Who was the boy found dead?
The boy found in David’s home was Martin Bischoff, a Swiss child taken years earlier from a murder scene in Geneva after the deaths of his guardians.
He later lived in a Payne-run orphanage, where he disappeared shortly before Matthew’s alleged death. He matched Matthew in age and appearance but suffered from metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD). A later blood test confirmed the body was Martin, not Matthew.
What happened that night?
For years, the official version stated that 3-year-old Matthew Burroughs was murdered in his bed, and David was convicted based on evidence including a bloodied baseball bat, a neighbor’s testimony claiming she saw him bury the bat in a forest, and his history of sleep terrors.
It is later revealed that the neighbor lied at the request of Nicky Fisher, a Boston mobster seeking revenge against Lenny, David’s retired police officer father, after the death of his own son in prison.
Hayden Payne killed Martin Bischoff, placed his body in Matthew’s place, and manipulated DNA evidence through the Payne family to confirm the victim as Matthew. He then took the real Matthew and raised him as Theo for five years.