Just weeks before her death, scientist Uta von Schwedler made a big breakthrough with her research into childhood leukaemia.
She was making steps to win custody of her children and had found new love after her divorce from her husband of 16 years, John ‘Johnny’ Brickman Walls .
Then she was found dead in a bath.
The world was robbed of a great talent and four children lost their mum. Uta’s death was ruled as suicide, but her son Pelle refused to believe his mother would take her own life, so he spent all of his inheritance trying to prove it was murder. Not only that, he claimed he knew who the killer was – his father.
In 2011, German-born Uta, 49, lived in Salt Lake City and was trying to win full custody of her children. Four years earlier she had divorced their father Johnny. They’d met as students in California, and Johnny had become a well-liked and respected paediatrician.
Uta had initially gone into HIV research and had the "most influential scientific papers published in the first 30 years of HIV research". Then she moved into the field of leukaemia where she was making serious progress.
Uta was devoted to making a difference, but her children were her priority. She made time to go camping with them, or hiking in the mountains, and she spent hours making scrapbooks filled with photos and memories.
But when the marriage broke down, Uta was accused of having an affair with another scientist and she moved out of the family home, leaving the kids with Johnny.
Custody battle
By 2011, Pelle was 17 and living with his dad and younger siblings. Johnny had remarried and divorced again, but when it came to Uta, tensions were as high as ever.
Uta was happily dating Nils Abramson and by September that year she’d gone to court to win primary custody of her children. It was agreed that the case would be reviewed and Uta was hopeful for change. But Johnny felt as if he was losing control.
On September 27, Uta was due to see her boyfriend, Nils. But when he arrived at the house, he heard the bath running and found Uta submerged under the water.
As he pulled her out, he knew she was dead. Nils was distraught. Had she fallen and hit her head?
There was no sign of a break-in, just a kitchen knife and one of Uta’s beloved photo scrapbooks floating in the water. It suggested suicide, but Nils and Pelle refused to believe it.
When it came to enemies, she only had one – Johnny. He was questioned straight away.
"I was asleep," he insisted, saying he was nowhere near the house. But when queried further, he became vague or said he couldn’t remember.
When Johnny told the children their mum was dead, instead of comforting them, he broke down about being a suspect and rambled on.
"What if I did it and don’t remember?" he said, sobbing while curled up like a baby.
Right from the start Pelle knew his dad was guilty.
A coroner concluded the cause of death was drowning, but it was undetermined. Johnny told the children it was suicide but it failed to explain the superficial knife wounds on her body or the high level of anti-anxiety medication Xanax in her system.
They were high enough to make Uta drowsy and it was a drug she never took. Before her death, Johnny had written a prescription for the same drug for his mum – who never received it.
Pelle also noticed his dad had a scratch on his eye. Johnny said it had been caused by their pet dog Molly, but Pelle didn’t believe him and he started to fear for the safety of his siblings. He thought the police would arrest his father, so when they didn’t, he took matters into his own hands.
In January 2012, Pelle left home and moved in with his best friend and her family, then set about protecting his siblings. When he turned 18, he went to court and they were eventually all placed in the custody of family friends.
Closer to justice
Incredibly, Johnny sued Pelle for the return of the family scrapbooks that were so treasured in their family. In turn, Pelle used his inheritance to sue his dad with a wrongful death suit. It meant that lawyers could question Johnny under oath about Uta’s death – and it was a revelation.
Johnny’s story changed and he even admitted he’d seen Uta the day she died. On April 25, 2013, Johnny was arrested and charged with Uta’s murder. Pelle
had spent almost all his inheritance and was one step closer to justice.
The trial began in February this year and Johnny pleaded not guilty. The defence suggested the knife wounds were self-inflicted and Uta had taken the Xanax herself.
Pelle, now 21, was a witness for the prosecution and recalled finding out his mum was dead.
"I was in my bedroom getting my stuff ready to go and my dad came in trailed by my three younger siblings. They were all crying, obviously very distraught, very upset... and my dad said, 'Uta’s dead and they think I did it,’" Pelle said.
He told the jury his dad was acting strange.
"He was kind of babbling and rambling. But he was saying things along the lines of, 'Am I a monster?' and 'What if I did it and I can’t remember?' I think he also said, 'I want my mom or I want my mommy,' at one point."
One expert witness said Uta ‘fought to live’ and there were signs of a struggle. The prosecution suggested Johnny had crushed the Xanax pills, mixed them with alcohol and injected them into Uta.
But the defence disputed this account and produced expert witnesses to say that Uta had used the knife on herself and the photo album was proof of a sentimental moment before suicide.
But was the whole scene staged to look that way? Uta had four kids, a meaningful career and a new love. She had no reason to kill herself.
"He resented her efforts to see the children, to talk with the children, to text the children, to email the children," the prosecution argued. "He just couldn’t stop talking about how much he hated her."
Finally, the jury had a verdict. Johnny was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Johnny’s family claim it’s an injustice, and say he’ll appeal, but outside court, Pelle felt relief.
"We have spent the last three and a half years seeking justice for my mother, and today that quest is finally at an end."
Pelle knew his mum loved her children too much to leave them, and his dad was hiding something. So he devoted his life to making sure everyone knew the truth.
