Going West: True Crime - Jennifer Lockmiller // 236

Episode Date: September 17, 2022

In August of 1993, a 22-year-old college student in Illinois was found dead in her apartment, strangled and stabbed with a pair of scissors. With numerous potential suspects in the realm of possibly, one was convicted. But was he really behind it? Or was it someone else all along? This is the story of Jennifer Lockmiller. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Herald Review: https://herald-review.com/news/local/25-years-after-jennifer-lockmiller-of-decatur-was-murdered-her-killer-remains-a-mystery/article_8714a8b7-7766-5de2-8afc-1c5e85364899.html 2. The Pantagraph: https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/73322703/?terms=jennifer%20lockmiller&match=1 3. Herald and Review: https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/92251959/?terms=jennifer%20lockmiller&match=1 4. The Pantagraph: https://www.newspapers.com/image/73322865 5. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21530505/jennifer-lockmiller 6. Herald and Review: https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/77289909/?terms=%22jennifer%20lockmiller%22&match=1 7. The National Registry of Exonerations: https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3018 8. Alan Beaman's Appeal: https://npr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com/legacy/sites/wglt/files/201912/BeamanOpinion191217.pdf 9. The Forensic Examiner: https://www.all-about-psychology.com/support-files/wrongful-conviction-of-alan-beaman.pdf 10. Rock River Current: https://www.rockrivercurrent.com/2021/09/22/day-by-day-rockford-resident-alan-beaman-marks-milestone-in-life-after-1995-wrongful-conviction/ 11. Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-08-18-9408180052-story.html 12. Herald and Review: https://www.newspapers.com/image/479329140 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans, I'm your host Teef. Hey, I'm your host, Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Howdy everybody, hope you're having a great week thus far as it is coming to a close We are in the stresses of our week because we are yet again moving But we're moving to our house down in LA permanently, so it's Just been wild. Yeah, it's been wild but on on the lighter note We are getting a rescue dog. Yay. We're getting a bulldog rescue who is brought into a stray,

just a couple weeks or brought into a stray, brought into a shelter as a stray just a few weeks ago. And he's so sweet, we're gonna name him Dewey after Dewey from Scream. And we're getting him just a couple days after this episode releases and we can't wait. He's gonna be our mascot. So there's some good news, a little update on our lives.

Also, the dark parts is finally coming back. I'm so excited. Can't wait. Yes, we just released a kind of fun little teaser trailer for that on our going west social media accounts as well as our dark parts accounts. If you want to check it out and get kind of a little bit of a taste of what's to come, the new episodes are coming out October 6th. We're going to release I think to that day on drop day

And then we're gonna do one every Thursday and we cannot wait that show is so fun and spooky and in perfect time for spooky season Yes, it is all right enough of the news. Oh wait before I forget Thank you so much to Kyle for recommending today's case if it weren't for you We would not have known about it. All right, guys, this is episode 236 of Going West. So let's get into it. Thank you. In August of 1993, a 22-year-old college student in Illinois was found dead in her apartment, strangled and stabbed with a pair of scissors. With numerous potential suspects in the realm of possibility. One was convicted,

but was he really behind it? Or was it someone else all along? This is the story of Jennifer Locke Miller. Jennifer Lynn Locke Miller was born on January 11, 1971, to parents Norma and Richard, joining her brother's Richard Jr., Mark, John and Paul. So this was a family of seven. And as the youngest of five children and the only girl, a family friend remembers, quote, she was their world, and described her as a charming, with big, green eyes and a winning smile. Jennifer grew up in Decatur, Illinois, about a 45-minute drive east from Illinois's capital city of Springfield,

and about three hours southwest of Illinois's largest city, Chicago. The Lock Miller family lived in the South Shore's neighborhood of Decatur along the banks of Lake Decatur, and they were active in their community and their local Catholic Church, and all were successful and very hardworking. Although she was the youngest member of the clan, Jennifer was no exception. According to her mom, Norma, quote, she was a brilliant, brilliant girl. She taught herself to read when she was three and a half. She had a way with words from a young age

and was passionate about writing. Her family described her as artistic and a great writer and a poet. She also loved music, especially music from the 1960s, and in particular, the Beatles, even naming the family dog Abby after the Beatles' Abby Road album. And so this was, you know, just,

since she was born in 1971, that music was, you know, not too far off from her. No, it was popular around that time. But yeah, so, but still a little bit behind her, and her mom remembers, quote, she always said she was born in the wrong era So you know, maybe she had grown up in the 60s would have been more her style But she wrote for several student publications while she was in high school including reviewing new album releases

And avid runner she placed second in the 50 meter dash at her all-state track meet and She placed second in the 50-meter dash at her All-State Track meet. And between the ages of 7 and 14, she studied piano at nearby Millican University and frequently gave honors piano recitals. So she was like all over the map with her creativity and just activity in general. As a freshman in high school, Jennifer decided to lose a few pounds and started dieting and exercising, but it quickly became an obsession, and she was diagnosed with anorexia. Her eating disorder was an ongoing struggle for her, and she was hospitalized several times for this. She chose to use her passion for journalism to speak out publicly about the disease,

in order to help others who were struggling. She in Norma even organized a local chapter of anorexia nervosa and associated disorders, a national support group. Her mom said that she just really wanted to help others. Jennifer's anorexia recurred during college, but she began taking medication for it and was set on working through it. Her mom proudly said, quote, she overcame an eating disorder and made straight A's while doing it.

Jennifer herself said at the time, quote, I'm confident I'm through the worst of it. I've had to realize that this is something I'm going to have to struggle with in varying degrees on a daily basis. In 1989, Jennifer graduated from Eisenhower High School with honors, started attending Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington and pledged Capacapa Gamma sorority. But ultimately, she decided to transfer

to Illinois State University in normal Illinois because they had a journalism major, and that's what she wanted to do. She also made the Dean's List every semester in college. So she was just really hard working, really cared about school, cared about her grades, and cared about her upcoming career. In August of 1993, Jennifer was a 22-year-old honor student majoring in communications and journalism with a minor in sociology. She was a staff writer for the Vadeette, which is the student-run news organization

of Illinois State University, and also wrote for the newspapers weekly magazine, Molly Coddle. Interesting name for a magazine, I don't know what that means. But her future as a journalist seemed very promising and bright, and she even had the opportunity to interview Bucky Bush, who is President George H.W. Bush's brother, after attending a fundraiser with her father Richard, at which Bucky was present.

So she was just really out there trying to talk to people and work on her writing, which is why I think it's really awesome that she did that with her eating disorder that she tried to get it out there and write about it and use it to help her in her career and help other people. So Jennifer lived alone in a one-bedroom apartment at 412 North Main Street in Normal, right across the street from ISU's main campus. On Wednesday, August 25, 1993, Jennifer attended a class in the morning as usual, and left campus at around 11.50 am to return home, not knowing that she would never come out again. On the afternoon of Saturday, August 28, Morgan Keefe, who is Jennifer's best friend, checked on her amid growing concern after not having heard from her in a few days. Morgan unknowingly stepped

into the scene of her best friend's murder. Jennifer was lying face-up with her clothing and disarray. Her shirt was pulled up and her shorts and underwear were around one ankle. Her shirt was pulled up and her shorts and underwear were around one ankle. There were indications of sexual assault right off the bat, and she had been strangled to death with a ligature that at the time was reported as some type of cord or rope, but was later found out to be the cord from her alarm clock radio. A box fan had been placed over her face, and a bag of trash was left on the couch, but other than that, there were no visible signs of a struggle and no evidence of a break-in. Jennifer's downstairs neighbor claimed that he had heard someone slam the door to Jennifer's

apartment around 2 p.m. on the day she was believed to have been killed. It's always nice when somebody has, just like in the last episode that we just covered on Jennifer Lee, when somebody hears something in a certain time that can really help with the timeline, especially when you get to the scene and you're like, when did this happen? If someone has been missing for a while,

so it's nice that the neighbor heard this and is it relevant? We'll see. So he heard music coming from the stereo and heard the door open and then slam shut again. Later around 4.30pm, the stereo was turned off and the television was turned on. And it remained on until Jennifer's body was found three days later. Her purse with cash was still inside and school backpack were nearby undisturbed and the air conditioner was on. But most disturbingly of all, she had

been stabbed in the chest with a pair of scissors. I cannot imagine how her friend felt like walking into the scene, especially seeing all of these horrifying things and then to see that she was stabbed with the parasizzers is so horrific and to be someone who cares about her so much and see her like this, cannot imagine. But also, the other thing I wanted to say about this particular scenario is that

I find it so much scarier when something like this happens during the day. So the college town just really reeled from the news of such a brutal and senseless murder of one of their own. Morgan, again who is Jennifer's best friend, remembered her as bright, beautiful, and beyond her years in maturity, saying quote, Jennifer was always the smartest person I knew. She was meant for greater things.

She would have wanted to be remembered as a good person. If you have any part of her in you, don't let her go. Talk about her. Upon hearing of her death, fellow writers at the Vadeette started putting together a touching tribute to her and also reran what they considered her very best story, which was a preview of an experimental play based on Alice in Wonderland.

News editor Candy Gendro said quote, A good hour after we found out, we couldn't do anything. It was very grim around here for a while. What got us back on track was wanting to do a tribute for her. She was a sweet, sweet girl. She was a very talented young lady. Her tight-knit family was so devastated by the loss. Her brother Mark remembers feeling numb and stunned, and his own daughter penned a heartfelt

tribute to her beloved Aunt Jennifer, which she read at Jennifer's memorial. And it said, quote, Jennifer, I love you even though you're in heaven. I will still love you, Aunt Jennifer. I love you so much. I still miss you. Lord, wash my tears away. Take all my sadness away from me.

Jennifer, you can help me. Don't let me be sad. At the end of the celebration for her short but accomplished life, she was remembered as a loving sister, aunt, and friend. A poem she wrote adorned the back of the memorial program and it read, nothing more than all those little deaths before. Before investigators established a timeline and solidified that she had been in class on the 25th, the day that she was last seen in three days before she was found murdered, the corner determined that her body had been left for between two and four days, making

it difficult to determine when she was last alive, who she had been with, or what she had been doing. However, in the days following the murder, police announced that they have zeroed in on at least one suspect, in acquaintance of Jennifer's, but had yet to make an arrest. The acquaintance had obtained a lawyer and refused to speak with police after an initial interview. For the time being, they referred to him as John Deau. Norma lamented that her daughter was too kind, and that that was why this unjust fate had

befallen her, saying, quote, she was trusting and naive. She didn't look for the worst in people. She was too good to people. She didn't want to hurt them. And it makes me sad that those wonderful traits can be looked at badly because it's not her fault that other people have bad intentions, but we hear this a lot. That people say that these victims are too nice and that they're accepting of people and they don't expect people to be bad, which isn't those are not bad traits. It's a really good trait.

These monsters are turning those good traits into seemingly bad traits. Right. It's just so sad that that's a thing. But anyway, so focus shifted to Jennifer's Gilted Ex-boyfriend, 21-year-old Alan Beeman, who was a student at Illinois Wesleyan University where Jennifer had transferred from, which, by the way, is literally two minutes

from Illinois State University, so these schools are extremely close. So she wasn't transferring far when she went to Illinois State? Literally a two-minute drive. Yeah. So Jennifer's friend Morgan, who found her body, called their relationship Stormy. And according to reports from friends and peers,

they had broken up and gotten back together as many as 18 times. Damn. That's a lot. Yeah, it is a lot. So Morgan pointed blame to Alan from the beginning, even telling police when they first arrived at the scene that she already knew who did it.

So that really goes to show you how Morgan felt about Alan if she believes that he's capable of murder. Yeah, absolutely. Or at least that he's, you know, they had such a bad relationship that she wouldn't have been surprised if it was him. True. So obviously not a good look for Alan. Morgan also told law enforcement that Jennifer had confided in the months leading up to her

murder that she had been afraid of him, and that he had threatened to kill himself if she left him. Morgan called him extremely possessive, and also reported that Alan had one-strength nail polish remover and broken Jennifer's front door down to get into her apartment after a fight. So, thinking back to the crime scene details, knowing this wasn't a robbery gone wrong since nothing was taken, not even the cash from her purse, and seeing how angry this murderer must have been to kill her the way they did. So at this point, Alan does look like a really good suspect.

Yeah. Going back to the previous comment, what is the nail polish, drinking nail polish have to do with him breaking into her apart? I don't know. I feel like that was maybe like a threat, you know? Oh, okay. Like because he had said that he would kill himself. Right, right.

So I'm thinking it's correlated to that. I didn't see specific details about that, but I'm thinking that that was maybe coincide. You're definitely right, you're definitely right. So Jennifer and Alan began their tumultuous relationship in July of 1992 and called it quits in July of 1993 about a month before Jennifer was killed. A search of her apartment revealed letters written

by Alan to Jennifer stating that he loved her quote, more passionately than Romeo did Juliet, more hopelessly than Ophelia did Hamlet, more eventually than Medea Jason. He continued by saying, don't worry, I won't kill anybody, I don't believe in that, which is definitely suspicious in itself. Alan was reportedly trying to rekindle things with Jennifer at the time of her murder, was jealous of her moving on and dating other people, and suspected her of cheating on him when they were together.

Jennifer had started casually seeing Alan's friend in former roommate, Michael Swain. Which, I can't imagine how much that would have enraged Alan more. Sure, right? Yeah. But there were even reports that Michael had moved in with Jennifer, although these were never addressed officially, and it seems strange that Jennifer's body was left in her home for days if she had shared that apartment with her boyfriend. Though Michael was interviewed, he had an alibi for the window of time when investigators believed that Jennifer was killed. August 25th, around 12 p.m., immediately after she was last seen in class. So this would mean, since they believe this, that means that she went home and was murdered then.

So did somebody, was somebody waiting for her inside? Did somebody follow her inside and ambush her? Like, these are the kinds of questions that you'd ask. Two very good questions. Yeah, if that's their timeline. So that's what we're probably thinking happened to her. So Michael was proven to be working at a bookstore in Elmhurst, Illinois, which is almost two hours away in the suburbs of Chicago.

Another former flame of Jennifer's, Stacey Gates, who is a male, was also considered. Stacey apparently moved near normal just to be closer to her, but he was also clear to suspicion when he was found to be at work over a half hour away at the time. So Jennifer's tumultuous ex-Allen maintained his innocence as well and claimed to be over 100 miles away, so more than a two hour drive away, at his parent's house in Rockford, Illinois. So Allen worked overnight shifts at his uncle's grocery store, and said that he had returned home in the morning, but was asleep at his parents' home during the day on August 25th. Two hours away.

The distance between Jennifer's home in normal and Alan's parents' home in Rockford, which is a city in Northern Illinois, closer to the border of Wisconsin, was 139 miles or 225 kilometers away. So this gives you, I mean, that's pretty far. Yeah, that's a big distance. Alan's mother had been out running errands that day, so there was nobody to confirm that Alan had actually been at his parent's house like he's claiming, but she returned for the day at 3 p.m. and then awoke Alan for dinner around 6 p.m.

Alan maintained that there was no way he could have left work, driven to normal, murder Jennifer, and made it back in time. But prosecutors on behalf of the state of Illinois argued that he could have done it if he drove only slightly over the speed limit. So they're saying it's possible, but it's still like he would have had to have been really quick. Yeah.

So in May, but they're saying it's still possible, and because of that, in May of 1994, Alan Beaman was arrested for the murder of Jennifer Locke Miller. So after Alan was arrested, he was released on a cash bail of $100,000, but his freedom didn't last. In a tearful statement at the trial, Alan Red quote, I'm in sorrow for the lockmiller family. My prayers are with them, but I maintain on the soul of my grandfather, my soul and everything I believe I did not kill Jennifer Lynn Lockmiller. And this is tough because on one hand, this guy seems to be a manipulative, emotionally

abusive and aggressive young man, which is why Jennifer was apparently afraid of him. But his timeline is interesting because it relies pretty much on whether or not his mom is lying too. Like it would have been a four hour drive at least, or probably even more, to normal and then back to Rockford. Right. Which is possible since his mom got home at 3pm that day, but this would

mean that he knew he wanted to kill her and drove straight over there and straight back, and then either went to bed at his parents house or pretended to sleep. But because his only alibi for the day is being alone in his parents house, that can't be proven. So, does this information alone mean that he's a killer? Yeah, I mean, it's hard to say, without physical evidence, it would be hard to prosecute him on no evidence at all.

You would think, but then of course they're saying, oh, well, she was afraid of him and he was all these other things and he could have done it because he could have had the time if he drove over the speed limit. But it doesn't seem like it's really enough. But that's not how the justice system works. Like, I get that they had a relationship and I get what you're saying about, you know, him being emotionally abusive and all these different things, manipulative,

but you cannot prosecute someone on that alone. Well, I agree. And that is the problem with this case as you guys will find out. But carry on. So while it was unsuccessful, Allen's defense team tried to paint a picture of promiscuity in drug use on behalf of Jennifer, alleging that she had been dating multiple men while she and Allen were on and off again, and that she had also been smoking marijuana and taking prescription narcotics, she'd obtained from a drug dealer. Because, you know, smoking weed leads to being murdered.

Like, that doesn't make any sense. And I understand the relevance of trying to show that there's other potential suspects, but like, that last part's a bit of a stretch. Yeah. Also, dating around and smoking some weed is completely normal behavior for like any college student, but the defense team saw no other recourse, but to pen Jennifer's death on choices she herself had made. In the words of the prosecution, quote,

Did we look at Mr. Michael Swain? You bet we did. Did we look at Stacey Gates? You bet we did. Did we look at a lot of people and interview a lot of witnesses? You bet we did. And guess who sits in this courtroom with the gap in his alibi still unclosed even after all of this? After a three-week trial, Alan was convicted of killing his former girlfriend,

22-year-old Jennifer Locke Miller in May of 1995, and he was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Jennifer's community, though heartbroken, seemed satisfied with the ruling, and there was no movement in the case for over a decade. But in the years following his sentencing, Allen's legal team remained hard at work, trying to proclaim his innocence. They all teamed up with the Northwestern University School

of Law Center on wrongful convictions. And finally, in 2008, the Supreme Court of Illinois was presented with enough ex-copatory evidence to allow Allen to be released from prison. Fingerprints on the clock radio whose court was used to strangle Jennifer belong to three people. Her boyfriend, Michael Swain, her ex-boyfriend, Alan Beeman, and a third from an unidentified person. I feel like out of all these, you know, obviously multiple people's DNA is on this, so it makes sense if Alan and Michael had been there, maybe they touched the clock, but to

know that there's a third person and we don't know whose DNA that is, that's pretty sus. Yeah, it is. So her body and clothing revealed DNA from two unknown male DNA profiles, which I think is also big, but neither of which matched that of Alan Beeman. But of course, I want to also mention that it is easy to pass DNA. So like, for example, if it was on her shoulder, maybe somebody brushed up against her. But still, there was DNA from two unknown men. So one of them could have been her killer. But Alan's defense team also relied heavily on the case against John Doe, remember John

Doe? Otherwise known as Larby John Murray. So Larby had been discussed at length in the investigation and trial, but his identity remained concealed. According to the prosecutor in the first trial in 1995, John Doe had, quote, nothing to do with this case. It was later revealed that assistant state's attorney john soke had concealed evidence that would have implicated larby including the fact that larby had not completed a polygraph

and that he had a history of domestic violence that's a huge ball drop yeah so they're saying i i i don't get that so they're saying that he's not relevant at all and the very first trial uh... but then it's like okay okay, yeah, he actually is really relevant because why would they be talking about him otherwise? Right, so I don't know why the prosecutor said that.

Sorry, somebody's gonna come at me for repeating what you just said, but I'm just trying to be clear about what we're talking about here. I'm all about clearing things up. So yeah, I mean, that's the problem with this, is these are two conflicting pieces of information. And if there is something that this other, there is evidence that could prove that somebody else could have been behind this, that should have been presented in Alan's trial.

That could have exonerated him. Yeah, in the first place. Right, which is why this case is so frustrating. So in the 48 page appeal filed by the Supreme Court of Illinois on behalf of Allen, the evidence against Larby was damning. Oh, let's talk about that. So Larby, a student at Illinois Wesleyan University, like Allen was, and like Jennifer had previously been, was a known drug dealer and had also reportedly sold marijuana and prescription narcotics to Jennifer, and she was known to owe him money.

He was also found to be in possession of and selling cocaine and steroids and was taking steroids himself. Alan testified that one night when he had come by her apartment hoping to see her, he had found them there together. Larby lived just a mile and a half away from Jennifer, and he also had a criminal history of domestic violence against his girlfriend Debbie McAway, and according to Debbie, he had recently begun using steroids and had been behaving erratically, and it also been physically violent towards her. He also had no alibi for the day and time

when Jennifer was killed, telling police that he was at home alone at the time. And Alan also was apparently home alone, but we know that he was at work overnight, and we know that he was two hours away. So I feel like that versus Larby having no alibi and being in the area at the time and being an aggressively behaved

man. Seems like a better suspect. Yeah, way better. So in his initial interview with police, he said that he had been out of town on Wednesday, August 25th, and that he had left town the day prior. Debbie, however, corrected this account, telling police that he had actually left later in the day on August 25th, so after 12pm when Jennifer was believed to have been murdered. Which is a big detail, and this just means he was caught in a lie, assuming that Debbie

is telling the truth. So Larby submitted to a polygraph test, but failed to follow the instructions, so the examiner ended the session. He agreed to come back for another one, but failed to follow the instructions, so the examiner ended the session. He agreed to come back for another one, but he never did. According to police, he was acting evasive and nervous. Which I will just add is fair. Anybody being questioned by a police might be a little nervous, but it is, it is a good detail to have. Yeah. So during his appeal, Alan Beaman and his defense team

accused the prosecution of withholding valuable evidence against this John Doe, who we now know, is Larby. That would have exonerated Alan and implicated the person that they felt was actually responsible for Jennifer's death. Larby John Murray. According to the appeal, quote, details regarding the timing of bemen's activities had also not been disclosed at trial. This information could have initially eliminated bemen as a suspect because the prosecution's evidence against him was based on the fact that

all other suspects were accounted for at the time of the murder. Which is not true, which is just devastating. Now, based on the omitted evidence against Laurie John Murray and the DNA evidence found to be present at the scene of the murder, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned Alan Beaman's conviction on May 22nd, 2008, after he had already served 13 years in prison. On January 29, 2009, prosecutors officially dropped all charges against Allen for the murder

of Jennifer Locke Miller. Allen Beaman was awarded just $182,000 and a certificate of innocence in exchange for the 13 years in prison that he spent for a crime he didn't commit. In January of 2015, the governor of Illinois at the time who is Pat Quinn issued him an official pardon. And today, Alan is 49 years old and says he's no longer bitter about what happened. Saying quote,

Am I angry? Yes. Do I want accountability? Yes. But I wouldn't describe myself as bitter about it anymore. I'm looking ahead and I'm not looking back. I'm not going to let my frustrations in the past take over and keep me in prison for the rest of my life too.

Emotionally and mentally. Shortly after his release, he met a woman named Gretchen at his church and they were married and had two daughters. His life now revolves around his family and he even coaches his daughter's soccer team. So he's come a long way from the terrified 23-year-old sentence to prison. Alan recalls being self-destructive, smoking non-stop and losing so much weight that he weighed 130 pounds at 5 foot 9 inches tall. He says that there was a time when he wanted to die, but eventually he said he decided

to try and make the best of it. He quit smoking, started exercising, got involved with the on-site church, got a job in the kitchen, and even worked with hospice care patients. Last year marked 13 years since he was released, the same amount of time that he spent in prison. Now, you're probably wondering what happened to Larby John Murray, rightfully so. The short answer is nothing.

While there was enough evidence to release Alan, there was apparently not enough evidence to convict Larby or anyone else. And probably because so much time had passed due to this negligence. But anyway, John, I- well keep calling him John. Larby! Larby John Murray went on to study at north western university and now lives in rockford ironically where alan and his family live selling real estate under the name john murry so i wasn't wrong about the

thing i guess i don't know so one theory that emerged before fingers were pointed at the men that jennifer dated was a similarity to the death of de Starks and Carolyn Jettin. Debbie Starks was a 16-year-old girl who had been out for a bike ride in her hometown of Evanston, Illinois, before being kidnapped, murdered, and thrown in Lake Michigan. And she was found the very next day. Jesse Anthony Wallace, who lived in Normal, Illinois, and worked in Bloomington, which is right next to Normal, and Lee V. Graham were arrested for the murder five months later.

But Jesse managed to get off on a technicality and served just five years in prison. When Lee refused to admit fault, Jesse took a plea deal and admitted only to concealing a body. Two years after his release in 1994, so one year after Jennifer's murder, meaning he was free at the time, he raped and murdered 12-year-old Carolyn Jettin, who also lived in normal. When he was arrested, 27-year-old Jesse Anthony Wallace hung himself in his cell, never able to give closure to either family. So the similarities bore enough resemblance to Jennifer's 1993 murder that it was speculated

that Jesse may have been involved, but because he took his own life as soon as he was apprehended, the possibility was never pursued. And again, I mean, he was out of prison when Jennifer was killed, so it's definitely possible, but that is why this case is so frustrating, like they focus way too much on Alan, but there just wasn't enough actual evidence that pointed to him anyway. And I get why they went after him,

but there were other people in the realm of possibility, including a total stranger. Yeah, and I'm wondering when they were able to make the connection between Jesse and possibly Jennifer's murder, because if they had done it at that same time, they could have pulled DNA evidence. Yeah, I also wonder. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah.

They could have actually determined if that unidentified males DNA was actually Jesse's. Right, but we've covered cases like this before where police just really get their eyes on one person and they push it really hard because in their eyes their like this seems like the most probable situation which I do get because of all of the circumstantial evidence that we discussed earlier, but it's also like we're not sure, so let's just, you know. earlier, but it's also like, we're not sure,

so let's just, you know. Yeah, but that's the problem with this case is there's just so much circumstantial evidence and not enough physical evidence. Exactly. So, tragically, Jennifer's case remains unsolved and has seemingly become overshadowed by the men involved in the case, clouding who the true victim is. To keep her memory alive, the Lockmiller family established a scholarship in Jennifer's name, for gifted aspiring writers at her alma mater, Eisenhower High School. Her father Richard Lockmiller

died in 2012 at the age of 83, and her mother Norma died last summer in 2021 at the age of 92. Norma said in an interview before her death quote, "'Genifer is still on our minds constantly, all day, every day. She's the first thing I think about in the morning, and the last thing I think about before I go to bed. She was our only daughter. She was a joy to us all her life. We will never get over the death of our daughter.

Unfortunately, the normal chief of police stated that they consider her murder an inactive case. In an interview in 2018, Alan said, quote, I am grateful to be free, but after 25 years, there is still no justice in this case. To report any information that you think may be relevant in the case of Jennifer Loch Miller's murder, call the normal police department at 309-454-9535. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Tuesday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. Yes, we will and we love to know what you think of this case so make sure that you go follow

us on our socials if you're not already. And please comment your thoughts because we love talking to you guys about these cases. Yeah, and how frustrating is this case? Just the fact that it still remains unsolved to this day. And that somebody was allegedly wrongfully convicted. Yeah, I mean, it's just, it's really tragic for the, you know, the entire family, not only Allen,

but, you know, Jennifer's family and Jennifer herself, that family deserves justice, and her parents never got to see that, and that's really tragic. I know, but imagine, like, truly believing in a feeling like this person is guilty, they're sentenced, and then they're released, and then you're like, what do I believe now?

You have to go through it all over again. Exactly, it's like you have to, like, restart the entire investigation. But also not that they're doing that, because it's an active. Right, and, it's like you have to restart the entire investigation. But also, not that they're doing that because it's an active. Right, and that's what I was just gonna say, is the fact that it's an active is just complete bullshit. Yeah, I agree.

So, thank you guys so much for tuning in. We really appreciate you having you as listeners and remember, if you're looking for more content, we have a Patreon, if you want more like true crime content, where you can go to patreon.com slash going west podcast and get over 70 episodes that we have not done on going west. But if you're looking for a little spooky content, some urban legends and paranormal stuff,

and just more lighthearted fun, listen to our new show The Dark Parts hosted by me, and Heath, it's gonna be awesome. It comes out October 6th. Sorry, we'll try not to plug that every going west episode. We're gonna plug a little bit more. We're just excited about it I think, so. Yeah, and you know, it'd be nice to have you guys go over there and check it out if

it's up here, Ali, which it's really up ours. It's right up our alleys. All right guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you. you