November 2, 2022 • 70 mins
Chapter 8 of 9
Leo Schofield faces more legal setbacks. Gilbert and Kelsey attend Leo’s latest hearings: one before an appellate court, and one before the parole board. In the aftermath, Gilbert writes a letter to Jeremy Scott. Soon, Jeremy begins sending detailed letters, and sharing more and more information about his crimes. Gilbert and Kelsey make arrangements to interview Jeremy in person.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, Oh my god, I'm so excited. Hold on, hold on,
saying I'm not ready for you. I thought I want
to talk about set up. No it is no, that's bullshit.
We don't need set up. One afternoon, I see a
white envelope sitting in my mailbox in Brooklyn, stamped in
(00:23):
red letters. It says mailed from a state correctional institution,
and on the top left of the envelope, I see
his name. Oh, we should journey. I had to call
Kelsey right away. She was back in her home state
of North Carolina after months of living between Florida and Brooklyn,
(00:44):
reporting on the Leo Schofield case. With me, all right, okay,
it looks like it's it's on prison paper. It's not
the original thing. I should okay, just read it. Jesus Christ.
Oh my god, she says, I want you to know
(01:04):
that Polk County gave me a call about you. I
don't think you can come see me. Who knows what
will happen. And that's sad when they can't see that.
I have kept my damn mouth shut for thirty one
years Schofield case. Let's say he should be out. I've
thought about writing my story that no one wants to hear.
(01:27):
I just don't really know how. Gotta go, Jay Scott,
do you my man? Has my fields? Salt? Sorry? In
(01:57):
this vadly to I Seelation, I reach, Desperation, to the
(02:21):
world Star, to the Bone Valley, Chapter eight, Dear mister King,
(03:08):
I started writing Jeremy because honestly, I didn't know what
else to do. After working on this story for a year,
the evidence I've seen pointed more and more towards Jeremy
Scott as Michelle Scofield's killer. So I sent my letters
out hoping that Jeremy might decide to open up to me,
(03:30):
to converse in a way that he hadn't with the lawyers, investigators,
and cold case detectives who read him his rights and
make him swear under oath. I just want to have
a conversation with him, to hear the story he says
that no one wants to hear. But we need to
back up for a minute to September of twenty nineteen,
(03:54):
about ten months before I got Jeremy's letter. So we're
here at the Tampa Law Center in Tampa, Florida. We're
here for the second DCA Oral Arguments after studying every
detail of Leo's case over the past year, this is
the first legal proceeding we get to see for ourselves
the deciding factor. But this moment, this particular appeal, is
(04:16):
everything for Leo. This could really kill all his chances
of going forward. At this moment, I think this is
almost like his last chance. The reason we're here is
because the judge and the last hearing denied Leo a
new trial, even after watching Jeremy Scott confessed to killing
Michelle Scofield in court. So, in spite of the forensic
(04:40):
evidence linking Jeremy Scott to the crime scene, and despite
the fact that there is still no physical evidence and
no direct evidence tying Leo Scofield to the murder of
his wife, a single judge ruled that Jeremy Scott was
not credible and his confession to killing Michelle was not believable.
But Leo those lawyers appealed the judge's decision and one. So, now,
(05:05):
almost two years after Jeremy Scott confessed on the stand,
Leo was given another chance to make his case in
court to argue that he deserves a new trial. This
hearing will be before a panel of three judges seated
on the Second District Court of Appeal. It's about to
start when we see Leo's wife, Chrissy and their daughter
(05:25):
Ashley walked through the door. Yeah, you know what you're like,
trying to get somewhere on time. Everything's fine there, they're
just starting to see people. So you guys are in
great shape. How are you, oh, am I today? Um hmm,
(05:48):
I don't. I don't know if I have a word
for it. Actually, just some hopeful hopeful Yeah, that's probably
the best word. At Leo's last hearing, Chrissy witnessed how
Jeremy Scott withstood the prosecutor's verbal abuse. By the end
of his testimony, Jeremy maintained that it was he alone
(06:11):
who killed Michelle Scofield back in February of nineteen eighty seven.
Some of his last words in court that day were,
I killed her. It's maddening that we are still here
all these years later, and I was thinking about it's
been two years since I got the call about the confession.
(06:32):
Two years. He described in detail what he did, how
he did it, what he was thinking when he did it,
what Michelle was saying when he killed her. Two years
later and we're still talking about this. If these three
judges don't grant Leo a new trial, it will become
even harder for him to successfully appeal to a higher
(06:53):
court and get another opportunity to prove his innocence. Leo
isn't allowed here to watch the hearing, and he won't
find out how it went until he calls Chrissy later
in the day. How are Leo's spirits lately? He's hopeful,
(07:13):
but he's also afraid. He's afraid that we'll get more
of the same. He's afraid that he'll disappoint his family.
When I think about that's when I get choked up,
because he doesn't disappoint us. But so that's where he is.
So that's that I think we should go in. The
(07:41):
room is more like a lecture hall than a courtroom,
but there's a tenseness in the air. More than a
dozen people have come in support of Leo. They are
all aware that this may be Leo's last chance for justice.
You know, my name is as Seth Miller from the
Instance Project Flora's I'm like co council as Stolan, who
will not be first Leo's attorney. Seth Miller from the
(08:04):
Innocence Project to Florida gets up and begins his oral
argument about the new evidence of Jeremy Scott's confession to
killing Michelle. He only has twenty minutes to present his case,
but the judges can interrupt at any point to ask
questions that seth brings up. How there are certain details
Jeremy knows that only the murderer could know, how Jeremy's
(08:26):
story is consistent with the forensic evidence, and how Michelle
was found in the same spot that Jeremy used to
take his girlfriend Jamie Nellum's. But just a minute into
his argument, the judges are already interrupting with questions, and
before long they veer away from Jeremy Scott's confession and
instead dredge up the same so called evidence from the
(08:49):
original trial, like Leo's father's weird behavior. His ex girlfriend,
Jamie Neellims testified that he used to bring her to
then few mornings after the incident, the defendant's father had
a premonition that that's where the body was and led
(09:09):
police to that location. What really bothers me listening to
the judge's questions is that Leo Senior's story about a
vision from God continues to be treated as a fact
in this case, as if he woke up that morning
with a premonition and then led police to some random
ditch in Polk County where Michelle's body just happened to be.
(09:34):
That's not what happened. Leo Senior had been searching for
Michelle for nearly three days and nights. He didn't lead
police to the body. He found her body, then flagged
down a passing trucker, who alerted the police. And it
wasn't until after the police showed up that he claimed
to have had this clairvoyant vision from God. It was
(09:56):
a story told by a distraught and troubled man, And so,
with only twenty precious minutes to argue his case, Seth
gets stuck explaining Leo's father's premonition instead of arguing to
the judges why Jeremy Scott's confessions deserve to be considered
by a new jury at a new trial. And that's
(10:18):
all Leo and his lawyers are asking for. They're not
asking for Leo to walk out of prison today. They're
just asking for a new jury to decide his fate.
After Seth takes a seat the attorney for the state
makes his argument, and it's basically this, Jeremy Scott is
not credible and nothing he says should be believed. But
(10:42):
there is one time the state says that you can
believe Jeremy when he says he didn't kill Michelle. His
version of events, which was deemed credible at his court
in two and ten, that he stole the star Year
equipment and found the abandoned car and did not kill
Michelle's Goophiel, matches much more logically with the evidence known
(11:03):
in the case than his version of events. This is
the preposterous position the state is forced to defend that
a man who has confessed to three different murders in
Polk County that he is forensically linked to is suddenly
nothing more than a car stereo thief. It's like they're
refusing to acknowledge the fact that the State Attorney's office
(11:25):
has already prosecuted Jeremy Scott twice for murder. If this
court does not have any further questions, I would ask
that you affirm the trial courts denial of the motion
for newly discovered evidence. Thank you very much. The hearing
doesn't last long, about thirty minutes and then it's over.
(11:47):
We all walk out into the lobby and don't know
how to feel. It's hard to read what the judges
are thinking, and Leo's family wants to remain optimistic. But
now the waiting begins. For the next eight months. We
will all wake up in the morning and refresh the
Second DCA's website to see if their decision has been
(12:08):
posted online to see if the court has ruled that
Leo should be granted a new trial. Hi, I'm Jason Flom,
CEO and founder of Lava for Good podcasts, home to
(12:30):
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(12:52):
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your support. 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 failed War on drugs that has
(13:14):
criminalized addiction, fueled over incarceration, and shattered communities. At eleven
years old, Scott Strode drank his first beer. At fifteen,
Scott went to a mental health facility because of suicidal thoughts,
where he tried cocaine. Like many others who experience addiction,
Scott was using drugs and alcohol to numb the pain
(13:37):
he was trying to numb childhood trauma. In his early twenties,
Scott was invited into a boxing gym by a friend.
That's where he discovered the healing power of sport and
community that helped propel him towards sobriety. In two thousand
and six, Scott founded The Phoenix, a free, sober active
community that uses the transformative power of sport to help
(14:00):
people treat and heal from addiction and imagine new possibilities
for their lives through fitness. The program restores compassion to
a system that has long relied on locking people up
to solve the addiction crisis. Scott Strode is one of
many entrepreneurs partnering with stand together to drive solutions in education, healthcare, poverty,
(14:23):
and criminal justice. To learn more about addiction and the
War on drugs, listen to the War on Drugs podcast
on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. While
Leo and his family wait for the judges to release
(14:45):
their decision about whether or not Leo will be granted
a new trial, Leo has one other chance for freedom,
not through a new trial but will allow him to
clear his name, but through parole. Parole is basically the
st way of saying you committed a crime, served your sentence,
and kept out of trouble in prison, so as long
(15:06):
as you keep checking in with us now and again,
we no longer think you're a present danger to society.
But parole is not ideal for Leo because even if
it's granted, he'll still be a convicted murderer in the
eyes of the state. On the other hand, if he's paroled,
he'd at least eventually be home with his family. In
(15:28):
a lot of ways, Leo is the perfect candidate for parole.
He's a model inmate who's obtained multiple college degrees and
leads the prison ministry program God behind Bars. I've graduated college.
I've gotten awards from the Toastmasters. I can't do anything else.
There's nothing else to do here. I've been the pastor
of the Messianic community here since twenty eleven. I invented
(15:51):
programs to graduate from and Leo hasn't had a single
disciplinary infraction in fourteen years. In fact, over his thirty
years in prison, he's been written up just five times,
and only for minor infractions, like once he missed a
day of work because of an injury, and another time
(16:11):
he handed out one of Chrissie's Mary Kay Cosmetics cards
to a corrections officer he was friendly with. In addition
to presenting their prison records, inmates are expected to show
that they'd be a benefit to society and that they'd
have stable housing and jobs. Leo has all of that
lined up. He has dozens of letters of support from
(16:32):
friends and family, and even corrections officers who have known
him for years. Leo even has a letter of support
from Michelle's brother, Jesse Sam. Chrissie got in touch with
him after the fingerprints in Michelle's car were matched to
Jeremy Scott, and Chrissy started sending Jesse documents so I
read through it and I was like, dang man, the stuff,
(16:54):
it's very substantial. Fingerprints was a big deal. Jeremy's history
was a big by the fact that he had murdered
other people and that he was around that same area
frequently was a big deal. And and a lot of
that stuff just started adding up. Do you believe that
(17:15):
Jeremy Scott killed your sister? I think so. I think
he did. Yeah, And I think that Leah has been
wrongfully imprisoned this whole time. And you know, it's it.
It bothers me. It makes me sad, you know that
they won't try to pursue the evidence that's boiled up
(17:36):
after all these years and at least process it, you know,
and then we'll all know, you know, if he did
or not. I mean, dude, we're all just searching for
the answer, you know, So why wouldn't we pursue it? Yeah?
(18:02):
The Pearl hearing, it started pretty early in the morning.
Got there, saw Chrissy and Ashley and you know, the
whole gang. It's January eighth, twenty twenty, about four months
after the second DCA hearing that would determine whether or
not Leo will get a new trial, but there's still
no decision in time for Leo's parole hearing. I had
(18:28):
something scheduled that day, so Kelsey made arrangements to fly
down to Tallahassee to cover the hearing herself, and I
knew Kelsey was kind of nervous about this trip. Texted Gilbert,
I said, don't see Hill yet. Jerry Hill was John
Aguero's boss at the time of Leo's trial back in
nineteen eighty nine. He's a tough talking law and order
(18:51):
prosecutor who ran unopposed in his last seven elections. Parole
is different from Leo's other hearings because it represented from
the state doesn't have to be there, but Jerry Hill
in his office have made a point of showing up
to these hearings. Even though he retired in early twenty
seventeen after serving thirty two years a state attorney, he
(19:13):
still drives hours to attend these parole hearings, and he's
taken a special interest in Leo's case. We tried emailing
Jerry Hill, but we received no response. We had a
lot of questions, and since nobody from the State Attorney's
office would agree to be interviewed, we knew our only
chance to talk to Jerry Hill might be after the hearing,
(19:37):
and with me unable to attend, Kelsey was going to
have to be the one to try to corner him.
A number of those people here and I like to
call on some of them. Seth Miller from the Innocence
Project makes the case for Leo's parole. He has just
ten minutes, and he has to share that time with
Leo's family members and people who Leo mentored in the prison,
(19:57):
all of whom have shown up to speak on his behalf.
He's a leader, a mentor. He encouraged me to participate
in programs, and here I am today with so many
speakers and so little time. Even Chrissy and Ashley are
given less than a minute to explain to the commissioners
who they are and why they want Leo home good money.
(20:19):
My name's Chrissy Scophil. I've done in prison with Leo
for about twenty eight years now, and one thing that
I do know about the Department of Corrections is it's
not designed to build better men, but there are a
few that do rise and Leo's one of those guys. Hi,
my name is Ashley all I have to say is
(20:40):
I will take advantage of every opportunity every family outing,
everything that they teach us, I will take in just
so when my dad gets home, we can have the
best life that we possibly can. That's all I have
to say. The ten minutes are up. Everyone who speaks
on Leo's behalf a seat. Then it's the other side's turn.
(21:03):
I think I looked to my right. I glanced up
and I saw Jerry Hill walking down the aisle approaching
the podium. So I immediately stopped breathing per minute. It
was just like kind of in shock, like, oh my god,
he's here. Warning measures. Jerry Hill, on behalf of Brian
(21:25):
Hoss Date, attorney from the tenth Circuit, texted Gilbert again, JK.
Hill is here. Gilbert says, Okay, stay cool, you got this.
The next ten minutes of the hearing is supposed to
be allotted to any of the victim's loved ones who
want to speak or have a letter read. They usually
asked the parole board not to release the convicted person
(21:47):
that's up for parole, but Jesse Michelle's brother had written
a different kind of letter to the state, and he
asked for it to be read at the hearing. He wrote,
I do not have confidence in the conviction of Leo
Schofield and I support his request for parole. But Jesse
(22:08):
Palm's letter is never presented. Instead, the retired state attorney
Jerry Hill uses the time to argue that Leo Schofield
should never get out of prison, and he starts talking
about the facts of the case. The defendant's car and
his wife's car was abandoned on I four. It was
(22:28):
discovered by the father and Leo before law enforcement could
find it. By this point, I was getting used to
the state twisting the facts and injecting bad evidence into
every proceeding. But then Jerry Hill takes it to another level.
Instead of the usual mention of Leo's father's vision from God,
(22:51):
jerry Hill gets it wrong in a major way. Leo
said he was driven by an interforce to go back
to the pit area again. Leo and he felt drawn
to that area and felt Michelle was calling out to him.
He makes it sound like it was Leo himself who
had the premonition. Leo said he began to search. The
(23:13):
closer he got to Michele, the worses head hurt. It's
not the job of the three parole commissioners to know
all the facts of Leo's case. In fact, the point
of the hearing isn't supposed to be about the facts
of the case at all. Most of the people who
are hoping to be granted parole have admitted their guilt
(23:33):
in the crimes they've been convicted of. The point of
parole is to evaluate how they've conducted themselves in prison,
to see if the inmate can be safely released back
into society after having served their minimum sentence. But listening
to Jerry Hill, these commissioners probably thought it was suspicious
that the guy who was convicted of killing his eighteen
(23:54):
year old wife also claimed that a vision from God
led him to discover her body. But of course none
of that ever happened. It wasn't Leo but his father
who had this supposed vision from God. Maybe it was
just an honest mistake by a retired state attorney who
is no longer familiar with the facts of the case
(24:16):
from back in the nineteen eighties. But these kind of
misrepresentations happen over and over at every stage of Leo's case,
from his trial, through all his appeals and now parole,
the state, attorneys, the judges. They just keep getting the
facts wrong, and it's hard to know if it's just
carelessness or if the state is intentionally misleading in order
(24:40):
to keep Leo locked behind bars. Either way, someone's freedom,
someone's life is on the line. And Jerry Hill isn't
done with his argument yet. I listened to that presentation,
how this individual has tell an advantage of a lot
(25:02):
of opportunities the folks, I got to point out an
absolute glaring hole in that presentation. I didn't hear one
word about regret. Sarah wish I hadn't done it. I
was a different person. Then this guy is an unrepentant,
(25:26):
jury convicted first degree murderer, proven beyond into the exclusion
of every reasonable doubem There's no remorse, there's no Sarah.
How do you put a man in a program getting
him ready to be released into society when he can't
say I'm sorry, when he can't say I did it.
(25:49):
I know this is a subsequent and I'm sorry I'm
so emotional about it. I just feel very strongly that
this is a cold, calculating first degree murder. He's a
manipulator and is exactly where he ought to be. After
Jerry Hill speaks, the commissioners announced their decision right then
(26:14):
and there Leo is denied parole. The Commission makes it
very clear that parole is not a right, but quote
an active grace of the state. There will be no
act of grace for Leo Schofield. You can't really react
(26:42):
to the ruling in the room. So we all were
kind of devastated, but trying to hide it a little
bit until we got out into the lobby. And then
we all stepped outside and I glanced over and I
saw Gary Hill walking out, and I knew. I knew
(27:04):
that that was my opportunity. It's just like, can't hesitate.
I just like turned on my heel and called out,
mister Hill. I'm working on a story with Gilbert King
about ludoscope Field King. Can I ask you a question. Well, see,
(27:25):
this case was originally handled by John and Guerra, which correct.
What do you think when you take on a case
of his friend so long ago. I think John was
a brilliant prosecutor and that he was spot on. He
could probably tell how nervous I was. My hands might
have been shaking a little bit. I wish it hadn't
(27:46):
been so obvious that I was nervous. But to some degree,
I think maybe that worked in my favor. I think
maybe it disarmed him a little bit, and I was
able to kind of gain my confidence back when I
realized how little he knows about this case. And what
(28:09):
did you think when you first learned that the fingerprints
in Michelle's Goofield's car were identified to Jeremy Scott Pathol
Jeremy Scott was a thief. Your office prosecuted him twice
for murder? Didn't it since then? Not before then? Not
at that time? Subsequent? Long subject was in eighteen eighty five.
That was after a belief. Now that was before Michelle's murder,
(28:31):
wasn't eighty seven? Okay, you may be right, it doesn't.
Did you read did you hear the transcript? Did you
see the judge's findings? He's a liar, he offered to
sell his testimony for one thousand dollars. That's hardly a
basis for suggesting that he's the actual murderer. Couldn't he
be a stereo thief and the actual murderer? Now that's
(28:52):
a theoretical question, and I guess in theory the answer is,
of course he could be. I mean, it shouldn't it
be your responsibility to investigate. Wait a minute, we have
investigated this thing upside down. Leo's Goldfield is a cold
blooded murderer, and if I have my way, he'll never
get out of prison. Right now, Leo's case is being
(29:15):
reviewed by the Second DCA. If they were to reverse
the lover in court's opinion, would you try him again? Oh,
let me tell you, I'm not too worried about that.
We're not gonna have to try him again. You wouldn't
do that, Oh, we'll try him again if he were
to get off. Let me let me tell you right now,
he's a killer. And unless you want to take him home,
(29:35):
will you? Then he's worried all to be Thank you
very much. Just a good day. All of the stuff
that I've read before, that i'd read in transcripts, just
how the state talks about Leo and his case, I
(29:57):
think maybe i'd kind of been telling myself like, oh,
you know, they can't be that bad, right, Like I
see the words on the page, but it just can't
be that bad. Then listening to Jerry Hill, it's just like,
oh gosh, no, it really is that bad. It's really
worse now. I think Jerry Hill, he had an opportunity
(30:23):
to be the hero, and they can still be the hero.
I don't want money, I don't want fame, I don't
want any of this stuff. I just want justice for
my dead wife. That's what I want. Give that to me,
and I'll put mom over your shoulder and say you're
the hero. You're the frigging hero. Just do what's right.
Do what's right, because you're never gonna give me justice. Never.
You can't give me back thirty four years. You can't
(30:45):
give Michelle back her life. But the least you can
do when you say that you care about her is
do the right thing by her. Because this is not it.
This is definitely not it. After Leo learns he's been
denied parole, he sends Chrissie an email through the prison
(31:06):
system's computers. As usual, it's Leo who is trying to
buoy everyone's spirits. Leo writes, I'm so sorry you have
to deal with this. I was so hopeful that it
was going to be different this time. I'm just sorry.
I love you. A few months after Leo was denied parole,
(31:46):
I go to my computer, and there it is. The
second DCA's decision. Leo is also denied a new trial.
His chances of proving his innocence, getting out of prison,
and having a normal life with his family they're pretty
much gone. I text Chrissy, I text Judge Scott Cupp.
(32:11):
I struggle to imagine what this will do to Leo.
All he can do now is wait for yet another
parole hearing, where yet again the state will argue that
he's not worthy of freedom because he isn't sorry for
killing Michelle, and Leo will refuse to express remorse because
he's always maintained his innocence. The timing of the second
(32:35):
dcia's decision not to grant Leo a new trial, it
couldn't be worse. COVID is in full swing and Chrissie
and Ashley are not allowed any in person visits with Leo. Also,
during this time, Leo's mom passes away and Leo witnesses
an inmate gets stabbed to death. I mean, it really
(32:58):
is shocking to me that we can get this are
and not get any relief at all, you know, and
then the reality settling in that the nightmare scenario that
I could die in here, you know, and that's just
too happy for me. Kelsey. That's going to be the
(33:19):
story that breaks my back. I can't do that. I
just I'm not going to give him another thirty I
don't want to. I don't. I would feel totally wrong
to allow that. I would rather end it myself. That's
the gospel truth. I'm not going to let my wife
(33:39):
my daughter suffer through this crap anymore. I'm not. I'm
just not going to do it. So we're not gonna
let anticipate it going that way. I'm believing. I'm willing
to take anything that allows me to go home and
take care of my wife and daughter, short of admitting
to something I didn't do. As Leo struggles to keep hope,
(34:03):
I think about all the work Kelsey and I have
put into this case. Nobody around Leo will ever say it,
but we can feel it. They're putting all their hopes
in our investigation, our story about Leo's case. And because
I'm also very aware of the mountains that must be
moved in order to overturn a wrongful conviction, I always
(34:24):
make sure to temper any expectations telling Leo's story. No
matter how truthfully and persuasively, is simply not a realistic
path toward gaining his freedom. But there's no denying it.
Our investigation, our story, might just be Leo's last hope,
(34:44):
his last chance to convince people that he was wrongly
convicted of murdering his wife and that Jeremy Scott is
Michelle's true murderer. We've seen how the State of Florida's
false narrative has defined Leo's case, and at the very least,
we want to correct this narrative. Kelsey and I are
(35:05):
thinking about where to look next, and there's one stone
we've left unturned. We start thinking more and more about
Jeremy Scott. Maybe he has more to say. We have
to try to talk to him. So I write a
letter to Jeremy and mail it off to him, and
(35:25):
when I don't hear from him, I write another. I
tell him that I'm an author and that I've been
investigating the Leo Schofield case, and that I'm interested in
his dealings with the State Attorney's office. I send him
a self addressed, stamped envelope and some extra papers so
he can write me back. I know he's been contacted
by journalists in the past, and that he doesn't respond.
(35:48):
So my hopes are pretty low, but there's not much
else I can do. It's the spring of twenty twenty
and COVID is stopping us from traveling down to Florida.
Sitting in my office in Brooklyn, I feel powerless. But
the one thing I can do is right to Jeremy.
So I keep at it, just hoping he'll change his
(36:09):
mind and right back. Oh he shouldn't, Jeremy, And seven
months later, I see that first letter sitting in my mailbox.
She says, I want you to know that Polk County
gave me a call about you. I don't think you
can come see me. Who knows what will happen? And
that is sad when I have kept my damn mouth
(36:32):
shut for thirty one years. Schofield case, let's say he
should be out. I've thought about writing my story that
no one wants to hear. I just don't really know
how gotta go. Jay Scott, Well, okay, I think he's
looking to again. It sounds like Polk County like made
(36:58):
him believe that he is not allowed to talk to us,
which they can't do. No, they can't, and that's why
we're going to figure out what they did. We file
a record request to find out who might have called him,
but we're informed by the Florida Department of Corrections that
they can't release those records. So I write Jeremy another letter.
(37:20):
I want to see if he'd agree to a visit
from us. I want him to know that I'm eager
to hear his story, that I'm interested in anything and
everything he has to say. I also send him a
prewritten consent letter. If he signs, it will allow me
to visit and record an interview with him. It's not
long before he sends the form back to me, signed,
(37:42):
but the prisons in Florida are still locked down due
to COVID. And then, once the Department of Corrections lifts
the COVID restrictions about six weeks later, we find out
that Jeremy has been placed in disciplinary confinement, so we
can't visit him until he returns to general population, and
who knows when that will be. As the months pass,
(38:07):
we're constantly checking his status, there's no change and he
stops writing. Still, we wanted to find a way to
get someone to look into Jeremy Scott. We felt we
had some pretty compelling evidence linking Jeremy to the murder
of cab driver Joseph Laverre back in nineteen eighty seven.
(38:27):
It didn't feel right just sitting on what we'd collected,
so I reached out to one of my contacts at
the State Attorney's Office in the Ninth Circuit. That's the
office that handles all the cases in Ossiola County, including
the murder of Joseph Laverre. It seemed like there had
to be fingerprints and potential sources of DNA from the
taxi that could be tested. And if it turns out
(38:50):
that Jeremy is forensically linked to a fourth murder, the
murder of Joseph Lavere, the state's narrative that Jeremy is
just a car stereo thief who had nothing to do
with the murder of Michelle Scofield would look even more preposterous.
But we're in a weird position. We'd collected so much
information about what the State Attorney's Office in Polk County
(39:12):
had done wrong in failing to properly investigate Jeremy Scott,
and now we were thinking about going to a neighboring
county state Attorney's office, pointing out yet another failed investigation.
We don't know how they're going to react, but we
decide it's what we have to do. We managed to
get a meeting lined up with the State Attorney's office
(39:33):
in the ninth Circuit and we presented our case over
a zoom call. Okay, excellent. So I'm just going to
talk to you a little bit and about why I'm
doing this and what I've learned and why I'm really
getting in touch with you. But I go through the
whole thing. How while working on Leo's story, we came
across the Laverre case. We tell them that Jeremy's girlfriend, Jamie,
(39:56):
said that Jeremy made a spontaneous confession decades ago to
getting away with killing a taxicab driver, and how we
think we've linked that spontaneous confession to the murder of
Joseph laver an Ossiola County homicide that's still unsolved. It
had been over three decades since this office handled the
case and filed charges against dan Odie, the man who
(40:19):
was tried twice and eventually acquitted. The folks were talking
to weren't there at the time, So we tell them
a bit about dan Odie and some of the accusations
of police corruption that were exposed in court during his case.
I know it was a lot to sort of absorb,
and like I said, I'll hand over any documents, recordings,
anything you think that might be helpful to you. They
(40:41):
seem to understand how this investigation relates back to Leo's case.
I just wondered, could County wouldn't be kind of pressured
a little bit to look at German's guy that they
know that we're look atting him or cold case and Ciola,
I think it's worth a shot. Absolutely. We tell them
(41:05):
that we're hoping to meet with Jeremy. We're just waiting
for him to get out of disciplinary confinement. You have
every right as a citizen to engage other citizens, who
include people who are in custody. But I think if
law enforcement's going to try to work this case, I
would think they wouldn't want to be part of that conversation.
If you're willing to extend that to the agency. They're
(41:27):
basically saying that they can't stop us from meeting with Jeremy,
but they'd rather we don't. It could interfere with an investigation.
In other words, let the cops do their job. I'm
happy to step back and see what comes of their work.
It could mean justice in a decade's old cold case,
and it could also bring renewed attention to Leo's case.
(41:48):
I just sort of want to see this move forward
because I feel very strongly that Jeremy Scott is the suspect.
We're hopeful that someone is finally going to investigate Jeremy's
got It's nice. Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.
I'll be in touch. I'll send my power point and
i'll send documents and recordings. A few weeks later, we
(42:16):
get a second letter from Jeremy. It's been seven months
since the first one. I call Kelsey right away. She
was sitting in a parking lot in Durham, North Carolina,
trying to get the internet set up in her new apartment.
So I record the call on my end, or I
think I do, okay. So I completely fucked that up
(42:40):
and forgot to press record. That's what happens when you're
not here. I have to do shit on my own,
and it doesn't work out as well as when you're here.
So there we go. Yes, no, it doesn't happen to you,
but it happens to me. Okay, So here it is. Okay.
This letter dated March sixth, twenty one, and it's from
(43:04):
Jeremy and he says, dear mister King, I don't know
what it is that you want to know about Polk
County prosecutors. They lied told me what they were going
to help me, but that never happened. That's why I
told the whole truth about Leo Schofield. And I had
also told them things that a killer would know. Leo
(43:25):
didn't kill his wife. I did that taxicab driver that
was shot by a three fifty seven gun. They didn't
want to hear what I had to say that taxicab driver.
This is stunning to me. I never mentioned the cab
(43:46):
driver in my letters. I was very intentional about that.
I didn't want to confront him about the murder of
Joseph Laver because I was worried Jeremy might shut down
and I'd lose the opportunity to sit with him in person.
But now we have this letter from him, and he's
bringing up the cab driver murder completely unprompted. Jeremy goes
(44:07):
on to write about his release from prison in nineteen
eighty six. That was after his acquittal in the Jule
Johnson murder and after he served a few months on
the arson charge. Following his release, he stays with his
mother in Perry, Florida, until January, then with an uncle
in Osciola County, just over the Polk County line. I
(44:29):
keep reading anyway, while I was staying there, I took
money and a big knife, not just any kind. That
was the one use on Michelle. I took off in
February nineteen eighty seven, went to Lakeland, Florida. I stole
the gun after Michelle was killed, maybe a week or two.
(44:53):
I can tell you the gun belonged to a cop.
I saw a picture in the house which is winter Haven.
Leo Schofield and myself had the same prosecutor the same
Now he ain't anywhere to be found. He lied to me.
So I know there's people who have wanted to do story.
(45:16):
I can't get money for this, but if you or
any of them are willing to send me paper stamps,
I'm on cmtwo right now. CM two is the second
level of close management. It's basically solitary confinement. That's why
we haven't been able to visit him yet. Turns out
(45:37):
Jeremy ended up there because corrections officers found a makeshift
weapon in his shoe. They said they found a knife
on me. I got to live that way. I am
a walking dead man. I've been running for the last
twenty years. I never stay in one place too long.
They almost got me once. If you don't want the
(46:00):
whole truth about Leo and cab driver, I will sail
say my whole story to whoever will pay in stamps.
I ain't asking for money, just a few books of stamps,
or Leo will never be free. I will be waiting.
(46:20):
I think it's time for to talk about it. I
am safe in CM. I'll wait to hear from you.
Jeremy Scott, he confessed to killing that cab driver. We
didn't know what to expect from Jeremy, but in this
letter he just confessed to two murders. We weren't surprised
(46:45):
by his confession to killing Michelle Scofield because he'd confessed before.
But this cab driver murder confession is shocking to read,
and it's hard to wrap my head around why Jeremy
brings this up, it's almost like he knows it's something
that will eventually catch up with him. And he mentions
the gun, which had always been a lingering question in
(47:06):
my mind. The details he provides might even be information
we can corroborate, like was there a gun reported stolen
from a house in Winnerhaven around that time? If I
can keep Jeremy corresponding with me, who knows what other
details he might bring up. His writing is a little disjointed,
(47:26):
but not too difficult to read. More importantly, it seems
like he has a lot more to say, and he
seems willing to say it. And so after we get
this letter, we decide we need to turn over a
copy to our contacts at the State Attorney's office in
the Ninth Circuit. This letter seemed to validate everything we've
(47:46):
just presented to them. This letter could even qualify as
new evidence in the thirty four year old unsolved homicide
of cab driver Joseph Laverre. We were hoping they'd move
fast and compare the physical evidence it's recovered from the
taxi to jeremy fingerprints DNA. Any of it might have
given us some answers but a few weeks pass, and
(48:10):
then a few more, and we hear nothing. It seems
that the State Attorney's office isn't doing anything else to
look into Jeremy Scott. So we spend the next few
weeks agonizing about whether to stay in contact with Jeremy.
Kelsey and I talk it over, and after waiting and
(48:31):
waiting for some news or an update from the state,
we decide, fuck it. I'm writing back to Jeremy Scott.
I don't care if the State attorney doesn't want us
talking to him. This time, I ask more specific questions,
(48:51):
but still I avoid asking any direct questions about the
cab driver murder. I'm trying to walk the line and
not do anything to compromise is the state's investigation, if
there even is one. So I asked Jeremy about Michelle
Scofield and the prosecutor John Aguero, and I send Jeremy
some postage stamps. We discussed this too. Stamps are a
(49:15):
sort of currency in the prison system, and we don't
want Jeremy to think we're compensating him in exchange for
his correspondence. On the other hand, he's basically in lockdown
in close management with time on his hands, and if
he's bored and he finally wants to tell his story,
I want to hear from him. Then finally we get
(49:39):
an update from the State Attorney's office. They tell us
that they want us to take our evidence to the
Ossiola County Sheriff's Office, the agency that originally handled the
Joseph Laver murder. So once again we compile all the
evidence we have and on June twenty second, twenty twenty one,
we show up in Kassimmee to do our presentation. We
(50:01):
are heading to the Ostiola County Sheriff's Office for our
big meeting, and so we've been trying to get this
meeting for months. Just a few hours before our meeting,
they email me saying they don't want us to record.
How are you feeling, I think, I mean, I feel
(50:25):
I feel pretty good that they're going to have to
do something about this. I don't think they can just
blow us off. But I don't know what kind of
worries me is. This is a dirty case and they
have to know it. If they look into it a
little bit, they have to see it. All right, Well,
it's about time to go in, right, all right, let's
(50:45):
do it, okay, I'm gonna turn this off a deepree.
After we're brought inside to a conference room, about a
half dozen people are there, and I set up my
power point to display on a big screen. I have
police reports with witness descriptions and a sketch of the
alleged suspect in the Joseph Laver murder, a thin man
(51:09):
around five foot ten, much closer to Jeremy's appearance than
six foot four, two hundred and thirty five pound Dan Odie,
who has tried twice for the murder. I also present
records that show that fingerprints were lifted from the car,
and I show them a photograph of a baseball cap
that was found in the backseat of the cab, which
(51:30):
police believe the suspect left behind. It's the same evidence
I'm hoping they'll dig up from some storage locker and
start analyzing. And I have tape of Jeremy's brother, Royal
Dean Scott, saying he remembers talking to Jeremy about the
cab driver and how Jeremy left Osciola County shortly after
the incident. I've heard about the cab rob man, Robin Man.
(51:55):
I remember him saying something about it, and then he
had to leave for the wall. Then I have Jeremy's
letter mentioning how he got the gun and how he
has more to say about that killing. I stole the
gun after Michelle was killed, maybe a week or two.
(52:16):
I can tell you the gun belonged to a cop.
I think it's time for to talk about it. I'll
wait to hear from you, Jeremy Scott. It seems like
the main person we're trying to convince in this meeting
is Major Wiley Black. He's the head of criminal investigations.
(52:37):
To get to that position, Major Black has put in
a lot of years with the sheriff's office. This gives
us pause because this case has a lot to do
with possible corruption within this sheriff's office. It's likely that
Major Black both knew and worked with Deputy Buddy Shepherd,
that was the detective accused of threatening to take the
(52:58):
children away from young mothers in Intercession City unless they
testified against dan Odie. We try our best to brush
past the Buddy Shepherd accusations. We don't want them focusing
on that now. We want them to be compelled to
act because of the evidence we present and the opportunity
to close a thirty four year old unsolved murder. So
(53:22):
we show them what we have. They make photocopies of
Jeremy's letters, We answer a few questions, and then it's over.
Kelsey tells me to stay quiet until she can get
the microphone out. How do you think that went? I
don't think it went very well at all. What do
you think? Really? Yeah, why do you say that? I
(53:43):
think they were engaged, they were listening. But I think
the homicide detective Wiley Black, I think he to me,
I felt like he was signaling that this case is
going nowhere. Did you get that? I don't know, I
thought he. I mean he said he was going to
into the evidence. I think he was being realistic that
(54:06):
it very likely could not exist at this point. But
the fingerprints we know exist. I mean, they have copies
of those prints, and those can be at least be run.
As we're getting ready to leave the parking lot at
the Sheriff's office, it begins to rain, like it does
almost every summer afternoon in central Florida. The darkening sky
(54:29):
matches our mood. I just got the feeling that this
is going to die right here. This is a little
frustrating because you can see the black hole sort of develop.
I'm not encouraged at all by this. So we just
have to like strategize about how to next steps and
(54:52):
when do we start doing our own investigation. I mean,
they didn't tell us to not go and talk to Jeremy,
so yeah, there's that. I think that's what we have
to do now. I just I just I don't know.
But it's freaking hot in this car, so you've got
(55:16):
too much. Well, do you have any final thoughts? Yeah?
I want to keep investigating this, and I want to
talk to some of these witnesses that I've been steering
clear of. And I want to start asking Jeremy in
letters about that taxicab driver. There could be something there.
I don't want to stop on this Jeremy thing now.
(55:36):
I just feel like, what are we gonna do? Right? Well,
at least we got some free coffee out of that, right, Yeah,
free coffee. Nice ride through Intercession City, all right here?
All right? We follow up with Major Wiley Black, who
(56:06):
is sitting in the room with us, but our emails
go unanswered. Weeks go by, and there doesn't seem to
be any forward movement on the case. I get the
sense that the Osciola County Sheriff's Office doesn't want this
case reopened. Hey you there? Yeah? And here ook are
(56:33):
you recording? Yes? Recording. Now we get another letter from Jeremy.
All right, I'm opening this one. Feels this one feels
a little thicker. I don't know why. Oh lord, okay, okay.
(56:55):
This was said on May sixty, twenty twenty one. Dear
mister King, I received your letter along with ten stamps. First,
let me tell you why I ask for stamps. It's
the only way I can buy soap and food back
here on CM. I don't have anyone to help me.
(57:16):
I just want you to understand why I ask for stamps.
I really don't have shit to do. I read when
I can find books. I don't get any mail, not
unless it's from you. Now about some of the things
that you asked me about, Yes, John Aguero did prosecute
(57:37):
both me and Leo. And yes, mister John Aguero did
lie to me. They took me to see mister Aguero's
office and he told me that Leo Lawyer wants to
talk with me. Jeremy starts writing about that meeting he
had with Aguero alone in his office after the fingerprints
(57:58):
in the Mazda were identified. Might it sounds like Aguero
was telling Jeremy that Leo and his father were bad
guys who not only killed Michelle but may have killed
other girls too, and that Aguero needed Jeremy's help to
keep Leo locked up. I think this is why Jeremy
says things like, I don't know what else Leo has done,
(58:20):
but in this one he's innocent. He went on talking
about how he will be sitting on my parole, how
he can write on my behalf. All I had to
do is keep on saying how my fingerprint was in
the car. At the time, I really thought he was
gonna help me. I have heard a state attorney has
(58:43):
help inmates before, and plus my grandma was still alive.
But you were right, it was just me and John Aguero.
Jeremy seems to be saying that Aguero was trying to
cut a deal with him. Aguero would help Jeremy with
his parole if Jeremy stuck to the story about how
his prince ended up in Michelle's car, and after seeing
(59:06):
how much sway the state attorney had over Leo's case.
It makes sense why Jeremy might buy into this. It
might have been Jeremy's only chance at being released from
prison and spending any time on the outside with his grandmother.
Jeremy goes on to mention a visit from some guy
Leo's attorneys sent to speak to him. Sounds like private
(59:26):
investigator Pat McKenna. First, I wouldn't talk to him because
everyone been lying to me. Then I heard that John
Aguero died, so all these years later, I told myself
that I will tell everything, and I did, but nobody
believe me. I don't know what else I can do.
(59:49):
I was telling the truth, nothing but the truth. And
then he writes, I'm going to give you something. Okay,
I'm going to give you something now. Jeremy really has
my attention. He sets up the night of Michelle's murder.
It was raining most of the night. I just off
(01:00:12):
I four went down North Cumby where I used to live.
Once I got off Cumby Road and head to Lakeland,
I stopped at a gas station I can't remember the name.
I knew it was raining. I was sick and cold, wet.
(01:00:35):
There was a woman on the phone talking. She thought
I was waiting on the phone. When she got off.
She asked me if I was lost. I told her yes,
and hadn't any way to get back to the place
I was staying. She had a little car. She was
(01:00:55):
nice and offered me a ride. So we went back
down Cumbe Road, going out by I four underpath. I
told her she could pull in there. There's little trees,
a little road with a creak in it. I know
it well, so she pull in. Then she said there's
(01:01:20):
no one here. I pulled a knife out. She went crazy,
tried to push the gas, but I threw the car
in park. When I first read this letter to Kelsey,
this detail hit hard. Michelle tried to put the car
(01:01:42):
and drive like makesfect. I know you would have sucked
up the car that like that. That's the reason it
wasn't working. He sucked it up by doing that. She
tried to open the car door. That's when I lost it.
I didn't remember how many times I stab I get
(01:02:08):
out the car went over where she was laying out
the car door. She had opened it. I look at her,
not knowing what I just did. I was just pulling
the knife so I could robbed her. I went look
around for something to hide her. I found something looked
(01:02:30):
like a big bag. I lay it out. Then I
put her on the bag and rolling her up in it.
Then took her down by the creek. I found a
place where I could push her in, then cover her
with wood trash. I don't understand why there was no
blood in the car. She was stabbing the car, not
(01:02:53):
her trailer. I only took ten dollars that was on her.
I didn't take any rings or anything else. I only
took ten dollars that was honored, you know what, Like
he took the bills, the coins like they're fucking in
the road, right, I mean, yeah, yeah, it's close enough
to whatever thirteen dollars you know. I mean. Also, I
(01:03:17):
was never clear whether she had used the tip money
to buy the coke and the gas and the phone call,
Like I don't know if it had been thirteen dollars.
Holy shit. Yeah that's amazing because she says, what three
dollars of gas and a coke? Yeah, there's no fucking
(01:03:41):
way he knows that. Wow. I got back in the car,
put it in drive, took off on I four. The
car started slowing down. It wasn't out of gas. I
don't know why, it just died on me. I pull
(01:04:01):
it along the road, park in the rain started stopping.
It was close to midnight. No car were on I four,
so that when I start cleaning up most of my
prints and if there were blood, I cleaned it up.
That when I tried to pull the radio and speaker out,
(01:04:22):
they didn't tell people about that. Once I cleaned the car,
I left the keys and locked the door. That's when
I went up by four. There is an overpath, there
was a store and there was dumpster there. I threw
the knife and something. I just can't remember what it was.
(01:04:45):
I know that I cleaned the car with it. Jeremy
goes on to write that he went back to Kassimmee,
breaking into Holmes, moving back and forth between Osceola and
Polk Counties. He was eventually arrested the murder of Donald
moorehead in November of nineteen eighty eight, a year and
a half after Michelle Scofield and Joseph Laver were killed.
(01:05:08):
That's when he first meets his prosecutor, John Aguero. Jeremy's
got Jeremy continues in his letter. I told John Aguero
he knew from the start Leo didn't kill her. Why
was her car was on I four stuff missing out
of the car, and why was my print was in it?
(01:05:30):
Just like the taxicab driver. What am I to do?
I'm ben telling the truth. I don't know what else
to do. I really want this to go away, but
it won't. There's so much shit I need to tell,
but I don't know how to put it. I will
tell you this, even though John Aguero died, he knew
(01:05:54):
from the start that I was the one who killed
not Leo, mister king, I still would like to know
how or who got you to write me. I hope
to hear from you soon. I hope you can understand
my letter. I ain't good at painting putting words together.
(01:06:16):
Thank you so much for the stamps. Hope to hear
from you soon. There's so much I need to tell
right soon. Jeremy L. Scott PS. Why did the state
attorney call me? Told me if I talk with you
that I will be in trouble. Tell me what's going on?
(01:06:45):
Holy fuck? Oh man, god damn it, God fucking damn it.
This is unbelievable. There's something fucking unbelievably sincere that comes
(01:07:06):
across in that letter. I don't know what to think, man,
that that was really fucking powerful for some reason. Yeah,
that only maybe you want to So the fact that
the sky is still saying this ship and his story
makes so much sense. It's just like mocking that's can't
(01:07:27):
be done about it. And he's also saying like, I
think I'll be out of here in June. By out
of here he means out of close management, out of solitary.
Once he's back in general population, we can schedule our
interview with him. Oh, I don't want to test to him.
(01:07:48):
I mean, honestly, I don't give a shit about those
stamps anymore. Let them fucking I'm just fucking keeping this
guy talking. And if they say you gave him stamps
so he bought soap, iggle fuck you. He can have soap. Seriously,
I don't have any hesitation keep sending him stands that
he can only buy some boots stamps Like Jesus Christ,
(01:08:11):
I think, fuck it. I'm just I'm done with these.
I'm just done with asking permission to like reopen this case.
Hey are you there? Yeah? Are you here? What's going on? So?
I just got off the phone with Paul Walker at
(01:08:33):
the Department of Corrections m and he said that Journey
is now in general population. Oh my god. So yeah,
and so he's eligible for visitors again. But Jesus, finally
some good news. I hope this. I just hope this holds,
you know, after three years of investigating Leo's case, We're
(01:08:58):
finally going to meet Jeremy's got. Bone Valley is a
production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal
(01:09:19):
Company Number One. Our executive producers are Jason Flaum and
Kevin Wurdis. Karak Kornhaber is our senior producer. Brit Spangler
is our sound designer. Roxandra Guidi is our editor. Fact
checking by Maximo Anderson. Our producer and researcher is Kelsey Decker.
(01:09:40):
Our theme song, The One Who's Holding the Stars, is
performed by Leebob 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 four
Hey, Oh my god, I'm so excited. Hold on, hold on,
saying I'm not ready for you. I thought I want
to talk about set up. No it is no, that's bullshit.
We don't need set up. One afternoon, I see a
white envelope sitting in my mailbox in Brooklyn, stamped in
(00:23):
red letters. It says mailed from a state correctional institution,
and on the top left of the envelope, I see
his name. Oh, we should journey. I had to call
Kelsey right away. She was back in her home state
of North Carolina after months of living between Florida and Brooklyn,
(00:44):
reporting on the Leo Schofield case. With me, all right, okay,
it looks like it's it's on prison paper. It's not
the original thing. I should okay, just read it. Jesus Christ.
Oh my god, she says, I want you to know
(01:04):
that Polk County gave me a call about you. I
don't think you can come see me. Who knows what
will happen. And that's sad when they can't see that.
I have kept my damn mouth shut for thirty one
years Schofield case. Let's say he should be out. I've
thought about writing my story that no one wants to hear.
(01:27):
I just don't really know how. Gotta go, Jay Scott,
do you my man? Has my fields? Salt? Sorry? In
(01:57):
this vadly to I Seelation, I reach, Desperation, to the
(02:21):
world Star, to the Bone Valley, Chapter eight, Dear mister King,
(03:08):
I started writing Jeremy because honestly, I didn't know what
else to do. After working on this story for a year,
the evidence I've seen pointed more and more towards Jeremy
Scott as Michelle Scofield's killer. So I sent my letters
out hoping that Jeremy might decide to open up to me,
(03:30):
to converse in a way that he hadn't with the lawyers, investigators,
and cold case detectives who read him his rights and
make him swear under oath. I just want to have
a conversation with him, to hear the story he says
that no one wants to hear. But we need to
back up for a minute to September of twenty nineteen,
(03:54):
about ten months before I got Jeremy's letter. So we're
here at the Tampa Law Center in Tampa, Florida. We're
here for the second DCA Oral Arguments after studying every
detail of Leo's case over the past year, this is
the first legal proceeding we get to see for ourselves
the deciding factor. But this moment, this particular appeal, is
(04:16):
everything for Leo. This could really kill all his chances
of going forward. At this moment, I think this is
almost like his last chance. The reason we're here is
because the judge and the last hearing denied Leo a
new trial, even after watching Jeremy Scott confessed to killing
Michelle Scofield in court. So, in spite of the forensic
(04:40):
evidence linking Jeremy Scott to the crime scene, and despite
the fact that there is still no physical evidence and
no direct evidence tying Leo Scofield to the murder of
his wife, a single judge ruled that Jeremy Scott was
not credible and his confession to killing Michelle was not believable.
But Leo those lawyers appealed the judge's decision and one. So, now,
(05:05):
almost two years after Jeremy Scott confessed on the stand,
Leo was given another chance to make his case in
court to argue that he deserves a new trial. This
hearing will be before a panel of three judges seated
on the Second District Court of Appeal. It's about to
start when we see Leo's wife, Chrissy and their daughter
(05:25):
Ashley walked through the door. Yeah, you know what you're like,
trying to get somewhere on time. Everything's fine there, they're
just starting to see people. So you guys are in
great shape. How are you, oh, am I today? Um hmm,
(05:48):
I don't. I don't know if I have a word
for it. Actually, just some hopeful hopeful Yeah, that's probably
the best word. At Leo's last hearing, Chrissy witnessed how
Jeremy Scott withstood the prosecutor's verbal abuse. By the end
of his testimony, Jeremy maintained that it was he alone
(06:11):
who killed Michelle Scofield back in February of nineteen eighty seven.
Some of his last words in court that day were,
I killed her. It's maddening that we are still here
all these years later, and I was thinking about it's
been two years since I got the call about the confession.
(06:32):
Two years. He described in detail what he did, how
he did it, what he was thinking when he did it,
what Michelle was saying when he killed her. Two years
later and we're still talking about this. If these three
judges don't grant Leo a new trial, it will become
even harder for him to successfully appeal to a higher
(06:53):
court and get another opportunity to prove his innocence. Leo
isn't allowed here to watch the hearing, and he won't
find out how it went until he calls Chrissy later
in the day. How are Leo's spirits lately? He's hopeful,
(07:13):
but he's also afraid. He's afraid that we'll get more
of the same. He's afraid that he'll disappoint his family.
When I think about that's when I get choked up,
because he doesn't disappoint us. But so that's where he is.
So that's that I think we should go in. The
(07:41):
room is more like a lecture hall than a courtroom,
but there's a tenseness in the air. More than a
dozen people have come in support of Leo. They are
all aware that this may be Leo's last chance for justice.
You know, my name is as Seth Miller from the
Instance Project Flora's I'm like co council as Stolan, who
will not be first Leo's attorney. Seth Miller from the
(08:04):
Innocence Project to Florida gets up and begins his oral
argument about the new evidence of Jeremy Scott's confession to
killing Michelle. He only has twenty minutes to present his case,
but the judges can interrupt at any point to ask
questions that seth brings up. How there are certain details
Jeremy knows that only the murderer could know, how Jeremy's
(08:26):
story is consistent with the forensic evidence, and how Michelle
was found in the same spot that Jeremy used to
take his girlfriend Jamie Nellum's. But just a minute into
his argument, the judges are already interrupting with questions, and
before long they veer away from Jeremy Scott's confession and
instead dredge up the same so called evidence from the
(08:49):
original trial, like Leo's father's weird behavior. His ex girlfriend,
Jamie Neellims testified that he used to bring her to
then few mornings after the incident, the defendant's father had
a premonition that that's where the body was and led
(09:09):
police to that location. What really bothers me listening to
the judge's questions is that Leo Senior's story about a
vision from God continues to be treated as a fact
in this case, as if he woke up that morning
with a premonition and then led police to some random
ditch in Polk County where Michelle's body just happened to be.
(09:34):
That's not what happened. Leo Senior had been searching for
Michelle for nearly three days and nights. He didn't lead
police to the body. He found her body, then flagged
down a passing trucker, who alerted the police. And it
wasn't until after the police showed up that he claimed
to have had this clairvoyant vision from God. It was
(09:56):
a story told by a distraught and troubled man, And so,
with only twenty precious minutes to argue his case, Seth
gets stuck explaining Leo's father's premonition instead of arguing to
the judges why Jeremy Scott's confessions deserve to be considered
by a new jury at a new trial. And that's
(10:18):
all Leo and his lawyers are asking for. They're not
asking for Leo to walk out of prison today. They're
just asking for a new jury to decide his fate.
After Seth takes a seat the attorney for the state
makes his argument, and it's basically this, Jeremy Scott is
not credible and nothing he says should be believed. But
(10:42):
there is one time the state says that you can
believe Jeremy when he says he didn't kill Michelle. His
version of events, which was deemed credible at his court
in two and ten, that he stole the star Year
equipment and found the abandoned car and did not kill
Michelle's Goophiel, matches much more logically with the evidence known
(11:03):
in the case than his version of events. This is
the preposterous position the state is forced to defend that
a man who has confessed to three different murders in
Polk County that he is forensically linked to is suddenly
nothing more than a car stereo thief. It's like they're
refusing to acknowledge the fact that the State Attorney's office
(11:25):
has already prosecuted Jeremy Scott twice for murder. If this
court does not have any further questions, I would ask
that you affirm the trial courts denial of the motion
for newly discovered evidence. Thank you very much. The hearing
doesn't last long, about thirty minutes and then it's over.
(11:47):
We all walk out into the lobby and don't know
how to feel. It's hard to read what the judges
are thinking, and Leo's family wants to remain optimistic. But
now the waiting begins. For the next eight months. We
will all wake up in the morning and refresh the
Second DCA's website to see if their decision has been
(12:08):
posted online to see if the court has ruled that
Leo should be granted a new trial. Hi, I'm Jason Flom,
CEO and founder of Lava for Good podcasts, home to
(12:30):
Bone Valley, Wrongful Conviction, The War on Drugs, and many
other great podcasts. Today we're asking you, our listeners, to
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(12:52):
dot com slash survey and participate today. Thank you for
your support. 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 failed War on drugs that has
(13:14):
criminalized addiction, fueled over incarceration, and shattered communities. At eleven
years old, Scott Strode drank his first beer. At fifteen,
Scott went to a mental health facility because of suicidal thoughts,
where he tried cocaine. Like many others who experience addiction,
Scott was using drugs and alcohol to numb the pain
(13:37):
he was trying to numb childhood trauma. In his early twenties,
Scott was invited into a boxing gym by a friend.
That's where he discovered the healing power of sport and
community that helped propel him towards sobriety. In two thousand
and six, Scott founded The Phoenix, a free, sober active
community that uses the transformative power of sport to help
(14:00):
people treat and heal from addiction and imagine new possibilities
for their lives through fitness. The program restores compassion to
a system that has long relied on locking people up
to solve the addiction crisis. Scott Strode is one of
many entrepreneurs partnering with stand together to drive solutions in education, healthcare, poverty,
(14:23):
and criminal justice. To learn more about addiction and the
War on drugs, listen to the War on Drugs podcast
on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. While
Leo and his family wait for the judges to release
(14:45):
their decision about whether or not Leo will be granted
a new trial, Leo has one other chance for freedom,
not through a new trial but will allow him to
clear his name, but through parole. Parole is basically the
st way of saying you committed a crime, served your sentence,
and kept out of trouble in prison, so as long
(15:06):
as you keep checking in with us now and again,
we no longer think you're a present danger to society.
But parole is not ideal for Leo because even if
it's granted, he'll still be a convicted murderer in the
eyes of the state. On the other hand, if he's paroled,
he'd at least eventually be home with his family. In
(15:28):
a lot of ways, Leo is the perfect candidate for parole.
He's a model inmate who's obtained multiple college degrees and
leads the prison ministry program God behind Bars. I've graduated college.
I've gotten awards from the Toastmasters. I can't do anything else.
There's nothing else to do here. I've been the pastor
of the Messianic community here since twenty eleven. I invented
(15:51):
programs to graduate from and Leo hasn't had a single
disciplinary infraction in fourteen years. In fact, over his thirty
years in prison, he's been written up just five times,
and only for minor infractions, like once he missed a
day of work because of an injury, and another time
(16:11):
he handed out one of Chrissie's Mary Kay Cosmetics cards
to a corrections officer he was friendly with. In addition
to presenting their prison records, inmates are expected to show
that they'd be a benefit to society and that they'd
have stable housing and jobs. Leo has all of that
lined up. He has dozens of letters of support from
(16:32):
friends and family, and even corrections officers who have known
him for years. Leo even has a letter of support
from Michelle's brother, Jesse Sam. Chrissie got in touch with
him after the fingerprints in Michelle's car were matched to
Jeremy Scott, and Chrissy started sending Jesse documents so I
read through it and I was like, dang man, the stuff,
(16:54):
it's very substantial. Fingerprints was a big deal. Jeremy's history
was a big by the fact that he had murdered
other people and that he was around that same area
frequently was a big deal. And and a lot of
that stuff just started adding up. Do you believe that
(17:15):
Jeremy Scott killed your sister? I think so. I think
he did. Yeah, And I think that Leah has been
wrongfully imprisoned this whole time. And you know, it's it.
It bothers me. It makes me sad, you know that
they won't try to pursue the evidence that's boiled up
(17:36):
after all these years and at least process it, you know,
and then we'll all know, you know, if he did
or not. I mean, dude, we're all just searching for
the answer, you know, So why wouldn't we pursue it? Yeah?
(18:02):
The Pearl hearing, it started pretty early in the morning.
Got there, saw Chrissy and Ashley and you know, the
whole gang. It's January eighth, twenty twenty, about four months
after the second DCA hearing that would determine whether or
not Leo will get a new trial, but there's still
no decision in time for Leo's parole hearing. I had
(18:28):
something scheduled that day, so Kelsey made arrangements to fly
down to Tallahassee to cover the hearing herself, and I
knew Kelsey was kind of nervous about this trip. Texted Gilbert,
I said, don't see Hill yet. Jerry Hill was John
Aguero's boss at the time of Leo's trial back in
nineteen eighty nine. He's a tough talking law and order
(18:51):
prosecutor who ran unopposed in his last seven elections. Parole
is different from Leo's other hearings because it represented from
the state doesn't have to be there, but Jerry Hill
in his office have made a point of showing up
to these hearings. Even though he retired in early twenty
seventeen after serving thirty two years a state attorney, he
(19:13):
still drives hours to attend these parole hearings, and he's
taken a special interest in Leo's case. We tried emailing
Jerry Hill, but we received no response. We had a
lot of questions, and since nobody from the State Attorney's
office would agree to be interviewed, we knew our only
chance to talk to Jerry Hill might be after the hearing,
(19:37):
and with me unable to attend, Kelsey was going to
have to be the one to try to corner him.
A number of those people here and I like to
call on some of them. Seth Miller from the Innocence
Project makes the case for Leo's parole. He has just
ten minutes, and he has to share that time with
Leo's family members and people who Leo mentored in the prison,
(19:57):
all of whom have shown up to speak on his behalf.
He's a leader, a mentor. He encouraged me to participate
in programs, and here I am today with so many
speakers and so little time. Even Chrissy and Ashley are
given less than a minute to explain to the commissioners
who they are and why they want Leo home good money.
(20:19):
My name's Chrissy Scophil. I've done in prison with Leo
for about twenty eight years now, and one thing that
I do know about the Department of Corrections is it's
not designed to build better men, but there are a
few that do rise and Leo's one of those guys. Hi,
my name is Ashley all I have to say is
(20:40):
I will take advantage of every opportunity every family outing,
everything that they teach us, I will take in just
so when my dad gets home, we can have the
best life that we possibly can. That's all I have
to say. The ten minutes are up. Everyone who speaks
on Leo's behalf a seat. Then it's the other side's turn.
(21:03):
I think I looked to my right. I glanced up
and I saw Jerry Hill walking down the aisle approaching
the podium. So I immediately stopped breathing per minute. It
was just like kind of in shock, like, oh my god,
he's here. Warning measures. Jerry Hill, on behalf of Brian
(21:25):
Hoss Date, attorney from the tenth Circuit, texted Gilbert again, JK.
Hill is here. Gilbert says, Okay, stay cool, you got this.
The next ten minutes of the hearing is supposed to
be allotted to any of the victim's loved ones who
want to speak or have a letter read. They usually
asked the parole board not to release the convicted person
(21:47):
that's up for parole, but Jesse Michelle's brother had written
a different kind of letter to the state, and he
asked for it to be read at the hearing. He wrote,
I do not have confidence in the conviction of Leo
Schofield and I support his request for parole. But Jesse
(22:08):
Palm's letter is never presented. Instead, the retired state attorney
Jerry Hill uses the time to argue that Leo Schofield
should never get out of prison, and he starts talking
about the facts of the case. The defendant's car and
his wife's car was abandoned on I four. It was
(22:28):
discovered by the father and Leo before law enforcement could
find it. By this point, I was getting used to
the state twisting the facts and injecting bad evidence into
every proceeding. But then Jerry Hill takes it to another level.
Instead of the usual mention of Leo's father's vision from God,
(22:51):
jerry Hill gets it wrong in a major way. Leo
said he was driven by an interforce to go back
to the pit area again. Leo and he felt drawn
to that area and felt Michelle was calling out to him.
He makes it sound like it was Leo himself who
had the premonition. Leo said he began to search. The
(23:13):
closer he got to Michele, the worses head hurt. It's
not the job of the three parole commissioners to know
all the facts of Leo's case. In fact, the point
of the hearing isn't supposed to be about the facts
of the case at all. Most of the people who
are hoping to be granted parole have admitted their guilt
(23:33):
in the crimes they've been convicted of. The point of
parole is to evaluate how they've conducted themselves in prison,
to see if the inmate can be safely released back
into society after having served their minimum sentence. But listening
to Jerry Hill, these commissioners probably thought it was suspicious
that the guy who was convicted of killing his eighteen
(23:54):
year old wife also claimed that a vision from God
led him to discover her body. But of course none
of that ever happened. It wasn't Leo but his father
who had this supposed vision from God. Maybe it was
just an honest mistake by a retired state attorney who
is no longer familiar with the facts of the case
(24:16):
from back in the nineteen eighties. But these kind of
misrepresentations happen over and over at every stage of Leo's case,
from his trial, through all his appeals and now parole,
the state, attorneys, the judges. They just keep getting the
facts wrong, and it's hard to know if it's just
carelessness or if the state is intentionally misleading in order
(24:40):
to keep Leo locked behind bars. Either way, someone's freedom,
someone's life is on the line. And Jerry Hill isn't
done with his argument yet. I listened to that presentation,
how this individual has tell an advantage of a lot
(25:02):
of opportunities the folks, I got to point out an
absolute glaring hole in that presentation. I didn't hear one
word about regret. Sarah wish I hadn't done it. I
was a different person. Then this guy is an unrepentant,
(25:26):
jury convicted first degree murderer, proven beyond into the exclusion
of every reasonable doubem There's no remorse, there's no Sarah.
How do you put a man in a program getting
him ready to be released into society when he can't
say I'm sorry, when he can't say I did it.
(25:49):
I know this is a subsequent and I'm sorry I'm
so emotional about it. I just feel very strongly that
this is a cold, calculating first degree murder. He's a
manipulator and is exactly where he ought to be. After
Jerry Hill speaks, the commissioners announced their decision right then
(26:14):
and there Leo is denied parole. The Commission makes it
very clear that parole is not a right, but quote
an active grace of the state. There will be no
act of grace for Leo Schofield. You can't really react
(26:42):
to the ruling in the room. So we all were
kind of devastated, but trying to hide it a little
bit until we got out into the lobby. And then
we all stepped outside and I glanced over and I
saw Gary Hill walking out, and I knew. I knew
(27:04):
that that was my opportunity. It's just like, can't hesitate.
I just like turned on my heel and called out,
mister Hill. I'm working on a story with Gilbert King
about ludoscope Field King. Can I ask you a question. Well, see,
(27:25):
this case was originally handled by John and Guerra, which correct.
What do you think when you take on a case
of his friend so long ago. I think John was
a brilliant prosecutor and that he was spot on. He
could probably tell how nervous I was. My hands might
have been shaking a little bit. I wish it hadn't
(27:46):
been so obvious that I was nervous. But to some degree,
I think maybe that worked in my favor. I think
maybe it disarmed him a little bit, and I was
able to kind of gain my confidence back when I
realized how little he knows about this case. And what
(28:09):
did you think when you first learned that the fingerprints
in Michelle's Goofield's car were identified to Jeremy Scott Pathol
Jeremy Scott was a thief. Your office prosecuted him twice
for murder? Didn't it since then? Not before then? Not
at that time? Subsequent? Long subject was in eighteen eighty five.
That was after a belief. Now that was before Michelle's murder,
(28:31):
wasn't eighty seven? Okay, you may be right, it doesn't.
Did you read did you hear the transcript? Did you
see the judge's findings? He's a liar, he offered to
sell his testimony for one thousand dollars. That's hardly a
basis for suggesting that he's the actual murderer. Couldn't he
be a stereo thief and the actual murderer? Now that's
(28:52):
a theoretical question, and I guess in theory the answer is,
of course he could be. I mean, it shouldn't it
be your responsibility to investigate. Wait a minute, we have
investigated this thing upside down. Leo's Goldfield is a cold
blooded murderer, and if I have my way, he'll never
get out of prison. Right now, Leo's case is being
(29:15):
reviewed by the Second DCA. If they were to reverse
the lover in court's opinion, would you try him again? Oh,
let me tell you, I'm not too worried about that.
We're not gonna have to try him again. You wouldn't
do that, Oh, we'll try him again if he were
to get off. Let me let me tell you right now,
he's a killer. And unless you want to take him home,
(29:35):
will you? Then he's worried all to be Thank you
very much. Just a good day. All of the stuff
that I've read before, that i'd read in transcripts, just
how the state talks about Leo and his case, I
(29:57):
think maybe i'd kind of been telling myself like, oh,
you know, they can't be that bad, right, Like I
see the words on the page, but it just can't
be that bad. Then listening to Jerry Hill, it's just like,
oh gosh, no, it really is that bad. It's really
worse now. I think Jerry Hill, he had an opportunity
(30:23):
to be the hero, and they can still be the hero.
I don't want money, I don't want fame, I don't
want any of this stuff. I just want justice for
my dead wife. That's what I want. Give that to me,
and I'll put mom over your shoulder and say you're
the hero. You're the frigging hero. Just do what's right.
Do what's right, because you're never gonna give me justice. Never.
You can't give me back thirty four years. You can't
(30:45):
give Michelle back her life. But the least you can
do when you say that you care about her is
do the right thing by her. Because this is not it.
This is definitely not it. After Leo learns he's been
denied parole, he sends Chrissie an email through the prison
(31:06):
system's computers. As usual, it's Leo who is trying to
buoy everyone's spirits. Leo writes, I'm so sorry you have
to deal with this. I was so hopeful that it
was going to be different this time. I'm just sorry.
I love you. A few months after Leo was denied parole,
(31:46):
I go to my computer, and there it is. The
second DCA's decision. Leo is also denied a new trial.
His chances of proving his innocence, getting out of prison,
and having a normal life with his family they're pretty
much gone. I text Chrissy, I text Judge Scott Cupp.
(32:11):
I struggle to imagine what this will do to Leo.
All he can do now is wait for yet another
parole hearing, where yet again the state will argue that
he's not worthy of freedom because he isn't sorry for
killing Michelle, and Leo will refuse to express remorse because
he's always maintained his innocence. The timing of the second
(32:35):
dcia's decision not to grant Leo a new trial, it
couldn't be worse. COVID is in full swing and Chrissie
and Ashley are not allowed any in person visits with Leo. Also,
during this time, Leo's mom passes away and Leo witnesses
an inmate gets stabbed to death. I mean, it really
(32:58):
is shocking to me that we can get this are
and not get any relief at all, you know, and
then the reality settling in that the nightmare scenario that
I could die in here, you know, and that's just
too happy for me. Kelsey. That's going to be the
(33:19):
story that breaks my back. I can't do that. I
just I'm not going to give him another thirty I
don't want to. I don't. I would feel totally wrong
to allow that. I would rather end it myself. That's
the gospel truth. I'm not going to let my wife
(33:39):
my daughter suffer through this crap anymore. I'm not. I'm
just not going to do it. So we're not gonna
let anticipate it going that way. I'm believing. I'm willing
to take anything that allows me to go home and
take care of my wife and daughter, short of admitting
to something I didn't do. As Leo struggles to keep hope,
(34:03):
I think about all the work Kelsey and I have
put into this case. Nobody around Leo will ever say it,
but we can feel it. They're putting all their hopes
in our investigation, our story about Leo's case. And because
I'm also very aware of the mountains that must be
moved in order to overturn a wrongful conviction, I always
(34:24):
make sure to temper any expectations telling Leo's story. No
matter how truthfully and persuasively, is simply not a realistic
path toward gaining his freedom. But there's no denying it.
Our investigation, our story, might just be Leo's last hope,
(34:44):
his last chance to convince people that he was wrongly
convicted of murdering his wife and that Jeremy Scott is
Michelle's true murderer. We've seen how the State of Florida's
false narrative has defined Leo's case, and at the very least,
we want to correct this narrative. Kelsey and I are
(35:05):
thinking about where to look next, and there's one stone
we've left unturned. We start thinking more and more about
Jeremy Scott. Maybe he has more to say. We have
to try to talk to him. So I write a
letter to Jeremy and mail it off to him, and
(35:25):
when I don't hear from him, I write another. I
tell him that I'm an author and that I've been
investigating the Leo Schofield case, and that I'm interested in
his dealings with the State Attorney's office. I send him
a self addressed, stamped envelope and some extra papers so
he can write me back. I know he's been contacted
by journalists in the past, and that he doesn't respond.
(35:48):
So my hopes are pretty low, but there's not much
else I can do. It's the spring of twenty twenty
and COVID is stopping us from traveling down to Florida.
Sitting in my office in Brooklyn, I feel powerless. But
the one thing I can do is right to Jeremy.
So I keep at it, just hoping he'll change his
(36:09):
mind and right back. Oh he shouldn't, Jeremy, And seven
months later, I see that first letter sitting in my mailbox.
She says, I want you to know that Polk County
gave me a call about you. I don't think you
can come see me. Who knows what will happen? And
that is sad when I have kept my damn mouth
(36:32):
shut for thirty one years. Schofield case, let's say he
should be out. I've thought about writing my story that
no one wants to hear. I just don't really know
how gotta go. Jay Scott, Well, okay, I think he's
looking to again. It sounds like Polk County like made
(36:58):
him believe that he is not allowed to talk to us,
which they can't do. No, they can't, and that's why
we're going to figure out what they did. We file
a record request to find out who might have called him,
but we're informed by the Florida Department of Corrections that
they can't release those records. So I write Jeremy another letter.
(37:20):
I want to see if he'd agree to a visit
from us. I want him to know that I'm eager
to hear his story, that I'm interested in anything and
everything he has to say. I also send him a
prewritten consent letter. If he signs, it will allow me
to visit and record an interview with him. It's not
long before he sends the form back to me, signed,
(37:42):
but the prisons in Florida are still locked down due
to COVID. And then, once the Department of Corrections lifts
the COVID restrictions about six weeks later, we find out
that Jeremy has been placed in disciplinary confinement, so we
can't visit him until he returns to general population, and
who knows when that will be. As the months pass,
(38:07):
we're constantly checking his status, there's no change and he
stops writing. Still, we wanted to find a way to
get someone to look into Jeremy Scott. We felt we
had some pretty compelling evidence linking Jeremy to the murder
of cab driver Joseph Laverre back in nineteen eighty seven.
(38:27):
It didn't feel right just sitting on what we'd collected,
so I reached out to one of my contacts at
the State Attorney's Office in the Ninth Circuit. That's the
office that handles all the cases in Ossiola County, including
the murder of Joseph Laverre. It seemed like there had
to be fingerprints and potential sources of DNA from the
taxi that could be tested. And if it turns out
(38:50):
that Jeremy is forensically linked to a fourth murder, the
murder of Joseph Lavere, the state's narrative that Jeremy is
just a car stereo thief who had nothing to do
with the murder of Michelle Scofield would look even more preposterous.
But we're in a weird position. We'd collected so much
information about what the State Attorney's Office in Polk County
(39:12):
had done wrong in failing to properly investigate Jeremy Scott,
and now we were thinking about going to a neighboring
county state Attorney's office, pointing out yet another failed investigation.
We don't know how they're going to react, but we
decide it's what we have to do. We managed to
get a meeting lined up with the State Attorney's office
(39:33):
in the ninth Circuit and we presented our case over
a zoom call. Okay, excellent. So I'm just going to
talk to you a little bit and about why I'm
doing this and what I've learned and why I'm really
getting in touch with you. But I go through the
whole thing. How while working on Leo's story, we came
across the Laverre case. We tell them that Jeremy's girlfriend, Jamie,
(39:56):
said that Jeremy made a spontaneous confession decades ago to
getting away with killing a taxicab driver, and how we
think we've linked that spontaneous confession to the murder of
Joseph laver an Ossiola County homicide that's still unsolved. It
had been over three decades since this office handled the
case and filed charges against dan Odie, the man who
(40:19):
was tried twice and eventually acquitted. The folks were talking
to weren't there at the time, So we tell them
a bit about dan Odie and some of the accusations
of police corruption that were exposed in court during his case.
I know it was a lot to sort of absorb,
and like I said, I'll hand over any documents, recordings,
anything you think that might be helpful to you. They
(40:41):
seem to understand how this investigation relates back to Leo's case.
I just wondered, could County wouldn't be kind of pressured
a little bit to look at German's guy that they
know that we're look atting him or cold case and Ciola,
I think it's worth a shot. Absolutely. We tell them
(41:05):
that we're hoping to meet with Jeremy. We're just waiting
for him to get out of disciplinary confinement. You have
every right as a citizen to engage other citizens, who
include people who are in custody. But I think if
law enforcement's going to try to work this case, I
would think they wouldn't want to be part of that conversation.
If you're willing to extend that to the agency. They're
(41:27):
basically saying that they can't stop us from meeting with Jeremy,
but they'd rather we don't. It could interfere with an investigation.
In other words, let the cops do their job. I'm
happy to step back and see what comes of their work.
It could mean justice in a decade's old cold case,
and it could also bring renewed attention to Leo's case.
(41:48):
I just sort of want to see this move forward
because I feel very strongly that Jeremy Scott is the suspect.
We're hopeful that someone is finally going to investigate Jeremy's
got It's nice. Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.
I'll be in touch. I'll send my power point and
i'll send documents and recordings. A few weeks later, we
(42:16):
get a second letter from Jeremy. It's been seven months
since the first one. I call Kelsey right away. She
was sitting in a parking lot in Durham, North Carolina,
trying to get the internet set up in her new apartment.
So I record the call on my end, or I
think I do, okay. So I completely fucked that up
(42:40):
and forgot to press record. That's what happens when you're
not here. I have to do shit on my own,
and it doesn't work out as well as when you're here.
So there we go. Yes, no, it doesn't happen to you,
but it happens to me. Okay, So here it is. Okay.
This letter dated March sixth, twenty one, and it's from
(43:04):
Jeremy and he says, dear mister King, I don't know
what it is that you want to know about Polk
County prosecutors. They lied told me what they were going
to help me, but that never happened. That's why I
told the whole truth about Leo Schofield. And I had
also told them things that a killer would know. Leo
(43:25):
didn't kill his wife. I did that taxicab driver that
was shot by a three fifty seven gun. They didn't
want to hear what I had to say that taxicab driver.
This is stunning to me. I never mentioned the cab
(43:46):
driver in my letters. I was very intentional about that.
I didn't want to confront him about the murder of
Joseph Laver because I was worried Jeremy might shut down
and I'd lose the opportunity to sit with him in person.
But now we have this letter from him, and he's
bringing up the cab driver murder completely unprompted. Jeremy goes
(44:07):
on to write about his release from prison in nineteen
eighty six. That was after his acquittal in the Jule
Johnson murder and after he served a few months on
the arson charge. Following his release, he stays with his
mother in Perry, Florida, until January, then with an uncle
in Osciola County, just over the Polk County line. I
(44:29):
keep reading anyway, while I was staying there, I took
money and a big knife, not just any kind. That
was the one use on Michelle. I took off in
February nineteen eighty seven, went to Lakeland, Florida. I stole
the gun after Michelle was killed, maybe a week or two.
(44:53):
I can tell you the gun belonged to a cop.
I saw a picture in the house which is winter Haven.
Leo Schofield and myself had the same prosecutor the same
Now he ain't anywhere to be found. He lied to me.
So I know there's people who have wanted to do story.
(45:16):
I can't get money for this, but if you or
any of them are willing to send me paper stamps,
I'm on cmtwo right now. CM two is the second
level of close management. It's basically solitary confinement. That's why
we haven't been able to visit him yet. Turns out
(45:37):
Jeremy ended up there because corrections officers found a makeshift
weapon in his shoe. They said they found a knife
on me. I got to live that way. I am
a walking dead man. I've been running for the last
twenty years. I never stay in one place too long.
They almost got me once. If you don't want the
(46:00):
whole truth about Leo and cab driver, I will sail
say my whole story to whoever will pay in stamps.
I ain't asking for money, just a few books of stamps,
or Leo will never be free. I will be waiting.
(46:20):
I think it's time for to talk about it. I
am safe in CM. I'll wait to hear from you.
Jeremy Scott, he confessed to killing that cab driver. We
didn't know what to expect from Jeremy, but in this
letter he just confessed to two murders. We weren't surprised
(46:45):
by his confession to killing Michelle Scofield because he'd confessed before.
But this cab driver murder confession is shocking to read,
and it's hard to wrap my head around why Jeremy
brings this up, it's almost like he knows it's something
that will eventually catch up with him. And he mentions
the gun, which had always been a lingering question in
(47:06):
my mind. The details he provides might even be information
we can corroborate, like was there a gun reported stolen
from a house in Winnerhaven around that time? If I
can keep Jeremy corresponding with me, who knows what other
details he might bring up. His writing is a little disjointed,
(47:26):
but not too difficult to read. More importantly, it seems
like he has a lot more to say, and he
seems willing to say it. And so after we get
this letter, we decide we need to turn over a
copy to our contacts at the State Attorney's office in
the Ninth Circuit. This letter seemed to validate everything we've
(47:46):
just presented to them. This letter could even qualify as
new evidence in the thirty four year old unsolved homicide
of cab driver Joseph Laverre. We were hoping they'd move
fast and compare the physical evidence it's recovered from the
taxi to jeremy fingerprints DNA. Any of it might have
given us some answers but a few weeks pass, and
(48:10):
then a few more, and we hear nothing. It seems
that the State Attorney's office isn't doing anything else to
look into Jeremy Scott. So we spend the next few
weeks agonizing about whether to stay in contact with Jeremy.
Kelsey and I talk it over, and after waiting and
(48:31):
waiting for some news or an update from the state,
we decide, fuck it. I'm writing back to Jeremy Scott.
I don't care if the State attorney doesn't want us
talking to him. This time, I ask more specific questions,
(48:51):
but still I avoid asking any direct questions about the
cab driver murder. I'm trying to walk the line and
not do anything to compromise is the state's investigation, if
there even is one. So I asked Jeremy about Michelle
Scofield and the prosecutor John Aguero, and I send Jeremy
some postage stamps. We discussed this too. Stamps are a
(49:15):
sort of currency in the prison system, and we don't
want Jeremy to think we're compensating him in exchange for
his correspondence. On the other hand, he's basically in lockdown
in close management with time on his hands, and if
he's bored and he finally wants to tell his story,
I want to hear from him. Then finally we get
(49:39):
an update from the State Attorney's office. They tell us
that they want us to take our evidence to the
Ossiola County Sheriff's Office, the agency that originally handled the
Joseph Laver murder. So once again we compile all the
evidence we have and on June twenty second, twenty twenty one,
we show up in Kassimmee to do our presentation. We
(50:01):
are heading to the Ostiola County Sheriff's Office for our
big meeting, and so we've been trying to get this
meeting for months. Just a few hours before our meeting,
they email me saying they don't want us to record.
How are you feeling, I think, I mean, I feel
(50:25):
I feel pretty good that they're going to have to
do something about this. I don't think they can just
blow us off. But I don't know what kind of
worries me is. This is a dirty case and they
have to know it. If they look into it a
little bit, they have to see it. All right, Well,
it's about time to go in, right, all right, let's
(50:45):
do it, okay, I'm gonna turn this off a deepree.
After we're brought inside to a conference room, about a
half dozen people are there, and I set up my
power point to display on a big screen. I have
police reports with witness descriptions and a sketch of the
alleged suspect in the Joseph Laver murder, a thin man
(51:09):
around five foot ten, much closer to Jeremy's appearance than
six foot four, two hundred and thirty five pound Dan Odie,
who has tried twice for the murder. I also present
records that show that fingerprints were lifted from the car,
and I show them a photograph of a baseball cap
that was found in the backseat of the cab, which
(51:30):
police believe the suspect left behind. It's the same evidence
I'm hoping they'll dig up from some storage locker and
start analyzing. And I have tape of Jeremy's brother, Royal
Dean Scott, saying he remembers talking to Jeremy about the
cab driver and how Jeremy left Osciola County shortly after
the incident. I've heard about the cab rob man, Robin Man.
(51:55):
I remember him saying something about it, and then he
had to leave for the wall. Then I have Jeremy's
letter mentioning how he got the gun and how he
has more to say about that killing. I stole the
gun after Michelle was killed, maybe a week or two.
(52:16):
I can tell you the gun belonged to a cop.
I think it's time for to talk about it. I'll
wait to hear from you, Jeremy Scott. It seems like
the main person we're trying to convince in this meeting
is Major Wiley Black. He's the head of criminal investigations.
(52:37):
To get to that position, Major Black has put in
a lot of years with the sheriff's office. This gives
us pause because this case has a lot to do
with possible corruption within this sheriff's office. It's likely that
Major Black both knew and worked with Deputy Buddy Shepherd,
that was the detective accused of threatening to take the
(52:58):
children away from young mothers in Intercession City unless they
testified against dan Odie. We try our best to brush
past the Buddy Shepherd accusations. We don't want them focusing
on that now. We want them to be compelled to
act because of the evidence we present and the opportunity
to close a thirty four year old unsolved murder. So
(53:22):
we show them what we have. They make photocopies of
Jeremy's letters, We answer a few questions, and then it's over.
Kelsey tells me to stay quiet until she can get
the microphone out. How do you think that went? I
don't think it went very well at all. What do
you think? Really? Yeah, why do you say that? I
(53:43):
think they were engaged, they were listening. But I think
the homicide detective Wiley Black, I think he to me,
I felt like he was signaling that this case is
going nowhere. Did you get that? I don't know, I
thought he. I mean he said he was going to
into the evidence. I think he was being realistic that
(54:06):
it very likely could not exist at this point. But
the fingerprints we know exist. I mean, they have copies
of those prints, and those can be at least be run.
As we're getting ready to leave the parking lot at
the Sheriff's office, it begins to rain, like it does
almost every summer afternoon in central Florida. The darkening sky
(54:29):
matches our mood. I just got the feeling that this
is going to die right here. This is a little
frustrating because you can see the black hole sort of develop.
I'm not encouraged at all by this. So we just
have to like strategize about how to next steps and
(54:52):
when do we start doing our own investigation. I mean,
they didn't tell us to not go and talk to Jeremy,
so yeah, there's that. I think that's what we have
to do now. I just I just I don't know.
But it's freaking hot in this car, so you've got
(55:16):
too much. Well, do you have any final thoughts? Yeah?
I want to keep investigating this, and I want to
talk to some of these witnesses that I've been steering
clear of. And I want to start asking Jeremy in
letters about that taxicab driver. There could be something there.
I don't want to stop on this Jeremy thing now.
(55:36):
I just feel like, what are we gonna do? Right? Well,
at least we got some free coffee out of that, right, Yeah,
free coffee. Nice ride through Intercession City, all right here?
All right? We follow up with Major Wiley Black, who
(56:06):
is sitting in the room with us, but our emails
go unanswered. Weeks go by, and there doesn't seem to
be any forward movement on the case. I get the
sense that the Osciola County Sheriff's Office doesn't want this
case reopened. Hey you there? Yeah? And here ook are
(56:33):
you recording? Yes? Recording. Now we get another letter from Jeremy.
All right, I'm opening this one. Feels this one feels
a little thicker. I don't know why. Oh lord, okay, okay.
(56:55):
This was said on May sixty, twenty twenty one. Dear
mister King, I received your letter along with ten stamps. First,
let me tell you why I ask for stamps. It's
the only way I can buy soap and food back
here on CM. I don't have anyone to help me.
(57:16):
I just want you to understand why I ask for stamps.
I really don't have shit to do. I read when
I can find books. I don't get any mail, not
unless it's from you. Now about some of the things
that you asked me about, Yes, John Aguero did prosecute
(57:37):
both me and Leo. And yes, mister John Aguero did
lie to me. They took me to see mister Aguero's
office and he told me that Leo Lawyer wants to
talk with me. Jeremy starts writing about that meeting he
had with Aguero alone in his office after the fingerprints
(57:58):
in the Mazda were identified. Might it sounds like Aguero
was telling Jeremy that Leo and his father were bad
guys who not only killed Michelle but may have killed
other girls too, and that Aguero needed Jeremy's help to
keep Leo locked up. I think this is why Jeremy
says things like, I don't know what else Leo has done,
(58:20):
but in this one he's innocent. He went on talking
about how he will be sitting on my parole, how
he can write on my behalf. All I had to
do is keep on saying how my fingerprint was in
the car. At the time, I really thought he was
gonna help me. I have heard a state attorney has
(58:43):
help inmates before, and plus my grandma was still alive.
But you were right, it was just me and John Aguero.
Jeremy seems to be saying that Aguero was trying to
cut a deal with him. Aguero would help Jeremy with
his parole if Jeremy stuck to the story about how
his prince ended up in Michelle's car, and after seeing
(59:06):
how much sway the state attorney had over Leo's case.
It makes sense why Jeremy might buy into this. It
might have been Jeremy's only chance at being released from
prison and spending any time on the outside with his grandmother.
Jeremy goes on to mention a visit from some guy
Leo's attorneys sent to speak to him. Sounds like private
(59:26):
investigator Pat McKenna. First, I wouldn't talk to him because
everyone been lying to me. Then I heard that John
Aguero died, so all these years later, I told myself
that I will tell everything, and I did, but nobody
believe me. I don't know what else I can do.
(59:49):
I was telling the truth, nothing but the truth. And
then he writes, I'm going to give you something. Okay,
I'm going to give you something now. Jeremy really has
my attention. He sets up the night of Michelle's murder.
It was raining most of the night. I just off
(01:00:12):
I four went down North Cumby where I used to live.
Once I got off Cumby Road and head to Lakeland,
I stopped at a gas station I can't remember the name.
I knew it was raining. I was sick and cold, wet.
(01:00:35):
There was a woman on the phone talking. She thought
I was waiting on the phone. When she got off.
She asked me if I was lost. I told her yes,
and hadn't any way to get back to the place
I was staying. She had a little car. She was
(01:00:55):
nice and offered me a ride. So we went back
down Cumbe Road, going out by I four underpath. I
told her she could pull in there. There's little trees,
a little road with a creak in it. I know
it well, so she pull in. Then she said there's
(01:01:20):
no one here. I pulled a knife out. She went crazy,
tried to push the gas, but I threw the car
in park. When I first read this letter to Kelsey,
this detail hit hard. Michelle tried to put the car
(01:01:42):
and drive like makesfect. I know you would have sucked
up the car that like that. That's the reason it
wasn't working. He sucked it up by doing that. She
tried to open the car door. That's when I lost it.
I didn't remember how many times I stab I get
(01:02:08):
out the car went over where she was laying out
the car door. She had opened it. I look at her,
not knowing what I just did. I was just pulling
the knife so I could robbed her. I went look
around for something to hide her. I found something looked
(01:02:30):
like a big bag. I lay it out. Then I
put her on the bag and rolling her up in it.
Then took her down by the creek. I found a
place where I could push her in, then cover her
with wood trash. I don't understand why there was no
blood in the car. She was stabbing the car, not
(01:02:53):
her trailer. I only took ten dollars that was on her.
I didn't take any rings or anything else. I only
took ten dollars that was honored, you know what, Like
he took the bills, the coins like they're fucking in
the road, right, I mean, yeah, yeah, it's close enough
to whatever thirteen dollars you know. I mean. Also, I
(01:03:17):
was never clear whether she had used the tip money
to buy the coke and the gas and the phone call,
Like I don't know if it had been thirteen dollars.
Holy shit. Yeah that's amazing because she says, what three
dollars of gas and a coke? Yeah, there's no fucking
(01:03:41):
way he knows that. Wow. I got back in the car,
put it in drive, took off on I four. The
car started slowing down. It wasn't out of gas. I
don't know why, it just died on me. I pull
(01:04:01):
it along the road, park in the rain started stopping.
It was close to midnight. No car were on I four,
so that when I start cleaning up most of my
prints and if there were blood, I cleaned it up.
That when I tried to pull the radio and speaker out,
(01:04:22):
they didn't tell people about that. Once I cleaned the car,
I left the keys and locked the door. That's when
I went up by four. There is an overpath, there
was a store and there was dumpster there. I threw
the knife and something. I just can't remember what it was.
(01:04:45):
I know that I cleaned the car with it. Jeremy
goes on to write that he went back to Kassimmee,
breaking into Holmes, moving back and forth between Osceola and
Polk Counties. He was eventually arrested the murder of Donald
moorehead in November of nineteen eighty eight, a year and
a half after Michelle Scofield and Joseph Laver were killed.
(01:05:08):
That's when he first meets his prosecutor, John Aguero. Jeremy's
got Jeremy continues in his letter. I told John Aguero
he knew from the start Leo didn't kill her. Why
was her car was on I four stuff missing out
of the car, and why was my print was in it?
(01:05:30):
Just like the taxicab driver. What am I to do?
I'm ben telling the truth. I don't know what else
to do. I really want this to go away, but
it won't. There's so much shit I need to tell,
but I don't know how to put it. I will
tell you this, even though John Aguero died, he knew
(01:05:54):
from the start that I was the one who killed
not Leo, mister king, I still would like to know
how or who got you to write me. I hope
to hear from you soon. I hope you can understand
my letter. I ain't good at painting putting words together.
(01:06:16):
Thank you so much for the stamps. Hope to hear
from you soon. There's so much I need to tell
right soon. Jeremy L. Scott PS. Why did the state
attorney call me? Told me if I talk with you
that I will be in trouble. Tell me what's going on?
(01:06:45):
Holy fuck? Oh man, god damn it, God fucking damn it.
This is unbelievable. There's something fucking unbelievably sincere that comes
(01:07:06):
across in that letter. I don't know what to think, man,
that that was really fucking powerful for some reason. Yeah,
that only maybe you want to So the fact that
the sky is still saying this ship and his story
makes so much sense. It's just like mocking that's can't
(01:07:27):
be done about it. And he's also saying like, I
think I'll be out of here in June. By out
of here he means out of close management, out of solitary.
Once he's back in general population, we can schedule our
interview with him. Oh, I don't want to test to him.
(01:07:48):
I mean, honestly, I don't give a shit about those
stamps anymore. Let them fucking I'm just fucking keeping this
guy talking. And if they say you gave him stamps
so he bought soap, iggle fuck you. He can have soap. Seriously,
I don't have any hesitation keep sending him stands that
he can only buy some boots stamps Like Jesus Christ,
(01:08:11):
I think, fuck it. I'm just I'm done with these.
I'm just done with asking permission to like reopen this case.
Hey are you there? Yeah? Are you here? What's going on? So?
I just got off the phone with Paul Walker at
(01:08:33):
the Department of Corrections m and he said that Journey
is now in general population. Oh my god. So yeah,
and so he's eligible for visitors again. But Jesus, finally
some good news. I hope this. I just hope this holds,
you know, after three years of investigating Leo's case, We're
(01:08:58):
finally going to meet Jeremy's got. Bone Valley is a
production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal
(01:09:19):
Company Number One. Our executive producers are Jason Flaum and
Kevin Wurdis. Karak Kornhaber is our senior producer. Brit Spangler
is our sound designer. Roxandra Guidi is our editor. Fact
checking by Maximo Anderson. Our producer and researcher is Kelsey Decker.
(01:09:40):
Our theme song, The One Who's Holding the Stars, is
performed by Leebob 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 four
Host
Gilbert King
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