I listened to the podcast a few months back and have been processing it since then. The main suspect certainly is a mean person who behaves badly and sometimes violently. He has said some things that raise an eyebrow for sure. The circumstantial evidence against him doesn’t seem really that great. I guess maybe the police and the podcasters have a little more they’re not releasing. But here’s my take on things, and it’s out there I know.
One aspect of this case jumped out at me I could not make sense of it. Jessie’s car keys were in his pocket when he was found. And if I remember correctly, the car was locked. I could not imagine a killer coming up on them, forcing them out of the car, and Jessie saying, “oh wait a minute, let me lock my car(and/or) take my keys before you kidnap us”. To me this indicates not only that they knew the person or people they went with but they went willingly and were comfortable with them. They were planning on returning to their car. At the crime scene they were fully clothed, no sexual assault and were killed by some ropes that tied them to a tree in an odd way that ended up strangling them as they tried to free themselves. So here’s my weird theory. This was a college prank gone terribly tragically wrong. Some friends of theirs drove to where they knew they were parked. Invited them to a party or to join them for some fun somewhere. Jessie and Patricia agree to come along. Jessie locks the car and pockets his keys. The friends instead drive them to the woods. They’re thinking “ haha won’t this be funny. Tie the lovers to a tree. Bind them up. Leave them there. Scare ‘em a little. HaHa. We’ll leave them a little while then come back and all have a good laugh.”. They do just that. Patricia is bruised as they are wrestling with them. Leave them there with ropes tied oddly around them. Jessie and Patricia try to get free but because the ropes are tied together weird they tighten around their necks. The more they struggle the worse it gets and they are strangled to death. When the friends return they are confronted with awful scene. They have caused their friends deaths with a stupid college prank. They panic and swear to each other to say nothing. And they’ve pulled it off.
To me the biggest problem with this scenario is that the friends involved could keep it quiet so long or not behave in some way to attract attention. I know this is a HUGE departure from what is usually said about this case. But I cannot for the life of me figure out why Jessie would have his keys in his pocket unless he had left willingly and comfortably with people he knew, and if they left with friends, how do they end up tied to a tree and dead. It’s just my thoughts. Please pick it apart but be kind.
