Getting Away With Murder /// Part 2 /// 552 | Forensic Files

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chair grab a beer let's talk some true crime [Music] I don't know [Music] when we left off yesterday Captain 11
year old Jordan Brown was arrested for murder so what I want to do here at the top of this show is start off with a
little more background information on Jordan and his father we're gonna go back to 1997. this is when his mother
Mildred Krauss was pregnant with Jordan during this time she filed a protection from abuse order against Jordan's father
Chris Brown Mildred alleged that quote he drinks heavily he uses drugs and he has such a temper when I told him I was
going back to Florida he tore up my brother's room he also tried running me off of the road when I had the baby with
me he told me if I ever broke up with him he would kill me end quote that is Mildred Krauss Jordan Brown's mother
a protection of abuse from Chris Brown now we have no way of knowing whether any of Mildred's allegations are true
although she and Chris did split up very soon after Jordan's birth Chris ended up with custody of Jordan
however and Mildred she unfortunately became sick with cancer she says she gave up custody because she couldn't
take care of Jordan or give him a stable upbringing Chris and Jordan were very very close and they did everything
together Jordan's uncles describe him as a normal boy who liked video games dirt
bikes and hunting with his dad Jordan was on a Mighty Mites football team at school we aren't privy to his school
records because those are sealed some people say he was just a normal kid and others say
Jordan was a bit of a bully after the murders Kenzie's family started to tell stories about Jordan Kenzie's
brother-in-law Jason cranner recounted an episode in which his own child told him months before the murders that he
had been playing guns with Jordan and Jordan actually told my son that he wanted to do that to her
meaning he wanted to shoot Kinsey and her girls Jordan Brown is 11 years old is it possible that he has a little bit
of a jealousy because he's so close with his father and now these new people are
coming into his father's life and they're drawing attention away from him well and that's exactly what Kenzie's
family says they believe was going on they said that there was an issue with jealousy we should point out that's not
out of question here and one could see that that could be the situation he's 11 years old and very quickly he basically
has a whole new family right they've only lived in that home for four months before Kenzie was shot and killed and so
in a relatively short period of time he's now not just living with his father but he's living with his father these
two young girls a new mom air quotes and a baby on the way in a new house so his
little young life has changed dramatically in a very short period of time on once Kinsey's family brings up
these ideas of jealousy law enforcement is going to adopt this theory that seems
right here Captain the prosecutor started putting together a theory that Jordan wanted to get rid of Kenzie and
that he was likely jealous of the new baby wanting his father and his you know life all to himself
whatever happened with this situation where one of the kids tells an adult that Jordan wanted to do that to Kenzie
and the girls well this seems to have been lost on Chris and Kenzie right they if if they were relayed this information
they must have just denied it or dismissed it and then we have the situation that Jordan's attorneys they
point out that look Chris Brown had no idea that his son had a problem with Kinsey and that's because they say he
didn't have a problem with Kenzie police also interviewed Chris Brown's girlfriend of seven years this is
important here because we are we're talking about an 11 year old he lived with this woman for seven years Laura
Miller remember Chris Brown dated her from 2000 to 2007. Laura knew Jordan very well and told police that her son
Frank and Jordan called each other brothers here are some excerpts from her recording to interview question did
Jordan ever act out violently answer mostly he just cried question how did Jordan get along with other kids the
answer was he was shy if he was by himself he was shy when Jordan and Frank were together they were never afraid to
meet other kids how did you get along with Jordan this is really interesting to me because
this is another woman that he lived with for a much longer period of Time how did
you get along with Jordan were you afraid of him the answer is Jordan called me mommy for more than six years
we loved each other no I was not ever afraid of him and not to interrupt you but we have to remember that Jordan was
calling Kinsey mom next question was Frank afraid of Jordan no Frank loved him like a brother and he still does but
Laura also told police of one fight between Jordan and Frank when Jordan was five years old and she says I remember
on one occasion in 2002 my son Frank was playing with his toy xylophone and Jordan told him to quit I told Jordan
that he was just playing and that he could continue playing Jordan was sitting on his dad's lap punching his
fist into his open hand sometime later Jordan got up and ran back into the bedroom and punched Frank in the face
Jordan then bit his own arm and said that Frank had bit him Jordan needed to learn how to deal with his emotions is
what she said Jordan cried a lot when he was very young she said he was shy withdrawn and jealous over his dad
during the time I knew him he lied a lot even when caught he would continue to lie
this next story is particularly horrible so brace yourselves get ready put them ear
balls in a seat belt because it's a bumpy ride I wish I didn't have to say this but quote I remember one time when
Chris had found some mice in the trailer he put the mice in a bucket and went outside the trailer when I saw them
Chris was throwing firecrackers in the bucket and both he and Jordan were laughing my son Frank was also with them
but he was crying end quote Yeah that's what you want to do torture animals with
your kid okay so the police have their man or their boy but now we need to flesh out a case against him that will
stand up in court so police interviewed everyone they could think of one person of importance here Captain would be the
school bus driver who first saw Jordan and Janessa when they were about a third of the way down the driveway walking
toward the road right he said that he observed them coming down the driveway until they got onto the bus he said when
they saw the bus waiting for them they both began to run toward the bus with Jordan leading Janessa by about 10 yards
they did not act in any way unusual nor did he observe either of them leave the driveway or throw anything right because
Janessa claims that she saw Jordan throw something when they got towards the edge
of the driveway the children got onto the bus took their respective seats and behaved in a completely ordinary fashion
for the duration of the ride now the only reason why I'm not going to fully believe the bus driver again not saying
that they're a liar but the but the problem is and you know this you rode the bus for many of years as a student
when the bus comes and the little stop sign goes out and they're they're watching the kids they're also watching
the traffic behind them in front of them so is it possible at some point this bus
driver took their eyes off the kid and and Jordan threw something when when the bus driver wasn't looking not to mention
all the other kids on the bus yes this is a very distracting job um a job that I am happy that I don't do
so I applaud those that do that job I don't know that I would have any hair left if I had that job but um yes so I
can understand that it would be difficult for this bus driver to give a full account but the account that he
gave there you have it he saw them for the entire time they didn't behave in any way that he thought was abnormal he
didn't see either child throw anything or discard anything at any point that's why I kind of circle back to the whole
thing of I want these interviews recorded because we have these statements by Trooper Wilson who says
well in the second interview Jordan hesitated and he's changing his answer others what I really would like to know
is by that point in the second interview he's been made aware that his stepmother
or soon-to-be stepmother has been killed has been murdered if he is innocent that
means that during the course of the first interview he's unaware of any of that very important information now if
he's guilty he is aware of why the officer is interviewing him without being told that he's being interviewed
because his soon-to-be stepmother has been murdered right I want that to be a recorded interview because I want to
know did this kid seem nervous like beyond the point of oh you're just being asked random questions ordinary
questions from a police officer I would think that an 11 year old boy that knew that information going into the first
interview would have visible signs of being nervous 100 agree I think if those interviews are recorded then we have
demeanor yes and I think that's really important and what we have here Captain is we have the Troopers going out of
their way to explain his behavior into detail his behavior during the course of the second interview but we don't have
the same for the first interview where he could have just been a normal little 11 year old boy that doesn't know
something horrible has happened to his family this is going to lead us to the preliminary hearing which is really kind
of a mini trial here this will be held on March 24th to determine if there was probable cause to bind Jordan over for
trial the district attorney said of the evidence against Jordan I have a shotgun
blast to the back of the head that's consistent with a 20 gauge shotgun shell I have a 20 gauge youth model in his
room which smells like it's recently fired he's got gun residue on him I think at this point that's more than
enough he went on describing the killing as premeditated and cold-blooded he said
Jordan shot Kenzie put the shotgun back in his bedroom through or hid the spent shell casing in the snow and then rode
the bus to Mohawk Elementary School which is NASA as if nothing had happened seems like it'd be hard to act normal if
he murdered your stepmom or if you even accidentally killed her yeah and again though I think what we're pointing out
though here Captain I get what you're saying could this have been an accident that's certainly in the realm of
possibility the problem is when you start covering up your accident it's now murder and if he or if he planned to
poke around down there with a gun it's he's still responsible for her death at the end of the day yes but his actions
of covering up to me would lean more towards he's 11 years old and not 25 30 year old kid trying to cover up
murder okay but that's not the picture that they're going to paint for us at his trial so at this trial the
prosecution will call ten Witnesses we have a trooper that testified that test showed that Jordan's clothing taken from
his person on the evening of February 20th these are the same items that he wore to school that day had gunshot
residue on them he acknowledged on cross that the analyst report also stated that
the residue this is important because you hear gunshot residue on this kid you go all right he did it let's lock him up
and throw away the key right but on Cross it's pointed out that the gunshot residue could have resulted from any of
the following three things discharging a firearm standing near someone who discharged a firearm or coming in
contact with a surface that had gunshot residue on it another Trooper testified that he found a 20-gauge shotgun in
Jordan's upstairs bedroom and it smelled as though it had recently been fired another Trooper said that there was no
evidence of a break-in at all at the Home in fact a wad of cash was visible on a table in the bedroom and just to
play Devil's Advocate yes no signs of break-in because all the doors were unlocked and if your purpose there was
to murder somebody then who cares about the money that's on the table exactly you're exactly right you don't have to
break in just walk right in right another Trooper testified that when she first talked to Jordan at school he said
he saw a black truck near The Farmhouse that morning but thought it was for a man who came to feed livestock
the trooper went on to say that in the second interview about 10 hours later Jordan's story changed it was now a
truck and there was a person in a white hat inside who ducked down out of sight again I think we both agree that it it's
adding details to a story I don't know how much it's the story changing correct I I can lean toward that
that argument the testimony of Trooper Martin from a previous proceeding was also considered by the court and I think
that this I don't have the exact statements that they took from Trooper Martin's statement
but I think that this might have been about the footprints in the snow that the kids prince the two children's
footprints coming down the driveway were the only ones around the house yeah and
this is not a JonBenet Ramsey situation where they're saying hey there's no Footprints because there was no snow
there was a there's a lot of snow so there should have been some kind of other Footprints yeah
they're what I mean there wasn't a ton of snow I guess but the thing here that I have a hard time wrapping my head
around here Captain is it continued to snow right so I mean I guess yes if you could see the children's and we're
assuming it sounds like we're assuming we we can't say for certain right that those are the footprints of the children
but there are two Footprints sets of footprints on the driveway could somebody have entered the home and the
footprints gone undetected that's the trouble troubling thing right a killer doesn't necessarily have to walk up the
driveway and go in the through the front door there's four entrances to the home
this is a rural property someone could have entered the home from any direction on foot the Court ruled on
March 29 2009 that there was in fact enough evidence to try Jordan for the murders yeah Jordan Brown 11 years old
well as we said Captain we have Jordan Brown who's going to stay in that Juvenile facility for several years we
have the court records and all the motions and trials that took place if we go through all of them here well that
will take about as long as Jordan sat in that Juvenile Facility so we're going to
kind of skim through this and give you the important details now in this regard there was a determination that there was
in fact enough evidence to try Jordan for these murders they're basically saying that we've established enough
evidence that the defendant was the killer that he acted alone the evidence indicates that on the morning of the
shooting the father left for work leaving the defendant the victim Kinsey Houck and her children Janessa and
Adeline in the residence of the three children only the defendant was experienced in firing a shotgun and
removing an expended shell there were no signs of forced entry into the residence
nor any signs of a struggle robbery or theft as a result of the light covering of snow it was observable that the only
Footprints were those of the defendant and Janessa when they left for school at approximately 8 14 a.m there were no
other Footprints or tire tracks of any person or vehicle that would have approached the residence during the time
in which the killing could have occurred they go on to say that the defendant owned a 20-gauge shotgun which was found
in his bedroom along with other guns of the Six Guns found in the bedroom the defendant's 20-gauge shotgun had the
strong odor of gunpowder residue indicating that it had been recently fired well back to that black truck if
there was a black truck there whether it's the man coming to feed the animals or if it's just a similar black truck
where are the tire prints well and that's that's easily something that you can detect and get to the bottom of you
go and interview the person that feeds the cattle right if he says he was there then you go all right well that explains
away the black truck if he says he wasn't there well then we have a no a whole nother set of issues if in fact
the truck was there and as you pointed out where are the tire tracks for that truck I don't not going to sit here and
pretend that I have a great understanding of the layout of this property is it possible that there was a
black truck there and for whatever reason later tracks are not detected I think it could be but again not having a
good understanding of this property really limits my ability to have an opinion on that now here's where I get a
little upset yes so they go on to cite they're citing the evidence as to why we need to try this
kid for the murders and one of the pieces of evidence that they cite here in the court record I'll read from the
court record here because words are important which is not Grammar it says along the path of the footprints of the
defendant from the residence to the roadway was located a shotgun shell in pristine condition indicating it had
been recently placed in that location a ballistics report showed that the shell was fired from the defendant's shotgun
let me repeat that a ballistics report showed that the shell was fired from the defendant's shotgun that is not true
that is a false statement this is in the court record and it really pisses me off because the reality
of it and the science of it is this statement is very incorrect what the ballistics showed is that it
could have been fired from that gun so to change the wording of that to say that it was fired from the gun is
incredibly misleading right they go on to cite more evidence gunpowder residue is found on the clothing taken from the
defendant at the time of his arrest this was close that he would have been wearing during the time frame of the
murder they go on to site too that the defendant was familiar with the use of a shotgun having been observed to have
loaded and unloaded a gun removed spent shells and to have been successful in a turkey shoot just several days before
the killing I was a champion at shooting turkey back in my day and there's one part here too that upsets me as well
where they're saying that of the the three people that would have been in the home the three survivors Jordan Janessa
and Adeline that he is the only one yes we know that he operated a gun and he was familiar with with doing that but
they say he was the only one that could do that which is again an incorrect statement right it's not true I think
anybody with fingers and and arms could operate a gun yeah or people with long toes let me get this correct he was told
to move his guns that day we don't know that according to Janessa's story when she sees him carrying guns down the
stairs she asked him why he's doing that to which he replies my father told me to
move them let's just say that part of the story is true he could have moved those guns that would be the reason he
would have maybe this gun residue this gunpowder residue on his person that doesn't mean he fired the gun that is a
possibility however Jordan's statements do not back up that statement of Janessa
he doesn't say any time that he handled a gun that morning in fact he denies it that's a big problem I think in cases
where you're interviewing children is you don't necessarily think that they're lying to cover something up but they
just might not be telling you the truth well Jordan would sit there almost I don't want to say wasting away but he's
sitting there in a Juvenile Detention Facility before a bench trial could take place which took place in 2012. the
murder occurred in 2009 Jordan consistently and continually denied having anything to do with Kenzie's
murder and his family you know the brown side of the family anyway backed him up on this
now there are many reasons why it took so long but one really strange legal aspect to this case that's important to
the story is as follows in October of 2009 Jordan's attorneys motioned that his case should be moved
to the juvenile court in March of 2010 which is over a year after the murders the transfer to juvenile court was
denied because according to judge motto one no evidence connected anyone else to
the murders and two the judge agreed with the prosecution that since Jordan would not admit any guilt his lack of
Contrition meant that he would not be amendable to rehabilitation in the juvenile system
per the law in Pennsylvania one test of whether a criminal proceeding should be remanded to juvenile court is whether
the child has accepted responsibility for the underlining offense as a result of Jordan Brown's lack of acceptance of
responsibility he continued to insist he did not do it the judge concluded that the defense had not established that
Jordan was amendable to treatment and therefore was not appropriate for the juvenile system
so what is all that mumbo jumbo mean per a law review article that we read about
the law applied by judge motto quote Pennsylvania's juvenile transfer statute puts the child in a type of Catch-22
admit to the crime and be tried as a juvenile or maintain your innocence and be tried in the adult criminal justice
system which is a complete [ __ ] yes and it's the same thing they do with like parole hearings oh well if if I'm
telling you that I didn't kill this person but you want me to accept responsibility or you won't parole me
right you're in a no-win situation now it would take until March of 2011 so now we are over two years past the murders
that this ruling got overruled basically they're saying this is a violation of Jordan's Fifth Amendment rights against
self-incrimination right admit to it and get tried as a juvenile or maintain your innocence and
go fight it out in adult criminal justice court giant pile of horse so the reason that all of this is so important
is because Under Pennsylvania law if Jordan were remanded to the juvenile system instead of the adult system
he would remain in the juvenile system only until his 21st birthday that's if he's found guilty the juvenile court
only has jurisdiction until 21. at that point he's eligible for release if he's tried and convicted as an adult he could
spend the rest of his life in prison [Music] I don't know [Music] all right we're back Y'all Gonna Make Me
Lose My Mind up in here up in here cheers everybody cheers and a quick reminder if you're not
following us on Instagram Facebook or Twitter you want to do so you can find us on any of those
platforms at True Crime garage I will be sharing photos not only of the people of
the case but also a few of the pictures of the property so you can get a sense of what we're talking about the attorney
general or the AG's office would be in charge of Prosecuting the case the case against Jordan Brown they started off
the trial that we would end up having about three days of testimony during this trial but they started off the
trial by reminding the court of all the evidence that had been relied on in the previous hearings and reminding them
that we the state established that a juvenile's gun was used to kill the victim gunshot residue was on Jordan's
shirt and pants the police focused on him because he was the most likely perpetrator all other possibilities were
eliminated okay I'm gonna stay on this and I'm sorry if I upset anyone but I'm going to stay on
it because it really upsets me you get them Goat Boy again here's the line we established that a juvenile's gun was
used to kill the victim no you established that a gun was used to kill the victim not a gun that was
specifically built for a juvenile to use again you can control thought by manipulating
language if you can control language you essentially can control thought and by choosing to use these words and putting
out incorrect statements and sentences at the trial you are painting a much different picture
it was established that a shotgun was used to kill the victim not that a juvenile's gun was used to kill the
victim then the prosecution explains why other possibilities were eliminated yeah
they say for someone else to be the killer other than Jordan Brown the AG's office said they would have had to know
where the family lived which was a remote location that they had not lived in very long
they had to know that the gun was kept in Jordan's upstairs room know that the ammunition for that gun was kept in
Kenzie's room successfully go into her room without waking her get the ammunition kill her and return the gun
to Jordan's bedroom the person would have had to have left without leaving Footprints or tire
tracks all of this within a half an hour okay so let's clear some of that up actually it was an hour it wasn't a half
an hour right uh let's get our words right here we're talking about sentencing somebody to prison for the
rest of their life 11 year old yeah and again the wording on this they would have had to have known where
the family lived okay I get that they would have had to have known that the gun was kept in Jordan's upstairs room
again you've not established that that gun is the actual murder weapon right know that the ammunition for the gun was
kept in Kenzie's room again you've not established that the ammunition that came from that armoire actually is the
ammunition that killed for killed her what we do know scientifically Captain is that gun could have been used to kill
her the ammunition could have been used to kill her right and that we know that that firearm was fired recently they're
presenting all of this as fact when all actuality it's just possibilities one hold on a second one of the things I
think like the defense is maybe maybe they didn't miss this but didn't he fire and kill some turkey
recently yeah he was a successful at that turkey shoot that was six days before and if I'm the defense that's what I'm
arguing that's when the firearm was fired so basically the AG's office is saying that someone inside the house is
responsible and there's no other reasonable suspect and he is the only reasonable suspect I'll try to bring
this up for the last time of this case I agree with you so much on the interviews being actually taped to know
what his demeanor was that first interview would have been crucial they also pointed out that
premeditation existed in this murder because once Janessa saw Jordan with the gun he went back upstairs and covered it
up with a blanket before coming back down he also took a shell from the box downstairs this required deliberately
loading the gun to shoot Kenzie so basically if you have any length at time you're doing all these actions to shoot
her this proves that it's premeditated whoever used the gun to kill Kinsey then put the gun back upstairs
again we've not 100 satisfied me or anybody that that was absolutely the gun that was used
basically what they're trying to tell us here Captain is this is it that morning
for whatever reason it could have been the jealousy a whole lot of other reasons we don't know but this 11 year
old decided he was going to go downstairs with his gun that he recently got as a Christmas gift and shoot his
soon-to-be stepmother person that he calls Mom they're saying that he put a blanket the the blanket
that was later found with the hole in it over the gun so that he could conceal the shotgun either from his
from the girls living in the house or from Kinsey herself right he has to go into her bedroom where she's lying on
the bed asleep open up the armoire take out a shotgun shell load the gun put it to the back of her head pull the trigger
then go back upstairs wipe the gun down unload the shell do the hokey pokey put the shotgun back in its place cover it
up with the orange blanket along with the other five guns and then as he's leaving to go catch the school bus with
Janessa he then throws down the the shell some of the evidence at the house being
the blanket with the hole in it and the blood that is on the frame the door frame which is the front entrance to the
home to which Chris Brown has already told investigators nobody in the house ever used the front door and according
to Janessa and Jordan Brown they went out the side door that morning so yes maybe he could have touched the door
frame prior to leaving the house that day but according to their statements they went
out the side door right and that's both of their statements is there touch DNA evidence on the on
the blanket do we know that that hole is from a gunshot well that's where we get
to Jordan's defense so his defense team is going to do their best to contradict the quote-unquote evidence presented by
the prosecution they acknowledge that the shell found was consistent with Jordan's gun but there was no evidence
that it was actually fired by that gun the gun smelling like gunpowder could be residual from the turkey shoot
the blanket was subsequently subjected to microscopic examination and Chemical Testing and no gunshot residue or blood
was found on it this is important because according to their Theory the hole in the blanket is
because he left the the blanket concealing the shotgun as he shot her that's the only reasonable explanation
for this hole in the blanket why would there not be blowback spatter or gunshot residue because their theories wrong on
this gun or on the blanket more importantly right they go on to say that no fingerprints
or DNA linked Jordan to anything this this is one that that's tricky for me it sounds good for the defense
look no DNA no fingerprints link him to anything so meaning none of his prints or DNA was found on the gun I actually
have a big problem with that and a big problem with it for the defense if this was his gun and he had used it
recently I would expect to to find fingerprints his fingerprints on the gun but you did not that actually to me
suggests that possibly this gun was used for the murder and maybe somebody wiped
this gun down before returning it to its rightful place yeah a wiper the GSR found on Jordan was microscopic amounts
there was one particle on each of his shirt and pants and of course we've already been told that it's possible
that that could have been transferred from another item or another surface and they
point out specifically his winter coat because we know that he wore that same winter coat at the turkey shoot just six
days before they also pointed out that the family routinely used the property for target practice so spent shells were
all over the place and police found a couple of them on the property Jordan had no prior juvenile record or History
of Violence he was close with his father and had no mental issues or diagnosis and it's not realistic to think that an
11 year old is sophisticated enough to carry out this crime while leaving so little evidence behind that is the
defense's argument there's so many moving pieces and parts to this case it's almost like law enforcement
dismissed any idea of an intruder Theory to begin with I like to know more about
the people that were in Kinsey's life well that's a good segue here Captain because I have another suspect for you
we say that they exhausted all other possibilities well one thing that was not clear was how much possible emphasis
Jordan's defense team placed on other possible suspects at this trial and there was probably a good suspect
here there's one that at least raised some eyebrows I know that and the day of the murder February 20th 2009 the state
police put out an APB for an Adam Harvey Harvey was Kenzie's ex of six years and
police were well aware that the two of them had a fraught history at the time of the murder Kenzie her parents her
sister and her brother-in-law all had a three-year protection from abuse order against Adam Harvey this was issued
after an incident in February of 2008 this is a year before the murder when Harvey who was living in North Carolina
called Kenzie's mother and threatened to take her whole family out this was the second
protection order issued the first was issued in May of 2006 after Kinsey reported that Harvey abused her and said
things that involved threatening to kill her or have her killed by his friends he also physically attacked Kenzie and
he and his brother threatened to kill her after this Kenzie and Harvey reconciled and then moved to North
Carolina but soon he resumed his abusive ways and began accumulating guns Kenzie
left him and took Janessa and Adeline who was born while Kenzie was in the relationship with Harvey and moved back
to Wampum New Galilee to be with her family Harvey moved back to that area in October of 2008 so this is just months
before someone killed Kenzie Harvey lived within 10 miles of Kenzie Chris Brown testified that he and Kenzie
deliberately chose to have an unlisted phone number at the house they rented to make sure that Harvey could not contact
them Chris once listened to 12 voicemails Adam Harvey left for Kenzie in which he repeatedly threatened her
and her family that's 12 voicemails too many he also left numerous voicemails for her mom and Debbie threatening
Kenzie and everyone else so very clearly Kenzie was afraid of her ex Adam Harvest
little piece of evidence or a nugget of information I think is really important that two weeks before the murder Harvey
received a paternity test stating that he the the four-year-old daughter that he thought
was his was not his exactly and the other thing we should note here as well is that Adam Harvey drove a black pickup
truck oh [ __ ] back they did track him down now mind you this is interesting on
the same day that she's murdered they put out an APB for this man they're looking for him
that's where their minds go to immediately after finding her killed regardless of what they're seeing at the
scene all these things that they say later pointed to an inside job now they tracked him down and voluntarily he
spoke to the police or that's the statement that we have is that he voluntarily came to talk to the police
this was after the police confronted him at an intersection they noted that his black truck had a light coating of snow
on it and the snow was dirty Harvey was taken to the state police barracks and interviewed at 12 I'm sorry
and interviewed around 2 20 p.m on the day of the murders he admitted that he was surprised by the paternity test
results and that he and Kenzie argued over child support payments but he told police that he didn't know
where Kinsey lived and besides he said he had an alibi for the morning of the shooting he had been at home in the
basement of his parents house where he lived since 10 pm he says the previous evening and that the only way out of the
house was through the upstairs through an upstairs door where his dad was his dad would have seen him leave and his
father says that he never saw Harvey leave between 10 pm the night before and the time in question I don't like these
Alibis I spousal Alibis or family alibis uh nope I don't I don't buy them it's not an alibi to me per the court record
Harvey's hands were tested at the time by investigators for presence of gunshot residue but none was detected based on
his profit Alibi and the presence of snow on the truck which the investigators opinion suggested that he
could not have driven to Wampum a dis a distance of about eight to ten miles away and then back without all the snow
coming off so they say that the snow evidence on his truck no gunshot residue on his person and The Alibi
uh being at his parents home seems to be enough for them to have moved on from from Harvey well he could
have used the blanket himself and then therefore there would be no gun residue on his person yeah possibly
I'm just a little confused why there's no scientific evidence on the blanket itself
it makes right you can't I don't think you can have it both ways right you cannot say that he used it to conceal
the shotgun and I'm assuming their statement is that he continued to cover the shotgun when he fired it
and that's how the blanket got the hole in it but the problem with that is why is
there no gun evidence or blood evidence on that blanket when you're telling me the pathologist is saying that the gun
was two inches or less from the victim when it was fired it just it doesn't ring
true and you can't have it both ways so either that blanket has nothing to do with the murder at all I mean that's
what the the scientific evidence would suggest right or it was not used in the manner that they are implying that it
was used well I see our blog posts blowing up this week again that's a truecramblegarage.com
I can't get over the fact that this guy one ex-boyfriend he's abusive but can't get over the black truck Jordan is
saying I saw this black truck it's not the guy that I normally see in a black truck that's similar to this
and the fact that Jordan told people about this black truck before he was even interviewed by law enforcement yeah
it's difficult and this whole case to me is difficult because of the evidence or the lack thereof and
again it goes back to well how do you paint the picture and the way that they paint the picture is as such that it was
that gun in his room that was used it was the ammunition that was in Kenzie's room that was used to kill her and
because of those factors those key factors and then Janessa saying I saw him with the gun and I saw him Chuck
something into the yard when we ran to the bus well then that makes him your Prime Suspect however in reality is it's
never proven that that was the gun that was used it was never proven that that shell casing was the ammunition that was
used to kill Kenzie you have Janessa's changing stories she's seven years old is it possible that somebody entered the
home through an unlocked door shot and killed this woman and then turned around and walked out and for
whatever reason nobody detected tire tracks or footprints the bullet casing that they found in the yard that
Jordan Brown chucked according to Janessa as they ran out to the school bus was found underneath snow
so it's also not crazy to think that there's potential other evidence that was then covered by snow after the
murders in my opinion because the prosecution controlled the language controlled the narrative
that's how they got the guilty verdict that they got against Jordan Brown yes he's found to be guilty and
after the trial we have Jack Hauck who is Kenzie's father who called Jordan evil he stated quote I hope he gets the
help he needs the kids got a problem and we have her mother Debbie who told the media he's guilty and my only reaction
is yes he should have been found guilty but it ain't bringing back Kenzie and the baby
so Jordan is remanded to the custody of the juvenile facility until the age of 21.
now under state law during his juvenile treatment Jordan would receive counseling and would also be evaluated
every six months for possible release per the juvenile act every six months the judge gets in effect a progress
report on the child to determine if Jordan is fully rehabilitated and releasable
but at the latest he would get out in August of 2018 when he would be turning 21 years of age this is one of the
things that makes the case so difficult because if you believe that Jordan Brown
is responsible for the murder of his stepmom and his half sibling that him getting out of
prison when he's 21 is not Justice and that Jordan Brown got away with murder on the other hand if you don't think
Jordan Brown is responsible for the murders and you believe suspects like Adam Harvey
should have been looked into more then you can view that situation as Adam Harvey getting away with murder well and
after the conviction we're going to take Jordan's case all the way you know up the courts as they say and we're going
to appeal this and we're going to appeal that and we're going to challenge the ruling we're going to challenge the
verdict and continue to plea our case that Jordan is innocent and did not commit this murder now
Jordan's arguments to the Supreme Court are as follows that the gun in the shell
in regard to the gun in the Shell the Supreme Court agreed with Jordan that the evidence of the
record did not support the juvenile Court's conclusion that the 20-gauge shotgun recovered from the upstairs
bedroom was the murder weapon the Supreme Court agreed that the 20-gauge shotgun shell which was
recovered from an area in which Jordan and his father had routinely shot such weapons on previous occasions was found
buried under snow covered ice and leaves raised a doubt as to whether it had been
fired from the shotgun on the day of the murder also the school bus driver did not see him throw anything
further Jordan in his arguments to the Supreme Court points out that the Firearms expert could not directly link
the pellets recovered from the victim's body to the shotgun taken from Jordan's room the test he ran
showed only that the pellets recovered from the victim's skull were quote consistent end quote in their size shape
weight and material with the pellets and the unfired shotgun shell located inside
the armoire the Firearms expert testified that Smooth Bore shotguns unlike rifles or pistols have no unique
grooves in their barrels and hence they do not produce any identifying marks on shotgun shell pellets discharged from a
particular shotgun as a result he could not perform an individualized comparison
analysis of the pellets which were recovered from the victim's body with the pellets in the box of shells located
in the armoire that's a really long way of saying they were not able to determine if that ammunition was used to
kill her right which they said in their theory that they presented at court that
that ammunition did kill her they're also not able to prove that the gun was fired on that day
that the gun was used to commit that murder they presented it as it was and so basically what we're going to end up
having here Captain because I could go through about seven or eight more pages of this stuff
in the end what they are going to determine is that these items they don't necessarily weigh
stronger one way or another do they they don't necessarily suggest guilt or innocence they're all kind of just 50
50. these are the facts of the case yes there were guns in the house a similar type gun was used to kill the
victim yes there was ammunition in the house a similar type ammunition was used to kill the victim
but you can't put all these things together and string them along and say that yes this happened this was used and
this was used by this person to kill this person you can't weigh one way or the other
in an opinion or a determination of the facts hold on to your seat for one of the most frustrating endings of a case
so like we said he was charged he gets out of prison charged tried and convicted yes
but but because of these appeals here captain what we end up with is the Supreme Court
of Pennsylvania the Western Western District would ultimately hand down a verdict in 2018. this is after nine and
a half years of legal back and forth and three appeals the court unanimously threw out Jordan's conviction it
overturned the original guilty verdict the Supreme Court ruled that the Commonwealth's evidence was insufficient
as a matter of law to overcome Jordan's presumption of innocence in fact the court concluded the forensic evidence
and witness testimony could go either way being that they were consistent with two possibilities his guilt and his
innocence but by them throwing out his conviction you would think that the state then wants to go after
a different suspect but it doesn't seem like the state's doing much to solve this this case well it's really uncommon
for this to even go down the way that it did to begin with and although the court
did not go so far even though they threw out his conviction they didn't go so far
as to declare that Jordan was innocent it did reverse the juvenile Court's adjudication of his delinquency because
there was not enough evidence to convict him again a rare occurrence but because
he had already been tried for the murders now Double Jeopardy is attached and Jordan cannot be tried again so
he's free as you said uh but he was actually already released before they overturned his conviction as it turned
out pursuant to one of the every six months reviews that were called for by law when Jordan was found guilty he had
already been released when this ruling came down he was released in June of 2016 at the age of 18. he was released
from juvenile custody custody and placed on probation in the custody of an uncle
who lived in Ohio when he turned 21 he would be released from the probation so he got out of got
out of prison was on this probation and would have been off of the probation when he turned 21 but before that
the Supreme Court ruling changed everything and again it overturned his conviction and he would no longer have
the guilty verdict hanging over his head or on his record but it's unsatisfying isn't it Captain that's what she said
this whole case this whole story all of the trials all the legal stuff the shifting
it's all very unsatisfying because at the end of the day we don't know who is responsible for
these murders the state spent so much time telling us that Jordan Brown was the one responsible for these murders
and then the defense in the appeals process later tells us well we can't really determine who in fact was
responsible well basically telling us that Jordan we can't determine if he is actually responsible just that there's
not enough evidence to convict him so now you have if you were to present this story this
real life True Crime Story to a room of 100 people you're going to have 50 of them to say he's guilty as hell and he
got off easy and you're gonna have the other 50 people that are probably going to say they didn't find the right guy
they didn't get the right guy and the real killer is still out there but after presenting all the evidence is there
something that sticks out to you that maybe sways you one way or another there are severe
concerns I have about some of the statements and possible evidence in this case first off I don't like the
contradicting stories of Jordan and the bus driver and Jordan's story Janessa is ahead of
him when he sees this truck that's parked by the garage when the officer asked him did you tell Janessa about the
truck he says I attempted to but I don't think she heard me because she was too far ahead of me by this point the bus
driver says that when he sees the kids running down the driveway to get to the bus
that Jordan was in front of Janessa by about 10 yards according to the bus driver
in Janessa's story she says that she saw Jordan Chuck the shotgun shell or Chuck something
down toward the ground while they were running on the driveway well if Jordan is behind her
she can't see him Chuck anything so when we have three people telling us a story here
factual if we are to believe that only one of them would be lying or believe that there's consist inconsistencies in
their story well two of their stories are matching up and that's not Jordan's version of those
stories what's matching up is Janessa's version along with the bus driver's version of that story so that doesn't
look real good for Jordan in my opinion I have some very strong questions about that part of this story
I also have major concerns that I've already voiced time and time again about this blanket that was found we're told
by the state that it was a big part of the case and a big part of the murders yet there's no scientific evidence to
suggest that it had anything to do with the murders at all so that's a real kind
of convoluted part of this story the other thing that I want to point out too that we pointed out in episode one that
that we talked about briefly but we didn't go into detail of we have the story of Adeline that that
changes throughout the years when she originally spoke with police on the day of the murder now mind you she's four
years old all right so we need to take this with a grain of salt but when she spoke with the officers on the day of
the murders she said that she was up for a while she watched TV she ate some food
in the kitchen and then it was when she heard her mother's phone ring that she went into Kenzie's room to find her dad
when she tells the story to 2020 years later she says that she wakes up to a loud boom
which would be possibly a shotgun blast I don't know I can't make heads or tails
of which one is is correct it doesn't did she hear shotgun blast wake up and then eat some food watch TV for a little
bit and then does not go into the room until the phone rings that's a possibility
but the story's changing and and the the problem of having little kids basically filling out the
blanks for you has really left me kind of confused in this story as to what I think possibly happened
the black truck because Jordan could have easily said yeah the black truck there's a guy that
comes and feeds the animals that's who I saw he didn't say that he went a step further and said it looks like the same
truck but it wasn't that guy and the fact that you have a protection order against
abusive [ __ ] already threatened to kill her and her family multiple times that would lead me away from
Jordan being guilty but I don't think this case is that clear-cut and I think you could study this one for a very long
time and flip flop on on whether you thought he was innocent or guilty I don't think it's that clear-cut in
this case it's not it definitely is not and it's one that I've struggled with for the
past week I will leave everybody with this you know one of this is a crucial element in the case
I believe and as we pointed out in episode one the time frame the timeline is very crucial to this case and every
minute counts and we have the story and this comes from Jordan when he's first asked by the officers
from Trooper Wilson's report quote when asked what time it was Jordan Brown stated that they usually leave the house
at 8 12 but since his mom was telling them they needed to go or they were going to be late he stated that it was
probably 8 13 or 8 14. everyone's statements are that the bus came to pick them up at 8 12 to 8 15
every morning one thing that I think is very interesting and I wonder why it is missing from
the trial was that Janessa was never asked to testify about her statements about that
morning and we do know that those statements seem to have changed or morphed through the course of multiple
interviews she's not asked to testify what she witnessed that morning and I think that that is key here
because if you really believed her if you were the state and you really believed
everything that she told you which was one of the things that led to the arrest of Jordan Brown well wouldn't you use
that in Your Arsenal against this guy to convict him the obvious answer is yes but they did
not why does she at any point did she at any point back up Jordan's statement of
well I heard Kenzie yell I heard my mother yell that we were going to be late that
we need to go outside or we're going to be late or we're going to miss the bus if she were to back up Jordan Brown's
statement then that would have gave him approximately two to three minutes to go
upstairs retrieve the gun cover it with the blanket go downstairs find the ammunition load it point it to the back
of her head pull the trigger and Janessa does not hear the shotgun go off and then he goes back upstairs unloads the
gun wipes it down puts it away and then runs out the front door and Chucks the shell casing as he's running to the
bus gets on the bus and then behaves like nothing happened at all it seems very very doubtful to me that
that could have went down in a matter of two to three minutes whatever side of the fence you're on whether you think
he's guilty or innocent somebody got away with murder [Music] this case leaves a lot of questions we
want to hear your thoughts and opinions go to truecrimegarage.com and leave those on the blog Colonel do we have any
recommended reading this week for the beautiful listeners this week we are recommending the spy and the trader the
greatest Espionage story of the Cold War by Ben McIntyre You're Gonna Love This Book I'm about halfway through this one
here captain and excited to recommend it to everyone out there so check out the spy and the trader the greatest
Espionage story of the Cold War by Ben McIntyre you can find that great title and many more recommendations on our
recommended page at truecrime garage.com and until next week you beautiful people
be good be kind and don't litter foreign [Music]

Getting Away With Murder /// Part 2 /// 552

Part 2 of 2 www.TrueCrimeGarage.com

February 20, 2009 - Wampum, Pennsylvania. A 26 year old mother of two is found dead in her home. She was found to be shot in the head laying in her bed. State Police quickly determined that she was found a very short period of time after having been killed, maybe just minutes. More than in most cases, the timeline of the events and movements of persons closest to our victim will be the key element in this week’s true crime story.

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Brief Summary

Jordan Brown, 11, was arrested for murdering his stepmother; evidence and witness accounts raise doubts about his guilt.

Key points

The Arrest of Jordan Brown. 11-year-old Jordan Brown was arrested for murder, raising questions about his family dynamics.
Mildred's Allegations Against Chris. Jordan's mother alleged abuse by his father, Chris Brown, leading to a protection order.
Evidence Against Jordan. Evidence includes gunshot residue and a shotgun found in Jordan's room.
The Prosecutor's Theory. The prosecutor suggests Jordan's jealousy of his father's new family led to the murder.
Court's Decision to Try Jordan. The court ruled there was enough evidence to try Jordan for murder.
Misleading Ballistics Report. The ballistics report's wording is criticized for being misleading about the evidence.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Brace yourselves, get ready, put them ear balls in a seat belt.

Warning about a disturbing story

9:21WatchOct 29, 2022

Tension

70/ 100High tension

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