More Time: The Murder of Sean Babbitt

A tragic case of child custody gone wrong. On Easter Sunday 2019, Sean Babbitt was hopeful about his future and his fight for more time with his 3-year-old son. The next morning, during his weekly visitation, he was shot and killed by his ex-mother-in-law, retired police detective Pamela Bordeaux. Was it self-defense or an execution?

[Shaun] 

Sean Babbitt enjoyed a joyful Easter Sunday with his family on April 21, 2019, watching the Golden Knights and Game of Thrones, and playing with hula hoops with his nieces. Sean was in good spirits. His attorney had told him that he had a very good chance of modifying his custody agreement, and he was hopeful that he’d soon be spending more time with his 3-year-old son. 

[John] 

The next morning, Sean drove to his former mother-in-law’s house for his weekly supervised visitation with his son. While Sean was feeling positive about the future, his mother-in-law was distraught and decided to take matters into her own hands. 

(Music - Pause for 8 seconds)

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun

[John] 

And I’m your co-host John. 

[Shaun] 

This week’s story is similar to the story of Dennis and Ashley Prince, which we covered in episode 36. Ashley and Dennis were murdered by her ex-father-in-law, during a deposition in the custody case between Ashley and her ex-husband. Her ex father-in-law, Joe Houston, was representing his son, and Dennis, Ashley’s husband, who was also an attorney, was representing his wife. 

Matters of family law and custody disputes can be ugly, painful, and contentious, and the case we have this week is another heartbreaking example of that. 

Sean Babbitt was a father to a 3 year old boy, who was shot and killed by his ex-mother-in-law during his scheduled visitation with his son. For me, this is an example of the court or officers of the court trying to do the right thing, but ultimately creating a dangerous situation. 

I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, so let’s start out by sharing what we know about Sean. 

[John] 

Sean Babbitt was born in Las Vegas on August 27, 1986. One interesting fact we found out about him is that he had the same birthday as his father, and also his son.

His parents are Jennifer and Brian, and his stepdad is named Dan. He had an older brother named Chris, and a younger sister, Kassyel. (Kassi- El?). 

Sean was a musician, which is something that runs in his family. Both his brother Chris and his sister Kassyel played in bands with him. According to an article about Chris’s music career: their dad was a rocker and a hippie, and "He played Sabbath while he vacuumed around my crib.”

Sean played the guitar, sang, and also composed and published music on Bandcamp. He loved Halloween, playing Dungeons and dragons, metal music, and Star Trek. He graduated from Coronado High School, and worked as a manager for a limousine company and was also an Uber driver. 

We are so grateful to his brother, stepdad, sister, and other family members and friends who were so open about Sean and what he meant to all of them. 

He was described as being generous, loving, kind, selfless, and brilliant. His brother called him a magnificent human being who was easy to love. He was a good person down to his core and he showed that to everyone he ever met. 

[Shaun] 

Sean married Erika in 2008, and the two of them lived with Erika’s mother, Pamela Bordeaux, in the far northwest part of Las Vegas, near Floyd Lamb Park. Their son was born in August 2015, and that November, Erika filed for divorce – before their son was even 3 months old. 

According to Sean’s stepdad, Dan, Sean had a passive personality, and "It was very much like him to do what his wife wanted, he didn't complain a lot." After they divorced, his stepdad described it as “getting Sean back” which could mean a few things. Perhaps he felt that Sean was trapped in this relationship, or maybe they didn’t get to spend as much time with him while he was married. Dan said he had lost a lot of weight and would tremble/shake with nerves for the first 3 to 4 months after their divorce.

Under the divorce decree, Erika was granted sole legal and physical custody of the baby. Sean was granted only 1 hour of visitation every week, from 7AM to 8AM Monday mornings, contingent on him attending counseling, and these visits had to be supervised. Erika’s mother, Pamela, would be the one to supervise the visits, and the visits were to take place inside Pamela’s home.

Pamela Bordeaux was 51 years old when Erika and Sean divorced. She had worked as a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police detective. She was a single mom and joined the force on December 13, 1993, when Erika was a young girl. She retired in 2017, after being a part of Metro for nearly 25 years. 

[John] 

Before we get into what led up to Sean’s murder, I want to mention just a few things. Sean was paying $800/month in child support, and Dan told reporters that “The big love of his life was his little boy. He couldn’t wait to see him for that hour he got to spend with him.” 

We think any reasonable person would be confused or question this custody arrangement. Nevada is a state that leans towards a 50/50 custody split, and one hour of supervised visitation each week is a very restrictive schedule.. So restrictive, in fact, that we think it’s natural to wonder what the cause of this was. 

We want to be clear that nowhere in our research was it ever alleged or noted anywhere that Sean had been abusive towards Erika, Pamela, or the baby. There were no stories of neglect, mental health concerns, or alcohol or substance use disorder issues, nor was it ever mentioned in the press what the required counseling was for. 

Dan said he didn't know. The closest thing we could find to an explanation for this custody arrangement was Erika saying that Sean had referred to himself as an unfit parent. 

As these visits had to be supervised and held inside Pamela’s home, it’s not clear to us how much of an opportunity Sean’s family members, the baby’s grandparents, or Sean’s siblings, had to spend time with him. 

This arrangement lasted about 3 and a half years, until April 2019 when Sean met with a lawyer and filed papers to increase his visitation with his son. His lawyer believed he had a good chance of succeeding in that. 

During this time, Erika moved on and had remarried very shortly after their divorce was finalized. She was no longer living at her mom’s house, and had recently had another baby. 

Sean’s stepfather Dan later told the court that Erika had asked Sean for permission to change their son’s last name to the name of her new husband, and Sean had refused. 

Dan also said that he knew that Erika was aware of Sean’s petition to increase the time he could spend with his son because she had started calling him frequently. 

In hindsight, the custody and visitation of their son was becoming a contentious issue, and things were escalating quickly. 

[Shaun] 

As we mentioned in the opening of the episode, April 21, 2019 was Easter Sunday that year. Sean’s mom Jennifer described it as a Golden Knights, Game of Thrones Easter Sunday, and said that Sean was in great spirits that day, playing with his nieces. 

The next morning, Monday the 22nd, Sean drove to Pamela’s house to enjoy his one hour of visitation with his son. Everything seemed to go smoothly, and at the end of the visit, around 8:05AM, Erika led their son upstairs so he could use the bathroom. Sean was putting his shoes on and getting ready to leave. 

Before she could get her son to the toilet, Erika heard multiple gunshots coming from downstairs. She quickly called 911.

Las Vegas Metro officers approached the house and initially treated it as a barricade situation, where they needed to get Erika, her son, and Pamela out of the house safely. They knew a shooting had occurred in the home, but did not have all the details. Erika herself was unsure what happened. She would later state that she didn't hear any argument, shouting, or any kind of disturbance before she heard the gunshots.

Police used a ladder to evacuate Erika and her son from the second floor of the house. 

After 26 minutes, Pamela exited the home, surrendered to the police,  and was placed in handcuffs. Bodycam footage shows an officer questioning Pamela about the shooting in the house:

Metro Officer: “Is Sean down?”

Bordeaux: “Yes.”

Metro Officer: “Is he 419?”

Bordeaux: “I don’t know.”

Metro Officer: “Does he appear like he’s dead?”

Bordeaux: “I don’t know.”

Metro Officer: “Is he moving?”

Bordeaux: “I don’t think so.”

Metro Officer: “Do you hear any moaning? Anything like that?”

Bordeaux: “No.”

Metro Officer: “No?” “Is he holding the gun or is the gun near him?”

Bordeuax: “It was my gun.”

Metro Officer: “It was your gun?  Where is it at?” 

The officer then repeats himself twice saying, “Did you shoot him or did he shoot himself?”

Bordeuax: “I’m always armed when he comes. I shot him.”

Metro Officer: “Huh? You shot him?”

She nods yes. 

[John] 

When the police entered the house, they found Sean dead on the living room floor, with his shoes nearby. There was no sign of a struggle in the house. 

The autopsy would reveal that Sean had been shot 10, possibly 11,  times. He had been shot in the top of the head and three times through the back, and he had significant defensive wounds to his hands that indicated he had his hands up to deflect the attack.

Only one weapon, Pamela’s gun, was found in the home. 

According to Dan, Sean had no way to retreat from the room, and he was shot by Bordeaux while she was standing at the top of the stairs and firing down at him. 

Sean’s brother, Chris, would later claim that Sean had been shot while he was putting his shoes on, although Detective Gary King couldnt confirm that

Erika, her new husband, and Pamela’s friend, Marc, were all interviewed at the scene. Marc is also a Metro detective who happened to be on duty and responded to the call. 

When interviewed, all 3 told police that they thought the motive for the shooting was that Sean was trying to increase custody and Pamela was distraught with the situation. 

When Pamela was taken into custody, officers noted that she had no blood or tissue on her hands, face, or on her clothes; her face and hands had no injuries - no marks, scrapes, or broken fingernails. 

According to the RJ, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck called the shooting “a completely unprovoked attack” and “an absolute execution.”

[Shaun] 

Pamela’s explanation was that she had acted in self-defense, that Sean was a violent and dangerous person. Two days after she was arrested, her attorneys, Robert Draskovich and Michael Horvath, gave a statement to the press where they claimed Sean was a deviant.

They said that he had a dark side that it’s likely his family members were unaware of. They explained that Pamela was a grandmother who was trying to protect herself, her daughter, and her grandson. 

The attorneys stated that they had reached this conclusion based on the custody agreement. They argued that the visitation being supervised and just once per week for one hour was evidence that there had to be a reason, and they claimed they would be launching a full investigation into the reasons why. 

Sean’s family, and his stepdad Dan in particular, had a lot to say about this, as you might imagine.  Dan believed that the motive was very straightforward: 

"I think for the first time, he stood his ground and said no, I'm getting more time with my son. I don't think she could stand that. 

He wanted more access so he served them with papers and he would have gotten more access, and the next visit, he was murdered.

This is just shocking. Sean filed for more time with (his son) ... and this is what happened.”

"Sean was a very peaceful boy and he wouldn't harm a fly. I know they know that.” 

While this would be the motive that prosecutors stressed during trial, the investigation did reveal that during their marriage, and before their son was born, Pamela and Erika convinced Sean that he needed a life insurance policy. They took out a policy on him, with Erika as the primary beneficiary, and Pamela as the secondary. The policy was worth $305,000, and a claim was made on that policy on April 24, just 2 days after his murder. 

Though her attorneys tried to have the charges dropped based on self defense, they failed. As the prosecutors explained, a “general claim of dangerousness is both unreasonable and not a legal defense to murder. This case is a clear demonstration that Bordeaux’s reaction to other family members seeking time with her grandchild is to resort to extreme violence.”

[John] 

As we stated, initially, she was held without bail, and the judge denied her request to be released, stating that she was a threat to the Babbitt family. 

About two months later, on June 29, 2019, she had a separate bail hearing and bail was set at $1million.  Bordeaux posted that bail and was placed on house arrest pending trial. 

The trial did not begin until June of 2024, and lasted 6 days. Erika was a witness for the state and she testified about what we already shared here - that the visit was normal, there was no argument or fighting, and that she didn’t hear anything before she heard the gunshots. 

Pamela’s friend, Marc, the detective, testified that he knew her to be a steady and calm person, but the Saturday before the shooting he said she was “distraught.” 

She told him that she was upset about the possibility of Sean getting custody, saying “Family courts don’t give a damn” and they want to give 50-50 custody. 

Forensic evidence also showed that Pamela was not close to Sean when the shooting took place. She was at a distance of at least 2 feet, which is why she didn’t have any blood evidence on her after the shooting. It’s also important to note that two separate witnesses testified that they heard several gunshots, and then after a pause, several more gunshots. 

There was also evidence that Bordeaux had manipulated the scene following the shooting. One of Sean’s socks had blood on it, and it was demonstrated by evidence that the likely cause was that Pamela had taken the sock off of his foot and then used it to move the shell casings into one part of the room, in a close cluster. 

She didn’t get all the casings however, and prosecutors would argue that was because they were hidden in the room: under a shoe, behind a door, and under Sean. 

The prosecutors also emphasized that Pamela was a creature of habit. She had a routine for those Monday morning visits, where she would come downstairs, open the blinds to see if it was Sean at the door, leave the blinds open for the visit, and then close them again after he left. 

She also would closely supervise the visits, and she would have her gun, pepper spray, and handcuffs at the ready. 

On the day of the murder, however, she kept the blinds closed. The blood spatter evidence in the home confirmed they were shut at the time of the murder. 

For the prosecution, this meant premeditation, not self-defense. 

[Shaun] 

The Defense made the argument that Sean had been erratic lately, and that he may have had a propensity for violence. He was characterized as a jealous and emasculated ex husband. The defense had an expert, clinical and forensic psychologist John Paul Garrison, who did an “assessment” of Sean based on what the defendant told him, and emails and text messages he had sent to Erika during their marriage. 

According to his assessment, Pamela had a reason to be afraid of Sean. We have more to say about this when we get into the prosecution’s closing arguments. 

They also claimed that Sean was still upset over his divorce and Erika’s new relationship. He was also alleged to be jealous of the newborn that Erika had with her new husband in December of 2018. Just a reminder here, that Erika remarried just a few days after her divorce was finalized in 2016, so they had been split for about 3 years by the time the shooting occurred and the baby had been born about 5 months earlier. 

Pamela took the stand in her own defense and described that she went to open the front door of the house to let Sean out, and when she turned around he was coming down the stairs toward her with his hands outstretched like he was going to strangle her. 

The defense explained that Bordeaux had an excellent record of service both in metro and in the military and that she had no duty to retreat in her own home. Her killing was justified, based on Sean’s deviant behavior. 

I think this is a good time to read the statement Sean’s brother, Chris, made about his brother before the trial started: 

“I want to help prepare friends, family, and supporters for the abhorrent ugliness that lies ahead:

The assassination attempt of my brother's character will be heart-wrenching and enraging, but we must stand united and continue always to show Sean in his true light, as the true light that he was in so many of our lives, now that his has been barbarically taken.

In their first statement, the murderer’s legal defense team has already cited untruth. This may very well set the tone for what is to come. Understand, there was NOTHING DANGEROUS about my brother. My dearest friend, my daughter and niece’s favorite uncle,  my inspiration in art and life, my soul mate.

My gentle and ingenious brother Sean Babbitt was MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD. And because ALL the EVIDENCE leads to this FACT, the SMEAR CAMPAIGN to malign and distort his true character has already begun. Because there is NO WAY to interpret the BRUTAL SLAYING and SUMMARY "EXECUTION" of my brother in any other way than MURDER based on the ALL THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, the legal defense team for Sean's murderer are already taking to the media to try and manipulate his image with half truths and grossly simplified or exaggerated labels to try to engender doubt and disgust in the public eye by presenting a one-sided story for which they require no burden of proof or evidence beyond its introduction because you cannot legally slander the dead, and they therefore have no consequences to keep their tactics from becoming more than mudslinging without evidentiary foundation. They intend to distort his true character by painting my KINDHEARTED, SWEET, GENEROUS, AND TENDER BROTHER as "aggressive" or possibly even stretch it so far as to portray as “deviant”.

This killer's defense team is strategically saying the word "deviant" with specific intent, and they are coupling the word "deviant" with statements about his child intentionally so that when you think of those two things you will associate deviance and children and you will make your own assumptions by drawing horrific conclusions based on NO FACTS whatsoever. 

in the court of public opinion, their statements may run rampant with suggestion without factual support and without objection or rebuttal, allowing the public imagination to form its opinion based solely on the half-truths and outright UNTRUTHS they are being fed. The defense has no evidence to support their case on legal grounds, so they will say anything they can to try to breed doubt. 

The SICKENING WAY IN WHICH MY BROTHER WAS LITERALLY SHOT TO PIECES is the only obscene FACT of this case that should turn your stomach or sway your opinion. They want to introduce and extrapolate wild "what if?" ideas to sew the seeds of doubt throughout public opinion via the media because they know SEAN IS NOT ON TRIAL AND NO LONGER ALIVE TO DEFEND HIMSELF and thus they do no have to prove their allegations, they only have to introduce loose possibilities to poison the public well with the stuff of fiction, or at most private communications from which they will likely try to stretch and squeeze far fetched ill intention using contextless snapshots of his life.

Sean was utterly devoted to his son. With the best of intentions and in a civil and peaceable manner he pursued the legal means to regain the custody rights he had been manipulated and bullied into signing away. His attorney was immensely confident that Sean would absolutely regain the rights to see the son he loved so dearly. The week after his attorney filed and served the papers that would ensure Sean would regain his rightful custody, Sean was murdered by a member of the family who received those papers.

I implore you to share this story, and to stand with us in unity to present the TRUE AND BEAUTIFUL Sean Babbitt amidst the ugliness to come.”

[John] 

Earlier in the episode, we mentioned that we were confident there was no evidence of Sean being abusive or negligent, as no specific evidence came into trial, and while some text messages were reported in the press (more on that later), there were never allegations of Sean physically harming Erika, Pamela, or his son, or anyone else for that matter. 

We think, due to Pamela’s defense for the shooting, that something would have come out about that, but it hasn’t. As Chris predicted, during the trial the defense alluded to Sean being “deviant” but nothing specific about his relationships or past actions with his son, Erika, or Pamela was brought into evidence. 

During her closing argument, DA Fleck dismantled the Defense’s argument piece by piece. 

First, the forensic evidence simply did not match Pamela’s story and testimony, and the fact that she had purposely moved the shell casings to try to match her story was particularly damning. She had shot him 10 times and never missed a single shot. 

Bordeaux testified that she shot and emptied her gun at Sean, but two independent witnesses had heard two sets of shots, with a pause in between. The state concluded she had shot him a few times, and then a few more times to make sure he was dead. Pamela also waited 26 minutes before exiting the house, to make sure he didn’t survive. 

The defense had stated Sean was upset about Erika’s new baby, but Fleck explained that it was over a year earlier that Sean found out she was pregnant, and he had congratulated her when he heard. 

Also, if that were true, why would he attack Pamela, and not Erika?

In one of the most moving parts of the trial, Fleck played a video Sean had recorded the morning of the murder. It was a selfie video of himself singing Elton John’s “Your Song.” He then wished his girlfriend a good day and blew her a kiss. Michelle explained that Sean was in love, he was happy, and he was hopeful about finally having more time with his son. 

The bottom line was, he had no reason or motive to attack Pamela, especially 3 years after visitations had begun. In her own testimony, she had stated that he’d never provoked her or done anything violent to her in any of the previous 156 visitation sessions. 

And lastly, why would he risk it when he had good news from his attorney, but also when he knew that she’s always armed during visitation? 

Fleck called this an act of revenge for asking for more visitation with his son, saying that Pamela was losing control of the situation and had acted as “Judge, jury, and literal executioner.”

The state asked for a conviction of first degree murder. 

[Shaun] 

The Defense’s closing argument, the part I was able to watch, was centered on how it was reasonable for Pamela to be scared and that she had been a good cop and a good soldier. 

After about 3 hours of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon. 

During her sentencing hearing, Michelle Fleck stressed that at no point had Bordeaux ever taken any personal responsibility or shown any remorse for killing the father of her grandchild. Bordeaux had taken away his son’s right to have a relationship with his father. 

She also noted that in the sentencing memorandum the defense had prepared, that it was once again focused on what Pamela thought about Sean, the whole “deviant” thing, which the prosecution called “delusions.” She told the Judge that the assessment the defense had presented at trial was backed by an expert who never had the opportunity to meet Sean, it was entirely based on what Pamela had told him and text messages that had been taken out of context and part of a conversation Sean had with Erika during their marriage. 

DA Fleck was notably irritated about the report, and while she didn’t accuse anyone outright, she reminded the judge that the assessment must have been leaked to the media, and the media had done tabloid reporting revealing that report without investigating any of the lies in the document. The implication here is that the defense had attempted to poison the jury pool and the court of public opinion by releasing that report. Again, what Chris wrote years earlier, seemed to be true. 

The defense said that Pamela was sorry for what happened and asked for a lighter sentence because of her age. Pamela was 60 at the time, and even the judge acknowledged that even the minimum sentence could be a life sentence for her. 

Chris was present to give a statement during the hearing. He first read a statement from their mom, Jennifer, where she talked about how Sean’s last day had been a day filled with joy, love, and hope. 

Chris choked back tears as he told the court that his little brother was his favorite person and his best friend. He was the other side of his coin, his soul mate, and the void would not fill and it couldn’t be fixed. 

He said he aspired to be like Sean, even though he was the big brother. He was closer than a twin to him. 

Chris explained he had been trying to hold it together for his wife and his 2 kids and the rest of his family, but Sean was gone for nothing and for no reason. 

His stepdad Dan also gave a statement. He thanked the judge and shared some information about how he viewed his son’s relationship with Erika and Pamela. He said he wanted him to stay away from them, and that it had been horrific living with the fact that he wanted to protect Sean from them, but he couldn’t. He said that his wife, Jennifer, still cries every Monday morning. 

[John] 

District Court Judge Carli Kierny said Bordeaux was a successful police officer, but a terrible mother-in-law and a terrible grandmother. She sentenced her to life with the possibility of parole after 24 years. 

Sean’s celebration of life was held at the Westgate hotel on Saturday, May 4, 2019. Chris asked that it be a true celebration of Sean’s life and said, “please come dressed to rock, and let’s send Sean to Valhalla in style.”  Hundreds of people came from across the country.  The event was appropriately filled lots of music, which was a huge part of Sean’s life. 

Later that summer, a video game music festival in San Diego was performed in his memory, with some of Sean’s former bandmates in attendance. 

Sean’s story is one we wanted to share not only because he was an exceptional person who was loved by so many, but also because it’s another example of how child custody disputes can turn violent. 

In hindsight, it was never a good idea to have Bordeaux supervise visitation, and it definitely wasn’t a good idea for it to be in an isolated place like Bordeaux’s own home. I can imagine what a tense and ominous environment that was for Sean, to have to spend that limited time with his son, with Pamela sitting there with her gun, pepper spray and handcuffs. 

YOUR THOUGHTS

The fact of the matter was that If anything had ever happened, it would always be his word against hers, and neither of them would have had any protection if any accusations were ever raised.

While this probably seemed to be a very reasonable arrangement to the Family Court at the time it was created, since Sean’s son was just a small infant, but this truly put all 4 of them at risk. 

We hope that Sean’s family has had the opportunity to build a relationship with his son and we know they will do what they can to continue to keep his memory alive. 

[Shaun] 

John and I will be talking more about this episode in this week’s swing shift so be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it. 

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the show, and we encourage all of our fans to leave a review on whatever platform you’re listening on. It really helps us grow the show and get these important stories out there. 

Thanks again for listening and remember, what happens here happens everywhere.