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Post by HeadMarshal on Sept 11, 2014 4:06:30 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: Unsolved Wikia) Going back to the archives of Unsolved Mysteries, we are looking at the Dade City, Florida murder of 12-year old Jennifer Odom. I doubt her case was aired on AMW. On Feb 19, 1993, Jennifer got off her school bus at around 3PM, and walked the short distance to her home. Students on the bus reported seeing a blue pickup truck slowly follow Jennifer. She was never seen alive again. Six days later, her remains were found in an abandoned orange grove, however her clothing was never located. In January 1995, a couple hunting for scrap metal found Jennifer's book bag and clarinet case. Several men were looked into regarding Jennifer's murder. Most recently, a local lake was searched and Jennifer's case appeared on Florida's Cold Case Playing Cards set. Thoughts? Frank Potts was one of the possible suspects investigators looked into. Charged with raping an 11-year old girl, investigators tried to link him to as many as 15 murders over 15 years. He owned a blue pickup truck and tried to change his appearance sometime between Jennifer's murder and an unrelated arrest 10 months later. Whoever the killer is, this most likely wasn't his only victim so he may be in jail on unrelated charges. Also I have to mention something about the Unsolved Mysteries segment on this case. They brought in a "psychic detective" named Nancy Myer who said Jennifer's killers were two muscular mechanics that worked together. The show wiki claims that she found Jennifer's clarinet case, but the Hernando County Sheriff's Office website said a couple hunting for scrap metal found it. I'm going to believe the Sheriff's Office on this one. unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Jennifer_Odomwww.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/pasco-authorities-chasing-lead-in-jennifer-odom-case/2127291www.hernandosheriff.org/Unsolved/Odom/Admin Note #1: According to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office (Florida) website, anyone having information is urged to contact: Det. Jim Boylan, Hernando County Sheriff's Office (352) 754-6830 unsolved@hernandosheriff.org Anonymous tips can be made by e-mail to: tips@hernandosheriff.org or by telephone 1-866-990-8477 Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
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Post by Scumhunter on Sept 11, 2014 13:01:28 GMT -5
As much as I loved Unsolved Mysteries (although not as much as AMW obviously since this is primarily an AMW/Hunt fan site), they really stretched it by bringing in a psychic. Not only is that speculation out of thin air, it's disrespectful to the memory of Jennifer.
I'm going to believe the Sheriff's Office, and yes, unfortunately, whoever killed Jennifer, she likely wasn't his first victim.
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Post by HeadMarshal on Sept 11, 2014 13:03:50 GMT -5
As much as I loved Unsolved Mysteries (although not as much as AMW obviously since this is primarily an AMW/Hunt fan site), they really stretched it by bringing in a psychic. Not only is that speculation out of thin air, it's disrespectful to the memory of Jennifer. Sadly they used the same psychic for a second case (that is also unsolved). Not sure what they were trying to accomplish by bringing in a psychic, but yeah, didn't accomplish anything and I agree, it was disrespectful to Jennifer's memory.
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Post by HeadMarshal on Feb 1, 2017 3:44:03 GMT -5
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Post by Scumhunter on Feb 1, 2017 4:03:53 GMT -5
I think I want to backtrack a little on the pyschic comment in retrospect which I said two years ago. Now that I'm profiling a few more of those Unsolved Mysteries murder cases, there actually were some where the psychic was dead on the money. That is NOT to say I now believe in psychics. I still think they're bs. But I do think some are very good at taking educated guesses and can still be useful in that sense. UM is an entertainment show so if they think a psychic viewers will find interesting and it keeps them hooked on the show, so be it.
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Post by Scumhunter on Apr 27, 2017 4:45:46 GMT -5
There may be a major break in Jennifer's case as a man named Jeffrey Norman Crum Sr. has been identified as a person of interest. Crum is currently being charged with the 1992 abduction and rape of a 17-year old girl in Pasco County Florida in 1992. Familial DNA evidence finally tied him to her case. The girl was left in a field near death but miraculously survived. Investigators have named Crum a person of interest because of a number of similarities in the cases (both girls got off a school bus before they were assaulted and were later found in a field and/or grove.) www.wtsp.com/mb/news/crime/unsolved-dna-may-finally-solve-girls-1993-murder/434473872P.S. For what it's worth here is a photo of Crum:
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Post by Scumhunter on Dec 15, 2017 1:45:43 GMT -5
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Post by Scumhunter on Mar 15, 2018 1:37:40 GMT -5
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Post by TheWebDetective on May 27, 2018 11:30:01 GMT -5
I watched her segment on an episode from the Farina era series. With the psychic angle, I'm assuming Nancy Myer was guessing the right things that would be clues in the case (or at least UM is portraying it as such). Also keep in mind that UM during its run was heavily into the paranormal and it wasn't uncommon to have that seep in some of its true crime segments. Not an excuse but still, for context. Not like it's going to mean much but here are composites of what Nancy believes to be the killers.
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Post by Scumhunter on May 16, 2019 1:42:38 GMT -5
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Post by HeadMarshal on Jul 27, 2023 13:58:35 GMT -5
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Post by brandenfields on Sept 15, 2023 18:12:08 GMT -5
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Post by Maddog on Sept 18, 2023 0:07:24 GMT -5
Here are the aggravating factors that appear to be present for Jennifer’s homicide (in order to achieve a death sentence, the Prosecution must prove that one of these aggravating factors exists beyond a reasonable doubt and that the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors):
(1) The capital felony was committed by a person previously convicted of a felony and under sentence of imprisonment or placed on community control or on felony probation;
(2) The defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person;
(4) The capital felony was committed while the defendant was engaged, or was an accomplice, in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit, any sexual battery;
(8) The capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.
(9) The capital felony was a homicide and was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification.
(15) The capital felony was committed by a person designated as a sexual predator pursuant to s. 775.21 or a person previously designated as a sexual predator who had the sexual predator designation removed.
Remember: the Florida Prosecutors have to prove that only one of these exists beyond a reasonable doubt. Mitigating factors can be things like lack of a criminal history (not applicable in this case), mental illness, and bad childhood. I think whomever represents Crum is going to really need an insane amount of luck, because those aggravating factors aren’t going to help his case.
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