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[Music] [Music] I remember having a nightmare that something was terribly wrong Jesse
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was was killed and when I woke up it was just a dream [Music] my name is Gary Bardwell Jesse Bardwell
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is my daughter going this way do it Jessie do it I called her my beautiful daughter and I still do a beautiful
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Jesse she lived in Orange Beach Alabama she just loved being around [Music] water she would be in the
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water lighting the waves and having fun she worked at a place called Cobalt the restaurant it's beautiful place I
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don't know why she decided to move she just up and moved to Texas and she said like I'm just going
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out there to clear my head I'll be back I just going for a couple weeks and I'll
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be back my name is Kimberly Asbury I was friends with Jesse it just went from hearing from her a lot talking do or did
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nothing I knew something was wrong as the father of three girls I was very determined to get to the bottom of
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what had happened to Jesse bwell my name is Kon hail I was the lead detective on
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Jesse's case Jesse was nowhere to be found when we got to Texas I had the fear that we
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would never find her tell me what it felt like then to go 2 days 3 days 4 days it was
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hail after so many days it's kind of hard to believe that she's just going to come back with shopping bags in her arms
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it was just like brace for impact I knew she was dead how did you know I had that
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Nightmare and I felt it she was not on this Earth anymore this story is about a young
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girl thinks she finds love and and uh it turns out he's pure [Music] evil 48 Hours taken away
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[Music] yesterday uh I went down to the river and just uh sat there and watched the
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boats go by and took some deep breaths and said I don't know how much of this I can take you know any
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longer there are days when it's hard for Gary Bardwell to get out of bed but he always does determined to get Justice
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for Jesse his 27-year-old daughter who went missing from Richardson Texas in May of
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2016 I'm doing it for Jesse taking one day at a time one step at a time Gary knew something was wrong before he even
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knew Jesse had gone missing something from my soul was gone and I was afraid that it was
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her that connection that Bond Deeper Than Words formed the moment Jesse was born says Gary as soon as she was born
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immediately started crying it was just such a happy moment such a happy moment Jesse grew up alongside her older
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brother Brandon me and Jesse have been two pe's in a pod since we were young there's Brandon and Jesse Gary a
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now retired firefighter with the p Kula Mississippi Fire Department loved being a dad she kind of didn't want me out of
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her sight she just liked to know where I was she slept with this every night I just love those days Daddy's a little
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girl for sure when Jesse was 14 Gary and her mother Carla divorced she loved her
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mother too very much so Jesse spent her high school years with her father just my coffee you want some and her new
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stepmother Gina this is Jesse's graduation picture after a few tries at college life somewhere along the line
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she was having more fun than school that's when Jesse moved to Orange Beach and started working tables at Cobalt a
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popular Beachside restaurant we talked every day she text me every day like he came and they went boating and they went
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fishing Jesse's good friend restaurant manager Kimberly Asbury found out Gary was an accomplished musician and booked
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him at the restaurant she go to his gigs I mean they were friends they weren't just
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father and daughter Jesse had been living with a long-term boyfriend but surprised
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everyone when she felt for a new guy Jason low it kind of came out of nowhere Jesse's friend Terry saw the romance
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start Jason seemed friendly he definitely um was outgoing as well he was handsome had two college degrees and
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ambitious for Jesse not just a new love but a ticket to a more exciting life when Jason went to Dallas for a
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six-figure job in the tech industry Jessie decided she would join him and pursue her own dream of Cosmetology she
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thought of it as more of an adventure like I'm I'm trying something new but Jesse failed to mention that she was
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about to go to Dallas when she saw her family that Christmas I had no clue of what was
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going on she knew that she was fixing to leave for Texas and I would have done everything I
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could to try to talk her out of it shortly after the holidays Jesse left for Texas and suddenly the girl who
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always had her iPhone was now never on it you couldn't reach her the moment that I really started to get worried was
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when her phone number was cut off and everything that we talked to her had to go through Jason the only way to get
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Jesse was to call Jason's phone or the house phone they would come to find out that Jason was monitoring all her calls
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eventually every time Gary called Jesse he only got Jason I said let me speak to
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Jesse he said uh she said she'll call you later two months later Gary finally got
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his chance to meet Jason low Jason and Jesse came to pasula for a visit Gary tried to persuade Jesse not to go back
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to Texas I remember Jesse was was hugging me more than normal and I was going are you okay yeah yeah I I definitely
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want to go to Texas I just want you to be proud of me you know they left I watched the car drive away even
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though Jesse never let on that anything was wrong Gary had a bad feeling he went
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into his Studio Jesse's childhood room she said Daddy don't worry and wrote this song on it's going to be all right
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that song taken away was written the very last time I saw Jess as they were leaving it was written
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about seeing them leave Tak away me getting a gut feeling of something was bad wrong take G
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away she said there is nothing you can say make in May four months after Jesse moved to Texas she stopped answering his
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calls all together Gary called Jason and insisted on knowing where Jesse was he says Jason told him he didn't know what
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was he saying I don't know where in the hell she is we don't live codependent she can go to come and she
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pleases but when she didn't call her mom and stepmom on Mother's Day Gary had had
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enough I said we're leaving in the morning let's pack some bags and we're going to
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[Music] Texas when Gary Bardwell got in his truck and headed to Texas he was angry
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very angry I get so angry that it scares me his little girl was missing and he believed Jason low was behind it I text
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him on the way there I said if Jesse is not there when I get there you are in a tremendous amount of trouble but when he
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got to Jesse and Jason's apartment she was nowhere to be found Gary immediately filed a missing person's Report with the
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Richardson police department 804 2017 over the next 24 hours the police repeatedly visited the apartment and
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still she never showed up that's when detective hail got assigned to the case Jason L please uh speaking he first made
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contact with Jason by phone he stated the last time he saw her was on May 8th which was Mother's Day that morning at
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10:00 a.m. and she left in her acur and is that car still gone yeah the next day detective hail made a
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house call and made another audio recording still hadn't heard from Jesse right by then Jesse had been reported
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missing for 3 days it seemed everybody was desperate to find Jesse except the man who claimed to be in love with her
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we just did our own thing always I didn't question her she didn't question me and it
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worked the detective looked around the apartment and saw no sign of a struggle Jason stuck to his story that she left
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home in her Acura there was just one problem with that story the police learned that Jesse
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and Jason had sold that Acura 3 weeks before Jason claimed she drove off in it they found it in the new owner's
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driveway Jason's lies were not very smart who would lie about an Acura that had been sold it was pretty clear that
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there was definitely something other going on other than just a missing person it became even clearer the
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following day a team of detectives including hail and his partner Eric willson returned to the apartment they
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saw what appear to be a line of cocaine you have Coke on the countertop a line of it yes or no yes sir but it was an
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odor coming from the garage that really got their attention so it smells really bad in here yeah I know stinks the I
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yeah it does it's a smell that you never forget once you smell it you know instantly when you smell it again it was
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the smell of death and it was coming from the back of Jason Lowe's black Audi detective Hil opened the hatch door
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there was no Jesse Bardwell but a body had clearly been there there was standing fluid in the back hatch and it
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smelled like just decaying flesh it had front damage it did not have the bumper the bumper was inside
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the vehicle and it had a lot of mud on the inside and on the outside Jason told the detectives he'd
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gotten stuck in the mud while searching for Jesse he still held on to the fact that he did not know where Jesse
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was but when they sprayed the chemical blue star in the cargo compartment of the Audi it lit up like crazy indicating
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the presence of blood it pretty much turned into a homicide investigation at that point we're wondering if you would
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mind coming down to the station so we could talk like right now yeah Jason low was initially arrested on drug charges
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and thrown in jail my name is detective Lo detectives used the opportunity to further question him on Jesse's
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whereabouts want to talk with you for a few minutes we spent a long time speaking with him you see his picture
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look at the picture J to try to relate to his emotions his feelings agree were in love with the girl that you wanted to
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marry and nothing seemed to work don't patronize me he didn't seem to care he seemed irritated and thought that we
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were trying to pin things on him that he hadn't done will you tell me where she's
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at I don't know any of that man I'm wrapped up like I'm I'm not going to be accused of stuff and I'm done
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talking even without a body Jason low was charged with murder I had no doubt that he had killed
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her but they did have doubts grave doubts that they would ever find Jesse Texas is a huge State we've got lots of
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rivers lots of lakes lots of ponds Fields there are 100 million different places you can hide a body in
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Texas back home in Pascagoula the town rallied around the family Jesse's grandmother Miss Kitty
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they had a candlelight visual at the beach praying that she'd be found maybe safe
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somewhere on May 19th almost 3 weeks after Jesse was last seen alive they finally got an
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answer the police had reason to believe Jesse was on a remote Ranch in north Texas Gary says they wouldn't tell the
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family how they knew only that it was a reliable source Chief Jimmy Spivey called the
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Bardwell family into the station the chief said it's going to be a bad day for y'all today because we do not expect
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to find your daughter alive a team of detectives FBI investigators and prosecutors made their
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way to that remote Ranch detectives where are we we're in Farmersville Texas they arrived late afternoon and
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started walking through the fields we saw where he had gotten stuck in the mud you could still see the car parts on the
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ground you could we found a pie of metal looked like it was shielding something kind of a makeshift burial area and at
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that point you can start to smell you know decaying flesh so he walked closer she was covered with the Sheep so we
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could tell but you can see the outline of the body under the Sheep Jesse Bardwell had been crudely
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wrapped in a blue fitted sheet and covered with a pile of debris including a red blanket and two red and gold
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towels what was the condition of this body it's one of the worst we've seen it would take 7 days to officially
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identify her body the medical examiner ruled Jesse's death a homicide but her body was so badly decomposed officials
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could not say how she was murdered I got Jesse's ring that's her ring that's her
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ring against his better judgment Jesse's father read the autopsy report I felt it was my responsibility
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is Jesse's Daddy to read the report she was brutally murdered and she was thrown away like a
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piece of trash wrapped up in a sheet barely looking like a person and they sent the hearse to Texas
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to pick her up and my fireman buddies I loaded her into the back of the hearse this is my life
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[Music] now I love you over 900 people showed up at First United Methodist Church to mourn the death and celebrate
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the life of 27-year-old Jesse Bardwell if this town could be washed with all the tears that were shed over Jesse it
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it'd be real clean we wouldn't even need for it to rain for the tears that were shed for
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Jesse while the bardwells spent the next year grieving a very different looking Jason
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low was in a mckin Texas jail cell preparing his defense one of the key issues in this case is whether or not to
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have our client testify Jason's court appointed attorney Andy farcus says he is sure that Jason did not murder Jesse
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he's not so sure Jason can convince a jury but he has a plan I've been a lawyer for 42 years I have never done
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this before never done this before [Music] [Music] as the months passed after Jesse's death
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her father Gary struggled through his grief and through his rage I'd get a 12lb sledgehammer and had a stump
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outside the house and I would print out pictures of his face and I'd set it on the stump and beat the hell out of it
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until I couldn't swing anymore there was only one thing that kept him going waiting to see Jason low face a
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judge and jury in a court of law and be convicted of the murder of his only daughter I think about what I think
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happened to her and I couldn't protect her it's just unimaginable it's Unthinkable it's un
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[Music] forgivable I don't feel he's guilty of murder in August of 2017 we went to the
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Colin County jail with attorney Andy farcus to meet his client he is in which one this one this one right here Jason
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low we met Jason low but he would not talk to us on camera he told us he's saving his story for the witness stand
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farcus believes that allowing Jason to tell his version of what happened to Jesse will help him get acquitted of
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murder and to gauge how a jury will react okay good morning everybody farcus is doing something he's never done
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before he and co-consul Maria 2 are conducting a mock trial be seated it's essentially a simulated trial with
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pretend jurors who will pass judgment Maria too will act as the prosecutor and we know that the
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defendant put her there and farcus the defense the state can't tell you how where when or why this happened while
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the defense Maps out its strategy in mock Court the real prosecutors Wes win and santhia Walker are fitting together
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the pieces of what they admit is a mostly circumstantial case do you know how Jesse is murdered no do you know why
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Jesse was murdered no and do you know where Jesse was murdered no no so we don't know how we don't know why and we
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don't know exactly where that's correct but you have the body and that's enough for you to create the picture yes they
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have no doubt that Jesse Bardwell was murdered by Jason low a man whose dark side she didn't see they believe until
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it was too late Jesse really thought she was in love with this guy and everything
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was good at first Jesse told her father life in Texas was great but then only a month after moving they had a big fight
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Jason would later say it was because Jesse had a brief affair before moving to Texas and got pregnant he was Furious
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when he found out eventually he says Jesse had an abortion she called me uh really upset she was crying said you
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were right I should have never come out here Jason kicked me out I'm freezing fortunately a friend of a
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friend took her in for the night Gary bought her a plane ticket to Alabama for the next morning one of her friends went
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to the airport the next night when she was supposed to be there and waited 7 hours for her to get there and she never
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came Jesse told her father that Jason felt bad about the fight and would try to trust her again
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she was 27 a grown woman so Gary reluctantly Let It Go a decision that hauns him to this day my mind never
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stops it never stops thinking why did you not go out there sooner if there were any more
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incidents Jesse didn't let on to the folks back home and she was even less forthcoming with her new Texas friends
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you messed up my hair Regina and Tommy Jordan she was just real timid and quiet we just seemed to be real shy we could
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never pull anything out of her she didn't really talk much did they seem like they were a happy young couple he
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made it seem like that the Jordans were so fond of the couple we took them in our wing like one of our own children
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they asked them to house it their home and dog while they went out of town for a few days they left on May 1st the last
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time you saw justess alive was here at your home yes yes when they returned everything seemed normal but then they
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heard the shocking news Jason had been arrested for murdering Jesse did you think he was capable of doing something
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like that not at all we all kind of thought he was innocent Tommy went to the jail to talk
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to Jason all right can you pick up the phone and that's your bus a videotaped conversation what's up brother what's up
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man that would become a key piece of evidence in this case back up from the monitor a little bit scaring me I go man
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I didn't know what happened I mean I like I up and made a mistake like it was an accident and I
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know what I'm guilty of I'm guilty of criminal negligence it was a stunning statement Jason was now admitting he was
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there when Jesse died back at the mock trial criminal negligence acting prose Maria to I hope everybody heard that
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seizes on those words as evidence of his guilt he know he's guilty he's guilty of
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criminal negligence Andy farcus knows that tape will be one of his biggest problems that's the only piece of
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evidence they have that ties him to her death so farcus rot tests Jason's Story it was all an accident so the story that
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Jason is going to tell on the stand does the prosecution have any idea have have
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they heard the story at all no they have no idea no idea but farcus tells Jason's
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entire story to the pretend jurors he's eager to learn their verdict they deliberate over lunch we
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don't have any evidence to show what actually happened neither does the state that's right I can't believe the the hav
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took this T Frankl and the mock jurors reach a verdict what was the verdict after they heard the whole St story it
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was 15 to Z aqu quid not guilty of murder murder after hearing those two words not guilty Jason thinks there's a
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good chance he'll walk out of jail a free man the time had finally come Gary Bardwell
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said goodbye to his fireman buddies and then the hardest goodbye of all you're going to be all right in
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Texas his mother you're going to do a good job you're going to do this for Jesse Justice for Jesse you remember
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that just I love you son I love you I love you for the first time in 30 years Gary got on an airplane as he and his
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wife Gina headed to Texas for the trial of the men man accused of murdering his daughter Jesse he had waited a year and
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4 months for this day my stomach is in knots I just don't know how I'm going to react when I get in the
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courtroom each of youly swear prosecutor West wi calls Gary as his first witness
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I was shaking so bad that I was afraid that people could see me shaking is that a photo of
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Jesse yes it is sir I know this is this difficult just take your time the state portrays Jason
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low as a man with a dark side a man with a long history of drug abuse a pathological liar who often told people
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he was a Navy SEAL but was never actually in the military a man who Abused Women I think I would most
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certainly be killed by him if I had continued dating him the state managed to find two of Jason's ex-girlfriends
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Haley McDaniel and Chrissy Chambers both say Jason drove a wedge between them and
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their families just like he did with Jesse it was just all manipulation and control they say he would get furious
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accusing them of cheating one night Chrissy says he pushed her to the floor and sat on top of her he had one hand
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hand over my mouth and another his another hand over my nose and um was just pushing pushing pushing pushing on
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top of me and he wouldn't get off um I'm thinking that he's going to kill me because he looked me in my eyes and
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he told me he was he said I'm killing you right now Jason denies any of this happened
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but the jury won't get to hear Chrissy and Haley's stories because in the end r prosecutors decided it wasn't necessary
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and likely inadmissible they are confident Jason Low's sadistic side will come through he's about as cruel of a
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individual as I've dealt with and I've been doing this a long time it wasn't just the act of murder say the
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prosecutors it's what he did and did not do after the murder to cover up his crime while Jesse lay dead in the back
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of Jason's Audi decomposing Jason was using her phone to send these text messages pretending she
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was still alive that's what criminals do they want to find a way to get away with
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it and one of those ways is to pretend that this other person is still alive prosecutors think Jesse was killed
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on or about May 1st the last day she was seen Alive by the Jordans they believe Jason kept her body in his car day after
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day after day 8 days in total before dumping it and when Jesse's body was finally found on May 19th prosecutors
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say the way in which she was discarded said it all this wasn't some accident it's not how you would leave someone
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that tragically died someone that you love someone that you care for it told me that she was
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murdered the physical evidence at the scene the red blanket the red and gold towels the blue fitted sheet Jesse's
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body was wrapped in all LED back to the home where they had been house sitting this is your linen closet yes
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Regina still has the matching top sheet to the blue one Jesse was wrapped in you
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kept it I kept it I don't know why I kept it it just uh gives me creeps just even thinking about
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[Music] it after the first week of trial Gary facetimes his mother our lawyers have a
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flight they they know what they're doing you got to remember that you got to remember
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that but I know it's exhausting it's got to be exhausting I have heard that Jason low is actually going
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to take the stand it's going to get harder this week that's when it's going to get
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nasty you've got enough prayers to hold you up and give you strength you're going to have the strength that you need
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love you love you too bye bye bye [Music] it was the moment Gary had been dreading
00:31:32
and Jason had been waiting for defense calls Jason low his chance to convince the real jury he is innocent of murder
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the defense tries to humanize him he admits getting hooked on drugs at age 13 oxycotton heroin and xanax with his
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parents listening in court he talks about growing up an only child in a well-off family working on his master's
00:32:01
degree and meeting Jesse Bardwell were you in love yes sir he says they had plans to
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get married and buy a house and then it all came crashing down it was the evening of May 1st he and Jesse were
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housesitting at the Jordans he claims they had taken GHB a sedative often called a date rape drug they were
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getting intimate in the shower while we're having sex I'm standing here bracing myself and I start
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to slip first he slips then Jesse he says she falls and hits her head on the porcelain tub and then sits on the edge
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she just kept saying I I I feel hot she was like I feel a little bit dizzy and she's was I mean like what I would say
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kind of bugging out is what I thought instead of getting medical help they go to sleep when Jason woke up in the
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morning he says Jesse was lying on his chest I tried to kind of shake her and kept knocking the dog kept baring she
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didn't move she was dead the defense would claim of a possible brain injury what was it like for you to watch him
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get up on the stand and tell his story it was like somebody ripped my heart out and RI my soul out my soul Gary does not
00:33:27
believe a word of it but Jason continues he says he heard a knock on the door I just panicked and I opened the door it
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was Robert Gwyn AKA Cowboy Jason says he's his drug dealer and it was he Jason claims who took the sheet from the linen
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closet he wrapped her up and together they put Jesse's dead body in the back of Jason's
00:33:52
Audi Wes wi wasn't buying it you're just watching as the love of your life gets bagged up in a fitted sheet and then the
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two of you carry her outside right yes sir and you toss her in the back of your alley
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Placer oh affectionately I'm sure prosecutors don't even bother to call Cowboy to the stand do you believe
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that Robert Gwyn Cowboy had anything to do with the murder M of Jesse no no do you think he had anything to do with
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covering it up no after Jesse's body was loaded into the back of his car Jason admits he
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parked it in the garage left her there for days and began reaching out to other women sexting or I'd love to have you B
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over like that while I'll give you what you want and sexting I want to taste you
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so bad and sexting you were sending photos of your penis to other women while the love of your life rotted in
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the trunk of your car what was that like for you to hear him talk about that my first thought is
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I was that I had to find a way to get to him and kill him with my bare hands [Music]
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prosecutor westwin is gunning for a guilty verdict never once said there's been an accident and Jason low is in his
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line of fire never once call the police he aims right for the bullseye the love of your lives it's rotting in your
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[Music] trunk and after all it was just an accident and hits his Mark you didn't
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want anyone to know she was dead you didn't want anyone to find her body after 7 hours of tears I just she
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was asleep excuses I didn't know what to say and denials knew I didn't willingly and
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intentionally kill someone killed Jesse killed the girl that I was in love with the defense plays its last sympathy card
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who pointed out to the police where Jesse was buried I didn't remember when the police
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wouldn't tell the bardwells how they found Jesse's body well it was Jason low who told them where to find her his
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lawyer says Jason did it for the sake of Jesse's family but the prosecution says
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the only reason is because he cut a deal you're getting something in exchange for
00:36:48
that agreement right if convicted instead of serving 99 years the most Jason low will
00:36:55
serve is half that 50 years and why was that deal offered it's important for the
00:37:03
family it was important to find her cons after 5 days of testimony taking some items out of the vehicle the
00:37:11
lawyers sum up their cases you can't trust a word that comes out of his mouth for the state it comes
00:37:20
down to Jason Lowe's character evil typically doesn't announce itself you you rarely see
00:37:29
it that's what we have here but the defense argues the state did not prove murder over accident their case is built
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on he lied to the cops he hid the body therefore he's guilty that's not proof beyond all
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reasonable doubt it was now up to a jury to decide after 6 hours of deliberations
00:37:54
the jury hands its verdict to judge Scott Becker defant please rise we the jury find the defendant guilty of murder
00:38:01
as charged in the indictment it was so sweet to know that monster is going to be put away for a
00:38:12
long time before sentencing Gary finally got the chance to face the man who killed his
00:38:19
daughter I looked him straighten the eyes and it frightened me for about 5 Seconds seconds there was nothing in his
00:38:30
eyes nothing I'm very sad and angry standing beside Gary for support Jason's ex-girlfriends if I could say anything
00:38:41
to Jesse I would say run just save yourself that same day judge Becker sentenced Jesse's killer to the
00:38:51
negotiated maximum you can go with the deputies 50 years we took one last trip to Colin
00:38:58
County jail to see if Jason would finally own up to what he had now been convicted of so I am walking in right
00:39:06
behind me into the jail and I'm going to ask him face to face did you kill Jesse
00:39:14
Bardwell hey Jason hello thank you for doing this yes ma'am have a seat please thank
00:39:23
you did you have anything to do with the death of Jesse Bardwell no ma'am did you
00:39:30
murder Jesse Bardwell No Ma'am why are you sitting here for 50 years I'm reaping what I swed like I said you know
00:39:37
I was I lied I was scared and I thought I could fix this I thought I thought about just myself I didn't think about
00:39:44
her family I didn't think about her he'll have half a century in a Texas prison to think about all that pain he
00:39:51
SED if her parents were here right now is there something you would want to say to them
00:39:59
I'm sorry and what are you sorry for for being a piece of dirt after the trial Gary Bardwell and
00:40:10
his family went back to Mississippi where he used to spend long summer days on the water with his
00:40:16
daughter Jesse only now is he able to get back in a boat and go to some of the places they
00:40:25
used to go a bittersweet reminder of the daughter he lost Jason low took away a beautiful
00:40:35
soul a beautiful heart the life of the party a smile that would light up this dark
00:40:42
room forever I always called her my beautiful little girl in my heart and soul my beautiful daughter
00:40:51
Jesse how many breaks can my heart take till it's taken away [Music] [Applause] [Music]
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w [Music]