Has Brandy Moved On?

It is sad to say that Danny Shelton has not even settled the financial portion of his divorce with Linda, his second wife, five years after he divorced her, and now his third wife, Brandy, apparently has left him, according to a source who is in a position to know.  Another source saw a moving van at the Shelton door on Thursday, July 9, 2009. 

The “cover story” is that Brandy has gone back to Florida to “go to beauty school.”  But she had already been going to “beauty school” in Southern Illinois. 

It certainly makes no sense, unless the marriage is over, for a wife to move a thousand miles away from her husband to go to beauty school, particularly when beauty school is available where they have been living.

What’s Happening in Court?

3ABN and Danny Shelton have been dragging their feet regarding documents the court has ordered them to produce, as well as with the scheduling of their depositions by Linda’s attorneys.  A court date has been set in the near future to remedy that.  Obviously 3ABN and Danny Shelton do not want to produce the evidence - evidence that will undoubtedly be damaging to Danny.  Otherwise, why wouldn’t they produce it!

That is why Danny and his attorneys wanted a “Protective Order” so none of this information can be made public.

Please note that Linda fought the “Protective Order” because “Protective Orders” are often used to “protect” the guilty.

Linda has nothing to hide.

The Infamous Tape

Right before I traveled to Southern Illinois on April 29, 2009, for the DNA testing, I asked Danny Shelton via e-mail to bring the infamous tape to our meeting, so I could hear it.  This is the tape that Danny claims as “proof” that Linda was having an adulterous affair with the doctor.  This is the tape that Danny said, several times, he “might” send me.

But now that I was to be there in his territory, I pointed out that he could bring the tape and play it for me without having the tape leave his possession.

When Danny arrived for the DNA testing, he said he did not bring the tape, but that when we were finished, John Lomacang would bring the tape and allow me to listen to it.

Indeed, John Lomacang did show up later with the apparent tape in question that had been transferred to a laptop computer.  I was only allowed to hear select portions of the tape.  The tape only recorded Linda’s voice.  It is not possible to identify the other party on the line or hear anything the other party was saying.  It is impossible to know the identity of the other party on the line.  If Linda called the other person by name at any time, I was not allowed to hear that.  So, as far as I am concerned, it is impossible to know the person to whom Linda was talking. 

Nothing on the tape that I was allowed to hear proves in any way – or even suggests – an adulterous affair.

In addition, according to Illinois law, it is against the law to tape a phone conversation between two people unless BOTH people know it and approve it. 

Therefore, Danny – who claims to be the one who taped the conversation – has broken the law.  There have been times when Danny has tried to justify to me his right to tape Linda’s conversation, saying that he did so in her car that he says was jointly registered in his name and hers.

According to Lina, the car in question was solely in her name, but even that fact has nothing to do with Danny’s illegal act.  Irrespective of who owns the car, it is against the law to tape a conversation without both parties knowing it – and agreeing to it.

The Pregnancy Test

After Danny first made the accusation of “spiritual adultery” (and later – physical adultery) against Linda in late February or early March of 2004, Linda states he became obsessed with having her followed by private investigators, rifling through her belongings himself, and recording her conversations.  His actions were so bizarre, Linda couldn’t figure out what had happened to him.

When Linda would confront Danny about going through her belongings, he would deny it.

Linda and her daughter, Alyssa, decided to play a trick on Dan and came up with the idea of buying a Pregnancy test to “plant” in her belongings, knowing that Danny could not let that go by.  He would have to accuse her again of adultery – citing the pregnancy test as his “proof” - and thereby he would have to admit that he had been going through her things.

And that’s exactly what happened! 

Danny fell into the trap.

But Danny still tries to use that as “evidence” that Linda was having an affair.  There are at least two major problems with that accusation by Danny against Linda:

1. Linda knew that Danny had a vasectomy several years before.  It was not a secret to her.  If she had really been having an affair, she certainly wouldn’t have put the pregnancy test in a bag of other things she had just purchased and placed them where Danny could easily go through them. 

2. By the time this episode occurred, it had been 3 months since Linda had seen the doctor with whom she is accused of having an affair – a man she had only met twice!  If she had indeed been having an affair, she would already have known – at three months - if she was pregnant and would not have had to buy a pregnancy test kit.

Danny was clearly “grasping at straws” to try to fabricate any type of incriminating evidence against Linda – no matter how far-fetched it was.  Linda now agrees that hers and Alyssa’s plan to play a “trick” on Danny was not very “funny.”  But at the time, she had no idea why Danny’s behavior had become so bizarre.  Linda had no clue that Danny had already made plans to divorce her long before she traveled to Norway, in February of 2004, to visit her son.  The evidence to support this last statement will be revealed in due time. 

DNA Testing of Danny and Brandy Shelton and Trinity Murray

Will the Results have ANY validity?

by Lorraine Day, M.D.

Lorraine Day, M.D.
P.O. Box 8
Thousand Palms, CA  92276

An Open Letter to the Chairman, Walter Thompson,
and the other Members of the Board of
Three Angels Broadcasting Network

June 2, 2009

You have committed an egregious and horrible mistake in firing Linda Shelton from her position as Vice President of 3ABN.  She did nothing to deserve being fired, in fact, for almost twenty years she gave everything she had to build that network.  And she certainly is not an adulteress.
 
What did she get for her 11-12 hour work-days for almost 20 years, her donations of her CD royalties to 3ABN, Linda’s repeated giving of her weekends for years and years to travel for 3ABN after working long hours all week, and her allegiance and total dedication to the network for almost twenty years?   What was her reward?  All of you Board Members threw her out like a piece of trash – and allowed every memory of her to be erased as though she never even existed.
 
The truth is that Danny Shelton – NOT Linda - is the adulterer!  He falsely accused Linda of the sin of which he is guilty.  In psychiatric terms, that is called projection.
 
The fact that Danny – NOT Linda – is the adulterer has been the “Gorilla in the room” that everyone knows is there, but everyone is pretending is not there.
 
Danny had no biblical grounds to divorce Linda and no biblical grounds to get remarried.  By definition, according to the Bible and the Seventh-day Adventist church, that makes Danny Shelton the adulterer.   The only way any Board member could have endorsed Danny’s re-marriage was to have proof of Linda’s adultery – which none of you have – nor does Danny Shelton!  And innuendo and false accusations are not adequate to classify as “proof.”
 
Danny had to accuse Linda of adultery – viciously, loudly (and falsely), in order to pretend to have “grounds” to marry the woman he had “waiting in the wings” – yet still hold on to his reputation and prestige, maintain his private access to the “money tree” of 3ABN, and keep his job with all its perks, including his private jet.
 
In the spring of 2004, I received a phone call from Danny Shelton.  He said he wanted to discuss a certain situation regarding a couple he said he was “counseling about a marriage problem.”  He said the wife of the couple had committed “spiritual adultery.”  Because I had never heard of such a term, I asked him to define it.  He said it was when a wife had given her heart to another man.  I asked him how “this woman” had demonstrated that she had “given her heart to another man.”  Danny was quite vague with his answer.  I then asked if the woman had committed physical adultery with another man, and he answered, “No.”  I asked, “Does the wife still want to be married to her husband?”  Danny Shelton’s answer was, “No.”  But I later found out that last answer by Danny was not true!
 
It was several months later, in June of the same year (2004), when the fact that Danny was divorcing Linda became public knowledge that I again heard the term “spiritual adultery” bantered around, and I realized in retrospect that Danny had not been talking with me about “a couple he was counseling” but he had actually been referring to Linda.  And his answer that the “wife” (meaning Linda) “did not want to remain married to her husband” was blatantly false.  Linda wanted very much to remain married to Danny at that time and couldn’t figure out why he was behaving so strangely.  It was only after Danny told Linda, “I want you out of my house” that Linda realized Danny was actually planning to divorce her.
 
I challenge any Board Member to show me any evidence that Linda committed adultery.  Send it to me at the address on this letterhead.  And if you cannot show me that evidence, you will have to admit that you, indeed, have made an conspicuously horrible error in firing Linda Shelton.
 
And the kind of “evidence” of which I’m speaking does not include the false accusations and outright lies by Brenda Walsh, accusations that crumble with the slightest investigation - investigation that all of you should have done – but obviously did not.  I have a copy of a tape of Brenda telling lies, why don’t you?  
 
All of you, including Board Chairman Walter Thompson, have been sycophants for Danny Shelton.  He has “conned” you completely.  You all have believed Danny Shelton’s version of events without having any evidence.  In fact, Walter Thompson has admitted that he has never had any evidence of adultery against Linda Shelton. 
 
As in any organization, everyone wants to keep the organization going, secure their own jobs, keep the donations rolling in, and save face for the network and the “church.”   And the first casualty is always - - - the truth!  So Linda Shelton was thrown to the wolves.  You obviously considered her expendable!  She was the scapegoat who was thrown overboard to “save” the sinking ship.  Danny deliberately – and falsely - made Linda the object of contempt to point the finger away from him – and towards Linda - in order to cover up his own despicable behavior!
 
One board member who has been repeatedly touted by Danny Shelton as having “counseled” Linda about her marriage problems actually gave her NO counsel at all.  She said to Linda, “We really don’t care about the marriage problems between you and Danny, all we know is that the President of 3ABN (Danny Shelton) doesn’t want his Vice President (Linda Shelton) anymore!”  What kind of “counsel” is that!  How “Christian” is that?
 
So, Walter Thompson and all you other Board members, tell me – and tell the world – WHY did you fire Linda Shelton from her position as Vice President of 3ABN?   If it wasn’t for the false charge of adultery – for which you have NO evidence – then tell all of us out here your specific reason.  You know in your heart - and in your gut - that it was only because Danny Shelton told you to do it.
 
Danny Shelton keeps repeating that, “No reason is needed in the State of Illinois for an employer to fire an employee.”  (How “convenient” for him – and all of you.)  I guess the State of Illinois is Danny Shelton’s “god” – and yours.  But Christians should have a much higher standard for their actions than the unfair “laws” of a corrupt State bureaucracy.  We are all accountable to the Lord for our actions.  The 3ABN Board is not exempt - even though you have behaved as though you are.  Firing Linda for no reason, humiliating her publicly, falsely accusing her of adultery, destroying her reputation, and throwing her out of her home, job and marriage on false charges - is NOT “Okay” with God, irrespective of the unjust “laws” of the State of Illinois.
 
And your endorsement of such a travesty is shameful.
 
Your complicity in this mess makes you just as guilty as Danny Shelton.
 
Are you aware that in 2002, after 18 years of marriage to Linda – and at a time when Linda was virtually finished with her childbearing years - Danny Shelton “suddenly” decided to have a vasectomy?  A few months later, he moved his toiletries and other things out of the bathroom that he had shared with Linda for years, into a separate bathroom in their home, and simultaneously began regularly working out at home, something he had never done before, subsequently purchasing a Bowflex gym set to begin vigorous bodybuilding.
 
Ladies, I ask you, if after being married to your husband for 18 years - when you are now approaching the age when you will no longer be able to become pregnant - your husband, 1) gets a vasectomy, 2) buys a body-building gym and begins working out regularly trying to become “buff”, and, 3) moves his toiletries out of the bathroom he has shared with you for years, into another bathroom, with no explanation – what would YOU think was going on?  And this began a full two years before Danny suddenly started accusing Linda.
 
It doesn’t take an “Einstein” to figure it out.  Circumstantial evidence it is, but a lot stronger circumstantial evidence than anything you have against Linda Shelton.  And this circumstantial evidence is only the proverbial “tip of the iceberg.”  Why do you think that Danny’s goal has been to force a “Silence Agreement” on everyone who has information about this sordid episode!  The “dirty laundry” is waiting to be exposed.  It’s your job to expose it – not to cover it up!
 
Where is your intestinal fortitude to tackle a difficult problem?  Where are the questions that you should be asking Danny Shelton?  Where is your obligation to pursue truth?
 
So again, my challenge to you, Chairman Walter Thompson, and all of you other Board Members who have clearly not done your duty, is to show me and everyone else who has donated their hard-earned money to 3ABN, the evidence that Linda committed adultery with anyone while she was married to Danny Shelton.  And tell us WHY you fired her!   In case you’ve forgotten, without donors - - you don’t have a network.  Stop ignoring the “Gorilla in the room.”
 
We donors have a right to know the truth.

Yours truly,
 
 
Lorraine Day, M.D.

Posted May 30, 2009
 
 
(All the documents included in this posting are in the public domain.)

Posted 5/21/2009

Since my trip to Southern Illinois on April 28, 2009, and my return on April 29 after collecting the DNA samples from Danny and Brandy Shelton and a child identified to me as Trinity Murray, I have had to travel to Texas and to Washington, D.C. plus try to catch up on my work when I have returned home from each trip.

I had heard nothing from either DNA testing center to which the samples were sent until Tuesday, May 19.  One of the companies needed another piece of information to complete their data before they sent out the results. 

Here is a copy of that e-mail.

On May 19, 2009, at 2:28 PM, Christine Yates wrote:

Hello Lorraine,

I had a question I forgot to ask.  Can you please tell me how you heard of us?  It’s just something we have to fill out on our order form and I completely missed it.

Thank you for your help.

Christine Yates
Genetic Profiles
858-348-0040

From: Rockford Press_ Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 2:59 PM _To: Christine Yates _Subject: Re: Genetic Profiles follow up question

Hello Christine:

I found the website that had the forty AABB (American Association of Blood Banks) accredited DNA testing centers and picked one that was quite close to where I live.

Am I going to receive a copy of the testing results?

Lorraine Day

Yes, they were mailed out yesterday.  Thanks again for your help.

Christine

(End of e-mail)

So I should be receiving those results very soon.

I have heard nothing from the other laboratory: Genetic Discovery/DNA Diagnostics Center, which happens to be the laboratory that does 75% of all DNA testing in America.  It is also fully accredited by the AABB.  (See below – from Google search)

DNA Testing

DNA Diagnostics Center performs 3 out of 4 private paternity tests. DDC is the most recommended and accredited DNA paternity testing laboratory.

I have written a letter to them.  (Please see a copy of that letter below.)

Danny Shelton and I agreed that we would not post the results until both sets of results were received and both sets of results matched.

I will do that when I receive the test results from both DNA testing laboratories.

However, the problem remains that I cannot prove the identity of the child tested, who was presented as Trinity Murray.  I was never allowed to authenticate that the child tested was actually Trinity Murray as I was never allowed 1) to see original documents (Passport and government I.D. - I was only given Xerox copies which, of course, can be altered), 2) to take a picture of the child, 3) to have the social security numbers of those tested, 4) to take fingerprints of those tested.

All of these pieces of information are required when one is tested at a DNA testing laboratory, and these were all requested by the laboratories to which I sent the materials.  I had to tell the laboratories that the ones being tested refused to provide the information.

Danny Shelton told me that Trinity Murray does not have a Social Security number.  The IRS states that in order for a parent to claim a child as a deduction on his or her income tax, the child must have a Social Security number.  Apparently no parent is claiming this child as a deduction on his or her income tax.

This is what the U.S. government’s Social Security website says:

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10023.html#must

 

Why Should I Get A Number For My Baby?

If your child is born in the United States or is a U.S. citizen born abroad, you need a Social Security number to claim your child as a dependent on your income tax return. Your child may also need a number if you plan to:

Open a bank account for the child;

Buy savings bonds for the child; Obtain medical coverage for the child; or

Apply for government services for the child

 

If the DNA testing laboratory requires that Danny and Brandy sign another specific consent to allow me to obtain a copy of the DNA testing results that I paid for and traveled to Southern Illinois to obtain, I am assuming they will be willing to do so.

If and when I receive the consent form, I will send it on to Danny and Brandy to sign.

Lorraine Day

 

Posted 5/1/09

On Wednesday, April 29, 2009 I met Danny and Brandy Shelton in the parking lot of the Benton, Illinois Post Office to collect DNA specimens for Paternity testing of Trinity Murray, the daughter of Brandy Elswick Shelton.

It should be noted that we were first scheduled to meet in the parking lot of the public school in Thompsonville, Ill.  Danny Shelton subsequently asked if we could move the meeting place to the county Courthouse in Benton, Illinois – a few miles up the freeway north of West Frankfort, Ill (West Frankfort/Thompsonville, Ill is the location of the headquarters of 3ABN).

I agreed.  But just minutes before we were to meet, Danny called me on my cell phone and asked to change the location again, to the Post Office in Benton, Ill.

Court-approved, legal DNA testing requires:

1.  a picture to be taken of the one tested
2.  fingerprinting of each person who is tested
3.  the social security number of each person who is teste
4.  examination of 2 pieces of government issued I.D., such as a Driver’s license and a Passport.

This court-approved, legal, DNA testing is done in an accredited laboratory.  Home testing units are available but the DNA test results are not legally admissible in a court of law.

To travel several hours to and from a certified DNA testing laboratory would have been a major imposition on the Sheltons, including the child, Trinity Murray, who would have missed a day of school.

To make it as convenient as possible for the Sheltons, I traveled from California to Southern Illinois at my own expense, and brought along two DNA testing kits obtained from certified, AABB (American Association of Blood Banks) licensed DNA testing laboratories, with the goal of obeying all the other rules for legal DNA testing results, to make it as official as possible without the travel inconvenience for the Sheltons.

I asked Danny to have each person bring the two required pieces of U.S. government approved Identification (usually a passport and a government issued I.D. card or Driver’s license).  I brought fingerprinting equipment, a still camera for picture taking of those being DNA tested and to photograph the original identification documents, as well as a video camera to videotape the actual taking of the DNA specimens, plus I had two people with me to run the cameras (a still camera and a video camera).

My crew and I were in the parking lot of the Benton, Illinois, Post Office at 10:30 A. M. on Wednesday morning, April 29. 

A few minutes later, Danny arrived driving his truck with Brandy in the passenger seat.  There was no visible evidence that the child, Trinity, was with them.  No one could be seen sitting in the back seat of the truck.

Brandy was belligerent, hostile, aggressive, and very discourteous

Danny got out of the truck, we said “Hello” and he began to sign the consent for DNA testing.  Brandy refused to get out of the truck at first, or even to look at us, or acknowledge our presence.  She was clearly angry, even though she (apparently) had willingly signed the consent to be tested and have Trinity tested.  I say “apparently” because the signature on the DNA testing agreement that is alleged to be Brandy’s looks very different from her signature on the license of her marriage to Kevin Murray, her second husband, and different from her signature on her passport. 

If indeed Brandy signed the original DNA testing agreement on April 1 – an entire month before the testing took place – as the document shows, why was she angry now?  But if she did not sign the agreement and someone else signed her name without her knowledge, her quarrel should be with that person – not us!

Finally, Brandy did get out of the truck, but as the videotape will show, she was furious.  She accused me of harassing her family, something that was totally untrue, as will be shown below.  She called me “un-Christian” for asking Danny to sit down with Linda to try to conclude their marital financial settlement without expensive lawyers.

Even though Danny and I agreed that the testing would be video-taped, this made Brandy angry.  She belligerently got out her own video camera and started videotaping me –putting her camera almost in my face, while continuously berating me. 

She even rudely accused me of having Alzheimer’s.  Why?   Because I have said that I worked with Brandy at 3ABN when I was there in June of 1999.  I said this way back in 2005 – innocently - not even knowing that Danny and 3ABN were saying that Brandy did not arrive at 3ABN until November of 2004. In addition, I had no idea in, at first, that Brandy had any children.

I learned in 2008 that Brandy had a child, Trinity, who was born in February of 2000. That would mean that the child was conceived in May or June of 1999,

My working with Brandy at 3ABN in June of 1999 places Brandy in the West Frankfort area at the time she became pregnant.  That fact, by itself, does not prove that Danny is the father of Trinity, but it does establish opportunity.

And I am not the only one who knows that Brandy was in the Thompsonville/West Frankfort area long before November of 2004. There is a witness who was privy to a conversation Danny Shelton had with Brandy's mother long before 2004, telling Danny that Brandy was coming out for a job interview. That witness was not even in Thompsonville in November of 2004, so the job interview clearly took place long before that time.

There are also two witnesses who have knowledge of Danny Shelton looking for housing for Brandy, and purchasing a washer and dryer for Brandy, many months before November of 2004, the month Danny says he first met Brandy as an adult.

Brandy’s behavior during the DNA specimen collection was an embarrassment to everyone, including Danny, as he tried first to calm her down.  But when that was unsuccessful, he repeatedly tried to stop us from videotaping her temper tantrum.

Now Danny has attempted to put a good “spin” on her very bad behavior by saying she has "every right to be angry."  Well, if Brandy has a right to be “angry” she should turn her anger either on herself for willingly signing the DNA testing agreement in the first place, or on Danny, as he is the one who brought up the subject of the paternity of Trinity.   And he is the one who offered to be DNA tested – but only if I would put up $10,000.00.

Who WAS the child presented for testing? 

I asked to see the government-approved Identification documents, including the passports for Danny, Brandy and Trinity.. 

But no one had brought them.  Instead Danny handed me Xeroxed copies of the documents (a picture of one page of the passports for Danny and Brandy and Trinity, and Driver’s licenses for Danny and Brandy).

But Xerox copies of identification documents are NOT acceptable.  They can be altered easily in the process of copying.  A different picture or signature can be superimposed on any document, something that would completely invalidate it.

In addition, I was not allowed to videotape or even take a still picture of Trinity Murray, something the DNA testing laboratory requires.  Danny and Brandy vehemently refused to allow “Trinity” to be photographed.  Obviously it was not for security reasons, because on the special holiday programs at 3ABN, Danny has his whole family on camera, including all of his grandchildren even when they were babies and young children.

Nor was I allowed to have the Social Security numbers for any of them, something that is required by the DNA testing companies.

So why would Brandy and Danny refuse to allow a picture of “Trinity”?

In addition, I was not allowed to take fingerprints of “Trinity” nor of Danny or Brandy.

And “Trinity” was at all times kept out of sight in the truck, lying down on the back seat, “under a blanket” according to Brandy.  The child was never allowed to sit up in the back seat of the truck where she could be seen.  Nor was she allowed to stand on the ground when she was brought out of the truck for 30 seconds so I could swab the inside of her mouth.  Danny held her in his arms the whole time she was out of the truck.  She was not given an opportunity to stand on her own so it was impossible to tell how tall she was.  The “Trinity” to be tested is reported to be 9 years old.  This child looked and acted about 6 years old.

It is highly unusual for a 9-year old to stay quietly - under a blanket in the back seat of a truck - never looking out the window or wanting to watch the commotion going on right outside the truck window. Nine-year olds want to be "grown up" - not carried around like a baby. They usually are very curious to see what is going on around them. But that was not the case with this child.

I have purposely put the name “Trinity” in quotation marks, because I have no way of knowing if the child presented for testing was actually Trinity Murray.  Since I had never seen Trinity Murray, and Danny knew that, I was expected to take Danny and Brandy’s word for it – with no objective documentation whatsoever to prove the child’s identity.

So, to summarize: I do not know the identity of the child who was tested.  I have no idea if that child was Trinity Murray. 

I was not allowed to take her picture, or take her fingerprints, or to examine her identification documents directly.  I was not allowed to see her stand up by herself.  She never spoke a word, and she was kept lying down on the back seat of the truck – under a blanket, according to Brandy – for the whole time we were all together (close to an hour) except for the 20 seconds or so that it took to swab the inside of her cheek.

WHY?

Why was I not allowed to photograph, fingerprint, or examine the identification documents for this child?

Why did Danny and Brandy keep this child hidden under a blanket for almost the entire time we were together?

Why did Danny want to change our meeting location to a town other than Thompsonville or West Frankfort? 

Could it be that the child who was tested was NOT Trinity Murray, and any friend  of Danny’s who might be passing by could point that out?

If this child WAS Trinity Murray, why was I not allowed to photograph her (as a DNA lab requires for legal testing)? 

If this child WAS Trinity Murray, why was I not allowed to take her fingerprints (as a DNA lab requires for legal testing)?

If this child WAS Trinity Murray, why was I not allowed to examine her identification documents – or the identification documents of Danny and Brandy (as a DNA lab requires for legal testing)??

Why was I given Xerox copies of the documents, copies that could easily have been altered?

Why the secrecy?

If the child tested was NOT Trinity Murray – who was she?

It is known that Brandy has several sisters.  Could this child be the daughter of one of Brandy’s sisters?  I don’t know.  But it’s a question that must be addressed.

One more question:  Danny brought up the fact that he and Brandy and this child – purported to be Trinity Murray – had all been DNA tested just several weeks before I came to Thompsonville on April 29, 2009.  The testing was done with a home kit and not in the presence of a third party or at a certified DNA testing laboratory or with government identification documents.

WHY would they all get tested privately?

Obviously Brandy would know that she is the mother of Trinity.  She wouldn't need to be tested to know that. And obviously both Danny and Brandy would know whether Danny is the father of Trinity. 

So WHY would they all go through a “dry run” of DNA testing before the real DNA testing?

Siblings can often have fairly close DNA matches as they are often chosen as organ donors.  All siblings of the same two parents obviously get their DNA from the same two parents. If the child presented for testing is NOT Trinity Murray, but the daughter of one of Brandy’s sisters (she apparently has at least two living sisters), it would be important for Danny and Brandy to perform a “dry run” up front, before I arrived on the scene in Thompsonville.  They would want to make sure that Brandy’s DNA was close enough to this child’s DNA for Brandy to “pass” as the mother of this child?

If this child belongs to a sister of Brandy and (obviously) another man, naturally Danny would test negative as the father of this child presented for testing.

So the plain fact is this:  I do not know the identity of the child who was tested.  Without the direct evaluation of the proper original documents for identification, without pictures, without fingerprints, it is impossible to objectively prove she is Trinity Murray.  

So the DNA test results cannot be taken as proof that Danny is not the father of Trinity Murray.

Important Factor Documented:

But one very important factor was documented:  Both Danny and Brandy kept the child hidden, and kept all identification information about the child secret.

WHY, if this child was in truth Trinity Murray, and Danny is NOT the father of Trinity Murray, would they do that?

Why all the secrecy and intrigue?

The DNA specimen collection materials

I purposely did not open the DNA testing packets until we were all together so I could not be accused of tampering with the sample-testing equipment.  When one of the kits was opened, it was found that the laboratory had sent one envelope marked “father” and two envelopes marked “Child” with no envelope marked “mother.”  Since each packet contains 4 sealed sterile long-handled “Q-tips” for the mouth swab specimens, there is no problem with marking out the word “Child” and substituting the word ‘Mother” – which Brandy did, and then initialed the correction.  This was all properly videotaped.

However, now Danny is accusing me of somehow being underhanded with the testing, because the lab sent the envelopes as noted above.  Brandy and Danny watched as every specimen was placed in the container, then one of them personally sealed every container. 

He is also suggesting that I chose an unaccredited lab “to save money.”  Both labs I chose are fully accredited by the AABB, the acknowledged accrediting agency.  The truth is that there are forty accredited DNA testing labs.  I called the laboratory that does 85% of all DNA testing in the world to get a referral for another accredited DNA testing laboratory.  I was told how to find the forty accredited DNA testing laboratories and I could arbitrarily choose one – which I did.

As I stated, I paid for all of my own expenses to go to Southern Illinois to collect the DNA specimens, and I am personally paying for all the DNA testing.

However, all my time and all my expenses have been largely wasted because Danny and Brandy would not allow me to verify the identification of the child who was presented for testing.

But that in itself – their secrecy about this child – speaks volumes!

It the child presented for testing really IS Trinity Murray, and Danny Shelton is NOT her father, then why all the secrecy?

 

How did this DNA testing Agreement come about? 

 And what is Dr. Lorraine Day’s association with
Danny and Brandy Shelton
- and Linda Shelton?

Since 1991 or so, I have been a guest a number of times on 3ABN.  I have always considered both Danny and Linda as my friends. When Danny's mother (Goldie) was diagnosed with inoperable cancer, Danny immediately called me and asked if I would come to Southern Illinois to help her mother. I dropped everything I was doing and went immediately. I stayed there three or four days and gave her a whole set of my videos, educated her about God's Health Plan, taught her daughter Tammy how to cook healthful food for her and make the juices, prayed with her and told her the importance of following God's Ten Step health Plan with 100% commitment, including learning to FORGIVE everyone who has ever wronged you, including learning to LOVE one's enemies, including learning to be totally Unselfish, including learning to truly trust in God.

When I left to come home, I gave Goldie my phone number and told her she could call any time - which she did. But after only a few weeks of trying to follow the Health Plan, she said she wanted to go back to her old ways of eating, and she did not want to drink the fresh home-made vegetable juice. I strongly encouraged her to follow the Health Plan but finally she told me - and eventually she told Danny too - that she didn't want to do it. And within a week or two she died.

I have been accused by Danny of being on Linda's side. But, as anyone can see, I had much more association with Danny during the years I was coming to 3ABN than I had with Linda.

I am on one side only - the side of Truth. Whoever can be determined to be telling the truth, that is the side I'm on.

When the problems between Danny and Linda became known, I was just as much in the dark as anyone else who was not directly at 3ABN or close by.

I did not know what the issues were on either side nor did I favor one over the other.  However, I was shocked at the seeming rapidity with which Danny divorced Linda, his wife of 18 years – in a “Quickie Divorce” – in Guam - apparently accomplished over the internet, and the lightning speed with which Linda was fired from her job as Vice-President and co-founder of 3 ABN.

Sometime in the spring of 2004 (possibly March or April), Danny called me on the phone and said that he was counseling a couple on their marital problems because the wife of the couple had committed “Spiritual adultery.”  I responded, “Danny, I have never heard of such a term.  What is “Spiritual adultery”?  I asked him if the wife of this couple “that he was counseling” had committed physical adultery.  He answered, “No.” 

We talked for about 15 minutes and I, still confused about what was going on, asked several more questions, including more clarification on what he meant by “Spiritual adultery.”  He said that it meant that a woman had “given her heart to another man.”

I asked if this “woman he was counseling” wanted to remain married to her husband. He said, “No.”

This phone call from Danny occurred months before I heard that there was trouble between him and Linda.  Only much later did I realize that Danny was actually talking about his own marriage – and Linda - and not about “a couple he was counseling.”  But important in that conversation was that Danny had told me that the “woman” he was “counseling” had NOT committed physical adultery.

As to the other charges about this “woman”, I later learned from Linda in 2008 that, according to her, she had not “given her heart to any other man while she was married to Danny” and she did love Danny, and very much wanted to remain married to him at that time.  She said she couldn’t figure out why he began behaving as he had and she was devastated by the divorce and the loss of her job at 3ABN.

Sometime between 2004 and 2006, I heard that Danny was going with a woman named Brandy.  At that time, I mentioned to my friends who were familiar with Danny and Linda and 3ABN that I had worked with Brandy when I was at 3ABN in June of 1999.  (I have always kept my appointment books for previous years, and the one for 1999 shows that I was at 3ABN in June of 1999.)   Because the name “Brandy” is rather unusual, I clearly remembered working with her.

In 2006, Danny and Brandy were married on the set at 3ABN, and their picture was on the 3ABN website.  When I saw their picture, I said, “Yes, that’s the Brandy I worked with when I was there in 1999.”

I thought nothing more about it until I learned much later that Danny, Dr. Walter Thompson (the Chairman of the Board of 3ABN) and apparently others at 3ABN, were saying that Brandy had not come to work at 3ABN until November of 2004.  That is when Danny claims he first saw Brandy as an adult.  (Apparently she and her family had come to 3ABN to sing when Brandy and her siblings were children.)

I couldn’t understand why they were saying November of 2004 when I knew that I had worked with Brandy at 3ABN in June of 1999.

Linda contacted me

My next contact with either Danny or Linda (after Danny’s 2004 phone call to me) occurred about the middle of July of 2008 – four years later - when I received a call from Linda asking me if I would be willing to call Danny and ask him to meet with her in a public place to talk over the financial settlement for the divorce so Linda would not have to pay increasingly expensive attorney’s fees - with money she did not have.

As a friend, I agreed to call Danny for Linda and ask him if he would be willing to meet with her so they could discuss their financial settlement in a much less expensive way than with attorneys.  At Linda’s request, I even agreed to go to Southern Illinois and sit down with both of them to try to help them work out a settlement.

During the conversation, Danny refused to meet with Linda – with or without me present – and said that Linda actually owed him money in the divorce.  The phone conversation lasted possibly forty minutes and Danny made many accusations against Linda. 

Here is a copy of the first e-mail I sent to Danny in response to his offer to send me a copy of a tape that he has.  He gave me his e-mail address so I could e-mail my mailing address to him.

 

July 17, 2008

Hi Danny:

Thanks again for talking with me tonight.  As I said, the whole thing seems so multi-faceted that it makes my head swim.

I will tell Linda that she can obtain the appraisal on the horses from the court records.

In case you decide to send me a copy of the tape, my address is:

Lorraine Day
P.O. Box 8
Thousand Palms, CA  92276

If you do send it, I will do exactly what you ask me to do.  If you don't want me to let anyone else listen to it, I won't.  And I will return it to you as soon as I listen to it and I will not make a copy.  And I know that the Lord sees everything we do, so my word is good.  After all, we both agreed a number of years ago when we were talking, that if I am preaching the wrong gospel or, in this case, if I do not do what I have promised you that I would do, I would probably lose my health.  So, it's my life that is at stake.

So far, I am totally healthy and strong as an ox.

Thanks again for talking to me,

Lorraine Day

 

After that, Danny and I had many conversations by e-mail.

The following e-mails were sent in December of 2008 and were the beginning discussions that led to my going to Southern Illinois on April 29, 2009 to collect the DNA specimens.

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Lorraine Day
To: Danny Shelton
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 2:57 PM
Subject: Re: From Lorraine Day

Danny,

Please see below.

On Dec 21, 2008, at 11:13 PM, Danny Shelton wrote:

Lorraine,
I guess I should just let you believe what you want as you are as bad as Joy and Pickle in making claims YOU CANNOT PROVE.

Just what claims am I making that I cannot prove?

Have you asked Linda if Brandy worked there before we were divorced.

I don't have to ask Linda things that I have experienced myself.  What sense would that make?  

You have not because she will tell you that Brandy never worked there and that she had never met Brandy.

It doesn't matter whether Linda met Brandy or whether Linda knew Brandy was working there.  Linda is not the person saying this.  I am.  

You are making a big mistake. You always want me to prove what I say. I'll do better than that. If you can prove from work records

Work records can be expunged as completely as you have expunged ALL evidence that Linda ever worked at 3ABN, or even stepped foot on the property.  You have eliminated her name from every nook and cranny of 3ABN, something that I have identified to you before as "Overkill."

or any other way that the Brandy I am married to came to 3ABN to work before 2004 I will give you $10,000. You can do with it what you want. I only throw out the money not because I have much but because I know people well enough to know that gives them an incentive to find the truth.

I have no interest in your money - or anyone else's money.  I just KNOW that I worked with Brandy at 3ABN LONG before 2004.

Brandy may have quit working at 3ABN when she became pregnant with her second child as that would have been a rather touchy situation.  She may have returned to work there in November of 2004.  But it is publicly known that YOU - PERSONALLY - were calling around looking for housing for Brandy and her two children in August of 2004 - just 2 months after you had divorced your wife and had her fired from 3ABN in June of 2004.  

And she WAS fired.  I have a copy of Thompson's letter to Linda in which she was notified that she was fired.  That letter is dated June 16, 2004.  I have it on my desk as I am writing to you.

For you to develop such a close relationship with another woman in just two months after you had divorced your wife in a Quickie Guam divorce - so close that YOU (not your secretary or someone else at 3 ABN - but YOU, personally) were calling around to find housing for Brandy and her daughters seems rather hard to believe.  The average person would assume that you had known her much longer.  You have to admit, it does look suspicious.

Why would you accuse me of trying to cover up such a thing. I know it makes for a good story of why I wanted to dump Linda according to you and others but it is not true.

All I know is that I worked with Brandy when I was at 3ABN LONG BEFORE 2004.

To my knowledge there has never been any Brandy who worked there before the now Brandy Shelton. She came to 3ABN for the 1st time in Nov. of 2004 period.

As I said, she may have come to 3ABN AGAIN in Nov. 2004, but YOU were looking for housing for her in August of 2004. and I worked with her at 3ABN either in 1999 or 2000.

(L.D. note.  Later I was able to establish by my 1999 Schedule book that I worked with Brandy in June of 1999.)

Contrary to your saying "no mistake" you are absolutely wrong.  Don't you think Linda would know or any other worker at 3ABN would know if Brandy ever worked there before 2004?  

Whether Linda knew Brandy worked there at that time is irrelevant.  Neither you nor Linda probably knew everyone who worked at 3ABN as it grew.  But I KNOW Brandy worked there at that time.

Don't you think she and the Dr. would have jumped all over that if it were true to try to expose me a long time ago. How could you make such a blatant mistake and say no  mistake?

I'll let that one rest. Burden of proof on Lorraine.

I don't have to prove what I witnessed myself.  

(End of pertinent part of December 22, 2008 e-mail)

Paternity of Trinity Murray

Below is the specific e-mail where the subject of Trinity’s paternity came up.  Please notice that I did NOT bring it up.  Danny Shelton brought up the subject 

----- Original Message -----
From: Lorraine Day
To: Danny Shelton
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 11:01 PM
Subject: Re: From Lorraine Day

Danny,

Please see below.

On Dec 22, 2008, at 6:08 PM, Danny Shelton wrote:

Lorraine I'll make this one a little shorter than the last.
Why don't you make other people prove things before you make up your mind?
Case in point: You just made the statement that I told Linda that if she consulted an attorney prior to signing the agreement she would get nothing. Lorraine, she never proved that to you. You took her word for it. If she has a tape or video where I said something to that effect, then why all the secrecy? You guys say everything should be up front with nothing to hide!  Where's the proof. Burden of proof on Linda. But you believed her without proof. Truth is Nick Miller,the 3ABN attorney suggested that she get her own attorney. She said no because she didn't want to have to pay her attorney John Drew.  She told me that he would negotiate a settlement for her but he wanted 15% commission. She said she had her mother and Bill Kerr and that she trusted them.

That question will be worked out in court, sooner or later.

 

If she has proof that I buffalo-ed her...then why all the secrecy? where's the proof? Bring it forward. Is it witnesses? Is it recordings? Show it.

She does want to know about my business after the divorce. In the interrogatories she even asks if I have been to the Bahamas' or Cayman Island since our divorce!

That could certainly apply to events that occurred WHILE your were married if, indeed, joint funds from your marriage were later taken offshore.  Is THAT the kind of thing you want covered by a Silence Agreement?

She asks how much money have I made even on books written since our divorce. Once again you are wrong. It seems you won't admit to mistakes so maybe Linda lied to you, but even then it is still a mistake. In court papers she wants to know what kind of vehicles I own now and many other things that do not pertain to her. That's why I don't want to show it to her. It is none of her business and does not affect us dividing our marital assets, which are not worth very much.

As to why I say that you do not want to admit to mistakes...

I was not looking for housing for Brandy in Aug. of 2004. I never even knew her then. The only time I had ever met Brandy she was 13 years old when her folks came to my house nearly 25 years ago to do a recording. They lived about 300 miles from me. I don't even know how they heard about my little home studio. That's the only time I laid eyes on Brandy until she came here Nov. 11 2004. I will swear that before God. You are mistaken. It's unreal that you will not acknowledge that maybe you are mistaken. There is no one on earth who will back you in your statement. No one at 3ABN or who has ever worked for 3ABN. If you are really so sure of yourself that you think there is no room for error in your belief that you worked with Brandy then I am through communicating with you because obviously you believe that you already have all the truth.

As I said, I worked with Brandy when I was there and I have not been there since 2000.  So, it was obvious that I worked with Brandy at 3 ABN long before 2004.  No matter how much you try to tell me something different, I know that is the case.  How in the world would I have ever recognized Brandy from her picture on 3ABN if I had never seen her before?

I'm asking you to give me proof. Seeing is not always believing?  Don't you think Pickle and Joy's investigation of employees and former employees, who are not now supportive of 3ABN, would have turned up the fact that Brandy did at one time work at 3ABN or that she was here before Nov. of 2004?  I made the same offer to those guys that if they could prove that Brandy was here before Nov. 2004, or that she spent anytime at 3ABN prior to Nov. of 2004 I would give them $10,000!  They failed to prove it so moved on to other accusations.

I have no idea what Pickle and Joy did or did not do, so I cannot comment on that.

Here's what's wrong with your deceiving yourself. Your belief that you worked with Brandy prior to my divorce is the basis for your belief that I wanted to get rid of Linda and therefore she is innocent and that possibly Brandy's second child could be mine.

Whoa!  Whoa!  Whoa!  I NEVER said that I thought Brandy's second child was yours.  How would you come up with that?  I was just referring to the fact that Brandy was pregnant and apparently not married at the time, and that would be a touchy situation for her to be working in a Christian institution that does not condone pregnancies out of wedlock, and that would have been a probable reason that she would have quit - back in 1999 or whatever year she became pregnant.

Please re-read my e-mail.  I never said what you suggested I said, nor did I even imply that.  That was YOUR idea!

Lorraine, you have falsely accused Brandy and me

I haven't falsely accused ANYONE - not you and not Brandy.  I didn't make any accusations against either one of you.  I just said that it would be a touchy situation, meaning that she was pregnant and apparently unmarried and working in a Christian environment that usually frowns on a situation like that.

Why did you come up with such a conclusion?  Where did you get that?

and that will not stand up in heaven no matter how much you think you are right!  It doesn't hurt me what you think. It hurts you and sets you up to believe other falsehoods that Satan wants you to believe. This indeed will affect your health. Isn't it strange that the advice you give me you won't take yourself?

Why are you so touchy?  I didn't make any accusations against you at all.

Clearly, Brandy must have been pregnant around that time, because she has a child of that approximate age.  So THAT is not a false accusation.  And I understand Brandy was NOT married at the time, so THAT is not a false accusation.  If she WAS married at the time, then tell me who she was married to - with the proof - and I will admit that that was a false accusation - and I will apologize, when I see the proof.

But I never accused YOU of anything.

(End of pertinent section of Dec. 23, 2008 e-mail)

Paternity testing brought up

Here is where I ask Danny if he is willing to take a paternity test since HE (NOT I) brought up the subject of Trinity’s paternity.

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Lorraine Day
To: Danny Shelton
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 11:51 AM
Subject: Re: From Lorraine Day

Danny,  Please see below.

 

On Dec 23, 2008, at 7:47 AM, Danny Shelton wrote:

Thanks Lorraine,
You tell me that when a person accuses another of doing something wrong they have to prove it. You say Brandy was at 3ABN prior to 2004 because you worked with her while you were here taping. I'll tell you what I'll do. If you can prove that Brandy (the now Brandy Shelton) worked with you while you were at 3ABN during any  years prior to my divorce I'll give you $100,000! I don't have that much money but I could probably borrow it. Now, why would I say that? If you think Linda was done so wrongly by me then you could take the money and give it to her. What a great gift for a poor helpless, trampled on woman!  Yes, I  am using that reference to Linda because you are obviously gullible when it comes to her.

When a person is a witness to an accident, they testify as to what they saw.  They are certainly open to cross-examination by the opposing counsel about the accuracy of what they saw.  Again, if I hadn't worked with Brandy, I would have no idea what she looked like and could not have confirmed that she was the same person when I saw your wedding picture.

You can keep telling me - till the cows come home - that she wasn't there at that time.  But I know I worked with her at that time.

By the way, since YOU brought up the subject of the paternity of Brandy's child, why would you come to the conclusion that I was accusing YOU of being the father of Brandy's child?   Have there been rumors circulating to that effect?  Otherwise, why would it have even come to your mind - unless you ARE the father of her child?  

Are you?  

Will you give me a direct "Yes" or "No"?  And will you give your answer under oath?  And will you submit to a paternity test?

If rumors like that are circulating, you could put them to rest immediately by having a paternity test done on the man who supposedly is paying her child support and a paternity test on yourself, as well as the child.  THAT would put the matter to rest forever.  

Are you willing to do that?  If so, why hasn't it already been done?  

If you are not willing to do that, Why?

(End of pertinent part of that e-mail)

Here is the e-mail in which Danny offers to get DNA tested for paternity of Trinity, but ONLY if I put up $10,000.

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Lorraine Day
To: Danny Shelton
Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2009 8:37 PM
Subject: Re: From Lorraine Day

Danny:

I was gone over the holidays and just got back today and read your e-mail.

Please see below.

 

On Dec 23, 2008, at 9:35 PM, Danny Shelton wrote:

Lorraine,
I give up trying to reason with you.  I would never have believed that you can hold yourself in so high esteem that you won't admit that you could be wrong.

Just because I know what I saw does NOT mean that I "hold myself in high esteem." Why do you care so much that I worked with Brandy when I was there?  Or if you have decided that I could not have worked with her, why do you care so much?  

You seem to think that if you tell me enough times that I could NOT have worked with Brandy at that time, that I may start believing you.

But that won't work with me.  

Again, maybe Brandy was a volunteer at that time and was not on the payroll.  In that case she wouldn't have any work records at that time at 3 ABN.  Or as I said before, since you eliminated - within a month's time - ALL traces of Linda's 20 years or so of working (and co-founding) 3ABN, why couldn't Brandy's work papers be removed as well?  All I know is that I worked with Brandy at that time.  

At the time that I first heard about you and Brandy, I told my friends, in an off-hand casual way, that I had worked with her, not realizing that ANYONE would later claim that she was NOT there at that time.  Even when I saw you and Brandy in your wedding picture and I commented, "Yes, that's Brandy" to my friends, I had no idea that anyone would ultimately claim that she was not there the last time I was.

But why do you care so much?

So what if Brandy worked at 3ABN in 1999 or 2000?!  That would not automatically "prove" that you were having an affair with her at that time.  So why do you care so much?

 

If I offer you $1,000,000 if you can prove that Brandy was at 3ABN and worked with you prior to Nov. 2004, would that encourage you to gather truth from present and former workers at 3ABN?

 

I have no interest in trying to "prove" anything.  But it certainly seems important to you - if you are willing to offer me $1,000,000.

 

Lorraine, it would be different had you said that you came to 3ABN to work and met a woman named Brandy in down town West Frankfort while you were shopping or at some restaurant or something then later when you saw my marriage picture believed that to be the same woman.

 

Then you are admitting that Brandy was living in the West Frankfort area in 2000.

 

But for you to continue to say that you worked with Brandy while at 3ABN was nothing more than a mistake but you should at least be willing to concede that you might be wrong when someone is willing to put up a great deal of money if you can prove you are right.

 

It appears that if someone does not believe as you would like them to believe, that you just keep saying the same thing over and over and over again - in hopes that the person will decide that you must be right.  But I am not that easily programmed.

 

The reason I am going to quit communicating with you over the Linda thing is because you are worse than Pickle and Joy to deal with. Why? Because even they when they have made big statements....then investigated farther.... suddenly became silent and didn't press the issue any more.  You are unmovable and yet you are so wrong.

Again, why do you care so much?

 

I guess you don't want to help Linda out with the $100,000 I offered you if you could prove that Brandy worked with you here at 3ABN prior to Nov. 2004. Is that correct?

I have no goal in collecting money from you or anyone else.

 

Another subject:
To answer your question. No Brandy's daughter is not my daughter. No I never met Brandy so I could not have fathered her child since I had not laid eyes on her for well over 20 years. Is that a direct answer enough for you?

Only a paternity test will prove that.

 

You're the Dr. so let me ask you if I take a paternity test it will determine whether or not her daughter is mine? If this assumption is right.. then I will gladly take a paternity test but I first want the accuser if there really is one to put up $10,000 if they are wrong.

 

There you go again.  You say you will do something - - - - then you add conditions that make it certain that you will NOT have to do what you SAY you WILL do.

That's what you did with Joy and Pickle.  You sued them, then as soon as they started the discovery process, you made every effort to shut them down so they could get NO information.  

You are the one who would like to lay the rumors to rest.  And you could easily do that by taking a paternity test.  So then why would you want someone else to put up $10,000.00?  Don't you see that adding such a condition only makes you look even more guilty!  That's not the kind of "bargain" an innocent man would try to negotiate.

 

If their accusations against me are right and the test shows I am the father I will give them $20,000. Is that fair enough.

 

Why are you trying to throw all this money around?  It's not about money.  It's only about the truth.

 

No one has a biblical right to accuse me of something without proof. So If I'm being accused the accuser should have his ducks in a row before he accuses me. If not, he should keep his mouth shut. Right?

The rapidity with which you divorced Linda and threw her out of 3ABN - and within a month expunged every memory of her from 3ABN - makes you look guilty as all get out - right from the start.  You laid yourself wide open for all sorts of accusations.  YOU are the one who started all of this.  And, as I said in my last e-mail, your plans began LONG BEFORE Linda ever met the doctor.

 

When I know I am right I don't consider that to be gambling because I am not taking a gamble or risk when there is 0 chance that I could be wrong. I call that a business investment. But anyone can accuse and cause all kinds of problems for people..so if you or Joy or Pickle or Linda will put up $10,000 to make $20,000 let me know and I will play your game. Honestly you guys must think I am an idiot.

No one thinks you are an idiot.  There are people who think you have made BIG mistakes, foolish mistakes, and BAD decisions, and people who think that maybe there is another side to the story - other than YOUR side, and many who believe that eventually you will pay a very dear price by reaping the consequences of what you have sown.  But no one thinks you are an idiot.

 

 

Lorraine, since you believe that Brandy worked there years ago and I knew her and you also believe that I was looking for a reason to get rid of Linda and I eventually married Brandy... coupled together with your quote to me below, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what you could have been referring to...and I think you did.   I quote you.

 

Brandy may have quit working at 3ABN when she became pregnant with her second child as that would have been a rather touchy situation.  She may have returned to work there in November of 2004.  But it is publicly known that YOU - PERSONALLY - were calling around looking for housing for Brandy and her two children in August of 2004 - just 2 months after you had divorced your wife and had her fired from 3ABN in June of 2004

 

I told you what I was thinking.  YOU are the one who came up with the suggestion that people think Brandy's child is yours.  I did not come up with that.

Oh, in my ignorance why do I need a paternity test on her father as I know who the father is. I thought the purpose of the paternity test being done on me was to prove whether or not I am the father. It doesn't make any difference who the real father is...unless it is me! Right?

Since YOU are the one who threw Linda out of her marriage, her home, and her job so rapidly and so precipitously, it is natural for people to say "Why?"  Why would you DO such a thing?  When searching around for a possible answer, apparently a number of people have questioned whether Brandy's child is yours.  At least that is what you intimated that people are questioning.  And that certainly would be a reasonable explanation as to why you behaved as you did. 

So, then Yes, the difference WOULD be if YOU are the real father.  

Since you say you KNOW who the real father is, is HE willing to take a paternity test?  Was Brandy married to him when she became pregnant?  Is there a marriage license to prove that?  

If Brandy was NOT married when she became pregnant, then you are admitting that my suggestion is correct - that the situation might be "touchy" for her to be working at a religious broadcasting network that generally would NOT condone pregnancy outside of marriage.  Why would you assume that I meant something else?

 

Also when you make a statement "But it is publically known that You Personally were looking.....blah blah blah. do you know how ridicules that is.

Unfortunately, it is NOT ridiculous.  There are people who DO know that, including one of the people you actually spoke to about lodging for Brandy.  That will all come out in due time.

(End of pertinent part of this e-mail.)

Danny Shelton’s response on January 2, 2009 to my suggestion that he, Brandy and Trinity be DNA tested (below).

Thank you!  I think this is a great idea. Brandy is on her way back from Fla. with her daughter. I have to get her consent since it is her daughter but I don't see that as a problem especially when I can let her know that you will be paying us $10,000 to see the results that I am not the father. I'll let you know hopefully sometime Monday. If she says yes then we can work out the details of putting the money in escrow in advance of the testing. We can work out the when’s and whereas’s also.

(End of pertinent part of this e-mail)

Legal Agreement

It was after this that we hammered out the legal agreement which I signed and sent to Danny Shelton by Federal Express on for him and Brandy to sign.

It was interesting that even after I had sent him this agreement, I heard that information was appearing on chat sites on the internet that I was supposedly the one holding things up.  Obviously that didn’t come from me as I had already signed the agreement and sent it on to Danny.  I wonder who could have been posting that deliberately false information!!

During this time, Danny Shelton sent me between six and twelve e-mails saying, in essence, “I know you’re not going to come to Southern Illinois because I know that you know I am not the father of Trinity.”  It happened over and over again.  No matter how strongly I told him I WAS coming, he kept at it – over and over again – until I made only a simple response:  “I’ll see you in Thompsonville on April 29.”

The reason this is important to say is that when I arrived in Southern Illinois to take the DNA specimens,  Brandy became very angry and accused me of “harassing her family.”  I had done nothing of the kind.  In fact it was just the opposite.  I was taking care of business, working on getting the DNA testing agreement put together and signed.  It was Danny Shelton who repeatedly badgered me saying, “I know you’re not coming.  You’re stalling.  I know you’re not coming because you know that I am not the father of Trinity.”  He repeated this litany so many times that I became fatigued with it.

Neither Danny nor Brandy signed that agreement (they gave no explanation for not signing it), but Danny made up an agreement of his own that I signed and sent back to him and Brandy to sign.  In that agreement, Danny decided (for unexplained reasons) to drop the demand that I put up $10,000.00 before he would be tested, even though for the previous couple of months he had held to his requirement of demanding that I put up $10,000.00 before he would be tested.

I can’t read his mind to detect the reason, but I had told him repeatedly that demanding that I or anyone else put up $10,000.00 before he would be tested certainly made him look guilty.  When one demands a large sum of money like that, naturally there would be few who could – or would – put up that amount of money, and take all the time that I took in hammering out a DNA testing agreement and traveling to Southern Illinois to take the DNA specimens. Most people would just walk away, not wanting to get involved.  Then the “heat” would be off and Danny would not have to be tested.

I am not saying that I know that Danny or Brandy committed fraud. However, I am saying that I was not allowed to objectively confirm the identity of the child presented as "Trinity."  

I remarked that every man I know - if he were sure that he was not the father of a child born out of wedlock - would offer to get tested in an instant – at his own expense – without making any monetary demands on anyone.  Why hadn’t Danny already done that?

In addition, if a large sum of money exchanges hands over an agreement (in this case an agreement for DNA testing) and fraud is ever detected in the transaction (such as presenting the wrong child for testing – a “ringer” child), it could possibly be a much more serious charge - a felony - than if no money exchanged hands.

DNA testing Agreement wadded up and thrown away?

It may not be apparent on the scan, but it is clear when looking at the DNA testing agreement directly that when Danny received the document, someone crushed the papers up into a ball that would fit into a person’s clenched fist.  The document appeared to have been crumpled up and thrown into the trash - and possibly later retrieved – straightened out somewhat, and signed.

But when I saw Brandy’s signature on that document, it looked strange to me, as though it was a man’s handwriting – possibly a forgery of her name.

The signature on the line labeled “Brandy Shelton” on this document is quite different from the signature of “Brandy Elswick” (her maiden name) on the license for her marriage to Kevin Murray (Brandy’s second husband, who she divorced just one month before she supposedly arrived at 3ABN “for the first time” – in November of 2004 – according to Danny Shelton).

When the DNA testing agreement had been signed by all parties, we arranged the date – Wednesday, April 29, 2009.

Even then, Danny e-mailed me claiming that I still would not show up. 

Obviously, he was wrong.

But again, my traveling to Southern Illinois to obtain the DNA test specimens has raised more questions than it has answered.

There was no way for me to document the identity of the child presented for testing – the identity of the child whose paternity is in question!  Danny and Brandy purposely prevented it.

Why?