01x03 - Hidden in Chunchula

[bunniefuu]

♪

All the power was out.
Just chaos and destruction.

There was a charred body
of a female

lying face up on the floor.

There's no way to describe it.

This was not an accident.

The pathologist
throws the blanket off of her,

and he goes,
"These are b*llet holes.

You got a homicide."

Who would do this
in her own home?

You've got a monster
who took her life

and set it on fire.

She goes, "Oh, my God,
he did it."

And I thought we'd be dealing
with a serial k*ller.

It's just unfathomable
that he was

sharing the same oxygen
as everyone else.

The person on the other end
of the phone says,

"He could not have committed
the crimes

that y'all are looking at."

♪

♪

♪

In the heart
of Mobile County, Alabama,

just 50 miles
from the Gulf Coast

lies
the tiny town of Chunchula.

You definitely would know
if someone didn't belong there.

The people that live there
know pretty much everybody

that lives there.

It was just, you know,
kind of a working class,

you know, small rural area.

The closest convenience store
was 30, 40 minutes away.

Even though
we live in paradise,

we are next to the beaches.

It's just a given that
that comes with a price.

♪

Hurricanes are just a part
of our culture.

We prepare for it every season.

Sometimes there's
an evacuation plan.

People, they panic.

So law enforcement has to deal
with the chaos of that.

In 2004, Ivan was

one of the biggest hurricanes
we'd had in recent times

in the heart
of Mobile County, Alabama.

♪

And this hurricane brought
a lot of devastation.

The power was out
for an extended period of time.

I just got home
from hurricane duty

and literally had just laid down
when I received the call

from dispatch, you know,
about a female body

being found
inside a mobile home

by her daughter.

[Siren wailing]

I headed out there.
It was extremely dark.

There was still
a lot of roadways

that weren't completely cleared,

so you have to go slowly

and, you know, look for trees

partially in the road.

When we got there,

I met with the deputies
on the scene and got a briefing.

Immediately upon entry,

you could tell there
had been a fire,

but not throughout the home.

♪

As you got closer
to the bedroom,

you could tell, you know,

there was more
intense fire in that area.

And then looking into
the bathroom,

that was clearly
the source of the fire.

And there was a charred
body – hard to identify.

♪

Female lying face up
on the floor.

I'm thinking she had a Coleman
lantern or something like that.

It knocked over, caught on fire.
It was an accident.

You know,
that was just first impression.

But the coroner got there
and we moved the body.

That's when you could
smell the gasoline.

The fire marshal, he's got
test kits, which he tested.

And, yes, it was gasoline.

Then he said, "The fire
originated right here,"

which was right
between her legs.

I mean, it was right there.

That's where
the most intense heat was.

It actually burned
through the floor.

There did not appear
to be any clothing,

because usually when
there's a burned body,

you can still see remnants
of clothing.

The bathtub was full of water,

which is what people do
during a hurricane,

because a lot of times
water service is interrupted.

But it was clear
there was a really dark red tone

to the water,
as if there were blood.

And then some of her clothing
was in the tub.

At that point,
it made us believe

that there had, you know,
been foul play

and someone had set her on fire.

We knew that we were looking
for someone

who didn't want to leave
evidence of their crime.

And obviously fire is the
easiest way to destroy evidence.

You know, an autopsy
is the only thing

that's going to reveal
what k*lled her.

♪

We moved the body
to the forensic science building

for the autopsy, and then
we talked to the family,

and of course they were
distraught and uncontrollable.

Family members
identify the victim

as 44-year-old Lisa Nichols.

With the reality of the m*rder
still settling in,

the family provides detectives
with information

about who Lisa was.

My mom was a very happy person,
loving. Everybody loved her.

She – She loved to cook.
She loved her grandkids.

She loved going to the beach.

And I hate to sound
so cliche about it,

but, like,
she was my best friend.

Like, we talked on the phone
three or four times a day.

My mom lived in a very rural
part of north Mobile County,

and she started working
for a local grocery store.

She was probably in it
for a good 20 years.

My mom definitely struggled
in finding the perfect guy,

as I think every person does.

Um...

so she had a lot of boyfriends
or relationships

that she would get involved in
and they wouldn't work out.

And then she would be left
without a place, you know,

to live because she would
move in with these people.

And it finally got to a point
where the last one,

my sister and I just told her,

like, "You gotta stop this.

It's time for you
to get your own place."

She went and found
a mobile home

and she was going to start
building her own life out there.

She loved being out
in the country.

Investigators
question the family

about Lisa's whereabouts
over the past several days,

including where she may have
sheltered during the hurricane

that just passed through town.

Ivan was projected to be
a pretty big storm

for us down here.

To be 100% safe,
my mother came down.

She stayed that night at
the hotel with our family.

We sheltered at a hotel
for two days.

All the power was out. I mean,
just chaos and destruction.

♪

The day after the hurricane,
I was at home cleaning up

and I tried to convince my mom
to stay because we had power.

She didn't have power,
but she wanted to go home.

So she went back to her place.

I know when she got home,
she had checked in.

The next morning we tried
to call her a couple times.

She didn't always get great
cellphone signal up there.

And then with the power
being out and all that stuff,

that was our first thought.

"Oh, she's just not getting
our calls or she's busy."

At first, we didn't have
that much concern.

It wasn't till later
in the evening

when we had touched base
with my sister and then my aunt

and all realized
none of us had talked to her.

♪

My mother probably lived –

It was probably about an hour
or so away from us.

We're like, "Okay, something –
like,

we need to go check on her."

♪

I remember, you know,
we all brought flashlights

because we knew
there was going to be no power.

One of the first things that I
noticed when we opened the door,

smoke just took us over –
the smell of smoke and soot.

I just was like,
"Where – Where is she?"

At that moment,
I think Todd took the lead.

I'm glad they did
not see anything.

It's probably the worst day
of my life.

♪

There's no way
to even describe it.

And he turned and looked
into her bathroom.

And after he looked in her
bathroom, I just remember him

grabbing my sister and was like,

"You got to get her out of here.
It's too late. Y'all call help."

I just remember running out
of the house screaming,

you know,
"Help, somebody call 911."

♪

So none of our cellphones
would work.

Cellphone towers
were down everywhere.

I remember going to a couple of
neighbors' houses first,

banging on their doors.

[Pounding]

After knocking
on several doors,

one finally opens.

And I was like,
my mom needed help.

That's all I can say at
that moment was she needed help.

And Mark Bentley who was always
kind of looking out for my mom,

he and who we now know was
"Scooter" Coleman

ran to my mom's house.

There was another guy that
stayed in the Bentleys' home

with gray sideburns,

but he didn't
ever offer to help.

[Sirens wailing]

After talking with the family,
the decision was made

because there was no lighting
or electricity that we,

you know, back out of the scene
so as not to trample,

you know,
any potential evidence

and wait until daylight
to continue the investigation.

♪

♪

I think it's about 530,
6:00 that morning,

the coroner came in
and found what he thought

were stab wounds in the head.

That was his first reaction
and said this girl's

been stabbed in the head.

The pathologist corrected
himself and he goes,

"Wait a minute,
these are b*llet holes.

You've got a homicide for sure."

♪

There's not one single person

in her life
that would do that to her.

Not one.

We couldn't believe that it
would be someone that she knew.

There is a report
of attempted robbery

and a man running through
somebody's house.

So we sh**t up there.

As we're walking him
to the patrol car,

he says, "I had every intention
of making you sh**t me."

It's just a very odd
thing to say.

♪

♪

12 hours into the investigation
of Lisa Nichols' death,

the Mobile County,
Alabama, coroner's office

has determined
this was a homicide

based on b*llet wounds
found in her skull.

Detective Burch called,
and, um...

I'll never forget what he said, honestly.

He said that this
was not an accident.

♪

That was rough.

It was rough.

I mean...

like I said –
if it's a homicide,

then you know someone did this.

And it's like,
who would do this

in her own home?

Like...

It was just hard.
It was a hard day.

♪

Following the coroner's ruling,

a m*rder investigation
is officially launched.

Detectives return to
the crime scene during the day

in hopes of coming across
any evidence

that might lead them
to a suspect.

We were able to see on her back
porch the victim's phone,

a pack of cigarets.

What stuck out most to me was
there was a small barbecue grill

sitting on the back porch
with charcoal, lighter,

but it had never been lit.

Something had interrupted her

during that time
where she's preparing, you know,

to cook dinner.

♪

While collecting evidence,
we, you know,

discovered there are two
types of beer cans in the home.

We found a beer canned upside
down in the sink,

which after interviewing
the daughters,

they told us
"That's what my mother would do,

is she would drink a beer.

When she finished it, she'd turn
it upside down in the sink,

let all the beer drain
out of it.

Then she'd crush the can
because she would sell

the aluminum."

The beer can in the sink

was obviously hers.

And the beer can that we saw
sitting on the floor

could be the suspect's.

Detectives photograph the cans

and send them in for forensics.

They then shift their focus
to possible suspects.

One of the questions
the detectives kind of asked us

was 9 times out of 10
a crime like this,

someone knew this person.

This isn't just your stranger.

We couldn't believe that it
would be someone that she knew.

We began interviewing,
you know,

those who were closest to her.

You know, we talked
with her ex-boyfriend

and talked with her ex-husbands,

some of whom who actually
came to check on her

during the hurricane to make
sure she didn't need anything.

So she even, you know,

maintained a good
relationship with her exes

because she was just
that kind of a person.

All of the potential persons
of interest provide detectives

with a detailed alibi.

They were completely cleared
of any involvement.

They had solid alibis,
and, you know,

you could tell clearly
were devastated at Lisa's death.

♪

Detectives expand the
investigation to other people

who knew Lisa and may be able
to shed light on her final days.

This includes Mark Bentley,
the neighbor her family ran to

for help the night
they discovered her body.

There comes a time you just
kind of pick up,

you know,
when someone is genuine.

And Mark was clearly shaken,
you know, by this case.

He was devastated that something
like that could happen

right next door to him.

We asked him about
who all was here last night.

And he said, "Scooter

and also a guy
that works for me named

John Paul Chapman."

Mark was
in the construction business.

They were
his off-and-on employees

who lived with the Bentleys.

Then detectives speak
with Mark Bentley's houseguest,

Scooter Coleman.

He tells them about
a strange event

that occurred the night
Hurricane Ivan hit.

He said the day before the
hurricane, Mark was packing up

to take his family to safety.

Offered John and Scooter
to go with them.

And they said,
"No, I'll stay here.

I'll take care of the place

and make sure everything's fine
while y'all are gone."

Mark Bentley confirmed
that he and his family left

for Birmingham
and got a motel room.

Scooter, he told us
that the night of the hurricane,

he wanted some flashlights and
batteries, you know, for radios

and flashlights.

While searching for those items,
Scooter caught John Chapman

going through a closet
in the Bentleys' bedroom.

They claim to be looking for
a radio but had a small p*stol.

Scooter tells the detectives
he doesn't know

where John Chapman
went after that,

but he later found Mark's g*n
back in the closet.

Scooter come walking with us
with the g*n in his hand

for potential evidence.

You know, the Bentleys
also had given us

a bag of Chapman's clothing,

and then some of it
was bloodstained.

To detectives,
the story about the g*n

and the bloody clothing make
John Chapman a primary suspect.

♪

We told Mark Bentley

we've needed
to find John Paul Chapman.

I said, "Where is he?"

"Uh, he left.

I don't know where he went,
but I'm sure he'll be back."

I said, "Okay.
We need to talk to him."

So me and Paul sat
on a sofa all night long.

While we waited,
Mark was able to tell us

that John worked for him
a couple of years previous

working another hurricane

doing debris cleanup
and rebuilding.

John was on the road,
didn't have a place to stay.

So Mark being the type of person
he was, he said,

"Well, I've got plenty of room
at my house.

You can come stay at my house
until you can get on your feet."

John went up there,
moved in with them

and became friends with them.

They became hunting bodies
and fishing buddies

and – and worked.

♪

By the next morning,
there was no signs of Chapman.

We had to give up.

We went back to the office.

We had run a criminal history
on him

and he had an active warrant
out of Douglasville, Georgia,

for failure to show up in court.

♪

The search for Chapman
is coming up empty,

but then Detective McRae
receives a phone call

promising to change that.

All of a sudden, John Chapman,
he called and said,

"Hey," you know, nonchalant.

"Hey, what do you need? I'll
come down and talk to y'all."

He said, "It'll be a couple of
hours before I can get there."

And I'm waiting.

Of course, he never showed up.

Obviously,
that was a flag going up.

He was acting pretty guilty,
and I needed to find him.

I needed to know more
about this guy.

♪

♪

Detectives in Mobile County, Alabama,

have identified John Chapman

as a person of interest
in the m*rder of Lisa Nichols,

but he fails to show up,
as promised, for an interview

and they're having trouble
tracking him down.

While we tried
to contact Chapman,

there is a report
of attempted robbery

and a man running through
somebody's house.

It's a small town,
so we sh**t up there,

find out a known meth cook

saw this guy grab
a handful of meth

and stick it in his pants.

So that meth cook pulls out
a g*n and starts chasing him

but then lost him.

But the guy leaves this red
Jeep Cherokee

at the meth cook's house.

When detectives run the plates,
they get a surprise.

It turned out the red
Jeep Cherokee

was John Paul Chapman's.

♪

And so we were able to seize it
and have it towed.

♪

Well, the next morning I got
a call from an unknown number,

and it was Chapman.

And he was just insistent that,
you know,

he didn't know anything.

While I was speaking with him,

I got one of the other
detectives to trace that number

and I'm trying
to keep him talking.

We're getting closer
and closer to the area.

As we're pulling up,

we could see two males
in a truck, and we get out.

And I could see
that Chapman was the passenger

and was on the phone.

When I approached the vehicle,

Chapman,
he was really, really...

I guess hyped up at the time,

very anxious and talking fast.

And he had meth sores
on his face, on his arms, and...

You know, we got Chapman
on the ground.

As we're walking him
to the patrol car,

he says, "I had every intention
of making you sh**t me."

It's just a very odd
thing to say.

And we learned from the driver
that he didn't know Chapman,

never met him before.

He showed up at his house

wanting a ride
to the bus station.

And he was willing to

take him to the bus station
just to get him away.

♪

We got John arrested
for failure

to show up in court
in Douglasville, Georgia.

And we brought him
down to the office,

and me and Paul
started an interview.

It was apparent
when we sat down with Chapman,

you know, that he thought he was
the smartest guy in the room.

And when you're talking
with someone like that,

you got to play along with it,
you know,

or they'll shut down on you.

But slowly and patiently,
the detectives turn

the conversation to the night
that Hurricane Ivan hit

and what they believe
might have happened

at Lisa Nichols' trailer.

At first,
Chapman wouldn't talk to us

and denied
ever being over there.

And then, you know,
we began throwing hints

that he was seen over there.

And so he bit into that
a little bit and said,

"Well, you know,
I went up to the back porch

but never went inside."

You know, the lady there,
referring to Lisa, you know,

engaged him in conversation
and invite him over and...

He'd tell us one story, and
then he'd watch our reaction

and then he'd say,
"Oh, I missed that one up.

Let me change it a little.

He gave us the story that he
went over there and met Lisa

and that she wanted to buy
some crystal meth.

And so he went and got some,
then brought it back to her.

And they did crystal meth
and had sex.

Then he said
then she OD'd and died.

[Indistinct]

So he got scared and he said,

"Oh, no, they're going to
blame me for k*lling her

since I bought
the crystal meth."

[Indistinct]

"So I went and got a g*n
and I shot her

so it'd look like she didn't die
from the crystal meth."

Then he said he thought about it
and he went back

and got gasoline later
and came back over there

and poured it all over her,

poured a trail outside the door

and lit it and closed the door.

♪

It was apparent that he would
tell partial truths.

But obviously, at that point
he's making up the confessions

and that he shot Lisa
after she died of an overdose.

There was never any indication
from anything

that Lisa had
any involvement in drugs.

But there is some truth
to John Chapman's confession.

The autopsy concluded
that Lisa was definitely shot

before being set on fire.

- Here he is.
- The middle of the interview,

he wanted to call
his girlfriend, Vickie.

I had let him use my phone.

And he tried to call Vickie
and didn't get an answer.

And so we took him to jail.

Well, then I come back and I
start calling Vickie's number...

try to get as much information
that we could get about Chapman.

And she didn't answer.

But the next morning she did.

I identified myself and said,

"I'm in Mobile, Alabama,
and we've got John in jail."

And she goes,
"What'd he do this time?"

And I said, "We are
interviewing him for m*rder."

And she immediately,
"Oh, my God, he did it.

He's the one that did it."

I always knew
he had k*lled her."

♪

And I'm like,
"What are you talking about?"

And she said, "There's a –

There's
a 16-year-old girl up here

in Georgia
that lived in my trailer park,

and she went missing last year

and they found her bones
and she had been m*rder*d.

And I always thought he had
had something to do with it."

Me and Paul looked
at each other

and said,
"This in his first one."

♪

♪

Alabama authorities have just learned

that the man they have
in custody

for the m*rder of Lisa Nichols

may have also committed
another m*rder

six months earlier

and 400 miles away
in neighboring Georgia.

The body of 16-year-old
Amanda Greenwell

was found a month after
she went missing in March 2004.

She'd been beaten, r*ped,
and her neck was broken.

The case was still unsolved.

His girlfriend said
that the day

before the body was discovered,

John Chapman came home, was
scratched up, had dirty clothes,

and immediately took
his clothes off,

put them in the washing machine,
which he never did,

and – and took a shower.

She was alleging
that – that she suspected

that her boyfriend k*lled,

you know,
the juvenile that was –

lived in that trailer park.

Hang up from her.

I called Douglasville, Georgia,
and confirmed the m*rder

they had worked up there
of the 16-year-old girl.

It became evident that Lisa's
m*rder wasn't his first time.

And, you know, I thought
we'd be dealing

with the serial k*ller.

♪

I was devastated that something
like that could happen,

but we would not speak with him
about other crimes

until he told us the truth
about Lisa Nichols.

Detectives worry that Chapman's
rambling statements

in his interrogation
won't be enough

to ensure a conviction
for k*lling Lisa.

So they come up with a plan
to coax more details out of him.

The next day,
we made the decision

to just kind of play a bluff
and see what happened.

We did obviously fingerprint the
beer cans from the crime scene,

but there was nothing
there to really get.

But I went downstairs
and got our crime scene unit

to take some of my prints

and put them on
a little three-by-five card

like we would normally do
when you're printing a scene.

So when he kept saying,
"No, I didn't go in and, well,

I just went in the kitchen
to throw my beer can away,"

I said, "Well, John,
you have another can

that is in the master bedroom
with your prints on it."

And I laid down that print card,
and you could see

that his expression changed.

Oh, man.

That's when he kind of,
"Alright, guys, you've got me.

I know all the stuff I told you
yesterday didn't work.

- This is what I did it."
- [Indistinct]

He told us
when he first went over there,

she wouldn't let him inside.

This boy could cry
at any minute he wanted to.

I mean, he – he could turn
on the tears, and he –

he just did that to talk his way
into the mobile home.

So once he got her inside,
that was it.

You said, "I went over there
to r*pe her

and she fought like a wild cat,
so I k*lled the b*tch."

♪

And just cold chills
went down you,

and he just...
nonchalant said it.

When he said that,
he basically confessed

and he's charged with m*rder.

♪

We were at the florist picking
out flowers for my mom's service

and Detective Burch called,
and he said, "We got him."

♪

I said, "What do you mean
you have him?"

He says, "We have him."
I said, "How sure are you?"

And he was like,
"I'm 99.9% sure."

♪

Lisa's family is stunned
when they recognize the k*ller

as one of the men
they approached for help

after discovering her body
in the burnt-out trailer.

It was the man
with the gray sideburns.

It was the third guy
from the night we found her.

And I just remember telling
Detective Burch, I said,

"That's him. That's the man
with the gray sideburns."

Detectives have a confession
for Lisa Nichols' m*rder,

but now they have information
that John Chapman was involved

in yet another m*rder
of Amanda Greenwell.

They decide to contact
law enforcement agencies

outside their jurisdiction
to see

if he can be tied
to other cases as well.

Thinking he might have k*lled
other people,

I did a brief synopsis
of the case we were working,

which was attempted r*pe, m*rder
and arson, which is unique.

I put the information in there.

It was John Paul Chapman,

had his date of birth
and social security number.

♪

I get a phone call,
Missouri State Prison...

regarding the teletype
that we sent out.

And, you know, the person on
the other end of the phone says,

"Look, you know,
I've got y'all's bulletin.

I don't know
who you all have,

but we have John Paul Chapman
in our prison,

same social,
same date of birth,

and he's been here
a number of years for robbery.

♪

So he could not have committed,

you know, the crimes
that y'all are looking at.

♪

So I don't know who you have,
but it's not John Paul Chapman."

♪

Now we're trying to figure out

who we have in our jail
across the street

and –
and who this suspect really is.

♪

♪

Mobile County, Alabama,

investigators are stunned
to learn the man they charged

with the m*rder of Lisa Nichols
is not who he claims to be

and the real John Chapman
is behind bars in Missouri.

I went and called his
girlfriend, Vickie.

She knew him only by Chapman,
and questioned her

some more about his family

and she said
she had met his mother.

Her name was Jenny Beard,
and she lived in Oklahoma.

And so...

I call Miami, Oklahoma,
a little small town,

and I get this young
new detective.

And I said, "We're looking to
try to identify this person"

and said,
"his mother's Jenny Beard.

Does that name ring a bell?"

He goes, "Tell me you got
Jeremy Jones in custody.

We want him
for r*pe in Oklahoma,

and we've been looking
for him for a while."

Within five minutes, he had
faxed us a picture of him,

and it was Jeremy.

Jeremy Bryan Jones.

♪

We went across the street
to the jail

and had him brought
to the administration office.

I said, you know,
"How you doing today, Jeremy?"

And the color just like
left, you know, left his face

and he looked in disbelief,

almost like "I hadn't heard
my name in years."

And I said, "Well, you know,
we have you identified.

We know who you are.

Here's your fingerprints,
you know,

and here's warrants
you're being served with,

and all felonies,
a number of them from Oklahoma."

You know, we interviewed him
for several hours

and he gave us
more of the puzzle.

And he told us how he went
about changing his I.D.

He was already on probation and
he made the decision to flee.

And while he was on the run,
he stopped at a bar in Joplin,

Missouri, started talking
with a woman at the bar,

told her that he was on the run,
didn't say for what.

She said, "Well,
my son's in prison.

He's going to be there
for a long time.

I'll sell you, you know,

his Social Security card
and driver's license."

And Jones said he paid her $50
or something along that line

and lived his life that way
for a number of years.

Fast forward, he ends up
in Douglasville, Georgia.

He gets arrested several times.
They fingerprint him.

He gives them the name
John Paul Chapman.

The fingerprints go to the FBI.

And somebody made a booboo.
They didn't compare them.

They actually had two files
for the same person,

one under Jeremy Jones
and one under John Chapman.

And that was a huge error. Huge.

The fact there were two sets
of fingerprints on file

made it impossible
to connect Jeremy Jones

with his alias John Chapman,

which devastated
Lisa Nichols' family.

They found out
he was Jeremy Jones,

and we started finding out,
you know,

all this stuff with him.

I was just angry.

I was so mad because,
like, you know,

he could have been stopped
and so many other...

cases, like, it didn't have
to get that far.

This man had no reason
to be out of jail.

His crimes were so horrific.

He was able to slip through the
fingers of law enforcement

time and time again

because of a technicality with
a fingerprint system federally.

And because
of the discrepancies,

he landed in the Mobile area

and – and brutally m*rder*d
one of our own.

So we were disgusted.

It's just unfathomable

that he was sharing the same
oxygen as everyone else.

With his true identity revealed,

Jeremy Jones surprises
the Alabama detectives

as he begins revealing

even more about his past
than they've asked about.

Jones said that he had warrants
on him for r*pe

and a variety of sex crimes.

He confessed
to a number of crimes.

Those were all the cases.
That's not our jurisdiction.

But at that point,
we were really wanting

to get information and help
those out-of-town agencies.

The FBI sent a crew here
from Washington,

and within a day
we had poster board

all the way down the wall
of our interview room

of every step Jeremy Jones
had done in the past 25 years.

I mean, everywhere
he bought a car,

got a ticket and got stopped.

We're interviewing him about a
possible m*rder in New Orleans,

and he finally confesses to it
and starts telling us,

"Yeah, I saw this girl.

She was a prost*tute.

She was walking down the street.

I don't know what street it was.

And I needed some sex,
so I stopped.

We went at this warehouse.

That's where I k*lled her."

♪

So we get on the phone
with the detectives,

he gave them pinpoint directions
exactly where her body

had been found
out in the parking lot

and inside
where he k*lled her at.

It was all true.

♪

Jeremy Jones has implicated
himself in at least two

unsolved m*rder cases –

Amanda Greenwell
in Douglasville, Georgia,

and now Katherine Collins
in New Orleans.

Meanwhile, prosecutors prepare
for a trial

in the Lisa Nichols case,

confident of the solid evidence
they have against Jones.

It includes the m*rder weapon
and a bag of Jones' clothing

handed over to police
by Lisa's neighbor.

The .25 caliber p*stol
was sent to the lab, tested,

and then the b*ll*ts
came back to be the same.

So we could definitively say

that's the g*n
that k*lled Lisa.

We did DNA testing
on the clothing evidence,

and I found positive
presumptive results

on one item
that matched Lisa Nichols.

And that's indisputable.

And there was – there was
no logical explanation

why Lisa Marie Nichols' DNA

would be on Jeremy Bryan Jones'
clothing

unless he k*lled her.

Jones unexpectedly adds
to that evidence

and to his confession
with a surprise move from jail.

[Ringing]

♪

[Ringing]

Jeremy Jones is
awaiting trial in Alabama

for k*lling Lisa Nichols,
but he's not waiting quietly.

He makes a phone call
from the Mobile County jail

to Mark Bentley,
Lisa's neighbor,

who he was living with
at the time of the m*rder.

I've talked to Mark
a few times,

you know, over the years, and –

and it still affects him
to this day.

He was devastated
that someone in his home

did that to another human being.

Jones made admissions
to Mark on a recorded line

knowing he's being recorded.

You know, that was a pretty
crucial piece of evidence.

♪

He basically confessed
on the phone to Mark

that he had done it all,

which was just icing
on the cake.

Obviously,
there's a lot of preparation

that goes into a trial,

especially a capital
m*rder trial.

We had to make sure we stayed
focused on Lisa Nichols...

you know, and not these cases
outside of this jurisdiction.

Mark Bentley was a really
crucial witness

during the trial.

Jones confessed
to Mark over the phone,

and Mark had to validate
that phone call.

And that was huge in the trial.

♪

If any case ever warranted
the death penalty,

this would be one.

I mean, you have a truly
innocent victim who is already,

you know, struggling after
a hurricane just hit.

And then you've got, you know,
a monster who took her life

and set her on fire.

He was on crystal meth.

This was drug-induced
r*pe and homicide.

He was on crystal meth.

He wasn't thinking of anything
but getting another fix.

That's all he cared about.

♪

The jury,
it didn't take them long.

Their mind was made up.

Came back guilty very quick

and then sentenced to death quick.

It was a slam dunk

and it was a big relief,
you know, for the family.

You know, that doesn't give them
their mom back, you know,

but it gives them
a sense of justice.

That was...
it was a moment

where I really felt
like I could breathe

for the first time
in a very long time because...

we did it.

We did it.
We got justice.

We got the justice
that we wanted.

That part of it was over.
We did it.

So it was – it was a good day.
It was a good day.

The FBI later issued
a statement,

an apology to the family,

that there were errors made
in the fingerprinting process

during his arrest in Georgia.

Had they caught him in Georgia
by his fingerprints,

he would have been
extradited back to Oklahoma.

He would have never been
in Alabama.

My mom, ultimately
she would still be alive

is what it came down to.

♪

I feel like my mom died
a true hero

because she stopped him.

Jeremy Jones was not
going to stop k*lling.

He was not going to stop
raping innocent women.

He was not going
to stop abusing drugs.

He was going to keep
being a criminal.

I guess the lasting impact
is just everything

that I know she misses.

Like, you know, she missed...

like... what we've become.

I didn't have my mom
at my wedding.

She missed, you know, my
daughter graduating high school.

She missed my daughter
graduating college.

And I sit here and go, like, I
know she would be proud of us.

♪

♪

♪