October 19, 2022 • 62 mins
Chapter 6 of 9
Jeremy Scott’s ex-girlfriend reveals some incriminating information about his life in the late-1980s, leading Gilbert and Kelsey to investigate Jeremy’s potential links to another crime in a neighboring county. Leo Schofield is granted an evidentiary hearing to determine whether he should receive a new trial. Jeremy is called to testify at the hearing, and he and Leo come face-to-face for the first time beneath the Polk County courthouse.
For photos, images, and the full transcript of this episode visit: bit.ly/BVS1E6
Bone Valley is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
What'd you think of Jeremy when you.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
When at first, man, I thought he was cute.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
He was cute, he was dangerous, iad.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
This is Jamie Nellams. She was Jeremy Scott's girlfriend in
nineteen eighty seven and nineteen eighty eight. They were both
seventeen years old when they met at a teen dance
club in Lakeland, Florida. This was right after Jeremy was
acquitted in the Jule Johnson murder, and then he and
Jamie stayed together until his arrest in the murder of
(00:49):
Donald Morehead. Sixteen years into Jeremy's murder sentence, a detective
from the Polk County Sheriff's Office contacted Jamie. Jeremy's finger
prints had been matched to the ones found in Michelle
Schofield's Mazda, but the investigation didn't last long. Assistant State
Attorney John Aguero, the same man who prosecuted and convicted
(01:12):
both Leo and Jeremy, quickly shuts down the investigation into
Jeremy Scott. Ten months after Jamie is first questioned, criminal
defense attorney Richard Bartman interviews her in late two thousand
and five. Bartman is representing Leo Schofield alongside his other attorney,
Scott Cupp. They're trying to finish the investigation into Jeremy
(01:36):
Scott that the state barely started.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So you remember speaking to this detective. What was the
reason he said he was there.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
He that he needed to come talk with me regarding
Jeremy Scott, anything else that he told you that he
was there. He wanted me to take him to places
Jeremy now that I knew of. He had asked me
where we had never gone to be alone.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
And I told him.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
About this place over off off thirty three by I
tour if he wanted me to take him there, to
show him where that was at.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
And I did that.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Jamie says that ten months earlier, she led the state's
detective to a place along State Road thirty three in
North Lakeland. Now she's telling Richard Bartman what it was
like when Jeremy first took her there. It was around
two am in the spring of nineteen eighty seven. Jamie
was driving and Jeremy was in the passenger seat directing her.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
He told me where to drive. I had just started
driving and barely knew how to get around my hound,
let alone how to get anywhere else. So he told
me where to turn and.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Did he have any trouble finding.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Now he knew that you couldn't find us that you knew.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
What's that?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Jeremy tells her when to slow down, to turn off
at the cut, to pull onto the dirt path back
behind the tree line. There's palmetto bushes and garbage on
the ground. No one else is back there. There's no
street lights, no houses in sight, and no cars on
(03:20):
the road either. Jeremy and Jamie are alone.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
We had this saying about being outside.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
He liked to be outside.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
You liked to be outside.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
When Jamie and Jeremy get out of the car and
walk further from the main road into the dark.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
When you got there, what what was your impression?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Year in first time you went.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Then dirty and cold and you.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
Know, dark.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I remember being nervous because there was nobody around.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
I didn't like it.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Teenagers would come to the spot along State Road thirty
three to drink beer, smoke weed and make out, but
Jamie had been worn to stay away. After police began
discovering dead girls in the water behind the palmetto bushes.
One of those girls, Michelle Schofield, was found floating face
(04:24):
down just a few months earlier in this very same
drainage canal.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Do you.
Speaker 7 (04:40):
My mans.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Have to have my field.
Speaker 7 (04:50):
Soru steps siremists in this vast tea see relation abrege
(05:17):
dansish to.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
The world, sounding stuff.
Speaker 7 (05:25):
To the bone, sold things sum.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Things bone Valley, Chapter six.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
Know that I know.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
We talked to Leo's lawyer, Richard Bartman, more than fifteen
years after he interviewed Jamie Nellams, and I.
Speaker 8 (06:09):
Remember a chilling up my spine which he described what
this guy had done to her and.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
The level of fear in this woman when we've interviewed her.
I can't. I've never forgotten that.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Jamie tells Bartman that the violence began just weeks into
her relationship with Jeremy Scott. There's punching, choking, and worse.
She tells Bartman that Jeremy hit her pretty much every
time she saw him.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
He Hitney, would crossed the pate with a belt before
he Hitney.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Was one of my babes before.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
He and he was a baseball bat one.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Jamie had gone to Disney World with her sisters against
Jeremy's wishes. When she returned, he walked her outside picked
up a baseball bat and swung at her face, and
that was eddy. The blow from the baseball bat left
her jaw broken and her face disfigured. Her injuries and
(07:14):
her story left a big impression on Richard Bartman. He
still thinks about it today.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
And you saw her face and what Scott did to it.
And this was years later.
Speaker 8 (07:25):
Because she didn't have the money to get her injuries fixed,
so he had beaten her to such an extent that
her jaw was deformed.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Jamie was convinced that Jeremy was going to kill her,
but instead Jeremy directed his violence at someone else. On
Halloween Night in nineteen eighty eight, Jeremy murdered Donald moorehead.
He's arrested the following day and locked up without bail.
(07:55):
Jamie is finally free from Jeremy.
Speaker 8 (07:59):
I think we talked to her for about two three
hours about his way of life, about how well he
knew Lakeland, about how well he knew this area where
the body was found, About his level of violence, About
the way he beat up gay people, about the way
he beat her if she would look at him wrong,
He beat the shit out of her. The slightest provocation
(08:19):
he would get violent, so I could easily picture him
killing Michelle over whatever.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I mean.
Speaker 8 (08:26):
It didn't have to be rational. And of course I
remember driving home from that thinking Jesus Christ, this is
the guy. It matches in so many ways.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
Richard Bartman and Scott Cupp keep gathering information about Jeremy's
connection to Michelle Schofield's murder. They're making the case that
Leo deserves a new trial. Not only do they have
fingerprints that linked Jeremy Scott to the vehicle Michelle was
driving the night she went missing, have testimony that Jeremy
used to take his girlfriend Jamie to the same place
(09:04):
where Michelle's body was found. Richard Bartman could hardly believe
what Jamie had told him. But when Kelsey and I
listened to this interview, almost fifteen years after it had
been recorded, something else caught our attention.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Did he ever did.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Okay, Yeah, I kind of thought about that.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
In a long time, and I'm sorry to stir it up.
Speaker 8 (09:29):
I really do apologize, but I don't mean anything personal,
but it's questions I got to ask, did he ever?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Did he ever tell you anything?
Speaker 8 (09:39):
Jeremy, Now, during the course of your relationship about the
crimes he did to criminal ax or any sort of
criminal activity.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
He told me he had killed a cab driver. He
was sixteen seventeen at time, and that he had gotten
away with it O and that was just a couple
months before he got arrested to his forehead thanks.
Speaker 9 (10:05):
When he was telling me that.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Kelsey and I run down the list of murders that
Jeremy's linked to. We know that Jeremy bragged about killing
Juel Johnson after he was acquitted of her murder. Jewel
was found shot dead in a trailer behind her house.
Jeremy's fingerprints were lifted from her eyeglasses and coin wrappers
at the scene. Jewel Johnson is murder number one, and
(10:36):
Jeremy was convicted in the nineteen eighty eight murder of
Donald Moorehead. He smashed him over the head with a
grape juice bottle and strangled him with a telephone cord.
Jeremy was forensically tied to that crime scene and he
admitted to that killing as well. Donald Moorehead is murder
number two, and Jeremy's fingerprints were found inside Michelle Schofield's car.
(11:02):
Her body was discovered in the same Canal where Jeremy
used to take Jamie to have sex with her Michelle
Schofield is murder number three. But now Jamie mentions that
Jeremy had spontaneously confessed to another murder, the killing of
a taxicab driver. Is this murder number four. We don't
(11:29):
have a lot to go on, but we start digging.
We know that if Jeremy killed a taxicab driver, it
would most likely be in that two year period between
December nineteen eighty six, when he's released after his acquittal
of the Juwel Johnson murder, and Halloween of nineteen eighty eight,
when he's locked up for killing Donald Morehead. That matches
(11:50):
what Jamie told Bartman. Jeremy would have been sixteen or
seventeen at the time. We search through databases for unsolved
homicides and flo We combed through newspaper archives for stories
about cab drivers killed in central Florida between nineteen eighty
six and nineteen eighty eight, and then one murder catches
(12:12):
our attention. In the spring of nineteen eighty seven, right
near the Polk County line, a twenty five year old
taxi cab driver named Joseph Lavere was shot dead just
outside a little community called Intercession City. A suspect named
dan Odie was arrested and brought to trial twice, but
(12:35):
the second trial ended with the defendant's acquittal. No one
else is ever charged in the death of Joseph Lavere,
so this is an unsolved murder. From his records, we
know that Jeremy was not in jail at that time.
It happened just six weeks after Michelle Schofield was killed,
(12:58):
so we dig a little deeper. We start piecing together
the crime from newspaper coverage, and this is what we learn.
It's late at night April tenth, nineteen eighty seven. Lavere
is driving a taxi for the Yellow Cab Company and
he's close to finishing his shift when he gets a
call from his dispatcher directing him to pick up a
(13:20):
passenger at a kmart in Kassimi. Lavere picks up the
passenger around ten forty five pm, but about an hour later,
the cab driver's body is spotted just off the shoulder
of Old Tampa Highway. It seems that whoever killed Joseph
Lavere stole the taxi turned off the highway, crossed the
(13:41):
railroad tracks, and sped onto a quiet residential street in
Intercession City. He must have been driving fast, because he
quickly lost control of the vehicle, sideswiping a parked car
and crashing into a power pole that knocked out the
electricity in the neighborhood. Residents ran outside to see what
(14:02):
happened and caught a glimpse of the suspect as he
fled the scene. The witnesses told police they'd seen a
white man around five foot ten of a thin or
medium build running from the cab. He was wearing jeans
and a flannel shirt, had brown hair, and screamed it's
gonna blow before he disappeared into the woods. Inside the taxi,
(14:27):
deputies found a black baseball cap sitting in the back seat.
We were able to get our hands on a photo
of this cap. There's a design on the front of it,
a skull wearing a cowboy hat with a big Confederate
flag in the background. And then there's this other. Part
of Bartman's interview with Jamie, I replay it over and
(14:50):
over again. Jamie says that when she first met Jeremy,
there was something about his appearance that stood out to.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Her eyed a ham when I thought was weird. He
gnied he'd bleaching hair brown.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Jamie thought this was odd because Jeremy never maintained that color. Naturally,
his hair was brown, and when the dark roots grew
back in, Jamie said, he never bleached it again. She
and Jeremy met just before his eighteenth birthday, about a
week after Joseph Lavere was killed. It's a small thing,
(15:29):
but it could match up with what we know about
Lavere's murder. It would make sense that the suspect, knowing
he'd been seen, might try to change his appearance. And
there's another clue. In Richard Bartman's interview with Jamie, she
mentions that Jeremy wasn't particularly close with anyone at that time,
except maybe his younger brother. That brother has a pretty
(15:52):
distinct name. So we were able to track down Royal Dean.
Speaker 9 (15:56):
Scott to accept this call and all future plus one
now so the phone calls our subject to monitoring and recording.
You have thirty eight dollars twenty four cents, Hi, Royal.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Yeah, he was locked up in the Russell County Jail
in Alabama, awaiting transfer to state prison. On an obstruction
of justice charge. I sent Royal Dean a letter, told
him I opened a phone account with the jail and
gave him my number.
Speaker 10 (16:31):
I got no problem with answering this, buddy that you
gotta asked somebody in allted to don't incriminate Jeremy on
something that's gonna hurt him. I got a problem with that.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
I start chatting with Royal Dean pretty frequently over a
period of a few weeks. He calls when he can
and sometimes leaves voicemail messages. We talk about what Jeremy
was like as a kid in their family life. But
I'm also trying to find out more about Jeremy's possible
links to the murder of Joseph Lavere.
Speaker 6 (16:59):
Did you guys believe it? Intercession City at some point?
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Oh?
Speaker 10 (17:02):
Yeah, that's where me and my wife met, okay in
a session. City is where well man, Jeremy pretty much
grow up.
Speaker 6 (17:12):
Really, I mean, did you ever hear anything, Because one
of the other things that Jeremy confessed to Jamie about
was robbing a cab driver on the way home from
Kasimmi towards Intercession City. Did you ever hear anything about that?
Speaker 11 (17:29):
Yes?
Speaker 10 (17:29):
I heard about what is that?
Speaker 6 (17:32):
What happened?
Speaker 11 (17:33):
Uh?
Speaker 10 (17:37):
Wow? I'd heard about the cab driver, man Robb, but
I didn't I couldn't tell you. I guess about Jeremy.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
He doesn't seem to want to go into this with me. Still,
Royal Dean keeps calling. We talk about his legal troubles,
and I keep asking about Jeremy, hoping he shares more
about their time an Intercession city. And finally he lets
something slip.
Speaker 10 (18:07):
I remember him saying something about robbing the cans I
remember my brother telling me about jumping out of a car,
I mean about taking that out of the money, and
that something about a gun.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
Do you remember him with blonde hair, Yeah, that would
be about right soon. Is he trying to change his
identity or something?
Speaker 10 (18:26):
I think so. I remember the blonde hair, and I
remember the canserver being robbed, and I remember him saying
something about it, and then he had to leave for
the while. And see, I never got any details. I
just know that my brother disappeared after that. For a while.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
After this conversation, Royal Dean disappeared too. The phone call
stopped coming when he was transferred to a state prison
outside of Montgomery.
Speaker 12 (19:00):
I am Jason Flamm, CEO and founder of Lava for
Good podcasts, home to Bone Valley, Wrongful Conviction, The War
on Drugs, and many other great podcasts. Today we're asking you,
our listeners, to take part in a survey. Your feedback
is going to help inform how we make podcasts in
the future. Your complete and candid answers will help us
continue to bring you more insightful and inspiring stories about
(19:22):
important topics that impact us all. So please go to
Lava for goood dot com slash survey and participate today.
Thank you for your support.
Speaker 13 (19:34):
Bone Valley is sponsored by Stand Together. Stand Together is
a philanthropic community that partners with America's boldest change makers
to tackle the root causes of our country's biggest problems,
including the broken criminal justice system. Christina Dent is one
of many entrepreneurs partnering with Stand Together to end the
War on drugs, the underlying cause of many problems such
(19:57):
as overincarceration and the criminalization of a in communities across
the country. As a foster mom, Christina came into contact
with the War on drugs when she saw how it
was ripping apart the family she worked with. She witnessed
how kids were affected and how mothers wanted something better
for their families but didn't have the tools to get
(20:18):
there themselves. Christina Dent started a nonprofit called End It
for Good because she knew there was a better solution
to help these families. She's working to end the war
on drugs in Mississippi and build consensus around the state
to help families struggling with substance abuse problems find a
different path forward than the one they've been given. Stand
(20:41):
Together has many more stories like this one, as it
partners with thousands of change makers who were driving solutions
in education, health care, poverty, and the criminal justice system.
To learn more about the War on drugs, listen to
the War on Drugs podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts. Kelsey and I go down to
(21:10):
the Osceola County Clerk's office to look at the case
files and trial transcripts from the murder of Joseph Lavere.
I wanted to find out what was collected from the
cab to see if there was any DNA evidence or
fingerprints that could be run. One of the great things
about doing research in Florida is the state Sunshine Law
(21:30):
that requires that all state, county, and municipal records be
made available to the public.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
But we don't get off to a very promising start.
After asking for the file, we wait for about an
hour and then they send down not one, not two,
but three clerks to talk to us.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Hello. Hi, I'm Gilbert, I'm good.
Speaker 14 (21:55):
How are you? You're welcome?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
I am saying it, Suzy.
Speaker 14 (22:01):
Kelsey, nice to meet you. Yes, so you're interested in
the Daniel aunt file.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Donna is mispronouncing his name. But Daniel Odie was the
man who was tried twice and was eventually acquitted of
killing the cab driver Joseph Laverare.
Speaker 14 (22:21):
It doesn't have the arrest affidavit. It's a partial file.
So what's in here you are entitled to view? I
don't know.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
If Donna shows me a slim file, it can't have
more than one hundred pages in it. Usually the clerk's
office will turn over boxes of files with transcripts, police reports,
and depositions, thousands of pages. Again, this is all supposed
to be public record, and I'm entitled to view all
of it, or preferable, I just want to look at
(22:56):
it first and see what's in there because we're looking
these were two trials too. Homicide trials usually there's like
transcripts notation about where physical evidence might be.
Speaker 14 (23:06):
Since he was found not guilty, the physical evidence would
no longer be available, and.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
Is it disposed or is it just not available to
the public. This is infuriating me and I'm trying not
to show it. If dan Odie really didn't kill Joseph Laverair,
that means the murderer might still be out there. I
can't understand why this isn't available, and why the clerk
won't tell me where I can find the information I'm
looking for. He can't be tried again, right, But I'm saying,
(23:35):
we think we know who did the crime. Oh, okay,
So it would be lovely to just have some records
to look at trial transcripts, see what physical evidence did exist.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Maybe there was a hat we know of in the
newspaper accounts.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
That's all we know.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
But maybe there's some DNA or some hair fibers that
might match the guy.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
We think did it.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
But we'll go through all this and look through it
and just see if we can find any clues as
to where this stuff might be.
Speaker 14 (23:57):
So that goes back to you, guys, somebody has to
sit with him.
Speaker 10 (24:00):
Yes, so the two options that you have.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
We're told someone will need to observe us if we're
gonna view the files in the courthouse. This has never
happened to me at a clerk's office before. We decide
to get copies made so we can go through them
without someone looking over our shoulder. But something's really bothering
me about this case. It feels like it's been flagged.
Why do they send down three clerks to tell us
(24:24):
we're only entitled to view a partial file. They're not
showing me these files because dan Odie was found not guilty.
It doesn't make any sense to me. Kelsey and I
sit and wait for the copies to be made.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
It's such a.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Mysterious right now, I'm a fucking war path. Right We're
gonna we're gonna go.
Speaker 5 (24:47):
We're gonna go.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Into the Sheriff's department, and then we're gonna go the
Stadt Joorney's office. You never heard of fucking something like
this in Florida that did the trial transform funders every
fucking single trial.
Speaker 15 (24:57):
I never looked into the transfer stas.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Later that same day, we drive to the Osceola County
Sheriff's office. We tell them that we might have some
important information on an old cold case in their jurisdiction.
They send two young detectives down to us, but they
won't let us record our meeting. The detectives are friendly
and they listen to what we have to say, but
(25:23):
they don't seem to know anything about this case. Okay,
we just left the Osceola County Sheriff's office. It's raining
out now, and the two detectives in there told us
that who are very interested. They told us that they
were going to look through the file to see if
they can find some physical evidence.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
I think that's good to.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Reach a detective. Press one to schedule an appointment to regiter.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
The detectives say they'll get back to us, but never do.
I keep calling for updates with no luck. After the tone,
Please record your message.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
When you finish recording, hang up or.
Speaker 13 (26:08):
Press the pound key.
Speaker 11 (26:09):
For more options.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Oh, good morning, Detective Miller.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
This is Gilbert King. We met with you a couple
of weeks ago about that cab driver killing back in
nineteen eighty seven, and Detective Cortes and I just wanted
to follow up with you because I had a file
of information on that particular case. I know we didn't
really leave you with anything, but I love we're happy.
Since we're having no luck accessing the files or getting
any info from law enforcement, Kelsey and I try to
(26:34):
find the defendant in the case, the nineteen year old
kid who stood trial twice for this murder, dan Odie.
Speaker 16 (26:44):
So we did find an address for dan Odie that
looked pretty solid. It looked like he'd been at that
address for quite some time. It was all the way
out in East Polk County, which we talk about parts
of Lakeland being ruled, but it doesn't it doesn't compare
to East Polk County.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
You know.
Speaker 16 (27:03):
We got out there, but it was just this long,
straight road and I know we were there for miles,
driving on this road for miles, and we didn't pass
another car. There's no houses, no structures, you know. Our
cell service was in and out. We got to the
street dan Odie lives on and we saw it was
(27:26):
a dirt road. It wasn't like a very well maintained
dirt road. So we drove down the road. We found
his address and we saw that there were dogs in
the yard. Big dogs, and there was a flagpole with
a Confederate flag on it. So it just it seemed
a little like, hey, maybe we should give this guy
(27:49):
a heads up before we like go through his gate
and like have to approach these dogs and like knock
on his door. It just it didn't didn't feel super safe.
So we when and we like found a place to
sit in the car. We started calling the phone numbers.
Speaker 11 (28:08):
You have reached the voicemail box of eight six three.
Speaker 7 (28:14):
Alright, which one was that?
Speaker 3 (28:18):
That's the first one.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Let's say hello, Please leave the message after the cane.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Nobody answers their phone anymore. I know, Hello, Hello, is
this mister dan Ott? Mister Ott, my name is Gilbert King,
and I am working on a criminal justice report. I
was also pronouncing his name wrong. It's Odie Dan Odie first.
(28:45):
So I don't know if you're around, but we would
just love to talk to you for a few minutes
if you're available.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
I'm available, all right.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
Could I stop by and just see you in about
ten minutes or so.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
At the car when you hear again, I got an
automatic gate.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
I hadn't lift you yet.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
Oh okay, all right, I'll call you right when I
get in front of the gate, then sir, thank you
very much.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
Fucking believe this.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
All right, we're gonna get out in the fucking porn rain,
but we're gonna have a fucking interview.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
All right, let's just go over some questions here quick.
Speaker 16 (29:27):
I want you so much.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
We tried, we found your address and we had like down.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
But I actually when I started reading about your case,
I couldn't believe what you went through.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Oh yeah, twice, they tried you twice.
Speaker 16 (29:45):
Yeah, I know, Like my first impression when we first
saw Dan was I was just a little scared. I
was like, did we do we have the right idea
about this? Are we sure this guy didn't do it?
Because he's a big guy. He's six', four pretty like
(30:08):
built to, like you, know, hefty like football player type of.
Build and then on top of, that he was wearing
a baseball cap with A confederate flag on. It you,
know of, course The confederate flag hat was a key
piece of evidence in this. CASE i, mean obviously not
(30:28):
the hat That ten was, wearing but there was a
baseball cap left in the taxi cab that they think
belonged to the you, know the murderer who fled the.
Scene so there was definitely a moment WHERE i Think
gilbert AND i were probably thinking the same, thing, Like, oh,
(30:50):
geez did this guy actually do? It do we have this?
Speaker 4 (30:53):
Wrong he invites us in and we all take a
seat on his couch facing A. Tv there's also a
big aquarium next to. Us you can hear its water
pump in the. Background we Asked dan about what happened
when he was arrested for killing the cab Driver Joseph.
Speaker 17 (31:11):
Lavere, well when when they arrested, ME i was in
the truck, and LIKE i told him in, Court i'm
down there bying WE i was honest with.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
HIM i had nothing to.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
Hide dan tells us that after he's pulled over in his,
truck police officers tell him to get. Down there's a
picture of him in The Orlando, sentinel, handcuffed shirtless and
splayed out on the ground with a rifle toting deputy
standing over.
Speaker 17 (31:44):
Him and when they arrested, me that's WHAT i thought
they was throwing down on me for is. Weed and
when they had me on the ground AND i, said,
well what are you arresting me for?
Speaker 5 (31:53):
It he, said first or great. MURDER i like to pass.
Out what are you kidding? ME i JUST i couldn't
get my. BREATH i was like.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
What dan didn't understand why police had been looking for.
Him he wasn't really a, troublemaker and at the time
of his, arrest all we could find on his record
were minor traffic. Infractions after he was booked into, jail
they fingerprinted, him drew his, blood and plucked hairs from his,
scalp all for comparison with the physical evidence recovered from
(32:26):
the taxi, cab and none of it Matched. Dan on
the night of the, Murder dan was at a party
with about a dozen other. People they all vouched For
dan that he was with them all. Night no way
he left and killed. Someone with his, alibi, witnesses and
all the physical evidence that did not connect him to
(32:48):
the murder Of Joseph. Lavere guards at the jail were
Telling dan that he had nothing to worry. About he'd
be going home.
Speaker 17 (32:54):
Soon BUT i was nineteen scared to deaths you, Know
i'll fix fry for SOMETHING i didn't.
Speaker 5 (33:01):
DO i was. SCARED i ain't GONNA i was.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
Scared dan's father didn't want his son to be represented
by a public.
Speaker 17 (33:09):
Defender, yes my daddy had a junkyard and he sold
had a crusher to come out, there and so all
the cars he had jumped him just to get me a.
Lawyer because my daddy, says, son don't. Worry he, SAID
i KNOW i didn't raise you this. Way he said
(33:29):
this is, bullshit and he Said i'll spend every DOLLAR i.
Speaker 5 (33:32):
Got he, says you're not going down for.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
This dan's dad was able to raise enough money to
hire a private. Attorney you'll never guess who they.
Speaker 17 (33:41):
Hired Jack evans said this is one of the most
framed jobs he'd ever seen in his.
Speaker 4 (33:47):
Life Jack edmund the same lawyer who later Represented Leo
schofield at, trial the guy in the western cut suit
with the tiny waist and the life.
Speaker 17 (33:58):
Savers BUT i never thought much Of jack BECAUSE i always
tried to call him in. JAIL i was, scared and
he'd tell everything's all, right, signed don't worry about and hang.
Up SO i called my. MOM i, Said, mom you
got fire this. Lawyer i'm gonna. Die you don't.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
Seems Like edmund had a habit of dodging his clients
until just before. Trial but the prosecution was certainly investigating their, case.
Speaker 11 (34:23):
But it still puzzles me as to Why. DAN i
don't understand. IT i don't Even dan didn't even live
In Intercession.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
City While dan sat in, jail people close to him
started getting knocks on their. Doors one of them Was Tanya,
dean who was Dating dan's. Cousin she remembers the night
the cab driver was.
Speaker 11 (34:47):
MURDERED i remember the power going, out AND i THINK
i was near the, area BUT i didn't see. ANYTHING
i just heard about it after the, fact and then
the detective came to the.
Speaker 4 (34:59):
House when detectives knock on her, door she's fifteen and
pregnant with her second.
Speaker 11 (35:04):
BABY i can one hundred percent recall walking out with
my child on my hip and the detective, saying we
know you've seen, him and it, says see Who what
do you? MEAN i didn't see. Anything you Seen Daniel?
Odie you Seen?
Speaker 2 (35:25):
Dan?
Speaker 11 (35:26):
Doit?
Speaker 8 (35:27):
NO i.
Speaker 11 (35:28):
Didn't you're gonna tell us that you've Seen Daniel odie
or that baby on your hip and in the one
in your stomach is going to be. Gone you remember
that this one hundred. PERCENT i will never forget that.
Day his name Was Buddy. SHEPHERD i will NEVER i
(35:49):
just got. Chills i'll never forget.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
That Deputy Buddy shepherd was a detective with The Osceola
County Sheriff's office and he was the lead investigator on
The lavere. MURDER i Asked tanya if she's sure That
Buddy shepherd wasn't just warning her that she was under
oath and if she committed perjury there could be consequences
that would affect her.
Speaker 11 (36:11):
Children absolutely, Not that is not the, no absolutely. Not
it was a direct, threat AND i was told to
say THAT i seen. HIM i, remember BECAUSE i was a.
MINER i had to have a parent present BECAUSE i
had to go down and make a recorded. Statement AND
(36:33):
i remember telling my, Dad, dad they're making me. Lie
they're telling me WHAT i have to, say or they're
going to take my. Babies he, Said, sissy they can't do.
That they can't take your children because you tell the.
Truth all you have to do is What i've taught
(36:55):
you is tell the. Truth SO i went down to
give a statement and the detective kept on, saying so tell,
us tell us it Was, dan wasn't. It remember it Was?
Dan and he would point to my stomach AND i, said,
no it. WASN'T i didn't see. ANYTHING i didn't see.
(37:18):
Nothing and he turned off the recorder and he slammed
his fist down and he, says you're gonna tell us
it Was. Dan do you remember WHAT i told. You
you're gonna tell us it Was, dan.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
And this Was Buddy shepherd, Again yes it.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
WAS i was.
Speaker 11 (37:35):
TERRIFIED i was.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Terrified tanya says she doesn't give in To Buddy shepherd's.
Threats but it turns out there were other young mothers
in town who claimed That shepherd tried to get them to.
Lie one of them Was Debbie.
Speaker 17 (37:51):
Murphy, Well Debbie murphy was their main. Witness that's the
only thing they had against, me and she was pointing me.
Out she said she's seen me over six hundred yards
away at two o'clock in the, morning run on the
cross the railroad.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
Tracks at, trial the state's witnesses point To Dan odie
as the man they saw get out of the taxi.
Cab but what's odd is that in the witness's initial
statements to, police they had described the suspect as being
somewhere between five foot eight and six feet tall and
weighing around one hundred and sixty. Pounds that is not Dan.
(38:30):
Odie at the, Time dan was six foot four and
weighed two hundred and thirty five, pounds which is the
average size of a tight end in The National Football.
League he's kind of hard to. Miss Dan odie's friends
are all testifying under oath That dan was with them all.
(38:53):
Night the jury has to decide which witnesses are, lying
and they can't do. It failed to reach a verdict
and a mistrial is. Declared but just two months, later
the state tries Dan odie, again.
Speaker 17 (39:10):
And everybody kind of didn't want to pursue, it except
For Buddy. Shepherd Old Buddy. Shepherd he wouldn't letting it.
Go he was just he was bound and determined to frame.
Me he wasn't gonna let it.
Speaker 4 (39:21):
Go Debbie murphy takes the stand again in the second,
trial but in the middle of her, testimony the trial
grinds to a.
Speaker 5 (39:29):
Halt she came clean on the second.
Speaker 17 (39:32):
Trial she broke, down started, crying and they stopped and
said what's. Wrong she, SAID i can't do this no.
More she, Said dan Those i've never seen him that.
NIGHT i Know dan from. SCHOOL i never Seen dan
on the railroad tracks that. Night she, SAID i haven't
Seen dan since we got out of, school and she told,
him you, know, LOOK i was paid to say. THIS
(39:53):
i was threatening with my kids IF i didn't say
this Against Daniel. Rody AND i was, like oh, wow
finally come. True you know at, Lease oh, MAN i tell,
You i'll tell.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
You after the, Trial dan Says debbie apologized for lying
about seeing him on the railroad tracks that, night.
Speaker 17 (40:17):
AND i told, HER i, understand you, Know i'm just
glad you finally came forward BECAUSE i was fixing got
electric chair for SOMETHING i know THAT i didn't. Do
but she finally came forward told the.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
Truth there was a quick investigation into the claims That
Buddy shepherd was threatening young mothers In Intercession. City despite the,
allegations he was. Cleared On october, twentieth nineteen eighty. Seven
Dan is acquitted of the murder of cab Driver Joseph.
Speaker 17 (40:48):
Lavere it was a great feeling because my mom had
three stroke fries in, there.
Speaker 5 (40:56):
And when.
Speaker 17 (41:00):
WHEN i was choosing not of it no, more she
broke down and cried and felt you could just see
wake lifts it off over BECAUSE i was her, baby you,
know of all my, BROTHERS i was her, baby and
she she KNOWED i didn't do, it but she just
she really thought she had never Seen nick again like.
This and when they said not, guilty just everybody jumped.
Speaker 4 (41:20):
Up But Dan odie had spent six months in, jail
and he sat through two trials facing the death, penalty
and despite being found not, guilty he still doesn't feel
like his name has been.
Speaker 17 (41:33):
Cleared but it's just it's still to this. DAY i,
MEAN i don't think about. IT i know what's right
and what's, wrong AND i KNOW i didn't do it
and all, This but when you meet people from back
then that you see him somewhere on the street today
and they kind of look at you, like oh, yeah,
(41:54):
hey and you know they're, thinking did you do it
or did you?
Speaker 5 (41:58):
Not BUT i just stare is a, way.
Speaker 17 (42:02):
Without a shadow of doubt THAT i could show everybody
THAT i did not do.
Speaker 16 (42:08):
THIS i want to see that physical evidence.
Speaker 5 (42:13):
Too oh my.
Speaker 17 (42:14):
GOD i would love for y'all to do THE dna
and find out who really did.
Speaker 5 (42:19):
IT i would just really like to know who did.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
It when we first walked in to talk To, dan
we weren't sure what to, expect but listening To dan
tell his story and talk about his, innocence it's hard
not to think About. Leo they both want us to
keep investigating their cases from thirty five years. Ago they
(42:46):
want so badly to get to the, truth to have
their names cleared so they can get on with their.
Lives the state insists that they had the right man
And Dan, odie but that the jury just saw it,
differently so after his acquittal they don't investigate any. Further
but if the state is, wrong that means that the
(43:07):
murderer Of Joseph lavere may still be out there. SOMEWHERE
i just can't stop thinking this has to Be. Jeremy
(43:31):
it's twenty, ten twenty three years After Michelle schofield was.
Killed more than five years have passed since the unidentified
fingerprints in The mazda were matched To Jeremy, scott and
Finally leo's granted an Evident sherry, hearing which he hopes
will lead to a new. Trial his lawyers prepare to
(43:54):
present the new, evidence the fingerprints And Jamie nillam's testimony
about Ja jeremy's violence and how he brought her to
the same spot Where michelle's body was.
Speaker 8 (44:05):
Found all of the things we found out about him.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
Made him the.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
Killer this Is Richard, Bartman leo's, attorney and.
Speaker 8 (44:14):
It certainly in discerated any any possibility That leo did.
This if this case went to travel with all that,
evidence it would have been mountains a doubt About leo
being the, killer and it would have created all sorts
of very clear pictures in my mind that not only
wasn't It, leo but we knew who did.
Speaker 1 (44:36):
This it Was Jeremy.
Speaker 4 (44:37):
Scott Both jeremy And leo are brought from their respective
prisons to the Pol County jail to attend the. Hearing
this is the first time That jeremy And leo will
be in the same room. Together leo's, Wife, chrissy has
been waiting for this day in court for a long.
Speaker 18 (44:58):
Time in our, mine in my, mind there was absolutely
no way to lose.
Speaker 5 (45:02):
This it's a no.
Speaker 18 (45:04):
Brainer you've got physical evidence now that was not in
the case. Before so in anticipation of the, HEARING i
bought him two, suits had them, tailored they were. Packed
we were ready to.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
Go the hearing begins On may, fifth twenty, Ten Jeremy
scott is called to, testify and he's questioned BY. C. J,
benefield an assistant state.
Speaker 5 (45:32):
Attorney Jeremy Lenny.
Speaker 19 (45:35):
Scott, WELL i asked, you did you ever know a
PERSON i Named Michelle? Schofield, no, Sir i'm going to ask.
You did you Kill Michelle? Schofield, no, sir. Didn't are
you aware that a fingerprint of yours was found in her?
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Vehicle, yes, SIR i.
Speaker 4 (45:58):
Am When Jeremy scott is called to, testify he denies Killing,
michelle but the assistant state attorney doesn't really seem committed
to getting a consistent story out of.
Speaker 3 (46:10):
Him tell me about your activities back. Then my activities
WAS i. WOULDN'T i wasn't even stealing cars or.
Speaker 20 (46:20):
Tires my thinging was breaking, cars, steer stereo, systems.
Speaker 5 (46:24):
Speakers that was my.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Thing how did you get transportation to do these? Activities
jamie's Carr jamie was not aware of. It do you
know about when you Met?
Speaker 21 (46:40):
Jamie april was, seventeen nineteen eighty.
Speaker 3 (46:44):
Seven how do you remember that? Date, okay my birthday
is on a twenty ninth Of.
Speaker 4 (46:52):
April he's saying that he used his Girlfriend jamie's car
to steal stereo equipment from abandoned. Vehicles But jamie And
jeremy didn't even meet until about six weeks After Michelle
schofield was. Killed the state lets these inconsistencies go. Unchallenged
(47:13):
the state says they Trust jeremy's story about why his
fingerprints were found in the car Because State Attorney John
aguero believes. Him John, aguero the prosecutor with the electric
chair tigh, clip is called as a witness to talk
about his meeting With.
Speaker 20 (47:30):
Jeremy SO i had Mister scott brought back from whatever
correctional institute he was in.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
To my.
Speaker 4 (47:39):
Office jeremy was brought To aguero's office in two thousand
and five to talk about The. Prince the two men
spoke behind closed. Doors there were no other witnesses and
no tape. Recordings all we have to go on Is aguero's.
Speaker 20 (47:56):
WORD i told him that his fingerprint was found in a,
car THAT i had put Mister schofield in prison for
the rest of his life for killing his, wife and
if he didn't do, IT i had to know. It
THEREFORE i would give him. Immunity that it was more
(48:18):
important for me to know the, truth than it, was.
Speaker 5 (48:22):
Than anything.
Speaker 4 (48:23):
Else John aguero is saying that in this one on one,
meeting when he Questioned jeremy about his, fingerprints he Offered
jeremy immunity essentially confess to Killing Michelle schofield and you
won't be charged with the.
Speaker 20 (48:39):
Crime Mister, scott AS i, said was. COOPERATIVE i think
he fully understood, immunity fully understood that it was important
to me that if he did this, murder it would
BE i couldn't prosecute, him BUT i could let Leosco
(49:01):
field out of.
Speaker 4 (49:01):
Jail i've asked lawyers and legal experts about the kind
of full Immunity aguero claims he Offered jeremy in this
closed door, meeting And i've been told it just doesn't
happen like, this or it isn't supposed. To and it
makes no sense to me Why aguero would do, that
because If jeremy admitted under full immunity that he Killed,
(49:24):
Michelle leo would be released from prison and no one
would ever be charged With michelle's. Murder and on top
of how little sense it, MAKES i can't find any
documentation of this alleged immunity Offer leo's lawyers say they
made repeated requests for proof of it, too and the
state's response is. Telling they don't turn over any. Documentation
(49:49):
they just argue about the number of Requests leo's lawyers,
made so no proof of immunity is ever.
Speaker 3 (49:55):
Produced what was his explanations to the thing in that?
Speaker 20 (50:00):
Vehicle Mister scott indicated that at the time he was a.
Speaker 4 (50:04):
Thief aguero says he Looked jeremy in the eye and
asked him if he Killed Michelle. Schofield jeremy said he,
didn't that he's just a car stereo, thief And aguero believes.
Him this is the same prosecutor who tried to Send
Jeremy scott to the electric chair for Killing Donald, morehead
(50:27):
arguing to the court That jeremy was a cold blooded
criminal who couldn't be.
Speaker 19 (50:32):
Trusted after getting this information and the investigation was, complete
did you do anything with?
Speaker 5 (50:38):
It, WELL i did not go any.
Speaker 20 (50:43):
FURTHER i made notes in my file concerning my, investigation
AND i closed the investigation.
Speaker 3 (50:49):
At any time that you notify.
Speaker 21 (50:52):
Them they Believed jeremy his reasons for being in the
car was. Credible believed that it's.
Speaker 4 (51:02):
Credible now everyone is left waiting and wondering if The
Polk county judge presiding over this hearing will also Believe Jeremy.
Scott Judge Keith spoto's ruling is released just six weeks
(51:24):
after the. Hearing spoto, writes given Mister scott's past history
and modus, operandi there is every reason to believe that
he simply stumbled upon the car after her murder and
after her body had been, hidden stole stereo equipment from her,
car thereby leaving his fingerprints in the. Vehicle in other,
(51:47):
Words Judge spoto Considers jeremy's past history and rules That
Jeremy scott is simply a car stereo, thief that he's
telling the. Truth as far as the. Concerned it's almost
as if it was inconceivable To Judge spoto that a
known murderer who was tried twice for homicide by this
(52:10):
same office might also steal from his victim, afterwards just
Like jeremy did after killing Jul johnson when he stole her,
coins and just Like jeremy did after Killing Donald morehead
when he stole his. Car Judge spoto Denies leo's motion
(52:34):
for a new Trial i'm stunned AS i read this,
opinion but MAYBE i shouldn't, be given that so many
of the judges In Polk county come from The State attorney's.
Office for, Example Judge, spoto who presided Over leo's, hearing
worked as a prosecutor in The Tenth circuit Alongside John
(52:54):
aguero for nearly a.
Speaker 15 (52:56):
Decade My, God i've BEEN i have been long about
virtually everything with from the, beginning WHICH i thought was
going to. Happen SO i feel bad about that personally misread.
Speaker 4 (53:11):
Everything Scott cupp thought at one point that the discovery
Of jeremy's fingerprints In michelle's car would Spring leo out
of prison in just ninety. Days but once again his
intuition That leo would be given a new trial is.
Speaker 8 (53:29):
Wrong it's the greatest personal and professional regret of my
life That Leo scholfield is still in.
Speaker 4 (53:35):
Prison Richard, Bartman leo's other.
Speaker 1 (53:39):
Lawyer no one really wanted to admit they were.
Speaker 8 (53:42):
Wrong no one really took the kind of close look
we were urging them to. Take people got cooked on
these mythological remembrances of evidence that didn't.
Speaker 4 (53:52):
Exist mythological remembrances of. Evidence that's. Right Judge spoto couldn't
resist writing About Leo senior's. Premonition it's included in his
summary of the state's, evidence Which spoto says is quote
strong and sufficient for a jury to Convict Leo.
Speaker 22 (54:10):
Schofield how is that evidence of?
Speaker 15 (54:13):
Guilt it's.
Speaker 5 (54:14):
Not it's just some.
Speaker 22 (54:18):
Anomaly it's just something that comes. Up doesn't mean any
can mean a million. Things guy's historyonic guys are. Nut
he's not evidence of. Guilt it's not evidence of. Anything
that's the urban legend. Stuff it just has its own you,
know the snowball going. Down how many can't stop.
Speaker 4 (54:39):
It, meanwhile the physical evidence That kup And bartman do
present About jeremy's connection To michelle's, murder it's dismissed by
the judge as a happy, coincidence as if it was
just bad luck For jeremy that his fingerprints turned up
in the car of a young woman who'd been found
(55:01):
dead in a dark place where he was known to hang.
Speaker 8 (55:04):
OUT i so the likely don't understand how a trial
judge or appellate court could have looked.
Speaker 1 (55:09):
At what we came up with and said nothing to see.
Speaker 4 (55:12):
Here this disappointment hits no one harder Than, leo and
by the time he learned of the judge's, decision he
was still reeling from an encounter that happened right before
he entered the.
Speaker 21 (55:25):
Courtroom i'm gonna tell you, this, MAN i should probably filter.
It i'm not gonna filter. It i'm gonna let you
filter what you want to.
Speaker 3 (55:36):
Filter this.
Speaker 21 (55:36):
Is and If i'm wrong for this and you tell
Me i'm wrong And Soviet i've been wronged for a long.
Time i've been, WRONGED i would have been justified in
my mind to be.
Speaker 4 (55:46):
Wrong it's the morning before the first day of the evidentiary.
Hearing leo And jeremy are both brought to the jail
across from the courthouse for the. Hearing they're supposed to
be separated from each other since they're now involved in
the same. Case So leo was grouped with other defendants
(56:08):
who are doing court.
Speaker 21 (56:09):
That, day and so they had all the guys handcuffed
two by. Two there's thirty three of, us So i'm
the odd man, out So i'm not handcuffed to. Anybody
and so there's a tunnel that goes under the road
between the jail and the courthouse that they bring the inmates.
Speaker 5 (56:29):
To it's a long.
Speaker 21 (56:30):
Tunnel there's only one door, in one door on the
other side, out and there's no doors on the. Inside
it's it's a, concrete unfinished concrete tunnel on the.
Speaker 4 (56:41):
Road they're led through the door and start walking through the.
Tunnel they march down and stop in front of the
door that leads to the. Courthouse there's an officer there
and he starts banging on the door waiting for someone
on the other side to let them.
Speaker 21 (56:59):
In, meanwhile all the way back at the end of the,
tunnel here Comes. Jeremy come, on another. Man he was by.
Speaker 4 (57:07):
Himself leo has Seen jeremy's mugshots. Before it's a face
that's seared Into leo's.
Speaker 21 (57:14):
MIND i can see him way back, there walking, up
AND i can see him walking, up AND i had
enough time to stand there thinking my heart stots, racing
AND i, SAID i know these people are not gonna
just walk the murder of my wife right up in
front of me in this, tunnel right. Here after all
That i'm gone, through AND i just made a decision
in my. Mind if they march him up and put
(57:37):
him alongside of. Me That's god's. Will i'm gonna end
it right here in this. Hallway and So i'm my
drone is, pumping it's, pumping it's, pumping and march him
up And i'm getting ready and all. Round i'm just
gonna wrap his handcuffs around his neck And i'm gonna
take him. Down and they're not gonna be beat me
off of him until twenty something years of frustration and
(57:58):
comes out AND i get you From, michelle and it's.
Done now you can go ahead and put me in.
Prison NOW i belong, there you know WHAT i. Mean
And i'm not.
Speaker 3 (58:06):
A, murderer that's who they made.
Speaker 21 (58:09):
ME i, Mean i've had to fight for my life
in here WHEN i first came in twenty two years,
old young and white in the prison. System no dad's,
coming no police, Coming nobody cares. You you have to
do this or be raped or something stupid like. That
so you know where your lines. ARE i know where
(58:29):
my lines, are and you cannot cross that line without
certain things. Happening if you're gonna watch the murder of
my life and put him, upside that's a line you cannot.
Speaker 3 (58:39):
Cross just so.
Speaker 21 (58:41):
Happened they got him maybe ten feet away from, me
and this guy up the top stairs turns around and sees,
him and he knows and he yells, stop, stop back him,
up back, him.
Speaker 3 (58:54):
Then yank him, back AND i, WENT.
Speaker 21 (59:00):
I just have this massive release of you, know because
that was that was pretty.
Speaker 4 (59:06):
Scary in the basement of the, Courthouse leo says he
waits in a holding cell with the other. Defendants because
Of jeremy's violent, Behavior he's kept in an isolation cell
right by the. Elevator the jail is short, staffed there
aren't any correction officers down, there And leo's name is
(59:27):
called over the.
Speaker 21 (59:28):
Loudspeaker scholfield approached the, elevator and So i'm, thinking, WELL
i got to walk right by a. Cell now he
doesn't know me From, adam but he knows WHO i
am by. Name and this is WHEN i, knew BECAUSE
i really wasn't. SURE i, MEAN i don't, know you,
know what's the what's the percentage on it being a
(59:49):
coincidence that this no murderer is forensically linked to my
wife's car and he didn't have anything to do with,
it and after everything we know about, him and my
thought is if you are accusing me of doing something
THAT i KNOW i did not. Do i'm gonna be
at them bars WHEN i see you walk. BY i
might not do anything, stupid But i'm gonna have something to.
Speaker 3 (01:00:11):
Say i'm gonna say. Something you got the.
Speaker 21 (01:00:13):
Wrong guy or something or. Anything i'm Gonna i'm gonna say.
Something here's your. Opportunity SO i walk up there AND
i go to the bars to the cell AND i
stand there AND i look at him and he's sitting,
there profile to the front of the cell and he
won't look at. Me And i'm standing there waiting for
him to look. OUT i need him to look at,
me and he couldn't look at. Me he couldn't even face.
(01:00:35):
Me AND i told, him know THAT i. Know, jeremy
know THAT i. Know and he never says anything to.
ME i knew in that, MOMENT i was looking at
the murderer of my.
Speaker 5 (01:00:48):
WIFE i knew.
Speaker 4 (01:00:49):
It Bone valley is a production Of lava For Good
podcasts in association With Signal Company Number. One our executive
(01:01:13):
producers Are Jason blohm And Kevin. Wordiskak kornhaber is our senior.
Producer Brit spangler is our sound. Designer Roxandra guidy is our,
editor fact checking By Maximo. Anderson our producer and researcher
Is Kelsey. Decker our theme, Song The One Who's holding The,
(01:01:34):
stars is performed By Lee bob And The. Truth it
was written By Leo schofield And Kevin herrick In Florida's
Hardy Correctional. Institution Bone valley is written and produced by
Me Gilbert. King you can follow the show On, Instagram,
facebook And twitter At lava For. Good to see photos
and documents from our investigation and exclusive behind the scenes,
(01:01:57):
content Visit lava For good dot. Com Tom Slash Bone Valley,
yeah
What'd you think of Jeremy when you.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
When at first, man, I thought he was cute.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
He was cute, he was dangerous, iad.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
This is Jamie Nellams. She was Jeremy Scott's girlfriend in
nineteen eighty seven and nineteen eighty eight. They were both
seventeen years old when they met at a teen dance
club in Lakeland, Florida. This was right after Jeremy was
acquitted in the Jule Johnson murder, and then he and
Jamie stayed together until his arrest in the murder of
(00:49):
Donald Morehead. Sixteen years into Jeremy's murder sentence, a detective
from the Polk County Sheriff's Office contacted Jamie. Jeremy's finger
prints had been matched to the ones found in Michelle
Schofield's Mazda, but the investigation didn't last long. Assistant State
Attorney John Aguero, the same man who prosecuted and convicted
(01:12):
both Leo and Jeremy, quickly shuts down the investigation into
Jeremy Scott. Ten months after Jamie is first questioned, criminal
defense attorney Richard Bartman interviews her in late two thousand
and five. Bartman is representing Leo Schofield alongside his other attorney,
Scott Cupp. They're trying to finish the investigation into Jeremy
(01:36):
Scott that the state barely started.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So you remember speaking to this detective. What was the
reason he said he was there.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
He that he needed to come talk with me regarding
Jeremy Scott, anything else that he told you that he
was there. He wanted me to take him to places
Jeremy now that I knew of. He had asked me
where we had never gone to be alone.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
And I told him.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
About this place over off off thirty three by I
tour if he wanted me to take him there, to
show him where that was at.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
And I did that.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Jamie says that ten months earlier, she led the state's
detective to a place along State Road thirty three in
North Lakeland. Now she's telling Richard Bartman what it was
like when Jeremy first took her there. It was around
two am in the spring of nineteen eighty seven. Jamie
was driving and Jeremy was in the passenger seat directing her.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
He told me where to drive. I had just started
driving and barely knew how to get around my hound,
let alone how to get anywhere else. So he told
me where to turn and.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Did he have any trouble finding.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Now he knew that you couldn't find us that you knew.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
What's that?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Jeremy tells her when to slow down, to turn off
at the cut, to pull onto the dirt path back
behind the tree line. There's palmetto bushes and garbage on
the ground. No one else is back there. There's no
street lights, no houses in sight, and no cars on
(03:20):
the road either. Jeremy and Jamie are alone.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
We had this saying about being outside.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
He liked to be outside.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
You liked to be outside.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
When Jamie and Jeremy get out of the car and
walk further from the main road into the dark.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
When you got there, what what was your impression?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Year in first time you went.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Then dirty and cold and you.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
Know, dark.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I remember being nervous because there was nobody around.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
I didn't like it.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Teenagers would come to the spot along State Road thirty
three to drink beer, smoke weed and make out, but
Jamie had been worn to stay away. After police began
discovering dead girls in the water behind the palmetto bushes.
One of those girls, Michelle Schofield, was found floating face
(04:24):
down just a few months earlier in this very same
drainage canal.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Do you.
Speaker 7 (04:40):
My mans.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Have to have my field.
Speaker 7 (04:50):
Soru steps siremists in this vast tea see relation abrege
(05:17):
dansish to.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
The world, sounding stuff.
Speaker 7 (05:25):
To the bone, sold things sum.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Things bone Valley, Chapter six.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
Know that I know.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
We talked to Leo's lawyer, Richard Bartman, more than fifteen
years after he interviewed Jamie Nellams, and I.
Speaker 8 (06:09):
Remember a chilling up my spine which he described what
this guy had done to her and.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
The level of fear in this woman when we've interviewed her.
I can't. I've never forgotten that.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Jamie tells Bartman that the violence began just weeks into
her relationship with Jeremy Scott. There's punching, choking, and worse.
She tells Bartman that Jeremy hit her pretty much every
time she saw him.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
He Hitney, would crossed the pate with a belt before
he Hitney.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Was one of my babes before.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
He and he was a baseball bat one.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Jamie had gone to Disney World with her sisters against
Jeremy's wishes. When she returned, he walked her outside picked
up a baseball bat and swung at her face, and
that was eddy. The blow from the baseball bat left
her jaw broken and her face disfigured. Her injuries and
(07:14):
her story left a big impression on Richard Bartman. He
still thinks about it today.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
And you saw her face and what Scott did to it.
And this was years later.
Speaker 8 (07:25):
Because she didn't have the money to get her injuries fixed,
so he had beaten her to such an extent that
her jaw was deformed.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Jamie was convinced that Jeremy was going to kill her,
but instead Jeremy directed his violence at someone else. On
Halloween Night in nineteen eighty eight, Jeremy murdered Donald moorehead.
He's arrested the following day and locked up without bail.
(07:55):
Jamie is finally free from Jeremy.
Speaker 8 (07:59):
I think we talked to her for about two three
hours about his way of life, about how well he
knew Lakeland, about how well he knew this area where
the body was found, About his level of violence, About
the way he beat up gay people, about the way
he beat her if she would look at him wrong,
He beat the shit out of her. The slightest provocation
(08:19):
he would get violent, so I could easily picture him
killing Michelle over whatever.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I mean.
Speaker 8 (08:26):
It didn't have to be rational. And of course I
remember driving home from that thinking Jesus Christ, this is
the guy. It matches in so many ways.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
Richard Bartman and Scott Cupp keep gathering information about Jeremy's
connection to Michelle Schofield's murder. They're making the case that
Leo deserves a new trial. Not only do they have
fingerprints that linked Jeremy Scott to the vehicle Michelle was
driving the night she went missing, have testimony that Jeremy
used to take his girlfriend Jamie to the same place
(09:04):
where Michelle's body was found. Richard Bartman could hardly believe
what Jamie had told him. But when Kelsey and I
listened to this interview, almost fifteen years after it had
been recorded, something else caught our attention.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Did he ever did.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Okay, Yeah, I kind of thought about that.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
In a long time, and I'm sorry to stir it up.
Speaker 8 (09:29):
I really do apologize, but I don't mean anything personal,
but it's questions I got to ask, did he ever?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Did he ever tell you anything?
Speaker 8 (09:39):
Jeremy, Now, during the course of your relationship about the
crimes he did to criminal ax or any sort of
criminal activity.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
He told me he had killed a cab driver. He
was sixteen seventeen at time, and that he had gotten
away with it O and that was just a couple
months before he got arrested to his forehead thanks.
Speaker 9 (10:05):
When he was telling me that.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Kelsey and I run down the list of murders that
Jeremy's linked to. We know that Jeremy bragged about killing
Juel Johnson after he was acquitted of her murder. Jewel
was found shot dead in a trailer behind her house.
Jeremy's fingerprints were lifted from her eyeglasses and coin wrappers
at the scene. Jewel Johnson is murder number one, and
(10:36):
Jeremy was convicted in the nineteen eighty eight murder of
Donald Moorehead. He smashed him over the head with a
grape juice bottle and strangled him with a telephone cord.
Jeremy was forensically tied to that crime scene and he
admitted to that killing as well. Donald Moorehead is murder
number two, and Jeremy's fingerprints were found inside Michelle Schofield's car.
(11:02):
Her body was discovered in the same Canal where Jeremy
used to take Jamie to have sex with her Michelle
Schofield is murder number three. But now Jamie mentions that
Jeremy had spontaneously confessed to another murder, the killing of
a taxicab driver. Is this murder number four. We don't
(11:29):
have a lot to go on, but we start digging.
We know that if Jeremy killed a taxicab driver, it
would most likely be in that two year period between
December nineteen eighty six, when he's released after his acquittal
of the Juwel Johnson murder, and Halloween of nineteen eighty eight,
when he's locked up for killing Donald Morehead. That matches
(11:50):
what Jamie told Bartman. Jeremy would have been sixteen or
seventeen at the time. We search through databases for unsolved
homicides and flo We combed through newspaper archives for stories
about cab drivers killed in central Florida between nineteen eighty
six and nineteen eighty eight, and then one murder catches
(12:12):
our attention. In the spring of nineteen eighty seven, right
near the Polk County line, a twenty five year old
taxi cab driver named Joseph Lavere was shot dead just
outside a little community called Intercession City. A suspect named
dan Odie was arrested and brought to trial twice, but
(12:35):
the second trial ended with the defendant's acquittal. No one
else is ever charged in the death of Joseph Lavere,
so this is an unsolved murder. From his records, we
know that Jeremy was not in jail at that time.
It happened just six weeks after Michelle Schofield was killed,
(12:58):
so we dig a little deeper. We start piecing together
the crime from newspaper coverage, and this is what we learn.
It's late at night April tenth, nineteen eighty seven. Lavere
is driving a taxi for the Yellow Cab Company and
he's close to finishing his shift when he gets a
call from his dispatcher directing him to pick up a
(13:20):
passenger at a kmart in Kassimi. Lavere picks up the
passenger around ten forty five pm, but about an hour later,
the cab driver's body is spotted just off the shoulder
of Old Tampa Highway. It seems that whoever killed Joseph
Lavere stole the taxi turned off the highway, crossed the
(13:41):
railroad tracks, and sped onto a quiet residential street in
Intercession City. He must have been driving fast, because he
quickly lost control of the vehicle, sideswiping a parked car
and crashing into a power pole that knocked out the
electricity in the neighborhood. Residents ran outside to see what
(14:02):
happened and caught a glimpse of the suspect as he
fled the scene. The witnesses told police they'd seen a
white man around five foot ten of a thin or
medium build running from the cab. He was wearing jeans
and a flannel shirt, had brown hair, and screamed it's
gonna blow before he disappeared into the woods. Inside the taxi,
(14:27):
deputies found a black baseball cap sitting in the back seat.
We were able to get our hands on a photo
of this cap. There's a design on the front of it,
a skull wearing a cowboy hat with a big Confederate
flag in the background. And then there's this other. Part
of Bartman's interview with Jamie, I replay it over and
(14:50):
over again. Jamie says that when she first met Jeremy,
there was something about his appearance that stood out to.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Her eyed a ham when I thought was weird. He
gnied he'd bleaching hair brown.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Jamie thought this was odd because Jeremy never maintained that color. Naturally,
his hair was brown, and when the dark roots grew
back in, Jamie said, he never bleached it again. She
and Jeremy met just before his eighteenth birthday, about a
week after Joseph Lavere was killed. It's a small thing,
(15:29):
but it could match up with what we know about
Lavere's murder. It would make sense that the suspect, knowing
he'd been seen, might try to change his appearance. And
there's another clue. In Richard Bartman's interview with Jamie, she
mentions that Jeremy wasn't particularly close with anyone at that time,
except maybe his younger brother. That brother has a pretty
(15:52):
distinct name. So we were able to track down Royal Dean.
Speaker 9 (15:56):
Scott to accept this call and all future plus one
now so the phone calls our subject to monitoring and recording.
You have thirty eight dollars twenty four cents, Hi, Royal.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Yeah, he was locked up in the Russell County Jail
in Alabama, awaiting transfer to state prison. On an obstruction
of justice charge. I sent Royal Dean a letter, told
him I opened a phone account with the jail and
gave him my number.
Speaker 10 (16:31):
I got no problem with answering this, buddy that you
gotta asked somebody in allted to don't incriminate Jeremy on
something that's gonna hurt him. I got a problem with that.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
I start chatting with Royal Dean pretty frequently over a
period of a few weeks. He calls when he can
and sometimes leaves voicemail messages. We talk about what Jeremy
was like as a kid in their family life. But
I'm also trying to find out more about Jeremy's possible
links to the murder of Joseph Lavere.
Speaker 6 (16:59):
Did you guys believe it? Intercession City at some point?
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Oh?
Speaker 10 (17:02):
Yeah, that's where me and my wife met, okay in
a session. City is where well man, Jeremy pretty much
grow up.
Speaker 6 (17:12):
Really, I mean, did you ever hear anything, Because one
of the other things that Jeremy confessed to Jamie about
was robbing a cab driver on the way home from
Kasimmi towards Intercession City. Did you ever hear anything about that?
Speaker 11 (17:29):
Yes?
Speaker 10 (17:29):
I heard about what is that?
Speaker 6 (17:32):
What happened?
Speaker 11 (17:33):
Uh?
Speaker 10 (17:37):
Wow? I'd heard about the cab driver, man Robb, but
I didn't I couldn't tell you. I guess about Jeremy.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
He doesn't seem to want to go into this with me. Still,
Royal Dean keeps calling. We talk about his legal troubles,
and I keep asking about Jeremy, hoping he shares more
about their time an Intercession city. And finally he lets
something slip.
Speaker 10 (18:07):
I remember him saying something about robbing the cans I
remember my brother telling me about jumping out of a car,
I mean about taking that out of the money, and
that something about a gun.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
Do you remember him with blonde hair, Yeah, that would
be about right soon. Is he trying to change his
identity or something?
Speaker 10 (18:26):
I think so. I remember the blonde hair, and I
remember the canserver being robbed, and I remember him saying
something about it, and then he had to leave for
the while. And see, I never got any details. I
just know that my brother disappeared after that. For a while.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
After this conversation, Royal Dean disappeared too. The phone call
stopped coming when he was transferred to a state prison
outside of Montgomery.
Speaker 12 (19:00):
I am Jason Flamm, CEO and founder of Lava for
Good podcasts, home to Bone Valley, Wrongful Conviction, The War
on Drugs, and many other great podcasts. Today we're asking you,
our listeners, to take part in a survey. Your feedback
is going to help inform how we make podcasts in
the future. Your complete and candid answers will help us
continue to bring you more insightful and inspiring stories about
(19:22):
important topics that impact us all. So please go to
Lava for goood dot com slash survey and participate today.
Thank you for your support.
Speaker 13 (19:34):
Bone Valley is sponsored by Stand Together. Stand Together is
a philanthropic community that partners with America's boldest change makers
to tackle the root causes of our country's biggest problems,
including the broken criminal justice system. Christina Dent is one
of many entrepreneurs partnering with Stand Together to end the
War on drugs, the underlying cause of many problems such
(19:57):
as overincarceration and the criminalization of a in communities across
the country. As a foster mom, Christina came into contact
with the War on drugs when she saw how it
was ripping apart the family she worked with. She witnessed
how kids were affected and how mothers wanted something better
for their families but didn't have the tools to get
(20:18):
there themselves. Christina Dent started a nonprofit called End It
for Good because she knew there was a better solution
to help these families. She's working to end the war
on drugs in Mississippi and build consensus around the state
to help families struggling with substance abuse problems find a
different path forward than the one they've been given. Stand
(20:41):
Together has many more stories like this one, as it
partners with thousands of change makers who were driving solutions
in education, health care, poverty, and the criminal justice system.
To learn more about the War on drugs, listen to
the War on Drugs podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts. Kelsey and I go down to
(21:10):
the Osceola County Clerk's office to look at the case
files and trial transcripts from the murder of Joseph Lavere.
I wanted to find out what was collected from the
cab to see if there was any DNA evidence or
fingerprints that could be run. One of the great things
about doing research in Florida is the state Sunshine Law
(21:30):
that requires that all state, county, and municipal records be
made available to the public.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
But we don't get off to a very promising start.
After asking for the file, we wait for about an
hour and then they send down not one, not two,
but three clerks to talk to us.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Hello. Hi, I'm Gilbert, I'm good.
Speaker 14 (21:55):
How are you? You're welcome?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
I am saying it, Suzy.
Speaker 14 (22:01):
Kelsey, nice to meet you. Yes, so you're interested in
the Daniel aunt file.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Donna is mispronouncing his name. But Daniel Odie was the
man who was tried twice and was eventually acquitted of
killing the cab driver Joseph Laverare.
Speaker 14 (22:21):
It doesn't have the arrest affidavit. It's a partial file.
So what's in here you are entitled to view? I
don't know.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
If Donna shows me a slim file, it can't have
more than one hundred pages in it. Usually the clerk's
office will turn over boxes of files with transcripts, police reports,
and depositions, thousands of pages. Again, this is all supposed
to be public record, and I'm entitled to view all
of it, or preferable, I just want to look at
(22:56):
it first and see what's in there because we're looking
these were two trials too. Homicide trials usually there's like
transcripts notation about where physical evidence might be.
Speaker 14 (23:06):
Since he was found not guilty, the physical evidence would
no longer be available, and.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
Is it disposed or is it just not available to
the public. This is infuriating me and I'm trying not
to show it. If dan Odie really didn't kill Joseph Laverair,
that means the murderer might still be out there. I
can't understand why this isn't available, and why the clerk
won't tell me where I can find the information I'm
looking for. He can't be tried again, right, But I'm saying,
(23:35):
we think we know who did the crime. Oh, okay,
So it would be lovely to just have some records
to look at trial transcripts, see what physical evidence did exist.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Maybe there was a hat we know of in the
newspaper accounts.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
That's all we know.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
But maybe there's some DNA or some hair fibers that
might match the guy.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
We think did it.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
But we'll go through all this and look through it
and just see if we can find any clues as
to where this stuff might be.
Speaker 14 (23:57):
So that goes back to you, guys, somebody has to
sit with him.
Speaker 10 (24:00):
Yes, so the two options that you have.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
We're told someone will need to observe us if we're
gonna view the files in the courthouse. This has never
happened to me at a clerk's office before. We decide
to get copies made so we can go through them
without someone looking over our shoulder. But something's really bothering
me about this case. It feels like it's been flagged.
Why do they send down three clerks to tell us
(24:24):
we're only entitled to view a partial file. They're not
showing me these files because dan Odie was found not guilty.
It doesn't make any sense to me. Kelsey and I
sit and wait for the copies to be made.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
It's such a.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Mysterious right now, I'm a fucking war path. Right We're
gonna we're gonna go.
Speaker 5 (24:47):
We're gonna go.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Into the Sheriff's department, and then we're gonna go the
Stadt Joorney's office. You never heard of fucking something like
this in Florida that did the trial transform funders every
fucking single trial.
Speaker 15 (24:57):
I never looked into the transfer stas.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Later that same day, we drive to the Osceola County
Sheriff's office. We tell them that we might have some
important information on an old cold case in their jurisdiction.
They send two young detectives down to us, but they
won't let us record our meeting. The detectives are friendly
and they listen to what we have to say, but
(25:23):
they don't seem to know anything about this case. Okay,
we just left the Osceola County Sheriff's office. It's raining
out now, and the two detectives in there told us
that who are very interested. They told us that they
were going to look through the file to see if
they can find some physical evidence.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
I think that's good to.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Reach a detective. Press one to schedule an appointment to regiter.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
The detectives say they'll get back to us, but never do.
I keep calling for updates with no luck. After the tone,
Please record your message.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
When you finish recording, hang up or.
Speaker 13 (26:08):
Press the pound key.
Speaker 11 (26:09):
For more options.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Oh, good morning, Detective Miller.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
This is Gilbert King. We met with you a couple
of weeks ago about that cab driver killing back in
nineteen eighty seven, and Detective Cortes and I just wanted
to follow up with you because I had a file
of information on that particular case. I know we didn't
really leave you with anything, but I love we're happy.
Since we're having no luck accessing the files or getting
any info from law enforcement, Kelsey and I try to
(26:34):
find the defendant in the case, the nineteen year old
kid who stood trial twice for this murder, dan Odie.
Speaker 16 (26:44):
So we did find an address for dan Odie that
looked pretty solid. It looked like he'd been at that
address for quite some time. It was all the way
out in East Polk County, which we talk about parts
of Lakeland being ruled, but it doesn't it doesn't compare
to East Polk County.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
You know.
Speaker 16 (27:03):
We got out there, but it was just this long,
straight road and I know we were there for miles,
driving on this road for miles, and we didn't pass
another car. There's no houses, no structures, you know. Our
cell service was in and out. We got to the
street dan Odie lives on and we saw it was
(27:26):
a dirt road. It wasn't like a very well maintained
dirt road. So we drove down the road. We found
his address and we saw that there were dogs in
the yard. Big dogs, and there was a flagpole with
a Confederate flag on it. So it just it seemed
a little like, hey, maybe we should give this guy
(27:49):
a heads up before we like go through his gate
and like have to approach these dogs and like knock
on his door. It just it didn't didn't feel super safe.
So we when and we like found a place to
sit in the car. We started calling the phone numbers.
Speaker 11 (28:08):
You have reached the voicemail box of eight six three.
Speaker 7 (28:14):
Alright, which one was that?
Speaker 3 (28:18):
That's the first one.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Let's say hello, Please leave the message after the cane.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Nobody answers their phone anymore. I know, Hello, Hello, is
this mister dan Ott? Mister Ott, my name is Gilbert King,
and I am working on a criminal justice report. I
was also pronouncing his name wrong. It's Odie Dan Odie first.
(28:45):
So I don't know if you're around, but we would
just love to talk to you for a few minutes
if you're available.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
I'm available, all right.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
Could I stop by and just see you in about
ten minutes or so.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
At the car when you hear again, I got an
automatic gate.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
I hadn't lift you yet.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
Oh okay, all right, I'll call you right when I
get in front of the gate, then sir, thank you
very much.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
Fucking believe this.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
All right, we're gonna get out in the fucking porn rain,
but we're gonna have a fucking interview.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
All right, let's just go over some questions here quick.
Speaker 16 (29:27):
I want you so much.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
We tried, we found your address and we had like down.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
But I actually when I started reading about your case,
I couldn't believe what you went through.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Oh yeah, twice, they tried you twice.
Speaker 16 (29:45):
Yeah, I know, Like my first impression when we first
saw Dan was I was just a little scared. I
was like, did we do we have the right idea
about this? Are we sure this guy didn't do it?
Because he's a big guy. He's six', four pretty like
(30:08):
built to, like you, know, hefty like football player type of.
Build and then on top of, that he was wearing
a baseball cap with A confederate flag on. It you,
know of, course The confederate flag hat was a key
piece of evidence in this. CASE i, mean obviously not
(30:28):
the hat That ten was, wearing but there was a
baseball cap left in the taxi cab that they think
belonged to the you, know the murderer who fled the.
Scene so there was definitely a moment WHERE i Think
gilbert AND i were probably thinking the same, thing, Like, oh,
(30:50):
geez did this guy actually do? It do we have this?
Speaker 4 (30:53):
Wrong he invites us in and we all take a
seat on his couch facing A. Tv there's also a
big aquarium next to. Us you can hear its water
pump in the. Background we Asked dan about what happened
when he was arrested for killing the cab Driver Joseph.
Speaker 17 (31:11):
Lavere, well when when they arrested, ME i was in
the truck, and LIKE i told him in, Court i'm
down there bying WE i was honest with.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
HIM i had nothing to.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
Hide dan tells us that after he's pulled over in his,
truck police officers tell him to get. Down there's a
picture of him in The Orlando, sentinel, handcuffed shirtless and
splayed out on the ground with a rifle toting deputy
standing over.
Speaker 17 (31:44):
Him and when they arrested, me that's WHAT i thought
they was throwing down on me for is. Weed and
when they had me on the ground AND i, said,
well what are you arresting me for?
Speaker 5 (31:53):
It he, said first or great. MURDER i like to pass.
Out what are you kidding? ME i JUST i couldn't
get my. BREATH i was like.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
What dan didn't understand why police had been looking for.
Him he wasn't really a, troublemaker and at the time
of his, arrest all we could find on his record
were minor traffic. Infractions after he was booked into, jail
they fingerprinted, him drew his, blood and plucked hairs from his,
scalp all for comparison with the physical evidence recovered from
(32:26):
the taxi, cab and none of it Matched. Dan on
the night of the, Murder dan was at a party
with about a dozen other. People they all vouched For
dan that he was with them all. Night no way
he left and killed. Someone with his, alibi, witnesses and
all the physical evidence that did not connect him to
(32:48):
the murder Of Joseph. Lavere guards at the jail were
Telling dan that he had nothing to worry. About he'd
be going home.
Speaker 17 (32:54):
Soon BUT i was nineteen scared to deaths you, Know
i'll fix fry for SOMETHING i didn't.
Speaker 5 (33:01):
DO i was. SCARED i ain't GONNA i was.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
Scared dan's father didn't want his son to be represented
by a public.
Speaker 17 (33:09):
Defender, yes my daddy had a junkyard and he sold
had a crusher to come out, there and so all
the cars he had jumped him just to get me a.
Lawyer because my daddy, says, son don't. Worry he, SAID
i KNOW i didn't raise you this. Way he said
(33:29):
this is, bullshit and he Said i'll spend every DOLLAR i.
Speaker 5 (33:32):
Got he, says you're not going down for.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
This dan's dad was able to raise enough money to
hire a private. Attorney you'll never guess who they.
Speaker 17 (33:41):
Hired Jack evans said this is one of the most
framed jobs he'd ever seen in his.
Speaker 4 (33:47):
Life Jack edmund the same lawyer who later Represented Leo
schofield at, trial the guy in the western cut suit
with the tiny waist and the life.
Speaker 17 (33:58):
Savers BUT i never thought much Of jack BECAUSE i always
tried to call him in. JAIL i was, scared and
he'd tell everything's all, right, signed don't worry about and hang.
Up SO i called my. MOM i, Said, mom you
got fire this. Lawyer i'm gonna. Die you don't.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
Seems Like edmund had a habit of dodging his clients
until just before. Trial but the prosecution was certainly investigating their, case.
Speaker 11 (34:23):
But it still puzzles me as to Why. DAN i
don't understand. IT i don't Even dan didn't even live
In Intercession.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
City While dan sat in, jail people close to him
started getting knocks on their. Doors one of them Was Tanya,
dean who was Dating dan's. Cousin she remembers the night
the cab driver was.
Speaker 11 (34:47):
MURDERED i remember the power going, out AND i THINK
i was near the, area BUT i didn't see. ANYTHING
i just heard about it after the, fact and then
the detective came to the.
Speaker 4 (34:59):
House when detectives knock on her, door she's fifteen and
pregnant with her second.
Speaker 11 (35:04):
BABY i can one hundred percent recall walking out with
my child on my hip and the detective, saying we
know you've seen, him and it, says see Who what
do you? MEAN i didn't see. Anything you Seen Daniel?
Odie you Seen?
Speaker 2 (35:25):
Dan?
Speaker 11 (35:26):
Doit?
Speaker 8 (35:27):
NO i.
Speaker 11 (35:28):
Didn't you're gonna tell us that you've Seen Daniel odie
or that baby on your hip and in the one
in your stomach is going to be. Gone you remember
that this one hundred. PERCENT i will never forget that.
Day his name Was Buddy. SHEPHERD i will NEVER i
(35:49):
just got. Chills i'll never forget.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
That Deputy Buddy shepherd was a detective with The Osceola
County Sheriff's office and he was the lead investigator on
The lavere. MURDER i Asked tanya if she's sure That
Buddy shepherd wasn't just warning her that she was under
oath and if she committed perjury there could be consequences
that would affect her.
Speaker 11 (36:11):
Children absolutely, Not that is not the, no absolutely. Not
it was a direct, threat AND i was told to
say THAT i seen. HIM i, remember BECAUSE i was a.
MINER i had to have a parent present BECAUSE i
had to go down and make a recorded. Statement AND
(36:33):
i remember telling my, Dad, dad they're making me. Lie
they're telling me WHAT i have to, say or they're
going to take my. Babies he, Said, sissy they can't do.
That they can't take your children because you tell the.
Truth all you have to do is What i've taught
(36:55):
you is tell the. Truth SO i went down to
give a statement and the detective kept on, saying so tell,
us tell us it Was, dan wasn't. It remember it Was?
Dan and he would point to my stomach AND i, said,
no it. WASN'T i didn't see. ANYTHING i didn't see.
(37:18):
Nothing and he turned off the recorder and he slammed
his fist down and he, says you're gonna tell us
it Was. Dan do you remember WHAT i told. You
you're gonna tell us it Was, dan.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
And this Was Buddy shepherd, Again yes it.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
WAS i was.
Speaker 11 (37:35):
TERRIFIED i was.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Terrified tanya says she doesn't give in To Buddy shepherd's.
Threats but it turns out there were other young mothers
in town who claimed That shepherd tried to get them to.
Lie one of them Was Debbie.
Speaker 17 (37:51):
Murphy, Well Debbie murphy was their main. Witness that's the
only thing they had against, me and she was pointing me.
Out she said she's seen me over six hundred yards
away at two o'clock in the, morning run on the
cross the railroad.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
Tracks at, trial the state's witnesses point To Dan odie
as the man they saw get out of the taxi.
Cab but what's odd is that in the witness's initial
statements to, police they had described the suspect as being
somewhere between five foot eight and six feet tall and
weighing around one hundred and sixty. Pounds that is not Dan.
(38:30):
Odie at the, Time dan was six foot four and
weighed two hundred and thirty five, pounds which is the
average size of a tight end in The National Football.
League he's kind of hard to. Miss Dan odie's friends
are all testifying under oath That dan was with them all.
(38:53):
Night the jury has to decide which witnesses are, lying
and they can't do. It failed to reach a verdict
and a mistrial is. Declared but just two months, later
the state tries Dan odie, again.
Speaker 17 (39:10):
And everybody kind of didn't want to pursue, it except
For Buddy. Shepherd Old Buddy. Shepherd he wouldn't letting it.
Go he was just he was bound and determined to frame.
Me he wasn't gonna let it.
Speaker 4 (39:21):
Go Debbie murphy takes the stand again in the second,
trial but in the middle of her, testimony the trial
grinds to a.
Speaker 5 (39:29):
Halt she came clean on the second.
Speaker 17 (39:32):
Trial she broke, down started, crying and they stopped and
said what's. Wrong she, SAID i can't do this no.
More she, Said dan Those i've never seen him that.
NIGHT i Know dan from. SCHOOL i never Seen dan
on the railroad tracks that. Night she, SAID i haven't
Seen dan since we got out of, school and she told,
him you, know, LOOK i was paid to say. THIS
(39:53):
i was threatening with my kids IF i didn't say
this Against Daniel. Rody AND i was, like oh, wow
finally come. True you know at, Lease oh, MAN i tell,
You i'll tell.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
You after the, Trial dan Says debbie apologized for lying
about seeing him on the railroad tracks that, night.
Speaker 17 (40:17):
AND i told, HER i, understand you, Know i'm just
glad you finally came forward BECAUSE i was fixing got
electric chair for SOMETHING i know THAT i didn't. Do
but she finally came forward told the.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
Truth there was a quick investigation into the claims That
Buddy shepherd was threatening young mothers In Intercession. City despite the,
allegations he was. Cleared On october, twentieth nineteen eighty. Seven
Dan is acquitted of the murder of cab Driver Joseph.
Speaker 17 (40:48):
Lavere it was a great feeling because my mom had
three stroke fries in, there.
Speaker 5 (40:56):
And when.
Speaker 17 (41:00):
WHEN i was choosing not of it no, more she
broke down and cried and felt you could just see
wake lifts it off over BECAUSE i was her, baby you,
know of all my, BROTHERS i was her, baby and
she she KNOWED i didn't do, it but she just
she really thought she had never Seen nick again like.
This and when they said not, guilty just everybody jumped.
Speaker 4 (41:20):
Up But Dan odie had spent six months in, jail
and he sat through two trials facing the death, penalty
and despite being found not, guilty he still doesn't feel
like his name has been.
Speaker 17 (41:33):
Cleared but it's just it's still to this. DAY i,
MEAN i don't think about. IT i know what's right
and what's, wrong AND i KNOW i didn't do it
and all, This but when you meet people from back
then that you see him somewhere on the street today
and they kind of look at you, like oh, yeah,
(41:54):
hey and you know they're, thinking did you do it
or did you?
Speaker 5 (41:58):
Not BUT i just stare is a, way.
Speaker 17 (42:02):
Without a shadow of doubt THAT i could show everybody
THAT i did not do.
Speaker 16 (42:08):
THIS i want to see that physical evidence.
Speaker 5 (42:13):
Too oh my.
Speaker 17 (42:14):
GOD i would love for y'all to do THE dna
and find out who really did.
Speaker 5 (42:19):
IT i would just really like to know who did.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
It when we first walked in to talk To, dan
we weren't sure what to, expect but listening To dan
tell his story and talk about his, innocence it's hard
not to think About. Leo they both want us to
keep investigating their cases from thirty five years. Ago they
(42:46):
want so badly to get to the, truth to have
their names cleared so they can get on with their.
Lives the state insists that they had the right man
And Dan, odie but that the jury just saw it,
differently so after his acquittal they don't investigate any. Further
but if the state is, wrong that means that the
(43:07):
murderer Of Joseph lavere may still be out there. SOMEWHERE
i just can't stop thinking this has to Be. Jeremy
(43:31):
it's twenty, ten twenty three years After Michelle schofield was.
Killed more than five years have passed since the unidentified
fingerprints in The mazda were matched To Jeremy, scott and
Finally leo's granted an Evident sherry, hearing which he hopes
will lead to a new. Trial his lawyers prepare to
(43:54):
present the new, evidence the fingerprints And Jamie nillam's testimony
about Ja jeremy's violence and how he brought her to
the same spot Where michelle's body was.
Speaker 8 (44:05):
Found all of the things we found out about him.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
Made him the.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
Killer this Is Richard, Bartman leo's, attorney and.
Speaker 8 (44:14):
It certainly in discerated any any possibility That leo did.
This if this case went to travel with all that,
evidence it would have been mountains a doubt About leo
being the, killer and it would have created all sorts
of very clear pictures in my mind that not only
wasn't It, leo but we knew who did.
Speaker 1 (44:36):
This it Was Jeremy.
Speaker 4 (44:37):
Scott Both jeremy And leo are brought from their respective
prisons to the Pol County jail to attend the. Hearing
this is the first time That jeremy And leo will
be in the same room. Together leo's, Wife, chrissy has
been waiting for this day in court for a long.
Speaker 18 (44:58):
Time in our, mine in my, mind there was absolutely
no way to lose.
Speaker 5 (45:02):
This it's a no.
Speaker 18 (45:04):
Brainer you've got physical evidence now that was not in
the case. Before so in anticipation of the, HEARING i
bought him two, suits had them, tailored they were. Packed
we were ready to.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
Go the hearing begins On may, fifth twenty, Ten Jeremy
scott is called to, testify and he's questioned BY. C. J,
benefield an assistant state.
Speaker 5 (45:32):
Attorney Jeremy Lenny.
Speaker 19 (45:35):
Scott, WELL i asked, you did you ever know a
PERSON i Named Michelle? Schofield, no, Sir i'm going to ask.
You did you Kill Michelle? Schofield, no, sir. Didn't are
you aware that a fingerprint of yours was found in her?
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Vehicle, yes, SIR i.
Speaker 4 (45:58):
Am When Jeremy scott is called to, testify he denies Killing,
michelle but the assistant state attorney doesn't really seem committed
to getting a consistent story out of.
Speaker 3 (46:10):
Him tell me about your activities back. Then my activities
WAS i. WOULDN'T i wasn't even stealing cars or.
Speaker 20 (46:20):
Tires my thinging was breaking, cars, steer stereo, systems.
Speaker 5 (46:24):
Speakers that was my.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Thing how did you get transportation to do these? Activities
jamie's Carr jamie was not aware of. It do you
know about when you Met?
Speaker 21 (46:40):
Jamie april was, seventeen nineteen eighty.
Speaker 3 (46:44):
Seven how do you remember that? Date, okay my birthday
is on a twenty ninth Of.
Speaker 4 (46:52):
April he's saying that he used his Girlfriend jamie's car
to steal stereo equipment from abandoned. Vehicles But jamie And
jeremy didn't even meet until about six weeks After Michelle
schofield was. Killed the state lets these inconsistencies go. Unchallenged
(47:13):
the state says they Trust jeremy's story about why his
fingerprints were found in the car Because State Attorney John
aguero believes. Him John, aguero the prosecutor with the electric
chair tigh, clip is called as a witness to talk
about his meeting With.
Speaker 20 (47:30):
Jeremy SO i had Mister scott brought back from whatever
correctional institute he was in.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
To my.
Speaker 4 (47:39):
Office jeremy was brought To aguero's office in two thousand
and five to talk about The. Prince the two men
spoke behind closed. Doors there were no other witnesses and
no tape. Recordings all we have to go on Is aguero's.
Speaker 20 (47:56):
WORD i told him that his fingerprint was found in a,
car THAT i had put Mister schofield in prison for
the rest of his life for killing his, wife and
if he didn't do, IT i had to know. It
THEREFORE i would give him. Immunity that it was more
(48:18):
important for me to know the, truth than it, was.
Speaker 5 (48:22):
Than anything.
Speaker 4 (48:23):
Else John aguero is saying that in this one on one,
meeting when he Questioned jeremy about his, fingerprints he Offered
jeremy immunity essentially confess to Killing Michelle schofield and you
won't be charged with the.
Speaker 20 (48:39):
Crime Mister, scott AS i, said was. COOPERATIVE i think
he fully understood, immunity fully understood that it was important
to me that if he did this, murder it would
BE i couldn't prosecute, him BUT i could let Leosco
(49:01):
field out of.
Speaker 4 (49:01):
Jail i've asked lawyers and legal experts about the kind
of full Immunity aguero claims he Offered jeremy in this
closed door, meeting And i've been told it just doesn't
happen like, this or it isn't supposed. To and it
makes no sense to me Why aguero would do, that
because If jeremy admitted under full immunity that he Killed,
(49:24):
Michelle leo would be released from prison and no one
would ever be charged With michelle's. Murder and on top
of how little sense it, MAKES i can't find any
documentation of this alleged immunity Offer leo's lawyers say they
made repeated requests for proof of it, too and the
state's response is. Telling they don't turn over any. Documentation
(49:49):
they just argue about the number of Requests leo's lawyers,
made so no proof of immunity is ever.
Speaker 3 (49:55):
Produced what was his explanations to the thing in that?
Speaker 20 (50:00):
Vehicle Mister scott indicated that at the time he was a.
Speaker 4 (50:04):
Thief aguero says he Looked jeremy in the eye and
asked him if he Killed Michelle. Schofield jeremy said he,
didn't that he's just a car stereo, thief And aguero believes.
Him this is the same prosecutor who tried to Send
Jeremy scott to the electric chair for Killing Donald, morehead
(50:27):
arguing to the court That jeremy was a cold blooded
criminal who couldn't be.
Speaker 19 (50:32):
Trusted after getting this information and the investigation was, complete
did you do anything with?
Speaker 5 (50:38):
It, WELL i did not go any.
Speaker 20 (50:43):
FURTHER i made notes in my file concerning my, investigation
AND i closed the investigation.
Speaker 3 (50:49):
At any time that you notify.
Speaker 21 (50:52):
Them they Believed jeremy his reasons for being in the
car was. Credible believed that it's.
Speaker 4 (51:02):
Credible now everyone is left waiting and wondering if The
Polk county judge presiding over this hearing will also Believe Jeremy.
Scott Judge Keith spoto's ruling is released just six weeks
(51:24):
after the. Hearing spoto, writes given Mister scott's past history
and modus, operandi there is every reason to believe that
he simply stumbled upon the car after her murder and
after her body had been, hidden stole stereo equipment from her,
car thereby leaving his fingerprints in the. Vehicle in other,
(51:47):
Words Judge spoto Considers jeremy's past history and rules That
Jeremy scott is simply a car stereo, thief that he's
telling the. Truth as far as the. Concerned it's almost
as if it was inconceivable To Judge spoto that a
known murderer who was tried twice for homicide by this
(52:10):
same office might also steal from his victim, afterwards just
Like jeremy did after killing Jul johnson when he stole her,
coins and just Like jeremy did after Killing Donald morehead
when he stole his. Car Judge spoto Denies leo's motion
(52:34):
for a new Trial i'm stunned AS i read this,
opinion but MAYBE i shouldn't, be given that so many
of the judges In Polk county come from The State attorney's.
Office for, Example Judge, spoto who presided Over leo's, hearing
worked as a prosecutor in The Tenth circuit Alongside John
(52:54):
aguero for nearly a.
Speaker 15 (52:56):
Decade My, God i've BEEN i have been long about
virtually everything with from the, beginning WHICH i thought was
going to. Happen SO i feel bad about that personally misread.
Speaker 4 (53:11):
Everything Scott cupp thought at one point that the discovery
Of jeremy's fingerprints In michelle's car would Spring leo out
of prison in just ninety. Days but once again his
intuition That leo would be given a new trial is.
Speaker 8 (53:29):
Wrong it's the greatest personal and professional regret of my
life That Leo scholfield is still in.
Speaker 4 (53:35):
Prison Richard, Bartman leo's other.
Speaker 1 (53:39):
Lawyer no one really wanted to admit they were.
Speaker 8 (53:42):
Wrong no one really took the kind of close look
we were urging them to. Take people got cooked on
these mythological remembrances of evidence that didn't.
Speaker 4 (53:52):
Exist mythological remembrances of. Evidence that's. Right Judge spoto couldn't
resist writing About Leo senior's. Premonition it's included in his
summary of the state's, evidence Which spoto says is quote
strong and sufficient for a jury to Convict Leo.
Speaker 22 (54:10):
Schofield how is that evidence of?
Speaker 15 (54:13):
Guilt it's.
Speaker 5 (54:14):
Not it's just some.
Speaker 22 (54:18):
Anomaly it's just something that comes. Up doesn't mean any
can mean a million. Things guy's historyonic guys are. Nut
he's not evidence of. Guilt it's not evidence of. Anything
that's the urban legend. Stuff it just has its own you,
know the snowball going. Down how many can't stop.
Speaker 4 (54:39):
It, meanwhile the physical evidence That kup And bartman do
present About jeremy's connection To michelle's, murder it's dismissed by
the judge as a happy, coincidence as if it was
just bad luck For jeremy that his fingerprints turned up
in the car of a young woman who'd been found
(55:01):
dead in a dark place where he was known to hang.
Speaker 8 (55:04):
OUT i so the likely don't understand how a trial
judge or appellate court could have looked.
Speaker 1 (55:09):
At what we came up with and said nothing to see.
Speaker 4 (55:12):
Here this disappointment hits no one harder Than, leo and
by the time he learned of the judge's, decision he
was still reeling from an encounter that happened right before
he entered the.
Speaker 21 (55:25):
Courtroom i'm gonna tell you, this, MAN i should probably filter.
It i'm not gonna filter. It i'm gonna let you
filter what you want to.
Speaker 3 (55:36):
Filter this.
Speaker 21 (55:36):
Is and If i'm wrong for this and you tell
Me i'm wrong And Soviet i've been wronged for a long.
Time i've been, WRONGED i would have been justified in
my mind to be.
Speaker 4 (55:46):
Wrong it's the morning before the first day of the evidentiary.
Hearing leo And jeremy are both brought to the jail
across from the courthouse for the. Hearing they're supposed to
be separated from each other since they're now involved in
the same. Case So leo was grouped with other defendants
(56:08):
who are doing court.
Speaker 21 (56:09):
That, day and so they had all the guys handcuffed
two by. Two there's thirty three of, us So i'm
the odd man, out So i'm not handcuffed to. Anybody
and so there's a tunnel that goes under the road
between the jail and the courthouse that they bring the inmates.
Speaker 5 (56:29):
To it's a long.
Speaker 21 (56:30):
Tunnel there's only one door, in one door on the
other side, out and there's no doors on the. Inside
it's it's a, concrete unfinished concrete tunnel on the.
Speaker 4 (56:41):
Road they're led through the door and start walking through the.
Tunnel they march down and stop in front of the
door that leads to the. Courthouse there's an officer there
and he starts banging on the door waiting for someone
on the other side to let them.
Speaker 21 (56:59):
In, meanwhile all the way back at the end of the,
tunnel here Comes. Jeremy come, on another. Man he was by.
Speaker 4 (57:07):
Himself leo has Seen jeremy's mugshots. Before it's a face
that's seared Into leo's.
Speaker 21 (57:14):
MIND i can see him way back, there walking, up
AND i can see him walking, up AND i had
enough time to stand there thinking my heart stots, racing
AND i, SAID i know these people are not gonna
just walk the murder of my wife right up in
front of me in this, tunnel right. Here after all
That i'm gone, through AND i just made a decision
in my. Mind if they march him up and put
(57:37):
him alongside of. Me That's god's. Will i'm gonna end
it right here in this. Hallway and So i'm my
drone is, pumping it's, pumping it's, pumping and march him
up And i'm getting ready and all. Round i'm just
gonna wrap his handcuffs around his neck And i'm gonna
take him. Down and they're not gonna be beat me
off of him until twenty something years of frustration and
(57:58):
comes out AND i get you From, michelle and it's.
Done now you can go ahead and put me in.
Prison NOW i belong, there you know WHAT i. Mean
And i'm not.
Speaker 3 (58:06):
A, murderer that's who they made.
Speaker 21 (58:09):
ME i, Mean i've had to fight for my life
in here WHEN i first came in twenty two years,
old young and white in the prison. System no dad's,
coming no police, Coming nobody cares. You you have to
do this or be raped or something stupid like. That
so you know where your lines. ARE i know where
(58:29):
my lines, are and you cannot cross that line without
certain things. Happening if you're gonna watch the murder of
my life and put him, upside that's a line you cannot.
Speaker 3 (58:39):
Cross just so.
Speaker 21 (58:41):
Happened they got him maybe ten feet away from, me
and this guy up the top stairs turns around and sees,
him and he knows and he yells, stop, stop back him,
up back, him.
Speaker 3 (58:54):
Then yank him, back AND i, WENT.
Speaker 21 (59:00):
I just have this massive release of you, know because
that was that was pretty.
Speaker 4 (59:06):
Scary in the basement of the, Courthouse leo says he
waits in a holding cell with the other. Defendants because
Of jeremy's violent, Behavior he's kept in an isolation cell
right by the. Elevator the jail is short, staffed there
aren't any correction officers down, there And leo's name is
(59:27):
called over the.
Speaker 21 (59:28):
Loudspeaker scholfield approached the, elevator and So i'm, thinking, WELL
i got to walk right by a. Cell now he
doesn't know me From, adam but he knows WHO i
am by. Name and this is WHEN i, knew BECAUSE
i really wasn't. SURE i, MEAN i don't, know you,
know what's the what's the percentage on it being a
(59:49):
coincidence that this no murderer is forensically linked to my
wife's car and he didn't have anything to do with,
it and after everything we know about, him and my
thought is if you are accusing me of doing something
THAT i KNOW i did not. Do i'm gonna be
at them bars WHEN i see you walk. BY i
might not do anything, stupid But i'm gonna have something to.
Speaker 3 (01:00:11):
Say i'm gonna say. Something you got the.
Speaker 21 (01:00:13):
Wrong guy or something or. Anything i'm Gonna i'm gonna say.
Something here's your. Opportunity SO i walk up there AND
i go to the bars to the cell AND i
stand there AND i look at him and he's sitting,
there profile to the front of the cell and he
won't look at. Me And i'm standing there waiting for
him to look. OUT i need him to look at,
me and he couldn't look at. Me he couldn't even face.
(01:00:35):
Me AND i told, him know THAT i. Know, jeremy
know THAT i. Know and he never says anything to.
ME i knew in that, MOMENT i was looking at
the murderer of my.
Speaker 5 (01:00:48):
WIFE i knew.
Speaker 4 (01:00:49):
It Bone valley is a production Of lava For Good
podcasts in association With Signal Company Number. One our executive
(01:01:13):
producers Are Jason blohm And Kevin. Wordiskak kornhaber is our senior.
Producer Brit spangler is our sound. Designer Roxandra guidy is our,
editor fact checking By Maximo. Anderson our producer and researcher
Is Kelsey. Decker our theme, Song The One Who's holding The,
(01:01:34):
stars is performed By Lee bob And The. Truth it
was written By Leo schofield And Kevin herrick In Florida's
Hardy Correctional. Institution Bone valley is written and produced by
Me Gilbert. King you can follow the show On, Instagram,
facebook And twitter At lava For. Good to see photos
and documents from our investigation and exclusive behind the scenes,
(01:01:57):
content Visit lava For good dot. Com Tom Slash Bone Valley,
yeah
Host
Gilbert King
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.