Four accused in 'rebirthing' death

Affidavit states girl, 10, smothered while adults pushed and therapist yelled, 'Die right now'

Carla Crowder and Peggy Lowe, News Staff Writers

Published May 20, 2000 at midnight

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A 10-year-old girl in "rebirthing'' therapy smothered as she lay balled up and bound inside a blue flannel blanket with four adults pushing against her and a therapist yelling, "Go ahead, die right now.''

Those details emerged Thursday in an arrest affidavit for four people who police say were involved in the April 18 videotaped asphyxiation of Candace Newmaker of Durham, N.C.

An Evergreen psychotherapist and two assistants were arrested on allegations of child abuse resulting in death. Julie Ponder, 39; Brita St. Clair, 41; and Jack McDaniel, 47, were being held in the Jefferson County jail. Bail was set at $250,000 each.

A fourth person, Connell Watkins of Evergreen, was being sought by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

Candace died April 19 at Children's Hospital in Denver, a day after she fell unconscious during a therapy session at Watkins' office.

''It's my fault. I had no idea she stopped breathing,'' Ponder told sheriff's investigators.

Lawyers for Ponder and Watkins didn't return calls. H. Michael Steinberg, St. Clair's attorney, said she has dedicated her life to children.

''This filing shocks the conscience and is a gross injustice,'' Steinberg said.

Ponder has a California therapist license. Watkins is unlicensed. St. Clair was employed as Watkins' office manager. McDaniel was an intern who told authorities he had 15 college credits.

Candace was lying in the fetal position and wrapped in the blanket like ''a little ball'' and then covered with pillows. The adults pushed against the pillows to simulate birth contractions.

The videotape shows that she was wrapped up for an hour and 10 minutes, and in the first 16 minutes, the child said six times that she was going to die. She begged to go to the bathroom and told them she was going to throw up.

''You want to die? OK, then die,'' Watkins and Ponder responded. ''Go ahead, die right now.''

By the time they unbound her, Candace was ''sleeping in her vomit,'' Watkins said on tape.

''The video is going to hang us,'' Watkins told investigators.

''Rebirthing'' is a controversial procedure used on children who suffer from an attachment disorder in an attempt to help them connect with their parents.

Ponder, who was supervising the procedure, and Watkins placed Candace in the blanket to simulate a womb, having her emerge in a ''rebirth'' to help her bond with her adoptive mother, Jeane Newmaker, a sheriff's affidavit said.

Newmaker, 46, was in the room with the child for part of the therapy, but she became upset when she thought Candace didn't want to be born again, the affidavit said. Watkins asked her to leave and watch the procedure on a TV monitor, which she did.

Newmaker works as a nurse practitioner at Duke University in Durham, according to the alumni guide. She lives on a corner lot of a treelined street in an established downtown neighborhood. Thursday, a child's bicycle and toys lay in the yard. She didn't return calls.

The child's fourth-grade yearbook photo shows a round-faced girl with a smile, wide-set eyes and tousled brown hair.

Newmaker, who adopted Candace in 1996, paid $7,000 for Watkins' two-week therapy, the last of several therapeutic approaches she had sought for Candace's ''difficulties,'' the affidavit said. Her daughter was ''frustrating and so emotionally laden,'' she told authorities.

St. Clair, who hosted the mother and daughter during their visit, described the girl as bright and reflective, calmer than most children with attachment problems.

Jeane Newmaker's mission to help her daughter took her to workshops, the Internet and several psychiatrists.

Bill Goble, a child therapist in North Carolina, met Jeane Newmaker last year at a conference in Virginia, and led her to Colorado.

Goble reviewed a questionnaire Newmaker filled out and pronounced the girl's condition ''fairly severe,'' according to the affidavit. Goble recommended several therapists, including Watkins.

Candace's death has been the source of much discussion and speculation in therapy circles. It's the first time a patient has died during psychotherapy in Colorado, said Amos Martinez, program director for the Colorado Mental Health Grievance Board.

During interviews with investigators, St. Clair said she asked Ponder about air holes in the blanket and that Ponder pointed them out. But that's not reflected on the tape, the affidavit said.

Ponder said she monitored Candace's breathing by placing her hand on the child's back. But the tape shows the only time Ponder checked Candace was 12 minutes before she was unwrapped.

Candace was quiet and unresponsive for 30 minutes before she was taken from the blanket, the affidavit said.

Goble said he'd been told that Watkins and Ponder were performing the treatment by proper, prescribed methods.

Several other attachment disorder experts, however, were unfamiliar with rebirthing therapy, indicating the technique is not widespread and has even been rejected by some therapists.

''I don't know anything about rebirthing,'' said Forrest Lien, Director of Clinical Services at the Attachment Center at Evergreen, a pioneer agency for treating children with attachment disorder. "We really only want to use techniques that have been used and are researched and have proven outcomes.''

Watkins used to work at the Attachment Center and many therapists who specialize in the disorder live in Evergreen.

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