On Jan 31, 2011, 18 yo Amanda Calahan left her 14 yo sister Alana at the computer while she drove down their half mile driveway to pick up their 8 yo brother Chase from the school bus drop off. When they returned, she found the front door open, 14 yo Aaron Schmidt’s shoes by the front door, and blood all over the carpet near the computer. The back door was open and Alana was gone. A few minutes later, Aaron came running through the front door claiming an intruder just took Alana into the woods. Amanda heard no gunshot but followed Aaron to where he said the intruder took Alana. She finds Alana on the ground dead with a gunshot hole in her head. She immediately called 911 and began CPR.
Aaron Schmidt was living with his older sister. His dad was in prison for a long time and his mother was a junkie. He’d been in and out of foster care. The Calahan’s sort of adopted him, and he began hanging around. They had six kids. He followed the household rules of leaving his shoes at the door. But then one day he broke into their house with no one home. Alana found him and told her parents. Then things changed. Mrs. Calahan told Aaron he could only come over when an older sibling was there. And he got really angry at Alana. That event was the same week Alana was murdered.
Aaron told Detective Brian Jones the intruder story but he didn’t give a description and was really vague. Still, police pulled in cops from other counties and canvassed the neighborhood. But it all went back to Aaron’s shoes. His story was that he saw the intruder take Alana. But why was he in stocking feet and how did his shoes get inside the house? So his story changed. Aaron had blood all over his pants and socks. More than would be there from kneeling by Alana’s body. So police now believed he had killed Alana. Aaron pretended to cry but there were no actual tears. He had flat affect. Canines found no intruder scent and kept looping back to the spot where Aaron had been standing. All clues led to Aaron.
Finally, Aaron confesses to accidentally shooting Alana. But they soon discover he had stolen Amanda’s house key, broken in, then stolen Alana’s dad’s gun from the military. He took this home and planned to kill Alana. In the nine minutes Amanda was gone, there was not enough time for him to find the hidden gun, have any kind of discussion with Alana, or accidentally shoot her. Plus the gun had to be cocked first. There is no such thing as accidentally shooting it unless it’s in your pocket and you’re shooting yourself.
Police recreate how Alana died. Aaron used the stolen key, snuck inside, removed his shoes, and snuck up behind Alana. Then he shot her in the back of the head. He executed her. Then he dragged her out the back door toward the woods. And when Amanda and Chase came back, he pretended to just be arriving. Except his shoes were already in the house.
Aaron Schmidt is sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Bibliography
Deadliest Kids, Season 1 Episode 1: The Murder of Alana Calahan, air date: Sep 10, 2021. (A United Kingdom production.)
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