Robert Brians spoke briefly at his sentencing hearing, thanking those who saved the lives of his twins and saying: “I love my babies, and I’m sorry.”
A California man who drove a car off a cliff with his 2-year-old twin daughters in an attempted murder-suicide has been sentenced to 31 years in prison.
Robert Brians, 51, abducted his 2-year-old twin daughters from a family member's home in the early morning hours of June 13, 2020, and then proceeded to drive his truck over a cliff and into the Pacific Ocean at a speed of 70 miles per hour with the two girls sitting in his lap, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Miraculously, all three survived the crash thanks to the heroics of first responders.
A judge sentenced Brians to more than three decades in prison at his sentencing hearing on Sept. 20, a little over a month after Brians pleaded guilty to eight charges including:
- Two counts of attempted murder with both a great bodily injury and use of deadly weapon enhancement
- Two counts of child abuse
- Two counts of kidnapping
- Burglary of a dwelling while another person is present
- Domestic Violence
There is an additional enhancement to one of those attempted murder charges because Brians had been arrested for domestic battery four months prior and was out on bail at the time, a spokesperson for the San Diego County District Attorney's Office previously explained to Inside Edition Digital.
Brians spoke briefly at the hearing, thanking those who saved the lives of his twins and saying: “I love my babies, and I’m sorry.”
“Attempting to kill your innocent children to hurt your spouse is beyond despicable,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said after the sentencing on Friday. “I am grateful to first responders who found this defendant’s whereabouts and were able to save the young girls from drowning."
The incident occurred shortly after the mother of the girls filed for divorce in April 2020, according to a friend of the family.
That friend wrote on GoFundMe that Brians had a supervised visit with the girls at his parents' home the night of April 12, but then returned a few hours later in hopes of carrying out a murder-suicide.
A short time later, the defendant's estranged wife, Jenna, started receiving a series of texts and calls from her ex "stating she may not see her kids again," her friend said.
"At approximately 4:30 a.m. Jenna called law enforcement for help and right after got the girls' father back on the phone while they pinpointed his location," said the friend.
It all happened just a few moments too late though, with surveillance footage showing the car crash over the cliff just moments after officers managed to track down the vehicle.
In his final text message to his estranged wife, Brians allegedly wrote: “I told you, girls are going to Heaven and I’m going to Hell to wait for you.”
Once in the water, Brians freed himself and the girls from the wreckage and he treaded water while attempting to keep the two girls afloat, according to Jonathan Wiese. Inside Edition spoke to Wiese in 2020 after the quick-thinking K-9 officer used a dog leash to rappel down the cliff and save Brians and the twins after realizing he was the first member of law enforcement on the scene.
His heroics were later detailed by the Carnegie Hero Fund when he received a medal for his actions that day.
"Wiese removed the leash, entered the ocean, and swam to the man, who was much larger than him. Wiese then grasped the man as he held the girls, and pushed them back to the rocks and pulled them out of the water. Wiese carried the unresponsive girl to the point where he descended the cliff and secured her to a backpack that officers lowered with the leash; officers hoisted her to safety. With help from a firefighter who had swum to the scene, officers similarly hoisted the second girl," read the description of Wiese's actions that day.
Both girls were able to make a full recovery while Brians was airlifted to a hospital and then booked into jail.
