Page 14 - Jen Carson News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Prisoners have complex grief, depression, school failure, substance abuse and you know what? i'm really open. i am mentally ill. i have a mental illness, everybody. is that scarring you? it shouldn't. we can talk about that like people can talk about diabetes. i'm not ashamed of being mentally ill. i didn't put that stigma on me. somebody else put that stigma on me. >> today's crowd is unique. while some gathered out of pure interest, others connect to jen's message more deeply. >> my grandson's father is in prison for murder. he doesn't know. he's 9 years old, and he doesn't know. we don't fe...

>> jen and zack's stories are very, very different, but strangely enough, they are very similar. they are both very protective of their mothers and they are both very passionate about their mission. in many ways, their childhoods and adult lives have been defined by what their fathers have done, but they have chosen to spread messages of life and not death. being a child of a killer is a silent burden but jen and zack are no longer hiding. >> in the past, i was trying to atone for my father's crimes and now i know i cannot bring back his victims. i cannot pay this debt. it's not my debt. >> of...

The carsons admitted to two additional murders, describing the brutal violence they had inflicted on their victims. in 1981, they stabbed 23-year-old karen barnes 13 time, bludgeoning her to death with a frying pan. in 1982, they killed 27-year-old clark stevens, shooting him three times and burning his body. they claimed everyone they had killed were witches, and that god had told them to do it. jen had seen some clips from the press conference over the years but we're about to watch one we've never seen before. >> my heart is beating from hearing her voice. i need to go take a break.

His passengers, michael and susan carson had killed him, and it wasn't their only murder. after authorities arrested the carsons for john's murder, michael wrote a letter from jail to "the san francisco chronicle" making his own demand. >> my father said they would confess to two more murders if they could have a live press conference. >> 35 years ago, investigators granted their wish. during a taped press conference, the carsons admitted to two additional murders, describing the brutal violence they had inflicted on their victims. in 1981, they stabbed 23-year-old karen barnes 13 time, bludge...

Teachers, the school counselor, we have situations where multiple kids are reporting a problem. adults are saying the same thing that my mother heard in 1978. we can't do anything until he kills someone. that should not be the case. >> how did you find out that jim had actually killed someone? >> my father had called and said that he was a suspect in, i think, three murders. it did not surprise me. i knew he did it. >> before he killed those people, i felt a pure unconditional love. now, it's hard to feel and find that love under the grief i feel for his victims. >> as a little girl just 8 yea...