Taken Away | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] [Music] I remember having a nightmare that something was terribly wrong Jesse
was was killed and when I woke up it was just a dream [Music] my name is Gary Bardwell Jesse Bardwell
is my daughter going this way do it Jessie do it I called her my beautiful daughter and I still do a beautiful
Jesse she lived in Orange Beach Alabama she just loved being around [Music] water she would be in the
water lighting the waves and having fun she worked at a place called Cobalt the restaurant it's beautiful place I
don't know why she decided to move she just up and moved to Texas and she said like I'm just going
out there to clear my head I'll be back I just going for a couple weeks and I'll
be back my name is Kimberly Asbury I was friends with Jesse it just went from hearing from her a lot talking do or did
nothing I knew something was wrong as the father of three girls I was very determined to get to the bottom of
what had happened to Jesse bwell my name is Kon hail I was the lead detective on
Jesse's case Jesse was nowhere to be found when we got to Texas I had the fear that we
would never find her tell me what it felt like then to go 2 days 3 days 4 days it was
hail after so many days it's kind of hard to believe that she's just going to come back with shopping bags in her arms
it was just like brace for impact I knew she was dead how did you know I had that
Nightmare and I felt it she was not on this Earth anymore this story is about a young
girl thinks she finds love and and uh it turns out he's pure [Music] evil 48 Hours taken away
[Music] yesterday uh I went down to the river and just uh sat there and watched the
boats go by and took some deep breaths and said I don't know how much of this I can take you know any
longer there are days when it's hard for Gary Bardwell to get out of bed but he always does determined to get Justice
for Jesse his 27-year-old daughter who went missing from Richardson Texas in May of
2016 I'm doing it for Jesse taking one day at a time one step at a time Gary knew something was wrong before he even
knew Jesse had gone missing something from my soul was gone and I was afraid that it was
her that connection that Bond Deeper Than Words formed the moment Jesse was born says Gary as soon as she was born
immediately started crying it was just such a happy moment such a happy moment Jesse grew up alongside her older
brother Brandon me and Jesse have been two pe's in a pod since we were young there's Brandon and Jesse Gary a
now retired firefighter with the p Kula Mississippi Fire Department loved being a dad she kind of didn't want me out of
her sight she just liked to know where I was she slept with this every night I just love those days Daddy's a little
girl for sure when Jesse was 14 Gary and her mother Carla divorced she loved her
mother too very much so Jesse spent her high school years with her father just my coffee you want some and her new
stepmother Gina this is Jesse's graduation picture after a few tries at college life somewhere along the line
she was having more fun than school that's when Jesse moved to Orange Beach and started working tables at Cobalt a
popular Beachside restaurant we talked every day she text me every day like he came and they went boating and they went
fishing Jesse's good friend restaurant manager Kimberly Asbury found out Gary was an accomplished musician and booked
him at the restaurant she go to his gigs I mean they were friends they weren't just
father and daughter Jesse had been living with a long-term boyfriend but surprised
everyone when she felt for a new guy Jason low it kind of came out of nowhere Jesse's friend Terry saw the romance
start Jason seemed friendly he definitely um was outgoing as well he was handsome had two college degrees and
ambitious for Jesse not just a new love but a ticket to a more exciting life when Jason went to Dallas for a
six-figure job in the tech industry Jessie decided she would join him and pursue her own dream of Cosmetology she
thought of it as more of an adventure like I'm I'm trying something new but Jesse failed to mention that she was
about to go to Dallas when she saw her family that Christmas I had no clue of what was
going on she knew that she was fixing to leave for Texas and I would have done everything I
could to try to talk her out of it shortly after the holidays Jesse left for Texas and suddenly the girl who
always had her iPhone was now never on it you couldn't reach her the moment that I really started to get worried was
when her phone number was cut off and everything that we talked to her had to go through Jason the only way to get
Jesse was to call Jason's phone or the house phone they would come to find out that Jason was monitoring all her calls
eventually every time Gary called Jesse he only got Jason I said let me speak to
Jesse he said uh she said she'll call you later two months later Gary finally got
his chance to meet Jason low Jason and Jesse came to pasula for a visit Gary tried to persuade Jesse not to go back
to Texas I remember Jesse was was hugging me more than normal and I was going are you okay yeah yeah I I definitely
want to go to Texas I just want you to be proud of me you know they left I watched the car drive away even
though Jesse never let on that anything was wrong Gary had a bad feeling he went
into his Studio Jesse's childhood room she said Daddy don't worry and wrote this song on it's going to be all right
that song taken away was written the very last time I saw Jess as they were leaving it was written
about seeing them leave Tak away me getting a gut feeling of something was bad wrong take G
away she said there is nothing you can say make in May four months after Jesse moved to Texas she stopped answering his
calls all together Gary called Jason and insisted on knowing where Jesse was he says Jason told him he didn't know what
was he saying I don't know where in the hell she is we don't live codependent she can go to come and she
pleases but when she didn't call her mom and stepmom on Mother's Day Gary had had
enough I said we're leaving in the morning let's pack some bags and we're going to
[Music] Texas when Gary Bardwell got in his truck and headed to Texas he was angry
very angry I get so angry that it scares me his little girl was missing and he believed Jason low was behind it I text
him on the way there I said if Jesse is not there when I get there you are in a tremendous amount of trouble but when he
got to Jesse and Jason's apartment she was nowhere to be found Gary immediately filed a missing person's Report with the
Richardson police department 804 2017 over the next 24 hours the police repeatedly visited the apartment and
still she never showed up that's when detective hail got assigned to the case Jason L please uh speaking he first made
contact with Jason by phone he stated the last time he saw her was on May 8th which was Mother's Day that morning at
10:00 a.m. and she left in her acur and is that car still gone yeah the next day detective hail made a
house call and made another audio recording still hadn't heard from Jesse right by then Jesse had been reported
missing for 3 days it seemed everybody was desperate to find Jesse except the man who claimed to be in love with her
we just did our own thing always I didn't question her she didn't question me and it
worked the detective looked around the apartment and saw no sign of a struggle Jason stuck to his story that she left
home in her Acura there was just one problem with that story the police learned that Jesse
and Jason had sold that Acura 3 weeks before Jason claimed she drove off in it they found it in the new owner's
driveway Jason's lies were not very smart who would lie about an Acura that had been sold it was pretty clear that
there was definitely something other going on other than just a missing person it became even clearer the
following day a team of detectives including hail and his partner Eric willson returned to the apartment they
saw what appear to be a line of cocaine you have Coke on the countertop a line of it yes or no yes sir but it was an
odor coming from the garage that really got their attention so it smells really bad in here yeah I know stinks the I
yeah it does it's a smell that you never forget once you smell it you know instantly when you smell it again it was
the smell of death and it was coming from the back of Jason Lowe's black Audi detective Hil opened the hatch door
there was no Jesse Bardwell but a body had clearly been there there was standing fluid in the back hatch and it
smelled like just decaying flesh it had front damage it did not have the bumper the bumper was inside
the vehicle and it had a lot of mud on the inside and on the outside Jason told the detectives he'd
gotten stuck in the mud while searching for Jesse he still held on to the fact that he did not know where Jesse
was but when they sprayed the chemical blue star in the cargo compartment of the Audi it lit up like crazy indicating
the presence of blood it pretty much turned into a homicide investigation at that point we're wondering if you would
mind coming down to the station so we could talk like right now yeah Jason low was initially arrested on drug charges
and thrown in jail my name is detective Lo detectives used the opportunity to further question him on Jesse's
whereabouts want to talk with you for a few minutes we spent a long time speaking with him you see his picture
look at the picture J to try to relate to his emotions his feelings agree were in love with the girl that you wanted to
marry and nothing seemed to work don't patronize me he didn't seem to care he seemed irritated and thought that we
were trying to pin things on him that he hadn't done will you tell me where she's
at I don't know any of that man I'm wrapped up like I'm I'm not going to be accused of stuff and I'm done
talking even without a body Jason low was charged with murder I had no doubt that he had killed
her but they did have doubts grave doubts that they would ever find Jesse Texas is a huge State we've got lots of
rivers lots of lakes lots of ponds Fields there are 100 million different places you can hide a body in
Texas back home in Pascagoula the town rallied around the family Jesse's grandmother Miss Kitty
they had a candlelight visual at the beach praying that she'd be found maybe safe
somewhere on May 19th almost 3 weeks after Jesse was last seen alive they finally got an
answer the police had reason to believe Jesse was on a remote Ranch in north Texas Gary says they wouldn't tell the
family how they knew only that it was a reliable source Chief Jimmy Spivey called the
Bardwell family into the station the chief said it's going to be a bad day for y'all today because we do not expect
to find your daughter alive a team of detectives FBI investigators and prosecutors made their
way to that remote Ranch detectives where are we we're in Farmersville Texas they arrived late afternoon and
started walking through the fields we saw where he had gotten stuck in the mud you could still see the car parts on the
ground you could we found a pie of metal looked like it was shielding something kind of a makeshift burial area and at
that point you can start to smell you know decaying flesh so he walked closer she was covered with the Sheep so we
could tell but you can see the outline of the body under the Sheep Jesse Bardwell had been crudely
wrapped in a blue fitted sheet and covered with a pile of debris including a red blanket and two red and gold
towels what was the condition of this body it's one of the worst we've seen it would take 7 days to officially
identify her body the medical examiner ruled Jesse's death a homicide but her body was so badly decomposed officials
could not say how she was murdered I got Jesse's ring that's her ring that's her
ring against his better judgment Jesse's father read the autopsy report I felt it was my responsibility
is Jesse's Daddy to read the report she was brutally murdered and she was thrown away like a
piece of trash wrapped up in a sheet barely looking like a person and they sent the hearse to Texas
to pick her up and my fireman buddies I loaded her into the back of the hearse this is my life
[Music] now I love you over 900 people showed up at First United Methodist Church to mourn the death and celebrate
the life of 27-year-old Jesse Bardwell if this town could be washed with all the tears that were shed over Jesse it
it'd be real clean we wouldn't even need for it to rain for the tears that were shed for
Jesse while the bardwells spent the next year grieving a very different looking Jason
low was in a mckin Texas jail cell preparing his defense one of the key issues in this case is whether or not to
have our client testify Jason's court appointed attorney Andy farcus says he is sure that Jason did not murder Jesse
he's not so sure Jason can convince a jury but he has a plan I've been a lawyer for 42 years I have never done
this before never done this before [Music] [Music] as the months passed after Jesse's death
her father Gary struggled through his grief and through his rage I'd get a 12lb sledgehammer and had a stump
outside the house and I would print out pictures of his face and I'd set it on the stump and beat the hell out of it
until I couldn't swing anymore there was only one thing that kept him going waiting to see Jason low face a
judge and jury in a court of law and be convicted of the murder of his only daughter I think about what I think
happened to her and I couldn't protect her it's just unimaginable it's Unthinkable it's un
[Music] forgivable I don't feel he's guilty of murder in August of 2017 we went to the
Colin County jail with attorney Andy farcus to meet his client he is in which one this one this one right here Jason
low we met Jason low but he would not talk to us on camera he told us he's saving his story for the witness stand
farcus believes that allowing Jason to tell his version of what happened to Jesse will help him get acquitted of
murder and to gauge how a jury will react okay good morning everybody farcus is doing something he's never done
before he and co-consul Maria 2 are conducting a mock trial be seated it's essentially a simulated trial with
pretend jurors who will pass judgment Maria too will act as the prosecutor and we know that the
defendant put her there and farcus the defense the state can't tell you how where when or why this happened while
the defense Maps out its strategy in mock Court the real prosecutors Wes win and santhia Walker are fitting together
the pieces of what they admit is a mostly circumstantial case do you know how Jesse is murdered no do you know why
Jesse was murdered no and do you know where Jesse was murdered no no so we don't know how we don't know why and we
don't know exactly where that's correct but you have the body and that's enough for you to create the picture yes they
have no doubt that Jesse Bardwell was murdered by Jason low a man whose dark side she didn't see they believe until
it was too late Jesse really thought she was in love with this guy and everything
was good at first Jesse told her father life in Texas was great but then only a month after moving they had a big fight
Jason would later say it was because Jesse had a brief affair before moving to Texas and got pregnant he was Furious
when he found out eventually he says Jesse had an abortion she called me uh really upset she was crying said you
were right I should have never come out here Jason kicked me out I'm freezing fortunately a friend of a
friend took her in for the night Gary bought her a plane ticket to Alabama for the next morning one of her friends went
to the airport the next night when she was supposed to be there and waited 7 hours for her to get there and she never
came Jesse told her father that Jason felt bad about the fight and would try to trust her again
she was 27 a grown woman so Gary reluctantly Let It Go a decision that hauns him to this day my mind never
stops it never stops thinking why did you not go out there sooner if there were any more
incidents Jesse didn't let on to the folks back home and she was even less forthcoming with her new Texas friends
you messed up my hair Regina and Tommy Jordan she was just real timid and quiet we just seemed to be real shy we could
never pull anything out of her she didn't really talk much did they seem like they were a happy young couple he
made it seem like that the Jordans were so fond of the couple we took them in our wing like one of our own children
they asked them to house it their home and dog while they went out of town for a few days they left on May 1st the last
time you saw justess alive was here at your home yes yes when they returned everything seemed normal but then they
heard the shocking news Jason had been arrested for murdering Jesse did you think he was capable of doing something
like that not at all we all kind of thought he was innocent Tommy went to the jail to talk
to Jason all right can you pick up the phone and that's your bus a videotaped conversation what's up brother what's up
man that would become a key piece of evidence in this case back up from the monitor a little bit scaring me I go man
I didn't know what happened I mean I like I up and made a mistake like it was an accident and I
know what I'm guilty of I'm guilty of criminal negligence it was a stunning statement Jason was now admitting he was
there when Jesse died back at the mock trial criminal negligence acting prose Maria to I hope everybody heard that
seizes on those words as evidence of his guilt he know he's guilty he's guilty of
criminal negligence Andy farcus knows that tape will be one of his biggest problems that's the only piece of
evidence they have that ties him to her death so farcus rot tests Jason's Story it was all an accident so the story that
Jason is going to tell on the stand does the prosecution have any idea have have
they heard the story at all no they have no idea no idea but farcus tells Jason's
entire story to the pretend jurors he's eager to learn their verdict they deliberate over lunch we
don't have any evidence to show what actually happened neither does the state that's right I can't believe the the hav
took this T Frankl and the mock jurors reach a verdict what was the verdict after they heard the whole St story it
was 15 to Z aqu quid not guilty of murder murder after hearing those two words not guilty Jason thinks there's a
good chance he'll walk out of jail a free man the time had finally come Gary Bardwell
said goodbye to his fireman buddies and then the hardest goodbye of all you're going to be all right in
Texas his mother you're going to do a good job you're going to do this for Jesse Justice for Jesse you remember
that just I love you son I love you I love you for the first time in 30 years Gary got on an airplane as he and his
wife Gina headed to Texas for the trial of the men man accused of murdering his daughter Jesse he had waited a year and
4 months for this day my stomach is in knots I just don't know how I'm going to react when I get in the
courtroom each of youly swear prosecutor West wi calls Gary as his first witness
I was shaking so bad that I was afraid that people could see me shaking is that a photo of
Jesse yes it is sir I know this is this difficult just take your time the state portrays Jason
low as a man with a dark side a man with a long history of drug abuse a pathological liar who often told people
he was a Navy SEAL but was never actually in the military a man who Abused Women I think I would most
certainly be killed by him if I had continued dating him the state managed to find two of Jason's ex-girlfriends
Haley McDaniel and Chrissy Chambers both say Jason drove a wedge between them and
their families just like he did with Jesse it was just all manipulation and control they say he would get furious
accusing them of cheating one night Chrissy says he pushed her to the floor and sat on top of her he had one hand
hand over my mouth and another his another hand over my nose and um was just pushing pushing pushing pushing on
top of me and he wouldn't get off um I'm thinking that he's going to kill me because he looked me in my eyes and
he told me he was he said I'm killing you right now Jason denies any of this happened
but the jury won't get to hear Chrissy and Haley's stories because in the end r prosecutors decided it wasn't necessary
and likely inadmissible they are confident Jason Low's sadistic side will come through he's about as cruel of a
individual as I've dealt with and I've been doing this a long time it wasn't just the act of murder say the
prosecutors it's what he did and did not do after the murder to cover up his crime while Jesse lay dead in the back
of Jason's Audi decomposing Jason was using her phone to send these text messages pretending she
was still alive that's what criminals do they want to find a way to get away with
it and one of those ways is to pretend that this other person is still alive prosecutors think Jesse was killed
on or about May 1st the last day she was seen Alive by the Jordans they believe Jason kept her body in his car day after
day after day 8 days in total before dumping it and when Jesse's body was finally found on May 19th prosecutors
say the way in which she was discarded said it all this wasn't some accident it's not how you would leave someone
that tragically died someone that you love someone that you care for it told me that she was
murdered the physical evidence at the scene the red blanket the red and gold towels the blue fitted sheet Jesse's
body was wrapped in all LED back to the home where they had been house sitting this is your linen closet yes
Regina still has the matching top sheet to the blue one Jesse was wrapped in you
kept it I kept it I don't know why I kept it it just uh gives me creeps just even thinking about
[Music] it after the first week of trial Gary facetimes his mother our lawyers have a
flight they they know what they're doing you got to remember that you got to remember
that but I know it's exhausting it's got to be exhausting I have heard that Jason low is actually going
to take the stand it's going to get harder this week that's when it's going to get
nasty you've got enough prayers to hold you up and give you strength you're going to have the strength that you need
love you love you too bye bye bye [Music] it was the moment Gary had been dreading
and Jason had been waiting for defense calls Jason low his chance to convince the real jury he is innocent of murder
the defense tries to humanize him he admits getting hooked on drugs at age 13 oxycotton heroin and xanax with his
parents listening in court he talks about growing up an only child in a well-off family working on his master's
degree and meeting Jesse Bardwell were you in love yes sir he says they had plans to
get married and buy a house and then it all came crashing down it was the evening of May 1st he and Jesse were
housesitting at the Jordans he claims they had taken GHB a sedative often called a date rape drug they were
getting intimate in the shower while we're having sex I'm standing here bracing myself and I start
to slip first he slips then Jesse he says she falls and hits her head on the porcelain tub and then sits on the edge
she just kept saying I I I feel hot she was like I feel a little bit dizzy and she's was I mean like what I would say
kind of bugging out is what I thought instead of getting medical help they go to sleep when Jason woke up in the
morning he says Jesse was lying on his chest I tried to kind of shake her and kept knocking the dog kept baring she
didn't move she was dead the defense would claim of a possible brain injury what was it like for you to watch him
get up on the stand and tell his story it was like somebody ripped my heart out and RI my soul out my soul Gary does not
believe a word of it but Jason continues he says he heard a knock on the door I just panicked and I opened the door it
was Robert Gwyn AKA Cowboy Jason says he's his drug dealer and it was he Jason claims who took the sheet from the linen
closet he wrapped her up and together they put Jesse's dead body in the back of Jason's
Audi Wes wi wasn't buying it you're just watching as the love of your life gets bagged up in a fitted sheet and then the
two of you carry her outside right yes sir and you toss her in the back of your alley
Placer oh affectionately I'm sure prosecutors don't even bother to call Cowboy to the stand do you believe
that Robert Gwyn Cowboy had anything to do with the murder M of Jesse no no do you think he had anything to do with
covering it up no after Jesse's body was loaded into the back of his car Jason admits he
parked it in the garage left her there for days and began reaching out to other women sexting or I'd love to have you B
over like that while I'll give you what you want and sexting I want to taste you
so bad and sexting you were sending photos of your penis to other women while the love of your life rotted in
the trunk of your car what was that like for you to hear him talk about that my first thought is
I was that I had to find a way to get to him and kill him with my bare hands [Music]
prosecutor westwin is gunning for a guilty verdict never once said there's been an accident and Jason low is in his
line of fire never once call the police he aims right for the bullseye the love of your lives it's rotting in your
[Music] trunk and after all it was just an accident and hits his Mark you didn't
want anyone to know she was dead you didn't want anyone to find her body after 7 hours of tears I just she
was asleep excuses I didn't know what to say and denials knew I didn't willingly and
intentionally kill someone killed Jesse killed the girl that I was in love with the defense plays its last sympathy card
who pointed out to the police where Jesse was buried I didn't remember when the police
wouldn't tell the bardwells how they found Jesse's body well it was Jason low who told them where to find her his
lawyer says Jason did it for the sake of Jesse's family but the prosecution says
the only reason is because he cut a deal you're getting something in exchange for
that agreement right if convicted instead of serving 99 years the most Jason low will
serve is half that 50 years and why was that deal offered it's important for the
family it was important to find her cons after 5 days of testimony taking some items out of the vehicle the
lawyers sum up their cases you can't trust a word that comes out of his mouth for the state it comes
down to Jason Lowe's character evil typically doesn't announce itself you you rarely see
it that's what we have here but the defense argues the state did not prove murder over accident their case is built
on he lied to the cops he hid the body therefore he's guilty that's not proof beyond all
reasonable doubt it was now up to a jury to decide after 6 hours of deliberations
the jury hands its verdict to judge Scott Becker defant please rise we the jury find the defendant guilty of murder
as charged in the indictment it was so sweet to know that monster is going to be put away for a
long time before sentencing Gary finally got the chance to face the man who killed his
daughter I looked him straighten the eyes and it frightened me for about 5 Seconds seconds there was nothing in his
eyes nothing I'm very sad and angry standing beside Gary for support Jason's ex-girlfriends if I could say anything
to Jesse I would say run just save yourself that same day judge Becker sentenced Jesse's killer to the
negotiated maximum you can go with the deputies 50 years we took one last trip to Colin
County jail to see if Jason would finally own up to what he had now been convicted of so I am walking in right
behind me into the jail and I'm going to ask him face to face did you kill Jesse
Bardwell hey Jason hello thank you for doing this yes ma'am have a seat please thank
you did you have anything to do with the death of Jesse Bardwell no ma'am did you
murder Jesse Bardwell No Ma'am why are you sitting here for 50 years I'm reaping what I swed like I said you know
I was I lied I was scared and I thought I could fix this I thought I thought about just myself I didn't think about
her family I didn't think about her he'll have half a century in a Texas prison to think about all that pain he
SED if her parents were here right now is there something you would want to say to them
I'm sorry and what are you sorry for for being a piece of dirt after the trial Gary Bardwell and
his family went back to Mississippi where he used to spend long summer days on the water with his
daughter Jesse only now is he able to get back in a boat and go to some of the places they
used to go a bittersweet reminder of the daughter he lost Jason low took away a beautiful
soul a beautiful heart the life of the party a smile that would light up this dark
room forever I always called her my beautiful little girl in my heart and soul my beautiful daughter
Jesse how many breaks can my heart take till it's taken away [Music] [Applause] [Music]
w [Music]

A father dreams his daughter's been killed, then later she disappears. What does her boyfriend know and could the dad's nightmare have been real? "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher investigates. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

Jesse Bardwell's tragic disappearance leads to her father's fight for justice against her boyfriend Jason Low, who is convicted of her murder.

Key points

The Nightmare. Gary Bardwell recalls a chilling dream about his daughter Jesse's fate.
A Father's Determination. Gary Bardwell's relentless pursuit of justice for his missing daughter.
The Discovery. Detectives uncover a gruesome scene linked to Jesse's disappearance.
Community Mourning. Over 900 people gather to honor Jesse's life after her tragic death.
Mock Trial Strategy. Jason Lowe's defense attorney conducts a mock trial to prepare for the real one.
The Sentencing of Jesse's Killer. Jason is sentenced to 50 years, a bittersweet moment for Jesse's family.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was just like brace for impact.

Gary's feeling when he feared for Jesse's life.

2:11WatchJan 23, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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