January 15, 2024 • 44 mins
25-year-old Shadow McClaine was 39 days from retiring from the US Army. She’d begun her service in 2011 and, now, her contract was up. She was thrilled to go back home, enroll in college, and try her hand at a different career. In 2015, Shadow alleged that her ex-husband, an Army sergeant, had sexually assaulted her. After that, Shadow’s experience in the military rapidly deteriorated. As a result, she was eager to start this new path, but she would never get the chance. On the evening of September 2nd of 2016, Shadow sent her mother one final text at 7:07 p.m. She was never seen alive again.
Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank and Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder & Erica Kelley
Sources: https://southernfriedtruecrime.com/shadow-mcclaine
This episode is brought to you by:
Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank and Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder & Erica Kelley
Sources: https://southernfriedtruecrime.com/shadow-mcclaine
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- This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. The New Year is the best time to reflect the progress you’ve made and make new resolutions that will stick. Go to BetterHelp.com/SOUTHERN for 10% off your first month.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Southern fried True crime covers cases thatare not suitable for young listeners, and
there may also be some explicit languageused. Listener discretion is advised in Fort
Campbell, which is located astride theTennessee Kentucky border. Friday, September second,
twenty sixteen was a beautiful evening aroundseventy five degrees, clear, cloudless
(00:29):
skies. The wind, which wasa bit nippy earlier in the day,
died down. It would have beena great night for an outdoor party or
bonfire, or to take a strollwhere you can breathe in the crisp fall
air. The possibilities were endless,especially for a young twenty something year old
(00:49):
woman with her whole life ahead ofher. So when twenty five year old
PFC Shadow McLane got into a carwith her ex husband Jamal, we're not
sure what she was thinking. Tosay they had a complicated history would be
putting it mildly? Would she willinglygo with him? Shadow in Jamal's relationship
(01:11):
had fallen apart in a really badway. But no matter what Shadow's intentions
were for that evening, her exhusbands were not the same. Jamal thought
Shadow was in his way that shewas the one obstacle blocking him from having
a fulfilling career and a well traveledlife, and that night he was going
(01:34):
to do something about it. Hehad been planning it for months, and
he was finally ready to execute hisvision. Welcome to episode two oh seven,
The Murder of Shadow McLain. ShadowBernice Willis mclin was born on January
(01:57):
two, nineteen ninety one, toher mother, London Weggersen, and her
father, Jesse Willis, in Roseville, California. Shadow had one sister who
was two years older than her,and two brothers who were both about sixteen
years younger than her. Shadow evidentlysometimes used the name Bernice Willis. I'm
not sure exactly why, but I'llexplain how. We know that later.
(02:23):
Shadow and her brothers were especially close. Those who knew her said she adored
them. I have to wonder ifshe might have played an important role in
raising her younger brothers, considering theirsixteen year age gap. Throughout her life,
Shadow was a great big sister toher little brothers. She was patient,
smart, and creative. Plus sheloved the outdoors. She loved spending
(02:46):
the day hiking or fishing with herdad, and she also loved to read
and was into rollerblading. Shadow grewup in Uba City, California. Her
parents were both from the area.Uba City is a medium sized city of
approximately seventy thousand people. It's aboutforty miles north of Sacramento, and honestly
(03:06):
you might have heard about it before. During my research, I was shocked
to see how much had happened there. I'll give you the highlight reel.
In December of nineteen fifty five,Uba City experienced the worst flood to ever
hit California. Over the course ofnine days, twenty inches of rain fell
into Uba City. For reference,two inches of rainfall can cause a flash
(03:29):
flood. By the end of thedownpour, three hundred and thirty eight people
were injured, three hundred and thirtyfive people were hospitalized, and eighty had
died. Then, in March ofnineteen sixty one, a plane crashed in
Yuba City. It was a BoeingB fifty two Strata fortress carrying two thermonucular
weapons. The bombs were destroyed onimpact and luckily did not explode, so
(03:54):
no radioactive material was released, thankgod. After that, in May of
nineteen seventy six, a school buscarrying Yuba City High School's choir drove off
the edge of an exit ramp.They fell twenty eight feet and crashed.
Twenty seven students and one adult died. More than twenty others were injured.
(04:15):
Of course, this isn't a historylesson on Yuba City. I'll let you
google all the other crazy things thathave happened there yourself. I just had
to share some of the more infamousincidents with you. When researching Shadow's case,
I was fascinated that her hometown wasthe site of so much disaster.
Shadow herself was probably aware of theseevents in Yuba City. None of them
(04:39):
happened in her lifetime, but shedid go to Ubi City High School.
The school held memorials for the crashvictims for a long time. I found
record of one remembrance ceremony event aslate as twenty sixteen. Beyond Yuba City's
pension for bad luck, it's alsoknown for being home to the Bill Air
Force Base. Maybe the military presencein Yuba City had a profound impact on
(05:02):
Shadow, because after graduating from UbaCity High in two thousand and nine and
a brief stint at Yuba College,studying art history. She joined the U.
S Army in September of twenty eleven. Upon entering the Army, Shadow
was trained as an air traffic controller. Throughout her career with the US military,
(05:25):
she was stationed in South Korea anddeployed to Afghanistan. Afterward, she
was stationed at Fort Campbell in theone hundred first Airborne Division. The Fort
Campbell Army Installations traddles the border betweentwo states, Kentucky and Tennessee. Fort
Campbell sits on over one hundred thousandacres or one hundred and sixty square miles,
(05:46):
and is more than seven times thesize of Manhattan. Today, it
is home to about twenty seven thousandactive duty soldiers and with about fifty thousand
of their family members. It hasits own Starbucks, Bowling Alley, and
fast food joints, and is prettymuch a small city unto itself. The
base is home to three major combatunits, the fifth Special Forces Group,
(06:09):
the one hundred and sixtieth Special OperationsAviation Regiment, and of course, the
Screaming Eagles, the renowned one hundredand first Airborne Division. As I said,
the base sits on the border ofTennessee and Kentucky, closest to Hopkinsville
and Clarksville in terms of larger cities, but close enough in proximity to Nashville,
(06:30):
where some of this story takes place. After five years of military service,
twenty five year old Private first ClassShadow MacLean was ready for a new
adventure. She was set to retireon October eleventh, twenty sixteen. She
had shared with her family that shewas excited for the change. She was
going to return to Yuba City,enroll in college, and pursue a career
(06:55):
in either photography or writing. Accordingto her mother, Shadow had truly enjoyed
her time in the army at first, but her appreciation for the Army waned
after certain people entered her life.According to her mother's court testimony, I'm
going to pause now for a shortcommercial break. One of those certain people
(07:21):
Shadow's mother was alluding to was likelyher ex husband, Jamal Jamal Williams mc
cray was born in nineteen ninety two. He spent some of his childhood with
his father, Kenneth, but atage six, Jamal was sent to live
with his mother in Florida. Accordingto Kenneth's court testimony, Jamal's mother was
(07:41):
abusive. She would harshly and unfairlydiscipline Jamal throughout his earliest years. Jamal's
father believed that his mother inflicted thisabuse in part due to his son's small
stature. Kenneth attributed Jamal's slim frameto being born prematurely, and he claimed
(08:01):
that Jamal was a quiet kid dueto his skinny body and his mother's abuse.
As he got older, Jamal aspiredto be a pilot, but when
that didn't work out, he turnedto the US Army, and that's how
Jamal met Shadow. In the earlytwenty tens, they were in the one
hundred Forced Airborne together at Fort Campbell. He was a sergeant, she was
(08:24):
a private first class. By theend of September twenty fourteen, twenty two
year old Jamal and twenty three yearold Shadow were married, which was a
big surprise to their families. Fora while, Jamal's father didn't even know
he was married, and Shadow's mother, London, had never even met Jamal.
(08:46):
This was strange for London since sheand Shadow were incredibly close despite living
several states apart. The mother anddaughter communicated in some way every single day.
To not meet your daughter's husband beforethey were married. I bet that
was a shock. Now, ifyou're familiar with the military, you know
(09:07):
marriages can happen fast between military spousalbenefits and the possibility of deployment and the
stress of literally putting your life onthe line for your country. The culture
of let's do it now versus latermakes a lot of sense, and it
works out for many people, butit did not work out for Shadow and
(09:28):
Jamal. Shortly after their marriage began, they experienced major issues. Shadow's mother
characterized the relationship as toxic, withvicious fighting that often turned physical, and
five to six months later, inearly twenty fifteen, they were divorced.
According to Shadow's own posts on hersocial media accounts, Jamal had cheated on
(09:52):
her multiple times. Shadow's mom,London, said her daughter would find condoms
in his clothing along with the othersigns of infidelity. Shadow alleged that Jamal
had slept with a woman who waitedtables at Hooter's. That woman, named
Tiffany, gave interviews to the media. She claimed that Shadow was stalking her
(10:13):
and had allegedly sent harassing messages toher on social media. She also said
that Shadow had the wrong Tiffany,claiming that there were like eight Tiffany's working
at Hooters at the time. Shealso said Shadow zeroed in on her after
she found a receipt in Jamal's pocketfrom the restaurant with the server's name Tiffany
printed on it. However, Shadowclaimed that some or all of these harassing
(10:39):
comments did not come from her.She believed that Jamal and others were making
fake accounts in her name that waythey could stage a stalking scenario, but
one direct message apologizing to Tiffany forthe comments did come from a Facebook page
called Shadow McLean Photography. By theend of it all, Shadow was arrested
(11:01):
twice for stalking charges. Then laterin twenty fifteen, Shadow alleged that Jamal
had raped her. As a result, the military opened an investigation into Jamal.
At one point Shadow rescinded her allegation, but later she said it was
true Jamal had raped her, andshe told officers that Jamal had intimidated her
(11:28):
into recanting the report of sexual assault. The military investigation for these rape allegations
stopped Sergeant Jamal Williams McCrae from beingtransferred to South Korea, which was what
he wanted. However, Shadow's familyhas frequently asserted on social media that the
military did not do enough to investigateher claims. On an Instagram post from
(11:52):
November nineteenth, twenty fifteen, Shadowwrote, after being forced into a divorce
by by narcissistic ex husband who gotme arrested to get away with his infidelity
with a Hooter's girl and then witha cop out of Springfield he met on
match dot com while he was fuckingthe Hooters girl for two months and me
at the same time during the divorceprocess, I am focusing on getting myself
(12:16):
back into shape now. Never trusta man who cheats, and Carmel will
give him a swift kick in theass soon when he loses his job and
goes to prison. Her public Pinterestprofile read x cheated on me with a
cop and got away with many morecrimes against me. His loss for losing
my loyalty. Now he has Hootersbitches lying to police for him. They
(12:39):
will end up going to jail soon. Rest assured, I'm at a better
place in my life now and foundsomeone worth my time and love. In
May twenty sixteen, Shadow had toldthe authorities that someone had cut her vehicle's
brake lines. She suspected whoever didit was somehow connected to Jamal. In
an interview with her friend Tristan Harding, there was a photo of what appeared
(13:03):
to be her breaks shown in thenews clip. However, it appears there
were questions about whether or not shadowsbreak lines had actually been cut. According
to Shadow's mother, these doubts werecast in an effort to shove the incident
under the rug By military and authorities. Her mother, London, recalled how
tumultuous Shadow's relationship with Jamal was.She realized that her daughter had made some
(13:28):
mistakes, though she did not elaborateon what she did. I suspect they
were related to Shadow, perhaps stalkingJamal's girlfriends. London told Dateline, She's
not totally innocent in all this,but it's not all her either, and
she's been trying to clean herself fromit. The people posting don't have all
(13:50):
the facts and are trying to paintmy daughter as a villain regardless. By
September of twenty sixteen, it appearedthat Shadow had moved on from Jamal.
She was seeing someone new, justas her pint's profile alluded to and her
mother confirmed, and she was abouta month away from getting out of the
military and returning home. A cleanstart was just on the horizon, but
(14:15):
it would always stay out of reach. At seven oh seven pm on Friday,
September second, twenty sixteen, Shadowtexted her mother that she was driving.
At this day and time. Shewas supposed to be dog sitting at
a friend's house, but no oneever saw her alive again. I'm going
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on Saturday, September three, Shadow'smother, London, was worried.
(17:18):
Shadow hadn't touched base the night before, and she hadn't texted or called on
Saturday either. By the next day, London was scared and nervous. In
interviews, she said she had hopedeverything was fine, but she suspected something
awful had happened. Monday, whichwas Labor Day, came and went without
any word from Shadow. London toldthe Huffington Post quote, we are always
(17:44):
in communication, so I knew somethingwas terribly wrong. This just wasn't like
her. Shadow was also supposed tobe dog sitting for her friend Tristan over
a Labor Day weekend, but nevershowed up. London contacted officials at Fort
Campbell on Tuesday, September sixth.She let them know that she hadn't heard
from Shadow. The officials verified thatShadow had not reported for active duty on
(18:08):
that day. Also, on thatday, she was supposed to go to
a court appearance related to her rapeallegation, but she didn't show up right
away. London believed something had happenedto Shadow. Her daughter was missing,
not just ignoring calls and texts,So London traveled from her home in North
(18:29):
Carolina to Kentucky. She was thereby September eighth. Shadow's father, who
lived in California, also came Now, family, friends, and law enforcement
officers were searching for Shadow. Later, the US Army Criminal Investigation Division and
the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation joined forcesfor Shadow's case, and according to USA
(18:52):
Today, these agencies worked closely withshadows family. Supporters had also started a
GoFundMe to help costs for shadows family. People donated more than eleven thousand dollars,
and the National Veterans Search and RecoveryProgram was also instrumental in providing resources
to shadows family. On Monday,September twelfth, volunteers and investigative officials looked
(19:18):
for Shadow in the Dunbar Cave StatePark. They didn't find her or any
evidence. Around this same time,Shadow's other family members confirmed that Shadow hadn't
reached out by text or calls,and her phone was either dead or turned
off. Missing Persons, posters andflyers were distributed with shadows details, but
(19:41):
also revealed she had also gone byBernice Willis her middle name and maiden name.
Perhaps she was shedding memories of hermarried name or even avoiding the notoriety
of her legal name, considering thelegal trouble she had recently been in.
On Tuesdays at Timber thirteenth, morethan a week after Shadow went missing,
(20:03):
her car was found. She drovea silver Tudor Hyundai Elantra with California tags,
and it was recovered in a parkinglot in Nashville, Tennessee. That's
about an hour's drive away from FortCampbell. According to London's interviews with True
Crime Daily, Shadow's car was gettingrepeatedly ticketed. The authorities eventually put a
(20:25):
boot on it, and that's whypolice ran the plate. London explained that
she couldn't imagine why Shadow would haveleft her vehicle in the specific area of
Nashville. There just wasn't anything nearbyrelated to Shadow's daily life. London believed
that her daughter's car was left thereby someone else. Days after Shadow's car
(20:47):
was discovered, a candlelight vigil washeld in her honor. It was held
in front of the Montgomery County Courthousein Clarksville, Tennessee. Many of Shadow's
friends, family, and supporters attended, including the mayor of Clarksville at the
time, Kim McMillan. McMillan saidthe following about Shadow's mother, It is
(21:07):
something I believe that no parents shouldhave to go through, and as mayor
of this city, I wanted herto know that clarks Full stands behind her,
fills with her, and wants herto know that we are there for
her. On Thursday October sixth,twenty sixteen, twenty four year old Jamal
Williams McCray, shadow's ex husband,was held in the Montgomery County Jail in
(21:30):
Clarksville on out of county warrants,reported the Leaf Chronicle. The warrants were
officially unrelated to Shadow's case, butunofficially many suspected Jamal's current charges were a
placeholder, at least until more evidenceabout Shadow's case came to light. By
Thursday, October twenty seventh, twentysixteen, seven weeks after Shadow vanished,
(21:53):
authorities announced that two men were takeninto custody in relation to shadows disappear pearants.
These men were booked into the MontgomeryCounty Jail. At the time of
their booking, the US Army wouldnot release the men's names or charges.
They only stated that the two soldiersare currently being held as persons of interest.
(22:15):
However, Shadow's mother, London,unofficially confirmed that one of the men
was Jamal. A month later,on Friday, November twenty fifth, the
government revealed more details. They explainedthat two soldiers with the one hundred first
Airborne Division faced conspiracy, kidnapping,and murder charges related to the slaying of
(22:37):
Private First Class Shadow MacLean. Thesecharges came under the Uniform Code of Military
Justice, and these two previously unnamedmen were Jamal, Williams McCrae and a
man named Charles Robinson. Charles Robinsonthird was born in Springfield, Illinois,
but spent much of his childhood andCharlotte, North Caroline. According to Charles,
(23:03):
he was raised in a rough environment. He claimed that his father was
jailled for domestic violence and that hisfather once stabbed a man fifteen times with
a screwdriver. He also claimed hewas sexually assaulted by a family friend.
By twenty sixteen, Charles was marriedand a father to a young son,
(23:23):
and an army specialist in the onehundred first Airborne Division with Jamal in Shadow.
However, Charles had never met Shadow. He had only ever heard of
her through her ex husband, Jamaal. Charles would later admit he didn't even
know Shadow's name. At the timeof Jamal and Charles's arrest in late November,
(23:45):
Shadow's mother asked the public to provideinformation pertaining to Shadow's whereabouts. She
said, we just need to findher. I'm missing her. I have
so many questions. The waiting isthe hardest part. I'm going to pause
now for a short commercial break.The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation discovered twenty five
(24:12):
year old Shadow McLean's skeletal remains onMonday, January twenty third, twenty seventeen.
They were located on I twenty fouroff Exit nineteen in Robertson County.
Some news reports say a passerby foundShadow's body, but it's possible Charles or
his wife, who becomes important,later told authorities where to find her.
(24:37):
She was positively identified by dental records. After the investigators recovered Shadow's body,
her father told reporters quote, Ido know now where my daughter is at.
I get to take her home.Shadows remains were flown to California as
a soldier. Her casket was shroudedin the American flag and the traditional four
(25:00):
normal military procession as they transported Shadowto the airport. A motorcycle group known
to honor deceized soldiers and veterans calledthe Patriot Guard Riders, also escorted Shadow
to the plane. Major General AndrewP. Poppas commanding General for the one
hundred first Airborne Division, said,all of us here at Fort Campbell are
(25:22):
saddened by the news, and ourthoughts and prayers are with the family.
At this time. Shadow's mother,London, told Fox forty News that the
U. S. Army hadn't respectedShadow since she had made the initial rape
allegation against Jamal. Now, Londonfelt Shadow was getting the respect she deserved
at noon on February eleven. Shadow'smemorial service was held at the Crossroads Community
(25:48):
Church in Yuba City in lieu offlowers. Shadow's family requested that mourners donate
to the National Headquarters for Disabled AmericanVeterans. She was buried in the Yuba
City Cemetery. At this time,Shadow's cause of death was still unknown.
After finding her body, court proceedingscame next, and Shadow's family was ready
(26:12):
for a fight. According to TheLeaf Chronicle, Shadow's father said, we
are going to make everyone who hadanything to do with this pay for what
happened to my daughter. We arecoming for you. You will not get
away with this. London told reporters, I want justice. Eye for an
eye, blood for blood. Shadow'sfamily also proclaimed that they would have supporters
(26:37):
at every single court date around thistime. In February of twenty seventeen,
both Jamal and Charles were in pretrial confinement awaiting their impending court martial a
few months later in April of twentyseventeen, the prosecutors had established a strong
circumstantial case against Jamal and Charles.Believed that the two men killed Shadow to
(27:02):
silence her rape allegations against Jamal.One prosecutor said in the preliminary hearing closing
arguments, we don't have an eyewitness, we don't have a manner of
death. Yet what we have iscircumstantial evidence, and a lot of it.
And this circumstantial evidence primarily came fromCharles's wife, Jade Robinson. Jade
(27:23):
told the authorities that she had overheardCharles and Jamal. They were whispering together
on her and Charles's porch. Sheheard them discuss Exit nineteen and getting rid
of a car. Both details weredirectly related to Shadow's case, since her
body was found at Exit nineteen andher car was abandoned in Nashville. According
(27:45):
to Jade Robinson's interviews with the authorities, on the night Shadow vanished, Charles
told his wife he was going torave. He wore dark clothing and a
face mask. The next day,Jade watched Charles clean his trud with bleach
and a mob She also claimed thatCharles said, if you're asked, say
I was home all night. Shealso said she heard him ask a neighbor
(28:10):
to borrow a pressure washer. Duringpreliminary hearings, it was revealed that Jamal
had claimed that he was at homeduring the time and date of Shadow's murder,
but this did not align with whatJamal's girlfriend told detectives. She said
that Jamal told her he was inNashville. When she asked, why are
you in Nashville, Jamal explained thathe was looking for Shadow, she was
(28:36):
missing. However, at the timethat Jamal said this, it was still
Labor Day weekend of twenty sixteen.Shadow had not been reported missing yet.
But at the Nashville parking lot whereShadow's car was found, security camera footage
showed a black male leaving Shadow's car, and a search of Jamal's car turned
(28:56):
up a Duffel bag with clothing thatmatched those worn on the man in the
video. That's why he was inNashville. At these preliminary hearings, Jamal
and Charles's defense council asserted that theprosecution was relying on unreliable witnesses. They
argued that these accusations were baseless,and they requested that the death penalty not
(29:18):
be considered for Charles and Jamal's cases. Jamal's attorneys said that the sexual assault
allegation was the result of their acrimoniousdivorce. He also said that the couple
engaged in a BDSM lifestyle, whichexplained the text messages found about physical acts
that could be seen as abuse.According to military prosecutors, the sexual assault
(29:45):
investigation remained open over the next severalmonths before Shadow disappeared in September twenty sixteen.
Prosecutors argued that Jamal wanted the militaryassignment in Korea, but could not
move on with his career because thesexual assault allegation remained unresolved, and also
that he was angered by Shadow's continuedpresence in his life, as she had
(30:07):
been accused of stalking one of hisgirlfriends. After these pre trial hearings,
the commanding officer's report directed that themen be bound over for trial. On
Friday, August eleventh, twenty seventeen, Charles Robinson the Third began his court
martial proceedings in Fort Campbell. Atfirst, he didn't enter a plea,
(30:33):
and he had his case heard bya U. S. Army judge rather
than a jury. A little overa month later, on September twenty eighth,
twenty seventeen, Charles suddenly accepted aplea deal and pled guilty to premeditated
murder, conspiracy to commit murder andobstruction of justice, and he agreed to
provide honest testimony during Jamal's court proceedingsin exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
(31:00):
I'm going to pause now for afinal commercial break. Charles admitted to his
role in killing Shadow McLean, andhe explained exactly what happened. According to
his story, Jamal had approached himabout killing Shadow beginning on June first of
(31:22):
twenty sixteen, four months before shewent missing. Apparently, Jamal had already
made other attempts to kill Shadow onhis own, but he had failed the
first time he tried to poison Shadow. Then he had attempted to strangle her.
Now the story of her cut brakelines doesn't seem so paranoid or unlikely.
(31:45):
On August fifteenth of twenty sixteen,Jamal went to Charles's home in Fort
Campbell. This is likely when Charles'swife, Jade overheard the two men talking.
Jamal and Charles hammered out the detailsof Shadow's murder, and Jamal agreed
to pay ten thousand dollars to Charlesfor him to do the actual crime.
(32:05):
Later on, Charles said that heonly ever received two hundred dollars of that
payment, The two men decided thatShadow's murder had to happen before Labor Day.
They knew that Shadow had a courthearing regarding her rape allegations against Jamal
on Tuesday, September sixth. Accordingto Charles, his wife Jade Robinson was
(32:27):
involved in these discussions. She hadnot overheard anything, as she had claimed
to the authorities, she was aparticipant according to her husband. However,
it's important to note that Jade hasnever been charged with anything related to Shadow's
murder. As Charles, Jamal,and perhaps Jade continued to plot Shadow's murder,
(32:47):
Charles proposed that they used Jamal's gunto kill her. However, Jade
thought this was a bad idea.She suggested using a knife or a box
cutter instead. Initially, the ideawas to kill Shadow at Exit twenty four
on I twenty four, but onthe evening of Friday, September second,
there was a party happening at thislocation too many people were nearby, so
(33:13):
they changed the murder site to Exiteleven. Then Jamal approached Shadow. He
told her he had a scavenger huntplanned for her. They went to Exit
eleven together and began digging a holein a field, presumably to find something
related to the scavenger hunt. Atthis time. It was early in the
morning on September third, and asthey were digging, Charles, whom Shadow
(33:38):
had not met, approached them.He pretended to own the land where Jamal
and Shadow were digging. He actedupset at their trespassing. Charles ordered Jamal
and Shadow to their knees. Hesaid he was going to search them and
hold them until the police could arrive. Next, Charles searched Jamal. He
(33:59):
found the box cutter that they hadpreviously planted on him. Then Charles went
to Shadow to search her, andinstead he killed her with the box cutter
and a knife. He slashed herthroat and stabbed her in the chest.
Afterward, he broke her neck toassure that she was dead. Then the
(34:21):
two men put Shadow's body into Charles'spickup truck and Jamal poured ammonia on her
to hide the evidence. He alsopoured ammonia on the grassy area where she
had been killed. Then they leftShadow's body in a field on Exit nineteen
near Maxie Road. After that,Charles drove Jamal to Shadow's car and Jamal
(34:43):
disposed of the car in Nashville,where it was later found. Jamal was
also in charge of getting rid ofthe bloody clothing and boots. Meanwhile,
Charles got rid of the knife andthe box cutter. He threw the murder
weapons in the Cumberland River. Theywere later found by investigators. According to
Charles, after killing Shadow, hethen went home and told his wife what
(35:07):
happened. He testified, I informedmy wife where we had placed the body
and what had happened, and thenwe had sex. Shortly after, Charles
washed his truck bed with acetone.His goal was to remove both Shadow's blood
and the paint. Then he repaintedhis truck bed. During Charles's sentencing,
(35:30):
he apologized to Shadow's family. Hesaid, I think about your daughter every
day. If someone killed my son, I would be a broken man.
I deserve to be punished. Iwant to set a better example for my
son than my father was to me. Shadow didn't deserve to be hurt.
Shadow never hurt me. His wordswere related to him requesting a more lenient
(35:53):
sentence, and in the end hegot it. He was sentenced to twenty
five years in military prison. Hewas also credited with five hundred and fifty
eight days of time served, whichwas two hundred more days than he had
actually served. Apparently, the USmilitary had made some administrative errors and Charles's
(36:14):
incarceration and this was their gesture tomake up for it. But one was
that they would have a superior visithim once every two weeks, and they
didn't. Charles was also demoted anddishonorably discharged. The prosecution wanted a harsher
sentence. One lawyer said the followingof Charles. This is not a man
(36:35):
who committed an act of passion.This is someone who said I'll kill her
for ten thousand dollars. He didn'teven know her name. The information that
Charles provided was huge for the case. It was the catalyst that caused more
charges to be brought against Jamal.In March of twenty eighteen, Jamal was
(36:57):
charged with multiple conspiracy offenses, obstructionof justice, sexual assault, attempted murder,
solicitation for murder, and premeditated murder. At this point, newspapers reported
that two women were suspected to beinvolved in Shadow's death. It saved to
assume one of those women was Charles'swife, Jade, whom we have discussed
(37:20):
and the other was likely Jamal's girlfriend, though that is unconfirmed. Jamal claimed
the second woman knew of the crime, gave him advice on it, and
helped him clean Shadow's items out ofhis apartment, but both women denied any
involvement and were not charged. Asprosecutors geared up for Jamal's trial, they
decided to seek the death penalty.Jamal's defense counsel asserted that if Charles hadn't
(37:45):
faced the possibility of death, thenneither should Jamal, but that did not
stand. On April sixth, itwas determined that Jamal Williams McCray would face
the death penalty. In early Januaryof twenty nineteen, Jamal requested that his
trial be moved to a different countydue to rampant pre chrill publicity. His
(38:08):
lawyers also requested that Shadow's family belimited in their remarks if they were allowed
to provide victim impact statements. OnWednesday, February twenty seventh, twenty nineteen,
Jamal appeared in court. It wasassumed that he would continue making his
case for those requests I just mentioned, but in a shocking twist, Jamal
(38:31):
admitted to everything he confessed to orchestratingShadow's murder and assisting in hiding her body.
He pled guilty to two counts ofconspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to
commit murder, and conspiracy to obstructjustice. Shadow's family and friends were at
this hearing. Many wore T shirtsbearing the words Shadow's Army. After the
(38:54):
hearing, Shadow's mother, London,said, we are just glad we are
getting justice finally. However, therewere portions of Jamal's plea that upset Shadow's
family, namely how Jamal's version ofevents differed from Charles's. Jamal claimed that
he and Shadow were not on ascavenger hunt. Instead, they were planning
(39:17):
the murder of Jamal's current girlfriend,who Jamal claimed Shadow wanted dead. According
to Jamal, he and Shadow spentthat Friday, September second working out the
details, and that night they werescoping out potential places where they could kill
his girlfriend and hide her body.That's what they were doing when Charles,
(39:38):
pretending to be the landowner, approachedthem. When this information was shared during
Jamal's hearing, Shadow's family was outraged, and understandably so, it's important to
emphasize that there is no evidence thatShadow was trying to kill Jamal's girlfriend.
(39:58):
Also, Jamal claimed that he wasn'tpresent during Shadow's murder. He said he
had returned to his truck, leavingCharles in Shadow alone together. Then Charles
approached him and said it's done.It's unclear which version of events is more
true. Regardless, the result wasthe same. They killed Shadow, there
(40:21):
was no doubt about it. OnThursday, February twenty eighth, twenty nineteen,
twenty seven year old Jamal William Spincraywas sentenced to life in prison.
This came after several witnesses, includingan expert witness who described the pain Shadow
would have gone through after having herthroat slashed. Due to a sealed deal
(40:43):
between Jamal and the authorities, hewill be eligible for parole in ten years.
He also gets credit for the eighthundred and seventy five days he had
already spent in jail before trial.But, as The Leaf Chronicle pointed out,
military parole after such a short timeis extremely rare. Most think it's
unlikely he will be released. Jamalwill only be able to serve a maximum
(41:07):
of seventy five years, and ifthat's the case, he'll get out of
prison when he's one hundred and twoyears old. With conflicting stories by the
co conspirators, we may never knowwhy Shadow agreed to accompany her ex husband
late that terrible night in September twentysixteen. Maybe she didn't agree, Maybe
(41:29):
Jamal forced her. It certainly wouldn'tbe the first time in their relationship that
he had been violent with her.No, it's more likely he was worried
that Shadow would struggle and draw attentionto them, so he did use some
ruse to lure her out to herdeath. I find Charles Robinson's version of
events more likely. Why would helie about that, especially since he took
(41:53):
full responsibility for actually killing Shadow MacLean. He easily could have point out the
finger at Jamal or said they didit together. But it doesn't really matter.
Shadow was now threatening Jamal's career,not just missing out on going to
Afghanistan, but he could have beencharged with sexual assault, spent time in
(42:15):
a federal prison after being dishonorably discharged. She was wrecking his whole life.
She wouldn't just walk away quietly,and for that, she had to die,
even if he was too cowardly tokill her himself. Southern Fried True
(42:36):
Crime is hosted and produced by meErica Kelly. Today's episode was researched and
written by Andrea Marshbank and Erika Kelly. As usual, any editorial comments and
opinions are my own. Southern Fred'soriginal music is by Rob Harrison of Gamma
Radio and the original graphic art isby Kully Horner. If you have any
case suggestions, please go to mywebsite, Southernfridtruecrime dot com and click on
(42:59):
the list suggestion tab or email SFTCResearch at gmail dot com. This is
the best way for me to getthose little known cases. Y'all always send
me. Please remember that I donot accept suggestions on social media private messages,
but please come join our Facebook group, Southern Fred True Crime Fans Discussion
Group, where we swap recipes,worship Dolly Parton, and share means.
(43:24):
We do, of course discuss truecrime, not just Southern Friud, but
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next time, thanks so much forlistening y'all. Take care sh
Southern fried True crime covers cases thatare not suitable for young listeners, and
there may also be some explicit languageused. Listener discretion is advised in Fort
Campbell, which is located astride theTennessee Kentucky border. Friday, September second,
twenty sixteen was a beautiful evening aroundseventy five degrees, clear, cloudless
(00:29):
skies. The wind, which wasa bit nippy earlier in the day,
died down. It would have beena great night for an outdoor party or
bonfire, or to take a strollwhere you can breathe in the crisp fall
air. The possibilities were endless,especially for a young twenty something year old
(00:49):
woman with her whole life ahead ofher. So when twenty five year old
PFC Shadow McLane got into a carwith her ex husband Jamal, we're not
sure what she was thinking. Tosay they had a complicated history would be
putting it mildly? Would she willinglygo with him? Shadow in Jamal's relationship
(01:11):
had fallen apart in a really badway. But no matter what Shadow's intentions
were for that evening, her exhusbands were not the same. Jamal thought
Shadow was in his way that shewas the one obstacle blocking him from having
a fulfilling career and a well traveledlife, and that night he was going
(01:34):
to do something about it. Hehad been planning it for months, and
he was finally ready to execute hisvision. Welcome to episode two oh seven,
The Murder of Shadow McLain. ShadowBernice Willis mclin was born on January
(01:57):
two, nineteen ninety one, toher mother, London Weggersen, and her
father, Jesse Willis, in Roseville, California. Shadow had one sister who
was two years older than her,and two brothers who were both about sixteen
years younger than her. Shadow evidentlysometimes used the name Bernice Willis. I'm
not sure exactly why, but I'llexplain how. We know that later.
(02:23):
Shadow and her brothers were especially close. Those who knew her said she adored
them. I have to wonder ifshe might have played an important role in
raising her younger brothers, considering theirsixteen year age gap. Throughout her life,
Shadow was a great big sister toher little brothers. She was patient,
smart, and creative. Plus sheloved the outdoors. She loved spending
(02:46):
the day hiking or fishing with herdad, and she also loved to read
and was into rollerblading. Shadow grewup in Uba City, California. Her
parents were both from the area.Uba City is a medium sized city of
approximately seventy thousand people. It's aboutforty miles north of Sacramento, and honestly
(03:06):
you might have heard about it before. During my research, I was shocked
to see how much had happened there. I'll give you the highlight reel.
In December of nineteen fifty five,Uba City experienced the worst flood to ever
hit California. Over the course ofnine days, twenty inches of rain fell
into Uba City. For reference,two inches of rainfall can cause a flash
(03:29):
flood. By the end of thedownpour, three hundred and thirty eight people
were injured, three hundred and thirtyfive people were hospitalized, and eighty had
died. Then, in March ofnineteen sixty one, a plane crashed in
Yuba City. It was a BoeingB fifty two Strata fortress carrying two thermonucular
weapons. The bombs were destroyed onimpact and luckily did not explode, so
(03:54):
no radioactive material was released, thankgod. After that, in May of
nineteen seventy six, a school buscarrying Yuba City High School's choir drove off
the edge of an exit ramp.They fell twenty eight feet and crashed.
Twenty seven students and one adult died. More than twenty others were injured.
(04:15):
Of course, this isn't a historylesson on Yuba City. I'll let you
google all the other crazy things thathave happened there yourself. I just had
to share some of the more infamousincidents with you. When researching Shadow's case,
I was fascinated that her hometown wasthe site of so much disaster.
Shadow herself was probably aware of theseevents in Yuba City. None of them
(04:39):
happened in her lifetime, but shedid go to Ubi City High School.
The school held memorials for the crashvictims for a long time. I found
record of one remembrance ceremony event aslate as twenty sixteen. Beyond Yuba City's
pension for bad luck, it's alsoknown for being home to the Bill Air
Force Base. Maybe the military presencein Yuba City had a profound impact on
(05:02):
Shadow, because after graduating from UbaCity High in two thousand and nine and
a brief stint at Yuba College,studying art history. She joined the U.
S Army in September of twenty eleven. Upon entering the Army, Shadow
was trained as an air traffic controller. Throughout her career with the US military,
(05:25):
she was stationed in South Korea anddeployed to Afghanistan. Afterward, she
was stationed at Fort Campbell in theone hundred first Airborne Division. The Fort
Campbell Army Installations traddles the border betweentwo states, Kentucky and Tennessee. Fort
Campbell sits on over one hundred thousandacres or one hundred and sixty square miles,
(05:46):
and is more than seven times thesize of Manhattan. Today, it
is home to about twenty seven thousandactive duty soldiers and with about fifty thousand
of their family members. It hasits own Starbucks, Bowling Alley, and
fast food joints, and is prettymuch a small city unto itself. The
base is home to three major combatunits, the fifth Special Forces Group,
(06:09):
the one hundred and sixtieth Special OperationsAviation Regiment, and of course, the
Screaming Eagles, the renowned one hundredand first Airborne Division. As I said,
the base sits on the border ofTennessee and Kentucky, closest to Hopkinsville
and Clarksville in terms of larger cities, but close enough in proximity to Nashville,
(06:30):
where some of this story takes place. After five years of military service,
twenty five year old Private first ClassShadow MacLean was ready for a new
adventure. She was set to retireon October eleventh, twenty sixteen. She
had shared with her family that shewas excited for the change. She was
going to return to Yuba City,enroll in college, and pursue a career
(06:55):
in either photography or writing. Accordingto her mother, Shadow had truly enjoyed
her time in the army at first, but her appreciation for the Army waned
after certain people entered her life.According to her mother's court testimony, I'm
going to pause now for a shortcommercial break. One of those certain people
(07:21):
Shadow's mother was alluding to was likelyher ex husband, Jamal Jamal Williams mc
cray was born in nineteen ninety two. He spent some of his childhood with
his father, Kenneth, but atage six, Jamal was sent to live
with his mother in Florida. Accordingto Kenneth's court testimony, Jamal's mother was
(07:41):
abusive. She would harshly and unfairlydiscipline Jamal throughout his earliest years. Jamal's
father believed that his mother inflicted thisabuse in part due to his son's small
stature. Kenneth attributed Jamal's slim frameto being born prematurely, and he claimed
(08:01):
that Jamal was a quiet kid dueto his skinny body and his mother's abuse.
As he got older, Jamal aspiredto be a pilot, but when
that didn't work out, he turnedto the US Army, and that's how
Jamal met Shadow. In the earlytwenty tens, they were in the one
hundred Forced Airborne together at Fort Campbell. He was a sergeant, she was
(08:24):
a private first class. By theend of September twenty fourteen, twenty two
year old Jamal and twenty three yearold Shadow were married, which was a
big surprise to their families. Fora while, Jamal's father didn't even know
he was married, and Shadow's mother, London, had never even met Jamal.
(08:46):
This was strange for London since sheand Shadow were incredibly close despite living
several states apart. The mother anddaughter communicated in some way every single day.
To not meet your daughter's husband beforethey were married. I bet that
was a shock. Now, ifyou're familiar with the military, you know
(09:07):
marriages can happen fast between military spousalbenefits and the possibility of deployment and the
stress of literally putting your life onthe line for your country. The culture
of let's do it now versus latermakes a lot of sense, and it
works out for many people, butit did not work out for Shadow and
(09:28):
Jamal. Shortly after their marriage began, they experienced major issues. Shadow's mother
characterized the relationship as toxic, withvicious fighting that often turned physical, and
five to six months later, inearly twenty fifteen, they were divorced.
According to Shadow's own posts on hersocial media accounts, Jamal had cheated on
(09:52):
her multiple times. Shadow's mom,London, said her daughter would find condoms
in his clothing along with the othersigns of infidelity. Shadow alleged that Jamal
had slept with a woman who waitedtables at Hooter's. That woman, named
Tiffany, gave interviews to the media. She claimed that Shadow was stalking her
(10:13):
and had allegedly sent harassing messages toher on social media. She also said
that Shadow had the wrong Tiffany,claiming that there were like eight Tiffany's working
at Hooters at the time. Shealso said Shadow zeroed in on her after
she found a receipt in Jamal's pocketfrom the restaurant with the server's name Tiffany
printed on it. However, Shadowclaimed that some or all of these harassing
(10:39):
comments did not come from her.She believed that Jamal and others were making
fake accounts in her name that waythey could stage a stalking scenario, but
one direct message apologizing to Tiffany forthe comments did come from a Facebook page
called Shadow McLean Photography. By theend of it all, Shadow was arrested
(11:01):
twice for stalking charges. Then laterin twenty fifteen, Shadow alleged that Jamal
had raped her. As a result, the military opened an investigation into Jamal.
At one point Shadow rescinded her allegation, but later she said it was
true Jamal had raped her, andshe told officers that Jamal had intimidated her
(11:28):
into recanting the report of sexual assault. The military investigation for these rape allegations
stopped Sergeant Jamal Williams McCrae from beingtransferred to South Korea, which was what
he wanted. However, Shadow's familyhas frequently asserted on social media that the
military did not do enough to investigateher claims. On an Instagram post from
(11:52):
November nineteenth, twenty fifteen, Shadowwrote, after being forced into a divorce
by by narcissistic ex husband who gotme arrested to get away with his infidelity
with a Hooter's girl and then witha cop out of Springfield he met on
match dot com while he was fuckingthe Hooters girl for two months and me
at the same time during the divorceprocess, I am focusing on getting myself
(12:16):
back into shape now. Never trusta man who cheats, and Carmel will
give him a swift kick in theass soon when he loses his job and
goes to prison. Her public Pinterestprofile read x cheated on me with a
cop and got away with many morecrimes against me. His loss for losing
my loyalty. Now he has Hootersbitches lying to police for him. They
(12:39):
will end up going to jail soon. Rest assured, I'm at a better
place in my life now and foundsomeone worth my time and love. In
May twenty sixteen, Shadow had toldthe authorities that someone had cut her vehicle's
brake lines. She suspected whoever didit was somehow connected to Jamal. In
an interview with her friend Tristan Harding, there was a photo of what appeared
(13:03):
to be her breaks shown in thenews clip. However, it appears there
were questions about whether or not shadowsbreak lines had actually been cut. According
to Shadow's mother, these doubts werecast in an effort to shove the incident
under the rug By military and authorities. Her mother, London, recalled how
tumultuous Shadow's relationship with Jamal was.She realized that her daughter had made some
(13:28):
mistakes, though she did not elaborateon what she did. I suspect they
were related to Shadow, perhaps stalkingJamal's girlfriends. London told Dateline, She's
not totally innocent in all this,but it's not all her either, and
she's been trying to clean herself fromit. The people posting don't have all
(13:50):
the facts and are trying to paintmy daughter as a villain regardless. By
September of twenty sixteen, it appearedthat Shadow had moved on from Jamal.
She was seeing someone new, justas her pint's profile alluded to and her
mother confirmed, and she was abouta month away from getting out of the
military and returning home. A cleanstart was just on the horizon, but
(14:15):
it would always stay out of reach. At seven oh seven pm on Friday,
September second, twenty sixteen, Shadowtexted her mother that she was driving.
At this day and time. Shewas supposed to be dog sitting at
a friend's house, but no oneever saw her alive again. I'm going
to pause now to hear a wordfrom today's sponsors. This show is sponsored
(14:41):
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sent you start the new year withconfidence thanks to Honeylove. The next day,
on Saturday, September three, Shadow'smother, London, was worried.
(17:18):
Shadow hadn't touched base the night before, and she hadn't texted or called on
Saturday either. By the next day, London was scared and nervous. In
interviews, she said she had hopedeverything was fine, but she suspected something
awful had happened. Monday, whichwas Labor Day, came and went without
any word from Shadow. London toldthe Huffington Post quote, we are always
(17:44):
in communication, so I knew somethingwas terribly wrong. This just wasn't like
her. Shadow was also supposed tobe dog sitting for her friend Tristan over
a Labor Day weekend, but nevershowed up. London contacted officials at Fort
Campbell on Tuesday, September sixth.She let them know that she hadn't heard
from Shadow. The officials verified thatShadow had not reported for active duty on
(18:08):
that day. Also, on thatday, she was supposed to go to
a court appearance related to her rapeallegation, but she didn't show up right
away. London believed something had happenedto Shadow. Her daughter was missing,
not just ignoring calls and texts,So London traveled from her home in North
(18:29):
Carolina to Kentucky. She was thereby September eighth. Shadow's father, who
lived in California, also came Now, family, friends, and law enforcement
officers were searching for Shadow. Later, the US Army Criminal Investigation Division and
the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation joined forcesfor Shadow's case, and according to USA
(18:52):
Today, these agencies worked closely withshadows family. Supporters had also started a
GoFundMe to help costs for shadows family. People donated more than eleven thousand dollars,
and the National Veterans Search and RecoveryProgram was also instrumental in providing resources
to shadows family. On Monday,September twelfth, volunteers and investigative officials looked
(19:18):
for Shadow in the Dunbar Cave StatePark. They didn't find her or any
evidence. Around this same time,Shadow's other family members confirmed that Shadow hadn't
reached out by text or calls,and her phone was either dead or turned
off. Missing Persons, posters andflyers were distributed with shadows details, but
(19:41):
also revealed she had also gone byBernice Willis her middle name and maiden name.
Perhaps she was shedding memories of hermarried name or even avoiding the notoriety
of her legal name, considering thelegal trouble she had recently been in.
On Tuesdays at Timber thirteenth, morethan a week after Shadow went missing,
(20:03):
her car was found. She drovea silver Tudor Hyundai Elantra with California tags,
and it was recovered in a parkinglot in Nashville, Tennessee. That's
about an hour's drive away from FortCampbell. According to London's interviews with True
Crime Daily, Shadow's car was gettingrepeatedly ticketed. The authorities eventually put a
(20:25):
boot on it, and that's whypolice ran the plate. London explained that
she couldn't imagine why Shadow would haveleft her vehicle in the specific area of
Nashville. There just wasn't anything nearbyrelated to Shadow's daily life. London believed
that her daughter's car was left thereby someone else. Days after Shadow's car
(20:47):
was discovered, a candlelight vigil washeld in her honor. It was held
in front of the Montgomery County Courthousein Clarksville, Tennessee. Many of Shadow's
friends, family, and supporters attended, including the mayor of Clarksville at the
time, Kim McMillan. McMillan saidthe following about Shadow's mother, It is
(21:07):
something I believe that no parents shouldhave to go through, and as mayor
of this city, I wanted herto know that clarks Full stands behind her,
fills with her, and wants herto know that we are there for
her. On Thursday October sixth,twenty sixteen, twenty four year old Jamal
Williams McCray, shadow's ex husband,was held in the Montgomery County Jail in
(21:30):
Clarksville on out of county warrants,reported the Leaf Chronicle. The warrants were
officially unrelated to Shadow's case, butunofficially many suspected Jamal's current charges were a
placeholder, at least until more evidenceabout Shadow's case came to light. By
Thursday, October twenty seventh, twentysixteen, seven weeks after Shadow vanished,
(21:53):
authorities announced that two men were takeninto custody in relation to shadows disappear pearants.
These men were booked into the MontgomeryCounty Jail. At the time of
their booking, the US Army wouldnot release the men's names or charges.
They only stated that the two soldiersare currently being held as persons of interest.
(22:15):
However, Shadow's mother, London,unofficially confirmed that one of the men
was Jamal. A month later,on Friday, November twenty fifth, the
government revealed more details. They explainedthat two soldiers with the one hundred first
Airborne Division faced conspiracy, kidnapping,and murder charges related to the slaying of
(22:37):
Private First Class Shadow MacLean. Thesecharges came under the Uniform Code of Military
Justice, and these two previously unnamedmen were Jamal, Williams McCrae and a
man named Charles Robinson. Charles Robinsonthird was born in Springfield, Illinois,
but spent much of his childhood andCharlotte, North Caroline. According to Charles,
(23:03):
he was raised in a rough environment. He claimed that his father was
jailled for domestic violence and that hisfather once stabbed a man fifteen times with
a screwdriver. He also claimed hewas sexually assaulted by a family friend.
By twenty sixteen, Charles was marriedand a father to a young son,
(23:23):
and an army specialist in the onehundred first Airborne Division with Jamal in Shadow.
However, Charles had never met Shadow. He had only ever heard of
her through her ex husband, Jamaal. Charles would later admit he didn't even
know Shadow's name. At the timeof Jamal and Charles's arrest in late November,
(23:45):
Shadow's mother asked the public to provideinformation pertaining to Shadow's whereabouts. She
said, we just need to findher. I'm missing her. I have
so many questions. The waiting isthe hardest part. I'm going to pause
now for a short commercial break.The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation discovered twenty five
(24:12):
year old Shadow McLean's skeletal remains onMonday, January twenty third, twenty seventeen.
They were located on I twenty fouroff Exit nineteen in Robertson County.
Some news reports say a passerby foundShadow's body, but it's possible Charles or
his wife, who becomes important,later told authorities where to find her.
(24:37):
She was positively identified by dental records. After the investigators recovered Shadow's body,
her father told reporters quote, Ido know now where my daughter is at.
I get to take her home.Shadows remains were flown to California as
a soldier. Her casket was shroudedin the American flag and the traditional four
(25:00):
normal military procession as they transported Shadowto the airport. A motorcycle group known
to honor deceized soldiers and veterans calledthe Patriot Guard Riders, also escorted Shadow
to the plane. Major General AndrewP. Poppas commanding General for the one
hundred first Airborne Division, said,all of us here at Fort Campbell are
(25:22):
saddened by the news, and ourthoughts and prayers are with the family.
At this time. Shadow's mother,London, told Fox forty News that the
U. S. Army hadn't respectedShadow since she had made the initial rape
allegation against Jamal. Now, Londonfelt Shadow was getting the respect she deserved
at noon on February eleven. Shadow'smemorial service was held at the Crossroads Community
(25:48):
Church in Yuba City in lieu offlowers. Shadow's family requested that mourners donate
to the National Headquarters for Disabled AmericanVeterans. She was buried in the Yuba
City Cemetery. At this time,Shadow's cause of death was still unknown.
After finding her body, court proceedingscame next, and Shadow's family was ready
(26:12):
for a fight. According to TheLeaf Chronicle, Shadow's father said, we
are going to make everyone who hadanything to do with this pay for what
happened to my daughter. We arecoming for you. You will not get
away with this. London told reporters, I want justice. Eye for an
eye, blood for blood. Shadow'sfamily also proclaimed that they would have supporters
(26:37):
at every single court date around thistime. In February of twenty seventeen,
both Jamal and Charles were in pretrial confinement awaiting their impending court martial a
few months later in April of twentyseventeen, the prosecutors had established a strong
circumstantial case against Jamal and Charles.Believed that the two men killed Shadow to
(27:02):
silence her rape allegations against Jamal.One prosecutor said in the preliminary hearing closing
arguments, we don't have an eyewitness, we don't have a manner of
death. Yet what we have iscircumstantial evidence, and a lot of it.
And this circumstantial evidence primarily came fromCharles's wife, Jade Robinson. Jade
(27:23):
told the authorities that she had overheardCharles and Jamal. They were whispering together
on her and Charles's porch. Sheheard them discuss Exit nineteen and getting rid
of a car. Both details weredirectly related to Shadow's case, since her
body was found at Exit nineteen andher car was abandoned in Nashville. According
(27:45):
to Jade Robinson's interviews with the authorities, on the night Shadow vanished, Charles
told his wife he was going torave. He wore dark clothing and a
face mask. The next day,Jade watched Charles clean his trud with bleach
and a mob She also claimed thatCharles said, if you're asked, say
I was home all night. Shealso said she heard him ask a neighbor
(28:10):
to borrow a pressure washer. Duringpreliminary hearings, it was revealed that Jamal
had claimed that he was at homeduring the time and date of Shadow's murder,
but this did not align with whatJamal's girlfriend told detectives. She said
that Jamal told her he was inNashville. When she asked, why are
you in Nashville, Jamal explained thathe was looking for Shadow, she was
(28:36):
missing. However, at the timethat Jamal said this, it was still
Labor Day weekend of twenty sixteen.Shadow had not been reported missing yet.
But at the Nashville parking lot whereShadow's car was found, security camera footage
showed a black male leaving Shadow's car, and a search of Jamal's car turned
(28:56):
up a Duffel bag with clothing thatmatched those worn on the man in the
video. That's why he was inNashville. At these preliminary hearings, Jamal
and Charles's defense council asserted that theprosecution was relying on unreliable witnesses. They
argued that these accusations were baseless,and they requested that the death penalty not
(29:18):
be considered for Charles and Jamal's cases. Jamal's attorneys said that the sexual assault
allegation was the result of their acrimoniousdivorce. He also said that the couple
engaged in a BDSM lifestyle, whichexplained the text messages found about physical acts
that could be seen as abuse.According to military prosecutors, the sexual assault
(29:45):
investigation remained open over the next severalmonths before Shadow disappeared in September twenty sixteen.
Prosecutors argued that Jamal wanted the militaryassignment in Korea, but could not
move on with his career because thesexual assault allegation remained unresolved, and also
that he was angered by Shadow's continuedpresence in his life, as she had
(30:07):
been accused of stalking one of hisgirlfriends. After these pre trial hearings,
the commanding officer's report directed that themen be bound over for trial. On
Friday, August eleventh, twenty seventeen, Charles Robinson the Third began his court
martial proceedings in Fort Campbell. Atfirst, he didn't enter a plea,
(30:33):
and he had his case heard bya U. S. Army judge rather
than a jury. A little overa month later, on September twenty eighth,
twenty seventeen, Charles suddenly accepted aplea deal and pled guilty to premeditated
murder, conspiracy to commit murder andobstruction of justice, and he agreed to
provide honest testimony during Jamal's court proceedingsin exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
(31:00):
I'm going to pause now for afinal commercial break. Charles admitted to his
role in killing Shadow McLean, andhe explained exactly what happened. According to
his story, Jamal had approached himabout killing Shadow beginning on June first of
(31:22):
twenty sixteen, four months before shewent missing. Apparently, Jamal had already
made other attempts to kill Shadow onhis own, but he had failed the
first time he tried to poison Shadow. Then he had attempted to strangle her.
Now the story of her cut brakelines doesn't seem so paranoid or unlikely.
(31:45):
On August fifteenth of twenty sixteen,Jamal went to Charles's home in Fort
Campbell. This is likely when Charles'swife, Jade overheard the two men talking.
Jamal and Charles hammered out the detailsof Shadow's murder, and Jamal agreed
to pay ten thousand dollars to Charlesfor him to do the actual crime.
(32:05):
Later on, Charles said that heonly ever received two hundred dollars of that
payment, The two men decided thatShadow's murder had to happen before Labor Day.
They knew that Shadow had a courthearing regarding her rape allegations against Jamal
on Tuesday, September sixth. Accordingto Charles, his wife Jade Robinson was
(32:27):
involved in these discussions. She hadnot overheard anything, as she had claimed
to the authorities, she was aparticipant according to her husband. However,
it's important to note that Jade hasnever been charged with anything related to Shadow's
murder. As Charles, Jamal,and perhaps Jade continued to plot Shadow's murder,
(32:47):
Charles proposed that they used Jamal's gunto kill her. However, Jade
thought this was a bad idea.She suggested using a knife or a box
cutter instead. Initially, the ideawas to kill Shadow at Exit twenty four
on I twenty four, but onthe evening of Friday, September second,
there was a party happening at thislocation too many people were nearby, so
(33:13):
they changed the murder site to Exiteleven. Then Jamal approached Shadow. He
told her he had a scavenger huntplanned for her. They went to Exit
eleven together and began digging a holein a field, presumably to find something
related to the scavenger hunt. Atthis time. It was early in the
morning on September third, and asthey were digging, Charles, whom Shadow
(33:38):
had not met, approached them.He pretended to own the land where Jamal
and Shadow were digging. He actedupset at their trespassing. Charles ordered Jamal
and Shadow to their knees. Hesaid he was going to search them and
hold them until the police could arrive. Next, Charles searched Jamal. He
(33:59):
found the box cutter that they hadpreviously planted on him. Then Charles went
to Shadow to search her, andinstead he killed her with the box cutter
and a knife. He slashed herthroat and stabbed her in the chest.
Afterward, he broke her neck toassure that she was dead. Then the
(34:21):
two men put Shadow's body into Charles'spickup truck and Jamal poured ammonia on her
to hide the evidence. He alsopoured ammonia on the grassy area where she
had been killed. Then they leftShadow's body in a field on Exit nineteen
near Maxie Road. After that,Charles drove Jamal to Shadow's car and Jamal
(34:43):
disposed of the car in Nashville,where it was later found. Jamal was
also in charge of getting rid ofthe bloody clothing and boots. Meanwhile,
Charles got rid of the knife andthe box cutter. He threw the murder
weapons in the Cumberland River. Theywere later found by investigators. According to
Charles, after killing Shadow, hethen went home and told his wife what
(35:07):
happened. He testified, I informedmy wife where we had placed the body
and what had happened, and thenwe had sex. Shortly after, Charles
washed his truck bed with acetone.His goal was to remove both Shadow's blood
and the paint. Then he repaintedhis truck bed. During Charles's sentencing,
(35:30):
he apologized to Shadow's family. Hesaid, I think about your daughter every
day. If someone killed my son, I would be a broken man.
I deserve to be punished. Iwant to set a better example for my
son than my father was to me. Shadow didn't deserve to be hurt.
Shadow never hurt me. His wordswere related to him requesting a more lenient
(35:53):
sentence, and in the end hegot it. He was sentenced to twenty
five years in military prison. Hewas also credited with five hundred and fifty
eight days of time served, whichwas two hundred more days than he had
actually served. Apparently, the USmilitary had made some administrative errors and Charles's
(36:14):
incarceration and this was their gesture tomake up for it. But one was
that they would have a superior visithim once every two weeks, and they
didn't. Charles was also demoted anddishonorably discharged. The prosecution wanted a harsher
sentence. One lawyer said the followingof Charles. This is not a man
(36:35):
who committed an act of passion.This is someone who said I'll kill her
for ten thousand dollars. He didn'teven know her name. The information that
Charles provided was huge for the case. It was the catalyst that caused more
charges to be brought against Jamal.In March of twenty eighteen, Jamal was
(36:57):
charged with multiple conspiracy offenses, obstructionof justice, sexual assault, attempted murder,
solicitation for murder, and premeditated murder. At this point, newspapers reported
that two women were suspected to beinvolved in Shadow's death. It saved to
assume one of those women was Charles'swife, Jade, whom we have discussed
(37:20):
and the other was likely Jamal's girlfriend, though that is unconfirmed. Jamal claimed
the second woman knew of the crime, gave him advice on it, and
helped him clean Shadow's items out ofhis apartment, but both women denied any
involvement and were not charged. Asprosecutors geared up for Jamal's trial, they
decided to seek the death penalty.Jamal's defense counsel asserted that if Charles hadn't
(37:45):
faced the possibility of death, thenneither should Jamal, but that did not
stand. On April sixth, itwas determined that Jamal Williams McCray would face
the death penalty. In early Januaryof twenty nineteen, Jamal requested that his
trial be moved to a different countydue to rampant pre chrill publicity. His
(38:08):
lawyers also requested that Shadow's family belimited in their remarks if they were allowed
to provide victim impact statements. OnWednesday, February twenty seventh, twenty nineteen,
Jamal appeared in court. It wasassumed that he would continue making his
case for those requests I just mentioned, but in a shocking twist, Jamal
(38:31):
admitted to everything he confessed to orchestratingShadow's murder and assisting in hiding her body.
He pled guilty to two counts ofconspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to
commit murder, and conspiracy to obstructjustice. Shadow's family and friends were at
this hearing. Many wore T shirtsbearing the words Shadow's Army. After the
(38:54):
hearing, Shadow's mother, London,said, we are just glad we are
getting justice finally. However, therewere portions of Jamal's plea that upset Shadow's
family, namely how Jamal's version ofevents differed from Charles's. Jamal claimed that
he and Shadow were not on ascavenger hunt. Instead, they were planning
(39:17):
the murder of Jamal's current girlfriend,who Jamal claimed Shadow wanted dead. According
to Jamal, he and Shadow spentthat Friday, September second working out the
details, and that night they werescoping out potential places where they could kill
his girlfriend and hide her body.That's what they were doing when Charles,
(39:38):
pretending to be the landowner, approachedthem. When this information was shared during
Jamal's hearing, Shadow's family was outraged, and understandably so, it's important to
emphasize that there is no evidence thatShadow was trying to kill Jamal's girlfriend.
(39:58):
Also, Jamal claimed that he wasn'tpresent during Shadow's murder. He said he
had returned to his truck, leavingCharles in Shadow alone together. Then Charles
approached him and said it's done.It's unclear which version of events is more
true. Regardless, the result wasthe same. They killed Shadow, there
(40:21):
was no doubt about it. OnThursday, February twenty eighth, twenty nineteen,
twenty seven year old Jamal William Spincraywas sentenced to life in prison.
This came after several witnesses, includingan expert witness who described the pain Shadow
would have gone through after having herthroat slashed. Due to a sealed deal
(40:43):
between Jamal and the authorities, hewill be eligible for parole in ten years.
He also gets credit for the eighthundred and seventy five days he had
already spent in jail before trial.But, as The Leaf Chronicle pointed out,
military parole after such a short timeis extremely rare. Most think it's
unlikely he will be released. Jamalwill only be able to serve a maximum
(41:07):
of seventy five years, and ifthat's the case, he'll get out of
prison when he's one hundred and twoyears old. With conflicting stories by the
co conspirators, we may never knowwhy Shadow agreed to accompany her ex husband
late that terrible night in September twentysixteen. Maybe she didn't agree, Maybe
(41:29):
Jamal forced her. It certainly wouldn'tbe the first time in their relationship that
he had been violent with her.No, it's more likely he was worried
that Shadow would struggle and draw attentionto them, so he did use some
ruse to lure her out to herdeath. I find Charles Robinson's version of
events more likely. Why would helie about that, especially since he took
(41:53):
full responsibility for actually killing Shadow MacLean. He easily could have point out the
finger at Jamal or said they didit together. But it doesn't really matter.
Shadow was now threatening Jamal's career,not just missing out on going to
Afghanistan, but he could have beencharged with sexual assault, spent time in
(42:15):
a federal prison after being dishonorably discharged. She was wrecking his whole life.
She wouldn't just walk away quietly,and for that, she had to die,
even if he was too cowardly tokill her himself. Southern Fried True
(42:36):
Crime is hosted and produced by meErica Kelly. Today's episode was researched and
written by Andrea Marshbank and Erika Kelly. As usual, any editorial comments and
opinions are my own. Southern Fred'soriginal music is by Rob Harrison of Gamma
Radio and the original graphic art isby Kully Horner. If you have any
case suggestions, please go to mywebsite, Southernfridtruecrime dot com and click on
(42:59):
the list suggestion tab or email SFTCResearch at gmail dot com. This is
the best way for me to getthose little known cases. Y'all always send
me. Please remember that I donot accept suggestions on social media private messages,
but please come join our Facebook group, Southern Fred True Crime Fans Discussion
Group, where we swap recipes,worship Dolly Parton, and share means.
(43:24):
We do, of course discuss truecrime, not just Southern Friud, but
all kinds, but it is stillvery much a Southern lifestyle group. Our
group is a safe and fun cornerof Facebook, and by God, we
mean it when we say no shitassays aloud. It's not just a motto,
it's how we run the group.If you enjoyed today's show, don't
(43:44):
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next time, thanks so much forlistening y'all. Take care sh
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