1 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Before I ever met Jeremy's former girlfriend, Jamie, before I 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,879 Speaker 1: knew Jamie and Jeremy had a son together named Justin. 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: I read carefully through something she said about Jeremy in 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: a deposition. 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,600 Speaker 2: Good morning, it is November twenty eight, two thousand and five. 6 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:25,440 Speaker 2: You were here in winter Haven, Florida, taking the statement 7 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 2: of Jamie Nellam's n E l amf the office. 8 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,200 Speaker 1: She said something that as far as I could tell, 9 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: no one had ever looked into. 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 3: He told me he had killed a taxi cab driver 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 3: he was sixteen seventeen at Todd and that he had 12 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 3: gotten away with it. 13 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:47,919 Speaker 1: So when I finally got to talk to her, I 14 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: asked her about it. One of the things that we 15 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: learned about from your deposition was that I think they 16 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: asked if you were aware of Jeremy committing any other crimes, 17 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: and he said, to you killed the cab driver once. 18 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: Can you just walk us through what you remember of 19 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:04,839 Speaker 1: that moment. 20 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 4: Actually, we were at his grandmother's house. He had taken 21 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 4: me to meet his grandmother out in Saint Cloud somewhere 22 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 4: I think it was, and something had happened because Jeremy 23 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 4: was yelling at this guy and he was angry and 24 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 4: he I mean, he was furious with that. I can 25 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 4: remember him being so angry with this guy that he 26 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 4: was yelling at and he had his fist clenched. 27 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: Jeremy once told me about this conflict too. It was 28 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: between him and his mom's boyfriend. Jeremy said he was 29 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: accusing this boyfriend of abusing his mom. 30 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 5: I told him, Pierre touched my mom off, kill him, 31 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 5: And I meant that right. I'm just trying to straight up. 32 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: Jamie says she remembers that incident and Jeremy getting very. 33 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 4: Angry and he started a kind of lunge and his 34 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 4: grandmother said something it you need to stop. It's going 35 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 4: to be just like with. 36 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 6: That cab driver. I think what she was saying, and 37 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 6: she's going to kill him. Don't do that. 38 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 4: And I think that's what his grandmother was afraid of, 39 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 4: that he was going to hurt this guy. And I 40 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:18,239 Speaker 4: can remember asking him, like, what does she mean about 41 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 4: the cab driver and he said he said nothing, nothing, nothing, 42 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 4: and he kept putting me off, putting me off. Well, 43 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 4: it was middle of the night. I can remember us 44 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 4: laying down and we were on a mattress on the 45 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 4: floor and I was almost asleep, and I can remember 46 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 4: him saying, my grandma thinks I killed a cab driver. 47 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 4: That's how he said it. My grandma thinks I killed 48 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 4: a cab driver. And I didn't say anything, and he said, 49 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 4: are you asleep? 50 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 6: And I said no. He said, did you hear me? 51 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 6: And I said yeah. I said, did you kill the 52 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:57,359 Speaker 6: cab driver? 53 00:02:57,919 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 4: And he said yeah, but it was I got away 54 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:04,079 Speaker 4: with it, and then he won't talk about it anymore. 55 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: If you've been listening since the beginning of this story, 56 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: you've heard Jeremy tell me a little about this murder. 57 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 5: When I called it task to get a drive and 58 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 5: I'm just gonna rob him. But when I pointed to gunad, 59 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 5: I guess it just touch it boom. 60 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 7: You know, I know it. 61 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 5: Sooner or later, it's going to come back helm me. 62 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 5: I just wait for It's a matter of time. 63 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: Jeremy is in prison for life for murdering just one person, 64 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: Donald Moorehead, the man who's blood Jamie saw on Jeremy's pants. 65 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: Jeremy confessed to police the next day. Then when Kelsey 66 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: and I first met him in prison, he confessed to 67 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: two more murders. Leo Schofield's wife, Michelle, and a cab driver. 68 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: But the State of Florida insists those two confessions are fabrications, 69 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: that Jeremy is just seeking attention or manipulating me, a 70 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: naive writer who fell for his lies, and through it all, 71 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: they maintain their original claims that Jeremy Scott isn't worth 72 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: listening to, no matter how much evidence says otherwise. A 73 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: Florida prosecutor once told me, the only chance in hell 74 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: I have a one day convincing the state to overturn 75 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: Leo's conviction is to show them that Jeremy is telling 76 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: the truth. No one is going to reopen these murder 77 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: cases unless I hand them some undeniable piece of evidence 78 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: that corroborates Jeremy's confessions. So that is my mission, and 79 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: Jeremy Scott has become my most constant ally, someone I 80 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: believe is being more truthful and more credible than the 81 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: prosecutors and sheriffs, the ones who failed to properly investigate 82 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: them murders Jeremy is confessed to getting away with. That's 83 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: why I asked Jeremy for his help. Dear mister King, 84 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: he wrote me last year, I'm going to tell you 85 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: the whole story, he said, I want you to understand 86 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: I can be charged with this murder, and I'm okay 87 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 1: with this. I will never get out, So I'm going 88 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: to tell you. 89 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 8: Do you my manslef to have my feet soruti sorrys. 90 00:05:53,760 --> 00:06:18,600 Speaker 9: In this VASTI seihachish to the warm. 91 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 1: Stuff Bone Valley, Season two, Jeremy, Chapter four, Horse and Buggy. 92 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: After Jeremy confessed I'm taping and writing to killing a 93 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: cab driver, I brought everything i'd learned to the Ossiola 94 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: County Sheriff's office. This was a thirty four year old 95 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,799 Speaker 1: unsolved murder, and they said they'd look into it again. 96 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: I thought the detectives there would be grateful for the 97 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: leads I'd given them, but I was wrong. The Sheriff's 98 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: office blew me off. They never got back to me, 99 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: and I was banging my head against the wall again. 100 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: But then, one morning, after we'd made public everything we'd learned, 101 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: I got an unexpected message on Facebook. It was from 102 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: Buddy Shepherd, the first detective to arrive at the scene 103 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: of the murder. In Shepherd's profile pick, he's wearing a 104 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: white cowboy hat. I clicked the message. Mister King, it 105 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: has been brought to my attention that you might want 106 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: to speak to me. I am Buddy Shepherd, retired staff 107 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 1: inspector of the Osceola County Sheriff's Office. If in fact, 108 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: you do, please contact me. Thank you from a big 109 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: fan of all your books. I couldn't get anyone from 110 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: the Sheriff's office to give me the time of day 111 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: with this case, and now the lead detective at the 112 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: center of it says he wants to talk. 113 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 10: Hello, mister Shepherd, how are you? 114 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 11: A Shepherd's my daddy and he's in dead for three years. 115 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 9: Now, how are you? 116 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 12: Oh? 117 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 7: You're so pretty? 118 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 11: Watch out, Kogo baby, Now you get going from here. 119 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: Buddy's tiny three legged lapdog runs over to us. His 120 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: name is Kujo Kujo right. 121 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 9: Kujo definitely looks like a. 122 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 7: Oh my god, Kujo baby. Go to the house, honey. 123 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: I was surprised Buddy Shepherd wanted to talk to me. 124 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: He was the detective who first tried to pin this 125 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: murder on a man named Dan Odie. Dan was brought 126 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,559 Speaker 1: to trial for the murder twice, and after a hung 127 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,680 Speaker 1: jury in the first trial, he was found not guilty 128 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: by a jury of his peers, but his name was 129 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: still dragged through the mud. And in the first season 130 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:03,320 Speaker 1: of Bone Valley, I talked to several people who told 131 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: me Detective Buddy Shepherd threatened them, Like Tanya Dean. 132 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:12,679 Speaker 13: His name was Buddy Shepherd. I will never I just 133 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 13: got chills. I'll never forget that. 134 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 1: She was a fifteen year old single mother at the 135 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: time of the murder, and she said Shepherd pushed her 136 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:21,680 Speaker 1: to tell a false story. 137 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 13: And I remember telling my dad, Dad, they're making me lie. 138 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 13: They're telling me what I have to say, or they're 139 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 13: going to take my babies. 140 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,079 Speaker 1: And then there was dan Odie himself, the man who 141 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,439 Speaker 1: faced the electric chair because of Shepherd. 142 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 12: Oh, Buddy Shepherd, he was just he was bounding, determined 143 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 12: to frighten me. 144 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:43,199 Speaker 7: He wasn't going to let it go. 145 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: So why would Buddy want to talk to me of 146 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: all people? And did I want to talk to him? 147 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: Buddy had spent some time in jail for threatening a 148 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: guy on his front lawn with a gun. I didn't 149 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: want to be next. But in his message confirming our visit, 150 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: he wrote, I hope you are well, my favorite author. Damn, 151 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: this guy really knows how to turn on the Southern Charm. 152 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 1: Not long after that message, Kelsey and I were with 153 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 1: Buddy outside his trailer near Intercession City. 154 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:21,079 Speaker 7: He wanted to. 155 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: Address the accusations against him. 156 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 11: I didn't step on any laws or rules of evidence 157 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:37,199 Speaker 11: or anything, but they investigated me. 158 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: For the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the accusations 159 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: that Buddy Shephard was threatening witnesses to frame dan Odie. 160 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 14: Yeah. 161 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:48,680 Speaker 1: I was gonna say, they did an investigation and like 162 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 1: in a week, they cleared you. 163 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 12: Yes. 164 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: Sure it was hard, but I wanted to keep Buddy talking. 165 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: I asked him if he'd be willing to give us 166 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,320 Speaker 1: a tour of the crime scene, to take us back 167 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 1: to April of nineteen eighty seven, the night Joseph Lavera 168 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: was killed. Buddy has back problems, so he gets around 169 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: with a roll lader, sort of a walker with wheels 170 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: that you can sit down and rest if you need to. 171 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 9: In the back. 172 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: I folded up his roll lader and put it in 173 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 1: the trunk. Buddy sat up front with me and Kelsey 174 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,840 Speaker 1: sat in the back with her microphone pointed between us. 175 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:25,360 Speaker 11: If you want to just turn right here and yeah 176 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 11: restricted area. Oh, if we put that up for people 177 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 11: to shoot at. 178 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: The area just outside of Intercession City is still pretty rural. 179 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 1: We passed through farmland and prairies with cattle grazing along 180 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: the way, so Intercession City. The whole time Buddy was 181 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: in the car, I kept wondering why he wanted to 182 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: talk to me. 183 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:56,239 Speaker 7: All these roads in here are named after my family. Really, Yeah, 184 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:57,959 Speaker 7: I saw a Shepherd. 185 00:11:57,559 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 9: Street up here, is ain't you? 186 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,320 Speaker 1: Besides Jerry Jeremy, Buddy Shepherd and I are probably the 187 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:04,959 Speaker 1: two people who know more about this case than anyone 188 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,959 Speaker 1: else alive. And I'm convinced Buddy knows things I don't, 189 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: things nobody else knows. Maybe this former detective who wanted 190 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: to convict Dan Odie would now reveal some key piece 191 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:21,560 Speaker 1: of information or evidence to finally prove that Jeremy Scott 192 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: was the person who killed the taxi cab driver. I 193 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: want him to talk. 194 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 11: It was right about in here we pull over to 195 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 11: the side of Old Tampa Highway and park on the 196 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:38,559 Speaker 11: spot where Lavera's body was found in April nineteen eighty seven. 197 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 1: That night, a nearby resident heard gunshots and called police, and. 198 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 11: He, of course called USh And I was at home 199 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 11: in bed. Yeah, it was like midnight ers, yes, sure, 200 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 11: about mid nine, one o'clock, and they called me immediately 201 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:00,839 Speaker 11: and told me to get down here. 202 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 7: So I did. What was it like when you got here? 203 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:10,079 Speaker 11: The body was laying off road, probably about forty or 204 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 11: fifty feet. We had crime scene investigators already there, and 205 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 11: they set up some lights. And I'll never forget. I'll 206 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 11: never forget seeing that boy's eyes. 207 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 7: That was eerie. His eyes roping, Wow, his eyes roping. 208 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 11: I could see the whites of his eyes and eating 209 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 11: his pupils. 210 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 7: And that stays with you, right, it does. It stayed 211 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 7: with me till this day. 212 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 15: Because it was like a twenty five year old kid, right, Yeah, 213 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 15: he was just really a kid working his butt off 214 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,560 Speaker 15: as a taxi cab driver, and nobody should be killed 215 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 15: for doing their job. 216 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: Standing there on the side of the road with Buddy, 217 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: it became clear there was so much more to the story. 218 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: I still needed to understand, Like who was Joseph Laver. 219 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:11,559 Speaker 1: I wanted to know more, so I tried to track 220 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: down his ex wife, Janet. I sent her a few messages. 221 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: She never responded, but I had a rural address in 222 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 1: southwestern Georgia, that seemed promising. It would be a long drive, 223 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: but I had to try. When I pulled up to 224 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: the address, I saw an above ground pool in the 225 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: front yard with half a dozen kids splashing and laughing 226 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: in the water. On the porch, a young woman in 227 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: summer clothes stepped out, shielding her eyes from the sun. 228 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,240 Speaker 1: I introduced myself and explained that I was looking for Janet. 229 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: She seemed wary at first, her eyes narrowing as she 230 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 1: sized me up. The kids in the pool stopped playing 231 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: and their laughter faded as they turned to watch this 232 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: stranger standing in the yard with a thick Georgian accent. 233 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: The young woman finally spoke at It was her mom. 234 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: She's at work just up the road, she said, and 235 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: even offered directions. A few minutes later, I pulled up 236 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 1: to a small mobile home office situated along a busy 237 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: stretch of road. When I walked through the door, the 238 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: shopkeeper's bells chimed softly. A middle aged woman behind a 239 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: desk looked up and fixed her eyes on me. The 240 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: office was quiet and we were alone. I introduced myself, gently, 241 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 1: explaining why I had come to say. She was stunned 242 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: would be an understatement. She sat in silence, staring at 243 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: me for what felt like minutes. Sometimes reinvestigating a murder 244 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 1: case that's been shelled for more than thirty years can 245 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: stir up consequences. I try to tread carefully around. If 246 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:56,240 Speaker 1: there's one thing I've learned following this story to its 247 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 1: farthest edges, is that some people survive by burying their 248 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 1: most traumatic memories just to move on. And then here 249 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 1: I come, a writer with a podcast asking them to 250 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: revisit the very past they've worked so hard to leave behind. 251 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: As I explained my investigation into Joseph Lavert's death, she 252 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: glanced down, her fingers moving across her phone as she 253 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: sent a text, still not saying a word. I mentioned 254 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: that I'd tried to call her a few years ago, 255 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: and she responded bluntly she'd blocked me. I assured her 256 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: that I could answer any questions she might have about 257 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: the case. A few minutes later, the bells jingled again 258 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 1: as another woman walked in. Her name was Joy, Janet's sister. 259 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 1: After receiving Janet's text, she googled me and decided I 260 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: seem legitimate. With Joy's reassurance, Janet's demeanor softened, She relaxed 261 00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 1: and eventually agreed to speak with me. 262 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:03,200 Speaker 3: What was it like when I walked through this door? 263 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 12: Blew? 264 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 3: My mom shot me, devastated me. I just just shock. 265 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 1: I explained to Janet that I wanted to understand more 266 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,200 Speaker 1: about Joseph, about who he was before he was killed. 267 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:20,080 Speaker 1: I've never seen a picture. 268 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 3: I've been looking forever. I can't find a single picture. Well, 269 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:24,919 Speaker 3: you know, I only had one picture of him. He 270 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 3: didn't like pictures taken. Yeah, he looked he had dark JB. 271 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,120 Speaker 3: He had dark hair, skinny JB. 272 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: I didn't know that Joseph Lever went by JB. 273 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 3: A lot of hair, black hair, sick, very sick. Yeah, 274 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 3: it's handsome. Yeah, I mean I'm married, and of course 275 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,720 Speaker 3: he was handsome. He loved marshals. 276 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:54,439 Speaker 16: He had ninja suits, the numb chucks, the stars, the sword. 277 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 3: That was his stuff. I mean, that's what he was 278 00:17:58,040 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 3: majorly into. 279 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,439 Speaker 16: Yeah, we were like, it was best friends for you know, 280 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:08,199 Speaker 16: and then then we got married and right away we 281 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 16: were having a baby, very quickly. Actually we got married. 282 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 16: He loved the fish too, Oh, yes, loved the fish. 283 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: Janet tells me she and JB went fishing the day 284 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: before their son was born. 285 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 3: Oh yes, I was nine months pregnant. 286 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 16: Was out there fishing and freezing cold because christ was 287 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 16: born in December, and we're out there fishing. 288 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 3: I said, what happens if I go in labor? 289 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:33,199 Speaker 16: They said, we gotta get We got the way till 290 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 16: we finished fishing, and we laughed about it, and then 291 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 16: of course they went labor the next day for eighteen 292 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 16: long hours. 293 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: Janet and JB had a son together, a boy named Christopher. 294 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 1: Their marriage ended when Christopher was just two, but they 295 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: remained friends, and. 296 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 3: He was a cab driver. Had it only been for 297 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 3: a few months. I had been working there long. 298 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: Janet's last comversation with JB was about making plans to 299 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,120 Speaker 1: get together the next. 300 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,439 Speaker 16: Day, and so it was talking about going down to 301 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 16: the park and I told him I would make sandwiches 302 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 16: and and we just go down there and have a 303 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,400 Speaker 16: pet name and let Chris play and on the swings 304 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:15,880 Speaker 16: and stuff. 305 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 3: And I said, you know, what do you think? And 306 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 3: he said, that's a good idea. 307 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 16: He said, let's do that, And he said he wanted 308 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 16: to talk to me about something. 309 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: But JB went to his shift that night and never 310 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: made it home. 311 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,639 Speaker 16: We got a call I get three o'clock in the 312 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 16: morning that he had been killed, and then I had 313 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:40,120 Speaker 16: to tell Chris. 314 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 3: Then his daddy went to live with Jesus. 315 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,720 Speaker 16: But you know he's too, I said, he went to 316 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 16: live with Jesus. Now we we're not going to see 317 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 16: him no more because you know, trying not to cry. 318 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 16: You know, he's going to live with Jesus. And he 319 00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:58,880 Speaker 16: looked at me. Sat there a minute and he looked 320 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 16: at me. He said, how'd he get there? And I 321 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 16: let that him and I said a horse and buggy. 322 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 16: He said a horse and baky, I said yeah. He 323 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:11,280 Speaker 16: jumped down and as hard as he could run to 324 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 16: other than the house, hollering for my brother in law. 325 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 3: I'm a danny, up, a danny, up Danny and he 326 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,440 Speaker 3: said what son? He said, my daddy went to live 327 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,639 Speaker 3: with Jesus. And you know what he got there, no 328 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 3: or a horse and buggy. And he was happy because 329 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 3: his daddy rode a horse and buggy. 330 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 1: At his funeral, Janet learned what jab had wanted to 331 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: talk to her about. 332 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:37,040 Speaker 3: My best friend at the time. 333 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 16: He said that he was going to tell me that 334 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:43,159 Speaker 16: he loved me, and he wanted us to get back together. 335 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,160 Speaker 16: I was like, are you sure, and she said, yes, 336 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 16: He's called me and told me, you know that that's 337 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 16: what he wanted to talk to you about. 338 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: But Janet would never have that conversation with the father 339 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: of their son. 340 00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:59,679 Speaker 16: You know, he was only two and he loved his 341 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 16: dad and he never had that daddy. You know, he 342 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,120 Speaker 16: never had him all his love bad enough he got 343 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:10,840 Speaker 16: shot three times right, and then just left the lay there, 344 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:12,880 Speaker 16: and then nobody ever got to pay. 345 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 3: It's like his life didn't matter. 346 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,680 Speaker 1: It was Buddy Shepherd's job to find out who killed JB. 347 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,199 Speaker 1: A week after the murder, he had his suspect. 348 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,920 Speaker 11: We had a chalkboard and we wrote down anybody's name 349 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 11: that could have done this. We put dan Odie at 350 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 11: the top of it. Dan Odie was six foot three 351 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:54,879 Speaker 11: and weighed two ten two twenty and I mean a big, 352 00:21:55,480 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 11: raw boned cow man. I just not big muscle. But 353 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:02,679 Speaker 11: everything was just as tight as it could be in 354 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,359 Speaker 11: his arms and his chest. We were investigating dan Odie 355 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,640 Speaker 11: right from the very beginning. We had their wrist warrant. 356 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 11: We didn't tell anybody about it, and we come down 357 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 11: here and started following Dan around. 358 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 7: Dan was in a pickup shuckle. We started falling and. 359 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 11: He knew we were behind him, but he wouldn't come 360 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 11: into Ostiola County, and so I blocked him off and 361 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 11: I came out with a shotgun on him and we 362 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 11: put him on the ground and arrested him. 363 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:31,160 Speaker 7: Yeah. 364 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: We saw that picture in the Orlando sitting on did you. Yeah, 365 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:35,199 Speaker 1: he's like laid out on the ground. 366 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 7: Yeah. 367 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: Looking at all the case files, I could never figure 368 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: out why Buddy Shepherd set his sights on Dan Odie 369 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: for this murder. Buddy just tells me that's where his 370 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: investigation led him. What Buddy Shepherd didn't know was that 371 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:55,399 Speaker 1: at the very moment he began investigating who killed JB. 372 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: Jeremy Scott was hiding in an abandoned house just a 373 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 1: few blocks away from the crash taxi, waiting for Buddy's 374 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 1: dogs to sniff him out. Jeremy told me this, and 375 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 1: from what Buddy tells me, it sounds like police dogs 376 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,800 Speaker 1: had picked up Jeremy sent from a baseball cap that 377 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: was left behind in the taxi. 378 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,120 Speaker 11: We had two dogs from the time. They did track 379 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 11: himTo the abandoned house, but they lost him there. Tried 380 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,920 Speaker 11: to run a track from the taxi cab even gave 381 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 11: the dog the hat smell. But there have been so 382 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:38,360 Speaker 11: many people running the streets and everything that the dog 383 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:39,400 Speaker 11: got misdirected. 384 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: Okay, so the dog thought that whoever did this went 385 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:45,400 Speaker 1: to the abandoned house. 386 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:46,879 Speaker 7: Yes, sure, okay, yes. 387 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: Sir, the dogs got close, but they lost his scent. 388 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: Jeremy and I went over this too. 389 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,400 Speaker 17: I talked to the lead detective for that taxi cab 390 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 17: tain Yeah, and he told me that they had the 391 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 17: dogs out and the dogs like lost the scent at 392 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 17: an abandoned house, like they were that close. 393 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 18: See you know the railroad tracks right there, ye, yeah, yeah, 394 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,000 Speaker 18: you know I walked. I walk on the railad track 395 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:22,679 Speaker 18: the Steel park right you know, if bus train comes hit, 396 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 18: you're sick, gonna be going. 397 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 14: I never heard that before. 398 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:28,480 Speaker 18: Yeah, I didn't think it worked, But it didn't work. 399 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:34,719 Speaker 1: All these years later, Jeremy Scott is still waiting for 400 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 1: the police to hold him accountable. 401 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 3: Yeah. 402 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: I wrote a letter to Jeremy saying, I know it 403 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: must be difficult to replace memories from so many years 404 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,959 Speaker 1: ago and then write them down in a letter. I 405 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,359 Speaker 1: can't imagine how that must feel trying to tell people 406 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: all of this and they won't believe you. I just 407 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,200 Speaker 1: wanted you to know that I'm listening and I'm grateful 408 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,200 Speaker 1: to hear from you. Jeremy wrote back with a letter 409 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,439 Speaker 1: unlike anything i'd ever read. I'm going to tell you 410 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: the whole story, he wrote. I want you to understand 411 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: I can be charged with this murder, and I'm okay 412 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:34,679 Speaker 1: with this. I will never get out, So I'm going 413 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:39,359 Speaker 1: to tell you. What followed was a stream of details 414 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:42,320 Speaker 1: that could not possibly have come from somebody who just 415 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,159 Speaker 1: read about this case in the news. I'm going to 416 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:53,159 Speaker 1: read to you what he wrote. Dear mister King, I 417 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 1: might can't remember every little thing, okay, and what I 418 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,879 Speaker 1: tell you is true. He explained he'd broken into a 419 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,919 Speaker 1: CoP's house and stole a three point fifty seven magnum 420 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,120 Speaker 1: pistol he found in a closet. I got a ride 421 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: to Kasimi. It was after eleven thirty pm. I was 422 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 1: walking around. I really didn't know what to do. Then 423 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: I thought about showing the gun at someone and asked 424 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: for their money, like on TV, but there were too 425 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: many people around. Then I saw a taxi cab. Jeremy 426 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: writes that he got the number and called. When a 427 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 1: cab come to pick me up, I told him that 428 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 1: I wanted to go to Intercession City. I know this 429 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: place better than most. I lived there when I was little. 430 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:45,239 Speaker 1: I told him I live on Old Dixie Highway, so 431 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,919 Speaker 1: it's real dark out there at night. Once we passed 432 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,119 Speaker 1: the last house, I pulled the gun out. When he 433 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 1: saw what I had, I told him to keep driving. 434 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,199 Speaker 1: Once I know there ain't any home close by, I 435 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: told him to pull over, to turn the car off 436 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: and leave the lights on. Then we got out. I 437 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,160 Speaker 1: asked him where does he keep the money? That's when 438 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 1: he told me there ain't any because he just came 439 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,640 Speaker 1: on and I was the first person he picked up. 440 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: JB was lying to Jeremy. His shift was just about 441 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: to end, and he'd hidden one hundred and fifty four 442 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:32,400 Speaker 1: dollars in a folded map tucked inside the glove compartment. Outside, 443 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,119 Speaker 1: the night was pitch black, the round headlights of the 444 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven Dodged Sedan casting faint light along Old 445 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 1: Tampa Highway. JB was staring down the barrel of a 446 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 1: three point fifty seven magnum and this is the part 447 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:53,119 Speaker 1: of the letter where Jeremy describes the murder. I was 448 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: pointing the gun at him. I had the damn thing 449 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: pulled back and waved it at him. Then all I 450 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:04,480 Speaker 1: remember was hearing this loud boom. 451 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 9: I look at him, and. 452 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:09,639 Speaker 1: It seems that he was coming, and I shot him again, 453 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:14,840 Speaker 1: then once more. I'm sure that I shot that gun 454 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:19,520 Speaker 1: three times. It was crazy. I ran to the car 455 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,640 Speaker 1: and turned it around and was going real fast until 456 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,880 Speaker 1: I got to the stop sign. I turned and went 457 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: over the tracks, then turned real fast right. I was 458 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:33,360 Speaker 1: going fast and I couldn't stop it. Then I hit 459 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 1: a car and it hit another, I think. But once 460 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 1: I hit that car, I turned the wheel real fast 461 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: and I hit a pole. I remember trying to get 462 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: out fast. I got the gun in case. As I 463 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: was getting out, I heard and saw two people. Jeremy 464 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 1: writes that he knew one of them, someone named John, 465 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 1: and he says he yelled at them, told him the 466 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:10,120 Speaker 1: car was going to blow, then took off over the tracks. 467 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: In his letter to me, Jeremy included a hand drawn 468 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: map of the streets of Intercession City, carefully sketching the 469 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:21,440 Speaker 1: exact route he took in the stolen taxigab. After the murder, 470 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 1: he wrote, look at this map. It will show you 471 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:31,120 Speaker 1: the truth. With arrows and lines, Jeremy illustrated how the 472 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: taxi ricocheted off a parked car before crashing into a 473 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 1: light pole. He accurately labeled the streets and even drew 474 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 1: figures to represent the witnesses he saw approaching the scene. 475 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,040 Speaker 1: He also sketched a path to show the direction he 476 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: fled afterward. Nearly every detail matched police reports and witness depositions. 477 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,600 Speaker 1: His account went beyond anything that had ever been revealed 478 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:01,400 Speaker 1: in the media coverage of the case. At the end 479 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,800 Speaker 1: of his letter, Jeremy wrote, I really want to thank 480 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 1: you for helping me, because I feel it's the right 481 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 1: thing to do. That's why I told you the whole story. 482 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:16,720 Speaker 1: Seems that people listen to you. It turns out that's 483 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:31,880 Speaker 1: not always the case. By the time I got in, 484 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 1: Jeremy's confession verified his connection to Intercession City and how 485 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,320 Speaker 1: he was able to corroborate details from the murder of J. B. 486 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: Lavere that were never made public. I was feeling incredibly optimistic. 487 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: There was no possible way law enforcement could ignore this 488 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: new evidence. I took what I had to the Orlando Sentinel, 489 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: and they decided to do a front page features story 490 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 1: about my investigation. They even reached out to the Sheriff's 491 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:01,719 Speaker 1: office in advance for a comment, and the sheriff responded 492 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 1: with this, thank you for your patients. As we gathered 493 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: the facts. Following the meeting with mister King in twenty 494 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 1: twenty one, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office did re examine 495 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 1: the Lavere homicide case. After a careful review, we did 496 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: not find any facts to substantiate the claim that Jeremy 497 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:24,920 Speaker 1: Scott was the killer. We believe, based on the evidence, 498 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:37,640 Speaker 1: Daniel Odie is and was the correct suspect. When I 499 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 1: read their response, I was stunned and furious, and the 500 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 1: more I read, the worse it got. The Asciola Sheriff 501 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: publicly smeared Dan's name, once again, calling him a murderer 502 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 1: who had gotten off on a technicality. Let's be clear, 503 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: Dan Odie was acquitted because a jury of his peers 504 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:01,800 Speaker 1: found him not guilty of murder. There's nothing technical about that. 505 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 1: Now this had turned into something I couldn't walk away from. 506 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: I had waited, trusted, and expected officials to take action 507 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:14,800 Speaker 1: to dig deeper for the truth. The Asciola County Sheriff's 508 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: office might have decided to ignore Jeremy's confession and the 509 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:21,000 Speaker 1: evidence I'd gathered, but that didn't mean I was going 510 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: to let it go. There were still untapped pass in 511 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,480 Speaker 1: my investigation, and now I knew exactly where I had 512 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:32,000 Speaker 1: to go. When the Sheriff's office wouldn't act, I turned 513 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 1: to the prosecutors. Ah, shit, that's terrible. I'm gonna park 514 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:41,200 Speaker 1: this again. I just parked in a really shitty spot. 515 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 1: One of those days, one of those days. How are 516 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 1: you feeling about this, Causie, I feel confident. 517 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,680 Speaker 10: I was already awake when my alarm went off this morning. 518 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 10: I was just already laying in bed thinking about it. 519 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 9: So this one I actually have a good feeling about it. 520 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: I reached out to the Ninth Circuit State Attorney's office, 521 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 1: knowing that they had the authority to conduct their own 522 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 1: investigation into who killed JB. I managed to arrange a 523 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:21,800 Speaker 1: meeting with Chief Assistant State Attorney Ryan Williams and two 524 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: investigators from his office. He said, just text, send me 525 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 1: a text message when you are downstairs. I'll come to 526 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 1: escort you in. They agreed to meet with me and 527 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 1: Kelsey on a federal holiday, no less because we were closed. 528 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 7: I will also be dressed more casual than usual. 529 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: Please feel free to be casual too late, dude, should 530 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: I take off my deck at Then we walked toward 531 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,160 Speaker 1: the office and mentally prepare for what should be an 532 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,240 Speaker 1: important meeting. We should do a selfie in front of 533 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 1: the courthouse for later. I don't think we need to 534 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 1: do a selfie all right, Okay, I'm gonna do. 535 00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 9: It later after we're victorious. 536 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:03,600 Speaker 1: I guess we can walk over there coming down. They 537 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 1: didn't allow us to record the meeting, but it was 538 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,719 Speaker 1: clear from the start that ASA Ryan Williams and his 539 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:13,000 Speaker 1: team were taking this seriously. Kelsey turned on the recorder 540 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:15,440 Speaker 1: again when we stepped outside. When we were presenting to them, 541 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:19,000 Speaker 1: they were curious, asking a ton of questions, really good questions. 542 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,640 Speaker 1: But unless they find some physical evidence from a legal standpoint, 543 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:25,760 Speaker 1: it's going to be difficult for them to go forward. 544 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:28,480 Speaker 10: It made a promise to us to look, which is 545 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:30,680 Speaker 10: much more than we got last time. 546 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I believe them. I really do feel like 547 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:35,880 Speaker 1: they were engaged, and they were they want to do 548 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:37,879 Speaker 1: this they just need that physical evidence, and I thought 549 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:39,480 Speaker 1: that was a much more real This could be the 550 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,680 Speaker 1: turning point that finally sets the record straight about JB's murder. 551 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:45,640 Speaker 1: We know, and you know, what are the odds that 552 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:48,359 Speaker 1: Jeremy Scott confesses to a murder of a taxi cab 553 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:50,320 Speaker 1: when he's not in prison, when it's a town he 554 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:51,840 Speaker 1: used to live in, and when he can draw a 555 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,000 Speaker 1: map showing his exact movements that match every witnesses. I mean, 556 00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 1: that's the kind of thing that you know, from a 557 00:34:56,680 --> 00:35:00,839 Speaker 1: storytelling point, I'm convinced, but they need physic in order 558 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,399 Speaker 1: to go forward, and that's where we are. A few 559 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: weeks later, I get an update. Okay, this is a 560 00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 1: letter from Ryan Williams from December nineteenth, twenty twenty three. 561 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:16,360 Speaker 1: Good afternoon, mister King. I hope this email finds you 562 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,440 Speaker 1: well in the midst of a pleasant holiday season. I 563 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,759 Speaker 1: wanted again to reach out on this case and homicide 564 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:26,400 Speaker 1: we discussed back in September. Williams wrote that one of 565 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:29,400 Speaker 1: his investigators search for the physical evidence from the case 566 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:33,280 Speaker 1: at both the Sheriff's office and the county clerk. After 567 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:36,680 Speaker 1: several efforts, we obtained an answer and paperwork indicating that 568 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:39,799 Speaker 1: the physical evidence associated with the case was returned to 569 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,480 Speaker 1: the Sheriff's office and was destroyed by them in two 570 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:46,359 Speaker 1: thousand and nine. I have no reason to believe this 571 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:50,080 Speaker 1: destruction was improper in any way, but the bottom line 572 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:55,480 Speaker 1: is that it no longer exists to be tested. The 573 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:59,560 Speaker 1: Osceola County Sheriff's Office destroyed all the physical evidence from 574 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 1: the Joseph of b Lavere homicide, all of it. I 575 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,480 Speaker 1: know that there had been a hat, hair samples, a bullet, 576 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:12,520 Speaker 1: twenty two fingerprints on the car. Jeremy Scott left fingerprints 577 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,160 Speaker 1: at the other three murders he confessed to. Now there's 578 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,200 Speaker 1: no way to know if the prince left behind were his. 579 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,759 Speaker 1: Williams was telling me that the sheriff destroyed all of it. 580 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:40,359 Speaker 10: Well, I mean, honestly, this sucks, but I'm also kind 581 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:45,719 Speaker 10: of like and that gives us more flexibility, you know, 582 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,839 Speaker 10: we can go, Yeah, we don't have to hold off 583 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 10: or be polite because the state's looking into it, because 584 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:54,319 Speaker 10: they're obviously not so. 585 00:36:54,719 --> 00:36:56,839 Speaker 1: H I mean, I just feel like there's more to 586 00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:57,239 Speaker 1: do here. 587 00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:22,640 Speaker 19: I'm not stopping, all right, talk to you later, bye, Asa. 588 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:26,080 Speaker 1: Ryan Williams encouraged me to keep investigating and told me 589 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:30,080 Speaker 1: to reach out if I uncovered anything significant. I try 590 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:33,520 Speaker 1: everything I can think of. I track down John, the 591 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:36,040 Speaker 1: witness that Jeremy recognized as he was getting out of 592 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 1: the crash taxi. John grew up with Jeremy in Intercession City. 593 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:44,400 Speaker 1: At trial, he testified that it was dan Odie he 594 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:47,560 Speaker 1: saw getting out of the cab. I get John on 595 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,120 Speaker 1: the phone, and he remembered all of it. When I 596 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:52,160 Speaker 1: tell him that Jeremy is in prison today for a 597 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:54,759 Speaker 1: different murder, and he confessed to being the one who 598 00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:58,520 Speaker 1: killed the cab driver, John says I gotta go and 599 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,840 Speaker 1: hangs up the phone. He doesn't say, no, it was 600 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:06,520 Speaker 1: dan Odie. He says, I gotta go. Click. After that, 601 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,359 Speaker 1: I went to his house three times, hoping he would 602 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: change his mind and agree to talk to me. Every 603 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:15,440 Speaker 1: time I showed up, I saw his brother standing outside. 604 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:17,359 Speaker 2: I'm Gilbert Camp. 605 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:19,560 Speaker 5: I'm investigating that Jeremy shot died. 606 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:23,800 Speaker 1: He called me a persistent motherfucker. Oh, but in a 607 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:26,719 Speaker 1: nice way. My brother's still not talking to you. 608 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:30,239 Speaker 3: He told me he's not all right. 609 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,360 Speaker 1: I understand. This was one of those times when I 610 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:38,279 Speaker 1: wished I had the power to subpoena witnesses. Still, there 611 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:41,520 Speaker 1: was one piece of evidence, probably the most important in 612 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:45,120 Speaker 1: the entire case. It had been destroyed by the Sheriff's office, 613 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 1: but I believe there was a way to link it 614 00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:49,839 Speaker 1: to Jeremy and to the murder of JB. 615 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:50,440 Speaker 7: Levere. 616 00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:55,719 Speaker 1: Jeremy told me that after he killed JB, he got 617 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,120 Speaker 1: behind the wheel of the cab, drove it a mile 618 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:02,520 Speaker 1: away and crashed it into a utility poll. When Buddy 619 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:05,520 Speaker 1: Shepherd arrived at the scene in nineteen eighty seven, he 620 00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:09,440 Speaker 1: saw the crashed cab empty after the murderer had gotten 621 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:11,759 Speaker 1: out and run away, and. 622 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:15,919 Speaker 11: He come barreling down through here. He was, needless to say, 623 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:17,000 Speaker 11: he was hauling Bud. 624 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:20,960 Speaker 1: Former Detective Buddy Shepherd took us to that spot. 625 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:22,840 Speaker 7: So what did you see. 626 00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:25,000 Speaker 1: When you pull up the like it's the cars right 627 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:25,879 Speaker 1: in there somewhere right. 628 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:29,399 Speaker 11: Yes, sir, front end of it just demolished pretty well. 629 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:32,640 Speaker 11: When I looked inside, the door was left open on 630 00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:37,399 Speaker 11: the drive or see, and I looked in and saw 631 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:38,200 Speaker 11: the cab. 632 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:42,240 Speaker 1: A black cap left behind by JB's murderer. 633 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:48,000 Speaker 7: I want to see, Godly man, I'm working from memory. 634 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:48,799 Speaker 9: Yeah, I know. 635 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:52,480 Speaker 11: It was a rebel flag on the front of it, 636 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:56,399 Speaker 11: a battle flag in a skull and a skull, yes, sir, yes, sir, 637 00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:00,480 Speaker 11: And that was the cap. It was dark colored and everything. Yeah, 638 00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:02,799 Speaker 11: it got knocked off of him and he didn't grab it. 639 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:06,480 Speaker 1: Jeremy mentions the hat in a letter he wrote me. 640 00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:09,719 Speaker 1: The hat was given to him by his cousin Jason. 641 00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:13,600 Speaker 1: He says, I didn't know that I forgot my hat. 642 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:17,200 Speaker 1: My cousin gave me. The hat was black. We wore 643 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,359 Speaker 1: so many hats growing up as kids. We always thought 644 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:24,040 Speaker 1: they were cool hats. If the hat were still around, 645 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:27,480 Speaker 1: the State Attorney's office could test the sweatband for DNA 646 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:32,080 Speaker 1: or compare the hares found inside with Jeremy's. But since 647 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,680 Speaker 1: the Ossiola County Sheriff's Office destroyed it, that's no longer 648 00:40:35,719 --> 00:40:39,400 Speaker 1: an option. Buddy used to work at the Sheriff's office 649 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:42,840 Speaker 1: and says he knows the guy responsible for destroying the evidence. 650 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:48,240 Speaker 11: One thing I'm really upset about this whole mess. Wiley 651 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,799 Speaker 11: Black had that evidence destroyed. 652 00:40:53,560 --> 00:40:58,000 Speaker 1: We saw that Major Wiley Black supervised the homicide and 653 00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:01,080 Speaker 1: Violent Crimes unit at the time the evidence was destroyed. 654 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:05,960 Speaker 7: It is very upsetting. To me, he had no right 655 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:06,440 Speaker 7: to do that. 656 00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:10,239 Speaker 11: You don't get rid of evidence, you don't get rid 657 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:13,239 Speaker 11: of reports, you don't get rid of any of that. 658 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:18,960 Speaker 11: I'm a murder for fifty years. Fifty fifty years. I 659 00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:19,640 Speaker 11: remember it. 660 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:23,600 Speaker 1: While the Sheriff's office may have eliminated the physical evidence, 661 00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:26,600 Speaker 1: a clear photograph of the hat still exists in the 662 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:30,880 Speaker 1: case files. I've always wondered if someone in Jeremy's family 663 00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:33,680 Speaker 1: might have a photo of either Jeremy or his cousin 664 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:38,080 Speaker 1: Jason wearing that baseball hat. I wrote to Jeremy about it, 665 00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:41,200 Speaker 1: and he got back to me right away. He wrote, 666 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:44,640 Speaker 1: you asked me if I had pictures. No, I don't, 667 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:48,000 Speaker 1: but I'm sure there's some out there. Grandma had some, 668 00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:51,080 Speaker 1: but when she passed away. I don't know who would 669 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:53,799 Speaker 1: have got them all. She always saved all of them. 670 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:58,480 Speaker 1: But Aunt Debbie, Judy or Mama might have some. I 671 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:03,360 Speaker 1: don't really know. I tried to track down Jason Scott, who, 672 00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:07,720 Speaker 1: according to Jeremy, gave him a black baseball cap. Jason 673 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:11,920 Speaker 1: passed away years ago, but I've been texting with Jason's brother, Joshua. 674 00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:14,839 Speaker 1: I wanted to show him a picture of the hat. 675 00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:18,279 Speaker 1: In person to see his reaction, but we couldn't make 676 00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:21,920 Speaker 1: it work. Finally, I decided to text him a photo 677 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:25,839 Speaker 1: of the hat instead, long shot, I wrote, but does 678 00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:31,760 Speaker 1: this hat look familiar? A few hours later, Joshua replied, Yes, 679 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:35,319 Speaker 1: I recognize that cap, he wrote, Jeremy and his brother 680 00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:38,680 Speaker 1: Dean fought over that cap, but my mom always told 681 00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:42,439 Speaker 1: us that cap wasn't fit to wear. The next time 682 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:45,200 Speaker 1: Jeremy called me, I mentioned that I'd spoken with his 683 00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:48,800 Speaker 1: cousin Joshua. I wanted to see if Jeremy could confirm 684 00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:51,480 Speaker 1: what Joshua had said about the hat, that he and 685 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:53,560 Speaker 1: his brother Royal Dean had fought over it. 686 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:57,960 Speaker 18: Yeah, I can't. In prison, my brother had it. I 687 00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:00,320 Speaker 18: mean that was a hat Jason gave me if I 688 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:01,400 Speaker 18: went to prison. 689 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:02,239 Speaker 12: The first time. 690 00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:05,680 Speaker 18: Yeah, I got out, my brother had it and I took. 691 00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:08,400 Speaker 5: It back right and we had a big argument about it. 692 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:09,279 Speaker 9: You know. 693 00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:13,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm still holding out hope that the family might 694 00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:17,120 Speaker 1: find a picture of Jeremy or even his cousin Jason, 695 00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:22,040 Speaker 1: wearing that hat. I told Buddy Shepherd more than once 696 00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:24,200 Speaker 1: that I believed he went after the wrong man and 697 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:27,399 Speaker 1: dan Odie, and that I was convinced Jeremy Scott had 698 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:31,240 Speaker 1: killed J. B. Levere after showing him all the evidence 699 00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:34,000 Speaker 1: I'd uncovered. I just wanted to know if any of 700 00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:35,680 Speaker 1: it had made a difference to him. 701 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:38,120 Speaker 7: Did you know who Jeremy Scott was? 702 00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:40,840 Speaker 1: Because he lived in Intercession City for some time. 703 00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:43,759 Speaker 7: I knew of him. I don't know if I've ever 704 00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:47,279 Speaker 7: seen him or spoke to him or nothing. I just 705 00:43:47,360 --> 00:43:48,360 Speaker 7: knew him as a kid. 706 00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:48,759 Speaker 12: Yeah. 707 00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:51,360 Speaker 1: I thought when I showed you this and that, I 708 00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:53,480 Speaker 1: thought you were going to say you could consider Jeremy 709 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:54,360 Speaker 1: Scott a suspect. 710 00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:58,440 Speaker 11: Yes, I do do, Yeah, I do. Jeremy Scott could 711 00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,640 Speaker 11: have done it, yeah, no doubt Mamiani could have done it. 712 00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:06,959 Speaker 1: Even Buddy Sheppard, the detective who led the original investigation, 713 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:11,040 Speaker 1: acknowledges that Jeremy Scott should now be considered a suspect 714 00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:15,200 Speaker 1: in the murder of JB. Leavere, And yet I remain 715 00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:18,560 Speaker 1: the only person who has ever questioned Jeremy Scott about 716 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:26,319 Speaker 1: this crime. When Kelsey and I visited dan Odie in 717 00:44:26,360 --> 00:44:31,319 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, he eagerly supported our investigation. I promised him 718 00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:35,040 Speaker 1: I'd return with everything I uncovered. I had hoped that 719 00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:38,160 Speaker 1: with all the police and court records in hand, and 720 00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:42,160 Speaker 1: Jeremy helping the piece together, each detail Dan's name could 721 00:44:42,239 --> 00:44:45,920 Speaker 1: finally be cleared, and that the clarity and consistency of 722 00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:50,040 Speaker 1: Jeremy's memories would solidify the truth behind not just his 723 00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:53,799 Speaker 1: confession to j B. Lavere's murder, but to Michelle Schofield's 724 00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:59,239 Speaker 1: murder as well. Now, with all the evidence destroyed, it 725 00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:01,680 Speaker 1: feels like any chance of giving Dan the piece he 726 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:06,560 Speaker 1: deserves has been stolen for good. And here's what infuriates 727 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:10,400 Speaker 1: me most. To protect the narrative that they targeted the 728 00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:13,960 Speaker 1: right men and Dan, Odie and Leo Schofield, the state 729 00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:17,960 Speaker 1: is asking the public to swallow a lie that Jeremy 730 00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:23,759 Speaker 1: Scott's confessions are just stories, not evidence. I can only 731 00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:27,600 Speaker 1: assume these lawmen and prosecutors would rather bury the truth 732 00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:31,560 Speaker 1: than admit their case was built on a lie at 733 00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:43,840 Speaker 1: the cost of two innocent lives and any semblance of justice. 734 00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:46,120 Speaker 1: I dredged all of this back up in an effort 735 00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:49,240 Speaker 1: to set the record straight and to find something closer 736 00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:54,000 Speaker 1: to true justice. Instead, it's mostly brought more turmoil for 737 00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:55,760 Speaker 1: people like JB's ex wife. 738 00:45:56,960 --> 00:46:00,359 Speaker 16: I mean, it's like opening a wound that or that 739 00:46:00,400 --> 00:46:02,280 Speaker 16: box that you close up and put on the shelf 740 00:46:02,320 --> 00:46:05,520 Speaker 16: and just leave it there. You know, you don't want 741 00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:07,640 Speaker 16: to get through those emotions. You don't want to live 742 00:46:07,680 --> 00:46:08,400 Speaker 16: that ever again. 743 00:46:10,560 --> 00:46:14,600 Speaker 1: This is one of the painful, unintended consequences of digging 744 00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:23,040 Speaker 1: into these old cases. Back in twenty nineteen, when we 745 00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:26,400 Speaker 1: interviewed Dan Odie, I promised him I come back with 746 00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:30,680 Speaker 1: everything I'd learned in my investigation. There were so many 747 00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,400 Speaker 1: times over the years when I thought I'd finally be 748 00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:36,200 Speaker 1: able to bring him good news that his name had 749 00:46:36,239 --> 00:46:40,799 Speaker 1: been officially cleared in the murder of JB. Levere, but 750 00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:44,520 Speaker 1: with the Sheriff's office destroying the evidence and dragging his 751 00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:47,360 Speaker 1: name to the mud again in the Orlando Sentinel article, 752 00:46:48,239 --> 00:46:52,799 Speaker 1: that closure may never come. This wasn't a call I 753 00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:56,120 Speaker 1: wanted to make. I was afraid all of this would 754 00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:57,680 Speaker 1: create even more pain. 755 00:46:57,440 --> 00:46:59,719 Speaker 18: For Dan No and I just really always wanted to be. 756 00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:01,239 Speaker 14: Able to come back to you and say, all right, 757 00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:03,359 Speaker 14: this is it, this is who did it, and there's 758 00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:05,320 Speaker 14: going to be charged and your your name will be 759 00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:08,440 Speaker 14: officially cleared. And I just sort of wanted to say 760 00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:09,840 Speaker 14: I'm sorry that I didn't get. 761 00:47:09,680 --> 00:47:13,080 Speaker 12: There I don't know when I When I got that paper, 762 00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:13,719 Speaker 12: I broke down. 763 00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:13,960 Speaker 8: Man. 764 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:16,960 Speaker 12: I told myself, I thank you guy so much for 765 00:47:17,080 --> 00:47:19,640 Speaker 12: taking the time to do what he did. At least 766 00:47:19,680 --> 00:47:22,560 Speaker 12: now I got some clothes. You know, I can show 767 00:47:22,600 --> 00:47:25,279 Speaker 12: people this pape. Look, I did not do this, no 768 00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:28,359 Speaker 12: matter what to think. I did not kill the guy. Yeah, 769 00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:29,919 Speaker 12: it meant a lot of people. 770 00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:33,520 Speaker 14: Well, I'll definitely be getting back to you with any 771 00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:35,680 Speaker 14: any updates that I can find, because I'm not quitting 772 00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:36,200 Speaker 14: on it. 773 00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:39,719 Speaker 12: I sure thank you about it. You're in my heart 774 00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:42,120 Speaker 12: and you're in the lie. I appreciate what you did 775 00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:42,480 Speaker 12: for me. 776 00:47:43,239 --> 00:47:45,080 Speaker 14: I feel the same dam thank you so much. 777 00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:47,840 Speaker 12: Ah, but you had a good day YouTube. 778 00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:48,480 Speaker 14: Take care. 779 00:47:54,080 --> 00:48:00,240 Speaker 1: Maybe, just maybe, reopening questions about the past can also 780 00:48:00,400 --> 00:48:02,200 Speaker 1: lead to something more than heartbreak. 781 00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:12,200 Speaker 13: That was just wanting to help a downtrodden person. Really, 782 00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:16,080 Speaker 13: I didn't have any plans to keep writing him like that. 783 00:48:16,320 --> 00:48:16,520 Speaker 13: You know. 784 00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:19,719 Speaker 1: Do you remember the first letter that Jeremy sent to you? 785 00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:20,680 Speaker 16: Well? 786 00:48:20,719 --> 00:48:27,000 Speaker 1: I have it, oh right here, let me see that's 787 00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:33,200 Speaker 1: next time. Owe Valley is a production of Lava for 788 00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:37,960 Speaker 1: Good podcasts in association with Signal Company Number One. Our 789 00:48:38,040 --> 00:48:42,320 Speaker 1: executive producers are Jason Flam, Jeff Kepler, and Kevin Wortis. 790 00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:47,360 Speaker 1: Karen Kornhaber is our senior producer. Jackie Pauley and Hannah 791 00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:51,320 Speaker 1: Biel are our producers. Britz Spangler is our sound designer. 792 00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:56,520 Speaker 1: Marianne Mchune is our editor. Fact checking by Dania Suleman. 793 00:48:57,280 --> 00:49:00,680 Speaker 1: Jeff Cliburn is our head of marketing and Operations. Our 794 00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:05,800 Speaker 1: social media director is Ismai Guardrama, our Social media manager 795 00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:09,480 Speaker 1: is Sarah Gibbons, and our art director is Andrew Nelson. 796 00:49:10,440 --> 00:49:14,800 Speaker 1: Additional research and production by Kelsey Decker. Additional sound recording 797 00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:19,120 Speaker 1: by James Johnson. Bone Valley is written and produced by 798 00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:23,920 Speaker 1: Me Gilbert King. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and 799 00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:25,560 Speaker 1: threads at Lava for Good