Vancouver couple convicted of beating, starving twins
VANCOUVER, Wash. -- After deliberating seven hours, a Clark County jury convicted a Vancouver couple of starving and beating their adopted twins.
Jeffrey Weller was found guilty of 14 of the 16 second-, third- and fourth-degree assault charges and unlawful imprisonment charges. Sandra Weller was found guilty of nine of the 10 second- and third-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment charges.
After hearing the verdict, Jeffrey Weller slowly shook his head and looked down. Both Wellers showed no dramatic reaction upon hearing the verdict. But when they were escorted from the courtroom by custody officers, Jeffrey Weller told reporters: "I did not do it and we will appeal this."
"We were framed," Sandra Weller said, adding that it was the couple's exes who implicated them.
After hearing the verdict, Tina Toth, Jeffrey Weller's ex-wife and mother of several of his children in the home, said she felt justice was served.
"He did this to himself," Toth said. "I hope he realizes what he's done and how much he's hurt his kids and the other kids in the home."
After receiving the case at the end of the day Thursday, the jury spent all of Friday deciding on more than a dozen charges. They rendered their verdicts just after 4 p.m.
Sentencing was set for March 12 in Clark County Superior Court.
Jurors heard during the four-day trial that the Wellers starved their teenage twins, only feeding them a porridge substance once a day. If the twins snuck food, they were beaten with a wooden board, prosecutors said.
Authorities recovered the board – which had a reddish brown substance on it consistent with blood spatter – and it was a key piece of evidence during the trial.
The defense maintained the Wellers did not mistreat their children. Attorneys said the twins had mental issues that caused them to hoard food and that they constantly had to be disciplined.
On the stand, Jeffrey Weller admitted to hitting one of the twins once, but said it was out of discipline.
The case surfaced in October 2011 when one of the twins snuck a note to a counselor that detailed the abuse.
Good that they were found guilty by a jury of their peers based on presentation of the evidence against them. What I always found to be interesting is that the legal definition of "peer" includes synonyms such as associate, colleague, equal, equivalent, match, and mate. If the jury must be supposedly unquestionably impartial, would any of them be associated with, or have personal experience or knowledge of these types of violent and disreputable crimes? Just asking.
Pretty good frame-job. People not involved with the twins managed to make them emaciated. The stories from the other kids might not have such obvious physical evidence, but being Filipino isn't an explanation.
 @EnoughAlready What do you mean frame-job? Can't you believe teen-age kids or their older brother? Quit sticking up for this low-life couple.
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The jurors had a horrific duty. Â A jury of their "peers" - who would want to be thought of as similar to these monsters. Â I do know one of the jurors - and was told they came home every day looking like they had just gone through battle. Â I am happy they are done - and more importantly hope that the kids can get the help they need to heal. Â A long road for sure.
This sort of thing goes on all around us. I don't know how to stop it. The nearly nightly beatings with every thing from a belt to the flat side of a two edge axe that I endured, pale in comparison to what these poor children faced. May Heavenly Father forgive them and help them to know that their monsterous actions were just wrong, so wrong.
Thank god for the Assault II convictions, because they're Ballot Measure 11 offenses and will lead to mandatory minimum sentencing even if these "parents" have no prior criminal records. Assault II has a mandatory minimum sentence of 70 months in state prison. The judge could (and should) impose more, but cannot impose any less.
Read the byline; this crime and trial happened in Vancouver, and Measure 11 is Oregon.
 @MD20-20  D'oh!
These people need to be put in a cage and throw away the key.  They don't derserve breath.  They harmed the most precious gift we are ever given, for the first time ever, I have no mercy. I am overwhelmed with sorrow for the children and a deep seething anger towards these animals.
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 @MedicalDirector NOT "animals!" Animals DON'T do this sort of thing. Call them monsters, please, but don't besmirch the good name of animals.
Did they lock the kids in a cage? That goes over real well with the KATU community.
And obviously wifey has never missed a meal in her life.
Don't put em in jail....put em UNDER THE JAIL!!!! I hope the kids find wonderful "foster parents' who will take them in & wrap them in love & kindness & show the kids NOT all parents are evil!!!! Pray for them!!
Good! These two people are not worthy to have / raise kids or even a pet. Nobody is buying the "framed" argument. Not from the jury... nor from anyone else following this case. I wonder how much time each will get in prison? Anyone have a guess that knows anything about law? And I agree.. this is one topic everyone is agreeing about on here! I feel bad for the kids.. and what they have been through and will go through because of this. Just wait... some Bubba or Butch Betty will probably take there food and make them starve. Then we will see who "hoardes" food now.
I'm looking forward to the sentencing. I hope they get the maximum penalty.
Yeah, and the mental illness that caused them to hoard food was caused by the fact that their parents beat them every time they ate anything. That would mess with my head and make me want to stash a few things aside.  Your own son ratted you out, I think your appeals are done.Â
The defense maintained the Wellers did not mistreat their children. Attorneys said the twins had mental issues that caused them to hoard food and that they constantly had to be disciplined.
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Where does one even begin to undertand that statement. Certainly anyone hoarding food would be eating it. they would not look like a re-creation of an auschwitz prisoner. It was obvious these kids wanted food to eat. Does no one know how much food a teenager can consume with a growing body?? Obviously these schumcks do not.
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Also if they had these mental issues then you certainly raised them with a counselor before all this right Mr. Weller?
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Rot in hell Weller's and please dont waste too much tax payer money on appeals because they wont help you.Â
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 @jpdx00 They didn't care about the needs of teenagers. They had their own "whipping boy" and girl to thrash whenever they wanted. Even the kids who weren't starved or beaten as severely as the twins will be just as traumatized because of what they experienced.  It is truly awful that these two monsters will have "all the comforts" of heat, food, medical care, and socialization in prison, after they nearly killed these kids.Â
I agree with you 100 percent
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While this is a good outcome, I truly feel sorry for all of the kids. The twins have alot to deal with, as do the bio children. Hopefully there is decent family to step in and the kids don't end up in the "system".
They deserve the same treatment they gave their kids. And NO MERCY.
Perhaps, they will meet in prison some adults that were once abused as children so that they might come to appreciate the full repercussions of childhood abuse.
Bravo!!
Good.
"Vancouver couple convicted of beating"Good. I hope the die in prison, but not before realizing what subhuman piles of toxic waste they made of their lives.
"i will appeal it"  who pays for that? us?   good gravy
 @Bill Preston That's exactly correct.I know this is a new story and all, but this is one of the rare times where literally everybody in the forum is in agreement. See, there's hope.
They seem shocked that they were found guilty of their crimes against the kids. Oddly enough, the worst is yet to come for them. Don't know how old their children are, but I hope they get to live in a household that is loving, caring, and safe from now on. These fake parents need to prevented from ever being near children ever again.
JUSTICE! Way to go to the Prosecutor! To the Jury: Thank you for your service and verdict. Couldn't be easy listening to this type of crap. To the Weller's: BYE BYE!!!!
I hope you both get at least 10 years each! Â GOOD Â BYE
Good job, Jury. Yes, justice prevails. Now let's hope they get the sentences they deserve.Â
Found guilty, just as they should have been. I can only hope their innocent children can find some peace now ...
Amen, justice prevails! Hopefully the twins can recover and have a normal life.
And, some people believe that any heterosexual couple is better than a gay couple or a couple of a different race. Good parenting is felt much more deeply than any superficial judgement that might fall upon a parent.
@Icarus Can we go one story without the homosexual angle please. Yes homosexual parents are loving parents. Biologicaly a child is best with a mother and a father. Obviously not this so called mother and this so called father though.
Lets hope they're treated better than they treated the twins ....what do they say are the worst treated prisoners? Â Child abusers?
 @hotrods arefun ya know... at least one of those parents most likely learned this abuse behavior from somewhere so I have to wonder about their own parents?
   @hotrods arefun Everybody can make choices. Even people who have grown up in terrible circumstances can CHOOSE to not repeat the patterns. There is no excuse for their actions.Â
 @KKStJohn  @hotrods arefun Not excusing them, but drawing attention to the need for intervention in any families that abuse and neglect are going on even at a moderate level as these things do tend to avalanche over generations. Look at the research.
Glad they were found guilty. Â Enjoy a long life away from the world.
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Good.
I hope justice is served for these low life's .. They really should be put away forever .. I know it wont happen , it just makes me sick for these poor kids..
Really glad to see these two convicted. Now, if they both get justice in prison it will be fitting.Â
Glad to see they got a conviction in this case. What's happening with the kids though?
 @pdxd There are other parents for all the kids except for the youngest who is the child of monsters.Â
heres to hoping they get at least 20 years of actual time in the joint! **click** Â
Well...let me see...if you are being starved you just MIGHT hoard food on the rare occassions you had any to begin with. Â If nothing else, keeping the two teens, brother and sister locked in that room would be a crime. Â I was told that when siblings of the opposite sex hit 7 or 8 they are supposed to be in different bedrooms. Â Then you add the starving and the beatings. Â Very glad their older "brother" told his side. Â These two have me baffled.
 @BCH mom While there are special requirements in foster homes, there is no such requirement about male/female siblings being in separate rooms after a certain age otherwise. Even if these children were former foster children, once adopted, those rules would no longer apply.A law like that, applicable to the population at large, would be impossible to enforce, a financial hardship on many families, and in addition, show extreme cultural bias. Many cultures have families that sleep all in one room, parents included - and even in our society, there are still families that choose household room arrangements that fit their preferences.
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One family I know has a 3-bedroom, and yes, they could split the four children 2 and 2... instead, they have one "bunk" room, that is used for sleep and clothes storage, and is the place for the kids to find quiet in their busy household when desired. The other "kids' bedroom" is a playroom that is shared by all. For them, it's led to more household space that is actively used, rather than the bedrooms being closed off for all but the nighttime hours.