March 10, 2025 • 55 mins
On Day 5 of the trial, the focus shifts—not to what happened inside Jason Chen’s apartment, but to the evidence he left behind.
Sara takes us back inside the courtroom as forensic experts lay out the physical and digital trail that maps Jason’s every move.
The prosecution introduces fingerprint evidence, placing Jason Chen exactly where he didn’t want to be—on the garbage bag that held Jasmine’s body. Cell phone data confirms Jasmine’s phone traveled everywhere Jason's phone went after she was last seen alive. And surveillance footage captures Jason's movements as he transports the suitcase from Tremont Street to Suck Creek Road.
Then, the case pivots to digital forensics, where Investigator Mark Hamilton reconstructs Jason’s timeline with chilling precision—GPS records, cell tower pings, and app data that fill in the gaps between his movements and Jasmine’s disappearance.
Minute by minute, the evidence builds—a text message sent after Jasmine was already gone, a second trip to Suck Creek Road, and a Lyft ride that returns Jason home after abandoning Jasmine’s car.
But one moment lingers more than any other.
In one of the most haunting scenes of the trial, Sara and her producer visit 110 Tremont. They stand on the very sidewalk where Jason dragged that heavy suitcase, seeing the steps, the parking lot, and the path he took with their own eyes.
The evidence tells its own story. And by the end of the day, the jury can see it clearly.
Here's the blog for this episode on our website!
On our website, you can see more photos, videos, and blogs about each day of the trial, organized by episode. Go to SequesteredPod.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Speaker before we begin, pleasebe advised that this episode
contains graphic descriptions ofviolence as presented during the
trial. Please take care whilelistening. It's Friday, January
17, 2025, day five of the trial.If you've been following along.
You know that day four of thetrial was brutal. We saw the
(00:25):
autopsy photos, heard theforensic details, and imagined
the unthinkable. As medicalexaminer, Dr Steven Cogswell
walked us through the conditionof Jasmine's body inside that
suitcase, I didn't have time toprocess it in the moment, and I
didn't want to think about itafter we left the courthouse
alone in my silent hotel room,but when my eyes finally closed
(00:49):
that night, I couldn't thinkabout anything else during Dr
cogswell's testimony, when thepictures of Jasmine's body were
shown, I made an intentionaldecision not to look at the
features on her face insteadfocusing only on her wounds. I'm
not exactly sure why. Maybe itwas out of respect. Maybe it was
(01:11):
my way of staying somewhatdetached so that I could do my
job. I know everyone who satthrough the testimony yesterday
left the courtroom heavy, notjust by what happened to
Jasmine, but with therealization of how intentional
it all was. Today's detailswon't focus on the violence that
occurred inside of Jason Chen'sapartment. It's about the trail
(01:34):
he left behind, the fingerprintsthe cell phone pings, the
digital breadcrumbs that trackedhis every move, each piece
coming together like literalcoordinates on a map, showing us
not just what happened, but how.Because evidence tells its own
story, and today, the evidenceleading us is digital. You
(02:06):
This is sequestered a juror'sperspective on the murder trial
for Jasmine. Pace, I'm Sarah,juror number 11 each episode,
I'll take you inside thecourtroom, behind the scenes,
and into the weighty moments ofthis trial as we honor Jasmine's
life and navigate thecomplexities of seeking justice,
(02:27):
let's begin. This is episodesix. The evidence tells the
story. You
so before we get into today'stestimony, I wanted to explain
(02:48):
why keep calling the DistrictAttorneys General. If you're not
from Tennessee, it probablysounds a little strange, but
here's the deal, and TennesseeState prosecutors are officially
titled District AttorneyGeneral. That's why you'll hear
me say general WAMP or generalMoyle throughout the podcast.
It's a tradition that dates backto the earliest days of
(03:09):
Tennessee's legal system, meantto emphasize that these
attorneys represent the entirestate, not just a local
district, in criminal cases. Sonext time you hear me say
general, think of it asshorthand for that full title,
District Attorney General. Allright, let's head back to the
courtroom. Judge Patterson opensthe morning the way he always
(03:32):
does, reminding the jury of ourresponsibility. No outside
research, no talking about thecase, no news or social media.
By now, this ritual feelsfamiliar, almost automatic. We
all nod in agreement. He thenlays out our weekend schedule.
It was the Friday before aholiday weekend, but no one
(03:55):
would get that holiday weekend.Instead, court will be in
session the following day, eventhough it's Saturday, and after
a quick vote in the jury roomearlier that morning, we all
agreed to take Sunday off, butwill return to work on Monday,
despite it being a nationalholiday. Martin Luther King, Jr,
day, another round of nods fromthe jury box are acknowledged,
(04:19):
and with that day five of thetrial was underway. The state
calls their first witness of theday, Jennifer moody, a
fingerprint technician with theHamilton County Sheriff's
Office. Her testimony is quickand straightforward. She
explains to the jury howfingerprints are collected,
stored and compared. It's notflashy, but it's foundational,
(04:43):
setting up the state's nextwitness with finesse, every
smudge and swirl could be aclue, and Moody's job is to make
sure those clues get documentedthe right way. Next on the stand
was Lou. David Franklin of theChattanooga Police Department
(05:04):
with years of experience infingerprint analysis and
comparisons, Franklin had builta reputation as a go to expert
in this field. From Franklin, welearned that fingerprints aren't
just random smudges left behindon surfaces. They're made up of
ridges, tiny raised lines on thesurface of our skin, and those
(05:27):
ridges form distinct patternsknown as loops, arches and
whorls, unique Ridge patternsthat form while we're still in
utero, before we ever touch theworld around us. Loops are the
most common, curving back onthemselves like a river bending
around a rock. Arches are morerare, simple wave like patterns
(05:49):
that rise and fall across thefingertip whorls are the most
intricate, spiraling, circulardesigns, almost like tiny thumb
print hurricanes. We all knowthat no two fingerprints are
exactly alike, not even foridentical twins, and once those
ridges form in utero, they staywith us for life. We also got a
(06:13):
primer on how investigators liftprints from evidence. Sometimes
they use magnetic powders, whichare fine particles that cling to
the natural oils left behind byour fingers. Other times, they
rely on a chemical processcalled cyanoacrylate fuming,
essentially using super gluevapor to coat invisible prints,
(06:35):
making them easier to see andphotograph. It's super sciency
and a little bit of CSI magicthat turns a fingerprint into
evidence, and today, thatevidence was about to tell us a
story. Crime scene investigatorssubmitted four separate
fingerprint impressions toLieutenant Franklin's unit. The
(06:57):
first print was found on theexterior of the front passenger
door of Jasmine's Chevy Equinox.At the time, I remember thinking
this could be a twist. Who didthat print belong to someone
unexpected, someone connected toJason. Turns out the print
matched a set of knownimpressions already in the
(07:18):
system belonging to a man namedJim Cooper. We would later learn
that Jim Cooper was not only alocksmith, but also a friend of
the pace family. He's actuallythe one who helped tow Jasmine's
car from 900 mountain creekroad, the spot where her family
eventually found it back totheir home on the early hours of
November 27 the other threeprints submitted, two of them
(07:44):
along with a palm print belongto investigator Crawford.
There's a reason for that, andwe'll come back to it later. But
the most chilling discovery isthe final fingerprint. It was
found on the outside of theoutermost garbage bag, the third
and final bag that heldJasmine's body, and that print
(08:06):
belonged to Jason Chen.
The only examinable fingerprintsfound on the Toyota were farm
investigator Crawford and thenthe two prints of quality to
examine from that garbage bagaround the body of Jasmine pace
(08:26):
were made by WHO,
made by Jason prints of value,made by Jason chef.
The defense tries to poke holeshere. How certain can you really
be? Could there have been amistake, a smudge, a mix up in
the lab. But Franklin doesn'tbudge. He leans into the
microphone and says, clear asday Jason Chen made this print.
(08:50):
Here's latricia Thomas from NewsChannel Nine discussing this
testimony during a break incourt with Chattanooga attorney
Bill speak.
This particular fingerprint wasmade by the left middle finger
or left ring finger of JasonChen,
certainly. So fingerprints areconsidered unique and and if you
(09:10):
get complete fingerprints, theexpert would have, would have
talked about this, there's goingto be so many points that they
would look for on a fingerprint.If you just have one or two
points on a fingerprint they aresimilar or matching. That would
not be enough for a positiveidentification. But if you get
up to 11 or 12 points at thatpoint, it becomes, it becomes
what we call match, because ofthe uniqueness, just
(09:32):
mathematically, of having thosefingerprints match. So you know,
there are, there aresimilarities in every
fingerprint, but when you lookat a complete fingerprint, the
number of points that that arematching points is what
determines the identification ofthe individual, and
that's what we're seeing nowfrom this Chattanooga Police
fingerprint supervisor thattestified this morning, and then
(09:55):
something that I didn't realizeeach one of these cases is then
corroborated by another. Personthat doesn't know what the first
person came up with, so theylook at the two things again to
match. And in this case, thesecond person also said that he
believes those fingerprints onthe garbage bag that contain
Jasmine Pace's body were thoseof Jason Chen.
(10:20):
Fingerprint evidence ispowerful, but digital forensics,
that's where the case reallystarts to close in. Next on the
stand was investigator MarkHamilton, the state's expert in
cell phone data, GPS trackingand radio frequency analysis. It
(10:41):
became immediately clear thathis testimony wasn't supposed to
happen until after the lunchbreak, because instead of a suit
and tie, Hamilton arrived incasual office attire, having
being summoned straight from hisdesk at the da s office, I guess
we were ahead of schedule.General WAMP made a point to
mention this, acknowledging hisunexpected wardrobe and maybe
(11:04):
offering him a little grace tosettle in before facing the
jury, but before diving into hisqualifications, general WAMP
addressed something importanthead on. She said, you actually
work for me, don't you? It wasan intentional move designed to
make sure the jury knew thefacts, Hamilton works directly
under District Attorney GeneralCody WAMP. The subtext was
(11:28):
clear, this was not a secret,and you should know about it,
but WAMP didn't just rely ontheir working relationship to
establish his credibility.Instead, she laid out his
decades long career in digitalforensics, emphasizing his deep
expertise in tracking cell data,which is how signals move
between towers, how GPS recordsa person's every step, and how
(11:53):
in today's world, our phones cantell a story more detailed than
We ever realized. Hamilton hadspent 60 to 70 hours analyzing
the digital footprints of bothJasmine pace and Jason Chen, and
now he was about to take usthrough that timeline minute by
minute. Because while people canlie, our cell phones don't.
(12:17):
And let's start with Miss Pace'sphone on 1122, 2022 this is
exhibit number one. Have youseen this exhibit before? Yes,
ma'am. What is this show? Toyour knowledge? It
is a screenshot from an app onher phone. It records days and
(12:38):
times start and stop
when reviewing the records todetermine the location of Miss
paces phone on the 22nd were youable to find evidence that
corroborates this trip? Yes.
(13:00):
On November 22 cell phone datashows Jasmine departing her home
in Hixon, Tennessee at 11:27pmand arriving at Jason Chen's
apartment at 11:42pm at 2:18amon November 23 Jasmine's phone
sends a location pin to KatrinaBean's cell phone at 10:40am the
(13:23):
morning of November 23 Jason andhis phone heads to Walmart.
Hamilton reveals that Jasmine'sphone is also traveling with
him.
Okay, so we're still goingchronologically. Okay, Mr.
Hamilton, so after this at somepoint in the morning hours at
1123 did mister Chen's phonetravel to the Walmart? Yes, from
(13:48):
your memory, was that travelaround 1040 in the morning. Now,
did miss Pace's cell phonetravel from Tremont to Walmart
as well.
Once again, general Cody wattpulls up the video footage Jason
(14:09):
Chen casually walking throughWalmart wearing his now infamous
anything goes hat. She remindsthe jury exactly what they're
looking at. This isn't somerandom shopping trip. This is
the morning after Jasmine pacewas last seen alive. It's a
detail that's almost too absurdto believe Jason Chen shopping
(14:30):
for cleaning supplies and bandaids, wearing a hat that seems
to mock the very idea ofaccountability. I mentioned that
Jason had Jasmine's phone withhim at this point, Hamilton
points out something interestingwhere Jason went Jasmine's phone
went too until just like that,it went dark. WAMP asks if a
(14:53):
phone is turned off or a SIMcard is removed, would her phone
have gone dark? And Hamiltonconfirms that it. COVID. Da WAMP
then asks where Jason Chen goesnext. Based on cell phone
records, his location was atWalgreens at 1:41pm corroborated
by the video of Chen walkinginto Walgreens at this time,
(15:15):
Jasmine's phone is still off.Then around 4pm both phones ping
from the same cell tower.
Are you aware of any activitythat that you found on both of
their cellular records aroundthis time? And who is that text
(15:39):
message from? And who's it too?
If that was hard to hear,Hamilton said that a text
message was sent from Jason Chento Jasmine pace at this time.
Remember this one?
Hey, are we still good fordinner tonight?
(16:00):
350 something that both of theirphones showed back up in
downtown Chattanooga, correct?Yes. Are you able to tell the
jury if Miss Pace's phone hadbeen on immediately before that,
or is this the first time yousee it back on? No, I didn't get
on for a little while. Okay, hiswas off and hers on, and it was
(16:24):
driving behind, off and on, yes,for the first quarter today, on
1123,
at this point, womp takes usback to suck Creek Road, and
Hamilton confirms somethingchilling for the second Time,
Jason Chen's phone data showshim driving up and down suck
Creek Road. It's hard not towonder why was he scouting,
(16:48):
searching for the perfect spot.Presumably, he was looking for a
place to dump that suitcase at5:08pm, Jason Chen returns to
his apartment at 110 Tremont,and then we see it the footage
we've now seen so many timesit's burned into memory. At
5:59pm Jason Chen is seenexiting the front entrance of
(17:13):
the lofts at Tremont, pulling aheavy suitcase up a handful of
steps, then rolling it down thesidewalk before he disappears
out of frame and into theparking lot. I want to pause
here for a minute to talk aboutthis surveillance footage. The
video comes from the Arctic cammounted at the corner of Tremont
(17:33):
and Frazier. It's angledstraight down Tremont Street,
with the lofts at Tremontvisible on the right hand side
the front entrance to theapartment complex sits slightly
below sidewalk level with ashort set of steps leading down
to the door. In the footage, yousee a figure at the base of
those steps struggling to makehis way up. We immediately
(17:55):
recognize him by now, the statehas done a meticulous job
painting out the identifiers,his Henny thing goes trucker
hat, his clothes, his movementsas Chen reaches the top step,
you can see he's draggingsomething behind him, and then
the suitcase comes into view.When the suitcase hits the
(18:16):
sidewalk, there's this momentChen's arm drops under the
weight of it. He readjusts,finds his grip, and starts
pulling it towards the camera'sview before disappearing into
the parking lot. That suitcasewasn't empty. If you've ever
traveled, you know, mostairlines cap checked bags at 50
(18:37):
pounds. Now imagine doublingthat. That's what Jason was
hauling up those stairs and downTremont street after the trial,
my producer and I made the tripto Chattanooga and 110 Tremont
was the first place we visited,seeing it in person, this
building that had become acentral character in Jasmine's
(18:58):
story was surreal when we werepulling out of the back parking
lot by the dumpsters, I sawthose steps and the sidewalk the
exact spot where Jason pulledthat suitcase. Here's a clip
from that day describe how youfeel seeing it in person. Yeah,
this is pretty surreal. My heartis beating being here, just
(19:21):
seeing the the sidewalk that hewalked, the steps that that
suitcase got pulled up, andseeing the footage of like his
arm drop when, when the weightof that bag got rolling, you
could just tell it was so heavy,even though we know she was only
98 pounds, like most suitcasesare like 50 pounds, so that was
(19:46):
twice as heavy as, like, theaverage suitcase you would
travel with at an airport. Andanyway, it's just pretty crazy
to be seeing the sidewalk wherewe saw the footage of him.
Rolling her out of the tree. Maapartments, after Jason rolls
(20:07):
the suitcase into the parkinglot, the Arctic cam captures the
next piece of the puzzle, a 2018gray Toyota Camry pulls out of
the lot, behind the wheel JasonChen, the camera shows him
turning right onto FraserAvenue, leaving the lofts at
Tremont behind. Minutes later,at 6:13pm, cell phone records
(20:31):
confirm exactly where he'sheaded, suck Creek Road. He
waited until it was dark enough,then pulled off onto the gravel
turnout. He popped the trunk,dragged the 100 pound suitcase
out, then pulled it to the edgeof the river bank, shoving it as
deep as he could into the driedkudzu brush, forcing it out of
(20:53):
sight. 20 minutes later, at6:33pm Jason Chen leaves suck
Creek Road and the body ofJasmine pace and drives back to
the Walmart he visited earlierthat day. He arrives in the
Walmart parking lot, and at6:49pm Jasmine's phone goes
(21:13):
dark. That's the last time herphone ever sends out a signal
you
you know, during sequestration,I had a lot of time to think,
(21:34):
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
Rutherford. This epic historicalnovel spans over 400 years,
(21:58):
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
me, I was completely hooked.Here's some good news. You can
(22:19):
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
you love and get listening. Goto audible trial.com. Forward
(22:41):
slash, sequestered.
We know Jason kept her SIM card,but just to be clear, Jasmine's
actual phone has never beenfound, not in his apartment, not
(23:03):
in his car, not anywhere, as ifthe device that once held her
messages, her photos, her entiredigital life simply vanished the
courtroom audio from this partof the trial is hard to make
out, but the Message is crystalclear. This is where Jasmine's
digital trail ends.
(23:25):
So based on this photo, you cantell he's actually leaving the
location at the bottom. Yes. Doyou recall where Mr. Chan's
phone goes from this location?This is the same Walmart that he
was at earlier in the day. It'snearby. Is that correct? And do
(23:47):
you recall if there's anythingsignificant about Mr. Chen's
phone being back at the Walmartagain? So when you say
reappears, what do you mean?It's been dark.
I at 7pm Jason Chen walks intothe Walgreens on Market Street
in Chattanooga. Footage from thestore and his cell phone records
(24:11):
confirm it. What I know now,especially after visiting these
locations myself, is that thisWalgreens sits directly along
the route back to Jason'sapartment from suck Creek Road,
where Jasmine's body had alreadybeen left behind, after a quick
stop in the Walmart parking lotto handle the final details of
(24:31):
her never to be seen again,phone, Jason makes one more stop
at this Walgreens on MarketStreet before returning to his
apartment just a few blocksaway. But he doesn't stay home
for long. A little after 8pm aneighbor's ring cam catches him
slipping out the side door ofthe building. He's still wearing
the Henny thing goes hat, butthis time, he's added a blue
(24:53):
face mask and pulled up the hoodof his gray sweatshirt. Moments
later, the Arctic cam captures.Masked figure wearing a red and
white trucker hat and a hoodedgray sweatshirt, pulling out of
the apartments in a white chevyequinox and turning right onto
Fraser Avenue. That's Jasmine'scar, and Jason is driving it,
(25:15):
but he's not out to run errands.No, he's driving to 900 mountain
creek road where he'll abandonthe vehicle, the same place
Jasmine's family will find itjust three days later, desperate
for answers,
(25:38):
and at some point, a whilelater, do we see Mr. Chen back
at Tremont in your review of theevidence, were you able to see
this video? Yes. Would you agreethat that person appears to be
leaving a building? Yes. Ma'am,all right, and now we go back to
(25:58):
phone records. Did Mr. Chen'sphone indicate that he was
leaving the Tremont apartmentsaround this time, around the
exact same time that he is seenleaving the Tremont apartment
building? Is that correct? Doyou recall where he went, and is
there other evidence that youreviewed that would corroborate
(26:21):
his travel to 900 mountain creekroad. There is the camera that's
across
the street from treatment.
Remember the my Chevy app, theone Jasmine's mom used to locate
her car on the night of November26 that app captured the final
trip that Jasmine's car evertook, starting at 8:27pm when
(26:43):
Jason pulls out of his apartmentcomplex at 110 Tremont Street,
and ending just 18 minutes laterat 8:45pm when he parks it for
the last time, abandoning thevehicle in a dark back parking
lot at 900 mountain Creek Road.Now let's listen in as general
Cody WAMP walks the jury throughthe surveillance footage.
(27:06):
Okay. Is this video taken fromthe mountain free road apartment
buildings? UV, at this point intime, is Mr. Chen's cell phone
location data showing that he isin or around 900 mountain creek
road. And then, have you alsoseen the next part of this video
(27:29):
that shows what looks like orhas been testified to a Prius
pulling into this parking lot?Yes, ma'am.
Remember that Prius captured onthe surveillance video at 900
mountain creek road, the onethat pulls into the same parking
lot Jason did after abandoningJasmine's car, that Prius was
(27:50):
Jason's lift ride, the samedriver who would later drop him
off back at his apartment.Detective Hamilton walks the
jury through data extracted fromJason's phone showing that the
lift app was accessed at 8:39pmjust minutes after Jason left
the equinox, a notification thencomes through at 8:50pm likely
(28:12):
telling him his ride wasarriving. Jason's cell phone
data still places him at 900mountain creek road at this time
by 9:02pm, Jason Chen and hisphone are delivered to 110
Tremont Street. Hamiltonconfirms via cell phone data,
while da WAMP queues up theArctic footage capturing Jason
(28:32):
exiting the lift outside of hisapartment building. Let's listen
in as she presents the momentJason steps out of that lift,
steppers, if anybody else
and at this point in time, aremister Chin's phone records
showing that he is back in hisapartment on tree, not Street,
(28:53):
alright. The next question askedyou significant, where was Mr.
Chin's cell phone from this timeon 1123 until midday on 1125 it
was it was at his apartment,yes, the entire time, yes,
(29:14):
didn't go anywhere. Would youagree that that's basically a
day and a half? It is
a quick side note here, both theLyft app and the tinder app had
been deleted from Jason's phonebefore investigators got their
hands on it, but thanks to theforensic data extraction,
Hamilton was still able torecover key information from
(29:37):
both of the apps. Not long afterJason returns home that night,
he makes a move that's bothcalculated and revealing, but
why we may never know. What wedo know is this, Jason inserts
his own SIM card into Jasmine'sphone, activating it with his
personal data and tying himselfdirectly to her device. Yes. All
(30:04):
right, let's step back throughthe timeline real quick. After
Jason drops Jasmine's car off atmountain creek road, he takes a
lift home, arriving back at hisapartment at exactly 9:02pm on
November 23 From this time onNovember 23 until midday on
November 25 Jason Chen does notleave his apartment. Was this
(30:27):
when he was cleaning,rearranging the furniture to
cover up what happened inside ofhis bedroom, preparing to head
home for the holiday as ifnothing had happened by this
point, remember, Jason had madethree separate trips to Walmart
and Walgreens stocking up onsupplies. Jasmine's body and the
suitcase were already leftbehind on Sut Creek Road and
(30:50):
inside his apartment, we knowthere was blood, almost a gallon
of it actually, for context,Thanksgiving Day was on November
24 that year, Jason didn't leaveChattanooga until Friday
afternoon, finally getting intohis car around 3pm Eastern Time
and arriving at his parentshouse in nolansville, Tennessee
(31:11):
at 4:50pm central time two dayslater, on Sunday, November 27
Jason Chen returns to the NorthShore area of Chattanooga, but
here's the thing, he never goesback into his apartment. Cell
Phone records show him stoppingjust west of Tremont street near
(31:32):
Renaissance Park, a small greenspace just a few blocks away
from the lofts at Tremont wherehe lived at this point, general
WAMP makes an effort to askHamilton what time the
Chattanooga Police Departmentsecured Chen's apartment on this
day, Hamilton confirms ithappened sometime between 10 and
(31:52):
11pm on Sunday, November 27after Chen's cell phone data
shows he was first seen back inthe area we know from
investigator Crawford'stestimony that the search
warrant for Jason Chen'sapartment was granted at 11:45pm
that same night. So what wasJason back in town for? Surely
(32:15):
by now, investigator Crawfordhad already been calling his
phone. Was he curious about anyactivity around his apartment,
checking to see if the policewere already involved, or was
there something else, pullinghim back. Then Hamilton reveals
another twist. Jason leaves theNorth Shore area around 9:30pm
(32:36):
heading towards Hixson, acommunity just north of
Chattanooga, and according tohis phone records, Jason stays
in the Hixson area until about10:15pm before heading back to
nolensville. So what's inHixson? Jasmine's house, her
family's house. What in theworld was Jason doing there? And
(32:59):
more importantly, why?
Next the state shifts the jury'sattention to Jasmine's phone
activity, more specifically, hertext messages and app usage in
the hours after she was lastseen alive. What Hamilton
(33:21):
uncovers is deeply unsettling.At 4am on the morning of
November 23 Jasmine's phonereceived a series of
notifications. They werepassword reset requests for her
banking apps, and by 9:52am Thatsame morning, Jason was already
back on Tinder messagingsomebody new. He sends this
(33:44):
message to a person namedVictoria,
so I guess we're dating now.
Victoria responds, ha, really?Why is that? Jason didn't stop
there, though. He also reachedout to two other women on Tinder
That same morning. I keepthinking about these women he
(34:06):
messaged, as far as they knew,it was just flirty banter on a
dating app. I mean, how couldthey possibly know that the guy
messaging them had just murderedhis girlfriend, her lifeless
body was still laying on thefloor of his bedroom as
investigator Hamilton'sTESTIMONY CONTINUES, he shares
(34:27):
even more text data recoveredfrom Jason Chen's phone. I was
actually glad I could watch thispart back, because there was
just so much information flyingat us during this part of the
trial, texts and dates and timesand different time zones, it was
nearly impossible to keep upwith in the moment. So it wasn't
until re watching it for thisepisode that I fully caught on
(34:51):
to what da WAMP was getting atwith this next group of
messages. But before we getthere, Hamilton also confirms
something that directly Contra.Index the defense's opening
statement, he testifies that thetinder app on Jason's phone was
not accessed at all on the dayof November 22 that's a direct
(35:11):
conflict with what the defensehad claimed about Jasmine
becoming upset after seeingTinder messages popping up on
Jason's phone that night withwomps leading Hamilton then
shifts and explains to the jurythat we're looking at a text
thread from Jason Chen's phone,a group chat between Jason and
his gamer friends. Around 9:30pmon November 23 a handful of
(35:37):
texts roll in. The guys arechecking in to see who's
available and who's getting onto play tonight. Want points out
that all of these texts arebeing read by Jason as they come
in. She continues scrolling downthe report showing more
conversation over the nextcouple of hours. Just before
midnight, someone named Minawrites, you guys running more
(36:00):
war zone, then at 1:06am, nowofficially Thanksgiving Day.
Jason chimes in,
I'm getting on in like five.
You're getting on in like five,as in you're calm enough to sit
on your couch and play videogames with your buddies just
(36:21):
seven hours after you dumpedyour girlfriend's body in a
suitcase by the side of theTennessee River, there's a short
mid morning break at this point,and although I had no idea at
the time, the defense used thatbreak to submit a motion, a move
(36:41):
that would quietly set the stagefor what was coming next. A
motion is a formal request madeto the court asking the judge to
rule on a specific issue. Inthis case, Mr. Weiss filed a
motion requesting that theentirety of the text messages
between Jasmine pace and JasonChen be admitted into evidence
(37:03):
with the jury now out ofearshot, the courtroom quickly
turns into a legal tug of war.Weiss arguing for full
transparency while WAMP raisesserious concerns about their
relevance. They go back andforth over whether these texts,
even the ones from a year beforeJasmine's murder, are actually
hearsay. Then da want plants herfeet and calls it out directly,
(37:26):
saying We just received thismotion approximately four and a
half minutes ago. JudgePatterson appears open to
admitting the full 240 pages oftext, but general want pushes
back hard, arguing that messagesfrom 2021 have nothing to do
with the murder of Jasmine pace.She also makes one thing crystal
(37:50):
clear, if these pages are to besubmitted, any texts that are
sexual in nature should beredacted before they're shown to
the jury. Here's how thatexchange played out, right in
front of the judge,
proof that the defendant and thedecedent had a sexual
relationship. They were datingof some kind, and that needs to
(38:12):
be shown that the relationshipbetween the defendant and the
decedent is central to thedefense case. So we would like
to have the entirety of the textmessages submitted to show to
show this relationship. Lastly,the Saints open the door.
They've already had misterHamilton go through the the data
extraction of how they obtainthese messages the same way that
(38:33):
we receive them. They have gonethrough the defendant's Tinder.
They've gone through thedefendant's I messages. None of
those messages were redacted,even though we talk about
relevancy, and so all those camein. So I believe the state has
opened the door to allowingthese text messages come in if
their argument is a relevancywell, then they shouldn't have
introduced the messages when thestate uses
(38:58):
them, are statements from aparty opponent, a well
recognized hearsay exception.Mister Williams cannot use
mister Chen's statement in courtbecause it's not a party
opponent. So that's slightlydifferent. I did not agree that
we open the door, however, YourHonor, if we can agree to
eliminate the irrelevant textmessages, and there's not many
(39:22):
of them, but irrelevant textmessages regarding sexual
activity, and I've only noticed,then you'll agree to the text
messages coming in. I do notbelieve that text messages about
sexual activity are relevant tomister West case or the homicide
(39:43):
Japanese. Okay,
so we're tailoring, so pleaseshow me sexual messages to talk
about, because
what your honor Hold on, becauseI'll point it out for you. Case
by wage. I.
To me, I just mentioned that I Idon't intend to ask, tell me
(40:08):
about this sexual text message.I wanted to
do that. No, he intends to tellthe jury closing argument.
Should go back and read all themessages that they will be in
evidence that we objects tothem. I will go through them
with mister Hamilton.
You. The footage that followsthis exchange is muted, but you
(40:28):
don't need sound to pick up onwhat's happening. Their body
language says it all tension,frustration and the two sides
digging in. It's clear this wasimportant to both the
prosecution and the defense,each for very different reasons.
After a tense back and forth,Judge Patterson allows some of
the texts in, but only ifthey're relevant. The jury never
(40:52):
saw the messages that weresexual in nature, and honestly,
we didn't need to. What'sinteresting is those 240 pages
of text messages were actuallythe very first thing I reached
for when the evidence box wasbrought into the jury room
during our deliberations. Therewas no way I could have read
(41:13):
through it all, but I wanted tosee for myself if their
relationship really looked aslopsided as the defense claimed
from the text. I did have timeto read. What I saw looked like
a pretty normal relationship.When we return from the mid
morning break, Mark Hamilton isstill on the stand, this time
(41:34):
ready for the defense's crossexamination. Defense Attorney
Amanda Morrison approaches thepodium. This is the first time
I've really mentioned her, solet me paint the picture.
Dressed in a solid colored skirtsuit, Amanda Morrison carries
herself with a quiet confidence.Her straight reddish brown hair
(41:55):
frames her face and there's adeliberate calmness in her
demeanor. Morrison starts byasking Hamilton to confirm
something. Can he actually provethat Jason Chen went to his
apartment when he returned toChattanooga from nolensville on
November 27 Hamilton answerscarefully. He can place Chen in
(42:17):
the area of his apartment basedon cell phone data, but he can't
say for certain whether or notJason actually entered his
apartment that day. To behonest, I wasn't actually sure
why this mattered, but thedefense made a point to put it
on the record. Next judge,Patterson addressed the jury
directly, explaining how we'reallowed to consider the text
(42:39):
messages that were submitted,essentially saying that the
texts are only to be used forthe non hearsay purpose of
establishing the length of Jasonand Jasmine's relationship.
Morrison dives right in,suggesting that someone could
have fabricated the pinscreenshot sent to Jasmine's mom
at 2:18am on November 23 shepushes Hamilton, asking if it's
(43:03):
possible that someone could havefaked that screenshot that
Katrina bean showed of the textmessage from Jasmine with her
location pin. But Hamiltonstands firm. He says it would be
extremely difficult to fabricatebecause of the sheer amount of
detail embedded in thescreenshots metadata.
Eventually, Hamilton concedesthat, in theory, anything is
(43:24):
possible, but in his expertopinion, the screenshot is
authentic. Before investigatorHamilton stepped down, we had a
few questions of our own. One ofthe jurors asked if Jason's SIM
card was in his phone. Wheninvestigators recovered it from
his parents house. Hamiltonconfirmed that it was reminding
(43:45):
the jury that Jason had movedthat same SIM card into
Jasmine's phone for a period oftime, but that it had been
returned to his own phone by thetime it was recovered for
extraction. Another juror askedwhat would happen if text
messages were deleted fromJason's phone, would they still
show up in the conversation log?Hamilton explained that
(44:06):
depending on the make and modelof the phone, the log would be
able to tell that a message hadbeen deleted, but that the
actual content of those messageswould likely not appear as
Hamilton's testimony came to aclose investigator, Zach
Crawford, would be called backto the witness stand serving as
the final witness of the day. DaWAMP recalled him and he was
(44:30):
sworn in for a second time. Shestarted by addressing a point
the defense had raised earlier,asking Crawford to explain why
his own palm and fingerprintswere found on the hood of Jason
Chen's car. Crawford admittedthat during the search of Jason
Chen's parents' house, heaccidentally touched the
vehicle, explaining that thetight space around the car,
(44:52):
packed with his family'sbelongings, made it difficult to
avoid and he accidentally fellforward, bracing himself on the
hood. He was careful to mentionthat this was the first time his
fingerprints had ever shown upon a TBI report before shifting
gears, da WAMP made sure totackle one more defense theory
head on, the suggestion that thescreenshot of the location pin
(45:15):
Jasmine sent to her mom wassomehow fake.
You were the investigator innovember 2022 who was
investigating this case? Thatcorrect? In
November 27 I was brought to theinvestigation in 2020
were you present when Katrina Bscrolled up in her text messages
(45:37):
to show you that location drop?
Yes, I was personally present. Iactually, when she told me about
the location drop, I personallyrequested that we observe those
at which one I actuallyrequested a crimes investigator
come out and document thoseissues.
And was that done? Yes, in whattime was the location shared
from Jasmine's
(45:58):
phone? On her phone, I actuallyhad her name is jazzy with the
pictures, I verified. I lookedat the contact itself, had her
click on it, and observed it tobe the phone number that we know
to be the victims. Subsequently,I looked at the content of the
text message group, at whichpoint I observed a pin drop
location that was shared onNovember 23 2022 at 2:18am,
(46:23):
2:18am,
next. General WAMP shifts herfocus, turning the jury's
attention to text messagesbetween Jason Chen and Jasmine
pace. Investigator Crawfordwalks us through their text
(46:43):
message history, explaining howtheir conversation started
briefly in November of 2021 thendropped off completely until
April of 2022, and here'ssomething interesting, when
their messages resumed in Aprilof 22 Jason actually reminded
Jasmine that they had originallymatched on Bumble the year
(47:04):
before, not Tinder, anotherdirect contradiction from what
the defense claimed in theiropening statement that the two
of them had met on Tinder. Fromthere, Crawford explains their
messages show no arguments orsigns of conflict, just casual
conversations. As they startedseeing each other more
(47:25):
regularly, Jason frequentlyasked Jasmine to come over, and
their relationship seemed toprogress naturally. By late
October of 2022 Jason had eveninvited Jasmine to go to Chicago
with him, a trip they eventuallytook together. As WAMP and
Crawford take the jury throughthese text messages, we begin to
(47:47):
see how their relationshipevolved from casual conversation
to planning trips together. Iwant to take you through some of
the key moments of theirconversation exactly as they
were written on November 1 of2022 Jason liked a text that
Jasmine sent him around 11amhere's Jasmine's actual message
(48:11):
read in an AI generated voice,
oh, and you should go on the setCreek drive before all the
leaves are really dropped.
This was one of the mostchilling moments of the trial
for me. I've mentioned this textmessage before in an earlier
episode, Jasmine either spelledthe street name wrong, or maybe
(48:31):
it was auto corrected, but thetypo didn't matter. What
mattered now was Jason'sreaction to it, because only 22
days later, Jason wouldn't justtake that drive on suck Creek
Road. He would leave Jasminethere. But let's not get too far
ahead of ourselves here. Let'sback up to that trip to Chicago
(48:52):
late in October. Here's a bit ofthe text conversation leading up
to that trip on October 10, at9:10pm, Jason sends this text to
Jasmine.
How's the Chicago update looklike?
Let you know by noon. Plus, Isaid I would get it to you by
Monday before you were going toyour parents for the next couple
(49:13):
of days, I don't want to botheryou while you're out there. Yes,
my answer is yes. I got itworked out and my office covered
while I'm gone, Mark Me iscoming with you and excited.
Just a couple weeks later, theyactually take this trip to
Chicago together, even stoppingto visit an uncle of Jasmine's
(49:35):
that she had never met by midNovember, their conversations
continued with casual back andforth texting. There were gaps
of time where they didn't talkfor a few days, but nothing
unusual. Then on November 18,Jason sends Jasmine, a more
suggestive message.
I'm heading home now if you wantto come over for some fun,
(49:56):
shower time and cuddles for abit.
Oh. Nice, just Cuddles, maybeshower time. I really haven't
been feeling too well.
Okay, I'll babysit you for abit.
Jasmine reacted with a laugh tothat last text from Jason, and
by 718 that night, she hadarrived at his apartment on
(50:19):
November 20, Jason sends a textto Jasmine about how she
inspired him to get donuts thatmorning, they exchanged casual
dialog. Then he asks her,
what are you doing thisWednesday, by the way,
at this point, da want pausesand turns to investigator
Crawford. She asks him a simplebut deliberate question, would
(50:41):
you agree that November 20 of2022 is just two days before
November 22 2022 Crawfordagrees. She continues, asking
him to confirm what day of theweek was, November 22 2022
Crawford replies, Tuesday. WAMPfollows up again, and that would
(51:03):
mean November 23 was aWednesday. Crawford again agrees
with that. Timeline locked ingeneral, WAMP returns to the
text messages.
What are you doing thisWednesday? By the way, let's get
a light workout in, and then gofor dinner and drinks.
Okay, that sounds nice, like areal date,
(51:25):
perfect. Anyways, I have to gothe lab to finish some work.
Looking forward to Wednesday.
Jasmine reacted with a heart toJason's last text, then replied
with a message telling him tohave a good lab to get his
homework done and that she waslooking forward to Wednesday.
These final texts show no signof fear, hesitation or
(51:48):
suspicion. Jasmine was engagedin the conversation. Her words
are casual, natural and warm.The defense had tried to suggest
a power imbalance, implying thatone of them was more invested in
the relationship than the other,but investigator Crawford
confirms there's nothing inthese texts to suggest that was
true. Their messages remainedeven in their exchange and their
(52:12):
back and forth. Tone wasaffectionate without coming
across obsessive. And yet, justtwo days later, all of this
would change, hearinginvestigators walk through Jason
and Jasmine's messages today hithard. Jasmine wasn't upset. She
(52:33):
wasn't angry. She was justliving her life, making plans,
sending heart emojis and lookingforward to Wednesday, and then
she was gone. It's haunting tothink about. These weren't the
messages of someone who wasafraid or planning an escape.
She wasn't breaking up withJason. She wasn't even pulling
(52:55):
away from him. Jasmine had noidea what Wednesday held in
store for her. She had no ideathat on Tuesday, she would lose
her beloved grandmother, and shedefinitely had no idea that just
hours after that, her own lifewould be taken from her next
(53:16):
time on sequestered. The Staterests its case after everything
we've seen, the fingerprints,the timeline, the chilling
digital evidence. One questionremains, what will Jason Chen's
defense have to say?
There was a screen that startedme. Ultimately, I checked my
(53:36):
phone to see the time because Iwas going to call them. One was
around 2am there was a voicethat was screaming words, the
words I couldn't
understand fully. You
don't want to miss EpisodeSeven. It's about to get
(53:59):
complicated. You
(54:20):
I thank you for listening tosequestered 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
(54:42):
conversation with us. Jasmine'sstory deserves to be remembered.
This is a BP production. Theshow is written, edited and
produced by me Sarah Reed, withCO production by Andrea Kleid,
news clips feature. In thisepisode were sourced from wtbc
(55:02):
News Channel Nine, local threenews, Chattanooga and the law
and crime network. Music andsound design are curated to
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
(55:24):
on Instagram at sequestered pod.Thank you for listening until
next Time, stay curious and staysafe. You
Speaker before we begin, pleasebe advised that this episode
contains graphic descriptions ofviolence as presented during the
trial. Please take care whilelistening. It's Friday, January
17, 2025, day five of the trial.If you've been following along.
You know that day four of thetrial was brutal. We saw the
(00:25):
autopsy photos, heard theforensic details, and imagined
the unthinkable. As medicalexaminer, Dr Steven Cogswell
walked us through the conditionof Jasmine's body inside that
suitcase, I didn't have time toprocess it in the moment, and I
didn't want to think about itafter we left the courthouse
alone in my silent hotel room,but when my eyes finally closed
(00:49):
that night, I couldn't thinkabout anything else during Dr
cogswell's testimony, when thepictures of Jasmine's body were
shown, I made an intentionaldecision not to look at the
features on her face insteadfocusing only on her wounds. I'm
not exactly sure why. Maybe itwas out of respect. Maybe it was
(01:11):
my way of staying somewhatdetached so that I could do my
job. I know everyone who satthrough the testimony yesterday
left the courtroom heavy, notjust by what happened to
Jasmine, but with therealization of how intentional
it all was. Today's detailswon't focus on the violence that
occurred inside of Jason Chen'sapartment. It's about the trail
(01:34):
he left behind, the fingerprintsthe cell phone pings, the
digital breadcrumbs that trackedhis every move, each piece
coming together like literalcoordinates on a map, showing us
not just what happened, but how.Because evidence tells its own
story, and today, the evidenceleading us is digital. You
(02:06):
This is sequestered a juror'sperspective on the murder trial
for Jasmine. Pace, I'm Sarah,juror number 11 each episode,
I'll take you inside thecourtroom, behind the scenes,
and into the weighty moments ofthis trial as we honor Jasmine's
life and navigate thecomplexities of seeking justice,
(02:27):
let's begin. This is episodesix. The evidence tells the
story. You
so before we get into today'stestimony, I wanted to explain
(02:48):
why keep calling the DistrictAttorneys General. If you're not
from Tennessee, it probablysounds a little strange, but
here's the deal, and TennesseeState prosecutors are officially
titled District AttorneyGeneral. That's why you'll hear
me say general WAMP or generalMoyle throughout the podcast.
It's a tradition that dates backto the earliest days of
(03:09):
Tennessee's legal system, meantto emphasize that these
attorneys represent the entirestate, not just a local
district, in criminal cases. Sonext time you hear me say
general, think of it asshorthand for that full title,
District Attorney General. Allright, let's head back to the
courtroom. Judge Patterson opensthe morning the way he always
(03:32):
does, reminding the jury of ourresponsibility. No outside
research, no talking about thecase, no news or social media.
By now, this ritual feelsfamiliar, almost automatic. We
all nod in agreement. He thenlays out our weekend schedule.
It was the Friday before aholiday weekend, but no one
(03:55):
would get that holiday weekend.Instead, court will be in
session the following day, eventhough it's Saturday, and after
a quick vote in the jury roomearlier that morning, we all
agreed to take Sunday off, butwill return to work on Monday,
despite it being a nationalholiday. Martin Luther King, Jr,
day, another round of nods fromthe jury box are acknowledged,
(04:19):
and with that day five of thetrial was underway. The state
calls their first witness of theday, Jennifer moody, a
fingerprint technician with theHamilton County Sheriff's
Office. Her testimony is quickand straightforward. She
explains to the jury howfingerprints are collected,
stored and compared. It's notflashy, but it's foundational,
(04:43):
setting up the state's nextwitness with finesse, every
smudge and swirl could be aclue, and Moody's job is to make
sure those clues get documentedthe right way. Next on the stand
was Lou. David Franklin of theChattanooga Police Department
(05:04):
with years of experience infingerprint analysis and
comparisons, Franklin had builta reputation as a go to expert
in this field. From Franklin, welearned that fingerprints aren't
just random smudges left behindon surfaces. They're made up of
ridges, tiny raised lines on thesurface of our skin, and those
(05:27):
ridges form distinct patternsknown as loops, arches and
whorls, unique Ridge patternsthat form while we're still in
utero, before we ever touch theworld around us. Loops are the
most common, curving back onthemselves like a river bending
around a rock. Arches are morerare, simple wave like patterns
(05:49):
that rise and fall across thefingertip whorls are the most
intricate, spiraling, circulardesigns, almost like tiny thumb
print hurricanes. We all knowthat no two fingerprints are
exactly alike, not even foridentical twins, and once those
ridges form in utero, they staywith us for life. We also got a
(06:13):
primer on how investigators liftprints from evidence. Sometimes
they use magnetic powders, whichare fine particles that cling to
the natural oils left behind byour fingers. Other times, they
rely on a chemical processcalled cyanoacrylate fuming,
essentially using super gluevapor to coat invisible prints,
(06:35):
making them easier to see andphotograph. It's super sciency
and a little bit of CSI magicthat turns a fingerprint into
evidence, and today, thatevidence was about to tell us a
story. Crime scene investigatorssubmitted four separate
fingerprint impressions toLieutenant Franklin's unit. The
(06:57):
first print was found on theexterior of the front passenger
door of Jasmine's Chevy Equinox.At the time, I remember thinking
this could be a twist. Who didthat print belong to someone
unexpected, someone connected toJason. Turns out the print
matched a set of knownimpressions already in the
(07:18):
system belonging to a man namedJim Cooper. We would later learn
that Jim Cooper was not only alocksmith, but also a friend of
the pace family. He's actuallythe one who helped tow Jasmine's
car from 900 mountain creekroad, the spot where her family
eventually found it back totheir home on the early hours of
November 27 the other threeprints submitted, two of them
(07:44):
along with a palm print belongto investigator Crawford.
There's a reason for that, andwe'll come back to it later. But
the most chilling discovery isthe final fingerprint. It was
found on the outside of theoutermost garbage bag, the third
and final bag that heldJasmine's body, and that print
(08:06):
belonged to Jason Chen.
The only examinable fingerprintsfound on the Toyota were farm
investigator Crawford and thenthe two prints of quality to
examine from that garbage bagaround the body of Jasmine pace
(08:26):
were made by WHO,
made by Jason prints of value,made by Jason chef.
The defense tries to poke holeshere. How certain can you really
be? Could there have been amistake, a smudge, a mix up in
the lab. But Franklin doesn'tbudge. He leans into the
microphone and says, clear asday Jason Chen made this print.
(08:50):
Here's latricia Thomas from NewsChannel Nine discussing this
testimony during a break incourt with Chattanooga attorney
Bill speak.
This particular fingerprint wasmade by the left middle finger
or left ring finger of JasonChen,
certainly. So fingerprints areconsidered unique and and if you
(09:10):
get complete fingerprints, theexpert would have, would have
talked about this, there's goingto be so many points that they
would look for on a fingerprint.If you just have one or two
points on a fingerprint they aresimilar or matching. That would
not be enough for a positiveidentification. But if you get
up to 11 or 12 points at thatpoint, it becomes, it becomes
what we call match, because ofthe uniqueness, just
(09:32):
mathematically, of having thosefingerprints match. So you know,
there are, there aresimilarities in every
fingerprint, but when you lookat a complete fingerprint, the
number of points that that arematching points is what
determines the identification ofthe individual, and
that's what we're seeing nowfrom this Chattanooga Police
fingerprint supervisor thattestified this morning, and then
(09:55):
something that I didn't realizeeach one of these cases is then
corroborated by another. Personthat doesn't know what the first
person came up with, so theylook at the two things again to
match. And in this case, thesecond person also said that he
believes those fingerprints onthe garbage bag that contain
Jasmine Pace's body were thoseof Jason Chen.
(10:20):
Fingerprint evidence ispowerful, but digital forensics,
that's where the case reallystarts to close in. Next on the
stand was investigator MarkHamilton, the state's expert in
cell phone data, GPS trackingand radio frequency analysis. It
(10:41):
became immediately clear thathis testimony wasn't supposed to
happen until after the lunchbreak, because instead of a suit
and tie, Hamilton arrived incasual office attire, having
being summoned straight from hisdesk at the da s office, I guess
we were ahead of schedule.General WAMP made a point to
mention this, acknowledging hisunexpected wardrobe and maybe
(11:04):
offering him a little grace tosettle in before facing the
jury, but before diving into hisqualifications, general WAMP
addressed something importanthead on. She said, you actually
work for me, don't you? It wasan intentional move designed to
make sure the jury knew thefacts, Hamilton works directly
under District Attorney GeneralCody WAMP. The subtext was
(11:28):
clear, this was not a secret,and you should know about it,
but WAMP didn't just rely ontheir working relationship to
establish his credibility.Instead, she laid out his
decades long career in digitalforensics, emphasizing his deep
expertise in tracking cell data,which is how signals move
between towers, how GPS recordsa person's every step, and how
(11:53):
in today's world, our phones cantell a story more detailed than
We ever realized. Hamilton hadspent 60 to 70 hours analyzing
the digital footprints of bothJasmine pace and Jason Chen, and
now he was about to take usthrough that timeline minute by
minute. Because while people canlie, our cell phones don't.
(12:17):
And let's start with Miss Pace'sphone on 1122, 2022 this is
exhibit number one. Have youseen this exhibit before? Yes,
ma'am. What is this show? Toyour knowledge? It
is a screenshot from an app onher phone. It records days and
(12:38):
times start and stop
when reviewing the records todetermine the location of Miss
paces phone on the 22nd were youable to find evidence that
corroborates this trip? Yes.
(13:00):
On November 22 cell phone datashows Jasmine departing her home
in Hixon, Tennessee at 11:27pmand arriving at Jason Chen's
apartment at 11:42pm at 2:18amon November 23 Jasmine's phone
sends a location pin to KatrinaBean's cell phone at 10:40am the
(13:23):
morning of November 23 Jason andhis phone heads to Walmart.
Hamilton reveals that Jasmine'sphone is also traveling with
him.
Okay, so we're still goingchronologically. Okay, Mr.
Hamilton, so after this at somepoint in the morning hours at
1123 did mister Chen's phonetravel to the Walmart? Yes, from
(13:48):
your memory, was that travelaround 1040 in the morning. Now,
did miss Pace's cell phonetravel from Tremont to Walmart
as well.
Once again, general Cody wattpulls up the video footage Jason
(14:09):
Chen casually walking throughWalmart wearing his now infamous
anything goes hat. She remindsthe jury exactly what they're
looking at. This isn't somerandom shopping trip. This is
the morning after Jasmine pacewas last seen alive. It's a
detail that's almost too absurdto believe Jason Chen shopping
(14:30):
for cleaning supplies and bandaids, wearing a hat that seems
to mock the very idea ofaccountability. I mentioned that
Jason had Jasmine's phone withhim at this point, Hamilton
points out something interestingwhere Jason went Jasmine's phone
went too until just like that,it went dark. WAMP asks if a
(14:53):
phone is turned off or a SIMcard is removed, would her phone
have gone dark? And Hamiltonconfirms that it. COVID. Da WAMP
then asks where Jason Chen goesnext. Based on cell phone
records, his location was atWalgreens at 1:41pm corroborated
by the video of Chen walkinginto Walgreens at this time,
(15:15):
Jasmine's phone is still off.Then around 4pm both phones ping
from the same cell tower.
Are you aware of any activitythat that you found on both of
their cellular records aroundthis time? And who is that text
(15:39):
message from? And who's it too?
If that was hard to hear,Hamilton said that a text
message was sent from Jason Chento Jasmine pace at this time.
Remember this one?
Hey, are we still good fordinner tonight?
(16:00):
350 something that both of theirphones showed back up in
downtown Chattanooga, correct?Yes. Are you able to tell the
jury if Miss Pace's phone hadbeen on immediately before that,
or is this the first time yousee it back on? No, I didn't get
on for a little while. Okay, hiswas off and hers on, and it was
(16:24):
driving behind, off and on, yes,for the first quarter today, on
1123,
at this point, womp takes usback to suck Creek Road, and
Hamilton confirms somethingchilling for the second Time,
Jason Chen's phone data showshim driving up and down suck
Creek Road. It's hard not towonder why was he scouting,
(16:48):
searching for the perfect spot.Presumably, he was looking for a
place to dump that suitcase at5:08pm, Jason Chen returns to
his apartment at 110 Tremont,and then we see it the footage
we've now seen so many timesit's burned into memory. At
5:59pm Jason Chen is seenexiting the front entrance of
(17:13):
the lofts at Tremont, pulling aheavy suitcase up a handful of
steps, then rolling it down thesidewalk before he disappears
out of frame and into theparking lot. I want to pause
here for a minute to talk aboutthis surveillance footage. The
video comes from the Arctic cammounted at the corner of Tremont
(17:33):
and Frazier. It's angledstraight down Tremont Street,
with the lofts at Tremontvisible on the right hand side
the front entrance to theapartment complex sits slightly
below sidewalk level with ashort set of steps leading down
to the door. In the footage, yousee a figure at the base of
those steps struggling to makehis way up. We immediately
(17:55):
recognize him by now, the statehas done a meticulous job
painting out the identifiers,his Henny thing goes trucker
hat, his clothes, his movementsas Chen reaches the top step,
you can see he's draggingsomething behind him, and then
the suitcase comes into view.When the suitcase hits the
(18:16):
sidewalk, there's this momentChen's arm drops under the
weight of it. He readjusts,finds his grip, and starts
pulling it towards the camera'sview before disappearing into
the parking lot. That suitcasewasn't empty. If you've ever
traveled, you know, mostairlines cap checked bags at 50
(18:37):
pounds. Now imagine doublingthat. That's what Jason was
hauling up those stairs and downTremont street after the trial,
my producer and I made the tripto Chattanooga and 110 Tremont
was the first place we visited,seeing it in person, this
building that had become acentral character in Jasmine's
(18:58):
story was surreal when we werepulling out of the back parking
lot by the dumpsters, I sawthose steps and the sidewalk the
exact spot where Jason pulledthat suitcase. Here's a clip
from that day describe how youfeel seeing it in person. Yeah,
this is pretty surreal. My heartis beating being here, just
(19:21):
seeing the the sidewalk that hewalked, the steps that that
suitcase got pulled up, andseeing the footage of like his
arm drop when, when the weightof that bag got rolling, you
could just tell it was so heavy,even though we know she was only
98 pounds, like most suitcasesare like 50 pounds, so that was
(19:46):
twice as heavy as, like, theaverage suitcase you would
travel with at an airport. Andanyway, it's just pretty crazy
to be seeing the sidewalk wherewe saw the footage of him.
Rolling her out of the tree. Maapartments, after Jason rolls
(20:07):
the suitcase into the parkinglot, the Arctic cam captures the
next piece of the puzzle, a 2018gray Toyota Camry pulls out of
the lot, behind the wheel JasonChen, the camera shows him
turning right onto FraserAvenue, leaving the lofts at
Tremont behind. Minutes later,at 6:13pm, cell phone records
(20:31):
confirm exactly where he'sheaded, suck Creek Road. He
waited until it was dark enough,then pulled off onto the gravel
turnout. He popped the trunk,dragged the 100 pound suitcase
out, then pulled it to the edgeof the river bank, shoving it as
deep as he could into the driedkudzu brush, forcing it out of
(20:53):
sight. 20 minutes later, at6:33pm Jason Chen leaves suck
Creek Road and the body ofJasmine pace and drives back to
the Walmart he visited earlierthat day. He arrives in the
Walmart parking lot, and at6:49pm Jasmine's phone goes
(21:13):
dark. That's the last time herphone ever sends out a signal
you
you know, during sequestration,I had a lot of time to think,
(21:34):
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
Rutherford. This epic historicalnovel spans over 400 years,
(21:58):
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
me, I was completely hooked.Here's some good news. You can
(22:19):
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
you love and get listening. Goto audible trial.com. Forward
(22:41):
slash, sequestered.
We know Jason kept her SIM card,but just to be clear, Jasmine's
actual phone has never beenfound, not in his apartment, not
(23:03):
in his car, not anywhere, as ifthe device that once held her
messages, her photos, her entiredigital life simply vanished the
courtroom audio from this partof the trial is hard to make
out, but the Message is crystalclear. This is where Jasmine's
digital trail ends.
(23:25):
So based on this photo, you cantell he's actually leaving the
location at the bottom. Yes. Doyou recall where Mr. Chan's
phone goes from this location?This is the same Walmart that he
was at earlier in the day. It'snearby. Is that correct? And do
(23:47):
you recall if there's anythingsignificant about Mr. Chen's
phone being back at the Walmartagain? So when you say
reappears, what do you mean?It's been dark.
I at 7pm Jason Chen walks intothe Walgreens on Market Street
in Chattanooga. Footage from thestore and his cell phone records
(24:11):
confirm it. What I know now,especially after visiting these
locations myself, is that thisWalgreens sits directly along
the route back to Jason'sapartment from suck Creek Road,
where Jasmine's body had alreadybeen left behind, after a quick
stop in the Walmart parking lotto handle the final details of
(24:31):
her never to be seen again,phone, Jason makes one more stop
at this Walgreens on MarketStreet before returning to his
apartment just a few blocksaway. But he doesn't stay home
for long. A little after 8pm aneighbor's ring cam catches him
slipping out the side door ofthe building. He's still wearing
the Henny thing goes hat, butthis time, he's added a blue
(24:53):
face mask and pulled up the hoodof his gray sweatshirt. Moments
later, the Arctic cam captures.Masked figure wearing a red and
white trucker hat and a hoodedgray sweatshirt, pulling out of
the apartments in a white chevyequinox and turning right onto
Fraser Avenue. That's Jasmine'scar, and Jason is driving it,
(25:15):
but he's not out to run errands.No, he's driving to 900 mountain
creek road where he'll abandonthe vehicle, the same place
Jasmine's family will find itjust three days later, desperate
for answers,
(25:38):
and at some point, a whilelater, do we see Mr. Chen back
at Tremont in your review of theevidence, were you able to see
this video? Yes. Would you agreethat that person appears to be
leaving a building? Yes. Ma'am,all right, and now we go back to
(25:58):
phone records. Did Mr. Chen'sphone indicate that he was
leaving the Tremont apartmentsaround this time, around the
exact same time that he is seenleaving the Tremont apartment
building? Is that correct? Doyou recall where he went, and is
there other evidence that youreviewed that would corroborate
(26:21):
his travel to 900 mountain creekroad. There is the camera that's
across
the street from treatment.
Remember the my Chevy app, theone Jasmine's mom used to locate
her car on the night of November26 that app captured the final
trip that Jasmine's car evertook, starting at 8:27pm when
(26:43):
Jason pulls out of his apartmentcomplex at 110 Tremont Street,
and ending just 18 minutes laterat 8:45pm when he parks it for
the last time, abandoning thevehicle in a dark back parking
lot at 900 mountain Creek Road.Now let's listen in as general
Cody WAMP walks the jury throughthe surveillance footage.
(27:06):
Okay. Is this video taken fromthe mountain free road apartment
buildings? UV, at this point intime, is Mr. Chen's cell phone
location data showing that he isin or around 900 mountain creek
road. And then, have you alsoseen the next part of this video
(27:29):
that shows what looks like orhas been testified to a Prius
pulling into this parking lot?Yes, ma'am.
Remember that Prius captured onthe surveillance video at 900
mountain creek road, the onethat pulls into the same parking
lot Jason did after abandoningJasmine's car, that Prius was
(27:50):
Jason's lift ride, the samedriver who would later drop him
off back at his apartment.Detective Hamilton walks the
jury through data extracted fromJason's phone showing that the
lift app was accessed at 8:39pmjust minutes after Jason left
the equinox, a notification thencomes through at 8:50pm likely
(28:12):
telling him his ride wasarriving. Jason's cell phone
data still places him at 900mountain creek road at this time
by 9:02pm, Jason Chen and hisphone are delivered to 110
Tremont Street. Hamiltonconfirms via cell phone data,
while da WAMP queues up theArctic footage capturing Jason
(28:32):
exiting the lift outside of hisapartment building. Let's listen
in as she presents the momentJason steps out of that lift,
steppers, if anybody else
and at this point in time, aremister Chin's phone records
showing that he is back in hisapartment on tree, not Street,
(28:53):
alright. The next question askedyou significant, where was Mr.
Chin's cell phone from this timeon 1123 until midday on 1125 it
was it was at his apartment,yes, the entire time, yes,
(29:14):
didn't go anywhere. Would youagree that that's basically a
day and a half? It is
a quick side note here, both theLyft app and the tinder app had
been deleted from Jason's phonebefore investigators got their
hands on it, but thanks to theforensic data extraction,
Hamilton was still able torecover key information from
(29:37):
both of the apps. Not long afterJason returns home that night,
he makes a move that's bothcalculated and revealing, but
why we may never know. What wedo know is this, Jason inserts
his own SIM card into Jasmine'sphone, activating it with his
personal data and tying himselfdirectly to her device. Yes. All
(30:04):
right, let's step back throughthe timeline real quick. After
Jason drops Jasmine's car off atmountain creek road, he takes a
lift home, arriving back at hisapartment at exactly 9:02pm on
November 23 From this time onNovember 23 until midday on
November 25 Jason Chen does notleave his apartment. Was this
(30:27):
when he was cleaning,rearranging the furniture to
cover up what happened inside ofhis bedroom, preparing to head
home for the holiday as ifnothing had happened by this
point, remember, Jason had madethree separate trips to Walmart
and Walgreens stocking up onsupplies. Jasmine's body and the
suitcase were already leftbehind on Sut Creek Road and
(30:50):
inside his apartment, we knowthere was blood, almost a gallon
of it actually, for context,Thanksgiving Day was on November
24 that year, Jason didn't leaveChattanooga until Friday
afternoon, finally getting intohis car around 3pm Eastern Time
and arriving at his parentshouse in nolansville, Tennessee
(31:11):
at 4:50pm central time two dayslater, on Sunday, November 27
Jason Chen returns to the NorthShore area of Chattanooga, but
here's the thing, he never goesback into his apartment. Cell
Phone records show him stoppingjust west of Tremont street near
(31:32):
Renaissance Park, a small greenspace just a few blocks away
from the lofts at Tremont wherehe lived at this point, general
WAMP makes an effort to askHamilton what time the
Chattanooga Police Departmentsecured Chen's apartment on this
day, Hamilton confirms ithappened sometime between 10 and
(31:52):
11pm on Sunday, November 27after Chen's cell phone data
shows he was first seen back inthe area we know from
investigator Crawford'stestimony that the search
warrant for Jason Chen'sapartment was granted at 11:45pm
that same night. So what wasJason back in town for? Surely
(32:15):
by now, investigator Crawfordhad already been calling his
phone. Was he curious about anyactivity around his apartment,
checking to see if the policewere already involved, or was
there something else, pullinghim back. Then Hamilton reveals
another twist. Jason leaves theNorth Shore area around 9:30pm
(32:36):
heading towards Hixson, acommunity just north of
Chattanooga, and according tohis phone records, Jason stays
in the Hixson area until about10:15pm before heading back to
nolensville. So what's inHixson? Jasmine's house, her
family's house. What in theworld was Jason doing there? And
(32:59):
more importantly, why?
Next the state shifts the jury'sattention to Jasmine's phone
activity, more specifically, hertext messages and app usage in
the hours after she was lastseen alive. What Hamilton
(33:21):
uncovers is deeply unsettling.At 4am on the morning of
November 23 Jasmine's phonereceived a series of
notifications. They werepassword reset requests for her
banking apps, and by 9:52am Thatsame morning, Jason was already
back on Tinder messagingsomebody new. He sends this
(33:44):
message to a person namedVictoria,
so I guess we're dating now.
Victoria responds, ha, really?Why is that? Jason didn't stop
there, though. He also reachedout to two other women on Tinder
That same morning. I keepthinking about these women he
(34:06):
messaged, as far as they knew,it was just flirty banter on a
dating app. I mean, how couldthey possibly know that the guy
messaging them had just murderedhis girlfriend, her lifeless
body was still laying on thefloor of his bedroom as
investigator Hamilton'sTESTIMONY CONTINUES, he shares
(34:27):
even more text data recoveredfrom Jason Chen's phone. I was
actually glad I could watch thispart back, because there was
just so much information flyingat us during this part of the
trial, texts and dates and timesand different time zones, it was
nearly impossible to keep upwith in the moment. So it wasn't
until re watching it for thisepisode that I fully caught on
(34:51):
to what da WAMP was getting atwith this next group of
messages. But before we getthere, Hamilton also confirms
something that directly Contra.Index the defense's opening
statement, he testifies that thetinder app on Jason's phone was
not accessed at all on the dayof November 22 that's a direct
(35:11):
conflict with what the defensehad claimed about Jasmine
becoming upset after seeingTinder messages popping up on
Jason's phone that night withwomps leading Hamilton then
shifts and explains to the jurythat we're looking at a text
thread from Jason Chen's phone,a group chat between Jason and
his gamer friends. Around 9:30pmon November 23 a handful of
(35:37):
texts roll in. The guys arechecking in to see who's
available and who's getting onto play tonight. Want points out
that all of these texts arebeing read by Jason as they come
in. She continues scrolling downthe report showing more
conversation over the nextcouple of hours. Just before
midnight, someone named Minawrites, you guys running more
(36:00):
war zone, then at 1:06am, nowofficially Thanksgiving Day.
Jason chimes in,
I'm getting on in like five.
You're getting on in like five,as in you're calm enough to sit
on your couch and play videogames with your buddies just
(36:21):
seven hours after you dumpedyour girlfriend's body in a
suitcase by the side of theTennessee River, there's a short
mid morning break at this point,and although I had no idea at
the time, the defense used thatbreak to submit a motion, a move
(36:41):
that would quietly set the stagefor what was coming next. A
motion is a formal request madeto the court asking the judge to
rule on a specific issue. Inthis case, Mr. Weiss filed a
motion requesting that theentirety of the text messages
between Jasmine pace and JasonChen be admitted into evidence
(37:03):
with the jury now out ofearshot, the courtroom quickly
turns into a legal tug of war.Weiss arguing for full
transparency while WAMP raisesserious concerns about their
relevance. They go back andforth over whether these texts,
even the ones from a year beforeJasmine's murder, are actually
hearsay. Then da want plants herfeet and calls it out directly,
(37:26):
saying We just received thismotion approximately four and a
half minutes ago. JudgePatterson appears open to
admitting the full 240 pages oftext, but general want pushes
back hard, arguing that messagesfrom 2021 have nothing to do
with the murder of Jasmine pace.She also makes one thing crystal
(37:50):
clear, if these pages are to besubmitted, any texts that are
sexual in nature should beredacted before they're shown to
the jury. Here's how thatexchange played out, right in
front of the judge,
proof that the defendant and thedecedent had a sexual
relationship. They were datingof some kind, and that needs to
(38:12):
be shown that the relationshipbetween the defendant and the
decedent is central to thedefense case. So we would like
to have the entirety of the textmessages submitted to show to
show this relationship. Lastly,the Saints open the door.
They've already had misterHamilton go through the the data
extraction of how they obtainthese messages the same way that
(38:33):
we receive them. They have gonethrough the defendant's Tinder.
They've gone through thedefendant's I messages. None of
those messages were redacted,even though we talk about
relevancy, and so all those camein. So I believe the state has
opened the door to allowingthese text messages come in if
their argument is a relevancywell, then they shouldn't have
introduced the messages when thestate uses
(38:58):
them, are statements from aparty opponent, a well
recognized hearsay exception.Mister Williams cannot use
mister Chen's statement in courtbecause it's not a party
opponent. So that's slightlydifferent. I did not agree that
we open the door, however, YourHonor, if we can agree to
eliminate the irrelevant textmessages, and there's not many
(39:22):
of them, but irrelevant textmessages regarding sexual
activity, and I've only noticed,then you'll agree to the text
messages coming in. I do notbelieve that text messages about
sexual activity are relevant tomister West case or the homicide
(39:43):
Japanese. Okay,
so we're tailoring, so pleaseshow me sexual messages to talk
about, because
what your honor Hold on, becauseI'll point it out for you. Case
by wage. I.
To me, I just mentioned that I Idon't intend to ask, tell me
(40:08):
about this sexual text message.I wanted to
do that. No, he intends to tellthe jury closing argument.
Should go back and read all themessages that they will be in
evidence that we objects tothem. I will go through them
with mister Hamilton.
You. The footage that followsthis exchange is muted, but you
(40:28):
don't need sound to pick up onwhat's happening. Their body
language says it all tension,frustration and the two sides
digging in. It's clear this wasimportant to both the
prosecution and the defense,each for very different reasons.
After a tense back and forth,Judge Patterson allows some of
the texts in, but only ifthey're relevant. The jury never
(40:52):
saw the messages that weresexual in nature, and honestly,
we didn't need to. What'sinteresting is those 240 pages
of text messages were actuallythe very first thing I reached
for when the evidence box wasbrought into the jury room
during our deliberations. Therewas no way I could have read
(41:13):
through it all, but I wanted tosee for myself if their
relationship really looked aslopsided as the defense claimed
from the text. I did have timeto read. What I saw looked like
a pretty normal relationship.When we return from the mid
morning break, Mark Hamilton isstill on the stand, this time
(41:34):
ready for the defense's crossexamination. Defense Attorney
Amanda Morrison approaches thepodium. This is the first time
I've really mentioned her, solet me paint the picture.
Dressed in a solid colored skirtsuit, Amanda Morrison carries
herself with a quiet confidence.Her straight reddish brown hair
(41:55):
frames her face and there's adeliberate calmness in her
demeanor. Morrison starts byasking Hamilton to confirm
something. Can he actually provethat Jason Chen went to his
apartment when he returned toChattanooga from nolensville on
November 27 Hamilton answerscarefully. He can place Chen in
(42:17):
the area of his apartment basedon cell phone data, but he can't
say for certain whether or notJason actually entered his
apartment that day. To behonest, I wasn't actually sure
why this mattered, but thedefense made a point to put it
on the record. Next judge,Patterson addressed the jury
directly, explaining how we'reallowed to consider the text
(42:39):
messages that were submitted,essentially saying that the
texts are only to be used forthe non hearsay purpose of
establishing the length of Jasonand Jasmine's relationship.
Morrison dives right in,suggesting that someone could
have fabricated the pinscreenshot sent to Jasmine's mom
at 2:18am on November 23 shepushes Hamilton, asking if it's
(43:03):
possible that someone could havefaked that screenshot that
Katrina bean showed of the textmessage from Jasmine with her
location pin. But Hamiltonstands firm. He says it would be
extremely difficult to fabricatebecause of the sheer amount of
detail embedded in thescreenshots metadata.
Eventually, Hamilton concedesthat, in theory, anything is
(43:24):
possible, but in his expertopinion, the screenshot is
authentic. Before investigatorHamilton stepped down, we had a
few questions of our own. One ofthe jurors asked if Jason's SIM
card was in his phone. Wheninvestigators recovered it from
his parents house. Hamiltonconfirmed that it was reminding
(43:45):
the jury that Jason had movedthat same SIM card into
Jasmine's phone for a period oftime, but that it had been
returned to his own phone by thetime it was recovered for
extraction. Another juror askedwhat would happen if text
messages were deleted fromJason's phone, would they still
show up in the conversation log?Hamilton explained that
(44:06):
depending on the make and modelof the phone, the log would be
able to tell that a message hadbeen deleted, but that the
actual content of those messageswould likely not appear as
Hamilton's testimony came to aclose investigator, Zach
Crawford, would be called backto the witness stand serving as
the final witness of the day. DaWAMP recalled him and he was
(44:30):
sworn in for a second time. Shestarted by addressing a point
the defense had raised earlier,asking Crawford to explain why
his own palm and fingerprintswere found on the hood of Jason
Chen's car. Crawford admittedthat during the search of Jason
Chen's parents' house, heaccidentally touched the
vehicle, explaining that thetight space around the car,
(44:52):
packed with his family'sbelongings, made it difficult to
avoid and he accidentally fellforward, bracing himself on the
hood. He was careful to mentionthat this was the first time his
fingerprints had ever shown upon a TBI report before shifting
gears, da WAMP made sure totackle one more defense theory
head on, the suggestion that thescreenshot of the location pin
(45:15):
Jasmine sent to her mom wassomehow fake.
You were the investigator innovember 2022 who was
investigating this case? Thatcorrect? In
November 27 I was brought to theinvestigation in 2020
were you present when Katrina Bscrolled up in her text messages
(45:37):
to show you that location drop?
Yes, I was personally present. Iactually, when she told me about
the location drop, I personallyrequested that we observe those
at which one I actuallyrequested a crimes investigator
come out and document thoseissues.
And was that done? Yes, in whattime was the location shared
from Jasmine's
(45:58):
phone? On her phone, I actuallyhad her name is jazzy with the
pictures, I verified. I lookedat the contact itself, had her
click on it, and observed it tobe the phone number that we know
to be the victims. Subsequently,I looked at the content of the
text message group, at whichpoint I observed a pin drop
location that was shared onNovember 23 2022 at 2:18am,
(46:23):
2:18am,
next. General WAMP shifts herfocus, turning the jury's
attention to text messagesbetween Jason Chen and Jasmine
pace. Investigator Crawfordwalks us through their text
(46:43):
message history, explaining howtheir conversation started
briefly in November of 2021 thendropped off completely until
April of 2022, and here'ssomething interesting, when
their messages resumed in Aprilof 22 Jason actually reminded
Jasmine that they had originallymatched on Bumble the year
(47:04):
before, not Tinder, anotherdirect contradiction from what
the defense claimed in theiropening statement that the two
of them had met on Tinder. Fromthere, Crawford explains their
messages show no arguments orsigns of conflict, just casual
conversations. As they startedseeing each other more
(47:25):
regularly, Jason frequentlyasked Jasmine to come over, and
their relationship seemed toprogress naturally. By late
October of 2022 Jason had eveninvited Jasmine to go to Chicago
with him, a trip they eventuallytook together. As WAMP and
Crawford take the jury throughthese text messages, we begin to
(47:47):
see how their relationshipevolved from casual conversation
to planning trips together. Iwant to take you through some of
the key moments of theirconversation exactly as they
were written on November 1 of2022 Jason liked a text that
Jasmine sent him around 11amhere's Jasmine's actual message
(48:11):
read in an AI generated voice,
oh, and you should go on the setCreek drive before all the
leaves are really dropped.
This was one of the mostchilling moments of the trial
for me. I've mentioned this textmessage before in an earlier
episode, Jasmine either spelledthe street name wrong, or maybe
(48:31):
it was auto corrected, but thetypo didn't matter. What
mattered now was Jason'sreaction to it, because only 22
days later, Jason wouldn't justtake that drive on suck Creek
Road. He would leave Jasminethere. But let's not get too far
ahead of ourselves here. Let'sback up to that trip to Chicago
(48:52):
late in October. Here's a bit ofthe text conversation leading up
to that trip on October 10, at9:10pm, Jason sends this text to
Jasmine.
How's the Chicago update looklike?
Let you know by noon. Plus, Isaid I would get it to you by
Monday before you were going toyour parents for the next couple
(49:13):
of days, I don't want to botheryou while you're out there. Yes,
my answer is yes. I got itworked out and my office covered
while I'm gone, Mark Me iscoming with you and excited.
Just a couple weeks later, theyactually take this trip to
Chicago together, even stoppingto visit an uncle of Jasmine's
(49:35):
that she had never met by midNovember, their conversations
continued with casual back andforth texting. There were gaps
of time where they didn't talkfor a few days, but nothing
unusual. Then on November 18,Jason sends Jasmine, a more
suggestive message.
I'm heading home now if you wantto come over for some fun,
(49:56):
shower time and cuddles for abit.
Oh. Nice, just Cuddles, maybeshower time. I really haven't
been feeling too well.
Okay, I'll babysit you for abit.
Jasmine reacted with a laugh tothat last text from Jason, and
by 718 that night, she hadarrived at his apartment on
(50:19):
November 20, Jason sends a textto Jasmine about how she
inspired him to get donuts thatmorning, they exchanged casual
dialog. Then he asks her,
what are you doing thisWednesday, by the way,
at this point, da want pausesand turns to investigator
Crawford. She asks him a simplebut deliberate question, would
(50:41):
you agree that November 20 of2022 is just two days before
November 22 2022 Crawfordagrees. She continues, asking
him to confirm what day of theweek was, November 22 2022
Crawford replies, Tuesday. WAMPfollows up again, and that would
(51:03):
mean November 23 was aWednesday. Crawford again agrees
with that. Timeline locked ingeneral, WAMP returns to the
text messages.
What are you doing thisWednesday? By the way, let's get
a light workout in, and then gofor dinner and drinks.
Okay, that sounds nice, like areal date,
(51:25):
perfect. Anyways, I have to gothe lab to finish some work.
Looking forward to Wednesday.
Jasmine reacted with a heart toJason's last text, then replied
with a message telling him tohave a good lab to get his
homework done and that she waslooking forward to Wednesday.
These final texts show no signof fear, hesitation or
(51:48):
suspicion. Jasmine was engagedin the conversation. Her words
are casual, natural and warm.The defense had tried to suggest
a power imbalance, implying thatone of them was more invested in
the relationship than the other,but investigator Crawford
confirms there's nothing inthese texts to suggest that was
true. Their messages remainedeven in their exchange and their
(52:12):
back and forth. Tone wasaffectionate without coming
across obsessive. And yet, justtwo days later, all of this
would change, hearinginvestigators walk through Jason
and Jasmine's messages today hithard. Jasmine wasn't upset. She
(52:33):
wasn't angry. She was justliving her life, making plans,
sending heart emojis and lookingforward to Wednesday, and then
she was gone. It's haunting tothink about. These weren't the
messages of someone who wasafraid or planning an escape.
She wasn't breaking up withJason. She wasn't even pulling
(52:55):
away from him. Jasmine had noidea what Wednesday held in
store for her. She had no ideathat on Tuesday, she would lose
her beloved grandmother, and shedefinitely had no idea that just
hours after that, her own lifewould be taken from her next
(53:16):
time on sequestered. The Staterests its case after everything
we've seen, the fingerprints,the timeline, the chilling
digital evidence. One questionremains, what will Jason Chen's
defense have to say?
There was a screen that startedme. Ultimately, I checked my
(53:36):
phone to see the time because Iwas going to call them. One was
around 2am there was a voicethat was screaming words, the
words I couldn't
understand fully. You
don't want to miss EpisodeSeven. It's about to get
(53:59):
complicated. You
(54:20):
I thank you for listening tosequestered 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
(54:42):
conversation with us. Jasmine'sstory deserves to be remembered.
This is a BP production. Theshow is written, edited and
produced by me Sarah Reed, withCO production by Andrea Kleid,
news clips feature. In thisepisode were sourced from wtbc
(55:02):
News Channel Nine, local threenews, Chattanooga and the law
and crime network. Music andsound design are curated to
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
(55:24):
on Instagram at sequestered pod.Thank you for listening until
next Time, stay curious and staysafe. You
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