A woman whose once ‘loving’ hippie father turned serial killer has opened up about her ‘breakdown’ after meeting her abusive stepmother, saying she used to fear she had inherited her ‘monster genes’.
Jenn Carson, 48, was eight years old when she learned that her father, Michael Bear Carson, brutally murdered at least three people in California with his second wife, Suzan Barnes.
The husband and wife murderers were he labeled the ‘San Francisco witch killers’ because they claimed their victims were ‘witches’.
In a new interview with PeopleJenn reflected on her relatively happy childhood with her father, whose real name was James Clifford Carson, saying that he used to read to her and braid her hair.
Jenn Carson, 48, spoke about her earliest memories of her serial killer father, Michael Bear Carson, who murdered at least three people with his second wife, Suzan Barnes.
Michael and Suzan were branded the ‘San Francisco witch killers’ because they claimed their victims were ‘witches’
“My perception then was that he was affectionate,” she said of her father. It was fun.
Jenn spent her early years in Phoenix, Arizona, where her mother, Lynne Carson, was a teacher and her father an out-of-home marijuana dealer.
His parents divorced in 1978, and he met Suzan., an elegant divorcee and mother of two, at a party. He married her the following year and they became increasingly erratic.
“At that time, I have a lot of memories of him falling apart,” she said, noting that her stepmother was “very dominant in the relationship.”
Jenn, who was in preschool at the time, thought of Suzan as ‘the wicked witch’. Her father stopped paying attention to her and changed her name to Michael Bear, transforming into a man she didn’t recognize.
He remembered the first time he slept at Suzan’s house, which was full of potted trees and not much else. She had to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor.
Jenn said the spooky, basic decor reminded her of the “enchanted forest from the Wizard of Oz.” When she spent weekends at Suzan’s house, she would go hungry and be beaten.
In a new interview with People, Jenn reflected on her relatively happy childhood with her father, whose real name was James Clifford Carson, saying she perceived him as “loving.”
Jenn (pictured with her father and mother, Lynne) said her father changed after he married Suzan in 1979. She starved and was beaten when she spent weekends with them.
In 1981, Michael and Suzan killed 23-year-old Karen Barnes (pictured), bashing her over the head with a frying pan and stabbing her 13 times in her San Francisco apartment.
“I’ve had flashbacks to my entire life of her pushing me under the bathwater, like she was holding me up and I couldn’t breathe,” she told People. I’m in this house of horrors. She’s not feeding me. She is telling me that I am the devil. I’m going to hell. I deserve to die.’
Jenn finally confided in her mother about the abuse after Suzan scratched her back ‘leaving open wounds’: ‘five jagged nail marks’.
When Lynne learned that Michael and Suzan were planning to leave the country, she became convinced that they were going to kill her and kidnap her daughter.
Jenn’s mother took her on the run, and they were hiding out in Southern California when the Secret Service showed up on their doorstep in 1982.
Michael and Suzan had fallen into a spiral of dangerous delusions and believed that they were destined to kill ‘witches’ all over the world.
In 1981, 23-year-old Karen Barnes was killed by bashing her over the head with a frying pan and stabbing her 13 times in her San Francisco apartment.
The following year, Michael fatally shot 26-year-old Clark Stephens and burned his body in Humboldt County.
After Stephens was killed, detectives found his manifesto, which included a plot to assassinate then-President Ronald Reagan.
Jenn recalled how Secret Service agents questioned her mother about Michael’s political beliefs and whether he ever talked about killing the president.
In 1983, 30-year-old John Hellyar picked up the couple while they were hitchhiking. A fight broke out in the car and Suzan stabbed Hellyar. Michael then shot him point blank in the back, killing him.
Police were called during Hillyar’s murder and they were arrested. The pair confessed to killing Barnes, Stephens and Hellyar, but are also suspected in nine other murders.
Michael and Suzan were found guilty of three counts of murder and are still in prison serving their 75-year sentences.
Michael and Suzan confessed to killing Barnes, Clark Stephens, and John Hellyar. They were found guilty of three counts of murder and are still in prison serving their 75-year sentences.
As a child, Jenn feared inheriting her father’s ‘monster genes’ and ‘growing up and killing people’. She credits her mother and her stepfather for getting her through the trauma.
Jenn (pictured with her mother in 2015) earned her doctorate in social work and became a trauma expert as well as an advocate for children of prisoners.
When Jenn found out about her father’s crimes, she began having nightmares about his victims. She worried that he had inherited ‘monster genes’ from her and battled suicidal ideation and severe depression.
“At 9, I looked at every adult as a potential murderer,” he told People. ‘The whole world terrified me. I was also afraid of growing up and killing people.’
Jenna credits her mother and stepfather, Michael Gonzales, with helping her through the trauma.
Gonzales, who met Lynne in 1984, put her on a regular schedule, got her counseling and signed her up for extracurricular activities, including Girl Scouts and the church choir.
With the support of her mother and stepfather, she earned her doctorate in social work and became a trauma expert as well as an advocate for the children of prisoners.
“I want people to understand that this kind of shame is so corrosive,” Jenn said. ‘And that’s why I tell my story.’
