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Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever
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you are, whatever you are doing, thanks for listening. I'm your host, Nick, and with me is a man that's fresh off the
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boat from the island of the Misfit Toys. He is the captain. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's
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good to be seen and it's good to see you. Merry Christmas, Captain. >> You smell like beef and cheese. You
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don't smell like Santa. >> I might smell like beer and cheese. [Music] This week we are drinking Mississippi
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Mud Black and Tan by Matt Brewing Company. You've probably seen this one before, even though you don't know that
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you've seen it. This is the one that comes in the the big jug looking thing that has the big alligator on it. Garage
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grade three and 1 half out of five bottle caps. Mississippi Mud is brought to us by some of our favorite True Crime
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Garage Army members. First, we have Dave. Dave wants to wish his good friend Hutch from Toronto, Canada a very happy
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birthday. So, happy birthday, Hutch, from your buddy David. And of course, from myself and the captain, like your
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jam. Next, we have Becky from the ever so popular location of Parts Unknown. Also, we have Deborah, who says she
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can't get enough true crime garage. I think Deborah must live down the street from Becky in beautiful Parts Unknown.
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We want to say hi to Shawn and to Tim. Tim who says, "Keep up the good work, guys." And we also have Daphne in Los
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Angeles who says, "Next time we are in LA. She would like to treat us to a proper round."
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>> Treat yourself, folk. >> That's right. Next up, we have Ryan who says, "I like your jibly giblets.
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>> Pour one on the garage floor for me." Well, go ahead, Captain. Just dump a beer on the floor for Ryan.
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>> Nick Nick has to clean up after every show, so that would be not nice to Nick.
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And last but not least, we have Monica in Washington who recommends Belching Beaver Horchatada Imperial Milk Stout.
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>> Say what? >> So, we'll add that one to the list. So, thank you for everybody for kicking in
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for the beer fund this week. And if you'd like to buy us around for next week's show, go to trueimeg.com
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and click on the donate button. >> And like always, you can follow us on Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and
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Untapped all at true crime garage. >> That's enough of the business. Everybody gather around, grab a chair, grab a
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beer, and let's talk some true crime. [Music] This is True Crime Garage and this is the case of Jessica
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Chambers. [Music] Well, several people are being questioned, but so far no arrests yet in
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the brutal murder of a Polola County, Mississippi teenager. >> Well, even seasoned investigators are
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calling Jessica Chambers murder the most brutal crime they've ever seen. The 19-year-old was found Saturday near
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Courtland, Mississippi. She was set on fire inside her car and died later. Reg's April Thompson tells us how her
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family says they're barely barely holding on. >> I've been doing it 21 years now and as
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far as the manner of death, this is is certainly one of the worst I've ever dealt with.
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>> District Attorney John Champion said Tuesday investigators are leaving no stone unturned for the killer of
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19-year-old Jessica Chambers. We're bringing, you know, folks in to interview and talking to different u,
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you know, potential witnesses. Uh, but as far as arrests are concerned, there have been none made.
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>> Champion wouldn't talk about Chambers's autopsy results or her activities the
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night she died. He did say investigators are checking her cell phone to see who she'd been talking to. Something went
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wrong and we don't know what yet. Charlotte Wilkersonson says she was brought in for questioning after her
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phone number showed up and they took, you know, they took her phone records and I was in there as she called me
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Auntie Shasha and I was in there shasha and I went and, you know, talked to them
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yesterday Sunday evening. >> She was a loving child, man. 19 years old, just just finished high school, you
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know, had her whole life in front of her. >> Ben Chambers, Jessica's father, says
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he's in pain knowing how terribly she must have suffered. 98% of her body was burnt. Only thing wasn't burnt was the
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bottom of her feet. Um, it's just destroyed our family. Man, it destroyed our family.
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>> He says he has faith that investigators will find who's responsible for his daughter's death and is touched by the
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show of support from people who heard about the tragedy. from New York to east coast to west coast people I've never
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even heard a dream call me you know like Saturday night they all going to light a
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candle for my daughter door [Music] 6th 2014 this case takes place in Portland, Mississippi, which is in the
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northern part of the state. We have a young woman, Jessica Chambers. She's 19 years old, graduated from high school,
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and she is staying at her mom's house, and she goes to a gas station nearby the home. Uh, and she tells her mother that
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she is leaving to go clean out her car and to go get something to eat. um within a few hours of that, you know,
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she is found in a situation that is is horrible beyond belief >> and this story very quickly becomes
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national news. Jessica does not come home that night and unfortunately she will be dead by the next day. And yes,
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all the cases that we cover are pretty brutal, but this one is uh especially brutal. So, if you're sensitive to that
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stuff, uh we we normally try to stay away from the gore and the graphic nature of all the crimes going into
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details. But with the Jessica Chambers case, uh some of that we can't get around. So, if you're sensitive to that,
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then uh you might want to not listen to this episode. At 8:09 p.m., the uh fire department is going to respond to a
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vehicle on fire call. Now, fortunately, in this situation, they were able to arrive very quickly to this uh to this
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call because they were just on a recent call uh of a house on fire that they were leaving previously that put them in
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the area. >> When they arrive, they are greeted with with a horrible site. This is a young
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woman and she's been very badly burned. >> Well, I mean, I think you're skipping
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over it. I mean, let me handle this for a second. The firefighters show up at the scene.
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There's a car ablaze. Their first concern obviously is is there anybody in the vehicle and they don't assume so.
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This is a firefighter group. These are all volunteers. It's a very small town. >> Mhm.
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>> But then out of the darkness comes this figure and it's this young lady. 90% of her body is burnt.
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And I I couldn't even imagine what that sight would be for them. And so now we have a whole different
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situation. We're not just putting out this fire. Now we got to take care of this. I mean, she's 90% burnt over her
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whole body. Pretty much the only thing that wasn't burnt was the soles of her feet.
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>> Mhm. >> And now they are she is telling them or trying to communicate with them. Uh then
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they end up rushing her to the hospital. >> Yeah. They they life flight her out of
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there u in a helicopter trying to save her life and she's in in extremely bad condition, bad shape. She does try to
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talk to uh one of the first responders and it's later rumored that excuse me, somebody at the scene had said that she
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had tried to tell them who had attacked her, >> right? >> And that she had may have had said the
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word Derek or Eric. Um but this person was uncertain. Now the the police were very quick to come out and say that you
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know we cannot say with certainty that she said who attacked her. All we can say is that she did communicate with the
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first responders and we are working on using that as a lead. So unfortunately when when they arrive when the first
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responders arrive, you know, as the captain said, they're responding to a car on fire. That's all they're
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expecting to see. You know, vehicles get in accidents, cars catch on fire. You know, this is a small town. We're
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talking like 400, maybe 500 people live in this area. And so, they're not expecting to show up and see anything
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out of, you know, above and beyond a car on fire. And so, when when they see the
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young woman, when they see Jessica Chambers, she's described as stumbling blindly on the road. Um, and she she
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again, as mentioned, she does go up to the first responders who are going to try to save her, and she's whispering or
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trying to communicate with them in some fashion, and she's saying what what has been echoed as either Eric or Derek.
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>> Um, again, this is not confirmed by either law enforcement or the district attorney. Um,
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>> they they've been really good about keeping everything close to their uh vest in this case. Now, one thing they
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would say after they uh rushed her out of there, they sent her to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
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>> Um but she could not be saved. Uh and they were reporting that she had received burns on 90% of 98% of her body
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and that doctors could not even insert a breathing tube because her airway had been so badly damaged. Now, Jess
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Jessica's mother, Lisa Chambers, states that Jessica went to go clean out her car and then she was going to go get
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something to eat and she never came home. Her father, Ben, would later tell the news and media a little more about
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how his daughter was found. You know, he says that the fire department arrived. Jessica was walking down the road and on
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fire. The only part of her body that wasn't burned was the bottom of her feet. And he would go on to say that
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they whomever did this, they squirted light fluid fluid, >> lighter fluid, >> lighter fluid down her throat and in her
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nose. And apparently she had been knocked out uh before this took place because she had a big gash on top of her
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head. >> So you have the gash on the head. And the the interesting thing here is they
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they constantly say lighter fluid. It's some kind of accelerant. M. So to to me it's like it it doesn't have to be the
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car was set on fire with gasoline and then that somebody used lighter fluid to pour down her throat which is you know
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barbaric. It chances are to me it's it whatever was used on the car was also used on her. Now, how did they get it
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down her esophagus? Because she was so badly burned inside, down her esophagus, and then up her like nasal passages.
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>> Mhm. And that's why the doctors are saying they could not use the breathing tube to uh try to help save her. Um, but
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you know, this is this is why unfortunately because how she's found, this is why this case became such big
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news and such national news so quickly. Um, we have a young woman who's burned alive and she may have said who who had
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attacked her to the first responders. Um, you know, again, investigators would not comment on that to this day, but
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especially back then when this case was new in the late part of 2014. Now, one can only speculate, you know, I'm sure
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she probably tried to communicate something to the first responders, um, however, being that disoriented being
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going, you know, she's probably in shock. Uh, she's got the gash to her head. She's so badly burnt, possibly
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even on, you know, her throat and and face as well. I don't know how or what ability she would have to communicate
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anything. >> Well, and again, all the these reports coming out by her father, there is no
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autopsy report that I could find. So, again, there there's a there's the trial happening and so they can't they don't
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release this information. I I at some point the autopsy is going to be released >> and we'd have more knowledge, but based
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on we can just go based off of what the the father is saying. >> Right. Right. And that's that was his
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comments to the news and media in the early goings of this investigation. Now, Ben, the father, he works as a mechanic
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for the sheriff's department. So, he may have been privy to some information being that he's the father of the victim
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and that he works with some of the people investigating this case. >> Well, and also his daughter is, you
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know, was sent to a hospital. She passed away the next day. And then just the conversation that he's having with the
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doctors. The doctors, it's not a full autopsy, but the doctors are obviously knowledgeable and the nurses are
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knowledgeable on what's happening with her and her condition to try to save her life. Now, quickly in this
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investigation, there's another bit of information that comes out. So, of course, they're trying to piece together
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Jessica Chambers last hours. You know, what did she do that last day and who may have been with her and could have
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had the means of attacking her that day. Um, and it's quickly reported that a there's a videotape that comes out. And
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this is surveillance footage from the gas station that we had mentioned that she had stopped off at. Uh, on the
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surveillance footage, you can see Jessica waving to someone out of the view of the camera. And then she goes
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over and talks to whom I presume is whomever she was waving to. Jessica eventually returns to her car. She
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finishes pumping gas and she drives away. Now, during this brief stop at the gas station, you can also see a man in a
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striped shirt who appears to be filling up a gas can uh and then he walks off. So, of course, police feel that this is
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a lead and that this is something that they need to find Jessica's killer. So, with the small town and this gas station
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being a hot spot and all these cameras that are set up at the gas station, this is going to be something that is going
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to give law enforcements a lot of clues and a lot of information to look into. >> Yeah. And let's introduce the district
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attorney, John Champion, because if you start to look into this case, he is he's
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very prominent. He's at the forefront of almost every news uh clip that you're going to see out there and he's given a
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lot of interviews um since this attack. Um now, as said, >> well, since this murder,
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>> yeah. Uh John Champion is the district attorney for the area, and he goes on to
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clear up um a few things and better describe some of the surveillance footage and the scene to which
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firefighters arrive. Champion does repeat that Jessica's mother had said that the 19-year-old had left the house
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to clean out her car and to get something to eat. There had been a rumor going around early in the investigation
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that Jessica was going to go to a party, but as anyone can see when you watch the
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surveillance footage, she is not dressed like she's going to go to a party. She has her hair just like like she just put
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it up in a bun and she's wearing what appears to be camouflage pajama pants. So, she's very extremely casual, almost
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rolled out of bed casual. Uh, plus police would go on to speak with persons at the party that it was rumored that
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she was going to go to, and they all say that they had never seen Jessica at the
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party. This is all crucial stuff here because the authorities are trying to learn what happened to Jessica between
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the stop at the gas station and then about 90 minutes later when she's found in very bad shape and very badly burned.
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Champion also states that Jessica was not burning when she was found. This was just a rumor. She did go up to one of
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the firefighters and she did speak. Of course, Champion would not say what Jessica had said, but told the news that
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it certainly has given us a lead that we are following up on. He also states that
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the volunteer fire department that had responded to the car blaze was able to respond so fast because they were only a
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couple miles away at another call when the call came in. It was also clear early on that an accelerant, as the
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captain had said, was used, but they were not able to determine if the accelerant was poured on the car or onto
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Jessica or both. >> Now, Champion believes that the key to everything in this case is her cell
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phone. >> Okay. >> Jessica's phone. Um he he was going under the assumption that she had
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received a call before she left her house. Now Jessica's phone was found near her car. And so there's a bit of a
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process here. Okay. Well, let's start with the PJs, right? Right. So we got the she's wearing PJs. So everybody's
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assuming the her plan that night from all accounts is that she was going to go to this party. Based on the footage, it
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doesn't seem like a lot of logical sense, but we're also coming from we're old dudes, you know, like if we are
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going to a party, you know, it takes us a long time to get ready cuz we, you know, we we look like dog [ __ ] right?
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>> But this and and yeah, and women do will take their time getting ready for events. But this is also not that
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uncommon for a girl to, oh, I got to run to the gas station first. I'm in my pajamas. She could have ran to the gas
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station and was expecting to come home, change, and then go to the party, >> right?
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>> That that's totally possible. Does that factor into what happened to her? Is that some kind of lead? I don't know.
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But that that's a possibility is what I'm saying. >> Well, it's only a lead because one, if
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she actually went to the party, which I think they're able to determine that she
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did not go to the party. Now, from there, your next lead is going to be, okay, well, who would she have attended
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this party with had she ended up there? >> And then, did they go to the party? >> Right. Right.
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>> Was there somebody else missing from the party? >> Yeah. Because now you have to piece
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together who was with her at that moment. You know, we we have that 90 minutes from the from the time that she
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leaves the gas station to the time that she's found. We need to figure out what happened during those 90 minutes. Now,
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this is why the cell phone becomes so important because, you know, with the with the way everybody, you know, with
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the way everybody texts and calls so much these days, there might be a text, there could be a phone call that that
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took place that would lead them to figure out how she ended up in that wooded area with her car on fire.
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>> Well, what's you know what happens as far as for me as far as fascinations with the case is you have a time frame,
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right? You have a window, right? So, you have a window and in this case, she's at
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the gas station and then she's found. It's a 90minute window >> and it's piecing together that now today
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with social media, Snapchat, all that stuff. These windows of these cases are going
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to become smaller and smaller >> cuz we're going to have, you know, because we, how many cases have we
00:21:06
covered where we're like, well, nobody really talked to her for days and days and then she was murdered. So now you
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have days and days of a window, right? But now with social media and technology, these windows are going to
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be very small. We're going to know what happened 15 minutes before or 5 minutes before. So that's what they're going on.
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So >> what I'm also There's a call that sends her Does the call send her to the gas
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station? Like Jessica gets a call. >> Mhm. Does that call send her to the gas station or was it just a random call?
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>> Well, do you want to get into the gas station? I think we need to. I think we
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got to talk about the gas station now. So, what what did she do while she was at the gas station that we know about?
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She she arrived. Uh she was pumping gas. She waved to somebody, went and spoke to
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somebody. Um, she does go into the gas station and apparently she is friendly with the uh store attendant and would
00:22:07
speak with him when she would go in there. Uh, he said something to media later that she had purchased for $14
00:22:15
worth of gas, which was more than usual for her. She was, you know, you know how
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some people go in, you see them at the gas station, they give me five on pump two. Well, she was that kind of person.
00:22:25
She she took a few bucks and filled up the car, you know, but on this occasion, >> right? It might just be because she
00:22:31
didn't have money to fill up the tank. >> He just thought that it was a little abnormal because that's that's the first
00:22:36
thing that the detectives are going to ask him. Did she do anything or say anything abnormal that night? Well, she
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purchased $14 worth of gas, which is >> considerably more than she usually buys.
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He says that he had commented to her about the amount of gasoline purchased and she said that she was she had
00:22:53
somewhere to go but did not elaborate on that. Now in the video footage as the captain had said there's a lot of
00:23:00
cameras going on here. So you see different camera views uh you know camera one, camera two and so on and so
00:23:07
forth. But through piecing all these together you can see her movements, her her going over and saying hi to
00:23:13
somebody. She goes into the gas station. There are several >> Yeah, she puts out It looks like she
00:23:18
puts out a cigarette before she goes in. >> Yeah, there are several men inside this
00:23:22
gas station. There's about three of them and just hanging out. They're They're just hanging out. Like the captain said,
00:23:28
there's not This is kind of the spot, you know, the hot spot in town where people would go and they would just
00:23:33
chat. But there's three men kind of hanging out off to her side while she's up paying for uh presumably the gas that
00:23:40
she purchased. Well, I'm from a small town and for some reason we had a um a car wash that people would hang out at.
00:23:49
There's a bowling alley and a car wash and people would just drive their cars over to the car wash and hang out. Never
00:23:54
made any sense to me. >> Anyways, so yeah, people are just hanging out. Now is she it looks to me
00:24:01
as she goes to ATM machine in the footage. Yeah, she she I I don't know if she went to an ATM, but there
00:24:10
there are two transactions that take place with the teller um with the attendant. Uh she goes in and presumably
00:24:17
pays for the gas and then it's believed that she went back and purchased a like a pack of cigarettes.
00:24:23
>> Mhm. So again, we're back to this magical hour or this this 90 minutes of where was Jessica and how did she end up
00:24:34
at this wooded area. Now, the the thing that's troubling here is, you know, the captain asked why was she at the gas
00:24:40
station? It may just have been to pick up cigarettes and and gas up the car. Um we don't know what activity was going on
00:24:49
with that cell phone >> and >> Right. But but you one could assume like That's what I'm saying. We're trying to
00:24:55
close out this window. And so it's like, but one could assume if she's going to,
00:25:00
you know, in her PJs to get gas. Why? You're getting gas at night for a reason. Is it for the next day? Is it to
00:25:09
go to this party? Are you getting cigarettes just because you you're a smoker or you getting extra cigarettes
00:25:15
cuz you're going to a party? >> See what I'm saying? I'm trying to figure out what her intention is
00:25:20
>> for later on in the the night. >> Right. I I think that, you know, investigators are working off of the
00:25:27
assumption that they're taking her at her word, that she was just simply going to clean out her car and get something
00:25:33
to eat. She's dressed to me as though she's returning to her mom's house afterwards. Um, but yeah, you're right.
00:25:41
What What were her intentions after that? We don't know. >> Well, well, yeah. Yeah, I I think you're
00:25:45
totally correct. Her intention is to go back to her mom's house, but what is her
00:25:50
intention after that? It's at night. Why are you cleaning up your car? Are you cleaning up your car cuz you want to
00:25:56
pick up a guy? I mean, think about, you know, I kind of have a messy car here and there, but if I was going to pick up
00:26:03
a girl for a date, I want to clean it out, right? >> Mhm. >> I want I don't want to be Captain Slob,
00:26:09
right? They don't You don't want them to get in the car and go, "Uh, like there's
00:26:12
all these, >> you know, rappers everywhere." So maybe, but that's what I'm saying. Was that her
00:26:18
intent? And then did she meet up with this person earlier? You know, did she not go back to her mom's house, you
00:26:25
know? >> Right. Right. Well, well, but the the thing here is right, you've you've got
00:26:30
to figure out if she was if she met with the person that that that set the fire,
00:26:37
right? >> Or was she carjacked or did something something uh you know, get in the way of
00:26:43
of her plans that evening? you know, was was she was there a text or a phone call
00:26:48
that led her elsewhere, >> right? And and that's another difficult thing about this case. I mean, it's a
00:26:53
fascinating case, but because of the trial and because this, you know, it's not case closed that
00:27:01
this information is not out there. Normally, we cover a case and we can say, okay, based off of the based off
00:27:07
the trial and based of what the the cops released, we know their phone records. This we're kind of in the dark.
00:27:13
>> Yeah. There's there's been very little released on this case and due to that we've seen nothing but rumor and
00:27:21
unfortunately you know this case was very hard to read about and research uh for the obvious that she was the
00:27:29
horrible manner that she was killed. But on top of that, there are so many news articles and there's so many news clips
00:27:37
that you will read something in one article and then read another article that that will tell you that that first
00:27:43
one was all rumor, you know, and and so there's a lot of there's a lot of this back and forth when you look into this
00:27:49
case. Just a prime example, the father says that she was found burning when the first responders arrive and the district
00:27:56
attorney quickly says, "Well, that's not true. that was just a rumor that was going on in the area at the time. So,
00:28:03
with these rumors, you're going to see this time and time again in this case. I mean, very quickly into this
00:28:08
investigation, by January of 2015, there are some wild theories out there, and they're just about everything that one
00:28:16
can think of. >> Mentions of the KKK, of bikers, uh, Aryan Brotherhood, meth gangs,
00:28:23
everything that you can think of, there were theories for these for this case. >> Yeah. and we can dive into that right
00:28:29
after a quick beer break. All right, we're back. Cheers, everybody. Cheers. So, we're kneede in this case, right,
00:28:37
Captain? We have this young woman who was found and she's been murdered and we're trying to piece together her her
00:28:46
last hours before the attack and before she's killed. Now, as we said, there's rumors, there's theories coming out.
00:28:53
Why? Because the detectives, they're holding everything close to the vest here. They're not releasing a whole lot
00:28:59
of information. And this will cause the rumor mill to run wild, right? >> And with Jessica being so brutally, you
00:29:07
know, the murder was so brutal. I mean, somebody set her on fire, set her car on
00:29:12
fire as well. Everybody wants to know answers. Everybody wants to know why. And they also want somebody to pay for
00:29:20
this. somebody they want justice to be served. So, a close friend of Jessica, a man claiming to be close friends of
00:29:28
Jessica, claimed also that Jessica at some point lived with his mother for about 6 months or so, comes out saying,
00:29:35
"Well, look, this is this is pretty simple. This all goes back to her father, uh, her father Ben." So, he
00:29:43
claims that Jessa Jessica Chambers's father Ben was a meth dealer. Now, like we talked before, Jessica's father works
00:29:53
for the police department. He's like a mechanic. >> Uh, but this guy's claim is that on the
00:30:00
side that he's also a meth dealer. And this her death is a direct cause of him being a drug dealer. And so what he
00:30:08
comes out and then the other interesting thing here is that um her brother Ben, not her father, but her brother Ben a
00:30:15
year or so prior to all this uh was in a single car accident and he was he died.
00:30:24
So he also claims that that was related to um the father being a drug dealer >> that there's some kind of turf war going
00:30:32
on um >> right there's >> amongst drug dealers and that they're attacking Ben's family
00:30:38
>> right basically like hey if we we killed off your son you know so knock it off
00:30:43
and just and and in the hopes that he's going to stop selling uh meth and then again when that didn't happen now well
00:30:53
we're going to kill your daughter. He also makes claims that uh Jessica had some run-ins with these gangs before uh
00:31:01
because of her father as well. They're targeting this girl and she was gang raped twice. That was one of the hardest
00:31:10
parts about this case for me, Captain, when I was looking into it. There were so many rumors going on. But on top of
00:31:16
that, for every news story that you would read, you know, you have the the blog commenters below that you can read
00:31:23
their comments. And a lot of them were so a lot of them were so racist on on on both sides of the tracks, I guess you
00:31:31
could say. you know, whether it being uh African-American people saying racist things because she was a white victim or
00:31:39
white people saying uh racist things about African-American people being, you know, that that she was, you know, known
00:31:47
to have dated African-American men and that this case is probably that she pissed off some white boy that was
00:31:54
infatuated with her. >> Right. The motives being race related. >> Yeah. And and that's what was so
00:31:59
disconcerning for me when I was researching this case was that every every news article that I read, there
00:32:06
was some form of racism by the readers, you know, and at some point you got to be looking for justice
00:32:14
and not just pointing the finger at maybe some people you don't like for unknown reasons. Uh we're talking about
00:32:20
a small town here. Um this >> well well it seemed to me that a lot of people had you know previous agendas.
00:32:28
>> Yes. >> And then they're looking at this case and whatever their agenda is you know so
00:32:33
if it's like oh well I don't believe that white women should date black men. >> So then I see this case and I go oh see
00:32:41
this is what happens >> right? >> And it's like I mean maybe there is motive for that. I mean, we talked
00:32:47
roughly like it's possible that some of the guys that she dated were in gangs. It seems like this area uh you know has
00:32:56
a lot of gang activity and if she was dating a guy in one gang then maybe that's she w that her murder was
00:33:04
retaliation on that gang >> and that's very possible. >> Yeah. But the thing is here with as you
00:33:12
said most people they some of these people go into it looking at it one way and they skew the events to to follow
00:33:19
their theory. Right. >> The problem here is whomever did this they had they to to treat somebody this
00:33:27
way and to kill them in this manner. this to me there's something more involved that you're either dealing with
00:33:33
an absolute loose cannon or you're dealing with somebody that's got a lot of hatred and that is probably likely to
00:33:40
kill other people. Um this is not just something that that you do as a retaliation in my opinion not something
00:33:49
you do because of an infactuation. Uh but >> again it's a senseless crime though. So
00:33:55
trying to make sense out of a senseless crime in a bad spot, >> right? I don't agree on that level
00:34:01
because I think, >> you know, it's kind of this alpha thing, you know, who's the alpha dog in these
00:34:08
gangs and so it's always taking things to the next level. So yeah, if if it was gang related, if it was drugreated on
00:34:16
her brother's death, oh, we ran this guy off the road. He died in a car accident.
00:34:21
You then they're upping the ante and saying, "Okay, well, we can't just shoot somebody,
00:34:28
>> right? >> We we we're they're trying to make a statement here." So that's where I I
00:34:34
look, would this person kill again? Yeah. This who whoever did this is an absolute psychopath. is an absolute
00:34:41
[ __ ] monster, is an absolute [ __ ] animal, and you know, it's it's it's ridiculous, but they will kill again.
00:34:53
But to say that, well, I don't believe somebody would do this heinous of a crime uh just if it was gang related, I
00:35:02
I don't I don't buy that. I think it's very possible. >> So, let's get back into some of the
00:35:07
facts of this case, right? So we have at roughly 5:30 uh Jessica Chambers is seen
00:35:13
on the surveillance camera. This is at the gas station that we had discussed. Now we did say that they found they were
00:35:20
able to retrieve her cell phone near her vehicle at the scene of the crime. Now they are able to determine later that
00:35:30
there was phone activity at the crime scene where she would later be found. And this phone activity took place at at
00:35:37
approximately 7:30 p.m. Now, at 8:09 p.m. is when the report of a car on fire goes out and they get the call.
00:35:47
>> Now, at 8:13, remember we had said they showed up very quickly. Just 4 minutes
00:35:52
later, they find the vehicle and then they find Jessica Chambers. >> At 9:30 p.m., you know, Jessica has
00:36:00
already been lifellighted to Memphis to try to save her. But at 9:30 p.m., we still have a crime scene that we're
00:36:07
dealing with. Now, there is a tow truck driver who shows up and he removes the vehicle and he's going to take it to
00:36:14
back to the police impound lot where they're going to, you know, test it for whatever that they need to test it for.
00:36:20
Hopefully, they did some proper testing at the crime scene itself. >> But he is going to stop off along the
00:36:28
way, which I I think is probably extremely frowned upon. But he stops off at this very same gas station that
00:36:36
Jessica was seen earlier on the surveillance footage. Right >> now, what happens here is he's stopping
00:36:41
off to buy a pack of cigarettes. >> Well, the store attendant then proceeds to take pictures of the burnt vehicle
00:36:50
and he would later post those onto Facebook and he would also state some details about the crime. Now, later we
00:36:57
would learn that a lot of these details that he states on there is simply more rumor than actual fact. But what he does
00:37:06
here is he throws himself into the suspect ring. >> Well, and like we said before, this gas
00:37:12
station is kind of a social gathering. So, how many this rumor mill in this small town and who's seeing it or or
00:37:21
who's hearing it? It would be, you know, like the bartenders or in this case the
00:37:24
gas station attendant. And now for some reason he's posting this stuff on Facebook.
00:37:30
>> Yeah. And what this whole thing is going to come down to is going to be that hour, that last hour that she was alive
00:37:38
and her cell phone and the cell phone activity. This is what they need to figure out. And that's the process
00:37:45
though. There there's a process of figuring out that that cell phone. one, you have to get the rights to to look up
00:37:53
all the records of the usage of the cell phone. And once you've cleared that hurdle, you you may have to figure out
00:37:59
the password or figure out how to access the cell phone to view the activity. >> Yeah. And you'll see this time and time
00:38:06
again as they're interviewing people from the town uh saying, "Oh yeah, we were contact contacted by the police
00:38:13
because um Jessica at some point, you know, contacted me a couple days before or the day of and then the police are
00:38:21
starting to question these individuals." >> Now, I don't know what the father does,
00:38:26
you know, I don't know him from anybody, but uh I never really liked the father theory. um whether it be I believe that
00:38:33
that person that had mentioned that that this was in retaliation to something he
00:38:38
was doing or some kind of turf war that he had that man had also stated that he believed that Ben was a suspect and
00:38:46
being questioned by police. I don't know if that's the facts. What I do know is that the the sheriff's department, the
00:38:53
police department, the district attorney's office, they interviewed close to 200 people regarding this case.
00:38:59
And this was late in 2015. So, we're only less than a year after this whole investigation has started. And they've
00:39:07
interviewed over 200 people. We're talking about a town of only four to 500 people. you've almost interviewed half
00:39:15
of the the occupants of this town trying to figure out what had happened. Now, of
00:39:20
those 200 people that were interviewed during the course of this, they figure out a few things, okay? And a lot of
00:39:28
this is going to revolve around persons at the gas station that we had spoke of earlier. Now, first, we have that the
00:39:34
gas station attendant who became a suspect because he took the photos. And what ends up happening with his story is
00:39:42
he ends up basically being run out of town because once he becomes a suspect, he starts receiving death threats and
00:39:49
all kinds of threats and so he hightails it out of town. Now the police would go
00:39:53
on further to state that they do not see him as a suspect that they've interviewed this man and they don't have
00:40:00
him on their list. >> Right. But we see this all the time where you're guilty in the public eye.
00:40:05
>> Mhm. And now another person that was of interest, as we had said, was the man in
00:40:10
the striped shirt that was seen on the surveillance footage pumping gas. What looks like he's filling up a gas tank or
00:40:16
a gas can, I'm sorry. >> Now, he was interviewed as well, as well as the three men that were inside the
00:40:21
gas station at the time. And they the police it it's funny here because if you read certain newspaper articles, they do
00:40:29
say that none of these people are they or that they have been cleared. All right? that they've all been cleared in
00:40:35
the investigation. I've never seen those words or heard those words coming out of
00:40:39
the district attorney's mouth because what he simply says is that those those people have been interviewed. They've
00:40:47
been talked to and they are not suspects in this case. He's not saying that they're cleared, but they're not
00:40:53
suspects. Now what does take place in this investigation throughout the investigation there are rumors all along
00:41:00
like the captain had said that this could be some form of gang activity or some kind of gang related crime. What
00:41:07
that leads to and the district attorney's words are that he does not believe that this is a gang related
00:41:13
crime. However, it does lead them to several gang members or people involved in gang related type activities.
00:41:22
>> Right. But my argument would be if if she was murdered by a gang member, then
00:41:27
therefore it's gang related. >> Yeah. What what they end up doing is they they will uh arrest and speak with
00:41:35
um 17 suspected area gang members. This took place in December of 2015. They're arrested on gun, drugs, and counterfeit
00:41:44
charges amongst other charges. Um, but again, the district attorney, John Champion, he does not think that any of
00:41:52
these suspects of these 17 are related to Jessica Chambers murder. But he did say that while the investigation led
00:42:02
them to them being investigated for other crimes, he did state that in their plea negotiations, all will be given an
00:42:08
opportunity to help them help themselves and maybe that will bring us closer to the truth.
00:42:14
>> Right. Closure. And so almost over a year goes by and the rumor mill is going
00:42:20
crazy because the police are keeping everything close to the vest. But now we have a suspect. Now we have an
00:42:26
individual that we're going to charge in the murder of Jessica Chambers. >> Yeah. There's a man Quinton Telus. He's
00:42:32
27 years old. And the district attorney would say that he was a suspect early on
00:42:39
in the case. However, they let the investigation lead them elsewhere. and he did not become the focal point of
00:42:47
their investigation until the fall of 2015. Now tell us he had once lived in Courtland and that is where u the
00:42:57
district attorney says that he and Jessica Chambers had become friends. There is no we there's the district
00:43:04
attorney does not elaborate on the relationship that they had. Mhm. >> Uh but he states that Telus moved to
00:43:10
Mississippi, moved from Mississippi to Louisiana in the summer of 2015. This is the summer after Jessica Chambers is
00:43:17
killed. Right >> now, while he's there, Quinton Telus is arrested in August of 2015 on three
00:43:23
counts of unauthorized use of a credit card. Uh I'm sorry, a debit card. And this debit card would be in connection
00:43:31
to another homicide victim. Right. This is a woman that's identified as a 34year-old University of Louisiana
00:43:39
Monroe student uh from Taiwan. Um according to an affidavit in the case, Telus used her bank card uh belonging to
00:43:49
this missing woman on April 7th. This was the day before she was her body was found.
00:43:56
>> And again, he used that same card on August 18th and August 19th. uh each time he's withdrawing $500.
00:44:06
The authorities had also procured photo evidence and they interviewed Quinton Telus on August 20th, at which point he
00:44:14
admitted that he used the Chase bank card on the three listed transactions that I had just stated. And he also
00:44:22
admitted that he was the individual seen in the ATM photos that the the police were questioning him about. Following
00:44:30
the questioning of Quinton Telus and him admitting that he used the bank card and
00:44:35
that he was the person seen in the ATM photos, the police, they get a warrant to enter Mr. Telles's home. Now, this is
00:44:43
his home in Monroe. Uh, and they discover there a quarter pound of marijuana in his bedroom that is
00:44:49
packaged for sale. Um, so the suspect it he he had stated that, yeah, I I sell marijuana. Um, and so he's arrested and
00:44:58
booked on several charges. Uh, that being using the the dead woman's debit card as well as being charged with
00:45:08
possession of marijuana with intent to sell. So when they when Quinton Telus comes back onto the radar, right, when
00:45:15
he becomes the focal point of their investigation into the Jessica Chambers murder, Quinton Telus is already being
00:45:22
held in a correctional facility in Monroe, Louisiana. This is about a 4hour drive from Portland, Mississippi.
00:45:30
>> Like he was a suspect. >> There's somebody that was on the radar >> with Jessica's Chambers at the
00:45:37
beginning. Then he moves >> Yeah. >> after her death, which is a little sketchy. Anyways, then he's involved
00:45:44
with this debit card and now they're going, "Okay, maybe we need to look at this guy again."
00:45:50
>> Yeah. Right. And >> I just want it to be very clear. Well, and but the thing that is unclear here
00:45:56
is while they transport him from Louisiana to Mississippi, >> uh they then charge him with the death
00:46:03
and murder of Jessica Chambers. >> Yeah. So, what did they know? >> We don't know.
00:46:08
>> Right. That's what's so frustrating about this damn case. >> We don't know what they know. Uh because
00:46:14
they won't say anything. Now, what they will say is that if you listen to and read the district attorney and and what
00:46:22
he's said about this case all along, he's always said that this case will go back to the cell phone. That her cell
00:46:28
phone is going to present us with a lead that's going to lead us to an arrest and
00:46:33
then a an indictment and hopefully a conviction. So, in this case, while they won't state the specifics of that, we
00:46:42
know that they've arrested this man after they were able to access her phone and to see the activity of her phone.
00:46:49
Now, this guy, they bring him in and I it's unclear to me what the motive is, what his motive motive is for murder.
00:46:58
Now they they have gone on to say some things like you know the forensics the forensic evidence in this will be a big
00:47:04
part and a driving force in the prosecution of Quinton Telis. Now did they find something at the scene? I
00:47:12
don't know. Did they find something in his home in Louisiana? We don't we don't know that. However, there's there's been
00:47:18
something to connect him to this case and it's not just that he had some kind of friendship or relationship with
00:47:24
Jessica Chambers. >> Right. Right. Yeah. because we could just assume we're bringing this guy back
00:47:28
now. Let's start questioning him. They don't do that. They charge him. >> Mhm. >> So there's there was a smoking gun
00:47:33
somewhere. >> Yeah. And I think what we're going to see is now he's going to stand trial for
00:47:38
the murder of Jessica Chambers in 2017. So next year, I believe it's in June or July, this trial will start. And that's
00:47:46
when we're going to see how that they connected him to this crime. You know, they they did figure out one thing
00:47:53
forensically regarding this case, that they believed all along that the person that set fire to the car and set fire to
00:48:01
Jessica was most likely in the car before this took place. Um, I don't know what what information or evidence they
00:48:10
could retrieve seeing the state of the vehicle. I mean, the car was burnt so badly. It was a black car and when you
00:48:17
see pictures of it now, it's white. It's it's a completely white car. Um, but they've believed all along that this was
00:48:25
a very uplose and personal attack and murder that took place. That this person attacked her physically and was in the
00:48:34
vehicle when this happened. >> So then he stands trial for this case. >> Correct. He's going to be he's been
00:48:40
charged and he's been indicted and they will go to trial in the summer of next year. Now, this is a capital murder
00:48:48
case, >> right? So there is the opportunity for the death penalty in this case now, but
00:48:54
we all know that usually they're going to kind of weigh their options here. The district attorney has not outright said
00:49:02
that they're going to seek the death penalty. Now, obviously the community really wants that to happen, and I'm
00:49:08
sure a lot of people listening want this to happen because of how horrifying her
00:49:12
death was. >> Well, yeah. And if he's charged, maybe they should throw some lighter fluid
00:49:17
down his [ __ ] throat and set this [ __ ] on fire. >> Well, it but the thing is here, they
00:49:22
have to weigh their evidence because when you when you're going to seek the death penalty, it usually needs to be a
00:49:29
very open and closed case. You know, it needs to be very obvious to the jury that this guy deserves the death
00:49:35
penalty. And I again, because they've not released anything, we don't know what kind of evidence they have on this
00:49:41
guy. Now, we should point out though that he's also been uh indicted and he's been charged with the murder of the the
00:49:49
student, right, of the debit card that he was using. >> Yeah. Cuz at the time they they didn't
00:49:54
have enough evidence. So therefore, they just charged him with the use of the card that gets him in their custody that
00:50:00
gets them access to this information. So, you know, if you watch the Nancy Grace clips, you know, and she's going,
00:50:08
"And this guy, this guy got away 10 years. 10 years for murder." I don't know if that's how she sounds, but but
00:50:16
anyways, guys, she's annoying sometimes, but uh anyways, that was like, "Wow, this guy's going to get away with
00:50:24
murder." Boom. Now he's connected with Jessica Chambers. >> Hopefully, he gets sentenced to death
00:50:30
for that. Uh, like I said, I mean, this I think it's just because, you know, again, she's she's 19, whole life ahead
00:50:40
of her, all that stuff, right? But this is so brutal. I mean, if if that's true,
00:50:48
I mean, setting somebody on fire, that's like a nightmare, right? >> Yeah. That's that's everybody's
00:50:53
nightmare. Like I mean and it sounds bad because we talk about cases every week,
00:50:57
but there's there are some events to me that seem like they trump >> other you know as far as the brutality
00:51:04
of it. >> Well, yeah, you're exactly right. I mean this case and we talked about this
00:51:09
earlier that how how hard it was to research this case and half of that was because of the brutality of of the
00:51:16
violence in this case and then on top of that um you know it's >> you know it it it was just it was a
00:51:24
physically draining case to read about because of the violence. I mean you know you say sometimes there's there's ones
00:51:30
that aren't as hard to research. You know, last week we talked about Beverly Pots and of course that's a horrible
00:51:36
crime and a horrible case as well, but something that took place 60 years ago, you feel a little more distanced from
00:51:42
that that type of crime and it almost feels like you're reading about a story rather than this seems very
00:51:48
>> Yeah. more of a history lesson, which this seems very relevant. It's very new.
00:51:54
And uh and then also you just you know just think about when you're 19 and you're driving around and you know again
00:52:02
19-year-old when we talked about well she never really filled up the tank. Well it's something you do when you're
00:52:06
19. Throw in a couple bucks cuz that's what you have and you start just really identifying with this individual and
00:52:13
then if you lived in a small town or had friends you know grow up in a small town. And so I mean I'm not normally one
00:52:21
to just say let's kill this dude, you know, but for some reason this case like this is horri it's it's sad. And then I
00:52:29
see pictures of this guy and he's just he's the definition of a monster. He's the definition of of the devil, which
00:52:38
then also started rumors that this was a satanic act and all this other junk. Um,
00:52:44
>> but you're going to continue to see rumors about this case and wild theories about this case, even though they have
00:52:49
their so-called man. You know, you're going to continue to see that until the trial comes out and we start to see what
00:52:55
links him to the crime and who and who he is exactly. Now, I don't want to I don't want to prosecute the guy here in
00:53:02
the garage because we should we should assume that he was innocent before, you know, but but the thing is with
00:53:10
>> Well, I could do that if I wasn't drinking. >> With the death of with the death of the
00:53:14
student from uh Louisiana Monroe University, that was an extremely violent death as well. I believe she was
00:53:20
stabbed over 30 times. >> Right. That's why I'm saying I think this guy is just a a freaking monster.
00:53:26
And what we're talking about here though is somebody that is has the ability that
00:53:32
is capable of very heinous and violent violent murders that are up close and personal. I I can see why these two are
00:53:41
very linked. You know that that you can link these two together because of the amount of violence because of how close
00:53:48
you would have had to been when you were attempting to end that person's life. Whomever did this to Jessica, basically
00:53:55
they set her and her vehicle on fire and they walked away. They walked away hoping that she would never walk away
00:54:02
and that she would never be able to tell what had happened to her. Now, she survived long enough and we don't know
00:54:08
what tip she gave or what. >> Again, that will probably come out in the trial, >> right? We don't know what she said to
00:54:13
the first responders, but I hope she had the last word in this case. >> So, the stage is set. The trial is set
00:54:20
for the summer of 2017. So, this is a case that we'll we will jump back into once uh we hear news and I'm sure people
00:54:29
like Nancy Grace and stuff will jump all over these this trial. >> Yeah. And you know what though, maybe
00:54:35
for a form of punishment for, you know, whether you receive life or death or whatever, maybe you should have to spend
00:54:40
like an afternoon with Nancy Grace if you're if you're a guilty horrible person and just just let her yell at you
00:54:47
for for an afternoon. Now, but the thing >> that's mean because I I I do sometimes
00:54:51
watch her show and enjoy it. So, I don't want to I don't want to bash her too much. I mean, she's
00:54:57
>> Well, anyway, but but the thing is that we are going to what we will find out
00:55:02
about is there's going to be a couple things happen with this case even before the trial takes place, right? We're
00:55:07
going to have to figure out is this going to be a death penalty case? They'll have to figure that out and I'm
00:55:13
sure we'll hear more about that before the summer of 2017. But the other issue is here, when would he stand trial for
00:55:21
the murder of the university student? And will that be a death penalty case as well? Because both of those states carry
00:55:27
the death penalty. And these are both horrible crimes. >> And of course, this case has to come out
00:55:32
uh the week of Christmas, and I think I dropped the most fbombs I have on on an episode.
00:55:38
>> You're going to have to clean it up a little bit, mister. >> Yeah, I apologize if that offends. I
00:55:42
mean, we we set the bar at, you know, this is uh what we put the e little e on there.
00:55:49
>> Yeah. >> Um but yeah, I try not to drop them too. But this is just sometimes you read
00:55:54
about this stuff and it just hits you in in a weird way and >> it just just lingers with you and then
00:56:00
for three or four days you're just freaking depressed about everything and you just humanity. You just
00:56:06
>> you lost hope in humanity. Anyways, um so we'll we'll give updates on this case once we know something. And we got
00:56:13
any recommended reading for the week? >> We do. This week we are recommending Psychopaths in Our Lives by Diane
00:56:20
Emerson. Uh as you probably know, most of what is written about psychopaths are from the perspective of violent
00:56:26
psychopaths. But in some cases, serial killers are operating on a much lower level than psycho psychopaths that are
00:56:33
successful in masking their true character. This is not an, you know, one of those all of these people are bad
00:56:41
kind of stories, right? Uh the author wants people to see the truth about what psychopaths are doing and for people to
00:56:48
recognize how they operate. Again, that's psychopaths in our lives by Diane Emerson. And you can pick that up by
00:56:55
going to true crimegar.com and click on the recommended page. And thank you everybody out there for listening.
00:57:02
>> Yeah. I mean, I'm just going to take this moment to say happy holidays. Uh, merry Christmas. Happy Quanza.
00:57:09
>> I'm sure I'm going to >> Happy Hanukkah. >> Happy Hanukkah. I, you know, I'll I'll
00:57:13
light monoras for everybody. >> Whatever you're celebrating, do it with your friends and family. And let's all
00:57:18
be great to each other this holiday season and all of next year. >> And have a couple drinks.
00:57:23
>> Yeah. >> Break bread. Yep. We'll be here next week in the garage. And we will see you
00:57:29
next week in the garage. Until then, have a very merry Christmas and happy holidays. And until next week, be good,
00:57:34
be kind, and don't live. [Music]