He was captured in El Paso after a story about the murders appeared on "America's Most Wanted."
In her fight to keep her son from dying in the gas chamber, Norgard flew to St. Paul to visit the adoption agency. "I had to make some sense of it," she said. After much insistence, the agency shared information with her about Eastlack, and Norgard met his birth mother.
"This was all a horrendous shock to the birth mother," she said.
And that is when Norgard learned that her son had been damaged in the womb by alcohol.
Norgard has lived with guilt, wondering whether she could have set Eastlack on a different path.
"But I think I tried everything I could, and it was just John."
The mother and son have frequently talked about the murders.
"He can't believe he did it," she said. "He's told me, 'Mom, I knew it was me. I can see myself doing it. But it was like I wasn't there.'"
Had Norgard known about FAS, she would have structured Eastlack's life differently.
"I would have kept him in a very structured school environment and limited his choices. I would have held his hand through life as much as I could."
Now, Norgard's only son will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
"I got permission for a contact visit in 1991, and that's the last time I hugged my son," she said. "It was a good hug, but it wasn't a seven-year hug."