Page 5 - Forgetting Cooper News Today

Woman -- >> right. >> reporter: -- ten minutes before he left with cooper? >> right. we were able to determine that he had been messaging at least six different women throughout that day, sending pictures of himself, asking for photographs. >> reporter: prosecutors believed ross harris was in the grip of an escalating obsession with sex. and they came to an awful conclusion. that ross wanted so badly to be rid of the constraints of family and fatherhood, he decided to kill his own child. does be...

In tuscaloosa, alabama, and thats where his close friend, billy kirkpatrick, met him. you called him a massive dork? >> massive dork, yes. >> reporter: why did you call him that? >> because hes a massive dork. >> reporter: billy says ross was a lot of fun to be around. he remembers one beach holiday in particular. >> ross took his guitar and, like, walked up to people on the beach and started conversations because thats who he is. >> reporter: was he playing for them, too? >> he was. they didnt ...

Coming up -- >> ross harris is an innocent man. >> the death of cooper harris. accident or murder? >> he was very loved by everyone, especially his parents. >> the jury has its verdict. ty f non-drowsy childrens claritin allergy relief. the #1 pediatrician recommended non-drowsy brand. because to a kid a grassy hill is irresistible. childrens claritin. feel the clarity and live claritin clear. happiness is powerful flea and tick protection from nexgard. nexgard kills fleas and ticks all month lo...

Cards was going to collapse in trial. >> reporter: in october, 2016, more than two years after the death of his son, ross harris went on trial for murder. >> death. deception. and a double life. >> reporter: chuck boring, the lead prosecutor, told the jury why ross story had never added up. that chick-fil-a video showed cooper wide awake. that drive that was too short to forget a toddler. the car seat was just inches behind ross. and at ross office there was a photo of cooper and a gift from coo...

>> oh, my boy. >> reporter: but it was something else ross told leanna that really got the investigators attention. >> i was up and down, dreading he was going to look terrible. >> he said it while he was talking to leanna that, you know, he was dreading how cooper was going to look when he got him out. >> reporter: almost like -- >> he knew what was there. exactly. he knew what was going to be found. >> reporter: they were also struck by how calm leanna seemed to be. and by this surprising ques...

>> because she believes 100% that it was not intentional. >> reporter: so there she was in court, not condemning ross, but defending him. >> tell these folks a little about cooper. >> cooper was the sweetest little boy. he had so much life in him. he was everything to me. >> reporter: and everything to ross, too, she testified, as the jury watched family videos of father and son. >> what are we looking at there, leanna? >> thats just them in the bed. and thats just kind of a little game that the...

Involved in in australia, a mother drove one block, a 30-second drive, and in a matter of that brief time forgot that her child was in the car. >> reporter: what were talking about here, there is actually a name for this. >> this is referred to as forgotten baby syndrome, which actually describes a phenomenon in which normal, attentive and loving parents, for reasons we dont fully understand, lose awareness that their child is in a car. >> reporter: diamond says it can happen to anyone. distract...

Pulled surveillance video from the chick-fil-a restaurant where ross said he took cooper for breakfast. there they were, father and son. >> nothing really seems out of the ordinary. i mean, this looks like a father and son grabbing breakfast. it doesnt look like a child killer waiting to carry out his crime. >> i would say completely to the contrary. i looked at the video, and when i first saw it and i thought it seemed very out of the ordinary. in particular, the way that he was introducing coo...

Look at this angle of the video. >> the proof was his head never got below the roof of that car. the proof showed that he was turning in the other direction. >> reporter: but what about a those reminders during the day? shouldnt one of those have triggered his mind to say, wait. cooper. wheres cooper? >> i think thats a fair question to ask. if ross had forgotten that he had a son, seeing a picture of cooper would have reminded him that he had a son. he didnt forget he had a son. once ross slipp...

Got it completely right. but hearing the word "guilty" was no cause for celebration. >> what i wanted to hear most is, you know, we can bring cooper back. you cant get that from it though. >> reporter: three weeks later, a judge sentenced ross harris to life in prison. >> sentence of the court is life to serve in confinement without parole. >> reporter: his defense team has already filed an appeal, arguing among other things that the judge never should have allowed all that testimony about sex i...