February 24, 2025 • 42 mins
The courtroom holds its breath as prosecutors unveil the raw, unfiltered truth of what happened inside Jason Chen’s apartment. Blood spatter. A massive five-foot stain. Suitcase wheel marks in the trunk of his car. Each piece of evidence stacks up, painting a harrowing picture of Jasmine Pace’s final moments.
CSI experts take the stand, breaking down the chilling details—from BlueStar test reactions to DNA swabs and fingerprinting. The defense fights back, grasping for doubt. But as the prosecution reveals Jasmine’s final resting place—inside of a suitcase, handcuffed and shackled in layers of trash bags. The weight of this case becomes undeniable.
Through it all, Jason Chen never once looks up.
Step inside the crime scene with us. The truth is in the evidence.
Special thanks to Local 3 News’ Shay Patterson, Latrisha Thomas at NewsChannel 9, and all the journalists who’ve worked overtime to cover this case. We couldn’t tell this story without you.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Before we begin, please beadvised that this episode
contains graphic descriptions ofviolence as presented during the
trial. Please take care whilelistening. It's Wednesday,
January 15, 2025 by now, we thejurors, are moving into the
routine of our new job. Thelobby call at our hotel has
(00:24):
become a steady expectation, andonce we're in our jury room at
the courthouse, everyone justkind of moves into their spot. I
think by this point, we had allgotten a taste for the task at
hand. There was no exiting thisscenario. It was just time to
move in and do the job. It wasonly day three of the trial.
After all, a knock at the doorsignaled it was time. We
(00:48):
gathered our things, lined up,and took the solemn walk across
the hallway into the courtroom.The door of the courtroom held
open by one of our deputies aswe stepped inside. Everyone is
standing as we make our way intothe jury box. I make it to my
seat in the front row, thirdchair in I mentioned in a
previous episode that 14 of theblue office style jury chairs
(01:10):
were bolted to the ground, sevenin the front row and seven in
the back but there were 16jurors sitting through this
trial. The four alternateswouldn't be selected until just
before the deliberation phase.So that meant two extra chairs
had to be added to accommodateall 16 of us, a matching free
standing blue office chair onwheels sat at the end of each
(01:32):
row. The back row's extra chairstayed put throughout the trial,
but the front row now that was adifferent story. The way the
jury box was designed meant thatthe extra chair had to be added
after we all took our seats. Soevery single time we entered the
room, 15 of us would file inwith the entire courtroom
standing mind you and quietlytake our seats in the utter
(01:55):
silence that filled the air, andthen clunk, a bailiff would
maneuver the final 30 poundrolling blue office chair into
the last block of space in thefront row of the jury box, then
the last juror was finally ableto take her seat. This too had
(02:16):
become a part of the routine,but today felt different when we
stepped into the courtroom thistime, my eyes immediately went
to the floor in front of thejury box, where a large blue
tarp had been laid out, coveringthe space just feet from where I
would take my seat. I didn'tknow exactly what was coming,
but I knew one thing. Today wewere stepping into the crime
(02:40):
scene.
This is sequestered a juror'sperspective on the murder trial
for Jasmine pace. I'm Sarahjuror number 11 each episode,
I'll take you inside thecourtroom, behind the scenes and
(03:02):
into the weighty moments of thistrial as we honor Jasmine's life
and navigate the complexities ofseeking justice, let's Begin.
This is Episode Four inside thecrime scene you
(03:28):
the prosecution called theirnext witness to the stand,
Michelle Johnson, a seasonedcrime scene investigator with
years of experience. Michellewas a middle aged woman with
shoulder length blonde hair,wearing glasses and a light blue
pantsuit with a black blouse,serious and guarded, she carried
herself with the confidence ofsomeone who had seen it all. She
(03:51):
was stern yet soft spoken, andgave the distinct impression
that she wouldn't be easilyswayed. Plainly put, Michelle
Johnson was no rookie. Thiswasn't the first crime scene she
had stepped into. Everyone whoentered that apartment saw it
through their own lens, the pacefamily searching for answers and
(04:12):
investigators piecing togetherevidence. But Johnson, she had
one focus, honed by experience.She was looking for blood, and
she found it.
There was blood everywhere,smeared behind the couch, on the
(04:34):
door frame, spattered on thewall and soaked into the tile
grout and carpet. Johnsondescribed the Blue Star reaction
as one of the strongest she'dever seen.
How would you describe the BlueStar reaction that you yourself
observed inside Mr. Chin'sapartment
(04:55):
during the intense and longiteration it was the. It
probably be the most I've everseen on reaction on the
bathroom.
Star reaction in strong blue.Star reaction in the bathroom.
(05:16):
Yes. Is there a strong food?Star reaction in the
bedroom? Yes. Next,
the prosecution displayed adiagram of Chen's apartment,
depicting the layout of theunit, along with a couple of
dozen circled numbers written ineach number represented with a
(05:39):
marker that pointed to a pieceof evidence. Leading the
questioning was chief homicideprosecutor Paul Moyle, working
in tandem with Michelle Johnsonto methodically present the
crime scene evidence, tall andslender with short reddish blond
hair and a neatly trimmed beard,Moyle had the air of a
(05:59):
prosecutor who had spent yearsdissecting cases just like this
one, dressed in a sharp threepiece gray suit, a crisp white
button down and a navy blue tie,he exuded quiet authority,
polished, prepared and precise.If Johnson was the steady,
unshakable witness, Moyle washer perfect counterpart,
(06:23):
relentless, measured and razorsharp in his approach, he didn't
grandstand or overplay his hand.Instead, he guided Johnson
through the evidence with theconfidence of a prosecutor who
knew exactly how to build hiscase, brick by brick, with a
nod, he now directed herattention to a large evidence
(06:44):
box sitting on the floor justoutside of the witness stand
inside a seven foot section ofblood stained carpet cut
straight from the floor of JasonChen's apartment. Prosecutor
Moyle asked CSI Johnson to openthe large evidence box. She
stepped out of the witnessstand, picked up a pair of
(07:06):
scissors and began unsealing thebox with Moyes help, the large
piece of carpet, along with itsblue under padding, would be
unfolded and laid out on thetarp just steps in front of the
jury box. The
(07:35):
the stain was massive, roughlythe size of a body curled in the
fetal position. It saturated thecarpet like a dark, haunting
shadow of what had happenedthere. The blood, deep, reddish
brown, oxidized with thyme, hadnot just soaked in, but seeped
through, penetrating both thecarpet and the padding beneath
(07:57):
it. This wasn't just a surfacestain. It had saturated and
pooled all the way to the subfloor in the last episode,
during investigator Crawford'stestimony, crime scene photos
made it impossible to ignorethis grim reality. We saw each
of these layers peeled back, thecarpet lifted and the under
(08:17):
patting until the final imprintwas revealed blood pooled on the
wooden floorboard beneath asilent witness to the violence
that had unfolded in that veryspot, with this section of
carpet now laying on the floorof the courtroom. Judge
Patterson invited the jury tostand for a better perspective.
I pushed myself up leaning overthe edge of the jury box. From
(08:42):
this angle, I could see theunderside of the carpet facing
up where the stain was mostclearly visible. The section of
carpet was at least seven feetwide, and Jasmine's blood filled
more than half of the space. Thesheer scale of it was
staggering. Later in the trial,the medical examiner would
confirm that nearly every ounceof Jasmine's blood had drained
(09:04):
from her body, even without thatknowledge, in this moment, I
stood there staring at theevidence, unable to shake a
single overwhelming thought, howmuch blood would it take to
create a stain this big? Here'sa clip of news channel nine's,
latricia Thomas and Meg Doyletalking about this part of the
(09:24):
trial.
Okay, here's a picture of thecarpet that they brought out
here I want to bring in now newschannel nine's, Meg dole Meg,
can you hear me? Okay, here,yes, I can. Can you hear me? We
can thank you. So talk to me alittle bit Meg about what was
(09:45):
going on in the courtroom whenthis large piece of carpet that
the prosecution says has bloodon it was unwrapped and shown to
the jury and everybody in thecourtroom. Yeah,
absolutely. So when they broughtout this large piece of carpet.
It. Obviously people sitting inthe general audience couldn't
really see it, but the judgeallowed the jury to stand up so
(10:07):
they could fully evaluate thecarpet, get a good look at it
the entire duration that thecarpet was pulled out. Michelle
Johnson, the CSI witness who wason the stand testimony, she said
that this carpet, the entiretyof the stain was just over five
(10:29):
feet. And then there's the onemain stain, which is kind of
just smack dab in the middlethere. That stain alone is three
and a half feet by 32 inches. Soobviously a very substantial
stain there. And the reason whythe crime scene investigators
did not pick up on this thefirst time that they entered
(10:54):
Jason Chen's apartment and didtheir initial search was because
his bed was over this portion,and due to the poor lighting in
his apartment, they were notable to pick up on this carpet
and see that there was a stain,because this thing actually
seeped through the carpet intothe under layer, all the way to
(11:14):
the floor. So it obviously itseeped through multiple layers,
which shows just how substantialof a stain this was. So when the
apartment complex, they saidthat they had to completely
renovate Mr. Chen's entireapartment because the damage was
just too substantial. There wastoo much cleanup, they said it
(11:36):
would just be easier to kind ofdemolish everything and restart
with that unit. So when theyduring that process, they
obviously were moving everythingout, moving it around, and came
upon the stain, and theyimmediately stopped what they
were doing. Called theinvestigators, and they
(11:57):
investigators requested that theapartment stop all their work
until they could get back outthere and kind of assess this.
And obviously this is a largepiece of evidence, so
thankfully, the apartmentcomplex did speak up when they
saw something. I
also want to mention the glassfragments, small shards were
(12:19):
found in the living room. Thejury watched as these fragments
were admitted into evidence, andwhen I say they were tiny, I
mean minute. You may recall, thedefense argued in their opening
statement that Jasmine attackedChen, first with a wine bottle,
then with a broken wine glass.But as CSI Johnson prepared to
(12:40):
reveal this evidence, thereality told a different story
using scissors, Johnsoncarefully opened a small
envelope and emptied the tinyglass particles onto a black
piece of paper at moyle'srequest. She folded the paper
into a makeshift bowl, thenpassed it to him with deliberate
steps, Moyle carried it over tothe projector, now magnified on
(13:04):
the screen the courtroom couldfinally see them, the so called
fragments of a violent struggle.I'm being generous here, but
there were maybe 10 pieces ofglass, the largest no more than
a few centimeters in diameter,and the rest practically dust.
Then came Moyes response, I
(13:32):
don't know.
Now on to Chen's car, a 2018gray Toyota Camry sitting parked
in the impound lot, silent andunassuming, but investigators
know better. If there wasnothing to hide, why go to such
lengths to conceal it in hisparents garage? Forensic teams
(13:57):
combed through every inch of thevehicle, dusting for
fingerprints, swabbing surfacesand documenting any trace of
evidence the exterior, thehandles, the seats, nothing was
overlooked overall. The carlooked pretty clean, but it was
the trunk that held theirattention. The trunks, rubber
(14:18):
mat showed unmistakable tracks,parallel streaks of dirt
imprinted across its surface,marks that looked eerily similar
to the path left by suitcasewheels with the jury watching
investigators conduct a side byside comparison. Once again, the
suitcase Jasmine's remains werefound in was presented with
(14:42):
gloves on. Moyle held thesuitcase at a horizontal angle
so that the wheels were facingthe jury standing next to him,
Johnson held up the trunk liner,comparing the wheels of the
suitcase with the imprints onthe mat. The realization settled
over the room like a heavyweight in. Proving this was more
than just a theory,
(15:11):
marked measurements on here, andwere they consistent in size?
Yes. Were they consistent in thepattern of the two wheels? Yes.
Finally, the prosecutionintroduced a blood spot card, a
(15:32):
crucial genetic reference usedin forensic testing. This small
card contained a preservedsample of Jasmine paces, blood
collected for DNA comparisonagainst evidence found at the
crime scene. Investigators usedit to confirm whether blood
stains in Chen's apartment or onany of the other key items
collected matched Jasmine's DNA.But the defense wasn't
(15:57):
satisfied. Defense AttorneyWeiss pushed back questioning
the collection process andraising concerns about possible
contamination, planting seeds ofdoubt before the jury. So
(16:20):
offers. I'm not sure. I knowofficers walked through and they
couldn't have
contaminated,
no if there's video of peoplegoing into their crime scene.
(16:42):
Folks think
that's important
to do your job, isn't it harder?We
would speak with officers, andwe asked officers anything that
wouldn't move, anything likethat, but they normally tell us
if anything has been moved. Inthis case, nobody had informed
(17:04):
us that anything had been moved,
and he wasn't satisfied with howthe Blue Star test was applied,
reminding the jury that it'sonly a presumptive test, not a
definitive proof of blood.
So other than sending off thelist box too. Did you do any
(17:25):
other scientific tests as acriminal investigator firm that
was split just the presumptivetest? Did you least do a patrol
test that showed the accuracyand reliability of the start of
June, that standard operatingprocedure that you first. I
(17:46):
mean, obviously, no matter,control test based on the
invisible blood that alsoeliminated, that's accurate
testing that you did. Did you doa control scientific you know,
Weiss also pointed out what hefelt was a critical gap in the
investigation, not all of theevidence was tested.
(18:10):
Is that true that not all theevidence that she left it with
this investigation was tested?
But General Moyle had one morepiece of evidence, receipts,
Walgreens, Walmart, isopropylalcohol, bounty, paper towels,
hydrogen peroxide, all purchasedon November 23 2022 the day
(18:35):
Jasmine disappeared. The debitcard used for these purchases,
it matched the one found inJason Chen's wallet. And then
one final unsettling fact, a boxof trash bags that should have
held 40 now contained only 11 or12. We already know that
Jasmine's body had been wrappedin three layers. Where were the
(18:58):
other bags? Okay, I get it. Wedon't know exactly when Chen
purchased that box or how manyhad already been used before the
night of November 22 but sittingin that courtroom, it was
impossible to ignore theunspoken question hanging in the
air, what happened to the restof the bags? It's interesting,
(19:21):
after my sequestration, when myproducer and I went back to
Chattanooga to visit thelocation sites mentioned during
the trial, we ended up sittingin the parking lot of the
Walmart that Chen was seenvisiting. Before leaving, we
decided to take a drive aroundthe rear of the building to get
an idea of their dumpstersituation. We already know that
(19:42):
the dumpsters at the lofts atTremont were thoroughly searched
and no trash bags containingcleanup efforts were collected.
There was a whole lot of bloodin his apartment, and Jason had
a big mess to clean up. I wantto know where he disposed of all
that material. I wondered if hetook it with him. On one of
those trips to Walmart. Here's aclip of my producer and I
(20:04):
counting the dumpsters behindWalmart on that day. Okay, so
now we're gonna go look fordumpsters at the Walmart, just
in case. I'm there's so manyquestions I wish I would have
asked now that I'm on this sideof the case, and this is one of
them. Not only, why did youknow? Was there any footage
(20:24):
captured from Walmart's parkinglot of Jason Chen sitting in the
parking lot? Secondly, were anydumpsters searched or looked
looked through? It may have beentotally irrelevant at that
point, because, you know,footage may have been obtained
much later. Dumpsters may havebeen dumped by then. I don't
know, but there could have beenfootage potentially. So we are
(20:50):
going to see what kind ofdumpsters could be around. We
did talk to one person whothought the dumpsters would be
locked up. So let's just go seewhat it looks like,
okay, there's a set of dumpstersover here too. Okay, yep, so
(21:11):
there's two dumpsters over hereto the right. There's, there's
one dumpster up against the theside wall of Walmart. The ones
on the right don't even looklike they belong to Walmart, so
he could have easily put themthere. And as we're turning the
corner to go on the backside ofWalmart, there are 1234,
(21:35):
dumpsters lined up that he couldhave had access to. And then on
the other side, opposite of therear of Walmart, is a wooded
area which could have easily hadanything discarded over there.
So the knife has never beenfound, the phone has never been
found. Bloody towels, any ofthis kind of stuff has never
(22:01):
been discovered, so who knows ifthat has ended up in a landfill
somewhere by now, if it was castover into the woods somewhere,
who knows you
(22:27):
you know, during sequestration,I had a lot of time to think,
and honestly, I kept wishing Ihad a speaker so that I could
just listen to a great book.That's why I love audiobooks.
Whether I'm driving, walking thedogs or traveling, I can just
press play and get lost in anamazing story anytime and
anywhere. One of my all timefavorites is New York by Edward
(22:51):
Rutherford. This epic historicalnovel spans over 400 years,
following generations offamilies through the city's most
pivotal moments, from its Dutchsettlement days and all the way
to 911 it was one of the firstaudio books I had ever listened
to. It felt like the narratorwas reading the story, just for
(23:12):
me, I was completely hooked.Here's some good news. You can
listen to New York or any otherbook for free. Audible is giving
sequestered listeners a freeaudiobook with a 30 day trial.
Just go to audible trial.com.Forward slash sequestered,
that's one free book yours tokeep forever. So find something
(23:34):
you love and get listening. Goto audible trial.com. Forward
slash sequestered, you next
to the stand prosecutors wouldcall crime scene investigator
(23:57):
Kristen Schubert. Schubert wasone of the CSI experts assigned
to the search of 110 treemontStreet on November 28 2022 her
role in this search was to applythe Blue Star forensic agent, a
chemical designed to react withtraces of blood. These results
(24:18):
were clearly seen in numerousevidence photos presented thus
far in the trial, but thedefense was ready to poke holes
in Schubert's findings. Couldthe reaction have been caused by
bleach? No bleach was found inthe apartment. But here's a key
detail, no second test wasperformed to confirm that the
(24:39):
substance was blood
stars.
Blue Star is a canal IMS bloodreagent, and investigators use
it to help identify areas ofinterest where the blood may not
be visible to the naked eye.When it is applied, it reacts
with the iron in your blood. Andif there's a positive reaction,
(25:02):
you'll see that when we werelight blue glow, and that has
been documented with photographsand swap of those areas are
taken for the testing. Have
you received specializedtraining on the application?
We have received training on theapplication
national forensics Academy. Yes.
(25:23):
So are there other substancesother than the iron
and blood that can cause
a Blue Star reaction? There
are several false positives withblue star such as, there's a
weasel one ferret blood, whichis the odd thing, um, there's
some root vegetables, some cleanproducts.
(25:47):
I'd like to focus on betweenproducts,
there's all kinds of differentones. Emission specific will
give a false positive however,the reaction looks different
than that. Of what?
How does it look different thanthat blood,
depending on how soon it's beenapplied, sometimes it can look
(26:08):
more white. It's not quite as anintense, long, lasting glow that
you might get from blood. Soyou'll see it, and then it will
fade rather quickly. And like Isaid, sometimes it's not quite
as blue. It's more of a light,very, very light blue reaction.
Next, the prosecution walkedSchubert through the details of
(26:31):
blood spatter patterns anddirectionality, carefully
analyzing the evidence. Amongthe items collected was a gray
long sleeve sweatshirt removedfrom Chen's apartment.
Investigators also turned theirattention to Jasmine's car, a
white chevy equinox, the samevehicle found abandoned on
(26:52):
mountain creek road. Every inchwas examined, searching for
anything that could piecetogether the final moments
before her disappearance.
Suck Creek Road, a quiet, woodedstretch along the Tennessee
(27:13):
River in Chattanooga, Tennessee.It's gorgeous, actually, the
river raging on one side and onthe other, lush, forested
landscapes peak between walls oflimestone. Beautiful homes line
the river's edge as you makeyour way into Prentice Cooper
State Forest. You'll rememberfrom episode one how beautiful
(27:36):
and outdoorsy this area is, andin November, the colors would
have been stunning on Sut CreekRoad. Later in the trial, we'll
have insight into the casualmoments of jasmine and Jason's
relationship. Just days beforeshe went missing, Jasmine sent
Jason a text recommending thathe go see the fall foliage on
(27:58):
Sut Creek Road. The word set wasobviously auto corrected from
suck here, but how chilling,right? Turns out Jason did take
that drive along suck CreekRoad, but we all know he wasn't
taking in the fall foliage. No,he was searching for the best
place to dump a body nextprosecutor Moyle shifts the
(28:23):
Courtroom's focus to the sceneon suck Creek Road. Schubert had
been called just moments afterinvestigators discovered the
suitcase.
Did you have an opportunity tolook at the suitcase?
I did. It was pulled up ontolevel ground by the time I had
(28:43):
arrived on scene, but I didobserve it and document and
photograph up and collectevidence from that area.
May I never retreat from what'sbeen previous identification
over again, tell me if yourecognize
the this item.
(29:05):
What is this on? This is thesuitcase that was recovered at
suffrey, where I move.
At this time, I will send methree
suitcase go after subgroups,
because we believed it had humanremains inside of it. The
(29:26):
medical examiner wanted ittransported as it is so Hamilton
County, but EMS came out for thezine, they loaded the suitcase
on to the EMS truck andtransport it to the medical
examiner's office. Did
you go to medical examiner'soffice as well?
I guess I did, and
what happened when y'all arrivedat the medical examiner's
(29:48):
office? The medical examiner xrayed the suitcase, and then
once determining what wasinside, we I began documenting
as. The news.
A quick reminder before wecontinue this next part is
(30:11):
heavy. We're about to discusssome graphic details from the
crime scene, including evidencethat was shown in court. If you
need to skip ahead or take abreak. Please do.
Once the suitcase wastransported to the medical
examiner's office, its contentswould be revealed and
(30:33):
investigators would finallylocate Jasmine pace. Her tiny
body lay inside the suitcase,handcuffed and shackled in the
fetal position and wrappedinside three layers of trash
bags. Here's something chillingthat we would learn the keys
were still attached to thehandcuffs. CSI Kristin Schubert
(30:57):
had carefully documented eachdetail as the medical examiner
peeled back every layer,revealing the brutality of what
had been concealed inside ofthat suitcase. The weight of the
moment was undeniable. GeneralMoyle and judge Patterson warned
the courtroom the next imageswould be difficult to see. A
(31:18):
hush fell over the room, becauseonce these photos were shown,
there would be no looking away.
This is a series of photos thatshows the process once we
removed the victim from thesuitcase, cloth inside the bags,
we placed them on the table. Andthis is a series of photos to
(31:40):
show the process of taking eachlayer of the card backs off and
so it depicts that process. YourHonor, I would
also give an admonition that itis one of these photos somebody
may not discern.
Listen to unload photos thatindicate graphic. Make sure it's
(32:01):
something that is require you toleave the court. You probably
should do that.
I braced myself.
Recognize the individual showson the right side of this
photograph.
Yes, I do. My name is DoctorCouncil. He's the Hamilton
County Medical and
(32:23):
that is
what you're looking at in thecenter of this building right
now these, this is the
bags, the way we it comesremains in it
outside. There were three. Thisis looking into layer number
(32:45):
two. We have just cut theoutside layer of the guy here,
and on the inside you can seethe second layer, 1813, this
would be the innermost layer,the third layer of
the COVID,
(33:08):
guys is these seven handcuffs,one two her wrist and one two,
which side, her right side. Thisis Dr Cogswell peeling back each
layer of being Harvard stripes,and you can see the shackle you
(33:32):
left on that
left angle handcuffs in the
chat. Well, the handcuff had twolocations, so there was one to
attach to her hand and one toher ankle. The shackle only had
one stitch and then a chain.
The garbage bags were hung todry, then swabbed for DNA,
(33:55):
processed for fingerprints, andfinally packaged and submitted
into evidence. Schubert alsocollected swabs from the
suitcase, carefully testing thehandles, zippers and other key
areas for any trace of forensicevidence. From my vantage point,
Jason Chen never once looked upwhile these images were shown
(34:18):
sitting in the courtroom eachday, I often wondered what he
was thinking as evidence andtimelines unfolded. Was he
processing it all? Was hereliving those moments? Now I
wondered, as the gears of thistrial were shifting, was he more
prepared than the rest of us forwhat was coming next? The
(34:39):
defense takes the stand andshifted the focus. A receipt
from elevated hemp company wasfound in Jasmine's car, time
stamped, November 22 at 3:16pmit showed the purchase of two
disposable vape pens. It seemedlike the defense was trying to
introduce doubt, maybe evensuggesting. That Jasmine was
(35:00):
under the influence that night.They didn't stop there. The
defense also turned itsattention back to the Blue Star
testing, raising questions aboutpossible scene contamination and
attempting to plant uncertaintyin the jury's mind.
So UK an actor, a Blue Starapplication had already been
applied.
(35:22):
That's correct. And
you walk through this scene,
I would booties apply? Yes, if
there was blood on the floor,
would your booties sell up theblood?
If there was pools of blood orfresh blood, yes, it's
potentially Yes, you would pickit up. Usually it doesn't just
pick up and move around withguideline,
(35:46):
it's possible for you to privacyinvestigators.
Investigators need a DNA proof,something concrete to tie the
evidence together. Enter GregMartis, a retired crime scene
investigator with years offorensic experience. His job was
(36:10):
to collect the genetic referencesamples that would confirm
Jasmine Pace's identity. Hegathered a couple of
toothbrushes and a hair clipfrom Jasmine's house, ensuring
they would provide a reliableDNA profile. Then he collected
swabs from each of her parents.Their genetic markers would
serve as the key comparison inthe forensic process. It was a
(36:33):
necessary step a clinicalprocess, but one that carried an
undeniable weight a family'sDNA, not just confirming
identity, but solidifying loss.
And specifically, on the 30th ofNovember 2022, reworking this
policy investigator, yes, I wason that
(36:55):
day. Did you respond to aparticular location to collect
any
evidence? Yes, I did.
You recall where you were sentto?
Detective slaughter had calledme and asked me to respond over
to the homicide unit office, andI remember there for what
purpose he wanted me to collecta DNA sample from the parents of
(37:18):
the victim, and
what type of sample Did youcollect, I
have collected bubble swabs,which is a swab on the inside of
the cheek, the skin on theinside of your mouth is very
soft and slow, soft soilseasily. So it's a good source
for DNA.
Zero menu has been offered foridentification purposes as
(37:38):
Exhibit 193,
and tell me if you
recognize that item. Yes, sir, Idid. Where did that item come
from? That is a swab fromKatrina pace, who collected that
swap? I collected that at thehomicide office. That's correct.
On Monday, November the third,22
(38:05):
next on the witness stand wasJerry McElroy, tasked with
handling a crucial step in theforensic process, fingerprinting
Jason Chen and ensuring that keyevidence made its way to the
Tennessee Bureau ofInvestigation, or TBI. His role
may not have been as highprofile as the others, but it
was just as essential everyfingerprint, every properly
(38:29):
logged piece of evidence, everychain of custody, detail
mattered in a case like this,even the smallest misstep could
become fuel for reasonable doubtin
Finally, investigators turn totechnology. After all, digital
(38:49):
evidence doesn't lie. TBIdigital forensic expert Rachel
Bucha, let's took the stand nexther job was to extract data from
the SIM card found in JasonChen's backpack, the results a
phone number, an ICC number,tiny breadcrumbs in a digital
(39:12):
trail, each one with a potentialkey to unlocking the truth, and
Then a discovery from the SIMcard Bucha. Let's identified the
phone number associated with it,and it wasn't Chen's. It was
Jasmine's,
(39:36):
next week on sequestered.
So I'm now showing you 232,
orients us to this boat rack,
if I can point to the suitcase,to this area here that we're X
ray and again, we see anotherone of these reinforcing ribs, a
(39:58):
few more rivets, etc. Cetera, azipper. And here we have a knee.
You can see the kneecap here,and the lower leg, the shin and
the fibula that goes along withit. This is the thigh bone. Here
you see a hand, or the bones ofa hand. And you can see the top
(40:19):
of the skull as well. Here
nature,
the medical examiner takes usthrough Jasmine Pace's autopsy,
bringing new insight to whatreally happened inside Jason
Chen's apartment. Stick with us.We're in the thick of it now.
You
(40:56):
music. Thank you for listeningto sequestered a juror's
perspective on the murder trialfor Jasmine. Pace. Each episode
brings us closer tounderstanding the trial, the
people involved, and the weightof seeking justice. If this
story speaks to you, pleasefollow, share and continue the
conversation with us. Jasmine'sstory deserves to be remembered.
(41:20):
This is a BP production. Theshow is written, edited and
produced by me Sarah Reed, withCO production by Andrea Kleid.
News clips featured in thisepisode were sourced from wtvc
News Channel Nine, local threenews, Chattanooga and the law
and crime network. Music andsound design are curated to
(41:41):
reflect the gravity andsensitivity of this story, and
with the intent to honorJasmine, her family and the
community affected by her death.For more information or to
connect with us, visitsequestered pod.com or follow us
on Instagram at sequestered pod.Thank you for listening until
next Time, stay curious and staysafe. You.
Before we begin, please beadvised that this episode
contains graphic descriptions ofviolence as presented during the
trial. Please take care whilelistening. It's Wednesday,
January 15, 2025 by now, we thejurors, are moving into the
routine of our new job. Thelobby call at our hotel has
(00:24):
become a steady expectation, andonce we're in our jury room at
the courthouse, everyone justkind of moves into their spot. I
think by this point, we had allgotten a taste for the task at
hand. There was no exiting thisscenario. It was just time to
move in and do the job. It wasonly day three of the trial.
After all, a knock at the doorsignaled it was time. We
(00:48):
gathered our things, lined up,and took the solemn walk across
the hallway into the courtroom.The door of the courtroom held
open by one of our deputies aswe stepped inside. Everyone is
standing as we make our way intothe jury box. I make it to my
seat in the front row, thirdchair in I mentioned in a
previous episode that 14 of theblue office style jury chairs
(01:10):
were bolted to the ground, sevenin the front row and seven in
the back but there were 16jurors sitting through this
trial. The four alternateswouldn't be selected until just
before the deliberation phase.So that meant two extra chairs
had to be added to accommodateall 16 of us, a matching free
standing blue office chair onwheels sat at the end of each
(01:32):
row. The back row's extra chairstayed put throughout the trial,
but the front row now that was adifferent story. The way the
jury box was designed meant thatthe extra chair had to be added
after we all took our seats. Soevery single time we entered the
room, 15 of us would file inwith the entire courtroom
standing mind you and quietlytake our seats in the utter
(01:55):
silence that filled the air, andthen clunk, a bailiff would
maneuver the final 30 poundrolling blue office chair into
the last block of space in thefront row of the jury box, then
the last juror was finally ableto take her seat. This too had
(02:16):
become a part of the routine,but today felt different when we
stepped into the courtroom thistime, my eyes immediately went
to the floor in front of thejury box, where a large blue
tarp had been laid out, coveringthe space just feet from where I
would take my seat. I didn'tknow exactly what was coming,
but I knew one thing. Today wewere stepping into the crime
(02:40):
scene.
This is sequestered a juror'sperspective on the murder trial
for Jasmine pace. I'm Sarahjuror number 11 each episode,
I'll take you inside thecourtroom, behind the scenes and
(03:02):
into the weighty moments of thistrial as we honor Jasmine's life
and navigate the complexities ofseeking justice, let's Begin.
This is Episode Four inside thecrime scene you
(03:28):
the prosecution called theirnext witness to the stand,
Michelle Johnson, a seasonedcrime scene investigator with
years of experience. Michellewas a middle aged woman with
shoulder length blonde hair,wearing glasses and a light blue
pantsuit with a black blouse,serious and guarded, she carried
herself with the confidence ofsomeone who had seen it all. She
(03:51):
was stern yet soft spoken, andgave the distinct impression
that she wouldn't be easilyswayed. Plainly put, Michelle
Johnson was no rookie. Thiswasn't the first crime scene she
had stepped into. Everyone whoentered that apartment saw it
through their own lens, the pacefamily searching for answers and
(04:12):
investigators piecing togetherevidence. But Johnson, she had
one focus, honed by experience.She was looking for blood, and
she found it.
There was blood everywhere,smeared behind the couch, on the
(04:34):
door frame, spattered on thewall and soaked into the tile
grout and carpet. Johnsondescribed the Blue Star reaction
as one of the strongest she'dever seen.
How would you describe the BlueStar reaction that you yourself
observed inside Mr. Chin'sapartment
(04:55):
during the intense and longiteration it was the. It
probably be the most I've everseen on reaction on the
bathroom.
Star reaction in strong blue.Star reaction in the bathroom.
(05:16):
Yes. Is there a strong food?Star reaction in the
bedroom? Yes. Next,
the prosecution displayed adiagram of Chen's apartment,
depicting the layout of theunit, along with a couple of
dozen circled numbers written ineach number represented with a
(05:39):
marker that pointed to a pieceof evidence. Leading the
questioning was chief homicideprosecutor Paul Moyle, working
in tandem with Michelle Johnsonto methodically present the
crime scene evidence, tall andslender with short reddish blond
hair and a neatly trimmed beard,Moyle had the air of a
(05:59):
prosecutor who had spent yearsdissecting cases just like this
one, dressed in a sharp threepiece gray suit, a crisp white
button down and a navy blue tie,he exuded quiet authority,
polished, prepared and precise.If Johnson was the steady,
unshakable witness, Moyle washer perfect counterpart,
(06:23):
relentless, measured and razorsharp in his approach, he didn't
grandstand or overplay his hand.Instead, he guided Johnson
through the evidence with theconfidence of a prosecutor who
knew exactly how to build hiscase, brick by brick, with a
nod, he now directed herattention to a large evidence
(06:44):
box sitting on the floor justoutside of the witness stand
inside a seven foot section ofblood stained carpet cut
straight from the floor of JasonChen's apartment. Prosecutor
Moyle asked CSI Johnson to openthe large evidence box. She
stepped out of the witnessstand, picked up a pair of
(07:06):
scissors and began unsealing thebox with Moyes help, the large
piece of carpet, along with itsblue under padding, would be
unfolded and laid out on thetarp just steps in front of the
jury box. The
(07:35):
the stain was massive, roughlythe size of a body curled in the
fetal position. It saturated thecarpet like a dark, haunting
shadow of what had happenedthere. The blood, deep, reddish
brown, oxidized with thyme, hadnot just soaked in, but seeped
through, penetrating both thecarpet and the padding beneath
(07:57):
it. This wasn't just a surfacestain. It had saturated and
pooled all the way to the subfloor in the last episode,
during investigator Crawford'stestimony, crime scene photos
made it impossible to ignorethis grim reality. We saw each
of these layers peeled back, thecarpet lifted and the under
(08:17):
patting until the final imprintwas revealed blood pooled on the
wooden floorboard beneath asilent witness to the violence
that had unfolded in that veryspot, with this section of
carpet now laying on the floorof the courtroom. Judge
Patterson invited the jury tostand for a better perspective.
I pushed myself up leaning overthe edge of the jury box. From
(08:42):
this angle, I could see theunderside of the carpet facing
up where the stain was mostclearly visible. The section of
carpet was at least seven feetwide, and Jasmine's blood filled
more than half of the space. Thesheer scale of it was
staggering. Later in the trial,the medical examiner would
confirm that nearly every ounceof Jasmine's blood had drained
(09:04):
from her body, even without thatknowledge, in this moment, I
stood there staring at theevidence, unable to shake a
single overwhelming thought, howmuch blood would it take to
create a stain this big? Here'sa clip of news channel nine's,
latricia Thomas and Meg Doyletalking about this part of the
(09:24):
trial.
Okay, here's a picture of thecarpet that they brought out
here I want to bring in now newschannel nine's, Meg dole Meg,
can you hear me? Okay, here,yes, I can. Can you hear me? We
can thank you. So talk to me alittle bit Meg about what was
(09:45):
going on in the courtroom whenthis large piece of carpet that
the prosecution says has bloodon it was unwrapped and shown to
the jury and everybody in thecourtroom. Yeah,
absolutely. So when they broughtout this large piece of carpet.
It. Obviously people sitting inthe general audience couldn't
really see it, but the judgeallowed the jury to stand up so
(10:07):
they could fully evaluate thecarpet, get a good look at it
the entire duration that thecarpet was pulled out. Michelle
Johnson, the CSI witness who wason the stand testimony, she said
that this carpet, the entiretyof the stain was just over five
(10:29):
feet. And then there's the onemain stain, which is kind of
just smack dab in the middlethere. That stain alone is three
and a half feet by 32 inches. Soobviously a very substantial
stain there. And the reason whythe crime scene investigators
did not pick up on this thefirst time that they entered
(10:54):
Jason Chen's apartment and didtheir initial search was because
his bed was over this portion,and due to the poor lighting in
his apartment, they were notable to pick up on this carpet
and see that there was a stain,because this thing actually
seeped through the carpet intothe under layer, all the way to
(11:14):
the floor. So it obviously itseeped through multiple layers,
which shows just how substantialof a stain this was. So when the
apartment complex, they saidthat they had to completely
renovate Mr. Chen's entireapartment because the damage was
just too substantial. There wastoo much cleanup, they said it
(11:36):
would just be easier to kind ofdemolish everything and restart
with that unit. So when theyduring that process, they
obviously were moving everythingout, moving it around, and came
upon the stain, and theyimmediately stopped what they
were doing. Called theinvestigators, and they
(11:57):
investigators requested that theapartment stop all their work
until they could get back outthere and kind of assess this.
And obviously this is a largepiece of evidence, so
thankfully, the apartmentcomplex did speak up when they
saw something. I
also want to mention the glassfragments, small shards were
(12:19):
found in the living room. Thejury watched as these fragments
were admitted into evidence, andwhen I say they were tiny, I
mean minute. You may recall, thedefense argued in their opening
statement that Jasmine attackedChen, first with a wine bottle,
then with a broken wine glass.But as CSI Johnson prepared to
(12:40):
reveal this evidence, thereality told a different story
using scissors, Johnsoncarefully opened a small
envelope and emptied the tinyglass particles onto a black
piece of paper at moyle'srequest. She folded the paper
into a makeshift bowl, thenpassed it to him with deliberate
steps, Moyle carried it over tothe projector, now magnified on
(13:04):
the screen the courtroom couldfinally see them, the so called
fragments of a violent struggle.I'm being generous here, but
there were maybe 10 pieces ofglass, the largest no more than
a few centimeters in diameter,and the rest practically dust.
Then came Moyes response, I
(13:32):
don't know.
Now on to Chen's car, a 2018gray Toyota Camry sitting parked
in the impound lot, silent andunassuming, but investigators
know better. If there wasnothing to hide, why go to such
lengths to conceal it in hisparents garage? Forensic teams
(13:57):
combed through every inch of thevehicle, dusting for
fingerprints, swabbing surfacesand documenting any trace of
evidence the exterior, thehandles, the seats, nothing was
overlooked overall. The carlooked pretty clean, but it was
the trunk that held theirattention. The trunks, rubber
(14:18):
mat showed unmistakable tracks,parallel streaks of dirt
imprinted across its surface,marks that looked eerily similar
to the path left by suitcasewheels with the jury watching
investigators conduct a side byside comparison. Once again, the
suitcase Jasmine's remains werefound in was presented with
(14:42):
gloves on. Moyle held thesuitcase at a horizontal angle
so that the wheels were facingthe jury standing next to him,
Johnson held up the trunk liner,comparing the wheels of the
suitcase with the imprints onthe mat. The realization settled
over the room like a heavyweight in. Proving this was more
than just a theory,
(15:11):
marked measurements on here, andwere they consistent in size?
Yes. Were they consistent in thepattern of the two wheels? Yes.
Finally, the prosecutionintroduced a blood spot card, a
(15:32):
crucial genetic reference usedin forensic testing. This small
card contained a preservedsample of Jasmine paces, blood
collected for DNA comparisonagainst evidence found at the
crime scene. Investigators usedit to confirm whether blood
stains in Chen's apartment or onany of the other key items
collected matched Jasmine's DNA.But the defense wasn't
(15:57):
satisfied. Defense AttorneyWeiss pushed back questioning
the collection process andraising concerns about possible
contamination, planting seeds ofdoubt before the jury. So
(16:20):
offers. I'm not sure. I knowofficers walked through and they
couldn't have
contaminated,
no if there's video of peoplegoing into their crime scene.
(16:42):
Folks think
that's important
to do your job, isn't it harder?We
would speak with officers, andwe asked officers anything that
wouldn't move, anything likethat, but they normally tell us
if anything has been moved. Inthis case, nobody had informed
(17:04):
us that anything had been moved,
and he wasn't satisfied with howthe Blue Star test was applied,
reminding the jury that it'sonly a presumptive test, not a
definitive proof of blood.
So other than sending off thelist box too. Did you do any
(17:25):
other scientific tests as acriminal investigator firm that
was split just the presumptivetest? Did you least do a patrol
test that showed the accuracyand reliability of the start of
June, that standard operatingprocedure that you first. I
(17:46):
mean, obviously, no matter,control test based on the
invisible blood that alsoeliminated, that's accurate
testing that you did. Did you doa control scientific you know,
Weiss also pointed out what hefelt was a critical gap in the
investigation, not all of theevidence was tested.
(18:10):
Is that true that not all theevidence that she left it with
this investigation was tested?
But General Moyle had one morepiece of evidence, receipts,
Walgreens, Walmart, isopropylalcohol, bounty, paper towels,
hydrogen peroxide, all purchasedon November 23 2022 the day
(18:35):
Jasmine disappeared. The debitcard used for these purchases,
it matched the one found inJason Chen's wallet. And then
one final unsettling fact, a boxof trash bags that should have
held 40 now contained only 11 or12. We already know that
Jasmine's body had been wrappedin three layers. Where were the
(18:58):
other bags? Okay, I get it. Wedon't know exactly when Chen
purchased that box or how manyhad already been used before the
night of November 22 but sittingin that courtroom, it was
impossible to ignore theunspoken question hanging in the
air, what happened to the restof the bags? It's interesting,
(19:21):
after my sequestration, when myproducer and I went back to
Chattanooga to visit thelocation sites mentioned during
the trial, we ended up sittingin the parking lot of the
Walmart that Chen was seenvisiting. Before leaving, we
decided to take a drive aroundthe rear of the building to get
an idea of their dumpstersituation. We already know that
(19:42):
the dumpsters at the lofts atTremont were thoroughly searched
and no trash bags containingcleanup efforts were collected.
There was a whole lot of bloodin his apartment, and Jason had
a big mess to clean up. I wantto know where he disposed of all
that material. I wondered if hetook it with him. On one of
those trips to Walmart. Here's aclip of my producer and I
(20:04):
counting the dumpsters behindWalmart on that day. Okay, so
now we're gonna go look fordumpsters at the Walmart, just
in case. I'm there's so manyquestions I wish I would have
asked now that I'm on this sideof the case, and this is one of
them. Not only, why did youknow? Was there any footage
(20:24):
captured from Walmart's parkinglot of Jason Chen sitting in the
parking lot? Secondly, were anydumpsters searched or looked
looked through? It may have beentotally irrelevant at that
point, because, you know,footage may have been obtained
much later. Dumpsters may havebeen dumped by then. I don't
know, but there could have beenfootage potentially. So we are
(20:50):
going to see what kind ofdumpsters could be around. We
did talk to one person whothought the dumpsters would be
locked up. So let's just go seewhat it looks like,
okay, there's a set of dumpstersover here too. Okay, yep, so
(21:11):
there's two dumpsters over hereto the right. There's, there's
one dumpster up against the theside wall of Walmart. The ones
on the right don't even looklike they belong to Walmart, so
he could have easily put themthere. And as we're turning the
corner to go on the backside ofWalmart, there are 1234,
(21:35):
dumpsters lined up that he couldhave had access to. And then on
the other side, opposite of therear of Walmart, is a wooded
area which could have easily hadanything discarded over there.
So the knife has never beenfound, the phone has never been
found. Bloody towels, any ofthis kind of stuff has never
(22:01):
been discovered, so who knows ifthat has ended up in a landfill
somewhere by now, if it was castover into the woods somewhere,
who knows you
(22:27):
you know, during sequestration,I had a lot of time to think,
and honestly, I kept wishing Ihad a speaker so that I could
just listen to a great book.That's why I love audiobooks.
Whether I'm driving, walking thedogs or traveling, I can just
press play and get lost in anamazing story anytime and
anywhere. One of my all timefavorites is New York by Edward
(22:51):
Rutherford. This epic historicalnovel spans over 400 years,
following generations offamilies through the city's most
pivotal moments, from its Dutchsettlement days and all the way
to 911 it was one of the firstaudio books I had ever listened
to. It felt like the narratorwas reading the story, just for
(23:12):
me, I was completely hooked.Here's some good news. You can
listen to New York or any otherbook for free. Audible is giving
sequestered listeners a freeaudiobook with a 30 day trial.
Just go to audible trial.com.Forward slash sequestered,
that's one free book yours tokeep forever. So find something
(23:34):
you love and get listening. Goto audible trial.com. Forward
slash sequestered, you next
to the stand prosecutors wouldcall crime scene investigator
(23:57):
Kristen Schubert. Schubert wasone of the CSI experts assigned
to the search of 110 treemontStreet on November 28 2022 her
role in this search was to applythe Blue Star forensic agent, a
chemical designed to react withtraces of blood. These results
(24:18):
were clearly seen in numerousevidence photos presented thus
far in the trial, but thedefense was ready to poke holes
in Schubert's findings. Couldthe reaction have been caused by
bleach? No bleach was found inthe apartment. But here's a key
detail, no second test wasperformed to confirm that the
(24:39):
substance was blood
stars.
Blue Star is a canal IMS bloodreagent, and investigators use
it to help identify areas ofinterest where the blood may not
be visible to the naked eye.When it is applied, it reacts
with the iron in your blood. Andif there's a positive reaction,
(25:02):
you'll see that when we werelight blue glow, and that has
been documented with photographsand swap of those areas are
taken for the testing. Have
you received specializedtraining on the application?
We have received training on theapplication
national forensics Academy. Yes.
(25:23):
So are there other substancesother than the iron
and blood that can cause
a Blue Star reaction? There
are several false positives withblue star such as, there's a
weasel one ferret blood, whichis the odd thing, um, there's
some root vegetables, some cleanproducts.
(25:47):
I'd like to focus on betweenproducts,
there's all kinds of differentones. Emission specific will
give a false positive however,the reaction looks different
than that. Of what?
How does it look different thanthat blood,
depending on how soon it's beenapplied, sometimes it can look
(26:08):
more white. It's not quite as anintense, long, lasting glow that
you might get from blood. Soyou'll see it, and then it will
fade rather quickly. And like Isaid, sometimes it's not quite
as blue. It's more of a light,very, very light blue reaction.
Next, the prosecution walkedSchubert through the details of
(26:31):
blood spatter patterns anddirectionality, carefully
analyzing the evidence. Amongthe items collected was a gray
long sleeve sweatshirt removedfrom Chen's apartment.
Investigators also turned theirattention to Jasmine's car, a
white chevy equinox, the samevehicle found abandoned on
(26:52):
mountain creek road. Every inchwas examined, searching for
anything that could piecetogether the final moments
before her disappearance.
Suck Creek Road, a quiet, woodedstretch along the Tennessee
(27:13):
River in Chattanooga, Tennessee.It's gorgeous, actually, the
river raging on one side and onthe other, lush, forested
landscapes peak between walls oflimestone. Beautiful homes line
the river's edge as you makeyour way into Prentice Cooper
State Forest. You'll rememberfrom episode one how beautiful
(27:36):
and outdoorsy this area is, andin November, the colors would
have been stunning on Sut CreekRoad. Later in the trial, we'll
have insight into the casualmoments of jasmine and Jason's
relationship. Just days beforeshe went missing, Jasmine sent
Jason a text recommending thathe go see the fall foliage on
(27:58):
Sut Creek Road. The word set wasobviously auto corrected from
suck here, but how chilling,right? Turns out Jason did take
that drive along suck CreekRoad, but we all know he wasn't
taking in the fall foliage. No,he was searching for the best
place to dump a body nextprosecutor Moyle shifts the
(28:23):
Courtroom's focus to the sceneon suck Creek Road. Schubert had
been called just moments afterinvestigators discovered the
suitcase.
Did you have an opportunity tolook at the suitcase?
I did. It was pulled up ontolevel ground by the time I had
(28:43):
arrived on scene, but I didobserve it and document and
photograph up and collectevidence from that area.
May I never retreat from what'sbeen previous identification
over again, tell me if yourecognize
the this item.
(29:05):
What is this on? This is thesuitcase that was recovered at
suffrey, where I move.
At this time, I will send methree
suitcase go after subgroups,
because we believed it had humanremains inside of it. The
(29:26):
medical examiner wanted ittransported as it is so Hamilton
County, but EMS came out for thezine, they loaded the suitcase
on to the EMS truck andtransport it to the medical
examiner's office. Did
you go to medical examiner'soffice as well?
I guess I did, and
what happened when y'all arrivedat the medical examiner's
(29:48):
office? The medical examiner xrayed the suitcase, and then
once determining what wasinside, we I began documenting
as. The news.
A quick reminder before wecontinue this next part is
(30:11):
heavy. We're about to discusssome graphic details from the
crime scene, including evidencethat was shown in court. If you
need to skip ahead or take abreak. Please do.
Once the suitcase wastransported to the medical
examiner's office, its contentswould be revealed and
(30:33):
investigators would finallylocate Jasmine pace. Her tiny
body lay inside the suitcase,handcuffed and shackled in the
fetal position and wrappedinside three layers of trash
bags. Here's something chillingthat we would learn the keys
were still attached to thehandcuffs. CSI Kristin Schubert
(30:57):
had carefully documented eachdetail as the medical examiner
peeled back every layer,revealing the brutality of what
had been concealed inside ofthat suitcase. The weight of the
moment was undeniable. GeneralMoyle and judge Patterson warned
the courtroom the next imageswould be difficult to see. A
(31:18):
hush fell over the room, becauseonce these photos were shown,
there would be no looking away.
This is a series of photos thatshows the process once we
removed the victim from thesuitcase, cloth inside the bags,
we placed them on the table. Andthis is a series of photos to
(31:40):
show the process of taking eachlayer of the card backs off and
so it depicts that process. YourHonor, I would
also give an admonition that itis one of these photos somebody
may not discern.
Listen to unload photos thatindicate graphic. Make sure it's
(32:01):
something that is require you toleave the court. You probably
should do that.
I braced myself.
Recognize the individual showson the right side of this
photograph.
Yes, I do. My name is DoctorCouncil. He's the Hamilton
County Medical and
(32:23):
that is
what you're looking at in thecenter of this building right
now these, this is the
bags, the way we it comesremains in it
outside. There were three. Thisis looking into layer number
(32:45):
two. We have just cut theoutside layer of the guy here,
and on the inside you can seethe second layer, 1813, this
would be the innermost layer,the third layer of
the COVID,
(33:08):
guys is these seven handcuffs,one two her wrist and one two,
which side, her right side. Thisis Dr Cogswell peeling back each
layer of being Harvard stripes,and you can see the shackle you
(33:32):
left on that
left angle handcuffs in the
chat. Well, the handcuff had twolocations, so there was one to
attach to her hand and one toher ankle. The shackle only had
one stitch and then a chain.
The garbage bags were hung todry, then swabbed for DNA,
(33:55):
processed for fingerprints, andfinally packaged and submitted
into evidence. Schubert alsocollected swabs from the
suitcase, carefully testing thehandles, zippers and other key
areas for any trace of forensicevidence. From my vantage point,
Jason Chen never once looked upwhile these images were shown
(34:18):
sitting in the courtroom eachday, I often wondered what he
was thinking as evidence andtimelines unfolded. Was he
processing it all? Was hereliving those moments? Now I
wondered, as the gears of thistrial were shifting, was he more
prepared than the rest of us forwhat was coming next? The
(34:39):
defense takes the stand andshifted the focus. A receipt
from elevated hemp company wasfound in Jasmine's car, time
stamped, November 22 at 3:16pmit showed the purchase of two
disposable vape pens. It seemedlike the defense was trying to
introduce doubt, maybe evensuggesting. That Jasmine was
(35:00):
under the influence that night.They didn't stop there. The
defense also turned itsattention back to the Blue Star
testing, raising questions aboutpossible scene contamination and
attempting to plant uncertaintyin the jury's mind.
So UK an actor, a Blue Starapplication had already been
applied.
(35:22):
That's correct. And
you walk through this scene,
I would booties apply? Yes, if
there was blood on the floor,
would your booties sell up theblood?
If there was pools of blood orfresh blood, yes, it's
potentially Yes, you would pickit up. Usually it doesn't just
pick up and move around withguideline,
(35:46):
it's possible for you to privacyinvestigators.
Investigators need a DNA proof,something concrete to tie the
evidence together. Enter GregMartis, a retired crime scene
investigator with years offorensic experience. His job was
(36:10):
to collect the genetic referencesamples that would confirm
Jasmine Pace's identity. Hegathered a couple of
toothbrushes and a hair clipfrom Jasmine's house, ensuring
they would provide a reliableDNA profile. Then he collected
swabs from each of her parents.Their genetic markers would
serve as the key comparison inthe forensic process. It was a
(36:33):
necessary step a clinicalprocess, but one that carried an
undeniable weight a family'sDNA, not just confirming
identity, but solidifying loss.
And specifically, on the 30th ofNovember 2022, reworking this
policy investigator, yes, I wason that
(36:55):
day. Did you respond to aparticular location to collect
any
evidence? Yes, I did.
You recall where you were sentto?
Detective slaughter had calledme and asked me to respond over
to the homicide unit office, andI remember there for what
purpose he wanted me to collecta DNA sample from the parents of
(37:18):
the victim, and
what type of sample Did youcollect, I
have collected bubble swabs,which is a swab on the inside of
the cheek, the skin on theinside of your mouth is very
soft and slow, soft soilseasily. So it's a good source
for DNA.
Zero menu has been offered foridentification purposes as
(37:38):
Exhibit 193,
and tell me if you
recognize that item. Yes, sir, Idid. Where did that item come
from? That is a swab fromKatrina pace, who collected that
swap? I collected that at thehomicide office. That's correct.
On Monday, November the third,22
(38:05):
next on the witness stand wasJerry McElroy, tasked with
handling a crucial step in theforensic process, fingerprinting
Jason Chen and ensuring that keyevidence made its way to the
Tennessee Bureau ofInvestigation, or TBI. His role
may not have been as highprofile as the others, but it
was just as essential everyfingerprint, every properly
(38:29):
logged piece of evidence, everychain of custody, detail
mattered in a case like this,even the smallest misstep could
become fuel for reasonable doubtin
Finally, investigators turn totechnology. After all, digital
(38:49):
evidence doesn't lie. TBIdigital forensic expert Rachel
Bucha, let's took the stand nexther job was to extract data from
the SIM card found in JasonChen's backpack, the results a
phone number, an ICC number,tiny breadcrumbs in a digital
(39:12):
trail, each one with a potentialkey to unlocking the truth, and
Then a discovery from the SIMcard Bucha. Let's identified the
phone number associated with it,and it wasn't Chen's. It was
Jasmine's,
(39:36):
next week on sequestered.
So I'm now showing you 232,
orients us to this boat rack,
if I can point to the suitcase,to this area here that we're X
ray and again, we see anotherone of these reinforcing ribs, a
(39:58):
few more rivets, etc. Cetera, azipper. And here we have a knee.
You can see the kneecap here,and the lower leg, the shin and
the fibula that goes along withit. This is the thigh bone. Here
you see a hand, or the bones ofa hand. And you can see the top
(40:19):
of the skull as well. Here
nature,
the medical examiner takes usthrough Jasmine Pace's autopsy,
bringing new insight to whatreally happened inside Jason
Chen's apartment. Stick with us.We're in the thick of it now.
You
(40:56):
music. Thank you for listeningto sequestered a juror's
perspective on the murder trialfor Jasmine. Pace. Each episode
brings us closer tounderstanding the trial, the
people involved, and the weightof seeking justice. If this
story speaks to you, pleasefollow, share and continue the
conversation with us. Jasmine'sstory deserves to be remembered.
(41:20):
This is a BP production. Theshow is written, edited and
produced by me Sarah Reed, withCO production by Andrea Kleid.
News clips featured in thisepisode were sourced from wtvc
News Channel Nine, local threenews, Chattanooga and the law
and crime network. Music andsound design are curated to
(41:41):
reflect the gravity andsensitivity of this story, and
with the intent to honorJasmine, her family and the
community affected by her death.For more information or to
connect with us, visitsequestered pod.com or follow us
on Instagram at sequestered pod.Thank you for listening until
next Time, stay curious and staysafe. You.
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