All language subtitles for The.Texas.Cheerleader.Murder.Plot.2024.720p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

[piano music playing]

Downloaded from
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[woman] January 30, 1991.

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

"Dear Diary.

Mom was picked up today
by two detectives.

She has to stay at jail
all night tonight.

Shanna Harper."

School spirit turned
to sinister desire
this year in Texas.

[woman reporter 1] It was
a case so bizarre
that it captured

national and worldwide
attention.

[male reporter]
She's been dubbed
the 'Pom-Pom Mom.'

[woman reporter 2]
...the shocking
unbelievable plot.

A small-town mother
so obsessed
with her daughter's

cheerleading chances

that she would resort
to murder-for-hire

to improve her daughter's odds
of getting on the squad.

[Shanna] There's been
a lot of negatives

surrounding the story
of my mom.

And... I'm tired
of running from it.

[news anchor] The story
of a crime that provided
the plot for two TV movies.

If wanting something good
for your kids is greedy,

then I guess they can label me
as being greedy.

Maybe sometimes
people just wanna believe
what they wanna believe.

And that's fine.

I'm the only one who knows
the full story about my mom.

[recording playing]

[Shanna] I've carried
the secret around
for too long.

And it nearly killed me.

[news anchor] Today,
she decided it was time

for the public to hear
her side of the story.

My name is Shanna.

And I am the daughter
of Wanda Holloway,

the notorious Pom Pom Mom.

And I'm going to tell you
the truth about what happened
for the first time.

[upbeat music playing]

[Mimi] Texas is this idea
of individualism.

I think it's still a place
where people think

they can make
their own rules

and want to make
their own rules.

So Wanda Holloway
is an example of that.

[Anne] I work
for a national magazine

and this case dropped
in January of 1991,

that kind of blew
everybody's mind.

It became an instant
national sensation.

And, of course,
I was instructed
to get out there

and see what
I could find out about it.

[Carolyn] As a reporter,
we had big murders.

'91, '92, two young girls
were killed,

and I covered that,

by a man who was a neighbor
and, um, worked as a clown.

But when it goes and--
If you look at that
crazy category,

that I ain't gonna
never forget that one,

Wanda Holloway.

Houston was, as it always is,
in the process of this
constant change.

And so I was really interested
in, you know, driving
a few miles south

and coming up

on what was really then
the heart of Houston.

Which was, you know,
again, a blue-collar town,

church-going people,
football still mattered.

[Anne] I, personally,
didn't realize how provincial

a suburb of Houston
could have been.

A lot of the people there
grew up there.

Married there.

Never left.
Their parents live nearby.

Because of that,
it didn't have
a lot of diversity to offer

in terms of entertainment
and aspirational goals.

[Mimi] It was the Texas that

everybody wanted
to believe existed.

And football cheerleaders,

those are archetypal
characters here.

[slow instrumental
music playing]

[Shanna] Cheerleading
was, for me, it was just
something that

I was prepped to do
from the time

I was, you know, five.

When I was growing up,

I was a spitfire.

I was very independent.

A leader.

I was solely focused
on my interests,

whether it was tap, ballet,

painting, piano,

modeling.

I just remember my mom,

she wanted to know
if I wanted to be
a cheerleader,

and I didn't even--
I was, you know,
what is that?

And she's like, you know,
they wear the little outfits,

they cheer for the guys
that are playing football,

you have, you know,
the pom-poms.

And I thought, "Yeah,
that's cool," you know?

"Sure. Let's do that."

And I guess
as I got older,

it was just

something that
was gonna happen.

When I was growing up,
and certainly
in the 1990s still,

the boys' achievement
would be to become
the quarterback

or the star football player,
that could lead to college
scholarships and so forth.

But even in the 1990s,

girls could do the same
through cheerleading.

♪♪ If I were you
I'd take precaution ♪

♪♪ Before I step
To meet a fly girl ♪

[Carolyn] If you wanted
to do something

that indicated that
you were popular,

your standard of beauty
was accepted,

you become a cheerleader.

For a long time,

there was no, you know,
financial help or interest
in women's sports.

So, what could women do?
They could cheerlead.

And you attached yourself
to the quarterback

'cause he was the most
powerful guy in town.

So the way that
women exercised their power

was through physical beauty.

And the Dallas Cowboys
cheerleaders

were the apotheosis

of Texas beauty
in that time.

♪♪ Poison ♪

My mom, I think for her,

it was...

the ticket to being somebody.

[lively piano music playing]

[male anchor] Tell me
about yourself.
Describe yourself.

Well, I have always,
I feel, to be very low-keyed.

I don't see myself
as being
a high-profile person.

I would say that
she's very tightly wound.

That's a phrase
a former boss of mine
used to use, he'd say,

"Wound-up quarter
turns too tight."

And definitely Wanda
gave that impression,
from her hair and make-up,

to the way that
she carried herself.

She just looked uptight.

I'm active in my church.

Um, I've always taken
a very active part in my
children's lives.

I mean, that's what
parents are for.

She was a striver.

And I think a lot of people
in Channelview were strivers.

It goes back to the idea
of Texans,

at that time and before,

really not wanting
to be considered hicks.

So what you did was,
you read the...

you know, you read Glamour
and Mademoiselle and Vogue

and then you figured it out.

You know, how you would
dress and look, to keep up.

[Shanna] She was raised
Missionary Baptist.

You don't have sex
before marriage.

You don't... swim
with other sexes.

You know, you go to church,

usually Sunday mornings,
Sunday night, Wednesdays.

You know, she couldn't
just go do whatever
she wanted to do.

She had rules to follow.

[Mimi] Somebody like Wanda,
your nose would be pressed
against the glass

'cause other people get to go
to dances and other people
get to drink

and have fun.

And fun was not a part
of the Baptist sort of idea.

[Larry] How long
you know Wanda?

All our lives.

We divorced,

uh, somewhere around
'79 or 1980.

But, uh, we have
never went to court

and asked for custody
of those children.

So she's always had custody,
you had visitation?

I don't have any stories

to tell you that
I've ever been told where,

you know, there were just
good times with my mom
and my dad.

And I have maybe

a handful of pictures

of me and my mom
and my dad together.

So, for me,

they were always divorced.

[somber instrumental
music playing]

[Anne] Wanda started dating
Tony Harper at the age of 16,
I believe,

when she was a sophomore
in high school.

He was a senior.

They married a week
after she graduated
from high school.

And according to--
I remember Tony's mother
telling me that

they would exchange
vicious barbs with each other,

put each other down
about their physical defects
and so forth.

And, you know,
the marriage
didn't last too long.

[Shanna] My mom had certain
expectations of what
marriage brings.

And so, when she
and my dad got together,

and things weren't
as she anticipated,

it made things disappointing?

What they thought
marriage was, they weren't
on the same page.

And then, of course,
there was infidelity.

And I think it just became
kind of combustible.

Apparently, she did not
like having sex.

Only did it when she had to,
so to speak.

And he liked it
and wanted more,

so he sought it
outside the marriage.

[Shanna] You know,
he started making
good money,

and it gave him
a sense of authority?

An opinion of himself
that he knows best.

I think she learned
from him

how to manipulate situations,

how to... get
what you want.

At whatever cost.

[Anne] They, you know,
stuck it out
for eight years anyway.

But, um, their marriage
came to an end
by May of 1980.

[Shanna] I do think
my perception of him
was tainted.

And I think my perception
of her was tainted

'cause of their desire
to hurt each other

any chance
that they could.

And if that meant
doing it in front of the kids,

then, you know, you did it
in front of the kids.

She learned to fight dirty
from my dad.

And that's what
caused this whole mess.

[Anne] When she had
her daughter Shanna,

everyone who knows her
says that she
definitely changed

and all of her energies
were focused on that
little girl.

[Shanna] My mom
was pretty much my world.

Um, she made sure that
we were fed and clothed

and had a roof
over our head.

She just...
made things run.

And I didn't prefer
being with my dad.

Because he didn't
take care of me
the same way my mom did.

You know, he didn't make sure
breakfast, lunch and dinner
was served.

So I liked the care
that my mom
provided more.

[Anne] From the time
the child was an infant,

Wanda devoted
a lot of attention
to dressing her.

And apparently,
she enrolled her
in gymnastics

and cheerleading schools
as early as three years old.

So that she would be ready

for what her mother
planned for her future.

It was always, "Go, go, go!"
"Go, go, go!"

[upbeat music playing]

[Shanna] It started out
with, like, ballet, tap, jazz.

Piano and then
art lessons.

Cheer and gymnastics
probably three times a week.

Just constantly
had stuff to do.

♪♪ I'm past the point
Of no return ♪

[Anne] It seemed obvious
to me that she was living
through the child.

Even at the house,

they'd converted the garage
into a little cheerleading
studio of sorts.

And Shanna was made,
when she'd come home
from school,

to go directly
into that area
to practice

the cheer routine.

♪♪ I'm past the point
Of no return ♪

I don't think there was
near as much emphasis
on her school work.

It was all about
cheer, cheer, cheer.

♪♪ I'm past the point
Of no return ♪

[static noise]

I think people
talking about

her trying to live
vicariously through me,

I've never really
bought into that.

I really believed she wanted
what was best for me.

And this was just
the, the path to take

to, to open doors
and to give me opportunities

that she didn't get.

[Carolyn] I don't think
it's unusual for some moms
back then to think,

if I can just get my daughter
in the right place,
in the right group,

she'll find the right man

who will help her
have a great life.

[slow instrumental
music playing]

[Anne] Wanda wasn't
the only mother in Channelview

who wanted her daughter
to be the best.

When Inside Edition
did a profile on Amber Heath
and her mother Verna,

it was clear both girls
were pushed to excel
from a very young age.

[anchor] Some might call
Amber Heath
a junior superstar.

[upbeat music playing]

An award-winning gymnast
and baton twirler
from the age of three,

her home is studded
with trophies
more than she can count.

[dramatic music playing]

I started going
to a private school.

And that's where
I met Amber

if I'm not mistaken.

Um, I think we were
in first grade together.

And I somehow realized
that she lived

on the street

that was connected to mine.

And we were so excited
'cause we were so close
to each other.

You know, like,
how cool is that?

Like, we could spend
the night all the time.

Like, we're just right here.

We were best friends.
She came over to my dad's
for the weekend.

She'd come over to our house,
I'd go over to their house.

And her brother
was my first... crush.

So this was my house.

Those windows
go to the garage.

My mom had it
landscaped beautifully.

She had a great yard.

[turn indicator beeping]

And then that's,
that was, um, Verna
and Amber's house there.

My mom and Verna
were friends at one time

and Verna actually helped
my mom because she was
a single mom

and she needed help
getting us to school.

So, being that Verna lived
around the corner,

she would pick us up,
take us to school
in the mornings.

I remember
Verna being... nice.

Just normal.
Just a mom.

She must have been
tough on Amber

to a degree because

Amber and I
had a conversation once

and she, she told me
that she wished

my mom was her mom.

And I remember
being surprised, like,

"What's wrong with your mom?"
I was like, "Okay,
I'll take your mom then."

Maybe I felt some interest
that my mom had in,
in Amber.

Maybe I felt
some kind of...

unknown threat.

Um, you know, maybe,
with all the trophies

and all that stuff that
I know impressed my mom.

Maybe I was picking up
on things

I didn't realize
I was picking up on
at the time.

[school bell ringing]

The first year that
Shanna tried out
for cheerleader

was the spring of 1989.

At that point,
she was in the sixth grade
at the local public school

because all the cheerleaders
at the middle school

were going to be drawn
from the girls that went
to the public schools

that were feeder schools.

[Amy] Shanna and I
both decided to leave
Channelview Christian School

at the same time,
for different reasons.

She went to Alice Johnson.

And, uh, her intention
in doing that was because
at the time,

Alice Johnson had a rule
that you needed to go
to the school in sixth grade

to qualify to try out
for seventh grade
cheerleading.

And so,
Shanna followed the rules
and she went on.

But Amber stayed
at Channelview
Christian School.

[Anne] Amber Heath
had been attending
a private school,

was technically ineligible
to try out for cheerleader.

And Wanda felt sure that
Shanna would be qualified

head and shoulders
above the other girls,

and would undoubtedly
be elected.

[Shanna] So I go to the school
and it's time to do try-outs.

And as we're leaving,
Verna and Amber come.

And I remember my mom

having a negative reaction
to that.

And I think
she was very frustrated

that they were there
in the first place, like,

"Why are you here?
Because you don't even go
to this school."

[Anne] Verna Heath,
Amber's mother,

had gone to the school board
unbeknownst to Wanda Holloway,

and asked them if Amber
could participate

in the try-outs
for cheerleader

even though she was not
technically enrolled

in a Channelview public school
at the time.

And the school board
said yes.

So, here we go
to the try-outs.

And Shanna, she was beat out
by Amber Heath.

[Shanna] I missed it by one.

Because they allowed
Amber to come over

from a different
private school

and try out, even though
she wasn't even a part
of our district at the time.

So had she not tried out,
I would have been number two.

That didn't happen.

Since my mom felt
like they didn't play fair,

she decided
not to play fair, either.

[slow instrumental
music playing]

My least favorite activity
was probably cheer.

I didn't... see
the point in it.

Just doing jumps
on the side of the field,

and trying to get people
interested in football

just, like, is that necessary?

And I-- And I couldn't have
even told you anything
about football.

I couldn't have even told you
what we were cheering for.

Like, I had no idea.

Defense, offense,
I wouldn't have known
what was going on.

The thought of having
to get up in front of judges,

I think it would
send me into, like,
little panic attacks.

But I didn't realize
I was having panic attacks
at the time.

Just kind of a feeling
of dread.

So I remember
going to practice.

I made a comment that
I really just didn't wanna
do this anymore.

You know, I'm over it.
Like, it's played
itself out, basically.

And she...

wasn't having that.

She, you know,
we put too much time,
effort and energy

and, um, made
too many sacrifices

to stop now, like,
you're too far in it,
that's not happening.

And then you know, people say
stage mom, and maybe that's...

what she was doing.

I mean, I kind of feel like
she would watch Verna Heath

and maybe she was just
trying to be like her?

I remember
just thinking, like,

"If you want to act like that,
you get out here and do it."

[upbeat music playing]

[Shanna] The next year,
we felt like the odds
were better

because there were more spots
available to make the team.

[Anne] In order
to be selected
to be a competitor

in the cheerleading election,

you had to be screened
by a team of college
cheerleaders.

So Shanna was selected
by that committee
to be a candidate.

[Shanna] If you made it
past the judges, you tried out
in front of the student body.

And then, the students
would get to vote

for who they liked the best.

[Anne] During
the campaign season,

the school board
made a new rule that
you couldn't give out candy

or any kind of enticement
like that,

monetary rewards,
to potential voters,

i.e., students
at the school.

Shanna's mother
knew this was coming around.

She was getting
a jump on it.

She got these rulers made
that said "Vote for Shanna."

And then, you can't use
anything that's printed on.

And her argument
is "I already bought this,"
and they said, "Oh, well."

[Anne] The night
before the election,

Wanda needed to make
some little voting
promotion signs.

I think she had some
signs shaped like a megaphone
made out of cardboard

that said "Shanna"
on them.

But she didn't have
any sticks.

So Wanda decided to use
the rulers that had Shanna's
name printed on them

to affix to the sign.

So these people
are walking around
holding a sign

that says "Vote Shanna"
and they're passing out stuff

to help me campaign.

And... one of those

rulers with the megaphone
got taken up.

And as a result,
I got disqualified.

I got called out of class
to go to the office.

My mom was sitting there.

They sat me down.

And basically explained
the rules,

I guess,
of campaign materials.

And said because
we passed out the ruler,

that they were gonna
have to disqualify me.

I was so agitated.

Not so much for myself.
More for my mom,
to be honest with you.

'Cause she had put
a lot of work into
making me successful.

That hurt me that,
that she was hurt.

And I just wanted to take
the stuff that was on his desk

and just like...
[imitates swishing]

I just wanted to just
yell in his face

like, "What the hell
is wrong with y'all?"

You know?
Like, it's a [bleep] ruler.

But I wasn't... that kid.

[slow instrumental
music playing]

Then I went
to the bathroom.

I cried in the stall
for my mom.

Part of me was relieved.

Uh, part of me
was really upset because

we had put a lot of effort
and energy and work

into doing this,
and again it fails.

[Anne] I'm not sure who blew
the whistle on it.

It might have been
Verna Heath.

But Shanna,
she took it well.

But Wanda did not
take it so well.

She had a bit
of a meltdown.

[Shanna] I think all of that
played into my mom

feeling bullied
by Verna Heath.

And the school system
in general.

[Anne] So after this
disappointment with
Shanna's disqualification,

Wanda, she began
saying it was all
Verna Heath's fault.

All Amber Heath--

If that little Amber Heath
hadn't been allowed
to run in the first place,

the previous year,

she'd been disqualified,

she should've been
disqualified because
she wasn't a school...

a public school student.

You know, her--
And it just started rolling.

She told her in-laws.

She told her friends.
She told her neighbors.

Anybody who'd listen.

She has a tendency

to, to speak
before thinking.

But in my recollections,

it wasn't always
just about Verna
and Amber.

It was the school system.

Um, the cheer sponsors.

Like, it was, like, political.

Like everybody
was a part of it.

It wasn't just...
Amber and Verna,

although Verna did say
in interviews that

she specifically felt
my mom's negativity
towards Amber.

[Verna] Yes,
there was tension.

She would watch Amber
with her arms folded

and comment, "Oh, well,
she's going too fast."

[Shanna] But as far as I know,
they never talked about it.

Did you ever think about
having a conversation
with Wanda?

I did not feel like
confronting her.

It was trivial to me.

[serious music playing]

[Shanna] I came home
from school that day.

and I believe Mom had to go
run some errands.

And she wanted me to practice
while she was out.

So I changed,
started practicing.

I noticed a car was parked

diagonally across the way.

I noticed what I thought
was two men

sitting in the car.

And they were
noticing me.

And it was awkward.

And I remember thinking,

"Maybe I should go inside,"
you know.

This would be a good excuse
to go inside and not be
practicing right now.

Because maybe
they're gonna kidnap me.

And then, when Mom got home,

I heard people talking
in the kitchen.

It was the two men
from the car
I had noticed outside.

They were police.

And then, that was the last
I saw her

until... until she came home.

The state had filed
charges against her

for solicitation
of capital murder.

Seeking to hire a hitman
to, uh, to kill

her daughter's cheerleading
rival's mother.

[camera shutter clicks]

[Troy] And it began
at that point.

[guitar music playing]

[news anchor 1]
Mrs. Holloway's former
brother-in-law, Terry Harper,

claimed that she asked him
to find a hitman to kill
Verna Heath.

[news anchor 2] Prosecutors
say they even planned
a kidnapping,

with talk of selling Heath
into slavery.

[Anne] Terry Harper.
What a man.

Essentially, Terry Harper
was what would be classically
called the ne'er-do-well.

He'd started having problems
with the law at about the age
of 13 or 14,

by his own admission.

I believe he told me
he was arrested
for possession of marijuana.

By the time
he was in his 20s,

when Wanda was married
to Tony,

every news covered
the black sheep
of the family.

He was in and out
of jail a lot.
DUIs and that kind of thing.

But he was not
the mass murderer type,
let's put it that way.

He definitely had
some problems.

Um, personal issues,

personal demons.

And I know that
he would, many times,

bring those up at Christmas,
to the family,

like, you know,
would give this spiel about,

you know, "I messed up
but I'm gonna do better."

But I didn't have any issues
with my Uncle Terry.

He was, he was good to me.

Wanda was well aware of his
skirmishes with the law.

So when it came time
for her to think up

trying to find somebody
who had connections

to the criminal underworld,

Terry would, undoubtedly,
be the first person
she'd turn to.

She must have been stewing
on this for quite a while.

And because the family
was divorced,

she sent her daughter
to a family Christmas party,

um, to get Terry Harper
to meet with her.

[piano music playing]

[Anne] Wanda, apparently,
had been having conversations
on the sly with Terry

to discuss the fact that
she wanted to get
in touch with a hitman.

So when it came time
for Christmas holidays,

and the children were
getting dropped at their
grandparents' house,

Wanda gave a piece
of paper to Shanna

and said, "Give this
to Uncle Terry."

[Shanna] My mom asked me
to give her number

to my Uncle Terry.

We were about to go
from the living room,

I think, to the, like,
kitchen area.

I think it was time to eat.

And I stopped my Uncle Terry
and I said,

"Hey, um, Mom wanted me
to give you this."

[slow instrumental
music playing]

But he took the number
and said "Okay."

[Anne] Terry realizes
that she wasn't just
blowing air

when she said how much
she hated the Heaths.

Wanda was asking him
to take somebody out,

i.e., kill them.

But there was something
Wanda didn't know.

Terry was working
with the cops.

[Flynt] Uh, this is
a part of Channelview.

As far as I know,
it is still crime-infested.

I think it was born
crime-infested.

And these parking lots
right here,

spaces, is where
we met Terry Harper.

[Flynt] I got a phone call

at the undercover office
on I-10

from Terry Harper.

And, I was in disbelief,
actually.

So I set up a meeting
with him with
George Helton and I

and he and I worked together
on this case.

He sat there and told them
what-- what had happened
with Wanda.

That Wanda was asking him
to try to locate a hitman.

And they were still
kind of incredulous
that they said,

"Okay, why don't you
call her while we
listen in?

We need to get her on tape."

George, uh, told him,
you know,

briefed him really good
on what to say.

And we hooked him up
at that phone booth.

And he made
his first call.

[recording playing]

You know, we could hear
one side of the conversation,
his side.

And, uh, I said,
"Well, you know,
we need to get on this,

make sure nobody gets hurt."

Let's get this case going.

[switch clicks]

[recording plays]

[Anne] Their first official
meeting that the detectives

were gonna be
listening to the tape of,

took place
in the parking lot
of a Grandy's restaurant.

[recording playing]

[Anne] I remember
there being a lot of hedging.

That she just kept reiterating

that she didn't think
she would get her hands

on that kind of money
very easily.

And Terry kept saying,
"Well, we gotta have
some money.

You know, I can't just
go to this guy and say

we'll pay you later.
Doesn't work that way."

She was just going
back and forth,
back and forth.

And, uh, you know,

my fear was,
and George's fear was,

is that she would back out
from Terry

and go and get someone else
and it really happening.

So we had already
told him,

"Tell her that she needs
to either pay up

or give us something
of equal value to that."

[recording playing]

[Anne] So, she brings
the earrings to a meeting.

They make the transfer.

And he says, you know,
"See you later.
I'll let you know."

And the next day,
she's arrested at her home.

[Terry] I didn't know
what to think at first.

But when I realized that
Wanda was serious,

I went to the police

and I felt like
I'd done the right thing then.

I think I'm doing
the right thing now.

[tape rewinding]

[static noise]

[Flynt] It was about
4:00 in the afternoon.

Uh, George and I had
secured our search warrant.

And, uh, we came over here
and waited

and sure enough,
it wasn't long.

Wanda showed up,
pulled up in the driveway.

We got out of the vehicle
and followed her up
to the front door.

And I said, "Look,
you know, you're
under arrest

for solicitation
of capital murder,
for Verna Heath."

And, uh... she said,
"Oh, really?"

I said, "Oh, really."

She goes,
"Am I going to jail?"

I said, "Yeah!"

She said, "Well,
let me go change clothes."

I said, "No, ma'am,
we got clothes
for you downtown."

And I said, why don't you
tell your daughter that

we're taking you down
for some hot checks

'cause clearly she's not
gonna understand
any of this.

And she said, "Well,
I need to call my husband
and get me an attorney!"

So she picks up the phone,
calls her husband,
whose name is CD,

and I can kind of hear him.

She says, "I'm going
to jail, CD. You need
to get me an attorney!"

Well, I stepped outside
and waved the patrol
unit up.

George stayed in there
with her.

And he walked in,
handcuffed her,

and we took her down
to the jailhouse.

Most people would,
would be in tears.

Especially a capital
offense like that.

But, uh, it's my understanding
she had no qualms about
what she had done.

And she wished that
it had went through.

[Shanna] That's the moment
when my whole world
fell apart.

[Flynt] The day
that we arrest her,

I didn't think
much about it.

But boy, that afternoon,
when I got home,

my parents started
calling me,

and friends and just talking
about, "Man, this case!"

And it was
a huge mess.

[news anchor 1] A Texas woman
is facing life in prison

because she thought
murder was the only way
she could get her daughter

on a high school
cheerleading squad.

[news anchor 2] The case
of a mother who allegedly
would do anything

to make her daughter
a cheerleader.

And it's the talk
of the town in Channelview
where Holloway lives.

It started off
with just the local news.

[news anchor 3]
She's been dubbed
the 'Pom Pom Mom'.

Accused of hiring a hitman
to kill another mother in
the neighborhood, Verna Heath.

[Troy] That very quickly
turned into a national
news event.

[news anchor 4] No matter
what channel you watch,

you're watching
Wanda Webb Holloway.

[Troy] And it had truly made
the world news.

[news anchor 5] Life
at Channelview High School
goes on

but the campus here
has become security conscious

as the media
has moved in
for reaction.

[Shanna] I remember
being chased by media

off the school property
and halfway to my house.

I remember finding out
that one of the people

that I thought was
a close friend of mine

was selling yearbook photos
to the media.

And that was...
pretty hurtful.

[Carolyn] It was sensational
and it was a big story.

That doesn't happen everyday
even in Texas.

[Flynt] There was people
everywhere talking about this.

Wanda knocked it out
of the park with that.

I think they ought
to put her away.

Anybody that is so jealous
of somebody else

that's gonna kill somebody,
deserves it.

It was just
a feeding frenzy, you know?

You don't hear about stuff
like this very often,
especially in the '90s.

[dramatic music playing]

[Shanna] I think
I was in shock.

Because, like, holy crap,
you know, like, what...

what have you done?

[news anchor] 36-year-old
Wanda Holloway

is free on a $10,000 bond

and could face life in prison
if found guilty.

[Shanna] So when
I come home,
I know it's not good

because she's in her robe

and she doesn't have
any make-up on,
she looks like hell.

Mom explained nothing
was ever gonna happen.

And my uncle,

he just went off.

[inaudible]

[Shanna] I just remember
feeling bad for her.

Because I'm like, "Can you
not tell she's already
been through the wringer?"

Like, she's obviously
suffering, okay?

-[Terry speaking inaudibly]
-We don't need to drag
her through the mud

any more than she's
probably already dragged
herself through the mud.

But I didn't
say that, of course.

'Cause children are to be seen
and not heard.

My grandma told me
to stay strong.

So I just pushed down
all my fear and guilt.

"Dear Diary..."

[Shanna reading aloud]

I remember going to bed

having the thought, like,

"Am I safe here?"
[chuckles nervously]

You know, is she gonna
do something to me?

[dramatic music playing]

Because I felt like
I'm the reason all of this
is happening.

If I had just made
cheerleader,

if I'd been better,
then we wouldn't
be here right now.

That's how I saw it.

I took the blame.

This is on me.

If I didn't exist,
none of this
would've happened.

And I felt that way
until I found out the truth.

[announcer]
Here's Larry King.

How do you, Tony,
the former husband,
it's your daughter,

how do you explain all this?

I don't try to explain it.

[Larry King]
Are you saddened by it?

I feel sorry for my children.

One of the first things that
Tony did was hire a lawyer

who sought to...

Wanda had
primary custody that time,
Tony had visitation.

He sought to take
Wanda's primary custody
away from her.

And it became impossible
for the parents on either side

to be able to have substantive
conversations with her

about what had happened
or what was going on,

for fear that the other side
would allege

that they were trying
to manipulate Shanna
in the middle.

[reporter] Mr. Harper,
are the children
having problems,

to you knowledge,
psychological problems
because of this?

Well, it's been
a great concern of mine
with my children,

that why they are seeing
Dr. Kit Harrison.

And they will continue
to see him as the court has
allowed me today to do so.

I wasn't comfortable
with my dad.

My dad made my uncomfortable.

I had fear of my dad.

Not respect, I had fear.

And I didn't wanna
live in fear.

[Maier McDonald Maier]
The trial was held at the
Harris County courthouse,

and it was jammed
with reporters.

Interestingly, they could
only shoot through the window
of the courtroom.

No audio was allowed.

And Wanda showed up
looking like she was attending
a ladies fashion luncheon.

[reporter]
While cheerleading is underway
in Channelview schools,

the trial of the town's
most famous mother

is opening with
dramatic testimony.

We're not dealing with
some faux pas at a tea party
here, folks.

[Maier] When the case
came to trail, it turned out

that the state's star witness
for the prosecution
was Terry Harper.

The one and only.

Ne'er do well of Channelview.

Black sheep
of the Harper family.

And, um, well known
to the authorities.

[Ken Odle]
I remember thinking,

"He's definitely not
in Wanda Holloway's court.

He's not a fan."

And I didn't think he was
a particularly nice guy.

[Maier] It's brought out
right upfront

that he had
a chequered past.

You know, had to
get that out of the way

because it's obvious that
his credibility could have
lots of holes shot in it

just based
on his criminal record.

But he took the stand
and testified about

how he came to be
in possession of
a tape recorder

that night
in the Grandy's parking lot
to start taping Wanda.

And when the courtroom
finally heard those tapes,
all hell broke loose.

Tonight, the public is buzzing
about its first chance to hear
the tapes.

[tape playing]

What was on the tapes
was... was damaging.

There were parts of it
that would make
your skin crawl.

But the tapes were
what the tapes were.

[tape playing]

[Maier] The venom
is her voice was unmistakable.

There was no way around
thinking that she meant
every word she said,

and that she was willing
to go through with it.

I mean, I think it affected
that whole trial,

from the beginning
to the end.

[Shanna]
I was watching the news
because that's

the only information
I was getting

because no one was
telling me anything.

And so I'm hearing her
on those tapes,

and she just sounds horrible.

And I just
remember thinking,

"Man, she's not gonna
get through this.

They're not gonna
find her innocent.
They're just not."

[prosecutor] Ma'am,
would you introduce yourself

to the ladies and gentlemen
of the jury?

[Marla Harper]
My name is Marla Harper.

[prosecutor]
Who are you married to?

[Marla] Terry Harper.

[Maier] Of all the people,
Marla Harper ended up
as a witness for the defense,

which was quite a stunning
turn of events.

Terry and Marla Harper
proudly tell them

that, um, she was,
at the same time,

his sixth
and his seventh wife.

Because during the course
of their, I would say, roughly
two-year relationship,

they had broken up
and gotten divorced
once already

and then gotten back together
and remarried already.

[prosecutor] Were you
afraid of your husband?

[Marla] Very much so.

[prosecutor] Why?

[Marla] Because of the abuse,
physically and mentally,

that I had went through
since before I married him.

[McKinney] She described him
as manipulative,
as vindictive.

The picture of Terry
is nothing but a do gooder,

and it could not have been
further from the truth.

[reporter] Yesterday,
Harper's estranged wife,
Marla, said

that she was threatened
and beaten by her husband
in the past.

And as recently as last week,
she claimed that he beat her

because Terry didn't
want Marla to testify
in this trial.

[Maier] Marla knew something
about the whole setup
with the police

and taping Wanda,

and she thought there was
something fishy about it.

So, it was quite
a dramatic revelation

when she turned up
on the defense

and testified that
there was a plot

to, um, set Wanda up,
so to speak.

[McKinney] If I had just heard
her story in a vacuum,

it would have seemed
as strange as the story

we had in the vacuum
to begin with was as well.

But as we got through this,
we were able to put
the pieces together,

paint the entire picture.

[Marla] "Terry, you told me
when we went back together,

that if you ever,
for any reason,

brought a gun back
in this house for any reason,

you wanted me to leave you.

Well, you've got it.

You are
a very dangerous person,

and you and everyone else
knows it.

Remember when you lied
to the police,

and when you were bragging
about setting Wanda up?

I taped you
and your conversation
with Tony.

My attorney knows everything.

PS,

I hope you can eventually
straighten out your
terrible life."

[McKinney] Marla testified
that Terry told her
it was his idea.

She believed that Terry
actively disliked Wanda

because she had gotten him
in trouble with his brother

by telling Tony
that Terry was trying
to hit on her.

And that gave him
the motivation

to try and get back
in his brother's good graces
at the expense of Wanda.

[Maier] When Wanda gave
a piece of paper to Shanna,

that's when Terry,
he picked up the ball

and started running with it.

[prosecutor] Marla,
did you see your husband

make a phone call
on the day before New Year's?

[Marla] Yes.

He was trying to get
in touch with his brother.

[prosecutor] What did you
hear your husband say to his
brother in that conversation?

[Marla] That he'd finally
gotten Wanda where
he wanted her.

That Tony was finally
gonna get his kids.

[prosecutor] How was Tony
gonna get his kids?

[Marla] Well, he said
they were gonna
"burn the bitch"

was his exact words.

[prosecutor] Did they
talk about setting up
Wanda Holloway?

[Marla] Yes, they did.

[McKinney] Marla testified
that Terry and Tony ended up
being able to

fashion a narrative
that made it believable
to the detectives.

They finally gave him
a recorder to record some
conversations with Wanda,

which is where
Terry and Tony's plan

to... to lock Wanda into this
for Tony's benefit

began to take shape and form.

And that no matter
how many times Wanda said,

"No, I don't want
to be a part of this.
Let it go,"

they weren't going
to let it go.

[tape playing]

It definitely felt like
there was the potential

that they had colluded
or schemed together
to make this happen.

And as I was listening
to the tapes,

part of me is saying,
"I can't believe
she just said that."

Part of me is thinking,

"Yeah, I can see
where they're giving her
enough rope

to hang herself with."

[McKinney] We now had Marla
who was saying Tony was
the puppet master, as it were.

He was pointing Terry
in the direction of where
he needed to go

to help Tony
and not help Wanda.

I think that my dad
and my uncle set my mom up.

It was just that...

That game of...

retaliation
against each other.

And he just had
a really good opportunity
to nail it to her really hard.

[King] How long
you know Wanda?

Since, uh...

We lived together
in the same neighborhood,

a mile down the street
from each other,
all of our lives.

And you think
she did do this?

Contrived to do it?

I don't have
a comment on that.

[King] You don't
have an opinion?

I'm not her judge and jury.

[McKinney] By all accounts,

and by the accounts of people
who testified at trail,

money was probably
more important to Tony
than almost anything else.

He saw himself as better
than everybody else.

And having to pay
child support to her

meant that she had
one up on him.

And he just couldn't
let that continue to happen

if he had a way
to get out it.

I think my dad gets off
on power trips.

Every weekend,
at some point,

you could expect to sit
in the living room with my dad

and be interrogated for...

a good two hours.

Like he was trying to get...

[sighs] ...ammo

for whatever it was
he was trying to get ammo for.

So, with my mom,

I think Dad saw an opportunity

to...

take an unfortunate situation
and play it to his advantage.

And he... and he unfortunately
didn't think about his kids

and just thought about
getting back at her.

And sadly,

I wish he had chosen
a different path.

But that didn't happen
either now, did it?

So we all get to suffer.

[Maier] When Marla
returned to the courtroom
to be cross-examined,

the prosecution
attacked her viciously.

[reporter]
In the cross examination,

the District Attorney
Mike Anderson challenged
her testimony, saying,

yes, she had been abused
and that she had a rough life,

but that she had been
under psychiatric care
for many years,

and that she couldn't
always be believed
what she said.

[Maier] The easiest
and best way
to discredit Marla

would be to look at
her own psychiatric history.

It's natural
to attack the credibility

of whatever witness
you're trying to attack
the credibility of.

And unfortunately, Marla put
herself in the hospital
on numerous occasions.

[prosecutor] Now, Marla,
you mentioned at one point

that you had gone somewhere
because you hurt yourself.

[Marla] Yes.

Terry had raped me
and beaten me up
before we got married.

[prosecutor] Uh, ma'am,
can I interject
something here?

Your stepfather
had raped you?
Is that correct?

[Marla] That's true.

[prosecutor] And your brother
had raped you?

[Marla] My half-brother.

[prosecutor] And several
other people have tried
to rape you, have they not?

[Marla] True.

[prosecutor] Uh, but you told
the doctors that you had

trouble distinguishing between
the truth and fiction.

Yes?

[Marla] Yeah, I did it
for my protection from Terry.

[McKinney]
They attacked her personally.

What they tried to sell

and perhaps effectively
sold to the jury was

the story that she's telling
is not credible because of
her mental health issues.

And when you destroy
somebody's general
credibility,

people tend to not believe
a lot of what they have
to say,

even though it may be
the God's honest truth.

I'm in shock,
I'm numb, I'm angry.

And I'm not gonna rest
until the woman is set free

because she's not guilty.

[Carolyn Campbell]
Most of the adults
involved in this case

were opportunistic.

You just didn't know
who to believe.

But I thought
she was believable.

[Maier] In Marla's case,
the general reaction was,

you know, you brought it
upon yourself

if you've stayed
with this person.

But when you're involved
in a situation like that,

you feel emotionally
beaten down for one thing,

and physically afraid
of what might happen.

And trying to leave
often would escalate
a situation like that.

[reporter] Today, Terry denied
beating his wife last week.

But he did admit telling
Marla's psychologist
several months ago,

"I was too drunk to remember
if I raped her."

If a prosecutor tried
to discredit a woman today
for being crazy

because she was abused,
it would backfire.

And it would certainly have
helped Wanda Holloway today.

But it just
didn't get the traction

that that bigger
storyline did.

[Maier] I called
the chapter in my book
about Wanda's defense,

"If all else fails,
use a shotgun."

Because every tactic
they could possibly dream up,

they dragged out
and threw at the wall
to see what would stick.

And they had Wanda
take the stand
in her own defense.

[McKinney] The default
position for criminal
defense lawyers is

don't put your client
on the witness stand.

It's a quick way
to grab defeat from
the jaws of victory.

Now, there are
exceptions to that.

[reporter] When she took
the stand in her own defense,
Mrs. Holloway tearfully denied

she wanted to have
anyone murdered.

She said she went along
with the scheme

because she was afraid
Harper would have somebody
murder her.

[Maier] And they'd
ask her line by line,

"What did you mean by that?

What did you mean
when you said,
'You just want her gone'?"

She said,
"I was just kidding.

I just... You know,
I was going along with Terry.

It was like a joke
we were having."

There was simply no intent.

If Wanda wanted
to go through with this,

she would have
said upfront,

"Yeah, let's kill 'em.
Let's kidnap 'em.
Here's the money."

She didn't do that.

But as the tapes progressed,
especially when the juries
had heard them,

it was really hard to argue
that you were kidding.

Imagine an invisible button
that only she knows about
that she can push.

And if she pushes it,
those two people die.

Well, she pushed it.

At the time, we all had
certain ingrained perceptions
of women.

You still see it today,

where an ambitious woman
becomes the villain
of virtually any story.

So, I think it was very easy
to cast Wanda as the villain.

[Shanna] Trial stuff
was not talked about
around me at all.

But you stand by your family.

And, um, I knew her
better than anybody else.

I knew what she did
wasn't a good thing,

but I knew
she wasn't all bad.

She looked really bad,
but she's not all bad.

[reporter] Reporters
and onlookers from
around the world

are once again jammed
into a Harris County courtroom

for the final phase
of what has been
a sensational trial.

[Shanna] I only went
to the trail the day that
she was being sentenced.

And the reason for that was

I wanted to be able
to tell her "bye"

if she were found guilty.

[judge] Has the jury
reached a verdict?

Would you pass it
to the bailiff, please?

"We, the jury,
having found the defendant

guilty of solicitation
for capital murder

assess her
punishment at confinement
in the institutional division

of the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice
for 15 years

and assess a fine
in the amount of $10,000."

The verdict found Wanda
guilty of solicitation
of capital murder.

I was disappointed.

We thought there was
a reasonable shot

that she could get probation.

Fifteen years was probably
a bigger gut punch than the...

than the guilty verdict was.

[Swartz] The guilty verdict
seemed like a foregone
conclusion to me.

She had already been tried
in the press,

she'd been tried
in her neighborhood,

she'd been tried in Houston.

It was not surprising.

[reporter] Holloway,
visibly shaken,

hugged her daughter
before she was taken into
police custody.

[Shanna] Everything
just changed in an instant.

Like, Mom's gone.

And "Oh, my God,
I'm gonna have to go
live with my dad.

And I'm gonna run away.

I'm gonna run away
'cause I'm not living there.
[chuckles]

And, um, I'll just
go hide somewhere."

Like, this can't be happening.
Like, this is not happening.

'Cause I can't.
This is not gonna work.

I can't go without her
for 15 years.

Like, that's just
not gonna happen.

[announcer] Now,
Channel 2 news at 6:00.

[reporter 1] The cheerleader
mom case is not over.

In fact, today,
the whole sordid affair
took a dramatic twist.

-[reporter 2] Charles.
-This case continues to take
more turns

than a country road, Claire.

Attorneys for Wanda Holloway
have just filed a motion
for a new trial.

[reporter 3] Holloway's
lawyers discovered that
one of 12 jurors

who convicted Holloway
was himself convicted
of cocaine possession,

making him disqualified
to serve on the jury.

All of the members
of the possible jury panel
had been asked a question,

"Are any of you
currently on probation
for any crime?"

All, to a man
and women said,
"No, no, Your Honor."

But one of the members,
it turned out,

was on what's called
deferred adjudication,

which is a variation
of what probation is.

And this young man
didn't know the difference,
so he had answered,

"No, I'm not on probation."

And that was the ace
that they had in the deck
of cards to...

to have the case thrown out
just two weeks later.

And there was, at the time,
a little bit of resentment

because I speculated
that the defense knew.

We had filled out
such an extensive
questionnaire.

I felt like they had
probably caught it
ahead of time,

and didn't say anything.

And if the trail
had gone in Wanda's favor,

then that would have
never come up.

And it's to your advantage,
obviously, for a new trial.

-That's why I have
to press you on this.
-I understand.

You did not see him?

We did not know
that he was, um,

going through
further adjudication
at the time.

He was picked on the jury,
at the time he served
on the jury,

we did not discover that
till after the trial.

The four lawyers involved,
uh, me and and my partner

and the two prosecutors
all signed affidavits saying

"We didn't know it,
didn't see it,
didn't realize it."

And ultimately Judge Godwin
granted the new trial.

[Shanna] It was a win,

even if maybe people
didn't think justice
was served and whatnot.

No one got hurt,
no one ever was
going to get hurt.

It was just words
that she had spoken
in a very mean way,

and then made to look
really, really bad.

So, no, justice wasn't...

Wasn't my concern.

Having my life back to normal
was my concern.

I needed...

I needed my safety net.
I needed to be...

uh, protected.
And she was my protector.

And when she got out,
that's when she was finally
able to fight back.

[man] Standby in the studio.

Four. Ready? Two...

[reporter] In an exclusive
Channel 2 interview,

Wanda Holloway
breaks her silence

about the cheerleader
murder-for-hire plot.

I was set-up.

I was trapped, yes.

[McKinney]
Once the trial was over...

Because all of the press
till that point had been
everyone else talking

about what Wanda had done.

And it was important to her,
it was important to us

to get the full story
before the public.

[Wanda Holloway]
The whole thing
started off innocent.

So, it just evolved
and it just got...

It just mushroomed.
It just kept getting
bigger and bigger.

And I just couldn't get out.
I didn't know how to get out
of it.

She will do whatever it takes
to see that she does not go
to jail.

Wanda Holloway was guilty
of no more than being stupid
and gullible.

[reporter]
Well, how in the hell did you
get into this mess?

By running my mouth
and talking
to the wrong person.

[Shanna] My mom
finally got the chance
to have her story heard.

So they put her on every
news and media outlet
they could,

and that included Donahue.

Wanda Webb Holloway
is here with her daughter,
Shanna Harper.

It was, kind of,
surreal, you know.

I mean, I've known her
since the first grade.

And here she is on Donahue.

That was big time
back then, you know?

Shanna, let me start with you.

Do you believe
your mother is innocent?

Yes, sir, I do.

I remember the audience.

And they were
receptive to me,

um, not so much to my mom.

Wanda,
why would you even think

of... of involving
in a murder?

I mean, what's it gonna
do to her daughter?

[Donahue] She's denying
she did.

[woman stutters]
It's terrible for her.

[Shanna] It was intense,
it was bad.

I mean, people were,
like, booing.

I think that your relationship
with your daughter
is obsessive.

I mean, because
this is my mother here,
you know.

But she doesn't go
killing everybody, you know.

I want a job.

She's not killing
somebody right now
so I can get a job.

[Shanna] It was just ugly.

Um, I remember thinking,
"What is wrong
with you people?

Do y'all not
see me sitting here?"

I mean, I was, kind of,
at least hoping
that would be a...

a shield maybe.

Maybe a softener,
you know, of the blows.

Maybe, like, the, you know,
her daughter's right there,
we're not gonna act too crazy.

But no, they didn't care.

Did you know
something was going on?

Because with all
the denial here,

I mean, if your mom,
you know, was being
harassed by your uncle,

and you're so close,
would she have talked
to you about it?

You had no clue
anything was going on?

I did not know that
they were conspiring
or anything like that.

Why is it so easy to believe
that I could want

my daughter's
competition killed,

and not believable
that two people could have
got together,

two brothers could have
gotten together and conspired
to set me up?

I think people just believe
what they see in the media,

and you're guilty.

You're guilty.

I don't wanna hear
your reason.

There's no good explanation.

You're guilty,
and we don't like you.

[woman] And if Wanda Holloway
is guilty of what she did,

I think she is
one very scary woman.

[applause]

It was ultimately
traumatizing for me,

and I think it ultimately,
uh, caused me health issues.

I couldn't tell the truth
in that moment,

and it was like
my nerves just snapped.

Couldn't handle it anymore.

And it was a good thing
it ended when it did

because I needed
to get off that stage.

So, it's been a minute.

Is this the entrance now?

Yeah, it used to be
a white and blue building.

[man] Did you
like this school?

[Shanna] Mm-hm.

It was junior high,
and I just...

I don't think anybody
likes junior high.

I think high school
was harder for me

when I had to first
go back to ninth grade.

You know, starting high school
is, is intimidating enough,

but with that stigma
attached to me,
it was pretty difficult.

Dear diary...

When school started
back in the ninth grade,

I just wanted to disappear.

I wanted to be left alone.

Everyone,
without meeting her,

saw her as the bad guy.

Or at least
by association, you know,

because it was her mother.

[Shanna] My locker,
Amber's locker,

and her brother Aaron's locker
were all next to each other

because it was alphabetical,

and I was Harper,
they were Heath.

And that was a problem.

We had to co-exist
through the years together
in classes

where we might have
even sat by each other,

or whatever,
but we never talked.

I think many a time
I wanted to apologize,
but I...

didn't.

If somebody wanted to invite
everybody to go do something,

you really gonna invite
Amber and Shanna?

[Shanna]
Nobody messed with me.

And I don't know if it's
because of what my mom did
and they were scared,

or if they were just
minding their manners.

All of a sudden, I cared what
everybody thought and
then that's when

my life just took a turn for
the worst in every
possible way.

I lost myself.

Totally.

-[woman] Hello.
-[man] Yes, go ahead.

[woman] Yes, I was
wondering Mr. Harper,

are they gonna make
a movie out of this story?

-I don't know--
-[King] I bet on it.

We've had over 20 offers,
uh, from different people.

[King] Do you wanna
make a movie of this?

I don't know. We haven't made
a final decision on that.

[McKinney] Tony had
purported to sell, uh,

Shanna's and
her brother's rights to HBO,

but the biggest problem at
that time was that
the temporary orders

in the family law case
that Tony had asked for,

prevented him from being able
to do that on his own.

They required both him
and Wanda to agree to it.

And Wanda had,
in fact, not agreed.

[Shanna] I remember my dad
took me out to a
Steak and Ale one night.

And he said we were
having dinner with

some friends of his,
I think some
business associates.

And that was fine, um...

Until they started

asking questions about Mom.

And I'm not an idiot,
and I knew

this was more than just
some friends of his

that were business associates
having dinner with us.

They were
television producers.

So I went to the restroom
and I got in touch
with my mom.

And said, "Hey, we're having
dinner and they're asking me
questions about you.

And, um,
I don't know what to do."

She told me not to
say anything, so I stopped
answering their questions.

Later, the court appointed
a lawyer for me and got it
settled in family court.

My mom had nothing to do
with it. It was the judge who
choose HBO, not me.

I wasn't opposed to
selling my rights,

but my dad forced the issue.

Because mine were gonna
bring in more money.

Plain and simple.

And I still was forced
to sell my movie rights.

Just for the record.

Some of the money
went into a trust for me,

but my dad didn't
get any of it. Why should he?

Really rubbed my dad wrong

that he didn't get those
movie right-- that
movie right money.

'Cause I'd hear about it
years later.

[woman] The Positively
True Adventures

of the Alleged Texas
Cheerleader-Murdering Mom.

Next on HBO.

-[man 1] That's terrific.
-[man 2] That's great.

[woman] That's
really the title?

-I got a hold of this guy.
-[laughs] Okay, what's the
deal? Tell me the scoop.

-That's what I need
to know from you.
-Okay.

Exactly what you want done.

The HBO movie was, uh,
it was a spoof on everybody.

It flattered no one.

Nobody came out
looking good in that movie.

[movie Wanda] The things
you do for your kids, God!

Hmm.

This bitch is crazy.

I laughed.

I laughed. They--

They made a mockery
out of the case.

I actually liked it.
I thought it was
a very amusing

take on the drama.

There's a couple of cops here
and if they take me down
to jail

for solicitation of murder,
can you come get me?

Hold on.
Where is my husband's...

[Shanna] I didn't know
what dark comedy was.

So, when I went to
the movie premier in LA,

um,

I'm sitting there and there's,
you know, hundreds of people

packed in this movie theater.

And, I just remember people
laughing at things
that I just thought,

"That's not even funny.
And that's not even
how it went."

Momma, when they make
the movie can I play myself?

That's what
I'm planning, sister.

That's what I'm planning.

Holly Hunter was there,
but she didn't want to
speak to me.

I wanted to speak to her,
I just wanted to meet her.
I wasn't mad at her or

ashamed of her performance.
I thought she did her job.
[laughs] You know?

Um, it did concern me that
she didn't want to meet me.

It made it worse.
I guess it made it
more shameful.

So where do you keep it all?

You stuff it down inside
somewhere, I guess.

And it will eventually
catch up with you
if you don't deal with it.

[reporter 1] A Texas woman has
been sentenced to
ten years in prison,

after pleading no contest
to a murder for hire scheme

to promote her daughter's
cheerleading career.

[reporter 2] Holloway was
sentenced with
the understanding

she could be out
in six months.

[Shanna] I was in my
first year of college,
living with my boyfriend.

And my mom, she came over
and sat us down,

she goes, "Basically,
I'm gonna have to away
for about six months."

And then,

you know, she said,
Gatesville, which is
the prison

that she was, I guess,
assigned to.

Which was super scary.

I was scared for her safety.

[McKinney] Gatesville,
it pretty much housed

all the women in Texas
who had been sent to prison.

And, in some respects,
the things you see on TV
about prisons are very true.

There are a lot of gangs,

there's a lot of violence,

there's a lot of drugs.

It is certainly true that
people in prisons who
have harmed kids,

are treated differently
by other inmates.

[Shanna] They assured me that
she would be away from
other inmates because

there was the fear of
something happening
to her in there.

But one of the first things
I heard back is that

they didn't keep her separate.

And I just

lost it.

[static]

I just could just
see her getting like

beat up, shivved.

And like, you know,
nobody there to help her.

I was cussing

at my grandma, which is not
something I do. [laughing]

"Y'all fix this! Get her
attorneys to fix this.
This is not what they said."

Like, "this is not okay,
you have to do something."

I was so angry and scared
for my mom that it just

came out.

I couldn't
stay strong anymore.

The guilt was too much.

Wait, I need
to back up. [sighs]

I need to tell you
why I felt guilty.

And I've only told this to
two people in my life before,

because it makes my mom
look really bad.

I knew more about what
my mom was up to than
I've been letting on.

We were alone in the kitchen,

we had just had dinner and
she made a comment about,

you know, what if something
happened to Verna and Amber.

We just didn't have to
deal with them anymore?

And I'm like,

"What do you mean?
Be more specific."

"You know, like,
if they just like,

crashed off a mountain
or something, off a cliff.

And we just didn't have to
deal with them anymore."

And, at first,

I remember thinking
in my mind the

cartoon scenario,

where you see these little
cartoon characters
going over a cliff.

And then, I think I was
kind of taken aback and
brought more to reality.

And visualized it like
actually, something like that
tragically happening.

And I believe I told her,
"That would definitely
make things easier,

but, you know,
that's not okay."

And then it just
kind of went quiet.

Because I remember
thinking to myself,

"She's not serious, is she?

Like, surely,
she's not serious."

But then,

she asked if I would give
my uncle her phone number
at Christmas.

I thought that was odd.

The next week, she tried
sneaking out of church
using some lame excuse.

I just remember, "She's lying
to me. Like, what
is she doing?" Like, what--

"What's going on? Is she
having an affair?" [laughs]
You know, I didn't know.

I knew something was wrong
and I didn't tell anybody, but

who would believe me?

Only person I could've thought
that I could've told somebody,
was my step-dad.

And I didn't, I didn't mention
it to my step-dad,
because if I had've

he probably would've
looked at me like I was crazy.

[woman] Your mom, would she
have talked to you about it?

You had no clue
anything was going on?

Did not know that
they were conspiring
or anything like that.

[Shanna] As that kid,
it all revolved around me.

And if I had just,

done better,
if I'd just made it,

none of this
would've happened.
That was my punishment.

So maybe I sentenced myself.

Because I felt guilty,

I knew something wasn't right
and I didn't stop it.

Going into my 20's,

it would've been great had
I picked up my life and

got going and everything

was dandy but
it wasn't that way.

And a lot of that was based on
the fact that my self-esteem
was gone.

I was not the same person

that I had been before
all of this happened.

I didn't know
I was not mentally healthy.

I just stuffed things down and

tried to find anybody who was
gonna make me whole again,
you know, fix me,

save me, be my hero.

I ended up in
abusive relationships.

And I punished myself
for years.

I literally

ended up

in my kitchen, on the floor,

bawling my eyes out and
just praying to God,

"Please just take me.
I do not want
to be here anymore."

I had no drive,
I had no purpose, I had no--

I just didn't have a will
to be here.

Like, this isn't--
this can't be
what I'm here for.

So I got off the floor,
and I started
life coaching myself.

Started focusing
on my thoughts.

You know, is the thought
that I'm having
right now negative?

If it is, how can I change it
and make it something
more positive?

And I had to do that and
do that and do that until
it became a habit.

And then ultimately,
I realized,

I'm my own hero.

Other people are not here
to make you happy.

Only you can do that.

[Campbell] As a reporter,
I'm there on that

probably worst day
of your life, when I'm
covering the story.

And you never get to go back
and say, "How'd you come out?"

[Maier] You know, certainly,
I think Shanna's been
the victim of all of this,

in every possible way.

If there was anytime
she could've stopped it,

it would've been when she was
a three-year-old to say,

"Please stop making me
do these things!

I'm not you!"

[Swartz] Now I have
a child of my own,

so I'm a lot more
sympathetic and empathetic

to a lot of her motivations,
not killing someone,

but other-- you know,
wanting the best
for her child.

So I wonder if
I did that story now,

how--
if I'd do it differently.

[Campbell] We're human.

And I think
we look for answers.

"Why did she do that?" And

what makes you fall victim?
Even if she was entrapped,

what made her fall victim?

And I have had to
come to grips with,

sometimes you just don't have

a reason.

Sometimes the only explanation
is that we just do dumb stuff.

So, um, I think Wanda Holloway
in the end is just human,

and did dumb stuff, and
I'm glad Shanna survived it.

[Shanna] August 1st, 2023.

Dear diary,

These days, mom and I
aren't as close
as we could be.

But I have no doubt that she
and I will always be there for
each other, no matter what.

My daughter and I have,
you know, do and have
a very close relationship.

And I consider myself
a friend,

as well as a parent
to my children.

And I take a lot
of pride in that fact.

[Shanna] We never talk about
her getting arrested,

we never talk about the tapes,

we never talk about
the past much.

When I told her I was doing
this documentary, she said,

"Why do you wanna go bringing
all that up again?
Nobody got hurt."

"Except you."

[Wanda] The night that
they arrested me

Shanna accepted that
very well.

She took it and said,
"Okay, Momma, I understand."

She said, "I know you
didn't do this. I know you're
not this type of person."

[Shanna] She's starting to
realize the toll this has
taken on me and my life.

The damage it's done.

I mean that's
what parents are for.

You know, is to see that their
children's needs are met

and to help them
in any way they can.

[Shanna] She knows
she messed up royally.

And she's apologized for it
more than once.

She's trying to do better now,
and that's all I can ask

of anyone.

Signed, Shanna.