Man admits utilizing world’s hottest sizzling sauce to torture his brother who met tragic finish

Paul Ferguson was sentenced to 30 to 100 years in prison after he admitted his role in the death of his brother, Timothy Ferguson, 15, who had autism with speech and motor impairment

A chilling confession video has emerged showing a man admitting to the brutal torture of his special needs brother by forcing him to consume blistering hot sauce before he died of starvation. Paul Ferguson, 21, confessed to playing a part in the death of his 15-year-old brother Timothy, who had autism and suffered from speech and motor difficulties.

Timothy endured savage abuse, including being made to eat bread soaked in California Reaper hot sauce and enduring prolonged ice-cold baths. He tragically succumbed to malnutrition and hypothermia in 2022, weighing a mere 69 pounds (31kg).

In the harrowing police interview footage, Paul Ferguson reveals he administered the scorching punishment for “at least a month” on their mother Shanda Vander Ark’s, 44, command. He coldly stated to the officer: “The thing is, it still hardly did anything for him. There would be times when it would do something for me because I accidentally rubbed it on my eye after I put it on there.

“Whenever my mother told me to put hot sauce on it I did. It was normally a thin layer to make sure that it wouldn’t be too much. Because from what I know, the ghost or the California Reaper is what, 2,000 Scovilles – or 2m Scovilles?”

When questioned by the police about why Timothy “couldn’t have meals”, Ferguson chillingly admitted it was because he had been “sneaking food”. He also shockingly revealed it was his “mother’s idea” for his brother to only eat bread dipped in hot sauce as a form of punishment, reports the Mirror US.

Ferguson was previously sentenced to 30 to 100 years in prison for aiding his mother, Vander Ark, in the horrific torture and starvation of Timothy. His mother received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Overcome with emotion, Ferguson addressed the court at his hearing, pleading: “I ask the judge for nothing more than mercy and fairness. To offer me compassion, so I might learn from him.”

Tearfully, he added: “What reasons can justify my actions? I can makeup a thousand and never believe one. What words can voice my regrets? I can think of millions and yet never feel it’s enough.

“If I could do it all again, and do it right, I would. I feel I will pay for my choices and yet never feel better, because he’s still gone.”

Timothy was discovered dead at his family home in Norton Shores, Michigan, approximately 39 miles west of Grand Rapids. An autopsy concluded Timothy died on July 6, 2022, from malnourishment and hypothermia, and his death was officially declared a homicide.

Judge Kacel branded Ferguson as almost a “psychopath,” claiming the 21-year-old might even be “just as bad, if not worse” than his mother. “Mr. Ferguson is trying to shift blame from him to his mother and say that somehow, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have done this, or she’s the one that did this,” said the judge.

During Vander Ark’s trial, prosecutor Matt Roberts presented harrowing images of Timothy’s emaciated 69lb frame to the jury and his mother, provoking her to vomit. The panel returned a guilty verdict for first-degree murder against her after deliberating for barely an hour last month, culminating in a life sentence without parole.

As she faced her life sentence, Vander Ark remained still and focused straight ahead. Sifting through evidence, prosecutor Roberts highlighted texts between Vander Ark and Paul conspiring to dish out punishments to Timothy.

Roberts pointed out to the courtroom that Ark paid no attention to her kids as they delivered their heart-wrenching testimonies, stating: “She had stopped thinking of her children as human beings.”

Timothy’s grieving siblings, Millie and Nolan Ferguson, came from different states just to deliver impact statements about their younger brother, media from local ABC affiliate WZZM reported.

Millie openly expressed her sorrow, saying: “I want the world to know that Timothy was wanted. If not by her, then by me. He was loved by me. I regret not hugging more, and teasing him so much, and not telling him I love him more often.”