Killpack behind bars

SPANISH FORK — Jennete Killpack received a short hug and a quick kiss goodbye from her husband before entering the Utah County Jail through the walk-in booking entrance Friday morning.

Killpack, 30, reported to the jail arm-in-arm with her husband, Richard, at 8:55 a.m. Both were visibly annoyed that newspaper and television reporters were waiting for the Springville woman to arrive at the jail to be transported to the Utah State Prison.

Jennete Killpack was sentenced a week earlier to serve one to 15 years in prison for the death of her 4-year-old adopted daughter, Cassandra. Killpack was ordered by the court to report to the jail by 9 a.m. Friday.

"I hope you guys can sleep well at night," Richard Killpack said to reporters at the jail.

That was the most the Killpacks have said to the media since Sept. 18, 2002, when they appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" shows claiming they were instructed by a therapist at the now-defunct Cascade Center for Family Growth to give large amounts of water to Cassandra as a form of punishment. Charges were filed against the couple two days earlier.

During a 3 1/2 week trial in 4th District Court, Utah County prosecutors convinced a jury that the unorthodox method of discipline the night of June 9, 2002, caused Cassandra's death.

Prosecutors said Jennete Killpack put the girl on a bar stool, tied her hands behind her back and forced her to drink about a gallon of water as punishment for taking a sibling's drink.

Paramedics arrived at the Killpacks' Springville home to find the girl on the floor with a swollen belly and pink foam spilling from her mouth. Her breathing was shallow and sporadic, police said. Cassandra died shortly after midnight.

Jennete Killpack was found guilty of child abuse homicide on Oct. 11, 2005. Richard Killpack, 38, was acquitted of the second-degree felony.

Five of the eight jurors who heard the case later told the Deseret Morning News they disliked the split-decision verdict. They said they would have convicted Richard Killpack of child abuse if that had been the charge, but there was not enough evidence to find him guilty of child abuse homicide.

The Killpacks said during the trial that Cassandra was given just 20 ounces of water the night the girl died, a statement not supported by the facts, jurors said.

"The evidence was overwhelming that it was too much water," one juror told the Deseret Morning News. "The experts explained that beyond any doubt."