when Mom wished Michael good night and left for her bedroom the boy had no idea he was seeing her alive for the last time what is a minor teenager capable of when the whole world turns against him in today's story we'll discuss a 14-year-old boy named Michael pit and examine who he really was an innocent victim of circumstances or a ruthless criminal who managed to deceive Missouri's justice system Michael Pita was born November 3rd 1984 everyone called the boy Bernie because his middle name was Bernard he was the youngest child of Rita and Edward who also had two daughters Crystal and Melanie Bernie was very close to both sisters they all grew up in the small rural town of Hopewell Missouri approximately 70 Mi Southwest of the larger city of St Louis the town's people maintained a quiet measured way of life doors and window windows and homes remained unlocked kids rode their bikes along the roads without fear of getting hit by cars and stayed out late with friends Rita and Edward pit married when they were still teenagers themselves forming a family at quite a young age and as typically happens disagreements between them soon began the young couple wasn't at all prepared for the challenges of married life but Rita deeply loved Edward and could forgive him much nevertheless they their arguments only grew worse over the years evolving into domestic violence from both sides worst of all the children witnessed such adult Behavior Michael as the only son was mama's favorite he in turn was also strongly attached to his mother the constant quarrels and conflicts between parents negatively impacted the teenager's personality development it was hard for him to watch how mom suffered from clashes with father yet still kept forgiving him when Michael attended Elementary School she went to all his sporting events baseball matches and football games she always held a video camera to capture her son's best moments for memory and he was happy in his own way however the daily relationship Strife at home affected Michael's behavior when he entered adolescence due to the home environment the boy became unmanageable and the happy child who adored his mom transformed into a troubled withdrawn teenager he frequently skipped school and failed seventh grade three times Michael had a very explosive temper so he often argued extensively with his mom but most of his anger was always directed at his father who made life difficult for the entire family in 1997 police were called to the Pit's home after Rita and Edward had another late night argument the husband knocked his wife to the ground and began choking her Michael witnessed this scene in early 1998 Rita quarreled with her only son a rather serious dispute erupted between them after which Michael swore to send his mother to the afterlife than take his own life though what else could be expected from a teenager who constantly observed his parents clashes and heard all their Mutual threats this fight with his mother ended with Michael be being hospitalized when her beloved Son left the hospital something apparently clicked in Rita's mind their relationship with Michael began to improve mother and son became very close again this largely contributed to why in summer 1998 after more than 20 years of marriage Rita actually filed for divorce from Edward citing marital infidelity in the petition the woman finally realized that their constant fights with her husband were primarily hurting their children it was a very contentious divorce considering how unstable the family relationships were but ritaa was in a more advantageous position she got to stay in the family trailer and managed to secure half of Edward's pension as child support payments friends over 90% of viewers watch videos without subscribing to the channel check if you're subscribed if not please be so kind as to subscribe to the channel to support me given the difficult personality of her ex-husband one can only imagine how hard this divorce was for him he even tried to pay Michael to stay living with him of course the teenager had no intention of doing so as he remained more attached to his mother but ultimately he had to split time between parents who received joint custody of him on December 4th 1998 40-year-old Rita pit worked her shift at the bar then spent some time with friends to celebrate finalizing her divorce which had occurred 4 days earlier Michael was 14 years old at the time so he was old enough to stay home alone around 700 p. m. the boy got bored and decided to ride his bike to the local General Store on the way Michael met his friend 15-year-old Josh Sans sui and invited him for a sleepover this was common practice for teenagers to stay overnight at their friends homes in the trailer the boys played chess and video games when they got bored they headed to the railroad tracks near Michael's house and lit a bonfire this was also standard entertainment for all kids in rural areas Rita returned home around 11:00 p.
m. the woman brought some sandwiches for the boys then went straight to bed in her room she wished her son good night and asked him not to stay up too late Michael and Josh weren't ready for sleep yet they decided to have some more fun listen to music and smoke some weed after that Michael settled into his bed while Josh made his bed on the floor next to it they couldn't fall asleep for a long time remembering silly things and trying to contain their laughter so as not to wake Rita the next morning around 6:30 a. m.
both boys woke up to a suffocating smell when they opened their eyes a white Haze hung in Michael's room the kind that usually appeared when something was burning in the kitchen Michael got out of bed and went to see what happened but as soon as he opened the bedroom door he was hit by a wall of white smoke the youth called for his mom but Rita didn't answer then he ran outside grabbed the garden hose and rushed back in he noticed his mother's car was in the driveway meaning Rita was home first thing Michael dashed to his mom's room she wasn't responding in possibly having lost Consciousness from smoke inhalation however a completely different scene awaited the boy in the bedroom the woman was lying on the floor her legs were stained with blood and her upper body was on fire the hair on the back of the teenager's neck stood up he fell to his knees and simply didn't know what to do then he turned on the water and tried to extinguish the Flames but the hose wouldn't reach the room the crackling sound of fire consuming his mother's body haunted Michael for many years after the tragedy later he would often wake up at night and sense that incomparable smell of horror all that came later but right now the teenager was trying his best to put out the fire in the room of his closest person meanwhile his friend Josh rushed for help someone among the neighbors heard the screams and called the police and fire department the responding officers described the scene as a nightmare from a horror film the house smelled of smoke and burned flesh after the source of the fire was extinguished it immediately became obvious to investigators that they were dealing with a crime it turned out that Rita pit had suffered severe injuries inflicted by a blunt object most wounds were concentrated on her head and upper body and blood was everywhere on the floor furniture and bedroom walls this indicated that a serious struggle had taken place in the room apparently the woman fought for her life until the end the fire chief determined that an accelerant was used to set Rita Pit's deceased body on fire no other evidence was found at the scene detectives thoroughly searched the house top to bottom but found nothing no murder weapon no signs of forced entry no forensic Clues whatsoever Michael first called his sisters Crystal and Melanie and told them that someone had broken into their home and attacked mom both young women living separately at the time rushed to the trailer to get their frightened brother they found Michael in the passenger seat of a police car his face was smeared with soot marked with pale tracks of Tears the boy was literally insane with grief having just had to extinguish flames on his mother's dead body naturally he was traumatized being only only 14 years old but his grief manifested in withdrawal and anger not knowing at whom to direct it despite the teenager's condition he and Josh sunusi were taken to the Sheriff's Office for questioning the police wanted to know everything that happened that morning the boys were transported in separate cars so they couldn't coordinate their stories the officers escorting Michael Pita thought the teenager seemed too detached for a situation that had occurred just a couple hours ago they expected to see hysteria but instead Michael asked what would happen to his mom's car the police even noted this teenager's comment in their report as strange and suspicious even before conducting any investigation some officers were already convinced that Michael pit was guilty of his mother's death because he was extremely unemotional and made that inappropriate comment comment Michael was immediately made to take a voice stress test which measures tension levels and the boy failed it in reality such voice stress tests are controversial and their results are often inadmissible in court as evidence but their results can cast a shadow of Suspicion on the subject according to police a 14-year-old teenager who had just found his mother's Body In Flames shouldn't be so calm in fact Michael was panicking he couldn't imagine how to live on what would happen to the house and car and the main question torturing the boy was who had harmed his mom but apparently detectives interpreted his Detachment in their own way the clothes and shoes Michael wore that day were taken for analysis and he was placed in an interrogation room as they began investigating the details of what he had been doing the previous day Michael told them in detail about the events of December 4th 199 98 about riding his bike and meeting his friend about how they played video games then went to the railroad tracks near the house and lit a fire using gasoline the boy explained to detectives that this was a kind of entertainment and they often started small Fires for fun investigators went down to the railroad tracks and found an area where something had recently burned this confirmed the teenager's words however this circumstance along with Michael's hot-tempered and sometimes aggressive character which had even landed him in the hospital after an argument with his mother ultimately worked against him as the fire chief determined an accelerant was used to start the fire forensic examination of the boys's belongings showed no blood on either clothes or shoes there were no signs of struggle Michael himself had no physical injuries but a tracking dog detected traces of some chemical substance on Michael's Shoes despite his age Michael and his friend Josh were interrogated for several consecutive days the interrogations lasted for hours the deceased woman's son was quite consistent in his accounts Josh also confirmed these stories but evidence like the accelerant on the shoes and the main argument that Michael wasn't emotional enough after his mother's tragic death LED investigators to believe that he was the one who set the fire and he had invited Josh as an alibi by so they kept asking the school boys the same questions and this tactic bore fruit 2 days after everything happened Josh essentially made a statement that destroyed Michael's Alibi the boy reported that he woke up in the middle of the night due to noise and screaming and Michael wasn't in the room Josh's words were immediately recorded on video later the teenager complained to his mother that the interrogation had been too hard har and he no longer understood what was lie and what was truth the police kept accusing him of deception they even hinted that maybe the boy himself was somehow involved in Rita Pita's death so Josh didn't even remember what he might have told the detectives he was simply scared although both boys denied their involvement two days after the crime Michael pit was arrested for killing his own mother Josh sansus 's recorded statement played a decisive role his statement completely contradicted Michael's Alibi who claimed that he and his friend spent the whole night in the bedroom and woke up simultaneously at 6:30 a. m.
