Defendant Takes Stand, Tells of Abuse

Eileen Childs, charged with trying to kill her husband to collect more than $1.4 million in insurance money, testified Friday that her marriage was beset with physical and sexual abuse along with constant financial problems.

The Simi Valley woman said her husband, Larry Childs, 55, repeatedly hit her, forced sex on her, beat their four children and suffered depression over his job and credit card bills. She said her husband was a controlling and high-strung man who even picked out what bra and panties she could buy.

But prosecutors say that on March 24, Childs and her 19-year-old daughter, Jennifer, an aspiring pop singer, tried to kill Larry Childs by setting fire to his bed and then beating him with a baseball bat. The pair wanted to use his insurance money to open a Jiffy Lube franchise and jump-start Jennifer’s career, prosecutors contend. They are charged with attempted murder and arson.

Larry Childs, who was injured in the altercation, has strongly denied ever abusing his family.

In Ventura County Superior Court on Friday, an occasionally tearful Eileen Childs recounted her troubled past that began as a child shuttled among four or five abusive foster homes. Married and divorced twice, she met her third husband, Larry Childs, while working as his secretary. Larry Childs was married at the time, she said.

Their marriage was a rocky one, she said. Larry Childs was demanding and expected his children and stepchildren to perform a list of chores every day before going to school, she testified. If they didn’t, he would grab them roughly by the arm or throw them against the wall and berate them, Childs said.

Eileen Childs’ 17-year-old son, Bradley Pilloud, testified that he went to live with his biological father at age 13 because of the abuse suffered at the hands of his stepfather. He said Larry Childs routinely slapped and punched him.

On Thursday, Jennifer Childs testified that her stepfather made repeated sexual advances toward her.

Eileen Childs said that, days before the fire, her husband tried to show their 11-year-old son Jacob how to throw a baseball. When the two returned, the boy was crying hysterically, she said.

“He said his dad got angry with him for not playing ball right,” Childs said. “He said his dad threw the ball at him. I saw the imprint of the stitches from the baseball on his chest.”

Financially, the family was living on the edge, Eileen Childs testified. She said she bought almost everything on credit and the family spent an average of $200 a week on clothes. A recent $15,000 remodeling job was paid for on credit and they had outstanding mortgages on two homes, she said.

“If we discussed money in any way ... he’d get extremely angry,” she said.

Eileen Childs, who suffers from lupus, a chronic inflammatory illness, said she cashed in a $132,000 life insurance policy to take care of financial obligations in the event the disease killed her.

Prosecutors say she forged her husband’s name on the policy, but the woman said she was a joint policyholder.

She took the money and bought a $41,000 sport utility vehicle and used the rest to pay off loans, she said.

On the night of the fire, Childs testified, candles had been lighted all around the house to mask the odor of meat, which made her ill. After her husband went to bed, she lay down with her son.

Childs, who said she couldn’t remember if a candle had been burning in the bedroom, said she smelled smoke and her husband came running, confronting her and Jennifer.

“He grabbed us by the hair and started pulling us toward the kitchen,” she said.

At that point, she said, her daughter began hitting her husband with a baseball bat. “Then I hit him with a glass,” she said. “We were both thinking he set the fire.”

Defense attorneys played a taped interview Simi Valley police detectives conducted with Eileen Childs. On the tape, Childs described her husband as depressed, high strung and worried about losing his job.

One unidentified police officer seemed baffled that the women would start hitting Larry Childs with a baseball bat when the fire broke out. Another officer pointed out that a dismantled smoke alarm was found under the sofa cushion.

Childs said she was just trying to defend her family.

“Is it wrong to protect yourself, to protect your daughter?” she asked.

Testimony continues Monday.