Dark Downeast - The Murder of Tashauna Jackson (Connecticut)

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

In the last episode of Dark Downeast, you heard the story of Denise Hart and her still unsolved homicide in Vermont. I mentioned in that episode the case of another woman who grew up in the same city and around the same people as Denise. So, that’s the story I’m going to tell you today – the story of a young mother who walked out the door and got into a waiting vehicle with someone she and her family thought they knew, only to have her life end in his hands.Check out The Deck episode, Linda "Lulu Ree" Ceasar (9 of Spades, Connecticut), to hear more about Lulu's case.  View source material and photos for this episode at: darkdowneast.com/tashaunajackson Dark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.Follow @darkdowneast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTokTo suggest a case visit darkdowneast.com/submit-case

In the last episode of Dark Down East, you heard the story of Denise Harkt and her still unsolved homicide in Vermont. I mentioned in that episode the case of another woman who grew up in the same city and around the same people as Denise. So that's the story I'm going to tell you today. The story of a young mother who walked out the door and got into a waiting vehicle with someone she and her family thought they knew, only to have her life end in his hands. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is the night of Tuesday, August 11th, 2015, when 24-year-old Tashauna Jackson walked out of her mother's apartment on Barber Street in Hartford, Connecticut. She stopped in for only a few minutes and said she was waiting for a ride.

According to reporting by David Owens and Nicholas Rondinoni for the Hartford Courant, Tashana's mother, Tasha Fitch, didn't see the car Tashana got into that night, or the person picking her up, but a telltale rumble led her to believe it was a guy named Robert Lee Graham. His truck was recognizably loud when it rolled down Barber Street. Where the pair was off to that night, what the plan was for their evening, the only people who know the truth are Tashana and Robert. What we do know is that Tashana never returned home. Tasha was immediately concerned when that Wednesday passed without any sign of her daughter. Tashana had a five-year-old son, Kamari, and she wouldn't be away from him

if she didn't have to be, certainly not without calling. Her mother waited as long as she could stand it before calling Hartford police to report Tashauna missing. As Tasha spoke anxiously into the phone, relaying all of the info she could to the officer on the other end, the man whose car Tashauna was last seen getting into was actually there. Robert Lee Graham watched as Tasha described her daughter to police and explained that Tashauna had never done this before, just not come home after a night out. Something had to be very wrong. The first public reporting about Tashana's disappearance wasn't until three days later, on August 15th. Nicholas Rondinoni writes for the Hartford Courant that Tashana got into a man's car on her own free will and police had since spoken with that man and located his vehicle.

The media was not publishing the name of the man, not yet. However, police stated in no uncertain terms that what they learned during the first crucial days of the search for Tashana left them extremely concerned for her safety. The search for Tashana Jackson began almost immediately all over Hartford and in neighboring communities. Her family and friends held a vigil on August 17th, and the next morning, August 18th, exactly a week after Tashana was last seen, those same family and friends joined law enforcement at the entrance of Keeney Park. The boundaries of the park stretched to the top of Barber Street, where Tashana was last seen, and police said that their investigation and conversations with witnesses so far had directed their search to that area. Keeney Park is one of New England's largest public parks and the largest in Hartford. Though

the landscape is pastoral and green and beautiful, complete with a public golf course and scenic walking paths, it's also been the setting of several unrelated homicide cases, some of which remain unsolved. Tasha was there with the search group, scouring the wooded areas on foot for any sign that her daughter had been in Keeney Park, and yet hoping they wouldn't find her. Tasha was wracked with mixed emotions, praying that she'd soon have answers about where her daughter might be. She maintained hope that she'd once again see her daughter alive, that her grandson would get his mom back, but she was preparing for any outcome. More than a dozen police dogs with their handlers sniffed furiously at the ground,

and as the volunteers dispersed through the several hundred-acre park, another contingent of searchers moved beyond the park's borders and walked along Granby Street and into the neighboring town of Bloomfield. The searchers on Granby Street spoke to passers-by and employees at businesses along the road, telling them they were looking for a 24-year-old black woman with facial piercings and several tattoos, asking if they'd seen anyone who matched that description. Instead of any reported sightings of Tashana, though, the volunteers followed a tip about something unusual behind a live butcher shop. R.A. Mason reports for NBC Connecticut that law enforcement searching

in another area responded to the site of the shop, and about 30 feet into a wooded area behind the building, they located a badly decomposed, mostly nude female body, partially concealed beneath some brush. Tashana's brother Andrew was at the scene as law enforcement photographed the body. He confirmed that the two tattoos belonged to his sister. Tashana's body was transported for autopsy, which was expected to take a few days up to a few weeks to complete. But investigators had already been treating her disappearance as a homicide. Several things just didn't sit right with police. Certainly, not least of all, was the man whose company she was in when Tashana was last seen alive.

59-year-old Robert Lee Graham was a known element in town Hartford. Case file documents show he was known by his nickname, O.G. David Owens reports for the Hartford. Case file documents show he was known by his nickname, O.G. David Owens reports for the Hartford Courant that of his almost 60 years on earth, Robert had spent about half of them behind bars on convictions of sexual and violent assault and even attempted murder. According to reporting in the Hartford Courant, Robert's first recorded offense was in 1972, when he was 16 years old. He robbed a college student at Knife Point. Within a few days, Robert was charged with a separate sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. He was later convicted of both sexual assault and robbery, and was given an indefinite sentence in the former Cheshire

Reformatory. At the time, the facility was intended to house offenders ages 16 to 24, separate from the adult prison population. Indefinite turned out to mean a little less than two years. Robert was paroled, and within four months, he was arrested on another sexual assault charge and later convicted. He received a 5 to 15-year sentence in prison and was released in February of 1983. About six months later, in July of 1983, Robert was accused in the stabbing death of 18-year-old Linda Lulu Reese Cesar in Keeney Park. It has been misreported that Robert was eventually convicted of Lulu's murder and served more than 15 years for that crime, but that's not accurate. It's also been reported that Robert was charged and acquitted of her murder,

but that's also not accurate. The charges against Robert in Lulu's case were dismissed without prejudice, meaning charges could be brought against him again in the future. A detective from the cold case unit has since been assigned to investigate Lulu Caesar's case, and Robert remains a suspect. However, there are other individuals who deserve a closer look in that case too. Lulu's case was covered in its entirety on another AudioChuck podcast, The Deck, and it includes an interview with the detective currently working on Lulu's case. I'll link that episode in the blog post for this episode so you can take a listen. About six more months after that accusation in Lulu Caesar's murder, Robert attacked again.

A woman named Betty Brown told her story of survival to David Owens of the Hartford Courant. Betty shared how, in 1984, she was 17 years old and living on the streets, using drugs, and involved with sex work. Robert took advantage of her vulnerable situation and offered her money. Betty voluntarily went with him, but things got violent when he threatened her with a knife. He bound her hands and legs, stabbed her repeatedly, put her body in a bag, and threw her over a balcony to the ground below, leaving her for dead. But Betty survived and she identified her attacker. Robert was convicted of first-degree assault and violating probation. His sentence? 15 years, suspended after eight years with five years probation. However, he was released from prison in 1989 and free to attack another woman six months later.

In May of 1990, Robert was charged with attempted murder after shooting his girlfriend Dawn Hudson in the face. He was finally convicted on that charge in January of 1993 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He served about 12 years and was released in 2005. Although his previous pattern showed that Robert typically re-offended within six months of his release, the next time his name landed on a list of suspects for a violent crime against a woman, publicly anyway, was in 2015 in Tashauna Jackson's case.

After all, he was the last person she was presumed to be with before she went missing. But there were other reasons to suspect Robert too. And when police realized the man Tashana was with on the night of August 11th was that Robert Lee Graham, they already had the feeling this was more than a mysterious disappearance. Interestingly, before Tashana's body was found, but after she was reported missing, on August 13th, police received a call from Robert. According to an affidavit, he claimed Tashana's friends and family were harassing and

accusing him of doing something to harm her. Following this report, police paid Robert a visit at his apartment on East Herald Street. Robert let police search his home and then voluntarily drove himself down to the police station for a formal interview in his pickup truck, the loud one that Toshana was believed to get into on the night she disappeared.

During his interview that day, Robert didn't deny he was with Toshana on the night she disappeared. He said they had an ongoing sexual relationship and he gave her money to pay rent that night. But he claimed he didn't give her a ride anywhere after that exchange and he didn't know where she was or what could have happened to her. Robert consented to a search of his vehicle

and police combed through it with a cadaver dog, but there was nothing concerning inside. No sign of a struggle, no blood, nothing that sounded alarm bells for law enforcement at the moment. Investigators weren't done with Robert yet, though. They had another conversation with him before Tashana's body was discovered, following a major tip. It turned out that Robert owned a second car, not just the recognizably loud pickup. Robert's minivan was sitting on a family member's property, abandoned there, after Tashana went missing. Investigators working on Tashana's case received a tip from Robert's stepbrother, saying that

a minivan belonging to Robert was sitting in his backyard off Edgewood Street in Hartford, and he didn't consent to it being there. The stepbrother believed Robert dumped it there sometime on August 13th because it wasn't there when he left for work. Tashana was still missing when investigators located the van right where Robert's half-brother said it would be. They immediately checked the vehicle for any sign of Tashana, but of course, they didn't find her there. However, what they did find raised all the alarm bells that failed to go off looking through his truck a few days earlier. During the previous interview with Robert,

detectives asked him where he got the noticeable scratches on his face. Robert said those injuries were from a car accident. And it turns out Robert was in an accident with his Honda van about a week before Tashauna disappeared, the same van that was now abandoned on his stepbrother's property. As reported by David Owens for the Hartford Courant, Robert was driving the van when he was in some sort of collision that caused front-end damage to the vehicle. So yes, the scratches could have been from the accident, but Tashauna's mother, Tasha, reported to police

that she had a conversation with Tashauna about a year earlier, and she said that if anyone ever tried to hurt her, she'd scratch them so her assailant's DNA would be under her fingernails. According to statements in an affidavit, the scratches didn't appear to detectives that they could have come from an airbag being deployed, as Robert claimed they had. Scratches aside, though, the accident was helpful to the investigation because it meant that an insurance adjuster had photographed the entire car following the crash.

Not just the exterior damage, but also the interior. Police obtained those photos, and they showed the back seat in Robert's van with all fabric fully intact. But when investigators looked inside it while it was still parked on the family member's property, the fabric that should have been covering the rear seats was torn off, exposing the foam cushions below. A floor mat seemed to be missing too, and there were stains in several places that looked suspiciously like blood. Police towed the van for further analysis, and then went looking for Robert. When police found Robert and asked him about his van, he told the detective it was somewhere in New Jersey. Having seen the van in Hartford with their own eyes,

the detective knew this was a bold-faced lie, and so they confronted Robert about it. Robert finally conceded that he wasn't telling the truth about the van, but he couldn't come up with an explanation as to why he lied. Robert then asked for a lawyer. Several days later, despite having asked for a lawyer already, Robert actually called police himself and said they could fully search his van and he signed off on the consent form.

When Robert's van was fully processed and searched, investigators found several concerning pieces of evidence. There was a gold post and ball similar to a piercing Tashana was known to have on her face. The 10 different suspicious stains throughout the van were also confirmed to be blood. Although the backbench seat was mostly bare with the upholstery missing, investigators discovered a small scrap of fabric wedged into a crevice on the side of the seat. That piece of fabric was also saturated with blood. The evidence would all be sent to a lab for DNA testing to see whose blood it was.

Investigators spoke to Robert Graham a third time after Tashana's body was found. Again, he called the police himself and voluntarily submitted to an interview. The detectives told Robert they found a blood-like substance in his van and asked him what happened to the backseat fabric. Why was it missing? Robert said Tashana was menstruating when they had sex in the van before she disappeared, so that's why they found the blood. And then a dog chewed up the backseat fabric.

But the placement of the blood didn't make sense if that story was anywhere close to the truth. An affidavit indicates that blood was found pooled in hard-to-reach places, like the rear right clothes hanging hook on the ceiling and the bottom of the rear hatch door. When the DNA analysis came back on one of those bloodstains found in Robert's van, it was confirmed to be Tashauna Jackson's blood. With that, even before the autopsy was complete and without Tashauna's cause of death, police announced they were seeking Robert Lee Graham as a suspect in her murder. By Friday night, August 21st, a bulletin circulated by police warned the public that Robert Lee Graham had

a history of violence and should be considered extremely dangerous. Though he'd been easy to find during the previous week whenever police came knocking at his apartment on East Herald Street, Robert didn't come to the door once police had an arrest warrant in hand. According to Elaine Griffin's reporting for the Hartford Courant, police finally found Robert hiding in the attic. Robert was arraigned that following Monday in a superior courtroom filled to the brim with at least two dozen of Tashana's family members. David Owens and Nicholas Rondinoni reports for the Hartford Courant that during the hearing, Robert's attorney asked for $100,000 bail, saying that the state didn't have enough evidence that proved his client was

responsible for Tashana's death. He argued that there was just, quote, a little bit of blood, and one witness who saw Tashana getting into Robert's car, and not even the car where the blood evidence was discovered. The defense attorney also argued that the only reason Tashana's DNA would have been in Robert's vehicle was because they had an ongoing sexual relationship, a statement Tashana's family has firmly denied. The judge ultimately went for an amount, 20 times what the defense asked for, and Robert was held on $2 million bail. He requested a preliminary hearing on the charges against him, which was required in cases where there's a possibility of a life sentence. The probable cause hearing would lay out the state's

case against him, with a lower burden of proof than what would be required at trial, to determine if it could move forward. Many of the same witnesses that would be expected to testify at trial also testified at the probable cause hearing. Tasha Fitch testified to seeing her daughter walk out the door that night, presumably to get into Robert's loud truck. She also explained how when she reported Tashauna missing, Robert was there with her and he was noticeably nervous. A friend of Tashauna's testified to seeing Tashauna actually get into Robert's truck on the night of August 11th and identified the facial piercings near her eye and below her lip, including a gold post and ball that was later found in Robert's van. A crime scene detective testified that the piercing was likely pulled from Tashana's face when she was removed from the van and dumped into the wooded area behind the butcher shop. By the time of the probable cause hearing in October of 2015,

Tashana's long-awaited autopsy was finally complete, though the results could be considered discouraging for the prosecution. Given the state of decomposition, with large areas of Tashana's chest, neck, and face degraded by the time she was discovered over a week following her disappearance, it was difficult to determine what exactly caused her death. Tashana's body didn't have any signs of trauma or injury. However, with the circumstances of her disappearance and how she was discovered, the medical examiner ruled she died as the result of homicidal violence. Additionally, the autopsy found that Tashana was not menstruating at the time of her death, which conclusively refuted Robert's previous claims about the blood in his van. The fact that Tashana's death was ruled a homicide,

but the medical examiner could not pinpoint what specifically caused her death, was a point of contention for the defense. If the prosecution couldn't say how their suspect killed the victim and couldn't point to a murder weapon, how then could the suspect be charged with murder? When challenged on this by the defense team, the medical examiner explained that while it was accurate to say she didn't know how exactly Tashana died, it remained possible that the injuries that caused her death were to the areas that were badly decomposed by the time she was discovered. For example, any injuries to the soft tissue of Tashana's head or neck wouldn't have been visible during the autopsy. If she'd been stabbed in that area or strangled, it was impossible to know. But the ME remained certain that this was not death by natural causes nor an

accident. The toxicology results were clear, and the fact that Tashana was found nude except for a bra was a strong indication that she did not end up in the woods that way on her own. As far as the ME and the prosecution was concerned, there was no question that Toshana was murdered. When the state had laid out the entire summary of evidence against Robert Lee Graham, a judge ruled that there was enough to proceed to trial. Robert was offered but rejected a plea deal, and jury selection finally began more than two years later,

in November of 2017. The trial of Robert Lee Graham brought to light other evidence and testimony from expert witnesses to prove that he was the person responsible for causing Tashauna Jackson's death. A sticking point in the state's case, one that could prevent a jury from finding guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, was the fact that the state medical examiner could never determine her precise cause of death, ruling it only homicidal violence based on the totality of the circumstances. To further explain why it was impossible to determine how she died, but also provide a few suggestions based on the condition of Tashana's body, the prosecution brought in the state entomologist, a scientist who specializes in the study of insects. The condition of Tashana's body

and the state of decomposition it was in when discovered was largely caused by the presence of maggots. The in-depth details of this testimony are graphic and unnecessary for the purposes of this podcast, but in summary, the entomologist explained that black blowflies only lay eggs in body cavities or wounds and do not enter through intact skin. Based on where insects were found to Tashana's neck that would have resulted from strangulation or stabbing. The state laid out all the other evidence, the photos of Robert's van before and after Tashana disappeared, the stain in the van that DNA testing proved to be Tashana's blood,

Robert being the last known person with Tashana the night she disappeared, and his behavior when police tried to arrest him. The state argued that hiding in the attic was a demonstration of Robert's consciousness of guilt. Only one witness testified in Robert's defense. A former colleague of the medical examiner disputed Tashana's cause of death was homicidal violence.

Dr. Ira Canfor testified that he'd never heard of a cause of death being listed that way, and if he were in charge of determining the cause of death, he would have labeled Toshana's manner of death undetermined. Dr. Canfor testified that in an advanced state of decomposition, it's hard to make a thorough examination of internal organs, which would have given more clues if Tashana's cause of death was natural and not, in fact, homicidal violence. Robert did not testify in his own defense. His attorney instead summed up their arguments against the state's case in closing statements, suggesting again that there was very little of Tashana's blood in the van. It could be explained away by some harmless injury, like a bloody nose. If a murder had

been committed in the vehicle, the defense argued, wouldn't you expect to see more than a little blood? The defense also told the jury that the state had no witnesses who saw Robert kill Tashana, and he had maintained his innocence from the beginning. There was no weapon, no motive, and no hard proof that their client was guilty of the charges he faced. For their part, the prosecution told the jury that Robert lied easily and often, but he wasn't very good at it because they'd demonstrated through testimony and evidence that he'd been caught in several of his lies about Tashana and the van. Circumstantial or not, the evidence was evidence, and in the state's eye, it proved Robert killed Tashana. Nowhere during the trial did the prosecution

attempt to demonstrate Robert's motive for killing Tashana, but of course that is not their burden. During closing arguments, however, the prosecutor said that this was a man who was obsessed with a younger beautiful woman who was not obedient to his expectations for money he may have given her. Whatever happened in that van began with Tashana leaving with Robert by choice. But then something happened, and Robert took her life into his hands and ended it. By Monday, January 22, 2018, the case was left up to the jury to decide. They returned a day and a half later with their verdict. Robert Graham, guilty of murder. Tashana's mother, Tasha, spoke to reporters following Robert's conviction.

She told David Owens of the Hartford Courant, quote, This is not just a victory for my daughter, but a victory for every, in March of 2018, Tashana's family was invited to make victim impact statements and address Robert directly about the pain he caused them. However, as was his right, Robert asked that he be permitted to leave the courtroom so he didn't have to listen to what Tashana's family had to say. The judge seemed reluctant as he granted Robert permission to leave and instead sit in a small room connected to the courtroom where he was out of sight, but still able to hear everything. Robert wasn't pleased and cursed out his lawyers as he moved to the other room. Tashana's family spoke with emotion about the daughter, sister, granddaughter, and niece they lost. They reflected on the mother

taken from her young son, Kumari, who was just five years old when she was killed. As he began to realize what it meant, he asked his grandmother, so my mom's not going to see me on the first day of kindergarten? It was one of the million milestones that he would never share with his mother, that Tashauna would never get to witness. When Robert was returned to his place in the courtroom, he got a turn to address Tashauna's family, but they chose to leave the courtroom too. Robert continued to profess his innocence to the judge but said he felt bad for Tashana's mother and grandfather. Before the judge handed down Robert's sentence, Tashana's family members returned to their seats and the judge told them they didn't miss anything important. The judge decided to forego the typically long

explanation of the sentence imposed and why it was deemed the most appropriate for the convicted criminal at hand. This judge, Hartford Superior Court Judge David P. Gold, decided that the explanation was simple. Quote, They build jails for people like you. End quote. Rehabilitation and deterrence were not considered. Rather, Robert Lee Graham had demonstrated his inability to learn from his past and previous years he'd spent in prison for his laundry list of crimes, a majority of them violent ones against women. With that, Judge Gold sentenced

Robert to life in prison. Graham cursed at Tashuna's family as they celebrated, and he told them he was going to win his appeal. However, that never came to pass. Court records show that Robert died in prison on January 8th, 2021 due to complications relating to COVID-19. He served less than three years for Tashauna's murder before he died. As far as I can tell, it is the shortest prison sentence he'd served for a violent crime against a woman in his life. Robert Lee Graham Heddy documented history of violent behavior, particularly against women. His actions were not isolated incidents, but part of a broader, consistent pattern that the justice system, a system that is in many ways seen as a way to rehabilitate, failed to effectively address. Tashana and her surviving family members paid the highest price in wake of these systemic failures. is not just a heartbreaking loss, but a stark reminder of the consequences of leniency and the gaps in our legal system

that allow repeat offenders to evade prolonged accountability. I've wondered if Robert Lee Graham might be connected to other unsolved cases in Connecticut or in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he had some connections, given his established pattern of violence. Between his release from prison in 2005

following his conviction for shooting Don Hudson and Tashana's murder in 2015, there was a significant stretch of time during which no known violent attacks against women were attributed to him. Is it possible he committed other crimes that have yet to be identified? I don't know the answer to that question right now,

but I hope that investigators are doing their due diligence in cases with similar circumstances. Tashana's murder was one felt by an entire community, not just by her mother Tasha or her son Kumari, who, with the help of family, published a happy birthday message to his mother in the newspaper the year following her death, but also for complete strangers who felt the crushing blow of a young life ended by senseless violence. The online memorial for Toshana has a guestbook 80 entries long, with messages of support and condolences from family, friends, and those who had never even met her. Tashana could have been anybody's daughter. As I researched Tashana's story, I learned about a non-profit organization based in Hartford called Mothers United Against

Violence that supported Tashana's family through their trauma and grief. The nonprofit organization was created to spread safety, love, and unity while advocating for justice among communities in Hartford that are historically underserved and lack access to an equitable criminal justice system, economic resources, mental health resources, hospital support, and educational tools. The services they offer include the Circle of Compassion, which provides direct support to mothers and families impacted by the loss of a

child or family member, as well as victim advocacy and help with applying for Victim of Crimes Act funds. Mothers United Against Violence also offers a hospital-based violence intervention program, which provides support for victims of violence both pre- and post-hospital visits. Their advocacy and support work is a vital resource for families like Tashana's who have been impacted by violent crime. To learn more and to support the work of Mothers United Against Violence, visit muavct.com. Be sure to follow the show on Instagram at darkdowneast. This platform is for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones,

and for those who are still searching for answers. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East. Dark Down East is a production of Kylie Media and Audiocheck. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?