March 6, 2025 • 42 mins
The final episode, subject to future updates, of Murder on Songbird Road invites listeners and former interviewees to reflect on their thoughts and opinions regarding the case against Julia Bevely. Additionally, Bevely's legal team provides an update on the current status of her appeal process.
Email us with thoughts, suggestions or tips at investigatingmurder@iheartmedia.com.
CONTACTS:
The Illinois Attorney General’s Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU)
Office of the Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul
Office of the Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Murder on Songbird Road is a production of iHeart Podcasts.
Previously on Murder on Songbird Road. It's crucial to recognize
the ripple effect of Beverly's conviction on her immediate family,
and in Jaden's case, those ripples were more like shock waves.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Miss Jade, missed, my mom, miss a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
I made Mom promise to stay strong in the jail,
and I'll stay.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Strong for her.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
In August of twenty twenty four, nearly four years after
Jade's murder, Renee and Jaden were reunited with Beverly's three
youngest children.
Speaker 5 (00:36):
And I can already see Julian every single while.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
The autopsy also revealed evidence that may have been mishandled,
and it involved a towel that was apparently tossed into
the body bag used to transport Jade to the morgue.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I just don't understand what person that was at that
crime scene that thought that that was the right thing
to do.
Speaker 6 (00:57):
It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
What else is crazy? Of time it took for the
then forensic pathologists to turn around Jade Beasley's autopsy. It
took over a year to turn around the autopsy. Did
you ever get any reason as.
Speaker 6 (01:10):
To why I did not.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
At the end of August twenty twenty four, Bob and
I were back in Marian again, knocking on doors on
or around Songbird.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
Road, and I was looking out the window and then
the camera was videotaping him, and.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
He just kept knocking and knocking and waiting, and I
was an answer.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
So a shirtless guy and he looked like he was
under the influence of drugs or a mental illness.
Speaker 7 (01:34):
Yeah, he did.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
I have not been here in thirty years and more.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
They still have the video, really really wow. And guess
who now has the video?
Speaker 8 (01:51):
You?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yep, I'm Lauren bred Pacheco and this is Murder on
Songbird Road. Over the past ten episodes, you've heard the
(02:19):
many pieces that came together to form an unfathomable story
of heartbreak. You have listened to the devastating aftermath, families
torn apart, relationships destroyed, siblings separated, and a community fractured
by the shocking, controversial, and brutal murder of Jade Beasley.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
The biggest thing for me is that we were able
to be boots on the ground and investigate, to really
be able to kind of unpeel this onion. It just
had to be boots on the ground what we were
able to discover in this case, because remember we didn't
(03:00):
get the discovery in total. You know, we didn't have
that advantage, which again to me, speaks volumes, Lauren. I mean,
the fact that we were never provided with that always
tells me that they have something to hide. What is
the motivation of people not wanting to answer questions or
not providing information? It should make you suspicious, it certainly
(03:21):
does me. But us being able to get down there
to Marian as many times as that we did, and
go and knock on doors and talk to people face
to face and have that communication and that contact with them,
it's just a different thing. I mean, that's it's because
we care. It would be really easy to be.
Speaker 6 (03:40):
Just like guy I tried check that off the list.
Speaker 9 (03:43):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
It's that persistence that is what drives these things. The
persistence is what creates information for us that we can
use to potentially lead us to other information which can
potentially lead us to answers.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Bob Mada and I didn't take on covering this case
or Beverly's conviction without a great deal of forethought. We
also didn't enter this investigation with preconceived notions.
Speaker 6 (04:12):
I cannot say this enough.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
When you and I got into this in the beginning
of it, neither one of us had formed any kind
of opinion as to innocence or killed at all.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
I agree, But also I think that the fact that
we went in with no agenda right is what ultimately
motivated us, because if we were just literally convinced she
was innocent or convinced she was guilty, we would have given.
Speaker 6 (04:38):
Up totally, totally.
Speaker 10 (04:40):
There would be no.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Point right once you really land where we have landed now,
and that was not an easy place to land, because
what you're doing is you're opening yourself up for not
just criticism, but real animosity. Yeah, because people like to
(05:05):
believe if something was tried that it's done, it's finished.
You don't go back and muddy.
Speaker 5 (05:15):
Up the waters.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
And it's a difficult thing too, because we know that
we're dealing with very real lives and very real emotions,
very real grief and trauma. It has taken us well
over a year and a half to reach the point
we're at now.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
I think that some of the bad facts, as we
call them, that exists will still have people wondering because
some people can never get over those bad facts. Once
that gavel hits after twelve people have deemed somebody guilty,
it's really hard to erase it completely because the mindset
being that, all right, well, no matter how screwed up
(05:54):
the trial was, the fact is that they had enough
evidence to convince it. You're that she did it, despite
the fact that it went unchecked and unchallenged, which is
really the entire point of a trial, you know, to
vet the evidence from beginning to end. This thing was
just a railroad job in the sense of what was
allowed in and how it flowed and just all the
(06:17):
little things that happened. We can't do it justice in
terms of really articulating just how messed up this trial was.
Speaker 10 (06:26):
You know what, you just gave me the words.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
It was a railroad job that went off the rails.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
It was that bad.
Speaker 6 (06:34):
It was that bad.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So now, in terms of where we have landed, let's
just quickly address that. I do understand how people can
still have some reservations about what you and I have
referred to as bad facts, but it is undeniable that
Julia Beverly did not get a fair trial.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
Right. There's no Quoestan.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
We were told that what we now have video of
was an impossibility, that nobody's knocking on doors. We believed
it when we went down on the first trip. We
looked around and said, nobody has ring camera footage here.
This isn't the place where you get foot traffic, and
lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. And if they
(07:24):
had done a proper investigation, they would have discovered it
within two months of the murder. We have spent far
more time investigating this case than the four days that
had been spent when former Williamson County State's Attorney Brandon
Sonati announced Jade Beasley's death at the same press conference
(07:47):
in which he announced Julia Beverly's arrest, Although he spun
it this way.
Speaker 11 (07:52):
There's, as I said, you know, any given time, twenty
people working this, you know, like I said, working around
the clock. These things just don't happen overnight.
Speaker 9 (08:01):
You know, we have to you know, we have to.
Speaker 11 (08:04):
Follow the rules. You know, we have to you know,
conduct these investigations we have you know, under you know,
constitutional safeguards and constraints, and you know, ideally like it
to be wrapped up and tied up now, but unfortunately
I said it's not. It's still going to take some time.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
It took just four days for the investigation to conclude
it had gathered enough evidence to arrest twenty nine year
old Julia Elaine Beverly, though even that decision came with
a disclaimer pursue it.
Speaker 11 (08:35):
To Supreme Court rule, I must remind the public that
charges are not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed
innocent and is entitled to a fair trial, on which
the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
The state was tasked with the burden to prove Julia
Beverly's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Having processed everything you've
now heard, do you think they met that burden? Here
is the opinion of one former juror.
Speaker 9 (09:03):
After listening to the podcast and listening to you guys, saw,
I feel like I've definitely got a different perspective of
reasonable doubt.
Speaker 12 (09:14):
I kind of feel like because you're coming up.
Speaker 13 (09:17):
With different alternatives to what there supposedly was, and I
feel like it's a different ball game.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
In our previous episode, we shared audio from ring camera
footage of an unknown intruder banging on a door on
Songbird Road, just weeks after Jade Beasley's murder. Here is
that jurors reaction to seeing that video?
Speaker 12 (09:43):
So many thoughts, so many thoughts. I know some people
will be like, oh, but that was two months later. Okay,
it was two months later. But also it was only
two months later, and it was a man matching the
same description and stuff, the same body build that Julie games.
(10:04):
And if this man was clearly on drugs, you should
have been on drugs two months earlier trying to get
somebody else's house and stumbled upon Jays.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
If you had seen that video during the trial, do
you think that would have changed things in terms of
the jury's deliberation.
Speaker 12 (10:22):
I think it could have, guess. I think the fact
that the guy matching the same description was trying to
get into another house on the same road.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
So let me ask you this, had you been given
everything that was presented in the podcast, how would that
have impacted the deliberation in your opinion?
Speaker 12 (10:48):
Honestly, after listening to you and Bob, if the defense
could have presented a case like you guys, did I
feel like we would have had to have said, should
work with guilty.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Additionally, on April third of twenty twenty one, so less
than two months after the video of the unknown porch
intruder was taped on Songbird Road, there was a home
invasion in Marion committed by an intruder brandishing a knife.
A woman told police a man had come in through
an open window and threatened her with a knife. She
was injured, but the assailant fled the scene. At the time,
(11:25):
police were asking anyone who might have seen something or
who might have video surveillance in the area to contact
them with information, but that request was apparently contradicted when
a local crime watch page posted the incident and people
began weighing in with tips and speculations. Here's Renee High Tower.
Speaker 8 (11:45):
There was a post on the crime watch page run
by Becky Grimes, and there was a lot of people
commenting under there saying that there was a lot of
similarities in the incident with Jade.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
There was another intruder breaking into a home with.
Speaker 8 (12:06):
A knife, threatened to harm this woman actually did cut her,
I believe, and then got away, and they were striking similarities.
Then I started noticing the comments disappear and I sent
a direct message private message to Becky Grimes. I told
(12:28):
her some people are more comfortable speaking on her and
I said, I know the police are watching the page
because they get tips from social media all the time.
And she said, yeah, I know they're watching my page.
And she said they're the ones who told me to
take it down when it.
Speaker 14 (12:43):
Veers into Julie's case. And I said to police and
she said yes. And I was just in disbelief, shocked
that she just said that.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Becky Grimes, the woman who ran that Facebook page, has
subsequently passed away, but high Tower has shared the text
message exchange with her that backs Renee's version of the events.
High Tower then went to the Marian police station in person.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I went down to that police station and I was
telling the alswer, this sounds a lot like my daughter's.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
He first takes my information, he's got his pain going, telling.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Him it looks a lot like my dog. He put
his pen down and sat back in his chair and
just stared at me and didn't say another word. And
I said, well, I think it connects. You're not even
listening to me. You're not right now, I said, I
he was just going to quit listening your time and I left,
and I realized, this is never going to be any
kind of help from law enforcement whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Why wouldn't law enforcement want possible tips pertaining to Jade
Beasley's murder?
Speaker 3 (13:49):
What can you take away from it other than that's scary,
and it's scary for all the reasons that Flom was
talking about.
Speaker 6 (13:57):
That that other part of these.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Wrong convictions that people just tend to kind of forget about,
which is when they convict the wrong person, that the
actual killer is still roaming free, free to create havoc
and make mischief and kill people. Further, which, if you're
the community that's the taxpayer that's paying for these people's
(14:20):
salaries who have a job.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
To do, that would upset me and it should upset you.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
What are they afraid of?
Speaker 8 (14:28):
What?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Why would an investigation be afraid of people questioning the
investigation in the early stages of it, offering another option
that would have forced them to deviate from their tunnel vision.
Murder on Songbird Road will return after the break. Now
(14:59):
back to mur on Songbird Road. While the podcast was
in production, Julia Beverly from prison was also going through
trial transcripts, journaling and sharing thoughts with Renee. One recovered
memory she experienced was that the door to the bathroom
Jade was in was locked, and that Beverly spent time
(15:19):
finding pliers to unlock it. Here's Renee.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
I don't know if she had them in her hand
or where she put them. Don't know where they went to,
but she had to go to the laundry room to
get them out of this toolbox.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Okay, I'm just wondering after exactly, but that's important because
they could conceivably be in the crime scene photos. Sure enough,
when we finally received the inventory listing, those pliers were
mentioned and were found next to the bathroom a top
of laundry basket in the hall. Beverly also recalled seeing
(15:54):
a crime scene photo of the interior front door knob,
depicting a short light hair in embedded in what appears
to be blood. This is significant because of the hair's
length and color. Beverly's hair is dark, long and curly,
and Jade's hair fell past her shoulders. Here's Renee.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
She said there's a picture, and she remembers it now
that she's seen it in testimony. There's a hair in
the blood on the doorknob of the front door collected.
Possibly don't know, but no, for sure it wasn't tested.
A light colored hair and she said it may be
an inch and a half long at best. She said
(16:35):
you could see it plain as day.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
I wonder where that is.
Speaker 5 (16:39):
Yeah, yeah, So I was like, you've got to be
hidden me. There's a hair, Yes, there's a hair.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
And whose blood is on the doorknob?
Speaker 5 (16:49):
Jade's And that's the thing. There weren't very many samples.
I think it was twenty nine samples that were sent off.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Now was it the inside or the outside doorknob?
Speaker 6 (17:00):
The inside?
Speaker 5 (17:01):
And then she said that she could because she had
a storm door and then the inside door. And Julie
said she could swear in the pictures there was blood
on the storm door, on the inside of the storm door.
And they never tested it because they said, oh, it
looks like mud, never tested, never swapped, so it looks
(17:23):
like somebody brushed against it going out.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
I've reached out to Williamson County with a foyer request
for that photo, along with several others. My request was
denied and I shared the response with Bob. Does that
surprise you?
Speaker 3 (17:37):
No, I mean, at this point of course, not your
foyer request. Journey has been legendary. I mean you've gone
up to the age. I mean you've gotten some results,
but it's still just been like pulling teeth.
Speaker 6 (17:52):
It's been pulling teeth.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Yeah, Well, we get are the things that they think
are probably benign, the least problematic for them. They're the
things that they think can't hurt them. And we're still
finding shit. We're still finding just inconsistencies and things that
bug us, which only adds fuel to the fire in
terms of us wanting to see more that the concept
(18:15):
that there was an unknown hair on the inside of
the door that was covered in blood could only indicate
that it could have been left.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
How wasn't that tested.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I've also reached out to the Williamson County Sheriff and
the state's attorney for explanation as to why it took
over fourteen months and a court order to complete and
file Jade Beasley's autopsy report while they've ignored my request.
Former crime scene investigator Katie Hartman finds the turnaround time
highly unusual.
Speaker 10 (18:51):
Since you reached out to me, I talked to another
friend of mine who is a lieutenant with their homicide
that just to double check with him because he would
receive the final pathology reports on our homicide victims. And
I asked him what was the longest he ever had
to wait. He said, at the most three months, So
I thought it was an extraordinary amount of time to
(19:14):
get a final report from the pathologists. Do we know, Lauren,
was the pathology report done? It just wasn't released, so
we don't know.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
We just know that it wasn't in the discovery and
the court had to compel the completion of the report.
Speaker 10 (19:38):
And the reason why I asked that is it's dated,
as you know, twelve six, twenty twenty. These findings are
precise and they are final, so I wonder if it
was finished in twenty twenty, but it's been held up
for whatever reason or whatever mistake or whatever miscommunication for
(19:59):
two years.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
When the defense went to reference, it realized that it
hadn't been filed and so asked for it, and the
court had to compel to get the finished autopsy, which
again wasn't signed until February fourth, twenty twenty two. It
(20:23):
wasn't signed, it wasn't submitted, it wasn't filed, it wasn't completed.
Speaker 10 (20:29):
So it wasn't submitted to the state. No. I mean, so,
how can prosecution charge anybody with murder without a final
finding from a pathologist who did the autopsy? That's what
I want to know. Do you understand what I'm asked?
There's a lot in this autopsy that I cannot understand
how it was not submitted immediately and why things weren't
(20:54):
followed up on. There's a few things in here that
should have been.
Speaker 6 (20:56):
Followed up on.
Speaker 10 (20:57):
She had round contusions in the autopsy. She refers to
them as circular contusions. I think one's on her jaw.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
So implying that she was hit with an object.
Speaker 10 (21:11):
Possibly or somebody had a ring on or something like that.
You know, you got to look at all these things.
That's evidence. I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not ANME.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
ME is an abbreviation for medical examiner.
Speaker 10 (21:24):
I'm a cramecy investigators. So if I'm having a meeting
with a prosecutor about a murder case, I'm gonna ask
do you have everything you need? Do you have all
of my reports? Do you have the me's report. I mean,
I don't get why you can prosecute or have a
prosecution without an autopsy report. How's that allowed.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
We do not wish to sensationalize the autopsy's findings in
a graphic way. But in addition to the circular contusions,
there are other things mentioned in the autopsy that may
have benefitted preparation for both the defense and prosecution if
more thoroughly examined and or tested. For example, Jade's next
showed scratches and keeping with attempted strangulation, and there were
(22:10):
hairs found on her body.
Speaker 10 (22:12):
The autopsy is a part of the investigation. It's there
to answer calls death, manner of death, everything, what exactly
killed the person. I mean, these things are in here
about what exactly killed her and how, But there are
(22:34):
so many other facts that are raised, or injuries that
are raised that no one even questioned. We're doing things
that a defense attorney should have looked at and said,
well what about this and what about that? And while
a prosecutor didn't bring up some things, you know, you
(22:54):
can use some of these injuries to compare to Beverly's.
Does she work rings? What about a fair nail clippings?
We've got those, let's send them. I mean, I don't
understand any of it. I don't get it.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
You're preaching to the converted and speaking of nail scrapings.
While Jades were tested, there was something discovered but not
further tested, that was a bit buried during the trial.
Here is Beverly's defense attorney's closing statement from the transcript, verbatim.
The DNA could have told us something from the nails
(23:28):
if the state hadn't been so short sighted defendants. Exhibit
seven was shown to doctor Reich after he was asked
was it only X or only female DNA found under jade?
And he had to say, no, no, it's not. These
are jades nails. These are the white chromosomes. It might
(23:49):
have been a minuscule amount popping on two different areas,
but it's there. It just doesn't fit the state's theory.
I'm done with this now, Judge. Of course, we'll never know,
or we don't know what was on Julie's hands, what
was under Julie's nails. The state also decided to not
test it might not fit their story unknown male DNA
(24:15):
under Jdb's Lee's fingernails, which was downplayed at trial.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
If you're a person that's out there and you hear
of all the things that weren't done, that do exist
that should have been done in terms of evidence and
things that should have been tested, and you're still sitting
there thinking like, well, I don't care she did it.
I just pray that you never get into law enforcement.
I pray that you never get on the bench. I
(24:44):
pray more than anything that you never become a prosecutor,
because you have to look at everything. This is about
getting to the truth, no matter what the truth is.
This isn't about convictions, This isn't about wins.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
That's the con that you have with prosecutors.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
They are elected officials. The thing that they run their
campaigns on is convictions that in and of itself is
a conflict of interest with the truth because the truth
takes a back seat.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
We'll be right back with Murder on Songbird Road. Here
again is Murder on Songbird Road. We started this podcast
by asking whether Julia Beverly was truly guilty of the
murder for which she was convicted. Could a mother of
(25:38):
four with no history of violence have brutally stabbed an
eleven year old girl she had raised as her own
for nearly eight years, or was there a rush to judgment,
one that began on the day of the murder and
continues to this day. As we've dealt deeper into the case,
we've encountered individuals whose perspectives on Beverly's conviction have evolved.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
It's the life we're talking about, and it's Jade's life
as well. There's just too many fishy things. It's supposed
to be beyond a reasonable doubt, and in my opinion,
that's not what it was.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
That's Brittany, the woman who created a gofund me page
to help the Beasley family cover funeral expenses for Jade.
She also believed she was on the phone with Jade's grandmother, Sheila,
when Renee high Tower was desperately seeking information on the
day of the murder.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
We were on the phone and all of a sudden,
she received the news and she told me Jade committed suicide.
And I said, oh my gosh, what could she have
been going through to do that? And I think she
just said, I don't know. Then we got off the
(26:49):
phone because she got that call from Renee.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Here are her thoughts after having heard the issues we've
raised over the course of this podcast.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Looking back in hindsight, and I'm guilty of saying things
and being manipulated by the media, and the things people
were saying were god awful, and she hadn't had trial.
And this is a small community. People believe the media.
People believe, Oh, the police don't lie. Oh if the
(27:19):
court said she's guilty, they're right.
Speaker 12 (27:22):
You know.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
People just don't understand corruption. And people were saying the
meanest things. It shouldn't have been held in this jurisdiction,
I mean, death threats.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Even do you think, looking back that there was any
presumption of innocence for Beverly before trial?
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Absolutely not know that it should have never been held
around here. It should have been in a I don't know,
a different state. But there's no way that they could
have picked a juror that didn't.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Already see all that stuff.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
And then there was other things. But that made me
start having an open mind and started questioning things. Why
was her phone the only one dropped to in forensic
They said, this isn't CSI Miami. We can't test everything.
What this is a murder of an eleven year old?
What do you mean that's a screwed up thing to say.
(28:24):
I was convinced by the media because they made it
sound like she went to a dumpster as if she
was dumping a bunch of stuff or a huge bag
or something like that in a dumpster on like the
side of hawks.
Speaker 6 (28:43):
And then truth is she.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Was by a gas pump and threw away something very
small in one of the small trash cans by the
gas pumps. So that's manipulation by the media. And then
the number of Titans Jade was stabbed is apparently incorrect.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
It was not.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
I think one hundred and twenty is what was going around.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
In fact, Jade Beasley's autopsy report details fifteen specific stab
wounds to her neck and torso, with additional injuries identified
as scratches and marks consistent with defensive wounds. Yet the
inflated number continues to circulate in news reports, on social media,
and even in the courtroom. Special Prosecutor Jennifer Mudge reference
(29:33):
to this in her sentencing statement, as seen verbatim in
the transcripts. Sometimes on TV or in real life, prosecutors
pound on the table when someonould get shot or stabbed.
Not one, not two, not three, not four. If I
did that in this case, we'd be here till five
(29:55):
o'clock to night. So I'm not going to do that
and before senten and saying Julia Lane Beverly to fifty
five years in prison without the possibility of parole, Judge
Stephen Green said.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
This, Okay, I have to agree that this case was horrific.
You have an eleven year old child stabbed over a
hundred times. I believe the testimony was at least one
hundred and four times throughout a home.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
All right, So do you find it interesting that even
after she was convicted, you know, at the sentencing, why
perpetuate false information?
Speaker 3 (30:35):
I mean to drive it home for Mudge, as if
she didn't know that he was going to sensor to
the max or right around it.
Speaker 6 (30:43):
I guess as to her, that's why.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
As to the judge, I don't know for the judge
to be kind of adding in, chiming in beyond what
he's doing legally, and on top of that, to be
mistating what the evidence actually was and symptomatic of the
problem with this case and with this trial. You know,
(31:06):
it's what we've seen for the last year and change.
This was a one sided trial that ended in one
sided sentencing, with untruths being spoken to the very end
all the way through.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Danny Vaie was a local reporter during the time of
Jade's murder, and subsequently reported on the investigation, trial and
sentencing before accepting a job out of state. Here are
his thoughts on Beverly's case in light of the issues
we've raised.
Speaker 15 (31:35):
It's definitely taking turns that I didn't expect it to take,
especially with the treatment of Julia Beverly.
Speaker 9 (31:41):
I mean, I don't know if I have any words
to describe it.
Speaker 15 (31:44):
I mean, it was just so horrible the way she
was treated, especially when she had her baby. Nobody deserves that.
I don't think anybody even knew in the media that
she was pregnant by the time. The big takeaways is
just like it's a big lesson.
Speaker 16 (32:01):
Of what not to do in a murder investigation like.
Speaker 7 (32:05):
This, because there was a lot of things they didn't do,
and me at the time, not being as experienced in
these kinds of cases and covering these kinds of cases,
I didn't know what to ask.
Speaker 16 (32:16):
These are elected officials that people are entrusting to do
their due diligence, and they're going to hang on the
words of those elected officials. And it just sads to
kind of realize all these years later that we may
have been misled.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
What would you ideally like to see happen, knowing what
you now know and having had the proximity to it
as it unfolded.
Speaker 16 (32:44):
I definitely would like to see all the angles explored.
I definitely would like to see the people that were
on that witness list who weren't call called. I think
there was a lot of things that could have been
done differently with everything uncovered, and just it's easy.
Speaker 6 (33:01):
To hide stuff. It's so easy to hide the smallest thing.
Speaker 16 (33:06):
You know that to the media, to a wider audience
that it doesn't seem significant, but to the person's happening
to it's the world.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
We recognize that there are individuals who were and still
are deeply upset by our decision to revisit the conviction
of Julie Beverly. However, it's important to emphasize that justice
for Jade and justice for Julie are not mutually exclusive,
and even as this podcast comes to a close, we
remain steadfast in our commitment to pursuing both. Thanks to
(33:42):
the generosity of Jason Flahm, Julie Bevely's appeal is receiving
the attention and legal representation it rightfully deserves.
Speaker 17 (33:51):
Let's start with what I've heard unfold over the last
seven minutes of the last episode, which with the thing
was episode ten, which had me rewinding and going, excuse me,
I mean the fact that you guys found the video.
I don't have the right word. It reminds me of
(34:14):
the fact that we live in an era in investigative
journalism slash criminal justice in general, where we as podcasters
oftentimes have to do the work that should have been
done in the first place, and could have been much
(34:36):
more easily done by people who we pay with our
tax dollars.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
To do it.
Speaker 17 (34:40):
But you and Bob did it, and you found the
smoking gun. Crazy.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
It's kind of heartbreaking too, because if you think about
the fact that that couple they closed the day she
was arrested, They moved in the day after, and keep
in mind, that was four days after Jade easily was
brutally murdered next door, not down the street, not in
a neighboring town, in the adjacent property, and no official
(35:10):
anybody ever knocked on that door, and if they had,
that would have been the first thing on that couple's
minds when they had that ring camera footage.
Speaker 17 (35:20):
You can't help just feeling a sense of how it's
a combination of awe, gratitude and also discussed right the
idea that this was allowed to go on, It's still
going on, right She's still in prison right right now.
And I think about this often. Maybe you guys do too,
(35:42):
the idea that while we're sitting here, I'm in my
home studio talking to you and gonna go out the door,
and we're going about our lives. Meanwhile, Julie, if you
juxtapose what her reality is right now, right separated from
her kids, dealing with gleam deprivation of every kind, like
(36:03):
she is literally in hell right now, being deprived of
every single thing that a human being needs to survive
and thrive and be healthy.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
In an attempt to remedy the situation, and because of
Jason Flamm's generosity, Beverly is now being represented by Chicago
based defense attorney Kathleen Zelner's firm.
Speaker 18 (36:23):
My name is Joanna Klozawska. I am an associate for
Miss Kathleen Zelner. You know, the basic facts of the
case that there was a third party male DNA left
under the victim's fingernails, really sparked our interests from the beginning. Currently,
(36:44):
the briefs on appeal have both been submitted from both sides.
We filed the brief on appeal on Beverly's behalf in
July of twenty twenty four, and then the state filed
its brief in Sember of twenty twenty four. We filed
a reply brief in October of twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
All of this leading up to both sides arguing the
case in front of a panel of judges in February
of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 18 (37:15):
The oral argument was held just last Friday, February twenty first,
before three justices of the Fifth District Appellate Court. And
so now we are just waiting on a written opinion,
which could take several.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Months, and we will update you as soon as they
reach a verdict. But here's Bob's take on the path ahead.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Well, best case scenario is that the appellate court grants
her a new trial and kicks it back down. And
this is best case scenario, And that the State's attorney's
office decides not to proceed on it again, that's best
case scenario. Next best case scenario is that they do
decide to proceed on it again, all the corrections are
(37:59):
made with respect to what's coming in, what's staying out
in terms of evidence, and she goes to trial.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
But the brutal reality is there is no scenario in
which Julie Beverly finds out next week she's walking out
a free woman. No, no, As we bring this podcast
to a clothes at least for now, we leave you
with these questions. Do you believe Julia Beverly is guilty
(38:29):
of murder? Do you believe she had the presumption of innocence?
Do you believe she received a fair trial? Do you
believe the state proved her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?
Or do you think there was a rush to judgment
one that began the day of the murder and continues
to this day.
Speaker 6 (38:47):
It's never gotten better.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
There was never a point where either of us were like, oh, well,
there we go.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
The ship was righted. And because it never happened.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
Even if you believe she's guilty, you cannot deny that
it was not a fair trial, and for that reason alone,
she deserves a proper day in court.
Speaker 12 (39:07):
One of my.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Favorite quotes is that justice will not be served until
those who are unaffected or as outraged as those who
are a lot of people have reached out to us
outraged when they have put together the pieces of what
went into Beverly's conviction. Where do you suggest they vent
(39:30):
that outrage right now?
Speaker 3 (39:33):
The most effective tools social media. Frankly, between Reddit, Twitter
or x Facebook pages Facebook groups, you can have a
loud voice, and advocacy comes in many different forms. Advocacy
is about using your voice. Advocacy is about using your
(39:55):
mind and writing letters or emails, whatever the case may be,
whatever you have to make your voice heard somehow it
can affect change.
Speaker 6 (40:03):
It really can, It really can.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
And in Illinois, the good news is that the Attorney
General has implemented a conviction Integrity Unit. We will link
to that information as well as information to contact the
Governor of Illinois. Bob and I, along with our production team,
(40:30):
deeply appreciate you and everyone else who has taken the
time to listen to this investigation. We also want to
extend our heartfelt thanks to the many individuals who have
contributed their thoughts, expertise, and voices to this podcast. A
very special thank you goes out to innocence activists Jason
Flomm and his wife, Kalia Ali, whose remarkable empathy, compassion,
(40:54):
and generosity have paved a path forward for Julia Beverly,
a journey we will continue to update as it infolds, because,
as British Statesman Benjamin Disraeli put it, justice is truth
in action. Murder on Songbird Road is a production of
(41:20):
iHeart Podcasts. Our executive producers are Taylor Chaqoine and Lauren
Bright Pacheco. Research writing and hosting by Lauren Bright Pacheco.
Investigative reporting by Bob Matta and Lauren Bite Pacheco. Editing,
sound design and original music by Evan Tyer and Taylor Chaqoine.
Additional music by Asher Kurtz. Archival elements courtesy of wsil
(41:43):
News three. Please like, subscribe, and leave us a review.
Wherever you're listening. You can follow me on all platforms
at Lauren Bright Pacheco and email the show with thought,
suggestions or tips at Investigating Murder at iHeartMedia dot com.
(42:15):
For more podcasts from Bob Mada, check out Defense Diaries,
and for more podcasts from iHeart Podcasts, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get the stories that matter
to you. Thanks for listening,
Murder on Songbird Road is a production of iHeart Podcasts.
Previously on Murder on Songbird Road. It's crucial to recognize
the ripple effect of Beverly's conviction on her immediate family,
and in Jaden's case, those ripples were more like shock waves.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Miss Jade, missed, my mom, miss a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
I made Mom promise to stay strong in the jail,
and I'll stay.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Strong for her.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
In August of twenty twenty four, nearly four years after
Jade's murder, Renee and Jaden were reunited with Beverly's three
youngest children.
Speaker 5 (00:36):
And I can already see Julian every single while.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
The autopsy also revealed evidence that may have been mishandled,
and it involved a towel that was apparently tossed into
the body bag used to transport Jade to the morgue.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I just don't understand what person that was at that
crime scene that thought that that was the right thing
to do.
Speaker 6 (00:57):
It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
What else is crazy? Of time it took for the
then forensic pathologists to turn around Jade Beasley's autopsy. It
took over a year to turn around the autopsy. Did
you ever get any reason as.
Speaker 6 (01:10):
To why I did not.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
At the end of August twenty twenty four, Bob and
I were back in Marian again, knocking on doors on
or around Songbird.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
Road, and I was looking out the window and then
the camera was videotaping him, and.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
He just kept knocking and knocking and waiting, and I
was an answer.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
So a shirtless guy and he looked like he was
under the influence of drugs or a mental illness.
Speaker 7 (01:34):
Yeah, he did.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
I have not been here in thirty years and more.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
They still have the video, really really wow. And guess
who now has the video?
Speaker 8 (01:51):
You?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yep, I'm Lauren bred Pacheco and this is Murder on
Songbird Road. Over the past ten episodes, you've heard the
(02:19):
many pieces that came together to form an unfathomable story
of heartbreak. You have listened to the devastating aftermath, families
torn apart, relationships destroyed, siblings separated, and a community fractured
by the shocking, controversial, and brutal murder of Jade Beasley.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
The biggest thing for me is that we were able
to be boots on the ground and investigate, to really
be able to kind of unpeel this onion. It just
had to be boots on the ground what we were
able to discover in this case, because remember we didn't
(03:00):
get the discovery in total. You know, we didn't have
that advantage, which again to me, speaks volumes, Lauren. I mean,
the fact that we were never provided with that always
tells me that they have something to hide. What is
the motivation of people not wanting to answer questions or
not providing information? It should make you suspicious, it certainly
(03:21):
does me. But us being able to get down there
to Marian as many times as that we did, and
go and knock on doors and talk to people face
to face and have that communication and that contact with them,
it's just a different thing. I mean, that's it's because
we care. It would be really easy to be.
Speaker 6 (03:40):
Just like guy I tried check that off the list.
Speaker 9 (03:43):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
It's that persistence that is what drives these things. The
persistence is what creates information for us that we can
use to potentially lead us to other information which can
potentially lead us to answers.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Bob Mada and I didn't take on covering this case
or Beverly's conviction without a great deal of forethought. We
also didn't enter this investigation with preconceived notions.
Speaker 6 (04:12):
I cannot say this enough.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
When you and I got into this in the beginning
of it, neither one of us had formed any kind
of opinion as to innocence or killed at all.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
I agree, But also I think that the fact that
we went in with no agenda right is what ultimately
motivated us, because if we were just literally convinced she
was innocent or convinced she was guilty, we would have given.
Speaker 6 (04:38):
Up totally, totally.
Speaker 10 (04:40):
There would be no.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Point right once you really land where we have landed now,
and that was not an easy place to land, because
what you're doing is you're opening yourself up for not
just criticism, but real animosity. Yeah, because people like to
(05:05):
believe if something was tried that it's done, it's finished.
You don't go back and muddy.
Speaker 5 (05:15):
Up the waters.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
And it's a difficult thing too, because we know that
we're dealing with very real lives and very real emotions,
very real grief and trauma. It has taken us well
over a year and a half to reach the point
we're at now.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
I think that some of the bad facts, as we
call them, that exists will still have people wondering because
some people can never get over those bad facts. Once
that gavel hits after twelve people have deemed somebody guilty,
it's really hard to erase it completely because the mindset
being that, all right, well, no matter how screwed up
(05:54):
the trial was, the fact is that they had enough
evidence to convince it. You're that she did it, despite
the fact that it went unchecked and unchallenged, which is
really the entire point of a trial, you know, to
vet the evidence from beginning to end. This thing was
just a railroad job in the sense of what was
allowed in and how it flowed and just all the
(06:17):
little things that happened. We can't do it justice in
terms of really articulating just how messed up this trial was.
Speaker 10 (06:26):
You know what, you just gave me the words.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
It was a railroad job that went off the rails.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
It was that bad.
Speaker 6 (06:34):
It was that bad.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So now, in terms of where we have landed, let's
just quickly address that. I do understand how people can
still have some reservations about what you and I have
referred to as bad facts, but it is undeniable that
Julia Beverly did not get a fair trial.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
Right. There's no Quoestan.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
We were told that what we now have video of
was an impossibility, that nobody's knocking on doors. We believed
it when we went down on the first trip. We
looked around and said, nobody has ring camera footage here.
This isn't the place where you get foot traffic, and
lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. And if they
(07:24):
had done a proper investigation, they would have discovered it
within two months of the murder. We have spent far
more time investigating this case than the four days that
had been spent when former Williamson County State's Attorney Brandon
Sonati announced Jade Beasley's death at the same press conference
(07:47):
in which he announced Julia Beverly's arrest, Although he spun
it this way.
Speaker 11 (07:52):
There's, as I said, you know, any given time, twenty
people working this, you know, like I said, working around
the clock. These things just don't happen overnight.
Speaker 9 (08:01):
You know, we have to you know, we have to.
Speaker 11 (08:04):
Follow the rules. You know, we have to you know,
conduct these investigations we have you know, under you know,
constitutional safeguards and constraints, and you know, ideally like it
to be wrapped up and tied up now, but unfortunately
I said it's not. It's still going to take some time.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
It took just four days for the investigation to conclude
it had gathered enough evidence to arrest twenty nine year
old Julia Elaine Beverly, though even that decision came with
a disclaimer pursue it.
Speaker 11 (08:35):
To Supreme Court rule, I must remind the public that
charges are not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed
innocent and is entitled to a fair trial, on which
the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
The state was tasked with the burden to prove Julia
Beverly's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Having processed everything you've
now heard, do you think they met that burden? Here
is the opinion of one former juror.
Speaker 9 (09:03):
After listening to the podcast and listening to you guys, saw,
I feel like I've definitely got a different perspective of
reasonable doubt.
Speaker 12 (09:14):
I kind of feel like because you're coming up.
Speaker 13 (09:17):
With different alternatives to what there supposedly was, and I
feel like it's a different ball game.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
In our previous episode, we shared audio from ring camera
footage of an unknown intruder banging on a door on
Songbird Road, just weeks after Jade Beasley's murder. Here is
that jurors reaction to seeing that video?
Speaker 12 (09:43):
So many thoughts, so many thoughts. I know some people
will be like, oh, but that was two months later. Okay,
it was two months later. But also it was only
two months later, and it was a man matching the
same description and stuff, the same body build that Julie games.
(10:04):
And if this man was clearly on drugs, you should
have been on drugs two months earlier trying to get
somebody else's house and stumbled upon Jays.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
If you had seen that video during the trial, do
you think that would have changed things in terms of
the jury's deliberation.
Speaker 12 (10:22):
I think it could have, guess. I think the fact
that the guy matching the same description was trying to
get into another house on the same road.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
So let me ask you this, had you been given
everything that was presented in the podcast, how would that
have impacted the deliberation in your opinion?
Speaker 12 (10:48):
Honestly, after listening to you and Bob, if the defense
could have presented a case like you guys, did I
feel like we would have had to have said, should
work with guilty.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Additionally, on April third of twenty twenty one, so less
than two months after the video of the unknown porch
intruder was taped on Songbird Road, there was a home
invasion in Marion committed by an intruder brandishing a knife.
A woman told police a man had come in through
an open window and threatened her with a knife. She
was injured, but the assailant fled the scene. At the time,
(11:25):
police were asking anyone who might have seen something or
who might have video surveillance in the area to contact
them with information, but that request was apparently contradicted when
a local crime watch page posted the incident and people
began weighing in with tips and speculations. Here's Renee High Tower.
Speaker 8 (11:45):
There was a post on the crime watch page run
by Becky Grimes, and there was a lot of people
commenting under there saying that there was a lot of
similarities in the incident with Jade.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
There was another intruder breaking into a home with.
Speaker 8 (12:06):
A knife, threatened to harm this woman actually did cut her,
I believe, and then got away, and they were striking similarities.
Then I started noticing the comments disappear and I sent
a direct message private message to Becky Grimes. I told
(12:28):
her some people are more comfortable speaking on her and
I said, I know the police are watching the page
because they get tips from social media all the time.
And she said, yeah, I know they're watching my page.
And she said they're the ones who told me to
take it down when it.
Speaker 14 (12:43):
Veers into Julie's case. And I said to police and
she said yes. And I was just in disbelief, shocked
that she just said that.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Becky Grimes, the woman who ran that Facebook page, has
subsequently passed away, but high Tower has shared the text
message exchange with her that backs Renee's version of the events.
High Tower then went to the Marian police station in person.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I went down to that police station and I was
telling the alswer, this sounds a lot like my daughter's.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
He first takes my information, he's got his pain going, telling.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Him it looks a lot like my dog. He put
his pen down and sat back in his chair and
just stared at me and didn't say another word. And
I said, well, I think it connects. You're not even
listening to me. You're not right now, I said, I
he was just going to quit listening your time and I left,
and I realized, this is never going to be any
kind of help from law enforcement whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Why wouldn't law enforcement want possible tips pertaining to Jade
Beasley's murder?
Speaker 3 (13:49):
What can you take away from it other than that's scary,
and it's scary for all the reasons that Flom was
talking about.
Speaker 6 (13:57):
That that other part of these.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Wrong convictions that people just tend to kind of forget about,
which is when they convict the wrong person, that the
actual killer is still roaming free, free to create havoc
and make mischief and kill people. Further, which, if you're
the community that's the taxpayer that's paying for these people's
(14:20):
salaries who have a job.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
To do, that would upset me and it should upset you.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
What are they afraid of?
Speaker 8 (14:28):
What?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Why would an investigation be afraid of people questioning the
investigation in the early stages of it, offering another option
that would have forced them to deviate from their tunnel vision.
Murder on Songbird Road will return after the break. Now
(14:59):
back to mur on Songbird Road. While the podcast was
in production, Julia Beverly from prison was also going through
trial transcripts, journaling and sharing thoughts with Renee. One recovered
memory she experienced was that the door to the bathroom
Jade was in was locked, and that Beverly spent time
(15:19):
finding pliers to unlock it. Here's Renee.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
I don't know if she had them in her hand
or where she put them. Don't know where they went to,
but she had to go to the laundry room to
get them out of this toolbox.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Okay, I'm just wondering after exactly, but that's important because
they could conceivably be in the crime scene photos. Sure enough,
when we finally received the inventory listing, those pliers were
mentioned and were found next to the bathroom a top
of laundry basket in the hall. Beverly also recalled seeing
(15:54):
a crime scene photo of the interior front door knob,
depicting a short light hair in embedded in what appears
to be blood. This is significant because of the hair's
length and color. Beverly's hair is dark, long and curly,
and Jade's hair fell past her shoulders. Here's Renee.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
She said there's a picture, and she remembers it now
that she's seen it in testimony. There's a hair in
the blood on the doorknob of the front door collected.
Possibly don't know, but no, for sure it wasn't tested.
A light colored hair and she said it may be
an inch and a half long at best. She said
(16:35):
you could see it plain as day.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
I wonder where that is.
Speaker 5 (16:39):
Yeah, yeah, So I was like, you've got to be
hidden me. There's a hair, Yes, there's a hair.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
And whose blood is on the doorknob?
Speaker 5 (16:49):
Jade's And that's the thing. There weren't very many samples.
I think it was twenty nine samples that were sent off.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Now was it the inside or the outside doorknob?
Speaker 6 (17:00):
The inside?
Speaker 5 (17:01):
And then she said that she could because she had
a storm door and then the inside door. And Julie
said she could swear in the pictures there was blood
on the storm door, on the inside of the storm door.
And they never tested it because they said, oh, it
looks like mud, never tested, never swapped, so it looks
(17:23):
like somebody brushed against it going out.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
I've reached out to Williamson County with a foyer request
for that photo, along with several others. My request was
denied and I shared the response with Bob. Does that
surprise you?
Speaker 3 (17:37):
No, I mean, at this point of course, not your
foyer request. Journey has been legendary. I mean you've gone
up to the age. I mean you've gotten some results,
but it's still just been like pulling teeth.
Speaker 6 (17:52):
It's been pulling teeth.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Yeah, Well, we get are the things that they think
are probably benign, the least problematic for them. They're the
things that they think can't hurt them. And we're still
finding shit. We're still finding just inconsistencies and things that
bug us, which only adds fuel to the fire in
terms of us wanting to see more that the concept
(18:15):
that there was an unknown hair on the inside of
the door that was covered in blood could only indicate
that it could have been left.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
How wasn't that tested.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I've also reached out to the Williamson County Sheriff and
the state's attorney for explanation as to why it took
over fourteen months and a court order to complete and
file Jade Beasley's autopsy report while they've ignored my request.
Former crime scene investigator Katie Hartman finds the turnaround time
highly unusual.
Speaker 10 (18:51):
Since you reached out to me, I talked to another
friend of mine who is a lieutenant with their homicide
that just to double check with him because he would
receive the final pathology reports on our homicide victims. And
I asked him what was the longest he ever had
to wait. He said, at the most three months, So
I thought it was an extraordinary amount of time to
(19:14):
get a final report from the pathologists. Do we know, Lauren,
was the pathology report done? It just wasn't released, so
we don't know.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
We just know that it wasn't in the discovery and
the court had to compel the completion of the report.
Speaker 10 (19:38):
And the reason why I asked that is it's dated,
as you know, twelve six, twenty twenty. These findings are
precise and they are final, so I wonder if it
was finished in twenty twenty, but it's been held up
for whatever reason or whatever mistake or whatever miscommunication for
(19:59):
two years.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
When the defense went to reference, it realized that it
hadn't been filed and so asked for it, and the
court had to compel to get the finished autopsy, which
again wasn't signed until February fourth, twenty twenty two. It
(20:23):
wasn't signed, it wasn't submitted, it wasn't filed, it wasn't completed.
Speaker 10 (20:29):
So it wasn't submitted to the state. No. I mean, so,
how can prosecution charge anybody with murder without a final
finding from a pathologist who did the autopsy? That's what
I want to know. Do you understand what I'm asked?
There's a lot in this autopsy that I cannot understand
how it was not submitted immediately and why things weren't
(20:54):
followed up on. There's a few things in here that
should have been.
Speaker 6 (20:56):
Followed up on.
Speaker 10 (20:57):
She had round contusions in the autopsy. She refers to
them as circular contusions. I think one's on her jaw.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
So implying that she was hit with an object.
Speaker 10 (21:11):
Possibly or somebody had a ring on or something like that.
You know, you got to look at all these things.
That's evidence. I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not ANME.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
ME is an abbreviation for medical examiner.
Speaker 10 (21:24):
I'm a cramecy investigators. So if I'm having a meeting
with a prosecutor about a murder case, I'm gonna ask
do you have everything you need? Do you have all
of my reports? Do you have the me's report. I mean,
I don't get why you can prosecute or have a
prosecution without an autopsy report. How's that allowed.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
We do not wish to sensationalize the autopsy's findings in
a graphic way. But in addition to the circular contusions,
there are other things mentioned in the autopsy that may
have benefitted preparation for both the defense and prosecution if
more thoroughly examined and or tested. For example, Jade's next
showed scratches and keeping with attempted strangulation, and there were
(22:10):
hairs found on her body.
Speaker 10 (22:12):
The autopsy is a part of the investigation. It's there
to answer calls death, manner of death, everything, what exactly
killed the person. I mean, these things are in here
about what exactly killed her and how, But there are
(22:34):
so many other facts that are raised, or injuries that
are raised that no one even questioned. We're doing things
that a defense attorney should have looked at and said,
well what about this and what about that? And while
a prosecutor didn't bring up some things, you know, you
(22:54):
can use some of these injuries to compare to Beverly's.
Does she work rings? What about a fair nail clippings?
We've got those, let's send them. I mean, I don't
understand any of it. I don't get it.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
You're preaching to the converted and speaking of nail scrapings.
While Jades were tested, there was something discovered but not
further tested, that was a bit buried during the trial.
Here is Beverly's defense attorney's closing statement from the transcript, verbatim.
The DNA could have told us something from the nails
(23:28):
if the state hadn't been so short sighted defendants. Exhibit
seven was shown to doctor Reich after he was asked
was it only X or only female DNA found under jade?
And he had to say, no, no, it's not. These
are jades nails. These are the white chromosomes. It might
(23:49):
have been a minuscule amount popping on two different areas,
but it's there. It just doesn't fit the state's theory.
I'm done with this now, Judge. Of course, we'll never know,
or we don't know what was on Julie's hands, what
was under Julie's nails. The state also decided to not
test it might not fit their story unknown male DNA
(24:15):
under Jdb's Lee's fingernails, which was downplayed at trial.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
If you're a person that's out there and you hear
of all the things that weren't done, that do exist
that should have been done in terms of evidence and
things that should have been tested, and you're still sitting
there thinking like, well, I don't care she did it.
I just pray that you never get into law enforcement.
I pray that you never get on the bench. I
(24:44):
pray more than anything that you never become a prosecutor,
because you have to look at everything. This is about
getting to the truth, no matter what the truth is.
This isn't about convictions, This isn't about wins.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
That's the con that you have with prosecutors.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
They are elected officials. The thing that they run their
campaigns on is convictions that in and of itself is
a conflict of interest with the truth because the truth
takes a back seat.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
We'll be right back with Murder on Songbird Road. Here
again is Murder on Songbird Road. We started this podcast
by asking whether Julia Beverly was truly guilty of the
murder for which she was convicted. Could a mother of
(25:38):
four with no history of violence have brutally stabbed an
eleven year old girl she had raised as her own
for nearly eight years, or was there a rush to judgment,
one that began on the day of the murder and
continues to this day. As we've dealt deeper into the case,
we've encountered individuals whose perspectives on Beverly's conviction have evolved.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
It's the life we're talking about, and it's Jade's life
as well. There's just too many fishy things. It's supposed
to be beyond a reasonable doubt, and in my opinion,
that's not what it was.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
That's Brittany, the woman who created a gofund me page
to help the Beasley family cover funeral expenses for Jade.
She also believed she was on the phone with Jade's grandmother, Sheila,
when Renee high Tower was desperately seeking information on the
day of the murder.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
We were on the phone and all of a sudden,
she received the news and she told me Jade committed suicide.
And I said, oh my gosh, what could she have
been going through to do that? And I think she
just said, I don't know. Then we got off the
(26:49):
phone because she got that call from Renee.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Here are her thoughts after having heard the issues we've
raised over the course of this podcast.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Looking back in hindsight, and I'm guilty of saying things
and being manipulated by the media, and the things people
were saying were god awful, and she hadn't had trial.
And this is a small community. People believe the media.
People believe, Oh, the police don't lie. Oh if the
(27:19):
court said she's guilty, they're right.
Speaker 12 (27:22):
You know.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
People just don't understand corruption. And people were saying the
meanest things. It shouldn't have been held in this jurisdiction,
I mean, death threats.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Even do you think, looking back that there was any
presumption of innocence for Beverly before trial?
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Absolutely not know that it should have never been held
around here. It should have been in a I don't know,
a different state. But there's no way that they could
have picked a juror that didn't.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Already see all that stuff.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
And then there was other things. But that made me
start having an open mind and started questioning things. Why
was her phone the only one dropped to in forensic
They said, this isn't CSI Miami. We can't test everything.
What this is a murder of an eleven year old?
What do you mean that's a screwed up thing to say.
(28:24):
I was convinced by the media because they made it
sound like she went to a dumpster as if she
was dumping a bunch of stuff or a huge bag
or something like that in a dumpster on like the
side of hawks.
Speaker 6 (28:43):
And then truth is she.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Was by a gas pump and threw away something very
small in one of the small trash cans by the
gas pumps. So that's manipulation by the media. And then
the number of Titans Jade was stabbed is apparently incorrect.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
It was not.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
I think one hundred and twenty is what was going around.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
In fact, Jade Beasley's autopsy report details fifteen specific stab
wounds to her neck and torso, with additional injuries identified
as scratches and marks consistent with defensive wounds. Yet the
inflated number continues to circulate in news reports, on social media,
and even in the courtroom. Special Prosecutor Jennifer Mudge reference
(29:33):
to this in her sentencing statement, as seen verbatim in
the transcripts. Sometimes on TV or in real life, prosecutors
pound on the table when someonould get shot or stabbed.
Not one, not two, not three, not four. If I
did that in this case, we'd be here till five
(29:55):
o'clock to night. So I'm not going to do that
and before senten and saying Julia Lane Beverly to fifty
five years in prison without the possibility of parole, Judge
Stephen Green said.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
This, Okay, I have to agree that this case was horrific.
You have an eleven year old child stabbed over a
hundred times. I believe the testimony was at least one
hundred and four times throughout a home.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
All right, So do you find it interesting that even
after she was convicted, you know, at the sentencing, why
perpetuate false information?
Speaker 3 (30:35):
I mean to drive it home for Mudge, as if
she didn't know that he was going to sensor to
the max or right around it.
Speaker 6 (30:43):
I guess as to her, that's why.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
As to the judge, I don't know for the judge
to be kind of adding in, chiming in beyond what
he's doing legally, and on top of that, to be
mistating what the evidence actually was and symptomatic of the
problem with this case and with this trial. You know,
(31:06):
it's what we've seen for the last year and change.
This was a one sided trial that ended in one
sided sentencing, with untruths being spoken to the very end
all the way through.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Danny Vaie was a local reporter during the time of
Jade's murder, and subsequently reported on the investigation, trial and
sentencing before accepting a job out of state. Here are
his thoughts on Beverly's case in light of the issues
we've raised.
Speaker 15 (31:35):
It's definitely taking turns that I didn't expect it to take,
especially with the treatment of Julia Beverly.
Speaker 9 (31:41):
I mean, I don't know if I have any words
to describe it.
Speaker 15 (31:44):
I mean, it was just so horrible the way she
was treated, especially when she had her baby. Nobody deserves that.
I don't think anybody even knew in the media that
she was pregnant by the time. The big takeaways is
just like it's a big lesson.
Speaker 16 (32:01):
Of what not to do in a murder investigation like.
Speaker 7 (32:05):
This, because there was a lot of things they didn't do,
and me at the time, not being as experienced in
these kinds of cases and covering these kinds of cases,
I didn't know what to ask.
Speaker 16 (32:16):
These are elected officials that people are entrusting to do
their due diligence, and they're going to hang on the
words of those elected officials. And it just sads to
kind of realize all these years later that we may
have been misled.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
What would you ideally like to see happen, knowing what
you now know and having had the proximity to it
as it unfolded.
Speaker 16 (32:44):
I definitely would like to see all the angles explored.
I definitely would like to see the people that were
on that witness list who weren't call called. I think
there was a lot of things that could have been
done differently with everything uncovered, and just it's easy.
Speaker 6 (33:01):
To hide stuff. It's so easy to hide the smallest thing.
Speaker 16 (33:06):
You know that to the media, to a wider audience
that it doesn't seem significant, but to the person's happening
to it's the world.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
We recognize that there are individuals who were and still
are deeply upset by our decision to revisit the conviction
of Julie Beverly. However, it's important to emphasize that justice
for Jade and justice for Julie are not mutually exclusive,
and even as this podcast comes to a close, we
remain steadfast in our commitment to pursuing both. Thanks to
(33:42):
the generosity of Jason Flahm, Julie Bevely's appeal is receiving
the attention and legal representation it rightfully deserves.
Speaker 17 (33:51):
Let's start with what I've heard unfold over the last
seven minutes of the last episode, which with the thing
was episode ten, which had me rewinding and going, excuse me,
I mean the fact that you guys found the video.
I don't have the right word. It reminds me of
(34:14):
the fact that we live in an era in investigative
journalism slash criminal justice in general, where we as podcasters
oftentimes have to do the work that should have been
done in the first place, and could have been much
(34:36):
more easily done by people who we pay with our
tax dollars.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
To do it.
Speaker 17 (34:40):
But you and Bob did it, and you found the
smoking gun. Crazy.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
It's kind of heartbreaking too, because if you think about
the fact that that couple they closed the day she
was arrested, They moved in the day after, and keep
in mind, that was four days after Jade easily was
brutally murdered next door, not down the street, not in
a neighboring town, in the adjacent property, and no official
(35:10):
anybody ever knocked on that door, and if they had,
that would have been the first thing on that couple's
minds when they had that ring camera footage.
Speaker 17 (35:20):
You can't help just feeling a sense of how it's
a combination of awe, gratitude and also discussed right the
idea that this was allowed to go on, It's still
going on, right She's still in prison right right now.
And I think about this often. Maybe you guys do too,
(35:42):
the idea that while we're sitting here, I'm in my
home studio talking to you and gonna go out the door,
and we're going about our lives. Meanwhile, Julie, if you
juxtapose what her reality is right now, right separated from
her kids, dealing with gleam deprivation of every kind, like
(36:03):
she is literally in hell right now, being deprived of
every single thing that a human being needs to survive
and thrive and be healthy.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
In an attempt to remedy the situation, and because of
Jason Flamm's generosity, Beverly is now being represented by Chicago
based defense attorney Kathleen Zelner's firm.
Speaker 18 (36:23):
My name is Joanna Klozawska. I am an associate for
Miss Kathleen Zelner. You know, the basic facts of the
case that there was a third party male DNA left
under the victim's fingernails, really sparked our interests from the beginning. Currently,
(36:44):
the briefs on appeal have both been submitted from both sides.
We filed the brief on appeal on Beverly's behalf in
July of twenty twenty four, and then the state filed
its brief in Sember of twenty twenty four. We filed
a reply brief in October of twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
All of this leading up to both sides arguing the
case in front of a panel of judges in February
of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 18 (37:15):
The oral argument was held just last Friday, February twenty first,
before three justices of the Fifth District Appellate Court. And
so now we are just waiting on a written opinion,
which could take several.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Months, and we will update you as soon as they
reach a verdict. But here's Bob's take on the path ahead.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Well, best case scenario is that the appellate court grants
her a new trial and kicks it back down. And
this is best case scenario, And that the State's attorney's
office decides not to proceed on it again, that's best
case scenario. Next best case scenario is that they do
decide to proceed on it again, all the corrections are
(37:59):
made with respect to what's coming in, what's staying out
in terms of evidence, and she goes to trial.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
But the brutal reality is there is no scenario in
which Julie Beverly finds out next week she's walking out
a free woman. No, no, As we bring this podcast
to a clothes at least for now, we leave you
with these questions. Do you believe Julia Beverly is guilty
(38:29):
of murder? Do you believe she had the presumption of innocence?
Do you believe she received a fair trial? Do you
believe the state proved her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?
Or do you think there was a rush to judgment
one that began the day of the murder and continues
to this day.
Speaker 6 (38:47):
It's never gotten better.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
There was never a point where either of us were like, oh, well,
there we go.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
The ship was righted. And because it never happened.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
Even if you believe she's guilty, you cannot deny that
it was not a fair trial, and for that reason alone,
she deserves a proper day in court.
Speaker 12 (39:07):
One of my.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Favorite quotes is that justice will not be served until
those who are unaffected or as outraged as those who
are a lot of people have reached out to us
outraged when they have put together the pieces of what
went into Beverly's conviction. Where do you suggest they vent
(39:30):
that outrage right now?
Speaker 3 (39:33):
The most effective tools social media. Frankly, between Reddit, Twitter
or x Facebook pages Facebook groups, you can have a
loud voice, and advocacy comes in many different forms. Advocacy
is about using your voice. Advocacy is about using your
(39:55):
mind and writing letters or emails, whatever the case may be,
whatever you have to make your voice heard somehow it
can affect change.
Speaker 6 (40:03):
It really can, It really can.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
And in Illinois, the good news is that the Attorney
General has implemented a conviction Integrity Unit. We will link
to that information as well as information to contact the
Governor of Illinois. Bob and I, along with our production team,
(40:30):
deeply appreciate you and everyone else who has taken the
time to listen to this investigation. We also want to
extend our heartfelt thanks to the many individuals who have
contributed their thoughts, expertise, and voices to this podcast. A
very special thank you goes out to innocence activists Jason
Flomm and his wife, Kalia Ali, whose remarkable empathy, compassion,
(40:54):
and generosity have paved a path forward for Julia Beverly,
a journey we will continue to update as it infolds, because,
as British Statesman Benjamin Disraeli put it, justice is truth
in action. Murder on Songbird Road is a production of
(41:20):
iHeart Podcasts. Our executive producers are Taylor Chaqoine and Lauren
Bright Pacheco. Research writing and hosting by Lauren Bright Pacheco.
Investigative reporting by Bob Matta and Lauren Bite Pacheco. Editing,
sound design and original music by Evan Tyer and Taylor Chaqoine.
Additional music by Asher Kurtz. Archival elements courtesy of wsil
(41:43):
News three. Please like, subscribe, and leave us a review.
Wherever you're listening. You can follow me on all platforms
at Lauren Bright Pacheco and email the show with thought,
suggestions or tips at Investigating Murder at iHeartMedia dot com.
(42:15):
For more podcasts from Bob Mada, check out Defense Diaries,
and for more podcasts from iHeart Podcasts, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get the stories that matter
to you. Thanks for listening,
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