Jennifer Glynn Haire's badly decomposed body was recovered in a ditch off of Old Stage Road in Jackson County Mississippi near the Alabama state line. She was found in late December of 2000 and had likely been there for several weeks. She had last spoken with family in mid November. Following an autopsy, it was determined that she had been strangled and possibly raped. She was identified through her dental records.
Jennifer was a 20 year old that had been living in the Moss Point / Pascagoula, MS area for about a year. It was rumored that she had been involved in prostitution and had been going by the nickname “Mobile,” after the town she had moved from, Mobile, Alabama.
The Biloxi Sun Herald reported that Jennifer was the second associate of Marcus Malone who had mysteriously died. The local NAACP chapter was raising concerns that news of her death would deter witnesses from coming forward to the FBI in the inquiry into Marcus’s death. Marcus was an African American man who had been found dead in his jail cell only two hours after being pulled over for a broken tail light and arrested for driving without a license.
In March of 2002, the Jackson County Sheriff’s department charged Robert McKee of murder in Jennifer’s death. Robert McKee was already an inmate at the time, and facing a long list of charges for crimes in Louisiana, including kidnapping and carjacking in attempts to escape from prison. Robert never faces trial for Jennifer's death and their connection, if any, is never made public.
More than ten years later, in 2013, the state of Mississippi announced a 31-count indictment of Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd. Among many things, he is charged with tampering with a witness and intimidating an officer in the discharge of his duties for his role. These charges are for instructing Detective Ken McClenic to withhold information in pursuit of an arrest warrant against Robert McKee in Jennifer’s death. Detective McClenic did not believe McKee was guilty, but having no unsolved homicides during the Sheriff’s administration was good for politics and re-election campaigns.
The event referred to in the indictment is listed as occurring in June of 2007, more than 5 years after Robert McKee was initially charged with murder. McKee is still in prison today on previous charges, unrelated to Jennifer Haire’s death. Jennifer’s last name is misspelled in the 2013 indictment. It doesn’t appear that anyone else was ever charged or convicted of her death.
Jennifer's picture: imgur.com
Jennifer's grave: Jennifer Glynn Haire (1980-2000) - Find a Grave...
Sheriff Byrd thread: MS - Mississippi sheriff indicted on 31 charges, Jackson
Sheriff Byrd Indictment (relevant info on Page 14): http://media.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/other/Mike Byrd indictment.pdf
Robert McKee: Write Robert McKee - Inmate Penpal #071912-1427
