Canadian True Crime - 36 The Murder of Jennifer Cusworth

Episode Date: December 1, 2018

Kelowna, British Columbia. A pumpkin farmer finds the body of a young woman at the end of his driveway, prompting an investigation that would take years.Learn more:True Crime Podcast Festival - July 13 2019, ChicagoCanadian True Crime Merchandise StorePodcast recommendations:Let’s Talk About Sects: A podcast about cultsSupport my sponsors! Here's where the discount codes are:www.canadiantruecrime.ca/sponsorsJoin my patreon for $2 a month to get ad-free, early-release episodes: www.patreon.com/canadiantruecrime Credits:Research, writing, narration, music arrangement: Kristi LeeAudio production: Erik KrosbyDisclaimer voiced by the host of Beyond Bizarre True CrimeAll credits and information sources will be found on the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca.Support the show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi everyone, just two quick updates before the episode starts. The first is that I now have some merchandise, yay! I have two designs, the first is my logo and I also have a design piece that I commissioned from super-talented Albertan artist Riley Tenove. It's a continuous line drawing of a caribou and has Canadian true crime subtly drawn down the neck. For those of you who like something a bit more artsy and without red maple leafs all over it, I have t-shirts, coffee mugs and stickers but if you're looking for anything

else just let me know. To find out more just go to canadiantruecrime.ca.store or there's a link in the show notes. The second thing is that I'm excited to announce I'll be putting on a live show at the True Crime Podcast Festival in Chicago in July next year and it's not just me, it's a Canadian crossover with Robin Water from The Trail Wank Cold, I can't wait, not sure what we're going to cover yet but it'll definitely be the best of both of our shows. The True Crime Podcast Festival will be at the Marriott Downtown Chicago, Magnificent Mile on July the 13th 2019, it's going to be amazing.

Having Robin and I are a heap of other podcasters including The Vanished, Insight, Impact Statement, Crime and Precedence, Already Gone, Misconduct, True Crime Fan Club, The Four Line, Murder Road Trip, Apex and Abyss, Beyond Bazaar, True Crime, Court Junkie, Pleasing Terrors, Southern Fried, True Crime, Swindled, oh I have to give up now, there are so many. To learn more about the True Crime Podcast Festival go to tcpf2019.com or look in the show notes. This podcast contains course language, adult themes and content of a violent and disturbing nature.

Listener discretion is advised. Kelowna is a small city in the southern interior of British Columbia right along the Okanagan Lake. It's a beautiful city that lays within a mountain range and boasts some of the best that nature has to offer. Forests, lakes, parklands, orchards and vineyards, as well as sandy beaches. It's a popular destination for holidays. Legend has it that Canada's own version of the Loch Ness Monster lives in the area, in

the Okanagan Lake. It was given the name Ogopogo and sightings have been reported by First Nations people since the 19th century, commonly describing it as a 40 to 50 foot long sea serpent. But forget Lake Monster myths, because in the 1990s a real monster would emerge in Kelowna BC, a monster who hid in plain sight. On Sunday, October 17, 1993, a pumpkin farmer from the outskirts of Kelowna, called Wayne, was walking down to his letterbox to get his Sunday paper. It was about 9.30am and he had a very long driveway, so he considered it a nice, leisurely

stroll. But as he got close to the road to retrieve his newspaper, his eye was drawn to something in the ditch beside the road. He went over to investigate. It was the body of a woman, fully clothed, but with her midriff slightly exposed. She was lying on her side with her face hidden in the long weeds. Wayne noticed that her skin was very pale, almost white, and he knew instantly that there was nothing he could do.

So he ran back to the house to call the police. This is Christy, and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 36. Jennifer Sean Cussworth was born on April 3, 1974, in a small town called Hundred Mile House in British Columbia, about a five and a half hour drive northeast from Vancouver. Her parents were Jean and Terry Cussworth. Jennifer's mother, Jean, worked in the local school system as a teacher and principal, and the family moved to town several times. Jennifer went to a number of schools before graduating from high school in another small

town called Nelson, in June of 1992. She enrolled in a local college, but after a few months she decided that it wasn't for her. She wanted to move somewhere else. Jean had always been drawn to Kelowna, a city about four hours drive southeast from Nelson. And while her ultimate goal was to be a teacher like her mother, she wanted to first study something that would get her into the workforce faster than teaching would. She enrolled in the Human Service Worker Programme at Okanagan College in Kelowna, with a plan

to finish the program, find a full-time job, and then continue studying teaching at university part-time. Her uncle Ted and aunt Monique already lived in Kelowna and said she could live with them while she completed school. It was a solid plan. Nineteen-year-old Jennifer, or Jean, as friends and family called her, moved to Kelowna in August of 1993 and started at the college the next month. She was a friendly, fun, and easy-going person with a great sense of humour and immediately

made a lot of friends there. Many of them were mature age students who were older than she was, but they often forgot that she was just nineteen, describing her as smart, articulate, and mature beyond her years. It was Friday, October 15th, 1993, and Jean had made plans to go out with friends that night before buckling down for a weekend of study. She had some exams coming up and an assignment due and wanted to blow off some steam first. She knew she wanted to drink, so being responsible as she was, she asked her uncle to drive her

to a house on Richter Street to meet up with friends. In exchange for the ride, she would babysit her cousins the next day while her uncle and aunt went to a baseball game. On the way to the house, they stopped at an ATM and then a bottle store where Jean bought a bottle of Sam Booker. Wearing a unique leopard print blazer, black pants, halter top, and brown suede boots, Jean arrived at the house on Richter Street at about ten p.m. After eleven thirty, they all left for a local nightclub, then called Iggy's Cabaret.

At about two a.m., as last drinks were called at Iggy's, Jean's friend Alex and his roommate hopped on the PA system and announced to everyone that all were welcome to go back to their house for an after party. It was the same house that Jennifer was at before on Richter Street, but unbeknownst to them, the announcement was shared across several nearby clubs, resulting in at least a hundred and fifty people descending upon the small two-bedroom house. The two who lived there were shocked at the turnout, but decided to go with the flow, first scrambling to put their valuable items away since a whole bunch of people were arriving

that they didn't know. Despite the crowd, many of whom were intoxicated thanks to alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine, the party was described as fairly subdued. There weren't any fights and nobody got out of control. Jean was seen to be enjoying herself too. She'd been drinking from the bottle of Zambuca she'd purchased earlier, and although she was intoxicated like most of the partygoers, she was mingling well with the crowd. Jean was hanging out with a friend called Pam, who she befriended after they both moved

from Nelson to Kelowna to go to college. Also with them was Pam's roommate Faith, who knew Jennifer casually. Pam noticed that Jennifer was pretty drunk and she didn't know how the nineteen-year-old would get home later that night. She told Jean she could go back to her house and sleep the night there. Jean agreed to this plan, hugged Pam, and said, I'm so glad you're here. By about three forty-five in the morning, Pam had a massive headache and came to find Jean to ask if she was okay to leave.

But Jean wasn't ready yet. She wanted to stay at the party for a bit longer. Pam needed to go home, so asked her roommate Faith to keep an eye on Jean and make sure she got home safely. Faith agreed, Pam left, and the party continued. At about four a.m., the police showed up to take a look at things, but left soon after as they saw nothing of concern. The last part of the house party can be pieced together through a number of exchanges with

Jean and other people at the party. At one point, she handed over her purse to a casual acquaintance called Keith for safekeeping. He went and stashed it in one of the bedrooms. Not long after that, he and his friends noticed that Jennifer was quite drunk and seemed to be trying to leave by herself, so they tried to stop her. She agreed to stay on for a little bit longer. Another friend of Jean's called Lynette, saw her outside on the patio. Jean told Lynette that she only lived a few blocks away and wanted to walk home.

Lynette replied that she didn't think it was a good idea and asked Jean to just wait a second until she found the people she was leaving with and that all leave together. Lynette went off to find them, but when she went back outside to get Jean, she was gone. Not long after this, Jean went up to Alex, one of the two who were throwing the party, and Faith, the friend who had agreed to make sure Jean got home safely and said she was ready to go home now. Alex remembered that she seemed to be in a different mood. She seemed agitated and nervous now.

Alex remembered her saying, I'm out of here. Faith asked Jean to wait for just 10 more minutes, and again she agreed before walking back into the front room. But again, when Faith went through to find her, she was nowhere to be found. Faith, Alex and other partyers looked for Jean around the house, in the garage and in the backyard, but there was no sign of her. They assumed she must have gone out to get some air, and then walked home. She was known for enjoying walks.

Faith called a friend of hers who was a cab driver working at the time, and asked him to look out for Jean walking around the nearby streets. Meanwhile, another party guest called Ronald said he saw four quite drunk men who he described as fairly aggressive. They left the party at 4.30am and then came back about 45 minutes later. Ronald thought it was odd that they would leave and return at that time of the morning, when the party was pretty much wrapping up anyway. At around 5.15am, Faith's cab driver friend would say he saw a woman he thought was Jennifer

walking down the road. He stopped and offered her a free ride home, telling her that he was a friend of Faith's. But he said the woman he saw ignored him and refused to get in the car. This reaction puzzled Jen's friends, as ignoring someone who was trying to talk to her was deeply out of character. The cab driver had no choice but to drive off, but said as he was driving down the road, he saw a car pull up alongside the woman and someone yelled or honked the horn at her. He looked back and saw it was an older model muscle car, possibly a Ford Mustang, and remembered

seeing the numbers 1, 2, 3 on the license plate. That Saturday morning after the sun had come up, Jen's uncle Ted and Aunt Monique were waiting for Jen to arrive home for babysitting duties so that they could leave for their baseball game. When she didn't show up and it was time to leave, they assumed she must have slept the night somewhere else and forgotten, so they took the kids with them to the tournament. That night, when they arrived home, Jen still wasn't there, so they went and filed a missing persons report with the police.

The next morning was October 17, 1993. It was now 29 hours after Jennifer was last seen at the party, and pumpkin farmer Wayne found the body of an unidentified woman in the ditch next to his long driveway. After he called 911, a number of teams from the RCMP, including canine and identification teams, responded to the scene. They stood in 10-12 cm of water in the ditch, slowly documenting everything they saw. It looked like the victim had been strangled and struck with a blunt object in the back of her head.

They noticed a laceration there as well as lots of bruises on her neck where it lay in the ditch. A belt was found not far from where the body lay. The woman had no identification on her, but the RCMP had the information of the missing woman from the night before and quickly put two and two together. Wayne's uncle and aunt had reported that she was wearing a distinctive leopard print blazer, and so too was this Jane Doe. DNA samples were taken from the body and from the scene, but because testing was still in

its infancy in the early 90s, all of the samples were preserved in a sterile environment and sent to a lab in Edmonton until the technology was available for testing. There, they would sit. Jane's aunt and uncle were still looking for her, and they'd since found out that she'd left her purse at the party. Remember, she gave it to a guest to stash for safekeeping. So later on the Sunday morning, her aunt and uncle went to the Richter Street house where they dropped Jane off to retrieve her purse and see if anyone there knew where she was.

No one did. Alex, Jen's friend who lived there, knew that she was supposed to go to a birthday party later that day, and called the friend she was going with to see if she knew where Jen was. On the phone, the friend told Alex she'd just heard that the body of a woman had been found in a ditch down on Swamp Road. The friend said she was suddenly feeling very sick. Later on that Sunday, Ted and Monique were contacted by police who asked them to go to the station.

There, they were told that a Jane dough had been found that matched Jen's description. Ted fainted. After he had composed himself, he had to make a phone call that no one wants to make to his sister to tell her that her daughter was missing and police had found a body. Jen and Terry Cussworth immediately left for Kelowna. When they got there and the police told them what had happened, Jen stopped on the sidewalk outside the RCMP detachment and let out what she called an ungodly scream. She started to collapse and was steadied by a family friend.

The Jane dough had to be formally identified. Jen couldn't face it, so Terry had to go in and identify his daughter. When he came out of the morgue, he fell to his knees and howled. And so began an incredibly painful journey for the Cussworth family. But they coped with their grief by springing into action, putting up hundreds of posters with Jennifer's picture on them, offering a reward for information. They worked with the police and talked to anyone and everyone about the case. They did countless interviews with the media, appealing to anyone who had information,

including the killer, to come forward. They said they were determined that the case would be solved and the killer caught, and it was this determination that helped them move forward. Meantime, the Kelowna Major Crimes Unit got to work collecting evidence, finding out who was at that party, contacting them, interviewing them, and collecting DNA samples. Obviously, with estimates of people at the party being upwards of 150 people, it was going to take some time.

Several factors suggested the killer knew his way around the area. The distance between the spot Jennifer was last seen at the House Party and where her body was found was not far. There was only a short window of opportunity between when Jen left the party at 4.30am when it was dark, and when daylight broke. And Swamp Road was not a familiar place to someone just passing through. The police exhausted all leads and investigated all tips received in their effort to identify the person who had murdered Jennifer.

They looked into the report of the four aggressive drunk men who left the party and came back 45 minutes later. Nothing came of that. They spoke to Faith's cab driver friend who swore he saw Jen walking along the road, and she ignored him. They looked into the muscle car that he said he saw as he drove off. Nothing came of that either. In fact, it seemed doubtful that the person he saw was actually Jen.

Months went by without any kind of movement in the investigation. Months turned into a year, still nothing. Everyone had returned to their lives as best they could after Jennifer's murder. But her parents, Terry and Jean, were still in action mode. Each year on the anniversary of Jen's murder, they would go back to Kelowna to remember her, returning to the area on Swamp Road where her body was found, taking carnations, her favorite flowers, as well as a bunch of balloons to let go in memory. Just as important, they also held an annual press conference to make a plea for anyone

to come forward who knew anything about what happened to Jennifer. After they put the story out in the media each year, the police always received new tips, renewing fresh hope that it would only be a matter of time before the killer was found. The case was extremely high profile in Kelowna and the surrounding areas now. As the years went on and still nothing, Jennifer's file was constantly reviewed to make sure all leads had been chased and documented, and all tips had been looked into. But it was now a cold case.

The 10th anniversary of Jennifer Cusworth's murder arrived, and so too did Terry and Jean Cusworth to Kelowna for their annual pilgrimage. This time, they held a special native healing ceremony at the location on Swamp Road where Jean's body was found. At the accompanying media conference, they decided to concentrate on just the facts of the case, to eliminate all speculation about what might have happened. Jean was driven to the Richter Street house. She and her friends went to Iggy's Club before returning to the house at 2am.

At 4.30am, Jean was last seen in the front yard of the house looking for a ride home, and a day later, her body was found in a ditch on Swamp Road. Those were the facts. The RCMP received the usual surgeon tips and information, with the lead investigator describing it as being like a big jigsaw puzzle with pieces scattered among hundreds of people. The police diligently followed everything up, but there was nothing that cracked the case. In 2005, Terry and Jean hired an independent investigator to see if he could dig anything else up on the case. Retired BC police officer John Farrell spent nearly a year going through 15 boxes of evidence and statements before reporting that he'd found no flaws in the

police investigation so far. His only recommendations were for the RCMP to revisit certain people of interest with further questioning, and to look at using better technology that wasn't available at the time of Jennifer's murder. Over the next few years, behind the scenes, important pieces of information came to light, were investigated by the RCMP, and then struck off the list. The investigation team put together a new list of about 100 people and tips that needed to be followed up with after their initial interviews. Many of them had been at the party and had failed to offer DNA samples or alibis that ruled them out of the investigation. To make it easier and more methodical, the team decided to work geographically,

starting with the people who lived closest to the police headquarters. They identified two people and started surveillance with them. At least one of them was at the house party and had refused to give a DNA sample, so the team was tasked with trying to get cast off DNA evidence, like a discarded cup or napkin that the suspect was observed using and that could provide a sample of DNA. But it seemed the man was onto them pretty quickly. The RCMP observed him dining at a local Burger King, but noticed that instead of putting his garbage in the bin, he took it with him and locked it in the car. The team wasn't ready to give up yet though. A few days later, they tailed him at a mall area, but it was plainly

obvious that he was watching them right back. They tried following him from a distance in an unmarked police car, but when they stopped at a red light, the man moved his vehicle next to the car and mouthed what they believed to be an obscenity. The team knew that the surveillance operation with this man was over, so they approached him directly at his house and he met them on the doorstep. He told them that he knew they were following him because he'd done some work for the Hell's Angels before. When they told him they were investigating Jennifer Cussworth's murder, the man said he'd already told the police way back when that he didn't know her and didn't recognize her from her photo on the posters. An officer asked the man if he knew of any

reason why his DNA might be at the crime scene. The man replied that no, he couldn't think of anything, but then, out of the blue, he volunteered an interesting piece of information. He said he arrived at the party with a belt that a friend had left in his truck and brought it back to her. Immediately, the RCMP officers ears pricked up. They had of course found a belt close to Jennifer's body, a fact that was never disclosed to the public. The man went on to say that he returned the belt at the party and as he walked back, he met a woman and started kissing her. And then he said that later on that night, he had unprotected sex with another woman inside his pickup truck. This was all new information to the RCMP. When asked why he hadn't mentioned any of this in his

previous conversations, the man said it was because he was married at the time. He was adamant that neither of the women were Jennifer Cussworth, but admitted he'd been drinking and couldn't remember much else. This was not the first time this man had been in trouble with the RCMP. He had two prior convictions on his record. In 1987, when he was in his mid-20s, he followed a woman in his truck and was caught masturbating. For this, he was given a $250 fine and two years probation. And then five years later, the year before Jennifer's murder, he was convicted of indecent exposure, exposing his genitals in a public place. He was placed on probation again. In fact, he was still on probation the night Jennifer was murdered. The police needed to get

a DNA sample from this man, and now they believed they had enough evidence to get a warrant. The courts agreed, and in the summer of 2009, a blood sample was taken from the man. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level? Squarespace makes it easy for anyone to create an engaging web presence, grow a brand and sell anything, from your products to the content you create and even your time. When I launched this passion project six years ago, I needed some kind of online hub to manage all the non-podcasting tasks that come with podcasting. I chose Squarespace because it's an all-in-one platform that seamlessly helps me achieve multiple goals. It's important to have a

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and I love the powerful insights I can get from the analytics tools, helping me better understand who's visiting the site, where they came from and how they're interacting with it. Do you have a passion project or business idea or something to sell? Go to squarespace.com slash ctc for a free trial, and when you're ready to launch, use offer code CTC to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com slash CTC with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. Not long after that, in October of 2009, the lead detective corporal Bill Palmer announced to the media that they'd had a breakthrough.

As recent media stories have illustrated, great advances have been made in the areas of forensic science and DNA technology. During the review, items collected from Jennifer's crime scene were forwarded for further forensic examination. This examination has yielded further DNA evidence that is assisted in furthering this investigation. From the review, investigators have now determined that the DNA found at the crime scene does belong to that Jennifer's killer. Although this person has not yet been identified, investigators are confident that this is just a matter of time. He told the public they had been re-interviewing all the people who attended the party,

as well as their associates. Many of these people still lived in the Kelowna area, but others had moved to other areas of British Columbia, as well as to Alberta. They were collecting DNA samples from males and said that some had willingly given it up, but others had refused to cooperate, perhaps because their DNA might link them to another crime. He added that some of the people who attended the party now had criminal records, including crimes of a sexual nature. That said, he believed that Jennifer's killer may have confided in someone. Quote, whether that be a relative or a friend, there is someone out there with information regarding Jennifer's murder. Gene and Terry Cusworth spoke to the media about

this breakthrough. We know we're going to get through this. We are getting through it. But it's changed our lives forever. We're never going to get over. It also changed the killer's life forever. This is going to be with him for the rest of his life. People over the years have asked us if we've forgiven the killer. We don't have the facts. We don't know what happened or why. So unless we can understand what happened that night, we can't really even move towards considering forgiveness. We have a message for the killer today. We've all been living with what happened 16 years ago, and I'm sure he has tried to move on with his life. But I believe, we believe, that he can't do that until he deals with this, until he accepts responsibility for

what he's done. And if he's going to move on with his life, he needs to do that. Finally, there was big news. A match was made to the DNA left at the crime scene. The match belonged to the man they'd been trying to tail who refused to give a DNA sample. First, the RCMP told Gene and Terry Cusworth, and a few days later, they announced the arrest to the public. On October 23, 2009, at approximately 12 p.m., 43-year-old Kelowna resident Neil George Snelson was arrested without incident for first-degree murder in the death of Jennifer Sean Cusworth. We can confirm that the accused, Neil Snelson, was at the house party on October 16, 1993. We can confirm that he was a resident of Kelowna in 1993. We can confirm that DNA

evidence was collected from the murder scene, and that the DNA was but one component in a myriad of facts and evidence that led to the identification and arrest of Mr. Snelson. This was, of course, an important moment for the Cusworths, who had campaigned tirelessly for 16 years. Somebody asked yesterday, are we excited about this? That's not the word. There's a feeling of relief that we finally come to this point in the journey. We know we have further to go, and it's going to be a long, hard road, but there's relief that we're here. A lot of sadness for his family. They're victims too. And I also had a question about one reporter asked me,

is it the last time that you're going to be laying flowers out there? No. We'll be doing that until the day we die. In memory of our daughter, forever, basically. We have a message for the man who's been arrested for her murder. What happened 16 years ago, changed our lives forever. It didn't destroy our lives, but it's changed our lives forever. 20 years from now, something can trigger that pain and knock us to our knees. A flip of a hair, a song on the radio. We know that. It's part of our life now. What happened 16 years ago also changed his life forever. We can't bring Jen back. He can't bring Jen back. It's not going to go away. We won't let it go away. It's time, Neil, to share the truth, to talk about what happened

that night, to do that for yourself, for your family, and especially for Jen. You owe her that much. They had no idea who Neil Snelson was. His arrest brought some closure, but they described it as just another step along the journey. In an emotional and touching gesture of thanks, Jean and Terry gave out carnations to everyone in attendance, Jen's favorite flower. Straight away, the local media got to work to find out just who this Neil Snelson was. He was born in Derbyshire in the UK and moved to Canada with his family when he was six. He graduated school in the mid-1980s, married and divorced in his late 20s, and married again and had four kids. Outside of his day job as a blind installer,

he was known to be an active musician and multi-instrumentalist, family man, and respected member of the local Lutheran Christian community. He was in the church band as well as a local rock band at the time and wrote songs and played guitar. He was very active online and had maintained a number of personal webpages, including a blog, which mainly served to promote his music interests. The media had no trouble getting information on Neil Snelson. The community was shocked, especially his church community. Many came out to say what a stand-up guy he was. His church pastor issued a statement. We, as a church community, are devastated by the news that Neil Snelson, a member of our congregation and one of our worship band members, stands accused

of a major crime, before adding that he was innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Neil Snelson's wife Brandi even issued a statement, requesting the media leave her and the four kids alone, as she had no statement to give and needed to get on with parenting. 45-year-old Neil Snelson made his first appearance in Kelowna Court, wearing a black golf shirt and black pants. He was said to have stood motionless and without expression. He would plead not guilty. Two weeks after his arrest, Jean Cussworth spoke to the media about him, quote, it's time for Neil to tell the truth, to talk about what happened that night. Do it for yourself, for your family, and especially for Jean. You owe her that much. She said she felt for

Neil's wife and children who were having to deal with being forced into the spotlight after his arrest, quote, they now have to walk the path that we have walked for the past 16 years. It's with them now for the rest of their lives. A year later, a preliminary hearing was held, which determined there was enough evidence to send Neil Snelson to trial. This was a big win for the Cussworths. They hadn't put up a Christmas tree since the year Jennifer died. But that year, 18 years later, they decided it was time to start again. Terry said it was quite emotional. We don't have all the answers, of course, but we have a lot of them that we didn't have before.

Neil Snelson's trial for the murder of Jennifer Cussworth started in September of 2011 in Kelowna. The 47-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder. Over 300 jurors gathered for jury selection, describing the entire thing as slow and painful. The case was so well known in Kelowna that finding an unbiased jury was tough. Eventually, though, a jury was chosen. Terry and Jean sat in the front row every day of the trial. Neil Snelson's wife, Brandy, was observed sitting with three of her four children on the other side of the courtroom, closest to the prisoner's box. The crown said it intended to prove that Neil abducted Jennifer as she walked home from the house party. Then he sexually assaulted and

killed her and dumped her body in a ditch off Swamp Road. Jurors were told that Jennifer had been choked but not fatally and her official cause of death was a blow to the back of the head with a blunt object. Defense lawyer Grant Gray said that someone else killed Jennifer long after the party ended and Neil Snelson had gone home and whoever it was dumped her body sometime on Saturday night or Sunday morning. The reason the defense presented this theory was this. The party started in the early morning hours of Saturday morning and Jennifer left at around 4.30 that morning when it was still dark. But Wayne, the pumpkin farmer, didn't discover her body until Sunday morning, some 29 hours after she left the party. He would testify at the trial,

claiming that if her body had been there on the Saturday morning, just a few hours after the party ended, he would have seen it. Early on in the trial, expert forensic testimony established that intact sperm was found in both vaginal and rectal swabs taken from the crime scene and also from the pants that Jennifer was wearing. The samples had been well preserved and when this DNA was compared to Neil Snelson's, they were found to be a match. A forensic pathologist testified Dr. Ron Roy was experienced with some 4,000 autopsies under his belt. He reported that on the back left side of Jennifer's head, there were seven or eight deep lacerations of the scalp that's a splitting of the skin

when it struck by a blunt object. He concluded that all the blows came at the same time and that the weapon was similar to a crowbar, tire iron or hardwood dowel. No murder weapon had been found though. Dr. Roy found no injuries on Jennifer's arms and hands, indicating that there may have been no attempt to defend herself. Typically, victims of an assault will put up their hands and arms and as for whether there was a sexual assault, Dr. Roy found no evidence of pelvic trauma such as bruising and tearing but he said this wasn't always the case. Quote, if there is no resistance or tightening of the muscles, there may be no bruising. There is a very likely reason for this finding. Jennifer's blood alcohol content was between

0.17 and 0.18 percent, more than double the legal limit to drive a car in Canada. Quote, it suggests to me that she's quite intoxicated, that she's probably not able to put up a good defense. She may not even know what's going on. She may have slurred speech, very likely uncoordinated, staggering, have poor control of her movements and may be poor judgment. Jennifer's fingernails were all intact. There was bruising on the left side of her upper and lower lips as well as a torn cheek lining that could indicate a hard slap or blow to the face. Her tongue was also lacerated, indicating she may have bitten it when she was attacked. Dr. Roy addressed her neck bruising, concluding that there was an attempt at manual strangulation,

someone using their hands, which he said is not an easy thing to accomplish. He testified that often he finds that healthy young people can fight back well when they're being strangled, and often the attacker gets frustrated, so resorts to a second method, frequently blunt trauma, to finish them off. The court also heard from Dr. William Currie, a pathologist who reviewed Dr. Roy's report. He testified that Jennifer likely died within two or three hours after she'd had her last drink, because her blood-alcohol content had just peaked at 0.17% when she died. However, under cross-examination, he agreed to the possibility that Jennifer could have been murdered more than 12 hours after she left the party, but only if she kept drinking afterwards.

This line of questioning was of course designed to direct the jury's thinking back to the statement the defense made at the start of the trial. The defense lawyer suggested that Jennifer and Neil had consensual sex, then he'd gone, and she had gone somewhere else after the party, kept drinking there long after Neil was out of the picture, and then someone else murdered her. Dr. Currie estimated that Jennifer's body was likely dumped in the position it was found, less than four hours afterwards. The crown discussed with the court details of a hair sample found on the top Jennifer was wearing, believed to be a pubic hair. It came back as a mitochondrial DNA match to the blood sample taken from Neil Snelson. The crown stated though

that this type of sample is not as exact in identifying a match as other DNA sources, with a 1 in 49 chance of it being matched to somebody else. The court heard from around 12 party-goers who interacted with Jen throughout various parts of the two and a half hours she was at the party. Between them, they accounted for most of her movements and time, especially towards the second half of the party, where several of them were trying to keep Jen safe and from leaving while they worked out how she was going to get home. She ended up sneaking away anyway at around 4.30, completely unaccounted for. Also unaccounted for at that time was Neil Snelson. The court heard from a man named Glenn,

one of Neil's friends who was there the night of the party. He said that as they were about to leave the house party together at 4.30, he and three other friends told Neil that they were going to meet at Denny's for breakfast and they would wait for him. Neil was on the back steps of the house and told them that he would see them there if he could. The four of them waited outside Denny's for Neil for about 20 minutes but he never showed up so they decided to just go home. Glenn spoke with him later on that day. Neil said he dropped some women home on the way back from the party and then went straight to Denny's but didn't see them there so left. Glenn testified that he was puzzled about this story and once he found out about Jennifer's murder a few days later

he became even more curious. A passerby testified that he noticed what he thought was a brown truck near the crime scene on Swamp Road on his early morning drive to work. He noticed that the truck had a canopy on top of it. A woman called Catherine testified who was Neil's first wife and was married to him at the time Jennifer Cussworth was murdered. Catherine said she and Neil were married in 1991 separated in 1995 and got divorced a year later. Jennifer was murdered right in the middle of that period. Catherine testified that at the time she had a very busy schedule full-time study alongside two part-time jobs. Catherine said that the night of the party she worked the late shift as a bartender

and didn't get off work until sometime between 3 30 and 4 a.m. She said she didn't know what Neil's plans were for that night but said that wasn't unusual as she normally didn't know what he was doing when she worked nights. She said the next day after the news about Jennifer's disappearance became public she discussed with Neil how strange it was that he was at the same party. When Jennifer's body was found in the ditch on Swamp Road Catherine noted that the road was a favorite of Neil's on scenic drives they used to take. He said that it was a good detour road they used to drive right past the spot where Jennifer was found. She also told the court that investigators distributed a questionnaire to those who attended

the party and Neil showed it to her as he filled it out. On it he indicated that he didn't know Jennifer and hadn't ever seen her. Catherine also confirmed details about the truck that Neil drove describing it as a brown truck with a canopy on top that his father gave to him for his work and to store his tools. Next the crown presented a phone call as evidence one that had been legally intercepted by police between Neil Snelson and his father Barry on October the 21st 2009. This was just a week or so before he was arrested and after he'd given his DNA sample. In the phone call Neil's father asked his son about his drive home from the party that night and whether Jennifer Cusworth was with

him. Neil said he didn't know Jennifer and hadn't ever met her. He said he dropped two women home after the party but couldn't remember where he dropped them to giving the excuse that they'd been partying and it was late. The identity of the two women has never been established. Neil also brought up to his father out of the blue that he didn't like trucks that have canopies which the RCMP found odd. Again he was volunteering information that may have had something to do with the case completely out of the blue. The truck and whatever he stored under the canopy was by then long gone and when his father asked Neil told him he couldn't remember which salvage company took it when he got rid of it but it was long before the police became

interested in it. The crown presented the tape of Neil Snelson's first RCMP interrogation. Several times he asserted that he'd been told not to speak to the RCMP by his lawyer. The interviewer told him that he was within his rights to do that. In the video shown to the jury Neil was asked to just confess now. He replied it's not going to happen here. He was then asked if he was going to plead guilty and he replied I haven't made that decision yet adding that he needed to talk to his lawyer first. Neil Snelson took to the stand in his own defense recalling his own version of events while telling the jury that he'd been drinking quite a lot that night. He said he met with friends to go to Iggy's nightclub and then went to the house party with the crowd of 150.

He said he had the belt of an acquaintance called Teresa in his truck. He said he returned it to her at the party and as he walked back from the truck he met a woman he couldn't remember or describe and started kissing her. He then went back into the house before going back outside. There he said he met another woman who went back to his truck with him. He testified that they had sex on the seat of the truck but he couldn't remember who she was or even what she looked like. The only things he remembered was that she had long straight hair was heavy or heavier and about five foot six so average height. Jennifer Cusworth had long curly hair, was slim and was five foot ten so quite tall. The crowd suggested that he was deliberately trying to mislead police during

his initial interview by giving a description that didn't match Jennifer at all. He denied it and said that it was really dark in the backyard too dark to see anything or distinguish colors or patterns. This is despite the testimony of the other party goers who were able to make out faces and pick out details in the backyard with no issue. Neil said he also couldn't remember anything about the conversation he had with the woman, what she was wearing or whether anyone may have seen them together. He then said after the sexual encounter in his truck he and the woman went inside and he never saw her again. He said he left the party with friends who he drove home and then he went to Denny's to meet with other friends who he couldn't find so he finally went home. Neil

testified that while he initially told people he didn't know who the woman was and didn't recognize Jennifer on the poster he said in 2009 he was questioned by the RCMP who said that found his DNA on Jennifer and it was only then that he started to wonder if the woman he'd had sex with in his truck may have been her. His lawyer asked him why he attempted to prevent police from getting a DNA sample. He replied that he was scared nervous and angry when he discovered he was being followed he wasn't deliberately trying to evade them. His defense lawyer asked him point blank if he murdered Jennifer. No he replied adding that he didn't know who did. The crown's line of questioning was to point out more lies that Neil had told. There were lies about his truck he told his father he hated

trucks with canopies when his ex-wife later proved that his own truck had one. The crown's theory was that he had tools in the canopy one of which he likely used to bludgeon Jennifer to death. Neil also testified that he'd never been shown a picture of Jennifer back when she was first murdered but this testimony was of course disputed by the lead investigator who testified that in June of 2009 Neil told them he had at first been shown a picture of Jennifer and said he didn't recognize or know her. There were also discrepancies about where he said he parked his truck that night. Neil said it took a while for him to start making the connection that perhaps the person he had sex with in his truck may have been Jennifer Cussworth. The crown jumped on this asking wasn't

it an important moment in your life when you realized you had sex with the victim it must have been frightening. Neil replied that he couldn't remember what he felt a response that was an inadvertent admission that he had at that point realized that the woman he'd had sex with was Jennifer yet he still didn't come forward. The crown brought up that when police asked Neil why his DNA was found at the crime scene the first thing he began talking about was a belt that belonged to Teresa. The crown suggested that he made up the story as a way to cover off loose ends and explain away any potential DNA evidence. Quote you never had a belt you never returned a belt. The suggestion was that Neil threw the belt out of the truck's passenger window after he murdered Jennifer

and when questioned by the police panicked about possible DNA on that belt and made up the story of having to give the belt back to Teresa. But the crown wasn't done they quickly tracked down Teresa as a last minute witness. She testified that she had previously had a sexual encounter with Neil but it was some time before that night. She said she saw Neil at the party but didn't have a conversation with him and certainly not about any belt. She also added she'd never come into possession of a belt from his truck and not only was she not wearing a belt that night but she confirmed that she rarely ever wore them. Another lie. If you're feeling a little confused right now it's warranted. There was a lot of evidence some of it like floating puzzle pieces with no real

anchor a series of dots that needed to be connected and some of it led nowhere and seemed to make no sense. What was clear was that Neil Snelson and Jennifer Cusworth had sexual intercourse but there was no proof that it was consensual. What actually happened that night would remain a mystery a mystery that only Neil Snelson knew the answer to. The courtroom was packed for closing arguments and even with extra seats brought in people spilled outside the room. The defense said that the crown had proven that Neil had sexual intercourse with Jennifer but the rest was circumstantial and fell remarkably short of proving that Neil was the one who murdered her. If Neil Snelson had killed Jennifer then why would he remain in Kelowna ever since?

He argued that the belt was insignificant because it wasn't used to strangle her and he argued that Neil's behavior and unwillingness to reveal information was just consistent with that of a man who was afraid of the what if. What if Jennifer was the one he'd had sex with and what if the police thought he killed her? The crown argued that Neil raped Jennifer before killing her. As a rebuttal crown prosecutor Ian Curry outlined what would need to have happened if the defense's theory about someone else killing Jennifer long after the party was true. Forensic evidence mandated that if Jennifer wasn't raped and murdered soon after the party she would have had to spend up to 12 more hours continuing to drink alcohol so that her blood alcohol content

would be at the level it was found to be at autopsy. The crown also reminded the jury that she didn't even have her purse with her as she'd left it at the house. Where would she have gone to drink? Next, the crown addressed the issue of Neil Seaman, the DNA. Jennifer was found to have still had a large amount of it inside her when she was found and only a small amount of it on her underwear so if she moved into any kind of vertical position afterwards like walking or going to the washroom gravity would have affected that result. This is strong evidence to suggest she didn't continue drinking for up to 12 additional hours after their sexual encounter and the witness testimony evidence also suggested that she didn't have sex with Neil in his truck and continue

partying afterwards as he maintained. Her movements at the party were tracked by around 12 party guests until she left at 4.30. When would she have had time to meet Neil Snelson, have a conversation with him and go with him to his truck without anyone noticing? Either way Neil was lying. More little details were pointed out. The whole story around the belt which the crown suggested Neil brought up out of the blue because he knew Jennifer's belt was near her body. This is a fact that only the killer would know. The crown also brought up the fact that Neil said the backyard was too dark to make out any details of either women that he met that night as well as other lies he told. As for the pumpkin farmer who testified that he didn't see Jennifer's body until

more than 24 hours after the party, the crown suggested that he just missed it among the long weeds. And finally the crown reminded the jury about Neil Snelson's interrogation after he was arrested in 2009 where he was asked if he made a decision about whether he was going to plead guilty. Neil's reply was that he hadn't yet decided and needed to talk with his lawyer. The crown concluded its submission by suggesting that that was an odd way to respond. Quote, an innocent person says no. After three days of deliberation the jury returned with a verdict. They found Neil Snelson guilty but not of first degree murder. Instead they found him guilty of manslaughter meaning they believed he didn't intend for Jennifer to die as a result of his intentional actions.

The crown and defence were both surprised but none so much as Jean and Terry Cusworth. Jean said she was extremely disappointed. Quote, someone couldn't follow the dots. We both believe the jury did the best they could but I believe their efforts fell short of giving Jean the justice she deserved. The vicious serious injuries he inflicted on her. This is a man who didn't intend to kill her? The Cusworths then brought up an interesting point. The jury was not told about Neil's previous convictions for indecent exposure to ensure that he got a fair trial based only on the facts of this case. The jury also didn't know that Neil was still on probation when Jennifer was murdered. Jean said she wished they had have known before

they made their decision. Terry added, sometimes the Canadian justice system works for the accused. They both went on to thank the media, their legal team, the RCMP team and anyone else who helped them, again giving out carnations to everybody as a thanks from Jean. At the sentencing hearing, the court heard victim impact statements. Jean's uncle Ted Morris, the uncle whose family she'd been staying with, told the court that their family went into shock. Personally, he fell into a depression plagued by thoughts that he'd failed his sister's daughter just weeks after she moved in with them. Ted and Monique would end up divorcing. Jennifer's mother Jean told the court about how she fell to her knees and howled when she was told her daughter had died. How she and

Terry had contemplated suicide because their grief seemed like too much of a burden sometimes. She went into detail about the years she spent searching for the person who killed Jennifer, including meeting with psychics and holding sweat lodgers with indigenous leaders. She asked Neil directly, you have a daughter, what if they met with somebody like you? Jean then read aloud a letter she wrote six months after Jennifer was murdered, called letter to a killer who was at that time unknown. Quote, since you don't know Jen well and being as your her killer, I feel you should know some things. Jen was scared of spiders and cried at old movies. She could play flute and guitar and could line dance. She drove a truck that she named

Percy. She once got her tongue stuck to a frozen flagpole and she never used the word goodbye. She preferred to just say see ya. The statement ended with Jean saying she felt sorry for Neil Snelson's family because his wife and children had also become victims from this crime. Neil's mother sitting behind him shook her head. In sentencing submissions, the Crown discussed the previous conviction information that had been left out of the trial as well as some other information that hadn't been brought to light yet. While Neil Snelson was known as being a good, law-abiding Christian family man that had earned the respect of his community, he was definitely hiding a dark side. Aside from his two previous convictions for indecent

exposure, he was also seen by police masturbating in his car twice and the parking lot of a local mall while police were surveilling him during his lunch break. The Crown prosecutor told the judge that his offending behavior was associated with driving around. The Crown also revealed that the police seized over 112,000 pornographic images downloaded onto Neil's computer, depicting sex acts with a strong theme of victims that were subjected to pain and humiliation, including torture, bondage, and bestiality. Justice Allison Beam said that in her opinion, the case falls closer to murder than most manslaughter cases. She asked Neil Snelson if he wanted to say anything before she sentenced him. He declined. In handing down her sentence,

she said she rejected his claim that he had consensual sex with Jennifer Cussworth the day she was murdered. She says the large amount of semen found in her vagina and the only small amount in her underwear proves that he could not have had sex with Jen at the party before she walked home. Justice Beam said that her finding was that Jennifer's death occurred close to the time that the semen was deposited. Quote, I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Snelson sexually assaulted Ms. Cussworth. No other inferences can be reasonably drawn from the proven facts. Her conclusion from the evidence was that Neil did leave the party and did drop some friends off, but then encountered Jennifer walking home from the house party.

Quote, Mr. Snelson sexually assaulted Ms. Cussworth, struck her in the face, menily strangled her and brutally bludgeoned her to death. At the time of the killing, Mr. Snelson did not have the requisite intent to commit murder. The judge added that during the trial, she found Neil Snelson to be evasive under cross-examination and inconsistent with his stories. He lied, made jokes and was hostile and argumentative. With that, Neil Snelson was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Under federal law, he received double credit for the two years he had already spent in jail awaiting trial. This took four years off his sentence, bringing it down to 11. After sentencing, Gene and Terry Cussworth commented to CBC News.

Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of 20 years. Cussworth's family says they're somewhat disappointed. I'm not thrilled with it. I want it life, but I'll accept 15 years. I like Gene would have liked to have seen more, but I think the judge did a fair comment on what had happened. What the Cussworths were happy with was the judge rejecting Snelson's story that he and Cussworth had consensual sex, a key dispute in the argument. He sexually offended Jennifer and she called him a liar multiple times. But this isn't quite the end. In 2013, 49-year-old Neil Snelson appealed his conviction. He appeared in court, described as seeming like he was in high spirits, smiling and nodding to friends seated in the gallery. Through his lawyer,

Neil argued that at his trial, the Crown wrongly presented the jury with two statements he made to police during his interrogation. The first was when he told them his lawyer had advised him not to say anything to them. And the second was when he was asked if he'd decided whether he was going to plead guilty and he answered that he hadn't made that decision yet. Remember, the Crown had argued that these responses indicated guilt, since a person who was not guilty would automatically reply that they were of course going to plead not guilty. Neil Snelson argued that he was well within his rights to say these things to the police. And the BC Court of Appeal agreed. They said the trial judge was wrong to allow this evidence in the first place and should have cautioned the jury

after the statements were made. A new trial was ordered. Obviously, Jennifer's family and friends were devastated that they would need to relive it all again. But they held on to small hope that Neil could be convicted again, but sentenced to a longer term this time. A few months later, he was released on bail pending the second trial and then applied to have his trial moved from Kelowna, where there would be difficulties finding an impartial jury. Councils for both sides agreed that the trial should be moved to Kamloops, a city about two hours drive northwest from Kelowna. In the lead up to the second trial, Jean Cusworth was asked how she was feeling. She said she was prepared to hear the same gruesome details again if it meant justice for Jean. Quote,

Snelson's weak, cowardly attempts to avoid that justice is just a blip on the road. The second trial began in 2015. Neil Snelson was now 51, a lifetime away from the 29 years he was when Jennifer was murdered. This trial was much shorter than the first trial, as both parties had tightened up their cases. This time, the defense called no witnesses. Neil Snelson did not testify. And the jury only took one day to deliberate. They found him guilty, again, of manslaughter. The exact same verdict as last time. It was met with silence from the courtroom. Neil Snelson showed no reaction. At his sentencing hearing, Neil's lawyer said that his wife had left him after the first conviction in 2011 and that he's now estranged from three of

his four children. Neil Snelson was sentenced to 11 years in prison, less than the 15 years he got at his first trial. But this was reduced even further because of the time he'd already served, with credit given at a two-for-one ratio while awaiting trial. This meant that Neil had just one year and nine months left to serve. Again, Jennifer's family and friends couldn't believe it, with Gene Cussworth calling the sentence unbelievable and garbage. Quote, We don't have a justice system. We have a legal system, and it's badly flawed. Gene went on to say that Jennifer wanted to help make the world a better place and would have had a positive impact on the world. Quote, We know we can never bring her back, but we can try and give

her the justice she deserves. Despite being left with the emptiest feeling I've ever had in my entire life, I still say goodnight every evening to my daughter and tell her that I love her. Although there have been no further updates in the media, Neil Snelson is likely well and truly out on parole by now. Thanks for listening, and thanks also for all the reviews and messages of support and feedback. I really appreciate it. If you don't like listening to the ads, did you know you can hear every episode of Canadian True Crime ad-free on my exclusive Patreon feed? It only costs $2 a month and you get to support me as well. To learn more, just go to patreon.com slash canadian truecrime. I wanted to take a minute to say a huge thanks to the people who

are helping me out behind the scenes. The moderators in my group, Karen S1, Karen S2, and Kim A. Amanda H. helps me out with social media. Hailey Gray set up my merchandise store because my brain wasn't working properly. Lisa Strawn from the Crime and Precedence podcast helps me out a heap with technical questions and business stuff. And I obviously thank everybody who was out there helping me with research and writing at the end of the episode. You guys all rock. Thank you so much. This week's podcast suggestion is Let's Talk About Sex, a podcast out of Australia that discusses different cults. If you like my voice, wait until you hear Sarah's. I was totally blown away by her latest two-parter about Outreach International, a religious sect that started

50 years ago in Melbourne, Australia, and has been highly secretive over the last few decades. She spoke to two brave ex-members. It's not to be missed. Here is Sarah. Hi, I'm Sarah Steele and I host a podcast called Let's Talk About Sex. I look at a different cult each episode, examining the group's leadership, beliefs, recruitment methods, member experiences, and any notable incidents during its existence. It's a monthly podcast with a heavily researched deep dive storytelling style. That's Let's Talk About Sex and the website is L-T-A-S pod.com for all your podcast provider links. Hope you'll have a listen. This week I'm saying a huge thanks to these people who support

me on Patreon. Nancy P, Joanne T, Caitlyn M, Erin F, Colin C, Sky H, Anna G, and Dave R. This episode of Canadian True Crime was researched and written by me, and audio production was by Eric Crosby. The host of the Beyond Bazaar True Crime podcast voiced the disclaimer, and the Canadian True Crime theme song was written by We Talk of Dreams. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. I'll see you then. you