The Story of the First Transgender Ever Executed in United States History: Amber McLaughlin
Where to Listen
The Case of Amber / Scott McLaughlin
Childhood:
Scott A. Mclaughlin was born on January 13th, 1973, to his parents Jill Daffner, who was a prostitute and Howard Daffner, who was a working alcoholic. Jill drank heavily during her pregnancy with Scott which led to him being diagnosed later with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome which can affect your central nervous system and growth. It can eventually lead to problems with learning, memory, speech, attention span, etc. Jill and Howard were always physically and emotionally violent towards each other. While Jill was a few months pregnant, Howard threw her to the ground and stomped on her head repeatedly. Another time Howard choked her so hard, Jill though she was going to die.
After Scott was born the violence continued. Scott witnessed many frequent violent, drunken outbursts from his father and mother. When Howard beat Jill, he beat Scott too. One incident occurred where Howard beat Scott with a broomstick simply because he woke Howard up. And another time Howard dragged Scott out from under a bed he was hiding under and mercilessly beat him with a belt. Howard later lost his job and decided to return home and almost beat Jill to death. Her eyes were so black they matched her black sunglasses used to cover them up. And every time Jill would call the police they refused to help unless she pressed charges on Howard, which she never did. However, we can't excuse Jill from her role in everything too. She was just as abusive and incompetent as Howard. Scott was left with permanent scars on his hands from how often his mother would burn him with cigarettes.
While in the custody of his biological parents, Scott experienced 3 different head injuries. The first was when Scott was three-year-old and riding his big wheel tricycle when he rode onto the road and got hit by a car. He woke up in the hospital and still had a scar on his left eyebrow from the incident. The second was when Scott managed to crawl out of a second story window of their family home onto the roof. With Jill and Howard watching from below, Scott jumped and crashed to the ground. And the last serious incident occurred when a very intoxicated Howard, drug Scott down a hallway and smashed his head against the wall before throwing him violently back into his bed.
At the age of 5 Scott was willingly given up to Child Protective Services by his mother. Later Scott’s younger brother and sister were removed from the house and their mother desperately tried to gain back custody of the siblings, especially the sister, but never tried to get custody of Scott. Based on Scott’s emotional state and his speech impairments, Child Protective Services suspected that he was “retarded.” Not my words.
Scott was then sent to a foster home. There are no solid records of Scott’s foster family or what happened there, however, there is evidence that while at the home, Scott’s foster parents rubbed feces in his face. It was so bad at the foster home that Scott said he wanted to go back to his neglectful abusive mother...
Moving in With the McLaughlins:
Later the same year, Scott and his younger siblings were adopted by Harlan and Louis Mclaughlin, their great paternal aunt and uncle. The abuse didn’t stop after this though. It only seemed to get worse. Scott’s adoptive father, Harlan, was a police officer who was especially abusive towards Scott. Harlan had a wooden paddle that he named “The Board of Education,” and would beat the kids regularly with it. He was even said to use his taser gun and nightstick on the kids too. Scott was the primary target of Harlan’s abuse and would beat Scott every night at 1:30 am when he got home from work. One time Scott awoke to Harlan dragging him out of bed by his hair. He pulled Scott down the hallway to the kitchen where he slammed Scott’s head against a deep freezer which split his scalp. The parents would also lock the cabinet doors so the kids couldn’t access food, and before every meal the parents would force the kids to drink full glasses of water so they wouldn’t eat as much. Warning for the next 10 seconds, it involved animal cruelty. One time the household cat gave birth to kittens. The mother forced the children to kill the kittens by drowning them in a bucket of water. Scott refused to do it and was brutally punished for it. Childhood friends would later testify at the trial that the home was a “House of Horrors.”
School and Mental History:
At school the abuse was obvious. A teacher for the children, Mr. Elifritz, paid for the kid's lunches because of how hungry they were. Another teacher, Ms. Davis, called child protective services 4 times within a one-month period. She later stated that she would average about one call to the hotline per year, but she felt compelled to call repeatedly for Scott.
When Scott was in 1st grade a teacher conducted the Handicapped Student Initial referral form and the teacher noted “constant behavior problems, constant motion, impulsive, aggressive.” Scott was referred to a psychologist, but this wasn’t prioritized and eventually nothing was done. This is a recurring theme of nothing being done that we're going to be seeing repeatedly throughout this story, which is so frustrating.
By 2nd grade a teacher said that Scott was able to do his work but was always insecure and anxious about it. Scott was always disruptive in class, leading most of the teacher’s time to be spent on him. A school counselor administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Revised (or the WISC-R). Scott scored an overall IQ of 76 which shows that he had a borderline mental disability. The average IQ in the United States as of 2022 is 98. The school found Dr. Victoria Weisz to help with Scott's case. She said that with all the evidence that a neurological disorder might be present, however more testing needed to be done first.
When Scott was in 3rd grade a school counselor who had seen Scott regularly said “I would evaluate Scott's psychological problems as being extremely serious. I have worked as an elementary school counselor for nine years in three different schools and had to deal with some very serious cases. Scott's is the most serious of all.”
When Scott was in 4th grade, intense testing was done to evaluate what was happening. At Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, Scott was given the WISC-R test once again and scored an overall 82 IQ, however the doctor said that the rise in the number was more than likely the result of the practice effect since Scott was given the test less than a year earlier. Dr. Pasquale Accardo, a neurodevelopmental pediatrician evaluated Scott after. He said the worst thing possible is that Scott was retarded but the best thing possible is he's hyperkinetic and will outgrow it by the time he's 12. When Dr. Accardo asked what Scott wanted to be when he grew up, Scott replied “dead.” Scott was diagnosed with ADHD, mild neurological brain damage, learning disabilities and “adjustment reaction of childhood with depressive features.” He was also said to have intermitted explosive disorder. The school was notified of the findings and was recommended to place Scott in a special education program full time along with administering speech therapy. He was never enrolled and never got the help he needed.
Luckily though, Scott was enrolled in a special education course in the 4th and 5th grade. Scott passed 4th grade but failed 5th grade. All his core academic classes were failing while PE, art, music and spelling remained high. He had to repeat 5th grade and because of this he was dropped from the Special Education course, which makes absolutely zero sense. Wouldn’t you think that if a student failed a full grade of school that a Special Education course would be promoted more? Again, just another instance of Scott never getting the help he needed.
Scott’s middle school counsellor Ms. Vetter administered the WISC-R again in 7th grade, but his score dropped to an overall of 79 and at the end of 7th grade, Scott was failing every single class except PE. Scott was getting treated for his hyperactivity and ADHD with a medication called Cylert and was also given Ritalin twice a day. However, Scott’s parents stopped giving him the medication. A school committee looking at Scott evaluated that he never emotionally or socially developed properly, and that depression was now getting in the way of Scott’s learning.
Around this time, Scott claimed that he started to notice a shift in his identity and his body. He started to wear woman’s clothing in the privacy of his room. This was all done without his parents or guardians around because of the fear of abuse or ridicule. The American Psychological Association gives some points on students exploring their gender identity and how it can affect them in a learning environment.
Gender diverse students often report feeling unsafe at school, avoiding gender specific spaces (e.g., restrooms), and experiencing harassment at school.
Gender diverse students experiencing gender-related stressors at school are more likely to be absent, have lower GPAs, report higher levels of depression, engage in substance use and risky behaviors, and be at an elevated risk for suicide.
Some students may live in their affirmed gender identity with peers at school, but not at home, or vice versa.
It is possible that along with all the traumas that Scott went through already, that this gender dysmorphia he is experiencing is truly having an impact on his mentality. He’s going through the biggest sexual change of his life, puberty. So many hormonal changes and brain rewiring was happening along with even more confusion about life. Along with this confusion was probably an intense fear of more abuse for something he couldn’t control. This truly had to be a struggle for him to come to terms with, and we see this is true when it takes Scott another 30 plus years to finally talk about this secret he held and make the transition in prison.
Learning About his Adoption
Around this time, along with trauma, constant abuse, a sexual identity crisis and problems with school Scott was also informed by an unknown individual that he was adopted. Scott thought that Jill, his biological mother, was only a babysitter. On top of learning he was adopted, Scott also found out that his “adoptive siblings,” were actually his true biological siblings. Scott came to the realization also that his now realized biological mother treated his now realized biological siblings much differently than he was treated. Meaning that his younger brother and sister had supervised visits with their mom, but Scott did not. One time while her siblings were visiting their mother at the courthouse, Scott saw his biological grandmother but was afraid to hug her because he didn’t want to get in trouble. His grandmother said “well, honey, they’re right around the corner. You won’t get in trouble if you hurry.” Scott ran and gave his grandmother a quick hug and kiss before the family turned the corner.
For the most part being adopted is mostly a positive experience. Getting away from a neglectful or incapable household and being brought into a good stable household is usually good. For Scott this clearly wasn’t the case. He went from shit, to shit to more shit. Consideringadoption.com gives some negative effects that a child can have from being adopted.
Struggles with low self-esteem
Identify issues or feeling unsure of where they “fit in”
Difficultly forming emotional attachments
A sense of grief or loss related to their birth family
Along with these, I can assume that Scott was also very angry and more confused about life. He was clearly lied to and deceived for most of his life. His mother treated him very differently and clearly fully abandoned him physically and mentally.
School Drop Out and Young Adult 1990-2002:
Scott’s IQ was tested again in the 10th grade, and he had an overall score of 81 but still fell into the realm of being behavioral and educationally disabled. Ms. Vetter wrote a letter to the Mclaughlin’s noting how Scott was talking about suicide and how things would be better if he was dead. Although the teachers and counsellors tried to help, Scott was never given the intensity and continuality of treatment he so desperately needed. Her adoptive family never helped either since they thought counselling was a waste of time. Scott ultimately failed high school as the system failed him. He dropped out in the 11th grade.
After dropping out of high school Scott became a worker finding odd jobs when available. Such as being a dishwasher, factory assembler and day laborer. This, along with being in jail a few times, was how the rest of Scott’s life played out.
At age 18 Scott attempted suicide for the first time. On February 12th, 1991, Scott was rushed to the hospital after he took numerous aspirins to overdose. When asked why he said he couldn’t tell them. He was discharged 2 days later with the adoptive parents present. They were referred to a therapist for a follow-up, but no records show anything was done. Now I am no expert, but only 1% of aspirin overdoses lead to death, usually an induced heart attack. Clearly Scott wouldn’t have known this without further research, and I am in no way minimizing his depression or suicidal ideations. Suicide is a real issue and this young man obviously needed serious help and I believe this could’ve been his attempt to gain some attention and hopefully get some help or be seen by the right person. But once again, nothing was ever done. After moving out of his parents' house, he continued to wear woman’s clothing, now that he had his full privacy. From the early 90’s until the early 2000’s Scott kept odd jobs over the years and was in and out of prison. Some charges Scott managed over the years included forgery, stealing without consent, 3rd degree assault, vehicle theft, trespassing, property damage and 1st degree sexual assault on a minor teenage girl. I couldn’t find much of a timeline within this decade, but I am not quite sure how he was able to serve time for all of these especially the sexual assault and still be out in 2002. However, up until 2002 and 2003 Scott was being seen by multiple therapists and doctors who all diagnosed him with major depression and suicidal ideation and kept upping his doses of Paxil.
Relationship with Beverly Guenther
Now in 2002, Scott met and started a relationship with Beverly Guenther. I couldn’t find much information about her but here’s what I do know. When Beverly was an older teenager, she got married and moved out of her home. She married a man named Greg and they had 3 children together. One of their children drowned in a swimming pool as a toddler. The marriage ended in a divorce, and this made Beverly very depressed which led to her not working for several years after the divorce. She did have training as a medical assistant though and she also bred bull terriers and was doing work as a graphic designer printing T-shirts. Later she started working at a relative's business in Earth City. Relatives described her as a charming woman who had many friends and loved her family and animals. She always paid her bills and won people over with her charming personality. Her older brother, Al Wedepohl, was 6 years older than Beverly. He later said, “She was really turning her life around, it took a few years, but she finally got herself back together." Then Beverly met Scott, “The worst mistake she ever made," Al said. When he met Scott, Al described his sister’s boyfriend as manipulative, controlling and "very abusive, physically and mentally."
Harassment and Progressive Aggression
Now several months after meeting they moved in together, which was riddled with huge fights, breakups and makeups. Beverely worked at Compucard Offices in St Louis and Scott attended the workplace Christmas party in 2002. However, the relationship officially ended in the spring of 2003. After the breakup, Scott would harass Beverly quite frequently. Scott would cut up her shoes and would hide in bushes then jump out and grope Beverly. Scott would ever show up at her workplace multiple times and even hide inside the building. This led to Beverly filing a restraining order which she was granted. After this, the police would escort Beverly to and from her car at work. Beverly also informed her friends and neighbors who all banded together to create a communal safety net for her. They would keep an eye out for any strange activity. On October 27th, 2003, Scott was seen removing items from Beverly's home including an attempt to remove the deep freezer. Police were called and Scott was arrested for burglary. He claimed he was only removing his own belongings from the house following their breakup. Scott was arraigned on the burglary charge on November 18th, 2003. His hearing was scheduled for November 21st.
The Murder of Beverly Guenther
So, on the night of November 20th, neighbors noticed that Beverly hadn’t returned home from work. Because she told her neighbors of the issues she was having with Scott, they knew something was wrong and they called the police. Police were obviously concerned since they knew Scotts past and very recent charges. They went to Beverly’s work and found a bloody, broken knife handle in the parking lot, beside a large area of blood and spatter and drag marks through the blood to an area that abruptly ended. They very quickly suspected Scott of the crime and the next day he was arrested as he arrived at the hospital. Scott was then taken in for questioning at the police station and he was interviewed by Detective Neske of the St Louis Police Department. Scott was unable to tell Neske where the body was because of how emotional he was. Scott then decided to drive with Neske to where the body was. When they arrived, he was unshackled and uncuffed and told Neske “I’m not running anymore.”
So, what happened to Beverly. Well on the night of November 20th Beverly was getting ready to leave work as Scott arrived and hid outside waiting for her. On this night the police were not giving Beverly an escort to her car which is just horrible hindsight now. As Beverly left work Scott came out and startled her. She told him that she didn’t want to talk and tried getting to her truck. Scott was not happy with this, so he forced Beverly to the ground where he raped her before stabbing her 7 times which created a fan like blood spatter pattern. He also did this with so much force and rage that the handle was broken off and left behind. After this he dragged Beverly to his car where he placed her body in the hatchback. He then drove to the Mississippi River where his original plan was to dump her body in the river. But Scott ran into some trouble with the underbrush that made it difficult to get to the river. He then placed her body under some of the underbrush and left. Scott then slept in his car because he blew a tire while disposing of Beverly. The next morning Scott returned home where he cleaned out his car with Bleach. As the day went on, he became increasingly nervous and had a friend drive him to the hospital to get treated for a mental illness. This is where he was arrested and taken in for questioning.
Arraigned on Murder and Rape Charges
Clearly after this, Scott was arraigned on the charges of 1st degree murder, forcible rape, and two counts of armed criminal action, one for the murder and one for the rape. Scott’s council tried to get a felony murder instruction given to the jury, however this was denied. It was clearly obvious to the judge and jury that Scott committed these crimes. So, after all the evidence was submitted in the guilt phase, Scott moved to acquit the forcible rape charge because the evidence could not prove that he had intercourse with the victim while she was alive. The trial court overturned this request and said “I don't know that she actually has to be alive at the actual time-time of the sexual penetration. When it says forcible compulsion, that is all part of rape. So, if a man, in the process of raping a woman, is killing her, that's the forcible compulsion.” Even if Scott had sexual intercourse with the victim at the riverbank after she was dead it’s “still a part of the continuous series of events that’s part of the rape.” If then a person is attacking another person in pursuit of raping them and the victim dies before hand, that does not remove the fact that the person raped them at some point before or after death. A Tennessee Supreme Court stated “We are likewise unable to embrace the notion that the fortuitous circumstance, for the rapist, that death may have preceded penetration by an instant, negates commission of the crime of aggravated rape and reduces it to a relatively minor offense associated with erotic attraction to dead bodies. Reading the “live only” requirement into the statute encourages rapists to kill their victims, in our opinion.” Pretty much.
So, with everything, the evidence was given to the jury for deliberation and Scott was found guilty of 1st degree murder, forcible rape and one count of armed criminal actions with regards to the murder but was acquitted of the count related to the rape.
Controversial Sentencing
So now it comes down to the sentencing which becomes a huge controversy later in this case. In the sentencing phase a psychiatrist named Keith Caruso was called by the defense to testify about Scott’s mental health. However, he told the defense attorneys that during cross examination in a previous trial, evidence that he had falsified research data became known. Because of this the defense decided not to call Dr Caruso in fear that they would have the disclose the previous scandal. Most of the defense’s opening statements at the penalty phase consisted of testimony and evidence that would be presented that shows Scott’s mental health issues. The defense broke this promise. Larry Komp, who was Scott’s defense attorney after the trial, said that the misconduct of Dr Caruso never had to be disclosed at trial. It was a huge mistake that was “based on ignorance, a misunderstanding of Missouri law.”
So, with almost zero evidence to mitigate Scott’s actions, the jury was sent in to deliberate Scott’s sentence. The jury was given 4 different aggravating circumstances to decide on and they accepted 1 of the 4 which was depravity of mind. They could not conclude that the aggravating outweighed the mitigating, and they became deadlocked. They could not pass down a sentence of death. So, they returned and informed the court. In any case of a deadlocked jury the default is almost always life without parole however in Indiana and Missouri the trial judge can make the final decision despite the jury’s deadlock. In this case Judge Stevan H Goldman said, “I think that Beverly Guenther lived, at the end, a tortured life, and she died a tortured death, you made her worst fears come true when you killed her.” and then sentenced Scott A Mclaughlin to death for first degree murder and 2 consecutive life sentences for the forcible rape and armed criminal action.
Revealing Appeals
Scott tried to appeal that section 565.030.4 giving the judge power to impose a death sentence after a jury was deadlocked. Scott refers to Ring v. Arizona which states “[c]apital defendants, no less than noncapital defendants, ․ are entitled to a jury determination of any fact on which the legislature conditions an increase in their maximum punishment.”
Basically, there is a three-step process that the jury must go through to find the sentence. First, they agree or disagree on the aggravating circumstances that were submitted. Next the look at the mitigating circumstances submitted and see if they outweigh the aggravating circumstances or not. And in the final stage of the deliberation process the jury then deliberates on all this info and determines the sentence. What the Ring case is bringing up is that the jury must unanimously agree throughout all three steps of this process for a death sentence to be imposed. Without unanimous decisions on all three steps the trial court is required to impose a life sentence.
Furthering this Scott refers to another case, State v. Whitfield, that used the principles of the Ring case. It states that “As the statute required the jury to find all three of the facts submitted in steps one through three in order to impose a death sentence, the failure of the jury to find one of these three facts required entry of a life sentence.” So, in this Whitfield case, the jury followed a (at the time 4 step) deliberation process. At this time, it was okay for a jury to unanimously agree on steps 1-3 but disagree on step 4. In this situation the decision of sentencing does go to the judge. The judge will follow the same exact deliberation process as the jury did. This was only allowed when the jury could not agree on the 4th and final step of this said process. The judge in this case passed down a sentence of death. However, since there was no way to tell which step this jury was not unanimous, because there were no specific jury interrogatories (inter ah gatories) submitted, Whitfield's sentence was reduced to life in prison.
So basically, Scott argued that in any case, including his, the required sentence should be life in prison in the situation where a jury is deadlocked.
However, this appeals court says that’s not true. The Whitfield case never started that the judge couldn’t impose a death sentence rather the issue was that the jury didn’t use interrogatories (inter o gatories) to show when they couldn’t agree on something. But in Scott’s case the jury did use interrogatories and found the factual evidence necessary to sentence Scott to death, but they couldn’t decide. They did not make an error in the deliberation process.
Scott also argued that the judge went beyond the jury’s factual findings and found that there were excessive acts of physical violence, an aggravating circumstance that the jury rejected. The judge noted that these acts “encompassed beating, stabbing and sexual intercourse on a continuous basis.” Scott argues that this goes against the jury's failure to find that the murder was committed while he was perpetrating the forcible rape supported by the fact, they acquitted him of the armed criminal action charge regarding the forcible rape. The appeals court disagrees and states the jury did find him guilty of forcible rape on the victim which is not inconsistent with anything the judge ruled. This appeals court ruled that rape only must be done without someone's consent while using force to accomplish it. In the act of trying to rape, the victim was killed, leaving that person unable to consent still thus confirming the rape conviction. Scott’s sentence was confirmed.
In 2016 however, Scott was ordered to have a new sentencing hearing. The judge in this appeal said that Scott’s lawyers were “ineffective” for not submitting medical records to support his mental health issues.
Scott was then sent to Potosi Corrections Center, a male prison, in Washington Country, Missouri. This is where Scott started to transition to a woman in 2020, but I couldn’t find an exact date or year of the transition. She then met an acquaintance and fellow inmate Jessica Hicklin who was helping other transgenders in prison. Hicklin won a lawsuit against the Missouri Corrections Department in 2018 challenging a policy that prohibited hormone therapy for inmates that weren’t receiving it before their incarceration. This also goes along with a 2015 federal ruling that state prison officials must treat an inmate’s gender identify condition just as they would treat physical or mental health concerns. Hicklin stated that she rarely spoke to Amber (now calling Scott, Amber from now on) but she did help her with filing paperwork and giving guidance on receiving mental health counseling. Hicklin's said, “Definitely a vulnerable person, definitely afraid of being assaulted or victimized, which is more common for trans folks in the Department of Corrections.”
So, after being ordered a new sentencing hearing and starting her transition, a federal court reinstated her death sentence in 2021. All her appeals were exhausted at this point and her last chance of avoiding the death sentence was to get clemency from the governor.
Clemency
Amber’s clemency petition to Governor Mike Parson argued that the judge in the trial didn’t listen to any reports about her traumatic childhood. Her foster parents rubbed feces in her face as a toddler and her adoptive father allegedly used a stun gun on her and much more that we already discussed at the beginning. A group of judges wrote to Govenor Parson trying to gain a clemency approval for Amber stating “A jury... Is the voice of the community in which the crime occurred. And that voice where Beverly Guenther was murdered said that the state did not sustain its burden to merit a death sentence.” “She was sentenced to death via a flaw in Missouri’s capital sentencing scheme. This removes the life-or-death decision from the jury when the jury cannot vote unanimously for death, and places that awesome power in the hands of one individual.” They added "Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done." Govenor Parson confirmed the execution though, stating “Mclaughlin stalked, raped and murdered Ms. Guenther, Mclaughlin is a violent criminal. Ms. Guenther’s family and loved ones deserve peace.” Amber execution was then scheduled for January 3rd, 2023.
News Coverage and Family
With this huge amount of news coverage on Amber, Al Wedepohl, the older brother of Beverly, who attended the trial and all the appeal trials, said that he was bothered by the extreme focus on Amber’s identity. He felt that his sister’s murder was being lost in the news coverage. He emphasized that he wasn’t trying to belittle anyone, but he felt like Mclaughlin’s transition was a “ploy.” He added to this statement saying, “It seems like it's pretty premeditated to try to get out of the death penalty."
Death Sentenced Served
On January 3rd, 2023, Amber ate her last meal that consisted of a cheeseburger, French fries, a strawberry milkshake and peanut M&Ms. She wrote a final statement that said, “I am sorry for what I did, I am a loving and caring person.” She was then taken to the execution chamber where she was strapped to the table. She was present with a spiritual adviser who quietly sang to Amber as the fatal drug was administered into her bloodstream. She closed her eyes and was pronounced dead at 6:51 pm and her sentence... was served.
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