Afghanistan Veteran Learns His Wife Cheated During His Tour Of Duty (Full Episode) | Paternity Court

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING) You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello.

This is the case of<i> Threlkeld vs. Threlkeld. </i> Thank you.

You're welcome. Good day, everyone. Good day, Your Honor.

LAKE: Mr Threlkeld, you have entered this courtroom with a marriage on the brink of divorce. You state that while you were out of the country serving in the military, your wife paraded around town with other men. And she has admitted to cheating multiple times.

You claim you are not sure if you are the father of her third child, <i> 18-month-old Liliana,</i> and have asked the court for a paternity test. Yes, ma'am. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) Mr.

Threlkeld, you say you began exotic dancing to make extra money. . .

Yes, Your Honor. LAKE: . .

. because Mr Threlkeld's military salary was inadequate to live on and that led to a few indiscretions. You argue that Mr Threlkeld treats your daughter Liliana, differently than your other children and are hoping today's DNA results will settle the matter once and for all.

Yes, Your Honor. Now, Mr Threlkeld, when did you first discover that your wife had been unfaithful? Actually, ma'am, um.

. . I was overseas in Afghanistan and I was up in the northeast <i> and a soldier of mine came up to me</i> <i> and tapped me on the boot, said,</i> <i> "Hey, I need to go outside, we need to talk right now.

"</i> <i> So earlier on in the day</i> me and him got into some words, so I thought we were going to settle it. Well, it turns out his wife and my wife were friends and she had found out that she was actually stripping as we spoke. And at the time, you know, I found about it, I thought, you know, it was all just a hoax, so I went calmly to the Internet lounge, got on Facebook and asked her, "Hey, "you know, is it true you're doing "what I told you I didn't want you doing at all?

" And she didn't really say anything, honestly. And right after I left there, our base actually got attacked. .

. (AUDIENCE MURMURS) . .

. and they actually turned off the Internet for three weeks, so I was in the dark for three weeks. And then another two weeks after those three weeks went by, <i> I got transferred to Bagram.

</i> And while I was at Bagram, I finally was able to get back online and I get on Facebook and there's some clown on there saying, you know, liking all her skimpy photos. . .

BRITTANY:<i> They're not skimpy photos. </i> MATTHEW:<i> Yeah. </i> <i> He was following her.

He liked that she was working at the club. </i> <i> So then I started doing a little bit of research</i> wondering, you know, who this guy is. Mmm-hmm.

So I went to the phones and I called her and I said, "Hey, you know, I know you're stripping, "you know, that I can somewhat deal with. "Tell me about this guy that's going on. " And she says, "Oh, it's nothing, it's just a friend," you know, etcetera, the same BS that every girl says.

BRITTANY: First of all, we were done. He hacked my Facebook. He invaded my privacy.

And he looked into my stuff. . .

Guy's gotta find out. . .

. into my messages. That's how he found out.

So what did he find? BRITTANY: There were messages, yes, but. .

. MATTHEW: Actually, ma'am. .

. It's already a lie. No.

She actually. . .

I got on there and on the inbox I see. . .

(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) I see, "Oh, baby, I can't wait to see you later on tonight, "I had a great time with you, "you know, last few days we've spent together, it's been amazing. " These are the messages that you're seeing. .

. MATTHEW: Yes, ma'am. .

. . that your wife is entertaining while you're serving your country?

MATTHEW: Yes, ma'am. <i> She didn't even have the courage</i> <i> or the decency to tell me. </i> BRITTANY:<i> Yes, I did.

</i> MATTHEW:<i> No! Your friend's husband told me</i> that she's doing what she's doing 'cause she didn't have the decency to say, "Hey, I'm doing what I want to do. " LAKE: So, Ms.

Threlkeld. . .

What? Your husband's overseas serving his country. .

. BRITTANY:<i> Yes. </i> LAKE: .

. . serving our country, <i> keeping us all safe.

. . </i> (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) What in the world led you to entertain these type of messages on your Facebook and you've admitted that you had a few indiscretions.

What is going on? First of all, we were done. We were not together.

We had a phone conversation and he had said, "We're gonna get a divorce "and I'll send you the divorce papers. " And then we hung up. Ma'am.

. . Let me finish, let me finish.

Ma'am, what had happened was when I was at Fenty, we got in a phone argument, like she said, on Skype, and I told her, "Look, if you're gonna strip "after me and you have already gone through the discussion "that you're not to do it until I get back, "we might even. . .

We'll talk about it then. " She says. .

. There was reasons why I needed to. MATTHEW: Yeah, see, she says she needed the funds to support her family.

Overseas, I was making $4,000-$5,000 tax-free a month. Living in a $400 rent room. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) BRITTANY: It wasn't even that much.

Okay, Your Honor, there are expenses when you have kids and the money that was coming in, let's just be real, it wasn't enough to support the kids. And on top of that. .

. "Wasn't enough to support the kids? " How?

'Cause I'm gonna keep it real. Five grand a month tax-free. .

. I had to have. .

. LAKE: This is what I'm trying to understand. Ms.

Threlkeld, you say you guys were done. Yes, Your Honor. So, in other words, these things that he's finding on your Facebook and these indiscretions you're telling him about, this really shouldn't be an issue because in your mind, you guys, you thought your marriage was over.

Yes. It was. LAKE: Because you all had an argument about you stripping and you hung up.

BRITTANY: Yes. Yes, Your Honor. We hung up and we said it was done.

. . Wow.

(MATTHEW LAUGHS) (MAN LAUGHS) . . .

because I wanted to do what I want to do. Okay, okay, now we're getting into the truth. You wanted to do what you wanted to do.

BRITTANY: Exactly. And why is it that you wanted to strip? Because we got married too young.

Well, I needed to because. . .

She wanted to be a hooker in training so she took stripping. Will you just let me talk? Well, no, I.

. . BRITTANY: No.

The reason why I'm asking is because I really want to know. . .

He's always calling me names. . .

. why you chose stripping? I mean, 'cause you could have just said, "I wanna go get an extra job at the mall.

"I wanna be. . .

" BRITTANY: Okay. . .

MATTHEW: Ma'am, since our relationship, we've been together since 2008, she hasn't started working until actually about three weeks ago. It was actually her first-time job. Hooking or stripping.

It's not hooking. You're selling your body for money. Hooker!

No, it's not, excuse me. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) LAKE: Wow. MATTHEW: Anyways, to make matters worse, ma'am, when I.

. . Actually the day I was supposed to come back home from overseas, <i> we were told before we even got onto the plane</i> <i> at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin,</i> that there was gonna be the color guard, the motorcycles that drive, you know, up front.

The news was gonna be there. I get there and not my father, not my mother, my wife, like I said, weren't even there. We get there, you know, they call everybody's names up, everybody's clapping and cheering, they come to my name and it's just dead quiet.

No one's there. So, as everybody's getting ready to go home, I'm standing over there with my bags and I didn't even have a phone yet. So I couldn't even call her, so.

. . I'm sitting there under a street light with my Army bag on one side and a suitcase on the other.

No, I was waiting in the car for 30 minutes. He never showed up. LAKE: Wait, wait, wait.

You waited in the car, so when they called his name, he says no one was there to clap or cheer. Did you hear them call his name? We were at the airport.

I was waiting across from his unit where he told me to wait. And I sat there for 30 minutes waiting. MATTHEW: Actually, ma'am, two weeks before we came back from overseas, my unit actually sent papers to all the family members back home giving the exact address and time and who would be there at the time.

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) So it's not like somebody didn't know. Like she didn't know where I was at or when I was going to be there. Hell, it was on Channel 5, Channel 8, Channel 7, Channel 14 and 11.

Well, did she eventually pick you up? Actually, you know, when she picked me up. .

. Yes, I did. .

. . she came dressed in her clear hooker shoes and this.

"Hooker shoes"? That's one whole outfit? I think it's a dress, is what they call it.

I don't know. BRITTANY: It is. She's in clear shoes with money still in them.

(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) And the dress. . .

BRITTANY: Okay, that was for decoration. LAKE: So you come home. Mr Threlkeld, and your wife and your family aren't there, but she eventually does pick you up.

So you were there at some point to get him. BRITTANY: Yes, Your Honor. Yes, Your Honor.

So you're riding down the highway. . .

Yeah, she has her phone, and, um, you know, I was wondering who. . .

'Cause I saw the guy, she hadn't fully admitted that she's been seeing this guy, so I snatched the phone from her and I start going through it. And as I was looking through it, there was a number that she called, like, 13 times. So I called him right back.

And he answered the phone, "Hey," you know, I said, "Who is this? "Are you the one that's been. .

. my wife? " He said, "Yes, yes, I've been.

" (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) And now, her defense, she starts laughing, saying, "Ha, ha, I knew he was just gonna say that. "He's just saying that to make you mad. " And it was ridiculous.

I mean, you know, that was just. . .

So when he calls the guy on the phone, you deny it? Yes, Your Honor. You say.

. . Okay.

So we get back to the house and, like, throughout the night, I guess, she had not gone over there for three or four days or so. LAKE: Mmm-hmm. And, um.

. . He texts her and says, you know, "I guess I've figured now who you picked.

" And so she starts crying and I say, "Why are you crying? " We were already done by then, why would it matter what I do? Why do you care?

Why would you have a boyfriend if you're married? Paper or no paper. We were done.

MATTHEW: You got papers? Well, why do we have to have papers to be done? You said it was over.

'Cause in a marriage. . .

It's called a divorce. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) So we were done a few days ago. Just a week ago we were done.

Just for nothing there, you're still married till you get one. In your mind, this was a mutual decision that you two were finished. .

. BRITTANY: Mmm-hmm. .

. . and were heading for a divorce.

Yes, Your Honor. Until you get home, and somehow you end up being husband and wife again, don't you? BOTH: Yes, Your Honor.

Yes, ma'am, we actually had, like, make-up sex, within minutes of being home. LAKE: All right, we keep skipping the event or events that led to the conception. .

. MATTHEW: Actually, ma'am. .

. . .

. of your last child in which you feel <i> you may or may not be the father. </i> BRITTANY:<i> Why don't you just be quiet?

</i> When I was overseas and I found out about her stripping and her cheating there was few options that came across my head of how I should deal with it. So when I got back home within this those first week or two, we had sex, like, four or five times a day. And I purposely.

. . She doesn't want to hear that.

So you had it in your mind that if I get my wife pregnant, she'll stop stripping. Roger. Because.

. . What she tells me.

. . Even though you've had this conversation that you're done while you were overseas, you come back and you have in your mind, "Maybe if I could get her to stop stripping, "we could, maybe, make it work.

"I get her pregnant. . .

" MATTHEW: Yes. ". .

. she can stay off the pole "and stay in the house. " Yes, ma'am.

Yeah. LAKE: That's in your mind. But he didn't think about all the other expenses of having a child.

<i> The bottom line, Your Honor, is I had to support my children. </i> <i> There are things you need to do regardless. </i> And I knew he wasn't gonna get a job when he came back.

MATTHEW: (CHUCKLES) You asked why we're here for a paternity court. Within three weeks of us being home, she was pregnant. So I mean, I don't know if it was my devious, messed up.

. . .

. . head that got her pregnant.

. . BRITTANY: Of course it was.

. . .

or the dude. MATTHEW: So that's the reason 100% why we're here. LAKE: Because the truth is even though you had that plan in your mind that, "If I get her pregnant that will be a professional hindrance.

" But he doesn't think about all the other costs that come along with that, and responsibilities. Hence why we have three kids. But you were also sleeping with another man during that same time period, am I correct?

Yes, Your Honor, yes. So you didn't know as well who could be the father? Yes, Your Honor, that's correct.

Now, Mr Threlkeld, you asked your wife to take a lie detector test at some point, am I correct? Yes, ma'am. Before she came back, I said, "Look, "obviously the path we're going down right now "isn't a good one.

"Either it's a go or no-go. "So, I think, for my insecurities, "I'd like you to take a lie detector test. " She kept saying, "Oh, that's fine, I'll do it.

"Not a big deal. " Why do we need a lie detector test? We don't need to take one.

But when it comes closer to actually doing it, she starts getting nervous, I can start telling from body language and tone of her voice, you know, she was getting nervous. We don't need a lie detector test. We just need communication.

There's no reason. MATTHEW: She tells me straight out. .

. What happened? She tells me straight out about the people that she cheated on me with.

Right after our first daughter, she cheated on me with a guy when she was going to cosmetology school. On her way to cosmetology school, she goes to his house. And a little bit before that, he was taking pictures of both of us and when she went there to check the photos, she got a tour of the house and lo and behold, the tour ended at the room.

Hmm. MATTHEW: So. .

. So you slept with a photographer? Yes, Your Honor, I did.

LAKE: What else did you find out? MATTHEW: There was a friend of mine that we've been friends with for a couple of years and when I went to AT, I think it was either annual training or drill, she was watching TV next to this one guy and she started falling asleep and next thing you know, he rolled over on her and she thought it was me. Your Honor, when he.

. . (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) No.

And had sex with him. Mistaken identity. MATTHEW: I guess.

He's about this tall and ugly. BRITTANY: It comes down to the point where I did make a mistake, yes. If I could take it back, I would, but I can't.

But you said a few indiscretions, that's not one mistake. He's controlling, he's verbally abusive. .

. He treats my daughter differently <i> than the other two. </i> MATTHEW:<i> Yeah,</i> she's a daddy's girl.

LAKE: Well, that's because he has explicitly said he doubts that he may or may not be her father. Do you think honestly that he is the father of Liliana? It could be a 50-50 chance honestly, Your Honor.

(AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Anybody got a quarter? Do you understand that for a man, for any person, that that would be really hard to accept? There is a part of me that listens to you both talk and sees that one, if not both of you, maybe still wants to make this work.

Are you two interested and trying to see if you could save this marriage? Yes, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) She answered very affirmatively, quickly.

How about you, Mr Threlkeld? Are you interested? I would say yes, but as a guy, I've never really been put in the shoes to where I'd have to choose my kid or not.

It's either yes or no. You do or you don't. There's still a baby involved.

I mean, you can't just. . .

I'm not gonna take it out on her even if it's not mine. Even if it's not mine. No, the one I'm gonna take it out on isn't her, it's the one in the pink shirt.

So congratulations. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) You take it out on me every single day. But let's be clear here.

BRITTANY: You just need to get over it. There's one baby in question as it relates to the paternity. <i> But you all still have</i> <i> two additional children together.

</i> MATTHEW:<i> Yes, ma'am. </i> (AUDIENCE MURMURING) BRITTANY: Yes, Your Honor. You're a family.

BOTH: Yes. So these results are going to affect in some way this family, positively or negatively. Yes, ma'am.

Yes, Your Honor. LAKE: All right. It's time for the results.

Here, Your Honor. Thank you. You're welcome.

(EXHALES) (PAPER RUSTLING) Our results today were prepared by DNA Diagnostics. In the case of <i> Threlkeld vs. Threlkeld.

. . </i> In the case of<i> Threlkeld vs.

Threlkeld,</i> pertaining to one-year-old Liliana. . .

(EXHALES) Mr Threlkeld, you are Liliana's father. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) Ms. Threlkeld, it seems like you became instantly emotional.

Is that relief or is that. . .

(BRITTANY SNIFFLES) (VOICE CRACKING) Yes, Your Honor, it's relief. LAKE: . .

. joy or both? I mean, it's.

. . All together I'm happy because I know she's his, so I would like to work on everything.

MATTHEW: Well, ma'am, there's a reason why because since the day it's happened. . .

Since February 2011, to be exact when I found out, there's not been a day that's gone by that I haven't let her not relive the mistakes she made. Period. LAKE: I appreciate your honesty.

You are owning up to the fact that you would not let the mistake go. You threw it up in her face over and over and over. For two years.

Two years. And I still stayed. No other person would've stayed.

Likewise. What does that tell you both? Looks like we're stuck with each other.

(AUDIENCE LAUGHS) (LAUGHING) LAKE: I think what's important today about this news is that the doubt, the fear associated with it is gone now. You know. I see your emotion.

What do you feel? BRITTANY: You still don't think she looks like you, do you? Well, there's times that I actually kinda disowned her and every time she came around me, I called her JB.

. . BRITTANY: So now it comes out.

MATTHEW: . . .

or other person's baby. Um, now that I know she's not, you know, it's good to know. LAKE: You know now that you are her father and you got a lot of making up to do.

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Okay? This marriage is the both of yours. Together, you both have to honor it.

You both have to respect it. And you both have to be willing to work on it. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Court's adjourned.

(AUDIENCE CHEERING) I feel like I'm actually holding her as my daughter now and there's no wall dividing, you know, the amount of love that I give to her. So she's not different than the other kids. She's just like, you know, the other two.

So definitely a lot of making up to do, huh, monster?