On July 2, 2005, Tim Holland reported his adopted son Ricky, 7, missing. Thus began a story that would grip the state of Michigan. It ended in a 6-week trial, with 55 witnesses, over 312 pieces of evidence, and $1 million cost to Ingham County to investigate.
The community launched a huge 9-day search effort, with 1,700 volunteers trying to find the boy, but meanwhile, authorities were becoming more and more suspicious of the parents. While Tim and Lisa Holland beg people to find Ricky, investigators agreed that they didn't act like parents of a lost child. When the investigation focused on the parents, Tom and Lisa Holland began to blame at each other for Ricky's death. On July 27, 2005, Tom led the police to Ricky's remains in a garbage bag that had been tossed into a swampy area near Danville.
The parents had different, and changing, stories about how Ricky died, and the skeletal remains didn't reveal cause of death. At first, Tim claimed that Lisa hit Ricky on the head with a tack hammer the evening of July 1, 2006, and ordered him to get rid of the body.
A month later, when Tim pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder and aiding and abetting first-agree child abuse, he said he wanted to tell the real truth about Ricky's death. He admitted that he hadn't actually seen Lisa hit Ricky with the hammer. A week before Ricky died, Lisa told him that Ricky had hit his head diving in a wading pool. All that week, Ricky was acting like a "zombie": listless, glassy eyed, not eating or drinking, and unresponsive. He was unable to walk, and Lisa had him in a diaper. They argued whether or not to take him to the hospital. Lisa claimed to have taken the boy for care, but his head wound still looked uncared for. Later that week, Tom went to the hospital for a sprained ankle, but admitted that it didn't occur to him to take Ricky with him.
During the investigation of Ricky's death, when over 2,000 pornographic images were found on his work computer, Tim was fired from his position in counterintelligence for the Army.
Lisa claimed Tim was a violent man who killed Ricky and threatened her if she told. But it wasn't a story that convince the jury. Two jail inmates testified that Lisa told them she had hit the boy with a tack hammer by accident. One asked Lisa if the boy had died right away, and Lisa indicated "no." Asked if he suffered, she nodded "yes." Most damning, the inmates produced a note Lisa had written that said: "I think it's too late now, but I have to tell someone. It was an accident. I didn't mean to." The jury found her guilty of first degree murder which carries a mandatory life sentence with no hope of parole.
For his guilty plea and his testimony against Lisa, Tim got 30 to 60 years in a maximum security prison for reckless disregard in knowing Ricky's death would be an inevitable consequence of his neglect.
Ricky's skeletal remains showed a broken jaw with evidence of healing, indicating that he had lived with a painful jaw. There were also fractures in some shoulder bone(s). The skull did not show any signs of trauma, but an expert testified that a blow to the head doesn't always have to injure bone to be fatal.
The community launched a huge 9-day search effort, with 1,700 volunteers trying to find the boy, but meanwhile, authorities were becoming more and more suspicious of the parents. While Tim and Lisa Holland beg people to find Ricky, investigators agreed that they didn't act like parents of a lost child. When the investigation focused on the parents, Tom and Lisa Holland began to blame at each other for Ricky's death. On July 27, 2005, Tom led the police to Ricky's remains in a garbage bag that had been tossed into a swampy area near Danville.
The parents had different, and changing, stories about how Ricky died, and the skeletal remains didn't reveal cause of death. At first, Tim claimed that Lisa hit Ricky on the head with a tack hammer the evening of July 1, 2006, and ordered him to get rid of the body.
A month later, when Tim pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder and aiding and abetting first-agree child abuse, he said he wanted to tell the real truth about Ricky's death. He admitted that he hadn't actually seen Lisa hit Ricky with the hammer. A week before Ricky died, Lisa told him that Ricky had hit his head diving in a wading pool. All that week, Ricky was acting like a "zombie": listless, glassy eyed, not eating or drinking, and unresponsive. He was unable to walk, and Lisa had him in a diaper. They argued whether or not to take him to the hospital. Lisa claimed to have taken the boy for care, but his head wound still looked uncared for. Later that week, Tom went to the hospital for a sprained ankle, but admitted that it didn't occur to him to take Ricky with him.
During the investigation of Ricky's death, when over 2,000 pornographic images were found on his work computer, Tim was fired from his position in counterintelligence for the Army.
Lisa claimed Tim was a violent man who killed Ricky and threatened her if she told. But it wasn't a story that convince the jury. Two jail inmates testified that Lisa told them she had hit the boy with a tack hammer by accident. One asked Lisa if the boy had died right away, and Lisa indicated "no." Asked if he suffered, she nodded "yes." Most damning, the inmates produced a note Lisa had written that said: "I think it's too late now, but I have to tell someone. It was an accident. I didn't mean to." The jury found her guilty of first degree murder which carries a mandatory life sentence with no hope of parole.
For his guilty plea and his testimony against Lisa, Tim got 30 to 60 years in a maximum security prison for reckless disregard in knowing Ricky's death would be an inevitable consequence of his neglect.
Ricky's skeletal remains showed a broken jaw with evidence of healing, indicating that he had lived with a painful jaw. There were also fractures in some shoulder bone(s). The skull did not show any signs of trauma, but an expert testified that a blow to the head doesn't always have to injure bone to be fatal.
On July 2, 2005, Tim Holland reported his adopted son Ricky, 7, missing. Thus began a story that would grip the state of Michigan. It ended in a 6-week trial, with 55 witnesses, over 312 pieces of evidence, and $1 million cost to Ingham County to investigate.
The community launched a huge 9-day search effort, with 1,700 volunteers trying to find the boy, but meanwhile, authorities were becoming more and more suspicious of the parents. While Tim and Lisa Holland beg people to find Ricky, investigators agreed that they didn't act like parents of a lost child. When the investigation focused on the parents, Tom and Lisa Holland began to blame at each other for Ricky's death. On July 27, 2005, Tom led the police to Ricky's remains in a garbage bag that had been tossed into a swampy area near Danville.
The parents had different, and changing, stories about how Ricky died, and the skeletal remains didn't reveal cause of death. At first, Tim claimed that Lisa hit Ricky on the head with a tack hammer the evening of July 1, 2006, and ordered him to get rid of the body.
A month later, when Tim pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder and aiding and abetting first-agree child abuse, he said he wanted to tell the real truth about Ricky's death. He admitted that he hadn't actually seen Lisa hit Ricky with the hammer. A week before Ricky died, Lisa told him that Ricky had hit his head diving in a wading pool. All that week, Ricky was acting like a "zombie": listless, glassy eyed, not eating or drinking, and unresponsive. He was unable to walk, and Lisa had him in a diaper. They argued whether or not to take him to the hospital. Lisa claimed to have taken the boy for care, but his head wound still looked uncared for. Later that week, Tom went to the hospital for a sprained ankle, but admitted that it didn't occur to him to take Ricky with him.
During the investigation of Ricky's death, when over 2,000 pornographic images were found on his work computer, Tim was fired from his position in counterintelligence for the Army.
Lisa claimed Tim was a violent man who killed Ricky and threatened her if she told. But it wasn't a story that convince the jury. Two jail inmates testified that Lisa told them she had hit the boy with a tack hammer by accident. One asked Lisa if the boy had died right away, and Lisa indicated "no." Asked if he suffered, she nodded "yes." Most damning, the inmates produced a note Lisa had written that said: "I think it's too late now, but I have to tell someone. It was an accident. I didn't mean to." The jury found her guilty of first degree murder which carries a mandatory life sentence with no hope of parole.
For his guilty plea and his testimony against Lisa, Tim got 30 to 60 years in a maximum security prison for reckless disregard in knowing Ricky's death would be an inevitable consequence of his neglect.
Ricky's skeletal remains showed a broken jaw with evidence of healing, indicating that he had lived with a painful jaw. There were also fractures in some shoulder bone(s). The skull did not show any signs of trauma, but an expert testified that a blow to the head doesn't always have to injure bone to be fatal.
The community launched a huge 9-day search effort, with 1,700 volunteers trying to find the boy, but meanwhile, authorities were becoming more and more suspicious of the parents. While Tim and Lisa Holland beg people to find Ricky, investigators agreed that they didn't act like parents of a lost child. When the investigation focused on the parents, Tom and Lisa Holland began to blame at each other for Ricky's death. On July 27, 2005, Tom led the police to Ricky's remains in a garbage bag that had been tossed into a swampy area near Danville.
The parents had different, and changing, stories about how Ricky died, and the skeletal remains didn't reveal cause of death. At first, Tim claimed that Lisa hit Ricky on the head with a tack hammer the evening of July 1, 2006, and ordered him to get rid of the body.
A month later, when Tim pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder and aiding and abetting first-agree child abuse, he said he wanted to tell the real truth about Ricky's death. He admitted that he hadn't actually seen Lisa hit Ricky with the hammer. A week before Ricky died, Lisa told him that Ricky had hit his head diving in a wading pool. All that week, Ricky was acting like a "zombie": listless, glassy eyed, not eating or drinking, and unresponsive. He was unable to walk, and Lisa had him in a diaper. They argued whether or not to take him to the hospital. Lisa claimed to have taken the boy for care, but his head wound still looked uncared for. Later that week, Tom went to the hospital for a sprained ankle, but admitted that it didn't occur to him to take Ricky with him.
During the investigation of Ricky's death, when over 2,000 pornographic images were found on his work computer, Tim was fired from his position in counterintelligence for the Army.
Lisa claimed Tim was a violent man who killed Ricky and threatened her if she told. But it wasn't a story that convince the jury. Two jail inmates testified that Lisa told them she had hit the boy with a tack hammer by accident. One asked Lisa if the boy had died right away, and Lisa indicated "no." Asked if he suffered, she nodded "yes." Most damning, the inmates produced a note Lisa had written that said: "I think it's too late now, but I have to tell someone. It was an accident. I didn't mean to." The jury found her guilty of first degree murder which carries a mandatory life sentence with no hope of parole.
For his guilty plea and his testimony against Lisa, Tim got 30 to 60 years in a maximum security prison for reckless disregard in knowing Ricky's death would be an inevitable consequence of his neglect.
Ricky's skeletal remains showed a broken jaw with evidence of healing, indicating that he had lived with a painful jaw. There were also fractures in some shoulder bone(s). The skull did not show any signs of trauma, but an expert testified that a blow to the head doesn't always have to injure bone to be fatal.
