This is a classic example of an adopted child who was prenatally exposed to alcohol by his biological mother. The dad's descriptions of his behaviors as a young child and adolescent are indicators of the exhibitions of brain damage from prenatal exposure to alcohol. Over 90% of adopted children suffer from this brain damage, many resulting in criminal behaviors when they reach adolescence and adulthood. The person may look normal, but the brain damage shows in their behaviors, in this case, ending in murder.

Wow, 90% of adopted children! Could you please site your sources for that statistic?

John and Susan Sutton sound like crap parents who took the easy way out by sending their young son away to boarding schools as a way of dealing with his behavorial problems. I heard nothing from his early life to warrant the rejection he must have felt by the message they continued to send well into his late teens. I'm not saying the Sutton's deserved what they got. No one deserves to be maimed or have their lives cut short, but I suspect that the responsibility for this young man's anger lies with his parents. John couldn't wait to testify against his son, I saw no sign of love or forgiveness or understanding in him. It appears that's how he dealt with his son from a very young age. Too bad.

In my opinion, the interview after the verdict was the most revealing. It was "Me, me, me!" When asked his feelings about his mother's death, as well as his father's blindness, he gave a short, "Yeah. Yeah. I feel bad," type of answer. Then, it was right back to me, me, me. The only REAL emotion I ever saw from him came when talking about himself - the terrible emotional pain that he experienced when sent to Samoa...he'll be in prison for the rest of his life. Boo-hoo. I am not an unsympathetic person. In fact, I am the opposite. But, when a man says that he didn't kill his parents but is unable to show any grief or distress over their deaths, I don't feel that he leaves much of a chance for compassion.

It is really surprising to see someone convicted for murder based on purely circumstantial evidence. All they really have is a possible motive. I don't know how that can even go to trial. What happened to "innocent until proven guilty"?

I didn't see any emotion coming from the victim either so possibly his lack of feeling (or perhaps just inability to emote) could be somewhat responsible for his "son" turning sociopathic. This guy didn't seem to show much emotion about his wife having been murdered either.

I wouldn't be surprised if this kid didn't feel anything from the man from a very early age so that combined with a possible less than ideal prenatal life was not a good sign for things going well.

I felt no empathy for any of them which is strange given the tragic circumstances.

Being a biological mother who was also accused of fetal alcohol affect (which was completely untrue) due to the behavior issues that my birth child exibited, I believe it's a good scapegoat for bad behavior. Sometimes adoptive parents need something to explain the behavior. GOD FORBID it's their parenting!!!

Also, who the heck sends their kids to Samoa for 2 years? Not me. DEAL with your children, don't send them away. All they are looking for is LOVE and COMPASSION.

I feel bad for Melissa. She is the true victim in this whole scenario.

This is a strange case. I cannot believe in my heart that the son Chris actually did this. Adolescents often say things that they do not mean. If you watch the interaction between the son Chris and his father, John, when he was little, there was NO love or interest on the father's side. Chris was a disappointment to him (Mr. Perfect). The father must have suspected the wife's affair with his partner and found an easy way to blame the murder of his wife on the son. The shooter only got 30 years (without considering parole). The father DID NOT DIE, he was only maimed. He also has all the money in the world to try to fix his sight problem. What did Mr. Sutton promise the shooter after he was released? By that time this case will long be forgotten and no one will be watching, or Mr. Sutton will be dead with a pile of money buried somewhere for the shooter. Did you notice that Mr. Sutton already has a new squeeze? Did you get that he is a lawyer that could easily plan the perfect murder? I am a parent and find it hard to believe that Chris actually did this. He is the only one that showed any emotion. The father is a cold, selfish, calculating man.

Did you notice how calm Mr. Sutton was during the 911 phone call? According to the Dateline report, he never tried to find or check on his wife. He was only concerned about himself, and, somehow managed to drag HIMSELF outside. I'm sorry, if it were me, I would be frantically calling out for my wife, and searching for her endlessly, blind or not!

As an adoptive mother, I first need to respond to Jody's completely inaccurate statement that "90% of all adopted children" suffer from brain damage caused by alcohol. Where in the world did you get that statistic? It would be impossible to get that kind of data because that means that all adopted children would need to be assessed for brain damage and that's obviously impossible. Neither of my children have brain damage from alcohol abuse nor do any of the adopted children I know.

Second, just my .02 on this story. I do believe Christopher is guilty and think what he did is horrible. However, I was appalled that this parents sent him away to Samoa, esp against his will, and then his father signed a court order restricting him from coming home when he turned 18. That said a lot about their relationship. They said he was "always getting into trouble", which makes me wonder about the father/son relationship to begin with. And when John Sutton said Melissa was "almost perfect", it did make me wonder if he didn't favor her all along. Not that that is any excuse for them to be killed but that Christopher probably felt anger and rejection his whole life. Its just too bad that he didn't get counseling and help for these feelings so that he could've dealt with them in a different way.

As a former employee of John and Teddy I was there for the early "Christopher" years. Ethics prevents from revealing too much, but the show really did not (probably not allowed since he was a minor at the time) touch on what he was really up to. As a parent, no one is perfect and kids don't come with manuals. They are all different. He was kicked out of school after school. This isn't some kid that was packed off to boarding school at age 9. If anything, they were pretty soft on him and gave him chance after chance. He could have had a really great life. Would a firmer hand at a younger age made a difference? Who knows. But as he grew older and bigger things escalated. I had not worked there for awhile when I heard about the shooting but the first person that popped into my mind was Christopher. I will leave it at that. As for the "adoption" issue - that is something the media seized upon and ran with. Melissa has turned out great! I knew she would. As for John showing no emotion - the trial was many years after the shooting and he is trying to move on with his life - besides he cannot cry due to the injury. I think it is great that he is trying to make a positive out of such a horrible negative.

Great comments from the poster above. After being a friend of the family during the trial years and knowing the daughter and the person she is I have to say the family is among those I list as a "hero" and one I am proud to be associated with. John's face was blown away and he has endured surgery after surgery, almost died and has absolutely no sight~ therefore his tear glands and emotions will be different from your average Joe. Plus he is a trial lawyer and to get through this ordeal he fell back upon what he does best.

Before you voice your thoughts~ read Anonymous-2519230 and think carefully of the words he posted. They had literally exhausted all resources and were desperate to save a son they loved so dearly.

Melissa is a hero and wonderful young lady~ I wish her the best and I would think any person who looks at her successes would rally behind her.

I find it quite interesting that the mother was having an affair with the father's partner, yet this was barely dealt with. I also found it fascinating that the father thought his daughter was an "angel" and almost "perfect". I think we have a man who was probably disappointed that his adopted son was not a carbon copy image of himself. When he did not fit the mold, he diverted his attentions away from him. One does not harbor and grow this much rage and hatred towards two people simply out of the fact that he was "always this way". What was the root cause? Was he a bad seed, or perhaps someone who required more love, guidance and help. I have a feeling that this was not freely given in his household. You do not show love and compassion to your children, then have them forcibly removed from their home to an island thousands of miles away, not knowing their outcome. I can only imagine what happened to him there.

This is a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions. No one deserved to die over this. However, the effect and impact that his parents had on his social upbringing cannot be dismissed. Somewhere in this story lies an even more compelling tale....What caused him to feel this rage?

I find it quite interesting that the mother was having an affair with the father's partner, yet this was barely dealt with.---from above poster. That was true speculation.

Nothing was ever proved, the mother was the office manager and VERY close to the partner.Some people have selective hearing. As Melissa said, He was like a godfather to her. They both liked to talk~ so the phone records show they talked a lot.

The evidence was presented, the jury did a good job~ the outcome of the trial shows who was guilty and as far as I'm concerned they sent Christopher to Samoa to save him and what was left of their house, Melissa and I can only imagine the grief that caused for all. To me it shows a father TRYING to save what they had left, desperation to protect his wife and Melissa from any more pain with the drug dealing crowd Christopher hung with. They had tried many things.... don't judge until you walk in someone's shoes and you know the real story.

The entire situation is just so sad. I wish Chris has just left his parents at the age of majority and gotten some therapy and never looked back. I believe he just wanted first the love, then the approval and finally just some attention from his father. He was intimidated by feeling he had to one day fill his highly successful father's "lawyerly" shoes. Nobody told him he did not have to. I feel a great deal of empathy for Chris. Of course I cannot condone, but none the less, I wish I had the power to turn back the clock for Chris and tell him to leave FL and the hatred of what his parent's did with that stupid Samoa placement. His Dad comes off as cold as ice. Certainly he did not deserve what happened--no one does. But, I understand why his wife went elsewhere for affection,Chris never could find it, I guess. I wish Chris well. He has a lot of good in him. I hope he can find it and have it come out.

Christopher was intimidated? Not even close. They would have been happy if he went to school and got C's. Heck they would have been happy if he went.

I failed to mention--Dateline Friday night programs just keep getting better and better. Fabulous job done on these very complicated cases. Following it for such a long time and keeping the editing in sync cannot be easy. I commend all involved. Keep it up!

Just one comment...the affair the mom was having was not speculation, John's partner admitted it. I still think something was not right at home for Christopher to develop that much anger. And to be "kidnapped" (Dateline's words) and sent off to Samoa against your will...only to have your dad sign a court order that restricts you from coming home when you want to go home, is absolutely horrific. I don't care how much trouble Christopher was, you don't send your kid off to some island and then bar him from coming home. Tragic story all around.

Wonder if this "dad" believes in karma?

I can't see the full show on-line as the front page says. I can only see short segments. Am I doing something wrong?

I'm with Jack... What do we do to get the whole story?

Ditto Tori and Jack..

It's in segments. It's all there. Each video is about the same length. They are lined up along the left side of the initial video. The annoying part is the few seconds at the beginning of each segment that you have to watch each time.

It is not all there on my site either. Five 90-120 segments segments is all I get and 3 or 4 of those would not be included in TV program, but are web-site "extras".

I only get the first segment of the show.