I only met Aaron Gold once. I was called in to do a forensic interview of the girl as

part of a 72 hour observation period before she was turned over to Juvenile Justice and

sent her a detention centre based on the warrants that had been taken the day before.

Stepping into a room with her, I felt a wave of sadness and confusion wash over me.

Aaron was 16 and small for her age. Her jar potter had 5-4 and just over 90 pounds.

And when she looked up, her expression wasn't that of a hardened killer or a deranged monster.

It was that of a frightened and fragile young girl flinching at the sharp edges of a hostile

world.

And yet, according to what I've been told, two days before, she had butchered her entire

family.

This had happened at their home, a two-story house in a pleasant neighbourhood outside

the city. The yard was always cut, the family was well-liked and well thought of, and

even as I sat down across from her, I'd learned of no hint of trouble within this family

prior to their deaths. No domestic calls, no reports of the children acting out at school,

nothing other than a break in a couple of years earlier.

I didn't rule out abuse, of course, and abuse was a common catalyst in these kinds

of scenarios, but only one of many.

My hope was, through talking to Aaron, I can learn why she had done those terrible, terrible

things.

I introduced myself, explained that while this interview was part of an observation

period for her safety, it was also part of the ongoing investigation. That, while I

wasn't law enforcement, anything we talked about wouldn't be privileged and might

...