The investigation

The next morning, the morning of January 15, 1995.  Debbie called my house looking for Randy.  She wanted to come over, I told her "no" and she said "but Randy needs me Katie".  I didn't know it at the time but Randy had gone to Sugar Creek to use the pay phone to call her.  Next thing I knew he was gone.  The police were at Debbie's apartment and they wanted to talk to Randy too.  Beth came to my apartment to be with me and so did my dad.  They were down in the parking lot when the Ontario County Sheriff came and we got the news that Nicholas died from a blow to the stomach.  My memory of it is so foggy, I don't know who even told me, if it was my dad or the police officer. Next thing I remember is gathering up all the stuff Nick vomited on, at the request of the Police Officer.

As the day went on, Randy was no where to be found. I didn't want to be alone, so I went to my parents house.  It was late afternoon  when the Ontario County police called and wanted to talk to us.  Mom and Dad drove me there.  I had never been to a jail before.   I was taken to a room with Officer Miller and Sarah Utter where I told them about everything that had happened over the past few months.  I just really wanted them to find out what had happened to my son.  

I went back home with mom and dad because I couldn't bring myself to go back to an empty apartment.  An apartment with all of Nicholas' things, but no Nicholas.

So I slept in my brothers bed.  My sister Michele had come to check on me.  I felt so tired, but didn't think I could ever sleep.  So she started to rub my head like you would a child, and I said "this is stupid, it is never going to work."  Next thing I remember I was being awakened by a phone call.  It was the Ontario County police, Debbie had confessed to murdering Nick.  It is one of those things that you think can never happen to you, but here it was happening to me.

They initially thought Randy did it because of all of the lies he told.  He really didn't sleep with Nick that night, but instead  he got drunk, passed out and left Debbie to care for Nick.  Debbie put Nick to bed on the floor in her children's room after putting her oldest daughter down in a bed, and her youngest daughter in bed with her and Randy.  There was an empty bed he could have slept in, but she put him to bed on the floor like he was just some kind of dog.  That action to me speaks volumes about how she felt about my son.  At some point Debbie came into the room during the night and brutally beat him with her six year old daughter witnessing the attack.  That's how they got Debbie to confess.  Thank God that poor little girl told the Investigators what she saw.  Not only did she beat my son, but she left him to suffer for hours without getting him the medical attention he desperately needed. She knew what she did, and she chose to not take him to the hospital, to not get him medical care. I can't imagine the fear and horror he felt when she attacked him, then to endure the hours of suffering he had to endure.  If there is evil in this world, Deborah Soule is the definition of it, and she should sit in prison for the rest of her life.  She not only took Nick's life away, but she also took away everything he could be. She ripped Nicholas away from me, and I was left an empty shell of the person I had once been. Life was no longer a bright and shiny place. It took years for me to be happy again.  I will forever feel the affects of her actions.  I wake up every morning missing him, knowing the one thing I want more than anything, I can never have. Nick was robbed of his entire life.  I was robbed out of being able to watch him grow.  No child should ever have to endure what he had to and we only know a portion of what actually happened to him.  What kind of person does this to child? To abuse a two year old baby continuously for months.  What kind of society do we live in if she is released from prison?  To be able to live free and enjoy her children and grandchildren, when she tortured and murdered a baby, my baby? For me and my family there is not going to be a parole date.  We have to endure this prison for the rest of our lives.