WEBVTT - 8. The Evidence 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:04.360 Murder on Songbird Road is a production of iHeart Podcasts. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:10.760 Previously on Murder on Songbird Road. Julia Beverly's nine to 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:13.400 one one call wasn't the only one of interest on 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:14.640 the day of Jade's murder. 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:17.439 And this call was made at ten thirty for a 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:23.400 suspicious person. No way. He was out there belligerent talking 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:24.759 about harming somebody. 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:26.960 And it looks like there were two calls. 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.639 The police were responding to Julie Beverly's call, but it 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:35.440 looks like Marion police were already en route to a 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:39.000 call about a male in all black. 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:43.599 But I did overhear one of the officers state that 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:47.479 we had a ninety one one call. They were looking 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:52.400 for a person in a dark hoodie in dark hands, 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:55.240 suspiciously running through backyard. 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:57.800 There was a guy in a mask or a person 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:01.560 in a mask running through the backyard at that time, 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:03.600 and he made that call. He said, I made the 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:04.720 nine to one one call. 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:09.640 The property that's adjacent to the murder scene with multiple 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:13.440 bodies of water, a heavily wooded area, and now what 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:19.880 we're hearing a makeshift encampment for transient people and the 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:21.120 police don't check it. 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:23.320 That's what I can't understand. 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:28.080 Jason Bom Bob Mada, Bob, Jason, nice. 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:28.200 To meet you. 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:28.440 Man. 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:33.280 We have this adversarial system right where the prosecution's trying 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:35.800 to win and the defense is trying to defend their client. 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.440 What we need is an inquisitorial system. 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:45.399 I'm Lauren brad Pacheco and this is Murder on Songbird Road. 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:07.760 Obtaining the trial transcripts and Julia Beverley's interrogation video had 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:12.000 been a long, frustrating and arduous process. However, once we 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:16.320 had them, they provided incredible insights into the prosecution's case 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:20.960 against Beverly, particularly regarding the investigation. Would you date your 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:21.800 name so we. 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:24.919 Have voice identifications, Julia Bethley? 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:28.320 Can you give me your day of birth Julia. 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:30.040 For twenty three ninety one? 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:35.080 And do you have a middle initial E B, E 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:36.359 B E LA? 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:38.760 All right? 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:42.840 And the ninety one four, twenty three, four. 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.800 Twenty three and ninety one right, awesome. 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:48.440 I'm going to ask you. 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:52.440 Can you start all over from the beginning what happened home? 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:53.400 Oh? 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:55.120 Wait, wait, you sorry? 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:56.239 You did? 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.440 I need to read the nine of one to the 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:03.079 left of seated across from two detectives at a small 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:07.160 table in a compact interrogation room. A sweatshirt clad Beverly 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.359 waved her rights to remain silent and to an attorney 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:13.440 before agreeing to be questioned for what would end up 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:14.519 being ours. 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:15.520 Do you wish to. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:16.320 Speak with those today? 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:20.080 Many get your signature right now on your line. 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:26.400 The prosecution emphasized her staid demeanor during the investigation, but 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:30.280 Beverly's emotions are evident when she speaks about finding Jade. 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:35.040 I realized I didn't have my cards with me. I 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:40.520 turned around and came back home. Whenever I got home, 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:44.840 I saw the front door with open. As I went 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:50.120 to in, he came out and tried to grab the 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:54.880 knife from him. And at that time, just multiple things, 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:57.960 They're trying to grab them and stuff, and you got 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:01.040 cut on my hand. At that point he just ran off. 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.480 I ran in the house, tall boys. 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:07.600 Everywhere. 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:13.120 I ran to my dosthroom to grab my rag. I'll 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.800 white my hand real quick because it was bleeding, and 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:21.000 I ran to go find Jade when I found her 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:22.039 in the bath groom. 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:27.279 Before we delve deeper, let's recap the key bad facts 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.640 that ultimately led to Beverly's conviction for the murder of 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:34.920 Jade Beasley. We have she left Jade alone, she left 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:38.280 the dogs outside. She said she made it to Walmart. 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:43.280 That is the number one thing that people who've listened 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:48.279 to the podcast have hit me up with. They've said, 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:51.960 why did she lie? Why did she lie? The bulk 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.560 of the case against Beverly was built on the foundation 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.800 of her statements about making it to Walmart. Here in 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.760 Beverly's own words from her entire g on the day 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:04.000 of the murder is her account as questioned by Williams 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:08.560 and County detectives Cindy Geittman and Marion Police detective Karl Egemeier. 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:11.839 When was it that you realized you didn't have your cards? 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:18.760 When I brought to Walmart, pulled out my purse and 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.159 I was checking my phone, and that's when I realized 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:22.760 I didn't. 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:27.400 Have any of my cards with me. Okay, And then 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:29.599 you came back home. Yeah, okay. 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:34.719 Later in the interrogation, she's asked for more specifics about 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:35.760 that Walmart trip. 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:38.000 Did when you went to Walmart? 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:39.360 Did you go into Walmart? 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:43.360 No, I I didn't even get out cause the Finemart 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:46.720 pitched up my phone and realized I didn't have any 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:47.640 of my cards with me. 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.360 Okay, but you were in the parking lot. 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:52.080 Yeah, just a parking moort. 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:52.480 Okay. 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:58.600 On face value, the Walmart story appears to be a lie. 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:03.400 A quick aside. I had actually questioned Beverly extensively about 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:07.240 that Walmart trip over the phone the day before. And 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:11.440 you've mentioned the fact that lying is never good, but 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:14.240 lying to the police is particularly bad. 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:19.120 Well, I mean, if you're trying to get yourself arrested 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:22.560 and charged, that's the number one way to do it. 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:28.320 But again, I cannot stress this enough. It's so easy 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:32.200 to sit here in your chairs, or in your car, 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:34.520 or in your bed or wherever you're listening to this 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:38.359 podcast and think, well, I would never lie to the 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:41.359 police in that situation. I would tell the truth. And 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.320 again I'm going to restate this. If you've left your 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:49.560 house for fifteen minutes, okay, and you come back and 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:53.360 whoever it is, whether it's your kid, your step kid, whoever, 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:58.279 and you come back and that child has been brutally murdered, 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:02.240 brutally murdered, and that short of the span of time, 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:06.120 anybody who thinks that they are not going to think 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.200 that the cops are going to think that I did. 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.800 It is just not being honest with themselves. 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:14.680 I have suffer from that same delusion, because it wouldn't 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:16.120 be the first thing that I'd think of. 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:21.600 Really, the question for me always with respect to when 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.080 somebody in that situation lies, and we see it all 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:30.520 the time, is are they lying because they are in 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:35.200 protection mode? Or are they lying for a situation like 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:39.440 what Julie's talking about happening like her mind, because that 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:40.119 was her plan. 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:42.440 She thought that's what she was going to do. 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:48.080 When is the first time she mentions the Walmart stop? 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.800 Is it initially before she's brought into the station, or 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:53.480 is it when she's being interrogated. 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:58.080 It is I think on scene that she said that's 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.200 where she was going. She was heading to town, and 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:06.080 then her brain appears to have just filt in the 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:09.840 missing pieces. So by the time they're in the interrogation, 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:15.000 she's saying where she always parks because that's the easiest 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:19.960 place for her to unload the kids without feeling like 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.480 someone's going to park right next to her. Now, I 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:26.480 did push her in the conversation we had yesterday about that, 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.720 because I said, why did you go to Carbondale? There 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:36.079 was a local Walmart, Why that Carbondale, And without missing 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.200 a beat, she said, they are a bigger store and 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:40.839 they still had the Black Friday Bend sales left. 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:45.440 The bigger issue for me initially was the gap in 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.480 time from the time that she gets home till the 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.920 time that she calls nine to one one. That was 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:55.560 something that was tough for me to try to stretch 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:56.400 it out. 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:00.839 Remember, according to the prosecution's timeline, Beverly failed to dial 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:04.280 nine to one one for roughly thirty minutes after returning home. 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:08.319 This period of time, it's hard to account for all 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:10.760 of it. That has always kind of been my one 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.480 one thing more than anything else. Like, I completely understand 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.680 that when Julia decides that, oh my god, they're coming 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:21.679 after me, they think I'm the one who did this, 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:25.360 that she'd try to get herself away from that house 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:25.959 for longer. 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:28.400 If you're in her shoes. 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:32.959 And she's gone what fifteen to twenty minutes, you would realize, Okay, well, 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:37.720 that seems crazy that somebody like snuck in and did 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:39.880 this in the time that I just happened to leave 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:40.360 the house. 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:43.280 I think that that would probably be running through your mind. 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:48.240 I agree with you that it's suspect, but we unfortunately 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:53.840 are at the disadvantage of having to confirm the state's 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:57.960 timeline because the defense never challenged. 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:03.880 It right, and it's it's problematic, but it's still explainable 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:07.640 to me. Because you cannot know how you will respond 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:10.679 to a situation like that unless. 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:14.160 You're in it. People can speculate all day long. 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:16.959 I like to think that if I or on the 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:21.040 bus or a subway or on an airplane and somebody 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:23.760 pulled out a shank, that I would jump out of 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.560 my seat and I'd go tackle that person and save 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:27.040 the day. 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:30.720 I've had that kind of fantasy dream a million times. 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:34.199 Would I do that in real life? I have no idea. 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.319 You mentioned the gap in time, and that comes up 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:45.600 in the interrogation. She actually isn't asked about it. She 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:48.359 just offers that I found. 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:54.000 Her unless she could possibly not beat reading, and then 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:58.720 at that point just was waiting in the kitchen. I know, 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:04.320 I just kind of went to shut down panic mode. 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.960 I didn't know what to do. I felt like I 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:11.240 needed to do something for her to do. 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:18.080 Yeah, Julie shutting down as plausible when you have all 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:23.840 of those things trying to work their way around in 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.360 your mind and you're trying to make sense of it. 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.760 I could see that being crippling. I can see that 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:35.040 causing somebody to just freeze up, to freak out. 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:39.360 The word freeze immediately made me recall conversations I'd had 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:43.000 with three longtime friends of Beverly, Hillary, Katie, and Leah 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.199 during my first trip to Marian. Here are their combined 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.079 takes on that lapse of time before Beverly called nine 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:49.560 one one. 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.920 I could see her freezing, like just in horror. I 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:58.200 can see her just in total shock, like frozen, and 0:11:58.240 --> 0:11:59.440 I can picture her that way. 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.720 I can't even imagine how she even got the phone 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:05.520 to call. I wouldn't have even had it in me. 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:10.840 Incidentally, that's Leah, a former military police officer who, like Julie, 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:14.360 is mixed race and was singled out while attending Beverly's trial, 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.720 but we'll get into that later in Julie's shakes. 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:20.439 So so how she was able to dial the phone Onnestly, 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:21.239 I'm so. 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:21.839 Proud of her. 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.800 I know for a fact that oh Gosh, broke down. 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:29.360 She can't. She's just very emotional. She can't handle any 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:30.800 kind of thing without crying. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.920 What seemed like five seconds to her was probably twenty minutes. 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:39.320 She's a thinker, so she had everything going far. She 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:42.120 had I'm the stepmom, I'm the one who found her. 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:45.280 She had, I'm the mixed one in this white family. 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:47.440 I am the one of color in this white family 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:51.600 in this hick southern Illinois town. My girl that I 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:55.000 raised is gone. How are my kids going to be effective? 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:58.600 She probably had every bit of that running through her mind. 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.160 Then what would have seemed like a five second thought 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:07.560 was probably an absolute frozen moment of shock, of straight 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:08.640 and tears. 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:13.000 Let's not forget she was attacked by an intruder walking 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:17.200 into her home, then found her daughter dead. She is 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:19.640 in shock. No one can tell you how they would 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:23.320 respond in that situation. I've been in a lot of 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:27.840 stressful situations, and I've completely shut down at times where 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:32.440 I wasn't even able to speak, just cry. And I'm 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:38.800 not as soft as Julie. 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.120 Murder on Songbird Road. We'll be back after the break. 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:50.720 Now back to Murder on Songbird Road. Back to Bob 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:52.880 and his take on the time gap before the nine 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:53.600 to one one call. 0:13:54.160 --> 0:14:00.160 When I first read the Coburger probabill cause Affidavid was 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:02.640 a phrase that was used, and I think they called 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:07.400 it frozen shock phase. It was the exact same circumstance. 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:11.400 Bob is referencing the twenty twenty two Idaho four killings, 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:15.280 in which four University of Idaho students were fatally stabbed 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:16.640 in an off campus residence. 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:22.960 The roommate who saw the suspected killer walking out had 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:27.320 the bushy eyebrows and then in that case doesn't call 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:31.040 nine to one one. Ever, nine to one one didn't 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.560 get called till just about noon the following day. She 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:38.320 sees this stranger in the house at four am, four 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.920 thirty am and doesn't make the call. They use the 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.640 words she was in frozen shock phase. That one's explainable 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.720 to me. It's still a bad fact. 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:46.960 Though. 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.440 The injuries Beverly claimed resulted from a struggle with the 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:54.720 knife wielding intruder she says she encountered at the front door, 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:58.040 along with others she attributed to self harm, were also 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:02.880 under scrutiny. There was a bitemark on her arm, which 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:07.840 Beverly attributed to a self inflicted bite. That's when the 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:11.720 state brought in something that makes you and I both grown, 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:15.720 and that is bitemark evidence because it has been debunked 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:20.840 discredited as junk science. There's no shortage of wrongful convictions 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:24.680 that can be directly attributed to the junk science of 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:30.600 bitemarks identification and analysis. After a local dentist with no 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:35.080 forensics training made dental molds, an expert witness in forensic 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:39.520 odentology testified. The defense raised a continuing objection to the 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:44.040 witness's testimony, arguing it was inadmissible. However, the judge ruled 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:48.720 in favor of the prosecution, stating that any observational, not 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:53.800 theoretical evidence is admissible in court. Meanwhile, a swab from 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:58.080 Beverly's arm tested positive for Jade's DNA, though it was 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:01.880 not further analyzed to determine if it was saliva. As 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.440 a result, it remained unclear whether the DNA sample was 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:08.520 related to the incident or merely household DNA. 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:12.960 The DNA on the arm to me, was probably the 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:16.800 smoking gun in this case, in conjunction with the lies 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:22.600 about Walmart out of physical evidence that it existed that 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:27.880 DNA that they claimed that they that tested positive as 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:32.600 to being Jades, but they didn't go so far as 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:36.520 to figure out what the source was they didn't figure 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:41.200 out if it was saliva blood. It's inexplicable to me, like, 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:43.320 how are you not figuring that out. 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:49.240 Nonetheless, an implication was made, supported by the dentist's observations 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:52.360 that the bite mark was caused by Jade as she 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:56.280 struggled for her life. However, it's important to remember that 0:16:56.320 --> 0:17:01.080 the prosecution also argued that Beverly had thoroughly cleaned herself 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:04.360 after the murder to eliminate any evidence from her body. 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:08.240 Here's Bob, that's going to be the primary wound that 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.359 you're going to try to clean off if you know 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:15.480 that Jade bit you. So again, it's insane to think 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:19.919 that that would remain the one area where they found 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:22.639 Jade's DNA, because it would have been the one area 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:25.879 that she would have been sure to have cleaned off 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:26.960 the most thoroughly. 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:32.040 Furthermore, in twenty twenty two, the National Institute of Standards 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:36.560 and Technology reviewed the scientific foundations of bitemark analysis, concluding 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.119 there was insufficient data to support its validity as a 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:44.720 forensic technique. But what's even more significant the ARMSWAB taken 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:46.879 from Beverly on the day of the murder, which the 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:50.719 prosecution used to tie the bitemark to jade, despite the 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:54.320 fact it wasn't confirmed to be saliva. That swab was 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:59.080 the only DNA sample from Beverly that was actually tested. 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:05.040 You heard that correctly. None of Beverly's hand swabs, fingernail scrapings, 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:09.120 finger wounds, scratches on her forehead, or clothing were tested. 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:13.400 The only evidence analyzed from that DNA collection was that 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:18.960 one arm swab. How do you have all of her 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:22.440 DNA and you only test one thing. 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.159 It's unbelievable to me. 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.359 What's also hard to believe is who was deciding what 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:33.040 evidence was or wasn't tested. A particular excerpt from the 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:36.600 preliminary hearing transcript stood out to us right away. In it, 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.560 Julie Beverly's defense attorney is cross examining Cindy Geittman, the 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:44.480 lead detective. It's also worth noting again that this was 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:49.080 Geatman's first and last time leading a murder investigation, as 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.199 she has since retired. Bob and I will read that 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:53.920 exchange for batim. 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:58.920 So every piece of physical evidence would have at least 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:00.000 come into your journey. 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:00.359 Stiction. 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:04.000 You were the one that decides what goes to the 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:04.879 lab for testing. 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:06.440 Correct incorrect. 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:08.920 Who does make that decision? 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:13.440 At the time, at the beginning of trial, we were 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:17.800 using the Williamson County States Attorney's office, and Assistant State's 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:22.800 Attorney Lisa Irvin was the one that directed me on 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:26.400 what evidence to send to the state Police Lab for testing. 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:30.520 Okay, do you have any independent discretion in your own 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:34.680 investigation to determine what items should or should not be tested, 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:38.160 or what items you would suggest be tested. 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:44.080 I suggested items, and by my training it was I 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:47.120 was supposed to use her as the final decision on 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:52.800 what items were taken to the state lab. So was 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:57.720 the prosecution essentially dictating the scope of the lead investigator's investigation. 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:01.360 I've reached out multiple times to the current State's attorney 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:05.360 for clarification on whether this is standard protocol in Williamson County, 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:09.520 but to date I've yet to receive a response. Meanwhile, 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:11.120 Bob's not exactly shocked. 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:13.560 I mean, there's some truth to it. 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:17.040 They can't test everything, and they are allowed to cherry 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:20.720 pick evidence. They are allowed to pick and choose, even 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:26.160 though in theory they do have unlimited resources and they 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:28.960 do have a state lab that they're sending these things to. 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:33.560 When you're talking to lay people about it, They're not 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:36.560 going to like the answer. Well, they should be testing everything. 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:39.000 We're trying to get to the truth here, But the 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:41.720 reality is that they just don't test everything. 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:48.640 There's everything, and then there's what you would absolutely assume 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:52.720 they had tested, because it doesn't make sense that they 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:57.760 didn't test things like Julia Beverly's nail scrapings. If you're 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:03.280 so sure that she is guilty, why wouldn't you test 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:06.920 the swabs of her fingers on her hands, which were 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:12.440 covered with blood from what she contends were her defensive 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:15.199 wounds when she was met by the assailant, but what 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:19.399 the state contends were wounds that she sustained while she 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:22.600 was murdering Jade. Either which way, how do you not 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:26.679 test her nail scrapings? It would have been a slam dunk. 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:28.000 It's unexplainable. 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:30.480 You're asking me to answer a question that I couldn't 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.959 possibly answer because it makes no sense at all. Like 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:37.480 you said, it either opens and shuts the case immediately 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:43.000 because she's got Jade's skin under her fingernails and the 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:47.960 case is done, or it's somebody else's What I take 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:52.679 from it, more than anything else is not that the 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:56.080 state was cherry picking evidence that they wanted to test 0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:59.400 it because they wanted to keep a very narrow focus 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:03.080 potentially who this could have been that done it. And 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:05.280 I hate to do it to a fellow defense attorney, 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:08.600 but when you start getting the police reports in, there's 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:12.160 a million things that they should be testing, and they're 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:16.240 not testing any of them. I am filing emotion getting 0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:19.760 in front of the judge and asking the judge that 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:23.040 they order even if you have to narrow it down, 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:25.600 like they're clearly not going to pay to test everything, 0:22:26.359 --> 0:22:28.480 but I'm going to narrow down the three or four 0:22:28.600 --> 0:22:33.680 most critical pieces of evidence that I absolutely think could 0:22:33.680 --> 0:22:35.640 be exculpatory to my client. 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:37.840 I'm going to go in. 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:40.440 I'm at least making a record of it, even if 0:22:40.440 --> 0:22:42.720 the judge is going to deny it. I'm making a 0:22:42.800 --> 0:22:45.760 record because you know what, that's powerful on appeal. 0:22:46.040 --> 0:22:47.600 I was just going to say, I think that a 0:22:47.600 --> 0:22:51.800 lot of people don't understand that your hands are tied 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:56.399 on appeal by things that were raised as issues during trial. 0:22:57.000 --> 0:23:00.720 As we've seen, we have some very real issues, but 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:04.000 the fact that they weren't raised by her defense attorney 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:08.320 means that they cannot be tackled in the appeal. Honestly, 0:23:09.240 --> 0:23:13.680 the way in which her newborn son was immediately removed 0:23:13.960 --> 0:23:17.520 while she was a pre trial detainee speaks volumes to 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:22.520 me in terms of lack of presumption of innocence. That 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:26.919 wasn't raised during the trial. What was raised during the trial, however, 0:23:27.160 --> 0:23:30.040 was something Beverly has remained consistent about since the day 0:23:30.040 --> 0:23:33.080 of the murder. Her description of the alleged assailant. 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:34.920 Can you describe him for it? 0:23:37.400 --> 0:23:44.359 As black clothes, I mean, average bill, maybe a little muscular. 0:23:44.040 --> 0:23:45.560 Not I mean, couldn't really tell. 0:23:47.400 --> 0:23:51.480 He had like a fe mask so I could see 0:23:51.880 --> 0:23:56.119 from here, I could tell he's white. 0:23:57.480 --> 0:23:57.960 And then. 0:24:00.600 --> 0:24:06.440 You little taller and me maybe a few inches or so. 0:24:07.560 --> 0:24:10.480 Beverly has always described the male she says she encountered 0:24:10.480 --> 0:24:13.040 that December day as around five foot five or so. 0:24:13.640 --> 0:24:17.000 But as mentioned before, why if the guy is a 0:24:17.040 --> 0:24:20.720 fictional scapegoat, wouldn't she have made a made up man 0:24:20.920 --> 0:24:24.800 sound more imposing. Granted, Beverly's only four foot eleven, but 0:24:25.200 --> 0:24:29.040 the average height for American men is five feet nine inches, 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:32.960 and her then fiance, Mike Beasley stands about six foot 0:24:33.520 --> 0:24:36.000