Speaker 1: Murder on Songbird Road is a production of iHeart Podcasts
Speaker 1: previously on Murder on Songbird Road.
Speaker 2: So I wanted to interview her. I wanted to get
Speaker 2: factually what her side of the story was.
Speaker 1: Since Mota is still a licensed attorney, he was able
Speaker 1: to meet with Beverly in privacy anytime.
Speaker 2: There were issues with Jade. Jessica would never communicate with Julie.
Speaker 2: She would always go to Mike.
Speaker 1: This strained, if not nonexistent, relationship with Jessica could shed
Speaker 1: some light on the lack of support for Julia in
Speaker 1: the days and hours immediately following the murder.
Speaker 2: And so she's like, I tell Jade, I'm going to
Speaker 2: be gone a couple hours. Just play on your phone.
Speaker 2: I'll be back. She's like, it wasn't unusual for us
Speaker 2: to leave Jaden and Jade.
Speaker 1: In Illinois, it is illegal to leave a child under
Speaker 1: the age of fourteen home alone.
Speaker 2: And she claims that as soon as she pulls the
Speaker 2: storm open that she notices blood in the living room.
Speaker 2: It's somebody clad and all black. It's a man black gloves,
Speaker 2: comes charging at her and then he's got a knife.
Speaker 2: This was the front door. This is word went down
Speaker 2: with the masked marauder for to believe that story.
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren brad Pacheco, and this is murder on Songbird Road.
Speaker 1: Julia Beverly's sentencing was set for Friday, the thirteenth of
Speaker 1: October twenty twenty three. Bob Matta and I were in
Speaker 1: Marion to attend it in person.
Speaker 3: The woman found guilty of murdering Jay Beasley will be
Speaker 3: sentenced today. That's happening at the Williamston County Courthouse at
Speaker 3: one this afternoon. It took the jury less than two
Speaker 3: hours to find her guilty on three counts, so first
Speaker 3: degree murder.
Speaker 2: All right, So let's figure out what the hawks says.
Speaker 2: Good morning, good morning.
Speaker 1: We're gonna head over to HWKS now, but there are
Speaker 1: three hooks in the general vicinity.
Speaker 4: Which one did she go to?
Speaker 5: It's gonna be the one on the Yong Street, Okay.
Speaker 2: So the closest, the closest one.
Speaker 5: It'll be on the Young or Route thirteen.
Speaker 2: If there's one, that's two point seven miles on East
Speaker 2: d Young. There's wayet okay, So that's not the one
Speaker 2: five miles on West n Okay, Okay, Okay.
Speaker 4: We're heading there now. And then we're gonna head over.
Speaker 4: What time are you guys going?
Speaker 1: Bob Mada and I were scheduled to sit down with
Speaker 1: Beverly's mother, Renee, and her siblings before the sentence. Sing
Speaker 1: On our way to High Towers home, we decided to
Speaker 1: clock the time it would take us to get from
Speaker 1: the location on Songbird Road where Jade was murdered to
Speaker 1: the Hucks gas station where the prosecution containds Beverly disposed
Speaker 1: of dents. Beverly maintained she was simply tossing dirty diapers
Speaker 1: before turning around and heading home for her credit cards.
Speaker 1: Turn right onto Corey League.
Speaker 2: Okay, so yeah, we're going the right way. Okay, So
Speaker 2: if we're to believe the state's theory, she has committed
Speaker 2: the murder at this point, Okay.
Speaker 4: Has washed up, thoroughly, washed up thoroughly.
Speaker 1: She would have had to have transported stuff, put it
Speaker 1: into a bag.
Speaker 4: And unless she.
Speaker 2: Was about bloody clothes.
Speaker 1: And so she would have been wearing gloves or there
Speaker 1: would be some kind of cross contamination.
Speaker 2: Right, and you're you're talking about a either a garbage
Speaker 2: bag or plastic bag filled with bloody clothes and a knife,
Speaker 2: which I'm assuming would be poking holes in the plastic bags.
Speaker 2: Just common sense, all right. So we're going to take
Speaker 2: this right the Corey League Road.
Speaker 1: And unless you double or triple wrapped that plastic bag,
Speaker 1: you would have gotten some kind of blood on the
Speaker 1: exterior as you were loading the stuff in it.
Speaker 2: There would have been some kind of biological material somewhere
Speaker 2: in this car.
Speaker 1: A pointed out no blood belonging to Jade Beasley was
Speaker 1: found anywhere in Beverly's car. There was a small spec
Speaker 1: found on the wheel attributed to both Beverly and Jade's father, Mike,
Speaker 1: which is not surprising given the shared use of the car.
Speaker 4: Back to clocking the drive, it was.
Speaker 2: About three point three miles from the house to the
Speaker 2: gas station. We are three minutes into the drive. You
Speaker 2: still got about two point five miles. It's not as straightaway.
Speaker 2: You're having to slow down. Now. You have to try
Speaker 2: to imagine what would be going through somebody's mind if
Speaker 2: they just committed a brutal homicide like that.
Speaker 1: If you you are a compartmentalized killer, you are thinking,
Speaker 1: look normal, don't attract suspicion, Drive slowly, right.
Speaker 2: Don't get pulled over. And I'm curious it doesn't seem
Speaker 2: like this is a highly policed area back here. I'm
Speaker 2: imagining it's either Marion or the county sheriff is the
Speaker 2: only ones ever back here.
Speaker 1: But also houses are close to the road, and you
Speaker 1: would be aware of dogs or children or you know,
Speaker 1: running out into the road.
Speaker 4: You don't, you wouldn't tear through You're not.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're not doing seventy five back here for sure,
Speaker 2: Like I'm going thirty eight maybe.
Speaker 1: And that feels quick, yeah, and appropriate. The rural back
Speaker 1: roads gave into more suburban sprawl as we got closer
Speaker 1: to the young It is a blinking solar stop sign,
Speaker 1: so there must be enough traffic on the road to
Speaker 1: warrant that.
Speaker 2: That looks like a main Thoroughfarewell we just turned off of,
Speaker 2: and this one does as well. It's relatively freshly paved.
Speaker 2: Much more residential housing on this m.
Speaker 1: Street, higher end looking homes.
Speaker 2: For sure, newer built as well.
Speaker 4: Like permanent driveways.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I would hazard to guess these were all
Speaker 2: built in the last ten to fifteen years. It looks
Speaker 2: like to me, we're about six minutes into the drive,
Speaker 2: we're about a mile from the gas station.
Speaker 1: And it very much is a little suburban community nestled
Speaker 1: around a cornfield.
Speaker 2: Yes, like I can guarantee that at one point this
Speaker 2: was all farm land not too long ago, all right,
Speaker 2: So we were on the stretch round nine tenths of
Speaker 2: a mile. You can see the Marianne water Tower. We've
Speaker 2: got a main thoroughfare door left over here.
Speaker 4: That looks like another church.
Speaker 6: I mean there.
Speaker 1: You can't throw a stone without hitting a church. A
Speaker 1: lot of churches cast a stone without hitting a church.
Speaker 2: There you go.
Speaker 5: In a quarter miles, we're seven times.
Speaker 2: We're getting the young the hawkses.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're already seven minutes and thirty seconds in
Speaker 1: about making that turn.
Speaker 2: Okay, so she's gonna getting her left lane here. It's
Speaker 2: a two lane highway. We're hitting a light. Just beyond
Speaker 2: this light is going to be the Hawks on the left.
Speaker 1: And you know what, I understand why she would have
Speaker 1: pulled in there to turn around, because now we're in
Speaker 1: a much more commercial, multi lane main road.
Speaker 2: And this makes me feel way better about her story
Speaker 2: because this is the first and only light that we've hit.
Speaker 2: This is where she claims that she goes into her
Speaker 2: purse and realizes that she did not have her cards
Speaker 2: with her when she told me the story last night,
Speaker 2: she was like, well, it was like halfway this is
Speaker 2: eyeshot of the Hawks. Yeah, okay, So that makes way
Speaker 2: more sense to me why she would have just continued
Speaker 2: to go to the Hawks for nothing else to turn
Speaker 2: around to go back, you know what I'm saying. I mean,
Speaker 2: that makes way more sense to me.
Speaker 1: We pulled up along the gas pumps at Hawks where
Speaker 1: Julia Beverly was captured on security cam discarding a small
Speaker 1: plastic bag.
Speaker 2: So we have three lanes of pumps, all of which
Speaker 2: have garbage receeptacles in between the sets of pumps.
Speaker 1: And when we say garbage, I mean we're talking garbage cans.
Speaker 1: We're not talking a dumpster exactly. But interestingly enough, the
Speaker 1: one that we just pulled up to has contracting debris.
Speaker 2: Exactly in it. All right, So took us nine minutes
Speaker 2: fifteen seconds to get here catching that light, which we
Speaker 2: knew she caught the light as well when she realizes
Speaker 2: that she doesn't have her debit card.
Speaker 1: This is important to note because the prosecution contends it
Speaker 1: would have taken Beverly six to seven minutes to make
Speaker 1: the drive. Google Maps approximate seven, but with having to
Speaker 1: wait out the red light. It took us over nine.
Speaker 2: She pulls in, you know, because she has two young
Speaker 2: children who are still pooping in diapers. Occasionally as a parent,
Speaker 2: you know that there are times that you have to
Speaker 2: change the diaper in the car. It happens. So she
Speaker 2: has the bag with the poopy diapers, gets out and
Speaker 2: she's going to I'm assuming opens the back door right
Speaker 2: grabs the diapers. Maybe she reaches around grabs them, and
Speaker 2: then she's gonna go dump right into this receptacle and
Speaker 2: we'll have to ask her which one she went to,
Speaker 2: if she went closest to, because I'm going to take
Speaker 2: a walk and see where the camera is.
Speaker 4: Okay, but this is a busy, very busy, very busy street.
Speaker 7: Very if you were disposing of bloody clothes and a
Speaker 7: murder weapon, right, would you do it in the broad
Speaker 7: daylight in front of multiple people and by multiple people?
Speaker 4: These are gas pumps. You have somebody five feet away
Speaker 4: from you at all.
Speaker 2: Times we're talking. This is in the morning on December fifth, daylight. Like,
Speaker 2: this is a busy gas station. I mean there's people here,
Speaker 2: a lot of people, a lot of traffic, a lot
Speaker 2: of foot traffic, people getting in out of their vehicles.
Speaker 2: All right, I'm going to walk up. I want to
Speaker 2: see I think I could see a camera.
Speaker 5: There.
Speaker 2: She comes here, it's about an eighteen inch opening, dumps
Speaker 2: the bag in here. Now, she would have gotten right
Speaker 2: back into the vehicle. From what I've heard, they're able
Speaker 2: to see her toss the bag.
Speaker 8: And I'm curious if we can see what type of
Speaker 8: bag it was. Is it a bag from Kroger, like
Speaker 8: the plastic bags they bag or groceries in or is
Speaker 8: it a garbage bag that's it.
Speaker 1: We've confirmed that it does appear to be a plastic
Speaker 1: shopping bag for Walmart.
Speaker 2: Exactly. So there's the camera.
Speaker 4: Oh there's another one over there.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, so that would have been the one
Speaker 2: that would have caught those pumps over there, I'm imagining.
Speaker 1: So this, So then that's even more suspicious because why
Speaker 1: would you go to the closest pump where you can
Speaker 1: be monitored by the person looking out the window.
Speaker 2: Exactly, there's twelve pumps, and this is a busy gas station,
Speaker 2: and we're within forty five minutes in which she would
Speaker 2: have been here, you know, and this hawks has a
Speaker 2: full convenience store in here. I mean, small towns like
Speaker 2: this has people get breakfast.
Speaker 4: Yet lottery slot machines.
Speaker 1: Why are you pulling up here if you don't want
Speaker 1: to bring.
Speaker 2: A place possible to dump evidence of crime.
Speaker 4: And there's a recreation center right there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like I mean that's a full park there, full
Speaker 2: children park with a full playground in there.
Speaker 1: The Huck station on DeJong Route thirteen Beverly crossed over
Speaker 1: oncoming lanes of traffic to pull into boasted heightened security
Speaker 1: in keeping with the amount of money and traffic that
Speaker 1: combination of business would attract. Standing at this very busy
Speaker 1: gas station slash casino, it was pretty obvious there were
Speaker 1: many places that would have been better suited for discarding
Speaker 1: murder evidence, including the rural area surrounded by abandoned baseball
Speaker 1: fields where the murder occurred.
Speaker 5: From that light, there's five businesses all that would have
Speaker 5: been on the side of the road that she was
Speaker 5: driving on, which all would have made more sense if
Speaker 5: you're dumping evidence.
Speaker 1: And there was something else that Hucks was just a
Speaker 1: block and a half away from another gas station, one
Speaker 1: that was managed by Beverly's mother, Renee high Tower. Why
Speaker 1: wouldn't Beverly have gone there if she was ditching evidence. Yes,
Speaker 1: story does not make sense from the prosecution's standpoint right now,
Speaker 1: for all the bumps that we're seeing from Julie's version,
Speaker 1: it's not sensical from the prosecutions. Murder on Songbird Road.
Speaker 1: We'll be back after the break here again is murder
Speaker 1: on Songbird Road. The reality was that Beverly was about
Speaker 1: to be sentenced for a crime she may not have committed.
Speaker 1: That weighed heavily as we left the Huck station and
Speaker 1: drove to Renee High Towers home.
Speaker 2: So we're going to head to Julie's mother's house, Renee.
Speaker 1: That home belonged to Renee's mother, who passed a little
Speaker 1: over a year after watching her granddaughter arrested there. All right,
Speaker 1: I think we're going to know it's Renee's home when
Speaker 1: we see the Halloween decoration right. High Tower's modest home
Speaker 1: situated about eight miles northwest of where the murder occurred.
Speaker 1: When I Google map the address, the image that appeared
Speaker 1: showed a large we still stand with Julie banner hanging
Speaker 1: from the front porch, but we were anticipating a much
Speaker 1: bigger display in person. Oh my gosh, you get to
Speaker 1: see the Halloween decorations.
Speaker 2: I'll close and persp close, I'll.
Speaker 4: Grab my Do you want your notebook?
Speaker 2: I do?
Speaker 4: We get all the gear for Halloween.
Speaker 1: Renee high Tower had transformed her entire front line and
Speaker 1: porch into an elaborate and creative protest display, with individual
Speaker 1: vignettes targeting every individual she believes corrupt or at fault
Speaker 1: regarding her daughter's conviction. Okay, now wait, we have to
Speaker 1: look at these Danny boy bias. Justice sentenced the dishonorable
Speaker 1: judge paint Huh severely blinded by tunnel vision toll wrong
Speaker 1: storyline and tripped up, lost his memory and left wandering.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: She posted video of the installation on Facebook, but it
Speaker 1: was even more impressive in person.
Speaker 2: Renee has a graveyard with nine headstones, all relating to
Speaker 2: people that I think that she believes pretty pretty strongly
Speaker 2: screwed her daughter.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I'll look at the front They lied
Speaker 1: and manipulated an investigation.
Speaker 2: Oh it's called the Shady Blue Cemetery.
Speaker 1: The artistry and humor intertwined with the anger that fueled
Speaker 1: the hours that must have gone into crafting the incredibly
Speaker 1: detailed pieces is daunting and somewhat heartbreaking.
Speaker 2: So this is what a mom fighting for justice. It's like,
Speaker 2: look close and personal.
Speaker 4: This is what somebody who's out of fs to give.
Speaker 6: Yep, yep.
Speaker 2: Unless she's calling it less, she sees it, you know,
Speaker 2: which I respect. So I'm a.
Speaker 4: Big fan of that. You know, all right, let's go
Speaker 4: in this Danny boy, I don't know, I'll have.
Speaker 1: To ask.
Speaker 9: Order.
Speaker 1: It was indeed referencing local reporter Danny Vaye, who I
Speaker 1: have found to be very candid and thoughtful in revisiting
Speaker 1: his covering of the case.
Speaker 4: Oh yes he is, because there is.
Speaker 1: She even has the news flag attached to the microphone.
Speaker 4: Hey hi hi.
Speaker 1: Renee radiates a very grounded energy in person. She's direct
Speaker 1: and controlled, quick to laughter at times, but otherwise pretty stoic.
Speaker 1: It's not at all surprising. She was married to a
Speaker 1: cop at one point and has two sons in the
Speaker 1: armed forces. She favors non frilly, dark clothing, which compliments
Speaker 1: her dark hair, which is often topped with a hat
Speaker 1: of some sort. She's only about five foot one, but
Speaker 1: there's nothing petite or meek about her.
Speaker 4: It's fitting. She's a manager.
Speaker 1: She comes across as one who gets things done. Upon
Speaker 1: entering the house, we were immediately met by piles of
Speaker 1: neatly wrapped and stacked Christmas presents, even though it wasn't
Speaker 1: even Halloween yet.
Speaker 3: It was early makes piece.
Speaker 1: In real time we realized Renee wasn't ahead of Christmas,
Speaker 1: but rather it was postponed when Julia Beverly was arrested.
Speaker 10: These are the presents sitting from three years ago. I'm
Speaker 10: still waiting.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 4: Hey, I'm Lauren.
Speaker 10: This is my oldest son.
Speaker 4: Nice to meet you.
Speaker 10: And the puppies?
Speaker 2: Was that a cat or a puppy?
Speaker 10: Puppies?
Speaker 2: You watch your TV?
Speaker 4: I'm Lauren, Nice to meet you.
Speaker 1: We settled down at her dining room table with Renee
Speaker 1: and Julia Beverly's oldest brother, Michael.
Speaker 4: And Michael, you flew in two days ago?
Speaker 11: Yes?
Speaker 4: Okay? And where where do you live?
Speaker 9: I'm in in California?
Speaker 4: Got it?
Speaker 1: Got Michael, like all of Renee's four children, is mixed race.
Speaker 1: He's reserved, thoughtful, and clean cut, all in keeping with
Speaker 1: his profession as an aviation mechanic in the US Navy.
Speaker 1: Like all of her sons, he stands just under six foot,
Speaker 1: towering compared to the petite sister he's traveled to support
Speaker 1: it sentencing. He listens intently, taking in the two strangers
Speaker 1: at his mother's table and their microphones.
Speaker 2: Property made the drive to Hawks thanks you're saying about
Speaker 2: with nine minutes.
Speaker 4: So we caught the light.
Speaker 2: I spent a couple of hours many two and a
Speaker 2: half freezon night, bought off the Williamson County Jail over
Speaker 2: there time, ye Julia was saying.
Speaker 1: Stat Next to Renee are multiple large binders she's been
Speaker 1: filling with every news clip, social media post, or official
Speaker 1: record of the murder for which her daughter is about
Speaker 1: to be sentenced. They're about five or six of them
Speaker 1: and they're all full.
Speaker 10: I wanted to show you you guys were talking about
Speaker 10: to mouse, Yeah, and this kind of shows you a
Speaker 10: little bit the lay of it, the way it was
Speaker 10: set out there, so you can kind.
Speaker 4: Of see high tower.
Speaker 1: Wanted to share photos of the crime scene that show
Speaker 1: Beverly's car was moved before it was examined by the
Speaker 1: crime scene investigator.
Speaker 10: So this one is the very first picture where Julie's
Speaker 10: car is way there on the driveway, and then the
Speaker 10: others we took to show where it's moved and This
Speaker 10: is like a straight down vision of the house.
Speaker 4: Okay, So show me show me the car being.
Speaker 10: Moved where it was and where right here's her car
Speaker 10: way up there right here, okay, and they moved it
Speaker 10: over here for what reason, don't know.
Speaker 2: What's the timeframe of the car bed this is.
Speaker 10: You can see the ambulance are there, okay? And this
Speaker 10: you see they're rolling out the tape here and her
Speaker 10: car has been moved. Julie was still there when they
Speaker 10: were rolling out the tape.
Speaker 4: So did they ask her for her keys or her
Speaker 4: keys out the car?
Speaker 10: She was on the porch hysterical.
Speaker 1: I was trying to tell Bob they found a DNA
Speaker 1: thing in the car.
Speaker 10: What they found in the car was little tiny specks
Speaker 10: like the top of an eraserhead. It was only Joy's.
Speaker 4: Well, they did.
Speaker 10: Test and the DNA that was found in the car
Speaker 10: was on the steering wheel, and it was Mike's because
Speaker 10: they both drive the car.
Speaker 1: No, but it was if someone moved the car and
Speaker 1: they had interacted with Julie.
Speaker 4: It's quite possible that that was transference. Quite possible.
Speaker 1: No acknowledgment of Beverly's car, ever having been moved, has
Speaker 1: been mentioned. Not during the trial or in any official documents,
Speaker 1: Renee has seen being moved at the crime scene by
Speaker 1: someone other than Beverly. Aside, her vehicle wasn't processed by
Speaker 1: the crime scene investigator until December seventh, two days after
Speaker 1: the murder and after it had been moved into storage.
Speaker 1: That leads us back to the evidence. The prosecution believes
Speaker 1: Beverlely drove to Hawks to discard.
Speaker 2: So today we took the exact same round she took,
Speaker 2: all rural until you hit the Young and that light
Speaker 2: is like a half a block, So, like, that made
Speaker 2: way more sense to me. It's frankly, that's where she's
Speaker 2: turned around. She pulls into the Hawks to turn back
Speaker 2: to go back to the house. You know, she's first
Speaker 2: telling me the story and I'm like, why are you
Speaker 2: still going to Hawks? That sucks to me, It doesn't
Speaker 2: make any sense. So now when we did the drive,
Speaker 2: it made way more suck.
Speaker 1: Because you realize you're on a multi lane, busy road
Speaker 1: and you need to turn around. We went in and
Speaker 1: looked at the security camera set up they have there.
Speaker 1: She would have known, because you manage a gas station
Speaker 1: that that would probably be the worst possible place if
Speaker 1: you wanted anonymity or it's not very.
Speaker 2: Good to stop out in superiod, you know, it's like
Speaker 2: because you're trying to tell yeah, right, exactly.
Speaker 9: Yeah, we did tell them about it, and they looked
Speaker 9: and they didn't find it, right, nothing, nothing, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Because no, But then they then they go to the
Speaker 1: dump and find three unrelated items evidence.
Speaker 2: Do you guys know, Like, there's no way in any
Speaker 2: trial that I'm a part of as an attorney that
Speaker 2: they're getting that into evidence.
Speaker 1: Ever, much was made by the prosecution of the extensive
Speaker 1: search of the dump by investigators while they're digging at
Speaker 1: the dump did end up unearthing a discarded shower curtain
Speaker 1: and several random utensils. None of those things were linked
Speaker 1: by DNA to the crime scene.
Speaker 10: When this officer was on the sand, sane crossed and said,
Speaker 10: do these have any relation to this case?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 10: Any relation to any case?
Speaker 4: And Mary, it's the damage is done.
Speaker 2: There's the old saying that you can't unring a bell,
Speaker 2: and you can take the skunk out of the jury box,
Speaker 2: but you can't get rid of the smell, you know,
Speaker 2: And that's exactly when when that when knives are introduced
Speaker 2: of any kind in a juror's mind.
Speaker 4: I do not in.
Speaker 9: Terse.
Speaker 1: Thein was Julie Beverly's public defender. While preparing for Beverly's trials,
Speaker 1: she lost two different second chairs before ultimately heading into
Speaker 1: court unassisted. A second chair is a lawyer who assists
Speaker 1: the lead attorney in court. Their role includes knowing key
Speaker 1: documents and exhibits, taking comprehensive notes, and assisting in strategic
Speaker 1: preparations for trial. Tom Slayton was thean's initial second chair
Speaker 1: and interviewed Beverly in the first six months after her
Speaker 1: arrest before going over to the prosecution. This conflict is
Speaker 1: why a special prosecutor, Jennifer Mudge, was brought in. It
Speaker 1: is hard to speculate as to why random items with
Speaker 1: no connection to the crime or crimes were ever ruled admissible.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's incredibly damning.
Speaker 1: Because that gives them reasonable doubt of her innocence.
Speaker 2: It's there. I don't care what theme asks after the fact,
Speaker 2: you know that, because people consider that just lawyering. Oh
Speaker 2: it's a defense lawyer.
Speaker 10: Lawyer is That's exactly how it was portrayed in social
Speaker 10: media because everybody, oh, they found their weapons. This is
Speaker 10: what they were though they were rusted. One was a
Speaker 10: small sickle and one was a breadknife.
Speaker 2: A breadknife the murder weapons. But like what gets portrayed
Speaker 2: in social media is exactly what is going through the
Speaker 2: jurors minds. It's it's like a mirror image. I always
Speaker 2: say it, Like when I'm doing like Core TV stuff
Speaker 2: or whatever, I always reference my Twitter account because I'm
Speaker 2: very active about the cases that I'm covering on there,
Speaker 2: and I know what the temperature is on cases in
Speaker 2: terms of what the people who I consider to be
Speaker 2: exactly who are the jurors in the box. This is
Speaker 2: what their temperature is in terms of that defendant in
Speaker 2: any case. And it's always the mirror image. And I
Speaker 2: know from twenty years of doing this, that is what
Speaker 2: the jury's thinking. It's going to mirror with the people
Speaker 2: just regularly people that are following the case. That's what
Speaker 2: they're going to be thinking.
Speaker 1: During the trial, Mike Beasley was not asked to be recognized.
Speaker 1: Any of the items that were implied came from his house,
Speaker 1: including a purple shower curtain brandishing a giant butterfly. No
Speaker 1: shower curtain was reported missing from the crime scene, and
Speaker 1: Renee says the couple wouldn't have owned one that looked
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 4: The other thing that strikes.
Speaker 1: Me is so odd. There is no way that if
Speaker 1: my daughter had been killed and my significant other had
Speaker 1: wrestled with an intruder, that I would not be with
Speaker 1: my I mean basically wife, well, the mother of two.
Speaker 2: Of your kids.
Speaker 10: Yeah, Michael was with me night when we took Julie
Speaker 10: over to see him, and it was DCFS that got
Speaker 10: there right when we did, right because she came up
Speaker 10: and talked to Julie and she kind of told Julie
Speaker 10: that she wouldn't be able to see her children, and
Speaker 10: that did Julie start crying again, and she wanted to
Speaker 10: talk to Mike because.
Speaker 1: The night of the tragedy, she's not allowed to see
Speaker 1: her gay right, you know, she's not been formally charged
Speaker 1: with anything, and she's not allowed to see her children.
Speaker 2: I mean, that doesn't surprise me. We can't pretend for
Speaker 2: like one second that she's not the prime suspect. Again,
Speaker 2: she's the last people, like last person to see Jade alive.
Speaker 2: She's calling it in. She was at the scene, Like
Speaker 2: I get it. Like that doesn't surprise me because that's
Speaker 2: just how law enforcement operates, you know what I'm saying, Like,
Speaker 2: the problem is that they formed the tunnel vision immediately
Speaker 2: within I don't know how many minutes of speaking with
Speaker 2: her in whatever cops are initially they're they're like like
Speaker 2: in their minds, I don't give a shit what they're
Speaker 2: saying in their reports. They're immediately like she's the one.
Speaker 2: In terms of the relationship between Mike. To Lawren's point,
Speaker 2: if I'm rolling up home and I see ten police
Speaker 2: cars out there, or if I've gotten a call from
Speaker 2: law enforcement and like, yeah, you need to get home
Speaker 2: right now. There's something tragic has happened, and I'm speeding
Speaker 2: home and they're telling me, well, your daughter's been murdered,
Speaker 2: and they're telling me I can't talk to my wife.
Speaker 2: I'm like losing my mind. The concept of him cutting
Speaker 2: off all communications to this day without a word being
Speaker 2: spoken between the two of them is beyond desire. And
Speaker 2: that's not me saying that I think Mike's involved in a
Speaker 2: mew wish reform, but it's a very befuddling situation for
Speaker 2: me to try to wrap my mind around. It's crazy
Speaker 2: to me.
Speaker 9: I've always thought that he's a passive guy. So Suly said,
Speaker 9: these are.
Speaker 2: Same things, like she turned it completely non confrontation.
Speaker 9: Yes, absolutely, so you know she I feel like Julie
Speaker 9: would kind of like would get her way, right, So
Speaker 9: he's just kind of letting them lead him along, right,
Speaker 9: So he just kind of will go with whatever. So
Speaker 9: if Julie is not there, I kind of feel like
Speaker 9: he would just listen to.
Speaker 2: Whatever whoever story.
Speaker 9: Yes, and you know, of course he's greeting at that point,
Speaker 9: but he just he he kind of lets someone else
Speaker 9: take over.
Speaker 2: Anyways, Julie, you guys spoke to him, he won't.
Speaker 9: He wouldn't answer. I try to get ahold of him
Speaker 9: a couple of times he wouldn't answer. But me, I
Speaker 9: didn't really have a not like a bad relationship with him.
Speaker 9: But I've always been away, so I've seen him on
Speaker 9: holidays and stuff.
Speaker 1: But and we were fine.
Speaker 2: But it wasn't like you guys want to.
Speaker 1: He didn't socialize outside of the gatherings.
Speaker 5: No.
Speaker 9: No, when when he was here, I socialized more with
Speaker 9: the kids than him. He was just kind of he's
Speaker 9: quiet and and he I don't know, Yeah, I feel
Speaker 9: like he just he kind of let Julie lead him
Speaker 9: in their life. No, I don't want to say like
Speaker 9: he wasn't there for anything, but he just kind of
Speaker 9: sat back and let her run the house. So I
Speaker 9: think his mom also did that for him before.
Speaker 2: He met Julie.
Speaker 1: So if Julia Beverly was somewhat mothering in her relationship
Speaker 1: with Mike Beasley, it's that same maternal nature that makes
Speaker 1: her murder conviction so unbelievable to all her three brothers,
Speaker 1: including the youngest one, Ricky, who joined us at the table.
Speaker 1: He serves in the United States Air Force and for
Speaker 1: years was in the Air Force on our guard.
Speaker 11: I was just shocked at first hearing that that supposedly
Speaker 11: Julie did it, and you know, I'm running back through
Speaker 11: tilhood memories. I'm just like, there's no way. It's like
Speaker 11: it's like if some flat earther was like trying to
Speaker 11: tell me that the Earth was flat, There's no way.
Speaker 11: But they're trying to tell me, no, it's proof. Now
Speaker 11: I'm like no, Like, I mean, that's what I know
Speaker 11: my whole life. You know, I've known Julian my whole life.
Speaker 11: All these examples about f didn't make sense.
Speaker 9: Yeah, especially because on holidays she will she'll have two
Speaker 9: babies on her you know what I'm saying. She sit
Speaker 9: at the kids table, she'll you know what I'm like,
Speaker 9: she's she's a When we went to Salem for Nikki's
Speaker 9: wedding and she's taking care of other people's kids like
Speaker 9: all that, they all just went to her. No one
Speaker 9: even asked her to because she just ended up watching
Speaker 9: everyone's kids.
Speaker 2: She was a mom went through.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So what do you guys think is going to
Speaker 4: go down today?
Speaker 10: Well, I'm almost certain it will be a denial. But
Speaker 10: like I tell Julie, whatever happens today, it's a positive
Speaker 10: move forward. I just hate that she's even in this position.
Speaker 10: I think about what she's feeling going through it, and
Speaker 10: it bothers me because I can't fix it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but I mean, the truth means and that's the
Speaker 4: thing I mean.
Speaker 1: I want to make it really clear all of you
Speaker 1: guys cared about Jade. Yes, yes, you don't just want
Speaker 1: justice for Julie on us, right, you want justice for Jade.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back with Murder on Songbird Road. Now
Speaker 1: back to Murder on Songbird Road. Next, we headed to
Speaker 1: her sentencing, which took place in Williamson County Courthouse in Marion.
Speaker 1: It's a boxy, modern brick building which was apparently built
Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy one, with minimal use of windows who
Speaker 1: as to maximize energy efficiency. The resulting structure resembles an
Speaker 1: industrial warehouse. After clearing security, Bob and I sat in
Speaker 1: the back of the small courtroom, which was clearly divided
Speaker 1: by families and loyalties. Jade's relations sat to the left
Speaker 1: and Beverly's to the right. Local reporter Danny Vaye was there.
Speaker 12: Julia Beverly was found guilty in February of murdering j
Speaker 12: Beasley in twenty twenty, so it took about eight months
Speaker 12: for the sentencing hearing to play out. After the conviction,
Speaker 12: Beverly entered the courtroom today in handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit.
Speaker 1: I had not met Julia Beverly in person yet, but
Speaker 1: heard her arrival before I saw her. The courtroom quieted
Speaker 1: as a metallic clanking signaled the entrance of a petite
Speaker 1: woman clad in an orange prison issued jumpsuit. Her steps slow, deliberate,
Speaker 1: and waited by the heavy chains that shackled her briteite frame.
Speaker 1: Her hair was down and long, the length underscoring the
Speaker 1: time passed since her arrest nearly three years ago. Beverly's
Speaker 1: face remained blank as she entered the room until her
Speaker 1: eyes met with those of her eldest son, Jayden, who
Speaker 1: was seated with Renee, and her brothers. She acknowledged them
Speaker 1: all with a slight nod as her mouth gave way
Speaker 1: to a hint of the smile I'd seen on her
Speaker 1: social media, though heavier and short lived. Her face turned
Speaker 1: somber again as she turned towards the bench. All but
Speaker 1: the top of her head was engulfed by her chair.
Speaker 12: Once seated, Judge Stephen Green considering a motion today to
Speaker 12: a new trial that was filed by the defense just
Speaker 12: a couple of days ago, but Judge Green denied the
Speaker 12: motion due to substantial evidence presented at the trial. And
Speaker 12: before Green read the sentence, a family member from the
Speaker 12: Beasley side was allowed to read a victim impact statement
Speaker 12: saying that Beasley's death will continue to haunt the family.
Speaker 1: Mike Beasley was seated with a woman I recognized from
Speaker 1: his social.
Speaker 4: Media posts as Brooke.
Speaker 1: They apparently worked together for years a cracker barrel, and,
Speaker 1: according to their social media timelines, appear to have started
Speaker 1: a relationship within months after the murder. This didn't go
Speaker 1: unnoticed by Beverly's friends and family. According to screen grabs,
Speaker 1: Renee has shared Brookes social media often appeared to target Beverly,
Speaker 1: her friends and family, while very much implying she was
Speaker 1: now raising Beverly's three youngest children as her own. In
Speaker 1: one post, she snuggles Beverly's youngest son, who was born
Speaker 1: after Beverly's arrest, with the caption I may not have
Speaker 1: given birth to you, but you will always be my baby.
Speaker 1: Another one shows the infant, whose name has apparently been
Speaker 1: changed to Caine, wearing a Navy shirt emblazoned with the
Speaker 1: words raised by an awesome Mama. Renee Higtower finds this
Speaker 1: especially painful given her absolute lack of access to her
Speaker 1: grandchildren since the murder. Pain that is further compounded by
Speaker 1: the details of Beverly's birth while in custody of Williamson
Speaker 1: County Jail awaiting trial. They remain deeply disturbing. We'll break
Speaker 1: them down in much more detail in our next episode.
Speaker 1: Back to the sentencing, this courtroom was packed.
Speaker 12: There was sixty people inside the courtroom to hear the
Speaker 12: sentence and of increased police presence there.
Speaker 1: No recording was allowed, but mad and I were able
Speaker 1: to bring in small pads and writing implements.
Speaker 12: Special Prosecutor Jennifer Mudge recommended a sentence of over forty
Speaker 12: five years. The defense countered with a recommendation of the
Speaker 12: minimum twenty years, and they say because Beverly had no
Speaker 12: prior criminal history, Green said he took everything into account
Speaker 12: and then handed down a fifty five year sentence.
Speaker 1: The reaction in the courtroom was as immediate as it
Speaker 1: was polarizing.
Speaker 12: Some of the Beasley family were driven to tears as
Speaker 12: they heard the sentence. Beverly was also in tears and
Speaker 12: was allowed to hug multiple family members before being taken
Speaker 12: into custody and escorted to the Williamson County Jail.
Speaker 1: After the sentencing, Mada and I compared notes.
Speaker 2: Watching the dynamics in the courtroom was really interesting because
Speaker 2: I'm always on the other side of the bar. This
Speaker 2: is really the first time I've ever been in the gallery,
Speaker 2: like washing it as a straight up observer, and it
Speaker 2: was really interesting. And we had gone in and we
Speaker 2: had told Renee, look, we're neutral, we're Switzerland, and this
Speaker 2: thing here right now.
Speaker 1: But there were only two places you could sit right
Speaker 1: and there was no room on Mike's Mike's side and
Speaker 1: Jessica's family.
Speaker 2: Side, so we had no choice. It was just a
Speaker 2: really interesting dynamic. After the sentence was laid down by
Speaker 2: the judge, we see these two opposite sides. We see weeping, sadness,
Speaker 2: truly getting last hugs with her loved.
Speaker 1: Ones, sobbing as she hugs her eldest son, Yeah, Jade
Speaker 1: and goodbye.
Speaker 2: And we see joy, which seems so.
Speaker 4: Odd.
Speaker 2: Doesn't cure anything, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: It doesn't.
Speaker 2: It doesn't make anything better, It doesn't heal the wound.
Speaker 2: I guess it's like it's the only form of justice
Speaker 2: that we have. But the question that we have now
Speaker 2: is it justice. It's not justice if the wrong person
Speaker 2: has just been sentenced fifty five years in prison because
Speaker 2: she didn't.
Speaker 1: Do it, and if she didn't do it, that means
Speaker 1: whoever killed Jade it's still out the But what stuck
Speaker 1: out to both of us was the theme of religion.
Speaker 1: When Jade's great aunt on behalf of the family addressed
Speaker 1: Beverly before her sentencing, the word Christianity was almost wielded
Speaker 1: as a weapon, and that Beverly had not won because
Speaker 1: the children would be raised Christians, and the victim impact statement.
Speaker 4: It was very interesting that when she.
Speaker 1: Listed Mike and Julie's three children, she really punched the
Speaker 1: fact that they had changed her son, the infant she
Speaker 1: gave birth to in jail, and they changed it to Cain,
Speaker 1: as in canaan Abel, cana Abel witches Bible, Cain killed Abel.
Speaker 1: Towards the end of that statement, Matas scrippled down something
Speaker 1: and tilted his paper towards me. Holy shit, they think
Speaker 1: they're witches. The last word was underlined.
Speaker 2: Darkness the light evil.
Speaker 4: Oh that's what I wrote down in the line, Like.
Speaker 2: They're talking about witches.
Speaker 4: This whole darkness cannot drive out darkness, right, that's wild?
Speaker 4: All right, you have to get to the airport.
Speaker 1: So tomorrow I'm meeting with two of Julie's best friends,
Speaker 1: one who still is local, can be good stuff. And
Speaker 1: then Leah, Yeah, I'm gonna really hammer them as to
Speaker 1: had they ever seen her loser temper, had she ever
Speaker 1: complained about whether.
Speaker 2: Or not fucking witch? I want to know if they're wicked,
Speaker 2: if they're.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because they allegend that this was some kind of
Speaker 1: rich or.
Speaker 2: Something, because and you saw, like I saw, Renee's necklace
Speaker 2: definitely had like some pagan symbal tree or some like
Speaker 2: wicked like you know, I mean, it was definitely had
Speaker 2: that vibe to it.
Speaker 6: It's a fascinating angle and it could be a motive
Speaker 6: as to why this girl was railroaded, you know.
Speaker 2: What I'm saying, Or I mean, that kind of shit
Speaker 2: is frowned upon down here.
Speaker 1: On the next Murder on Songbird Road, we uncover the
Speaker 1: details of Beverly's treatment and custody.
Speaker 10: So I get every opportunity to degrade her, or belittle her,
Speaker 10: or even torture her.
Speaker 1: They did it, and the controversy surrounding the delivery of
Speaker 1: her son.
Speaker 9: The judge ordered Thomas would be taken as soon as
Speaker 9: the umbilical cord was cut.
Speaker 4: I wanted to scream at that.
Speaker 1: Moment, before I face Julia Beverly in person, she doesn't
Speaker 1: look like her mugshot. It's almost as if they wanted
Speaker 1: to magnify the half black side of her. Murder on
Speaker 1: Songbird Road is a production of iHeart Podcasts. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Taylor Chicogyne and Lauren Bright.
Speaker 4: Pacheco.
Speaker 1: Research writing and hosting by Lauren Bright Pacheco. Investigative reporting
Speaker 1: by Bob Matta and Lauren Bright Pacheco. Editing, sound design
Speaker 1: and original music by Evan Tyer and El Chicoine. Additional
Speaker 1: music by Ashra Kurtz. Archival elements courtesy of WSIL News three.
Speaker 1: Please like, subscribe, and leave us a review. Wherever you're listening,
Speaker 1: you can follow me on all platforms at Lauren brighte
Speaker 1: Pacheco and email the show with thought, suggestions or tips
Speaker 1: at Investigating Murder at iHeartMedia dot com. For more iHeart podcasts,
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
Speaker 1: your favorite shows. Thanks for listening.