Online vitriol turns deadly in Mountain City | Forensic Files

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happy listening [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents
if you feel at any time you need support please contact your local crisis center
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or on our website welcome to mountain city a friendly home town this message written in bold white text
on a bright red sign greets travellers approaching the u.s town of mountain city
in the northeast corner of tennessee as the local population has never peaked beyond 2600 people
mountain city residents remain close-knit they live a slow pace to lifestyle among
the mountains valleys and forests the summers are warm the winters are short cold and wet and
it's partly cloudy all year round there is no public transport so everybody has a car and to that car
he's more often than not a pickup truck most residents own a gun many people owned several
at around 6 30 on the morning of january 31 2012 brad osborne was making his usual
drive to pick up his friend and co-worker bill payne the two men worked at the parkdale mills
textile plant and often carpooled to work bill was staying in his father's white
single-story weatherboard house in mountain city he lived there with his partner billie
jane hayworth and their infant son as well as bill's father billy ray payne better known around
town as poor bill when brad osborne arrived at the payne house poor bill had already left for work
about an hour earlier brad pulled into the driveway and remained in his car usually bill would emerge from the house
when brad arrived they started work at 7am but the drive to the factory wasn't far
the sun had yet to rise and the bride could see a light emanating from bill's bedroom window
though there was no movement within brad tooted the horn and waited but bill didn't appear he tried calling bill's
cell phone but was unable to get through minutes passed and brad became increasingly concerned about being late
for work he got out of his car and walked over to the house to hurry his friend along
knowing that it was rarely locked brad headed to a sliding glass door at the rear of the house when his knocks went
unanswered brad let himself in an alarm clock was going off in one of the bedrooms
brad picked up the landline in the living room and called bill's cell again but he couldn't hear it ring
then brad heard something it sounded like the quiet whimper of a baby not feeling comfortable with going into
the bedrooms where billie jean and her baby might be sleeping brad called out once more
he was met with silence and took this as his cue to leave brad drove alone to the textile plant
only to discover that bill was not there and did not turn up as the morning wore
on later that morning at around 10 another visitor pulled up to the pain house roy stevens arrived to pick up his mail
which had been sent to poor bill's place his wife linda stayed in the car while roy let himself in
via the rear sliding glass door roy hollowed out sure that somebody must be home
after receiving no response he ventured down the hallway towards the bedrooms as he approached the first room roy saw
what looked like blood near the doorway [Music] roy opened the door into the bedroom
bill shared with billie jean he spotted a 36 year old bill face up on the bed his face was badly beaten and blood
coagulated around his neck roy rushed to bill grabbed his arms and shook him hoping to get a response when he got
none he raced outside yelling for linda linda was trained in cpr she tried to find a pulse in bill's
neck before realising that his throat had been cut as his wife called 9-1-1 roy heard
something coming from another part of the house he made his way down the hallway to a
second bedroom inside year old billy jane hayworth was lying in a pool of blood on the floor
of her son's nursery tight in her arms was her baby boy he didn't stir his face was blotchy and
red and blood caked his sleeper suit and the back of his head it was clear billie jean was deceased
to roy's relief her baby was still breathing all of the blood around him belonged to
his mother the baby himself was unhurt linda broke down as she described the condition of the little boy to the 911
operator quote the baby kind of to me as a parent looks like maybe it's been crying for a
while and probably cried till he can't cry no more both bill and billie jean had been shot
in the head there were also deep slash wounds across bill's neck although it was unclear whether they
were sustained pre or post-mortem neither victim had defensive wounds suggesting they had been taken by
surprise with bill in his underwear and billie jean in pyjamas it appeared as though the couple had
been confronted while they were still in bed or shortly after waking everything was normal when poor bill
left for work at around 5 30. the pair were presumably dead by the time brad osborne had arrived to
pick up bill an hour later tennessee bureau of investigation agent scott lott arrived on the scene there were several
firearms at the residence but the shotguns and a 22-caliber pistol he located were not the murder weapons the bullets
fired upon the victims had come from a 38 caliber or 9 millimeter handgun murder-suicide was swiftly ruled out
the gun and knife used in the crime were missing nothing was found at the house that
hinted at the perpetrators identity neighbours described bill payne and billie jane hayworth as a nice young
couple they didn't hear anything suspicious the morning of the murders usually poor bill's dog would bark if
strangers came to the house which made the investigators wonder was the killer someone known to the family
perhaps even welcomed inside a search of the payne residents uncovered a small quantity of drugs
including methamphetamine police also recovered a meth pipe and some prescription medication
mountain city was going through a drug crisis at the time but nobody in the payne household was on
the police radar as being part of any large-scale dealing billy gene's best friend a woman named
lindsay thomas had been at the payne home the day before the murders billie jean mentioned receiving a fresh
batch of pills for her and bill to sell the couple apparently carried out some low-level drug dealing to make extra
cash to buy things for their baby lindsay wondered if a buyer was supposed to meet bill before he left for work
and things turned deadly this seemed even more likely given that methamphetamine was not found in either
of the victim's systems but was sitting out on a plate with a straw beside it as though
someone had recently taken a hit bill's cell phone records showed the numbers of those who had called him
prior to his death they led to two of his friends who admitted that they occasionally bought
pills from him it was no major drug operation however bill sometimes sold or swapped his
prescription medication with a small group of contacts his friends had intended to pick some up
the night before he was killed but bill had sent them a text at 11 30 saying that he was tired
and was not going to meet them the double homicide was the biggest incident johnson county had seen
in a very long time everybody in mountain city knew the couple or members of their families
theories abound especially online on local forums members of billie jean's family fronted
the media and begged her killer to come forward her mother questioned how anyone could
leave her infant grandson an orphan she explained how much billie jean and bill loved being parents
adding i didn't know a soul that didn't like them [Music] jamie curd lived in a trailer at the end
of a muddy driveway up a steep hill with its outdoor laundry tub and sofa on the porch
it was a typical dwelling of those who were doing it toughest in johnson county jaime had dropped out of school to work
at the parkdale mills textile plant where he labored through 12-hour shifts but he was able to work alongside his
cousin bill payne the two were close despite their differences bill was popular and charismatic with
lots of interests and hobbies he was a coin collector who enjoyed nascar trips to las vegas and had a
reputation as a bit of a player he embraced life and had a tendency to blow his paycheck
as soon as he got it jamie on the other hand was the sort of person that people didn't notice much if they did they
thought him pleasant harmless and quiet a follower not a leader at 35 years old he had never had a
proper girlfriend he also had a stammer as well as a condition that meant he needed to wear
dark glasses all the time even inside in late 2009 billie jean hayworth was hired at the textile plant where jamie
curd and bill payne worked the two billies clicked immediately they had many shared interests both
being outdoorsy types who enjoyed fishing hiking camping and running they also liked to visit flea markets yard sales
and auctions bill spoke of falling head over hills in love when billie jean discovered she was
pregnant bill was overjoyed the future for the soon-to-be parents looked bright bill had had his share of run-ins with
the law but cleaned himself up after meeting billie jean he drank less quit partying and had eyes only for her
he enrolled in a clinic to kick his drug dependence and to the surprise of those who knew
him even gave up smoking yet not everyone seemed happy for the young couple not long after they went public with
their pregnancy anonymous nasty comments about the pair appeared online even billie jeans closest to france
lindsey thomas and tara osborne were not immune to the criticism it started with someone calling himself
matt potter matt vilified the three women on the mountain city topics forum a community news site that was
incredibly popular in town someone named kelly weighed in and supported matt's accusations
as did another user going by the name dan white together they accused the women of promiscuity spreading
sexually transmitted diseases drug taking and a litany of other transgressions while calling them vile names
others chimed in too the posts were vicious and disturbing one comment directed at billie jean
ended [ __ ] them i hope they die die die and that baby and bill in the aftermath of bill and billie
jean's murders several townsfolk name dropped to jaime kurd to investigators according to reports he recently had a
falling out with his cousin jamie explained that this was because bill had been ranting at him about something posted
online jamie said he wasn't on social media so he didn't know anything about it he also denied knowing anything about
the murders yet the investigation kept circling back to jaime and he agreed to take a polygraph test
although such tests are unreliable and inadmissible in court police find them useful in
interrogations to discover how people act when lying the test told them that jamie was not being honest
particularly when asked if he knew who killed bill and billie jean the interrogator told jaime his
polygraph results and assured him we're not looking to crucify anybody we just want the truth we're looking for
who pulled the trigger that's all are you the type of man who could shoot a woman
probably begging for her life while her baby is in her arms jamie responded no appealing to jamie's better nature the
interrogator told him how good he'd feel if he told the truth after about an hour and a half sensing
that jamie was beginning to crack the interrogator pressed him who shot him who had the gun
jamie responded he did they kept pushing [Music] stickers covering the back windshield of
buddy potter's truck made it clear that he staunchly supported the second amendment
as well as the national rifle association he owned many guns two of which he carried at all times
one in a shoulder harness and one on his ankle sometimes he wore a holster around his
hips old west to gunslinger style [Music] buddy was the nickname of local man marvin potter jr
seven years earlier in 2004 the potter family consisting of marvin his wife barbara
and their adult daughter janelle moved from pennsylvania to mountain city like many small towns most of the locals
had lived there for generations and could be slow to warm to outsiders it didn't help that the potter family
kept to themselves and quickly developed a reputation of being odd buddy potter told anyone who'd listen
about his military history including his experiences fighting in the vietnam war
he spoke of being confined in a prisoner of war camp and rescuing fellow injured marines
for this he was awarded the navy cross medal the second highest military award for
valor he added it to his three silver stars bronze star medal purple heart medal airborne wings and
scuba badge he proudly displayed photographs of himself in uniform with all his decorations
after attending jump diving survival and recon schools he said he was assigned to marine force
reconnaissance a special operations force tasked with military intelligence missions
he then worked with the central intelligence agency which handled national security
everything that happened there was classified he couldn't and wouldn't talk about it
to anybody jamie kurd became known to buddy when the potter family computer started
having issues jamie had a reputation as a computer tinkerer who could fix basic tech issues and was quick to offer
the potters his assistants upon arriving at their house he was taken to the troublesome device
it was located in a common area of the home where it was primarily used by everyone but buddy who seemed to have no
interest in it jamie returned to the potter house several times to clean up and reformat
their hard drive buddy and barbara potter accepted his help and tolerated him being around
despite not liking him that much one day barbara potter noticed her daughter in possession of a prepaid cell
phone she had never seen before while examining it barbara discovered it contained messages
from jamie kurt he had supplied it to janelle so they could speak in private with an iq of 72 27 year old janelle
functioned at around a fourth grade level her entire school life was spent in special education
and by the time she graduated janelle didn't have the skills to get or hold on to a job or drive a car
with a slew of health problems including type 1 diabetes and partial deafness she was put onto a social security
disability payment and lived with her parents who took care of all her needs as such both buddy and barbara were
highly protective of janelle and were displeased that jamie with his drinking and drug taking habits
was showing interest in their naive and vulnerable daughter upon realising that jamie curd had been
covertly pursuing her daughter barbara potter texted that she was on to him and confiscated the phone he had
given janelle she had no idea that jaime supplied janelle with another then in february 2010 the police called
the potters after finding janelle wandering the dark streets alone she was under the impression that she
was going to elope with the jaime that night which was his birthday jamie however
had spent the evening drinking and had passed out the next morning buddy potter called
jamie and thundered down the line for him to stay away from his daughter when he was interrogated in relation to
the murders of bill payne and billie jean hayworth jaime implicated buddy potter
he then asked a bizarre question is the c.i.a here when asked for the meaning behind his
strange query jaime explained it was because buddy potter had told him he was with the c.i.a
he remarked i was hoping the c.i.a had my back jamie told investigators he participated in the murders because he
was afraid of buddy he never wanted to kill anyone and hadn't done anything violent before
he said he felt horrible bill was like a brother to him agent lot asked to jaime to call buddy
and ask what happened to the gun and knife used in the murders barbara potter answered the phone and
spoke with the jaime for a few minutes she was aware that jaime had been arrested
and asked if he had taken a lie detector test and whether he had passed it he said yes to both questions
when buddy came to the phone jamie muttered well they're pointing fingers buddy responded oh jiminy christmas
buddy told jaime there was no reason for anyone to suspect him because the homicides looked like a drug
deal gone bad as instructed by the cops jamie asked you got rid of everything that was from
bills right uh-huh buddy responded it wasn't quite a confession but it was enough
police descended on the potter residence and arrested buddy who was armed even at 3 30 am
officers then moved through the house searching for evidence at one stage barbara potter who had been
sitting on a couch in the living room beside her daughter reached over picked up a stack of papers
and ripped them in half all this did was bring attention to the documents barbara was ordered to hand them over
they consisted of printed email correspondence and included candid photos of billie
jane hayworth and her best friend lindsay thomas the images had been taken from the
women's social media pages the emails had subject lines like billy [ __ ] for billie jean and pant face for
lindsay this wasn't the only interesting paper detectives found in the back of buddy's truck were three
large garbage bags full of shredded paper bundled up ready to be disposed of officers seized the potter's computer an
external hard drive and a green spiral notebook next to the monitor they also took what detectives would
later call an arsenal 32 firearms including rifles semi-automatics handguns an ak-47
and shotguns along with a huge supply of ammunition the gun used against bill payne and
billie jane hayworth was not among them buddy potter was led into the same interrogation room
jamie curt had sat in earlier he was asked you know why you're here right buddy responded
someone's told you that i'm the one that killed somebody the potters had made a big impression on
mountain city in the short amount of time they had resided there when inquiries were underway into the
murders of bill payne and billie jean hayworth the potter name kept cropping up enough to put the family on agent lot's
priority list he paid them a visit when agent lot told the potters that he was investigating a double homicide
buddy responded everybody always points the finger at us for something it was no secret that the potter family
had severe grievances with other townsfolk bill payne and billie jane hayworth especially
that conflict had arisen from an online dispute that had turned intensely vitriolic
buddy admitted to visiting the paint house many times in relation to the feud though denied involvement in the murders
agent lot asked if the potters knew of anybody who would want to hurt the victims
they didn't but janelle spoke of a party at the paint house that had made her uncomfortable there had been drinking
and a drug use weapons including an ak-47 were present as she didn't want to involve herself in
that lifestyle janelle didn't attend any more parties she quickly fell out with the two
billies and their circle of friends typical of the town news of the broken friendship became a hot topic
online particularly on topics where users took sides despite having no involvement in the dispute
some defended janelle noting her sweet nature and innocent mindset they ordered the
other women to leave her alone others stood by bill and billie jean and their friends
the online bickering mostly fueled by random community members or anonymous posters
only served to increase hostilities between the ex-friends jenelle's social media accounts were
hacked and fake pages had been created using her photo her father had to deal with baseless
accusations of being a drug dealer efforts to quash the animosity were futile against the aggressive
cruel and degrading comments shared online the potter family accused billie jane
hayworth and her friends of instigating continuing and amplifying the harassment
but felt bill payne was also a driving factor janelle explained that bill was always
trying to push someone's buttons and that anyone who came into contact with the couple
had trouble with them barbara potter informs agent lot that sugar had been poured into the potter's
gas tanks that buddy's truck was scratched their garage door was broken and the rocks were thrown at their house
and janelle's bedroom window despite all the issues they had with the victims buddy assured agent lot that he would
never wish murder upon anybody following buddy potter's arrest he was asked whether he
was a cold-hearted killer or his family's protector but he responded i'm a protector of my
family to start with but i did not do this he was told that jaime kurd had already
implicated him in the murders to which buddy replied he's throwing me under the bus
as the hours wore on buddy became emotional he revealed the extent of the harassment
his family had received since their issues arose with bill and billie jean he said there was a 3
000 bounty on each member of his family adding ever since all this crap started i've
had my life threatened my wife has been threatened they've threatened to take janelle
cut her head off catch her in a restroom and murder her rape her because she's a virgin and just
so much [ __ ] buddy broke down and started sobbing he was then asked do janelle and barbara
know what you did he responded with a firm no after the interview buddy called his
wife their conversation was covertly recorded buddy opened with barbara before you find out from
somebody else i want you to know i was involved in it i did it i didn't want you to be afraid
no more rather than sound shocked barbara responded calmly that he could not have committed the
murders because he was at home with her the whole time buddy told barbara i love you
i did it to protect you but barbara wasn't having it she said you're not guilty because you were here you have to say
that you were here i saw you you haven't had no rest and you don't have your oxygen
you're not yourself right now before concluding the call barbara repeated don't worry honey you were right here
i saw you right here detectives were mystified was this a loving wife trying to provide an alibi
for her husband or was buddy potter innocent [Music] barbara potter would later criticize the
police for interviewing buddy for hours without allowing him access to the oxygen that he needed to function
properly she accused them of coercing a confession because when denied oxygen her husband
often said strange and untrue things a doctor later stated that while buddy's history of hypoxia could have
contributed to an impaired state of mind there were no known cases of hypoxia causing a patient to lie
both buddy potter and jamie kurd were charged with first degree murder with bonds set at 1.5 million dollars
each neither made bail the investigation then took a massive hit when jaime suddenly recanted his confession
regardless detectives remained certain that jaime and buddy carried out the murders
and worked quickly on gathering evidence to prove it one agent was tasked with piecing
together the paper in the garbage bags found in buddy's truck shred by shred it was a painstaking slow
process but it was believed that they held a key that would break open the case the agent did an astonishing job she
managed to reconstruct around 100 pages they proved to be both enlightening and confounding
many of them were printouts of online correspondence between barbara potter and a mysterious man named chris
the message is dated from 2011 to 2012. barbara referred to chris as son and signed messages to him
as mum in turn he ended his with i love you all your son chris the police were not aware of the potters
having a son barbara mostly spoke to chris about the harassment her family had received
following their move to mountain city they shared a mutual hatred for bill payne billie jane hayworth
and billie jane's friends for fueling their ongoing grief many of the messages included some sort
of threat or desire for violence harm or death to the group barbara and chris were particularly
worried for janelle who bore the brunt of the group's maliciousness chris referred to her as his little
sister as he had known her since high school reading these messages agent lot felt
that the potter's computer would hold more clues fortunately the green spiral notebook
seized from the potter's home contained a list of usernames and passwords to the family's social media
and email accounts but as they suspected that many of the communications there might have been
deleted investigators also obtained subpoenas for records from the family's email
and internet providers [Music] agent lot received a dvd containing over 20 000 emails
something stood out among them in mid-january barbara had sent herself two links can god forgive a murderer
and questions about forgiveness and murder why would barbara be wondering about whether god could forgive murderers
two weeks before bill and billie jean were killed it was important for investigators to
uncover who the mysterious chris was that barbara messaged daily one year before the murders chris
emailed barbara for the first time writing hi barbara how are you i hope you are well yes
this is chris aka cody i'm so sorry to hear all of that is going on i wish there was a way to help you all
he revealed that he had been on the mountain city topics forum and had seen the disdain towards the
potters he admitted to commenting on the pages in their defense as the site administrators were doing
nothing about the toxicity he assured barbara he had taken care of it but rather than stop things escalated
one day janelle showed her mother an email she had received from billie jean's friend
lindsay thomas it read your ass is mine you're a [ __ ] [ __ ] remember that i can get you and will
your daddy can't do [ __ ] to me i'm above the law dumb [ __ ] [ __ ] following this the potters became
regular visitors to the local police station where they lodged complaints about those
targeting janelle police were also called to the potter residence after a rock had been thrown
at the house it had billy payne written on one side billie jean on another and the quote
i'm your huckleberry the police didn't take the feud seriously and nothing was done to
placate the potters when barbara expressed her irritation at the lack of police action to chris
via email he called johnson county law enforcement dumb and untrustworthy he knew the names of many local officers
and deemed them incompetent and ineffective chris promised barbara that if anyone
harmed janelle that he would do what he was trained to do it was clear from the pair's discussions
that chris worked for the cia and through this had connections to buddy potter he mentioned shooting people in the line
of duty and claimed he had gotten rid of people in russia and in new york he told barbara
i knew what was our saw them so i had to kill but i love to shoot now and killing does
not bother me at barbara let him know as long as you are doing the right thing for mankind
then you will not be judged badly you are helping others by getting rid of the bad
chris expressed the desire to kill the mountain city residents that had caused the potter's grief
including johnson county sheriff mike reese for his inaction however there were always reasons he
couldn't carry out the slayings himself he guaranteed that if buddy took matters
into his own hands he would be protected by the cia this encouraged barbara into thinking
that violent action should be taken against her foes as her family would be safe from
repercussions she badgered chris to talk to his superiors to have buddy's cia identification reissued so that he could
get access to cia guns barbara explained that buddy was fed up and ready and although a very patient man
had been pushed too hard for too long as buddy didn't use a computer barbara would print out any important
information from chris pass it on then destroy the paper one day buddy was handed yet another
printout of an email from chris he had written that if buddy decided to do anything
he should get bill payne first because quote he's really mean and an [ __ ] the emails confused investigators
on the one hand they were certain that chris was not a law enforcement operative
it was extremely unlikely a cia agent would write things like i'm going to run into [ __ ] slut-face
ugly as a mud-faced [ __ ] and her [ __ ] of a boyfriend [Music] all would take an interest in such an
ordinary family as the potters and the petty internet drama that surrounded them
the whole scenario seemed off however chris was a very real person janelle potter's introduction on her
online myspace page included the paragraph then i have chris i have known him for a very long
long time he's a cop in pennsylvania he's a good guy and a true friend and almost like a
brother to me and married to a wonderful girl named megan i wish nothing but the best for you both
investigators were able to find photos of chris his dog and his friends among the
potter's emails one from barbara's account had the subject line pick of chris our son and contained a
text that read this is chris jayden back at youth camp with janelle age 18 or so it was accompanied with a
blurry photograph of two people wearing what appeared to be military fatigues in one of her private facebook messages
barbara had written to a friend that chris jaden had helped janelle fight bullies in school
barbara called chris her adopted son and said that the family loved him but didn't get to see him often enough
so if chris jayden really existed just how involved was he in the murders of bill payne
and billie jane hayworth investigators wanted answers it was time to contact the man himself
and find out what was going on [Music] christopher jaden was a certified constable in delaware
and had previously worked for the city's police department he revealed that he had attended high
school with janelle potter but his recollections didn't align with him seeing her
as a sister he recalled janelle as being very strange she was known to throw tantrums have problems with classmates
and get in trouble a lot like most people chris kept his distance he had two classes with janelle and
spoke to her occasionally but they weren't part of the same friendship group if he was nice to her she would
sometimes hang around but he would extricate himself politely that was the extent of their
interactions she once sent him a friend request on facebook but he declined it chris had not had contact with janelle
since graduating from high school in 2000 he had never met any of the other potters or anyone else
from mountain city this raised the question why would barbara potter call a man she had
never met her son although he worked in law enforcement chris had never served in the cia
chris looked at the photographs of him in the potter's possession some were old profile pictures that had
been lifted from his social media accounts he didn't recognise the rest some were of men who looked like him or
blurry photos in which the man featured could pass as him he had never sent the family or anyone else
involved with the potters pictures of himself it didn't take long for agent lot to
rule out the real life chris jaden as having any part to play in the payne hayworth
murders the revelation didn't come as a surprise though and only served to confirm suspicions
the email that the phony chris sent his messages from gave a very good indication as to his
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like so many socially awkward young people the internet was janelle potter's lifeline
in one post she wrote of her move to tennessee i love the friends that i have down here
they are sweet and wonderful people in truth janelle had been struggling to build any
authentic and reciprocal relationships since arriving in mountain city the locals were uncomfortable by her
lack of social awareness and the way she acted overly familiar with them sometimes she went in for an unwelcome
hug she towered over other women standing at over six feet tall but had a high pitched child-like voice
that didn't align with her large frame that didn't stop janelle from adding everyone she knew
as well as people she didn't to her facebook page online she described herself as a loving
and caring person who had been told she was too nice and so sweet but she conceded
i do take things to heart and to let things get to me i try not to but it's very hard
this was abundantly clear when she met bill payne billie jane hayworth and her friends
initially things were cordial between them but when jenelle started bombarding her
newfound friends with messages they were quickly fed up even if they appeared offline
janelle still flooded their inboxes when her messages went unread she would call and
text them this intensity was off-putting and as a result they all unfriended janelle on facebook
this would seem like a petty dispute that would quickly become a non-drama once those involved went their separate
ways however janelle's lack of maturity ensured she took it very seriously she vented on social media and the
dispute caused quite the reaction on the mountain city topics forum she relished in her newfound victim
status though many townsfolk noticed that what they were witnessing didn't match the potter's version of
events in real life billie jean and her friends lindsey thomas and tara osborne faced upwards of 20 calls a
day from the potter's home phone number when they'd answer janelle would either breathe
or scream down the line they were forced to take their phones off the hook just for a reprieve lindsay thomas filed
a phone harassment charge against janelle her affidavit stating this all started
because i deleted her off my facebook however the case was dismissed as lindsay was not able to satisfy the
burden of proof beyond the reasonable doubt that the calls were coming from janelle to buddy and barbara potter
the court result proved their daughter was the innocent party and her tormentors were liars
janelle vehemently denied harassing any of her former friends whom she took to referring as the mean
girls she maintained that she was the victim with the harassment also occurring offline and embroiling
her entire family she shared copies of messages allegedly sent to her by her aggressors
to her parents one warned bill is going to kill you he has said that and i hope he does none of us want you
around nor living you're a waste of air and time on everyone you are nothing janelle informed the mean girls that she
had spoken to the police and that quote they know that i'm not doing a thing it was true that the potters had visited
the police station to report the mean girls they spoke of living in fear convinced
that there were many people in town who would harm jenelle their accused told a different story
they claimed that janelle was harassing them and denied authoring the threatening messages she said she
received from them sheriff mike reese didn't know how to respond when buddy potter made a formal
complaint about locals unfriending his daughter on facebook the sheriff just told him that
unfriending someone was not illegal when a rock was thrown at the potter's house with bill payne and billy jane
hayworth's names written on it police were skeptical despite buddy and barbara's genuine fear that their
daughter was in danger the police didn't believe that vandals would sign their names on evidence of
their crime things continued to escalate but mostly from the potter's side one afternoon in mid-2011 janelle and
her mother confronted billie jean at a gas station they screamed at her that she was quote
white trash who did not deserve to be a mother billie jean told a concerned onlooker
this won't stop they follow me everywhere they're constantly threatening me while visiting a grocery store buddy
potter told a staff member that if he had a chance he was going to put a bullet through
bill payne's head throughout the duration of the feud barbara potter was communicating with
long-time family friend and cia agent chris the pair went back and forth sharing
their hatred of janelle's rivals while compelling each other to do something drastic about it
barbara had never met chris in real life but knew him well enough through janelle to
consider him a son she didn't find it at all suspicious that all the communications she received
from chris were coming from her daughter's personal email chris said this was to ensure his cia
credentials wouldn't be compromised barbara accepted this explanation when jamie curd first met janelle potter
it was an unremarkable experience the pair had been set up in part by jamie's cousin bill payne
since she had met bill through mutual friends many suspected that janelle had a crush
on him he kept things platonic both the jamie and janelle were mountain city's lonely misfits and
bill thought they'd make a good match instead despite a lackluster introduction janelle
asked for jamie's phone number and a relationship quickly blossomed janelle called jamie often but the calls
were no more than 45 seconds they had to be brief because she didn't want her parents to know they were
talking buddy and barbara potter didn't like jaime they felt he was beneath them and a bad
influence while jaime wanted to prove himself worthy it was the first time he had a
girlfriend so he respected janelle's desire to keep things secret [Music] when janelle mentioned she was having
computer problems jamie saw an opportunity to get inside the potter residence to see her
when buddy and barbara deduced that jaime had feelings for their daughter they were not pleased he wasn't good
enough for their beloved janelle and they would never permit the pair to date jaime purchased janella's cell phone so
they could speak behind her parents back when barbara discovered this phone jaime
got janelle another after five or six months jamie and janelle began to talk about eloping
janelle snuck out of her home one night to wed jaime but he got drunk and failed to meet up
with her buddy was furious when he learned of what the pair had planned and chewed jamie out over the phone
saying that his daughter didn't love him he then passed the phone to janelle who confirmed what her father had said
although jaime agreed to stop talking to janelle she called him days later she said she
loved him and wanted to keep their secret relationship going they went back to their old ways
when jamie's mother passed away in may 2011 he received a call from barbara potter
expressing her condolences jaime was his mother's caregiver and the loss hit him hard
for the first time barbara showed jaime compassion and told him to call her if he ever
needed anything she also invited him around for dinner the potters continued to show jaime
kindness hosting him on holidays and allowing him to visit it had taken years but jamie curd had
finally been accepted by buddy and barbara potter buddy took him out shooting and barbara
treated him to homemade cake though things were never at the point where jaime could openly date janelle
he never pressed the matter in fear they would shun him again and he wouldn't be able to see janelle
at all his desire to see her ensured he remained loyal to the family and did everything
they asked barbara and janelle brought jamie up to speed on the hassles they were having with the mean girls
they believed they were targeting janelle due to jealousy over how pretty she was
jaime wasn't on facebook and didn't care much for social media so janelle forwarded him the threatening
messages her enemies sent her jaime was shocked at the nasty abuse being hurled at janelle
especially as janelle was such an innocent and gentle person he was still working with bill but
tensions were rising between the two jamie was deeply in love with janelle and took the potter's side of the feud
against his cousin it got bad enough that their employer had to assign them to different chefs
now that she had accepted him as a family friend barbara began to write long rambling
emails to jamie they were always about how her family was being targeted for attack
the emails sometimes ran over 10 pages long jamie began visiting the potter residence more frequently
each time barbara would have monopolised the conversation with rants about the mean girls janelle
remained silent during these discussions jamie noted that when she spoke to him on the phone
janelle was opinionated but around her parents she acted needy and childlike barbara characterized the feud as like a
war janelle had often come home in tears with tales of plots to harm kidnap and rape her and to hurt her
family barbara demanded to know what jamie and buddy were going to do about it despite buddy being the armed to the
teeth ex-cia agent jamie was more afraid of barbara he would walk on eggshells around her in
fear his house visits would be revoked he listened to her tirades and nodded and agreed
hoping it would earn him an invitation to dinner or even a family outing soon jaime began receiving emails from
chris he expressed concern that janelle would be hospitalized due to the stress and feared she was suicidal
jamie responded i think that if it wasn't for us she might have thought about it i can
tell she has just taken all she can take from those [ __ ] they won't let up and they're crazy
hell i don't know why they have to do this jamie was led to believe he too was in
grave danger chris warned him that the cia had since discovered that billie jean
was urging bill to kill jamie because he sided with the potters should jaime defend himself
chris assured him i've got your back jamie like barbara and buddy never questioned why
all the correspondence he had with chris was through accounts owned by janelle when janelle let it slip to jaime that
she was going to have to start calling lindsay thomas again she got real defensive and wouldn't say
anything else about it the remark fell by the wayside and no one pressed her for the truth of the
matter by then the potters had reached breaking point barbara wrote to jaime they are trying
to kill janelle little by little but doc says that at this rate it could happen any time with a heart attack or stroke
the stress has to stop she said the attacks would not end until we're all dead or gone and that chris
had told her the cops are behind billie jean more than anyone bill payne was sick of
the drama he continued to try and smooth things over with the potters he told them that janelle was lying to
them as well as the rest of the world but they were having none of it leave us alone barbara yelled at bill
if you call here again i'm going to do something about it as barbara chris buddy and jamie talked
about what needed to be done it became clear that there was only one solution the group believed janelle's tormentors
were never going to stop unless they were made to stop it was getting late on january 30 2012
when jaime kurd's phone rang it was barbara potter she had a bill that needed to be paid
online by midnight and claimed her computer was locking up and preventing her from doing so
jaime headed to the potter house to help out buddy entered the computer room while
jaime was in there alone he wanted jaime to do him a favor buddy asked to jaime to take him down
next to poor bill's house let him out go down the road and come back and pick him up
he didn't say when but jaime agreed not long after jaime got back home janelle called him to tell him
but he needed his help to do something he then got a text message from janelle that read
i would not take your cell phone with you in the morning jamie replied i'm not going to
the text message is finished with janelle writing i love you my husband in the early hours of the following
morning jamie's home phone rang it stopped before he could reach it the caller id showed that the call had
come from the potter residence he tried to call back but there was no answer it was 4 25 am but janelle was awake
she sent jamie a text instructing him to call back but he answered and asked if jaime could
do that favor for him that morning jaime agreed and moments later janelle sent him
several messages in rapid succession saying her father was leaving and telling jaime to text as soon as he
got back the sun hadn't yet risen when buddy's black ford f-250 pulled up jamie left his cell behind as janelle
had instructed and climbed into the vehicle the two men drove to a parking lot across a field
from poor bill's house they waited until they saw the headlights of a pickup truck cut through
the darkness signifying that poor bill had left for work buddy motioned for jamie to follow him
and started across the field on foot they hid behind a shed out the back of the house
where jaime told buddy that if bill saw them all hell's gonna break loose buddy handed jamie a gun while keeping
another for himself jaime looked down at the weapon a chill running down his spine
i couldn't kill no one he told the older man buddy responded that he just needed
jaime to stand at that door jamie had never seen buddy like this before it was as if his cia training had kicked
in and he was a man on a mission the pair entered through the rear sliding glass door
which was as usual unlocked jaime stood guard as ordered while buddy strode down the hallway and entered the
first bedroom jamie heard his cousin utter the last words he would ever say what the hell billie jean
fled from the room as a gunshot rang out moments later buddy emerged and looked at jamie
jamie pointed down the hallway where billie jean had run to buddy took off in that direction
jamie left his post to look inside the first bedroom and saw his cousin lying on the bed
blood pooling around him when jamie heard another gunshot he ran from the house back to buddy's
truck buddy was not far behind jamie returned his gun to him before buddy dropped him off at the end of his
driveway where jaime promptly threw up a short while later jamie received a text
from cia agent chris that said the problem was over a year and a half after the murders of
bill payne and billie jean hayworth agent scott lot arrived at johnston memorial hospital in virginia
barbara potter was inside she was looking after daughter janelle who had been hospitalized for one of her
many ailments officers charged barbara with two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree
murder in a twist that many saw coming janelle was charged with the same offences
despite jaime kurd and buddy and barbara potter playing a part investigators had little doubt that
jenelle potter was the mastermind behind the double homicide catfishing refers to a form of deception
wherein a person creates a fake persona online in order to form a relationship with
another person motivations vary and include financial gain to compromise or upset the victim in
some way or wish fulfillment usually the catfisher doesn't know the person they are fooling
outside the internet other times it is someone well known to the clueless victim
when they spoke of cia agent chris jamie barbara and buddy did so believing he was
a very real person who was exactly as he portrayed himself to be the trio trusted chris certain he was an
old friend of janelle's despite never having met him themselves the chris they knew however was a
catfish several factors could have contributed to them not seeing through the deception whether it was
their level of education their naivety their inability to think critically or just tunnel vision with the feud at
no point did anyone who spoke online with chris ever question his identity no one noticed that chris's spelling
grammar and punctuation was similar to someone they spoke to daily for years there were some
differences chris would rant and curse and wish pain and death janelle on the other hand hated cursing
and her writing was always sweet and loving with no threats of violence yet it was clear as day to investigators
examining the pages upon pages of communications published by chris he was janelle potter
janelle had invented the online persona of chris masquerading as him she was able to
manipulate her mother to convince her gullible father and boyfriend to murder her enemies
as chris jenelle pressured her parents to act chris wrote to barbara that bill payne
was spreading rumors that buddy was involved in drug dealing and had plans to kill janelle
others including janelle's foes failed to convince the potters that their daughter was lying about what was really
going on bill payne once provided buddy potter a two-inch thick folder of documents that proved janelle
was the aggressor janelle's social media had never been hacked and that there was no bounty on the
potter's heads bill even tried to impress upon jaime that janelle was behind many of the usernames fueling the online
hostilities he even doubted that chris was a real person despite this jaime barbara and buddy
wouldn't allow themselves to think of janelle as anything else but an innocent and sweet person
it took almost a year but janelle's incessant emails and messages had the intended effect her mother
father and boyfriend were all willing to kill for her and they did she had washed her hands of her
involvement there was plenty of evidence of chris explicitly expressing a desire to kill
janelle's rivals but there was no evidence of her ever making such requests but her deception didn't stop there
she also authored many of the abusive social media messages and emails she claimed were from her
harassers janelle was nothing if not prolific in her writing she orchestrated an intricate web of
deceit to paint herself as a victim and elicit sympathy most other people who observed the
online bickering noticed the patterns in the posts by those who jumped in to defend
janelle and it was obvious they were all one person it was only after he had committed murder for the
woman he loved that jaime was embarrassed and ashamed to admit that he had been played
he wondered if jenelle had ever loved him at all or if she simply saw him as a means to
get what she wanted buddy potter was tried alone in october 2013. the prosecution described him as someone
who was cold enough calculating enough and trained enough to be able to conduct murders like that
before saying at least he thinks he is he likes to tell people he's that kind of person
he likes for his family to think he's that kind of person the truth was that buddy potter was
never a part of the cia though he managed to convince his family otherwise he also lied about being in the military
the potters had left their previous town in shame after buddy was convicted of stolen
valor although dozens of firearms had been seized from the potter household the gun used to kill the victims hadn't
been found however an expert testified that loose unspent rounds found in buddy's truck
matched the rounds found at the crime scene the jury also got to listen to recorded
phone calls between buddy and barbara including one in which barbara said i got rid of it all i got rid of the
junk after three hours of deliberating the jury found marvin buddy potter jr guilty of
two counts of murder in the first degree buddy remained stoic as the verdict was
read just as he had been throughout the trial as tennessee law requires a murder one
conviction to automatically carry one life sentence per count buddy would have to serve
two life sentences afterwards the prosecution queried the jurors about what they thought of the
testimony and importantly how they felt about the culpability of barbara and janelle potter the feedback
they got was that the women were every bit as guilty as buddy even if they didn't pull the trigger
janelle jamie and barbara were set to face trial on two counts of first-degree murder and
conspiracy to commit first-degree murder barbara also faced the charge of tampering with evidence thanks to her
ill-fated attempt to shred the emails and photos the three would be tried together
then in early 2015 assistant district attorney dennis brooks received a call from jaime's attorney
jaime was prepared to cooperate with the state if it meant having a shot at freedom
he provided a full confession detailing from the moment buddy asked him to do him a favor to
when jaime was dropped off home after buddy executed bill payne and billie jane hayworth
in return for agreeing to testify against the potter women jaime was tried separately with the
lesser charge of facilitation of first degree murder he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to
25 years with the possibility of applying for parole in seven and a half years as he had already served over half of
that his first parole hearing occurred in november 2015. the victims families all opposed parole
with assistant district attorney dennis brooks saying it would be a slap in the face of
justice for jaime kurd to be released so early in his sentence parole was denied with jaime eligible to
try again at a later date in may 2015 the potter women went to trial grey-haired barbara entered court each
day in a wheelchair while her daughter dressed demurely assistant district attorney dennis
brooks opened with the statement this is going to be the stupidest thing you've ever heard
this is going to be the craziest thing you've ever heard there is nothing in your lives or
background that has prepared you to understand the potter family you have never seen
anybody like them even with the jaime now the prosecution's star witness there was no smoking gun
in the pages upon pages of online correspondence neither barbara nor janelle outright
demanded that buddy and jaime go out and kill the defense argued that jaime kurd who
had the know-how and access to the potter's computer was behind the murders and online
personas the defense maintained that jaime was upset because he'd lost his drinking buddy
when bill payne became involved with billie jean hayworth and that he wanted janelle's parents out
of the way so he could have janelle to himself the defense pointed out that jaime had
every opportunity to stop the murders but he didn't janelle's attorney called the state's argument
smoke and mirrors and told the jury the state will have you believe that janelle potter
coerced to jaime kurd a man eight to ten years older than her to complete these acts some feet
when janelle potter operated on the level of an eight or nine year old he also cautioned the jury to remember
that it's not illegal to spew hate into vitriol over the internet in an apparent
admission that his client had done just that the witness who offered the most insight
into janelle potter was her estranged older sister christy christy's childhood was relatively
normal but janelle with all her difficulties received the bulk of their parents attention
christy noted that her parents coddled her little sister always taking care of any issues she
faced including those that were of her own making sought attention by making false health
claims such as that she had cancer at other times she would collapse dramatically in the
hallways waiting for people to notice and make a fuss over her janelle's inability to reason meant that
she was unable to understand when other kids were joking she took things too seriously and in ways the other party
did not intend as a result janelle had trouble making friends and would often get into disagreements
and conflicts her parents would step in and either smooth things over or threatened the other party until they
backed down in middle school a dispute between janelle and another girl went all the
way to court janelle claimed the girl had punched her because janelle was too pretty buddy and barbara drummed
into janelle how different she was and gushed that this made her special and better than other kids
over time christy came to believe that her little sister's disabilities were quote not as bad as everybody else said
they were she felt pushed to the sidelines as her parents were consumed with loving and
protecting their favored daughter janelle she mostly attributed her troubled childhood and strained familial
relationships with her mother christie eventually moved out and severed tyres with
her family she felt that janelle manipulated and deceived other people for her own hands
especially their parents a psychologist told the jury the allegation that jenelle is in some
way a mastermind or a manipulator or a planner i think really flies in the face of the
facts which go back and say that she is functioning basically as a fourth grader when the prosecution
then asked can a nine-year-old be manipulative the psychologist responded nine-year-olds manipulate their parents
all the time [Music] barbara and janelle potter were found to guilty on all charges
both women were sentenced to two life sentences one for each count of first degree
murder unlike buddy who had remained impassive when his sentence was read out barbara and janelle erupted into
dramatic tears barbara at 64 would die in prison janelle at 35 would be in her 80s before
being eligible for parole the relatives of bill and billie jean were even more emotional this time
than they were when buddy had been convicted everyone in town knew what a menace
janelle was and how she had been the cause of so much drama hatred and angst over the years
few had been confident that she would be made to pay for her crimes let alone a murder conviction their
relief was overwhelming bill payne's mother told the press we're still hurting we'll always be
hurting you know bill couldn't call me on mother's day she also had a parting shot for barbara
potter referencing one of the emails that had been read out in court she said barbara
you wanted to know if you'd go to hell yeah you're going to hell and if i have to forgive any of you to stay out of
hell i'll see you there shortly after the trials television program 2020 did a show about the case called
unfriended both barbara and janelle who were serving their sentences in the same
prison were interviewed on camera they continued to deny any involvement in the murders
barbara said jaime kurd had authored all the damning emails using her name i'm not that kind of person she insisted
i'm not evil she believed that she would go to heaven with a clean conscience janelle used a tactic that had always
served her well with her parents when the interviewer confronted her with evidence that she was chris
she sobbed loudly and cried no no no until her lawyer ended the interview agent scott lot was also interviewed and
was at a pains to distance the case from the narrative that it was all about social media
he believed a much more common motive was the true answer janelle poddar had an unrequited crush
on bill payne and was furious that it hadn't been reciprocated he said it wasn't befriending on
facebook it was a jealousy issue and someone with too much time on her hands [Music]
the sentiment in mountain city is that the potter women had manipulated the impressionable
desperate and lonely jaime kurd to do something he would never normally do before meeting the potters jaime had a
no prior history of violence and no criminal history in his book on the case too pretty to
live assistant district attorney dennis brooks expressed some sympathy for the man who had become
the pawn of a jealous controlling and vindictive girl and her overprotective parents
he wrote had the potters not come into jaime's life he would have gone to his grave without
a single incident as a violent criminal i truly believed that online janelle potter often wrote about
her love for her parents she put them down as her heroes adding i have the best mama and daddy in the
world they have really been there for me and they are great people i'm so lucky i am blessed with them
[Music] you

Case 180: Bill Payne & Billie-Jean Hayworth

“This is going to be the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard. This is going to be the craziest thing you’ve ever heard. There is nothing in your lives or background that has prepared you to understand the Potter family. You have never seen anybody like them.”

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Eileen Ormsby Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-180-bill-payne-billie-jean-hayworth

Brief Summary

The episode details the murders of Bill Payne and Billie Jean Hayworth, revealing Janelle Potter's manipulation of her family leading to the crime.

Key points

A Close-Knit Community. Mountain City, a small town, is rocked by the brutal murders of a beloved couple.
Murder in Mountain City. A shocking double homicide leaves a community in turmoil as investigators search for answers.
The Potter Family's Feud. The Potters faced severe grievances from townsfolk, escalating tensions leading to tragedy.
Buddy's Emotional Breakdown. During interrogation, Buddy reveals threats against his family, breaking down in tears.
The Mysterious Chris. Investigators uncover troubling emails between Barbara and a man named Chris, raising questions.
Chris Jaden's True Identity. Investigators discover Chris Jaden is not who the Potters believed him to be.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The baby kind of looks like maybe it's been crying for a while.

A witness describes the condition of a baby found at a crime scene.

7:36WatchJun 19, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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