] At this point
in time I had moved
back to Indiana.

Later I would
come to find out

the moment
she stopped shouting

and turned into
the angelic protector,

she had palmed
the cell phone,

she had hit record on it...

She takes the recording,
not long thereafter

to the Ontario police.

And tries to convince them
that we are in danger.

So this fight that
Michael and Kristine had,

and she pulls out
her phone and she,

she video tapes threats
that Michael was making

in the heat
of the moment,

are now living on forever,

that's parallel
to Natalia's experience
with the pledge incident.

Where Natalia says,
"She pulled out her phone
and made me do it."

And then use it
as evidence.

That she caught me, you know,
poisoning her coffee.

So this is Kristine
creating a narrative

to her benefit
and perhaps
to scare Michael.

Then she calls
me up to tell me...

[Kristine on phone]
This was, like, you have
committed a crime

and we're about
to lock you up.

[Karas] Kristine was masterful
at understanding a situation

she could
exploit immediately

on camera.

Kristine got him so upset
and they were fighting

that she turned
a camera on him

as he was saying,
you know,

"I'll k*ll you.
I'll k*ll you."

And she took it
to the police

in order to keep him
in the United States.

[Kristine on phone]
It's terrible, Michael.

Extremely scary.

[Michael] Kristine... Kris...

[Michael] Kris, calm down.

[Michael clears throat]

[Michael clears throat]

-[Michael clears throat]
-[Kristine sobbing]

[Michelle Frazee]
After Michael
came back from Canada,

he lived with us.

Michael would have
his door closed

and he would be
talking to Kristine,

trying to talk
to the boys, whatever.

And she would just be
screaming at him.

Kristine would scream
crazy things at him,

calling him a psycho
and calling him an abuser.

She used that incident
to tell my kids forever

that I was
a wanted man in Canada,

that I couldn't enter
the country of Canada,

that I had charges
waiting for me in Canada.

[Karas] It seemed
Kristine wanted Michael
to be in the US

while she's in Canada
with Jacob and the boys.

Now, if that's true, why?

Well, maybe because
she wanted Michael to be

the sole parent
responsible for Natalia

who at this point
is their dependent

and maybe
a dependent forever

and if something
were to happen to Natalia,

she could just
claim ignorance,

like, "I'm in Canada.
I'm not even in the country.

It's on Michael."

[Kenneth] She even engaged
in a conversation at one point

where she wanted Michael

to be the trustee
of Natalia's affairs.

We know that
from Facebook communications.

Kristine was almost
leaving him holding
the bag to do all this.

[Jackie Starbuck]
You were asked
about personal knowledge

about her being neglected
or left in this apartment.

So any... If, if you want to
respond as to what Natalia

told you or sent you,

I think that
would be appropriate.

So, uh, okay. I have a picture
of her looking like she has

bruises all over her face,

her hair is chopped off,

she looks miserable

in an apartment
that she and the Mans told me
were up a flight of stairs.

[Nicole DePaul] This is when
she was living alone.

Does anybody know
what happened?

So, when you drop a little
disabled six-year-old off,

what the hell happened?

Oh. It's horrible.

-She has what looks like...
-[Vince DePaul]
Maybe black eyes.

[Nicole] ...black eyes
and her--

[Vince] A scrape
across her nose.

[Nicole] Scrape
across the bridge of her nose.

I mean...

I mean, look at
the way she walks.

I mean, she,
she could've fallen, you know?

-I mean, who knows.
-[Nicole] She could've
fallen down all those stairs

-that they put her in.
-[Vince] She
could've fallen...

-She was in
a second story apartment.
-...down in the apartment.

So at trial, the main points
that we had were,

as a dependent she was
in a second floor apartment,

they didn't set her up
with any doctors,

they didn't set her up
with anyone to assist her

as far as hygiene,
cooking, cleaning, clothes.

Michael had
a duty to care for her

which he failed to do so

when he abandoned her
in Lafayette in a situation

that endangered
her life or health.

I remember my power
actually being shut off

in Lafayette apartment

for, like, a week and it was
in the middle of summer.

Like, it was burning hot.

I remember, like, everything
in the fridge went bad, like,

and I couldn't go
grocery shopping

and I was scared.

I was really scared.

Like, I could've d*ed.

I grew up way too early.

I've had to learn lessons
that I should've learned

when, maybe, like,
just now turning 20.

I should be
learning those life lessons.

If, literally like,
I had to grow up overnight.

Michael being left
in Indiana

did do some things,

possibly,
even unintentionally.

We have communications

where he's
questioning Kristine,

"Why did you
shut off the electricity?

There was
no air conditioner.

Why did you
take her phone?"

If Kristine was trying
to set up Michael to
take responsibility

or take the fall
for anything

that happened
to Natalia in Lafayette,

these communications
contradict that.

They show her
direct knowledge of,

"Why did you, Kristine,
shut off her phone?

Why did you
not pay the electric bill?"
You being Kristine.

So it makes her culpable.

In fact, it infers that
Michael was not aware

that Kristine
did these things.

[Karas] Michael checked in
on Natalia and became
a lifeline for her.

He had her electricity
turned back on

and air conditioning
installed, he got her food

and basically
foiled Kristine's plan.

It was almost
a victory for the Barnetts,

but in the end,
look at Kristine's failures.

She failed to get Natalia
locked up criminally,

she failed to
get her committed
to a psychiatric facility,

she failed to get
Michael to take the fall

and finally
the authorities get involved.

When the director
of the Adult Learning Center

in Lafayette, Indiana

did what every other adult

in Natalia's life
had failed to do,

call the police.

[Karas] Kristine and Michael
were really trying to erase
Natalia from their lives.

But once
the police were involved,

they launched
an investigation in 2013

into who Natalia was.

Where she came from,

how she got
to the United States,

and to Indiana
and an apartment
living by herself.

Now that statement she wrote
at the Adult Learning Center

was a biographical sketch
given to the police

and in it there were

allegations, which if true,
show that this child

was abused long before she was
in the Barnett household.

You wrote down
the story of your life, right?

Natalia is not unscathed.

We know there were things that
she came with to this country.

As an investigator,
really difficult
to really know

what the... the whole story
about what happened to her,

as a baby, as a child.

This is September 11th
of 2013

and it said,
"I was born in Ukraine

but, but I do not
remember much.

So I don't know
my real parents

and I was in an orphanage

so I only remember
the bad stuff.

And then I got a sh*t,
which made me pass out

and then when I woke up,
I was in a baby orphanage.

And I saw a guy
put something on my face,
like, a towel or something..."

[softly] Yikes...

I actually forgot
I wrote this.

This is when everything
started to turn for you.

-Things just kinda changed.
-This was-- I wrote this

and then they took me
to the police station.

And you're now at Lafayette
and there's no...

You've been
cut off, basically.

Pretty much.
Thankfully, I had my parents.

You had this
whole new door that opened up.

Mmm. With the Mans family.

I don't know. It's
just, like, I felt safe

when I met my parents.

Even though
I didn't know who they were,

but I just... I felt safe.

They let me be a kid.

They let me be
a nine-year-old,
all the way into teenager

all the way to now.

Antwon and Cynthia
showed me what

a dad and a mom
are supposed to be like.

They taught me what love is.

So, this first one is me.

That's me right there.

-[Antwon] Wow!
You're so little!
-[Natalia] That's me. I was...

[Cynthia] Aw!

I was, like, two...
I think I was, like, two.

That's what it looks like.

[Antwon] Natalia was so cute!

-I was so little.
-[Antwon] Wow!

-And then that is...
-Your mom and dad.

Yeah. That's my
biological dad and mom.

[Cynthia] Aw!

[Anna speaking
in other language]

[Natalia in English]
I don't wanna open

that door of
a relationship with Anna.

I get it, you know?

You, you probably
do wanna see me
and everything like that,

but I have a family here.

I have my parents
who raised me.

Like, it's different with Anna

because she only
gave birth to me,

but she let me go
pretty much that same day.

It started bringing in
some hurt emotions

because I haven't been in
the Ukraine since I was five.

The things that I remember

from being in the orphanage
in Ukraine are not great.

They're scary memories

that I really don't like
to think about anymore.

[Veronica] When Natalia
was in the orphanage,

most probably because
they just didn't
have the staff

to support
these kids one on one,

and what they
would have to do is

en masse scare them into,

you know,
getting into their beds

and being quiet

and therefore
they use unusual tactics.

[Natalia] One time
we were playing,

we heard stomping

and everybody
ran to the bedroom...

[kids screaming]

[Natalia] ...but I knew
I couldn't

and there was
a couch behind me

and I hid behind a couch.

There was like,
this big, black cloak

and it was,
like, this green mask.

To me it was like
the monster under the bed.

It heard me crying

and it turned my way
and I, literally, panicked.

And I crawled to the very end

where there was,
like, a plant,

where it couldn't
get me on that side.

And I remember
hearing it stomping,
coming towards me

and it just peaked
behind the couch.

And I was so scared.

Like, I didn't know
what was about to happen,

and it just stared at me.

[sobbing] And I'm,
like, I don't know what to do.

And it finally left.

And then I remember
one of the people that was

in the bedroom
with the other kids

came and hugged me
and then that was it.

But, like, that was, like,

the scariest
moment of my life
that I remember from that age.

Like, that was beyond scary

'cause I didn't know
what was happening,

I don't know why anybody would
want to scare a bunch of kids.

A lot of stuff happened that
just should not have happened.

One thing I do remember is

it's very weird,

but I was is a orphanage
and I just remember, like,

somebody just coming up
and just covering my face

and I blacked out

and then it was, like...

I remember I woke up
being carried and I just

remember just seeing
a big building,

looked like
an apartment building.

I remember being
in a doctor's office

and then I remember
getting a sh*t in my arm

and then after that
I blacked out again.

And then,
next thing I know,

I'm laying on a couch.

This memory has always
been, like, a mystery to me.

And... Well...

I can't remember anything
about what he looked like.

The next memory
that I have after that
is me back in a orphanage.

Like, I don't know
how I got back there

or anything like that.

When I'm trying
to picture it,

it's just, like,
an invisible guy
with a white T-shirt.

Like, I just don't know
what he looked like.

I can't remember.

[producer] I can
hand it to you

and then I'll take it back.

I don't even know...

Like, how did y'all
get this picture?

[whispering]
Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my gosh.

Like, honestly,
I don't know what to say.

I don't know
what to even think.

Because, like, I know, like,

more happened
than what I remember,

but it's like,
I can't figure it out.

Like, just seeing
that, like,

and not being able to
remember is frustrating.

But it's also scary because
I don't know what he did.

I don't know
why I was with him. I...

I don't know.

If Natalia had been
traumatized in Ukraine,

she needed
a family to help her heal,

but the Barnetts
were not that family.

They did the opposite

and then
she's re-traumatized again.

[Natalia] The time
I was in the Ukraine

in the orphanage,
after all that happened,

the only thing
I really wanted

was a family
who loves me.

A family that protects me

and the Barnetts
did none of that.

They just hurt me more.

Kristine and Michael
were never my parents!

From day one.

They never
acted like my parents.

Even though I'm still
legally theirs right now,

they are not my parents.

Antwon and Cynthia Mans
are my parents.

So, the only thing
that's left connecting me

to the Barnetts
is my last name

and that's about to
change as well.

[Kenny] I'm Peter Kenny.

I practice law
in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Primarily adoptions,

foster care
and guardianship issues.

What makes me
wanna take this case is,

I think it's about time that

the system
looked out for Natalia.

I just want to see
why do you want to be
in their family forever?

And why do you
want to be theirs?

[sighs softly] They've
actually been a family to me.

They've showed me love.

They've told me
that they love me
and they've showed it.

This will be
my third adoption

and this will be
my permanent adoption.

I've been Natasha Gava

and then it was
Natalia Ciccone

and then
it was Natalia Barnett

and now it'll
be Natalia Mans.

With still being
connected to the Barnett name

and everything like that
and how it, like,

if I have to sign something
I have to say Barnett,

and it's like,
I don't want that

to be my identity.

'Cause, like,
with everything that happened,

it's all connected
to the Barnett name.

And I don't want that
to be connected to me anymore.

I just want to start new

and not have to
look back and...

I don't wanna have to...

Like, someone ask me, like,
"What's your name?"

I don't wanna
say Natalia Barnett.

I wanna say Natalia Mans
because that's who I am.

I'm a Mans.
I'm not a Barnett.

Like, me and my family
have had to pay the price

for their decisions
with pain and suffering

and just a whole bunch
of road blocks.

And so now, I feel like
they should be the ones
to have to pay the price.

Legally, I feel like
they got away with it.

Legally they did.

Publicly, they're not.
'Cause people know

and are gonna see
as these things get uncovered,

what they have done.

'Cause you don't
go through this much stuff

to do something to a person

unless you're
hiding something.

As long, as long as
I've known them,

all they've done is lied.

What this adoption
will do is

kinda pave the way
for anything you wanna do

legally in the future

because the evidence
will speak for itself.

-They're hiding something.
-Yeah.

With this adoption,

I'll be legally
a part of the family.

So that way,
I'll be protected

while I do civil suits
against the Barnetts.

You know, abuse, neglect

and a whole bunch
of other stuff

that should not
have happened.

Michael and Natalia
are meeting again.

Michael on one side
and Natalia on the other.

Will Michael
reveal any secrets?

Of course,
Natalia wants answers,

but she's
running a risk here

because Michael
has triggers.

I try, I try, I try, I try!

-[Antwon] Let me talk to you.
Let me talk to you.
-[Michael] No, no, no.

-[producer] Michael?
-[Michael] Leave me alone!

Is she running the risk
that he's gonna get up
and walk out again?

[Antwon] You ain't about to
weasel your way out of this.

He's got to
come back and man up

and stop being
a little whiny baby!

[woman] He acted
like a coward!

This is round two.

How many
other secrets are there?

You have to fight
to get to the truth.

I'm not scared anymore.

You deserve
to have some answers.