Prime Crime: Solved Murders - Teacher Found Murdered After Visit from Former Neighbor

Episode Date: March 21, 2026

A Florida woman called 911 after checking on her friend, who she hadn’t heard from since Christmas Day. When Vivian James’ friend went to her Cedar Hills home and found her unresponsive, noting her car was missing. Police tracked down the vehicle and found their suspect, who investigators would later connect to another crime in the area that happened shortly before James’ death. Get the full story on this episode of “Prime Crime with Jesse Weber.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacksonville 911. My friend hadn't called me back. I just came into her house. She's on the floor. It looks like there's some blood. Please, said somebody. The most shocking thing about this whole case was just the brutality of the murder. This is a very slow and painful death.

She had the towel wrapped all the way around her head. So I pulled it back up the Vib and she didn't respond. The car really became the motivating factor. Go to the ground now! Go to the ground now. Now. We'll get on the ground! For almost two years, investigators believe they're chasing the truth behind one horrific crime,

but it turns out it is a lot more complicated than that. So first he talked to about his first incident with a female and cricket. So he's going to tell her about the cricket situation. Instead of her, let her let her go to the police, he strang her the same way. All pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buck Slot Machine by a aristocrat gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club's Toronto members can earn daily

instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Jacksonville 911. What's going on there? I have not talked to my train since Christmas Day. And I've been calling her and I came over to her house. And I went in and she's on the floor, but she's not responded. And she had a towel wrapped around her head. And oh, my God, I don't want to touch her.

Please send somebody to please. Is she breathing, ma'am? I don't think so. It looks like her hands are turning purple. Her skin is cold, cold, cold. We're coming as fast as we can. Okay, we'll be your sin. It was right around the holidays.

49-year-old Vivian James, who lived alone in Jacksonville, Florida, she hadn't been heard from since Christmas a few days earlier. We check on each other. And I talked to her. You haven't heard from her since? I haven't heard from her since. And yesterday her text, 17. I said, Vivian, are you okay?

You don't have to talk, just respond yes or no. Her phone was off the hook. So I kept calling her cell phone. She didn't answer, and that's like not like her. Was there a garage open when you got it this morning? No, I know the code to open the garage door up. Okay, so the garage was shut, but the car was missing? Yes, the car, the car was missing.

Was the garage door, the inside door, was it shut or open? No, it was shut. And when I opened it up, I saw her laid out flat. All right, so take her over by your car and then let's get this thing locked out. You know, officers walked around the outside. There were no signs of forced entry. And just inside, Ms. James was on the ground with a power cord around her neck and a bloody blanket up by her head. Vivian had head injuries. She had facial injuries. Her jaw was broken. But what appears to be the cause of death was the strangulation. She'd been choked with a cord.

immediately noticed that the house had been ransacked. There were multiple electronics missing. There were drawers open, cabinets that had been rummaged through. It looks like she tripped over. There's a stool that's turned over. So I don't know if it was. Okay. So this was pretty clearly a murder from the get-go.

We also could not find the victim's cell phone in the home. And in the living room area, area, there appeared to be a outline, like a dust outline of where a surveillance camera would have been or was sitting that could have potentially captured the incident and that camera was missing. One of the big difficulties that we encounter is homeowners utilize Ring or Arlo to get a quick snapshot of who is at their door in the neighborhood. There was an abundance of cameras, but unfortunately, the video that we were able to collect was basically nothing. Has there anything going on in the neighborhood or anything like that?

Any kind of suspicious people walking around? I mean, nah, not that I know. Now, do you know any of her habits, friends, anything like that, that would come over and visit with her or anything like that? A car does she have? She has a... So this area of Jacksonville is kind of known for a higher crime area. area, the neighborhood specifically for Ms. James, not necessarily known for that.

And police work in general, calls for service always seem to increase around the holidays. Anything unusual happen that you know of since Christmas? Not that I know of. So when's the last time you've seen her? Probably Christmas Day. Nobody was visiting her or coming over or doing anything. I haven't seen any cars. When law enforcement was going through the home and speaking with the 911 caller, it became

apparent that Miss James' car was missing from the scene, which was the first piece of evidence that we had for the case. I know that she had an electrician and a plumber come over and work on her water heater in that garage. And then my daughter says she did see her driving either yesterday or the day before. See her yesterday? Not, probably not yesterday, maybe the day before. So it would have been, what's today, the 28th to 26, the day after Christmas?

And she told me that she had to take her car to go be serviced. They said the same thing, and she said the same thing. Our car's probably at the shop getting serviced. No, she got it back. Let's find out if the car's there. If it's not, let's get the Bolo out. Hey, yes, sir. This is Officer Bloom with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

I was wondering if you still have Ms. Vivian James's blue Toyota Camry at your shop. It was pretty quickly determined that the car was not. at the mechanics. We actually woke him up and verified that. The next step for law enforcement was to place a bolo or be on the lookout for the car. I'm going to do the stolen vehicle aspect of what's going on here. So one of the things that I like to find out, is there anything that sticks out about the car? Tannen windows, bumper stickers. Just a pretty, just a pretty plain Jane then, huh? Yeah, she, like me, no bumper stickers, no, she keeps her car clean.

Some of the other questions that are popping into our mind are who are the last people that are known to be with Ms. James, who are the last few people in her home. We have potentially a 48-hour time lapse of the last time she was known to be alive, so we have a lot of ground to make up. Miss James was a character. Miss James is the most honest person I've ever met. She'll get you right if she needs to. She'll give you the shirt of her back,

but she'll also tell you about yourself if you're doing something the wrong way. She will be our guardian angel. Every day, every kid that walks in these doors, every faculty member that walks in these doors, you will feel her arms around you. So, Miss James, you will be truly missed, but you'll never be forgotten.

Miss James was a beloved teacher in the Jacksonville community. She had a lot of friends. She had friends in the neighborhood, and she served as a mentor to some of the students that she taught. Vivian James was an outstanding teacher. She was teacher of the year, the year before her death at Atlantic Coast High School, where she had taught science and chemistry for over 20 years. She was beloved by her students. They said that she created a safe place for them.

She was known for having kids over to pay them for small yard work so that they would have pocket money. One of the things that really stood out to me when I stood inside of her home were the number of Christmas cards and pictures from current and former students. It just was immediately clear that this woman was beloved by her community. So when I first came to Atlanta Coast, I was here as the science. department head and it was very interesting by getting a chance to order all of different scientific equipment, things I've never even heard of. So it's very nice and rewarding to be a part of that inaugural experience, ghosting race. After her death, I was overwhelmed by the number of colleagues and students who wanted to know what was going on with her case. They actually

pulled together a lot of fundraising and there's a permanent memorial to her memory at Atlantic Coast High School. Gucci, one of my favorite ones. The first time I heard Gucci, this dude said Gucci to me, and I'm like, Gucci. He was like, yeah, that I mean I'm real good. I said, okay, everything is Gucci. Detectives face a daunting task here, a beloved teacher dead, her vehicle unaccounted for, and the most critical hours to find her killer, the first 48, have already passed.

The car really became the motivating factor. We were focused on the car because we really felt that would lead us to who had killed Vivian James. Turn around now. Go to the ground. Yes, sir. What did I do? While detectives are on scene, we know that there's multiple avenues where this could go.

Detectives are running this tag through stationary license plate readers. In this case, we did get a hit. There was only a matter of hours before we were called to Ms. James' home, and we sent detectives up to this small motel, and they were in a little. and they were able to find the car still in the parking lot. Back to my voice. Step back to my voice. Keep stepping. Go to the ground now. So in detectives Lee and Gibson, they located the vehicle at the hospitality inn. They sat at a distance and they monitored the vehicle, just waiting to see if anyone would go to or from the car.

Eventually they saw a mail going to the car, putting things in the trunk in the backseat, and taking some things to the dumpster. In that time frame, they're arranging with patrol assets to have them stationed around the hospitality in, in the event that the vehicle were to start driving so that it can be stopped. Go to the ground now. Go to the ground now. We'll get on. Yes, sir. Excuse me, sir, my wife, my wife's in the car.

Get in. Get in. Bro, my kids in the car. Get in the car. Get in the car. I apologize, bro, what's going on, don't. The missing car has been found, and persons that, that do not own the vehicle or driving it.

And the person who does own the vehicle on paper is deceased. This is your primary avenue of investigation at this point. Now, granted, you know, cars can change hands left and right doesn't mean that the people that are in this vehicle are responsible for the death of this beloved school teacher. But it's certainly your best lead. I'm just got a, got what? I'm just at first.

I've been working in everything. What's your name? Zebulon Perkins. The vehicle started moving with Zebulin Perkins in the passenger seat. The girlfriend of Mr. Perkins was driving the vehicle out. The vehicle was stopped and a felony takedown was conducted. The officers are trying to quickly ascertain from Mr. Perkins. Where did you get this car?

Who gave it to you? Why are you in it? When you're investigating a homicide, you really do try to err on the side of taking every item that might be. be important. So they're acquiring every single item that could possibly show us how many other people were in the vehicle. They'll use a sanitized vacuum to be able to pull hairs off the floor. Swabs are being taken, fingerprints are being taken, they're taking clothing, they're taking shoes, they're taking keys for the vehicle. So when detectives looked through the car, some of the items

that immediately jumped out to us was Ms. James's school ID was hanging from the rearview mirror. Her cell phone was also found on the floorboard behind the passenger seat and her school laptop was also located in the vehicle. Where's it? Tell you you downtown. For what? I guess question is. Right, about the car, bro. I can tell you, I'm like a car, but I can tell y'all about the car, right? While detectives were processing the hospitality in, one of the staff members alerted

detectives and said, hey, the guy who was in this room, Mr. Perkins, he went to and from that, that black car a bunch, a 1989 black Corvette. We didn't know what could be in the car. So the vehicle was towed to our warehouse so we could search it at a later date. All of these items are being cataloged. Now, whether they're gonna be released later, if they decide that this is not pertinent

to the investigation, that's always a possibility. On the way down here, you mentioned that you wanted to talk to the lawyer, but also that you did wanna talk to us about how you got the car and all that. We'd like to talk to you about how you get the car also. I was watching the interview as it happened. What stood out to me from the very beginning was how willing he was to talk to us.

He was fairly calm. We go into every interview with a strategy. It's obviously in the back of your mind that this person could be involved in the murder, but you also have to keep an open mind that potentially they're not. Because sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. So basically, About two days ago, I spoke with my friend named Shard. Like I told the guy, I can point you out to the guy.

He said Shard? Rashad. Rashad. Rashad. Yes, sir. I purchased a card from him for $1,100. I was getting it for my wife, my fiancee for Christmas. Did he bring it to you there at the hotel or did you meet him somewhere?

No, we met. Right there, the pool, all right there. Did you call you and say, hey, I'm trying to sell a card? Yeah, we were already just. talking earlier. Did he say where he got it from? Did you ask? What about some of the strange things that were in there? Did you think it was odd that all that stuff was in there? I felt like it was. You never asked me about it? I just trying to do a good deal from me to my girl. Mr. Perkins told us that he had purchased the car from a friend, Mr. Simmons, who, you know,

he believed to be involved in some questionable things. Is Rashad the kind of person that's gonna steal a car? Yeah? Everybody. He is a stole the car? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, deep down inside, I mean, you're nuts. You're obviously educated, you're smart, not stupid.

You're gut's telling you that, hey, there's a 60 or 70% chance of this car I just bought from Rashad, who does shady shit, is possibly stolen. I ain't know that. If I bought a stolen vehicle, what would that be? How would that work? Did you know it was stolen when you bought it? I didn't.

I could get child to him or whoever, like, whatever you all need. Like, I just purchased a stolen car, basically. I told that what I knew. Was there anything else you can remember? If I'm not being arrested, then I cannot be, I'm not, or will not be held against my will. We were speaking with Mr. Perkins about the car,

but Mr. Perkins wanted to know what detectives knew and what was leading us to ask him. leading us to ask about the car. So he started a further, kind of more deep line of questioning about what we knew. I looked at the screen and I seen the homicide paper and I know they told me and my girl watch first where he ate, I was like what's born on.

So we're obviously, you know, this is more than just about a stolen car. You know, we're investigating a murder. You see him about that quick. Do you know this house? Yes. That's Miss Vivian's house. You spotted it up pretty quick.

I mean, first of me, you lived three houses down for however long. Zebulon Perkins admitted to knowing Vivian James. In fact, he had lived several houses down from her in the same neighborhood while he was growing up. She would give him small amounts of money to rake her yard or to clean out her gutters. And he had continued and stayed in contact with her through the years. Zebulon, as as as you are, you were able to pick that house out pretty quick. that Miss Vivian's house.

Then how come you couldn't pick out Miss Vivian's car? I didn't look through anything. I didn't look through nothing. Is that Riland? Sure. We're not here to be around with you. I'm not either. We're not going to give you all Rashad, like I said.

I don't know anything that's going on besides that car. If I'm sitting in the room with the detectives, we're clearly going to identify and interview Richard. because that now is the alternate avenue that this person is giving us. I mean, obviously, unless you have a full confession and, you know, 4K video of the person committing the crime, a busload of nuns with 2020 vision as witnesses, you as a detective need to run down every single alternate suspect and clear them. Her driver's license was found in your room.

In this race. Obviously, we're talking to me in my room. Obviously, we're talking to you. you because this is she's no longer with you all right I mean you're a smart guy you should have been able to put two and two together by now this nice lady this school teacher has been murdered all right you are driving around in her car I didn't know that was exactly her vehicle it's full of all her stuff I know that but do you understand sitting where we're sitting yes sir look how it looks

It looks. Ultimately, when we step out, he's in there by himself, we learn that a lot of Ms. James's property had been found in the dumpster in trash bags. We learned that in the hotel room, her ID was under a lamp. We learned that there were television power cords that were kind of tossed in the closet, and we knew that TVs were missing from Ms. James' home. That license was not in my room. I had to be in a bag.

I had to be in a bag. I had to be in the license. That was a lot. Now, the momentum builds when detectives returned to the interrogation room, and Perkins offers up a revelation that they certainly can't ignore. Is Rashad capable of killing somebody? He has before. He has before?

Who did he say he killed? He didn't tell me. How do you know he killed somebody that? We talked. Everybody talked. You listen. Bro, they ain't been a shootouts in our, bro. I don't live like it.

I don't live like that. Still, up to people, I don't live like that. I can help y'all. I won't take no blame for nothing. This is a bold accusation. Richard Simmons has killed someone before. I mean, this is a statement that forces detectives to dig even deeper now.

Did Rashad bring anything else into your room? No, sir. On TV's on nothing, it just came with a DVD player and then to me. I was in, sat down and recalled when you said the ID. I slept on his side of the bed. He slept a little more by the door. He was fumbled with the light. See what I'm saying?

So he actually stayed there. Did it one night. We talked to Mr. Perkins about this ID, Ms. James' ID being found, and he deflected and told us that Richard Simmons had put that in the room. Does Rashad know Ms. Vivian? I'm not sure.

When was the last time you were over there? Actually, maybe like, what, four days? She called me, check home. I'm just going to see how you doing. I walked over there. I'm saying I left. That was it. So you went inside her house?

Yes, sir. Four or five days ago? I sat down for maybe like 30 minutes. She said she was going to do something. And I left. Perkins confirms he was at Vivian's home earlier that week, essentially putting him at the crime scene at around the time of this murder. But the way that he characterizes it is a confidential conversation with a mentor.

Now, obviously, investigators are skeptical about this. She called you up to see how you were doing. Yes, sir. I'm just going through something. So that's why I'm reaching out to you. What were you going through? I don't feel comfortable around nobody anymore.

I went to the rehab soon. That's why I went to the house to talk to her about. She's like, well, what's your thing is wrong with you? If you don't mind me asking, what do you think is wrong? I got PTSD when I got shot. You got shot? When did you get shot? 2014, about 28th.

That's why I couldn't be in the field. Zebulon Perkins was a promising athlete when he was in high school. He played football. However, he also had some attitude issues, even at a young age. Zebulon Perkins also played football at the collegiate level until, unfortunately, he was shot, and that ended his football career.

Since then, like, my life just been a . It's like even more trauma, trauma. more trauma trauma trauma but you're not taking any medication for that's why I went to the rehab center then confining into her friend and then that's what you confided to miss Vivian yes you okay I don't have no problem to where it's like I'm no hurt nobody hurt myself when you went over to Miss Vivian's house it was just you it was just me she was getting ready to go out doing some errands did she mentioned having any problems with anybody no sir and that was definitely

Four days ago? So it's before Christmas. Four or five days ago. After Christmas. Well, after Christmas, it wouldn't be four days ago. I feel for, you know what I'm saying? Like, that's just a good friend of mine.

But at the same time, like, if I feel like I'm against the wall, then. We haven't pointed the finger at you yet. I know good job. The way that, like, the conversation kind of like. Pause, I mean, you got to understand how it looks at your lunch.

You are, you. I'm giving you. You were in her car, bro. Give me a, I know, and I was in her house, bro. Did you guys get into any kind of argument, your altercation or anything like that. No, no, that's not, now we know.

Now I'm giving my part, what I know. That's all I can do. Shard is a next suspect. Now we gotta go and find Shard. Like, I'm seeing him being drilled, like. Oh, you're right. We still have to find Shard, you know. When we find Shard, we gotta ask him,

and he's gonna tell us shit. And we gotta come back and ask you, shit. Am I on the rest? Um, as of right now, we're still working on that. We always have to keep an open mind. We've only gotten the page to respond her house, you know, less than 24 hours beforehand. He's telling us that he purchased the vehicle from Mr. Simmons. So these are individuals that now we also have to look into. So it is certainly

very important for us to know that Mr. Perkins was at her home the day after Christmas, but the question still looms of, was there anyone else with him? This is what we got to do with. We have a lady that was murdered in her house. That's a good friend of my. That's a good friend where I guess. She gets old of me. Why would I do that? I'm not saying you did. I'm in her car. It looks the f*** up. It does.

So, we are arresting you. What? Dealing his own property. Bro, I can't get arrested, bro. I got kids. I can't keep... I'm trying to stay out of it, man. I get y'all...

If I can get you on him tonight, can that be deferred? Because he's sold it to me. No. It's dealing to sold property. It's not auto theft. It's definitely. not murdered.

That's not the point. Knowing that we were finding additional information that seemed like were further implicating Mr. Perkins, we made the decision to move forward with an arrest warrant for the crime of dealing and stolen property, just to kind of buy us more time as we continued on the homicide investigation. When you're a detective, what you want to do is not close off any avenues of investigation. You're keeping an open mind that what he's telling you, even though it seems kind of a fantasyful story doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Broken clocks right twice a day too. Coincidences happen in life. And they're looking at this from the perspective of needing to defend this case in the future. Like damn, bro, I'm telling y'all what I knew. It's f*** up. So there are cases that you do get a hunch on as a cop or a prosecutor where you're like,

there's something here and it doesn't make sense to me. One of the things that you have to do When you're in law enforcement, either as a cop or a prosecutor, sometimes you have to kind of make your peace with not knowing in this case, there was a hunch involved here that something ain't right. Now at this point, Perkins has admitted to being in Vivian James home around the time of the murder and is in possession of her car. Obviously, this is not looking very good for Zebulon Perkins,

but then he makes just a stunning claim. Who touched it? Who touched him? Who touched us at him? Who touched us at him? Rash killed? Yes, sir. Were you there when she killed?

When he came? Well, how you know the Shah did? Rashah sold me a car. It's not a confession by any means. He's shifting the blame through a direct accusation, claiming that Richard Simmons is responsible for Vivian's murder, not him. Any way on her body, if she touched you or something like that, and we have to swive her hands, because you said you didn't touch you at all, right?

So your DNA should be no way on her. I know she was passed. We hugged when I came out of this. Oh, so now you hugged or not? Listen, I ain't touched. I didn't do nothing to tell you, bro. You know her. I know her.

You visited her. And I know both of them. And then you're in her car, which you got from some guy that doesn't know her. Whoever did it, man? They just didn't. I ain't. There's nobody, bro.

Nobody broke into that house. The whole house was ransacked. What, did you on bills from? No. Did you leave the door open so I could come in? No, sir. We never really called Vivian James by her name. He kept referring to her as the lady.

This is a mentor. This is someone who he was in telephone contact with, who would give him rides. And he's not saying her name. It just felt suspicious. And you meet back up after visiting her and buy a car from the same person you were just visiting, who's now murdered. Do you see how f*** up that sounds? I'm serious. It's extremely up, and you know it too.

You know the kind of lady she is and she's most likely not hanging out with somebody like Rashad. After listening to your story and your timeline, I don't see how you couldn't have done it. I didn't do it. And when he was booked in jail, that's really when the investigation into Vivian James' murder kicks into high gear. Now Perkins has held on charges of dealing and stolen property and meanwhile, authorities shift their focus to Richard Simmons. The problem is finding him, not so easy. Days later, the following Wednesday, they finally locate him and bring him in.

Last Thursday, did you see Zed, Zebulon? Did you hang out in a hotel with him? Yeah, I've been to the hotel. As we, I had seen him, and he had to get off some TVs. So that's what I was trying to do, help him get off the TV. When you say you tried, he wanted to get off some TVs. So, did you ever say where he got those TVs from? No, he never said. With Zebulon Perkins, when you rewatch the interview, you can almost see his wheels turning on.

He is analyzing what Detective Abbott is asking him about. Richard Simmons, when interviewed, is a very different character. As long as you've known Zeb, like, what kind of, like, what kind of, like, mentality or personality does he have, like, does he come off to you as? Do I? Is he that person, I do something? No, he don't come on until you cool, like, you're cool.

What kind of drugs has he been on? Man, I don't know. That's me, I think everything. He was doing some ice. Ice. At the hotel? Yeah. Damn, okay.

Investigators learned that Perkins struggled with drugs in the past and had these prior low-level offenses. Does that say where you got that car from? No. I've never seen that car. You ever been to, you ever seen this house before? Or been in that house before? Been inside that house?

You said you were at Westside Pool Hall, and he told you to meet you over there at Indian Lakes? But can you look and see what time he called you? He gives a completely different statement than Zebulon Perkins. We find text messages between Perkins and Simmons coordinating Perkins, picking up Simmons in a vehicle. And the time of those text messages appear to match up. when Zebulon Perkins was leaving Vivian James's home in her car.

This lady's a tea trip, bro. I know. On TV. She's seeing cool with her mom. She is cool. She's very nice. Well, he wanted to do that, though. So, lady.

What I want to know is, why does he want to blame you for that? He's saying you killed her. He said, on the 26th, I met Rashad and bought that car from him, and that he never said. saw you get after that, but the car was full of all kinds of property. I saw him a lot of property. That's what he said he said he sold him this car. He's telling like he was on it, whatever he was on.

So what we're going to need from you is your DNA, right? To prove that you were never in that house to prove that you ain't never been around this woman. He also gives us access to his cell phone, which we are able to download and gives us cell site location, which places Richard Simmons on the other side of 103rd, the main street near Vivian James' house at the time of her murder. Most homicides are committed by somebody who knows the person. An old detective friend of mine used to, whenever there was something particularly brutal, he said, no, this was personal. Like, if it's somebody you don't know, you just kill him and move on. But when there's this level of anger or rage directed at the person,

that's generally not somebody that you just have neutral feelings for. It is becoming increasingly clearer that Richard Simmons didn't have anything to do with Vivian James Killing, which means that the pendulum is swinging right back to Zebulon Perkins as the prime suspect. After being booked into the Dubal County Jail, he made a phone call to his mother, where he asked his mother to hide electronics that he had stored in the family's garage. His mother and stepfather were cooperative, and we were able to gather the electronics that were missing from Ms. James' home.

Once we got Vivian James' bank records, we noticed that after December 26th, the date that we believed Vivian James was murdered, her credit card was used around Jacksonville multiple times. It was used to buy food, it was used to buy food, It was used to buy baby diapers, and it was used to buy alcohol. And so we were able to go to those three businesses and pull video surveillance from them,

which showed Zebulon Perkins. We also find there was a cash app transfer from Vivian's phone to an account in the name of Zebulon Perkins. We also executed a number of search warrants. The piece of evidence that we got to really push this case over the top make us feel very confident that Zebulin Perkins had killed Vivian James was DNA.

We found her blood on his pants in combination with his DNA, and we also found his DNA under her fingernails. And we don't have to talk. I'm not going to ask you anything. I do need to bring you over and tell you we are charging you with murder. Why can I leave now? I have charged with something. Why can I leave now? We're going to finish our report. And why can I leave now? Because they're being arrested for murder. No, I'm not.

I need a fine to do that gave me the car. January 10th, 2020, just two weeks after Vivian James was killed, detectives have enough to officially charge Zebulon Perkins with second-degree murder. Not speak to Sarge, please. Please, father, God. My goodness. All right, so what's got to have? What's going back, man?

Bro, y'all just taking my life from me, bro. I want to go bad with it. But y'all take my life from me, bro. brother, not do is. Detective Abbott kept tabs on him. Detective Abbott would go back and look at disciplinary reports from when Zebulon Perkins would get into fights with other inmates. When Detective Abbott went to the Duval County Jail

and started interviewing cellmates, bunkmates, almost every single one of them, talked about how violent and how scary this man was. But it was one inmate's statement that really stood out. So first he talked to me about the first incident with a female named Creepard. Yeah, he told me she died. So a lot of people think that the detective's job stops as soon as the arrest is made,

and that really couldn't be further from the truth. Detective Abbott continued to keep track of Mr. Perkins' activity within the jail, meaning any altercations or disputes that he had. We actually went together when we were partners, went over and spoke with this inmate. who told us that Mr. Perkins continually talked about how he had killed the teacher. He said to us, you guys know that the teacher is not the first person he killed, right? And something else clicks for investigators.

Their attention shifts back to a second vehicle that was seized in search the day that Vivian James was killed. This is a car that was never picked up from police custody. During the investigation, we executed search warrants on two vehicles. the Toyota Camry that belonged to Miss James and a Corvette that was at the Hospitality Inn that witnesses had seen Mr. Perkins going back and forth to the car to the hotel room. We were wondering whether there was additional evidence in the Corvette. So we seized both of those vehicles. Zeeblin Perkins had been in jail for approximately 18 months since he had been charged with

Ms. James' murder. And as soon as we get the allegation that he is responsible for another homicide, we knew there was potentially another victim. Detectives immediately went back and looked, and the registered owner of the 1989 Corvette that was taken in the case was Leah Klein. Well, all efforts to locate Ms. Klein during the initial investigation were unsuccessful. She'd been arrested multiple times. So we knew that this is a person who might not be the most friendly with police. Leah Klein had a troubled past. She was a mother of five.

She was, when connected with her family, devoted to them. She also had a fascination for Jiminy Cricket. It became her nickname. Leah Klein's daughter would try to send her mother money throughout the year on a cash app and leave notes like Happy Birthday Mom, Merry Christmas Mom, but she hadn't seen her mother in many years. And while we were speaking with her family,

family, we learned that she would kind of go off on her own and be by herself for a couple weeks at a time. So it was not uncommon for her to go relatively short periods of time without contacting her family. However, 18 months was very long, and that was out of the norm. One of her family members did attempt to report her missing, but they were out of state, and they were told that they needed someone who was local to actually report her missing. There were multiple inmates who were interviewed by Detective Abbott in the course of his investigation into Leah Klein's murder. Some of them were cooperative with him and some were not. Two that were cooperative were Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Bradford.

How do you know who Zebulon Perkins is? He was my roommate in jail. Did he talk about the charges pending against him? Yes, ma. What did he tell you about the teacher? He, he, he strangulated her and beat up. When you were in the cell with him, were you ever seen? scared of him. Not really, but yes, yes. Mr. Lindsay's statement stood out to me. He described being

in fear of his life when he shared a bunk with Zebulon Perkins, to the point of describing his eyes like a dead stare, that he would not sleep at night for fear that Zebulon Perkins would murder him in his sleep. Back in January, probably January of 2021-ish, Kinsey Lindsay actually had a, his brother was murdered at a local apartment complex. So Detective Abbott and I were working in that case. Ultimately that case resulted in an arrest. We went and we told Kenzie Lindsay about that arrest. When we later went back to him to talk to him about being housed with Zebulon Perkins,

he basically told us, yeah, I wouldn't normally tell you guys this, but since you helped me out with my brother, I will help you out with this case. Did he mention any other murders? Yes, ma'am. What did he tell you about other murders? He said he was a pimp and his girl, and he killed him. Did he mention any names to you about this lady? Yes, my cricket.

Generally speaking, one does not begin with a very violent homicide of a person that you, by all accounts, very much had affection for. It just, it doesn't add up. up. So usually there's some kind of other criminal activity that's in somebody's life. And in this case, there obviously was. I got into a physical altercation with Zebelon Perkins. Would that have been around September, September 12th of 2020? Sounded that right?

Yes, right. What did he talk to you about? So first he talked to me about the first incident with a female named Creek. She pulled to be like a prostit or something like that. She did something wrong in his eyes, so he ended up choking him. Did he tell you that she died? Yeah, he told me she died. He put a body in the dumpster, right outside the hotel. You can't prosecute the devil and expect to have angels as witnesses.

It is amazing how many people will just tell their cellmate, here's what I did. Mr. Bradford, he further explained that Mr. Perkins kept talking about how he'd killed the teacher, why he killed the teacher. He also provided the background information that Mr. Perkins told him he went to Ms. James's home to confide in her that he had killed Cricket. Not only did it give us an additional homicide and additional homicide victim to investigate, but it also gave us motive for Ms. James's murder. Did he tell you about the charges that he was currently facing? Yeah, he was like, after the Cricket situation was happening,

he was suffering from anxiety and stuff like that. So he was like he wanted to talk to somebody. And I don't pray you feel like he would talk to somebody. to was the teacher. So he gonna tell her about the cricket situation. But she gave him the best of life that she gave him. You gotta go to the police. Instead of her and let her go to the police,

he strangled her the same way. Unfortunately, we were never able to find Ms. Klein's body. We essentially moved forward in trying to prove a void of life. We went down every avenue that we could think of, and it appeared as though Miss Klein basically fell off the face of the earth on December 24th, 2019. This is just days before Vivian James was last seen as well. So did Perkins kill Leah Klein, go to Vivian James' house,

try to get advice, and when she didn't tell him what he wanted to hear, did he kill her too? Proving a case without a body is an incredibly difficult thing to do. And in this case, so much time had passed since the murder of Leah Klein, Detective Abbott had to go back multiple years to establish the outline of a person who had been missing from society. We were also able to reevaluate the evidence we already had with Leia Klein in mind. We had the download from his cell phone and found photographs of Leia Klein in December of 2019, and the last time Leia Klein is known to have sent any message.

is a message from her to Zebulon Perkins that she is outside his hotel room. Then it kind of came full circle where we realized this is why we could not contact her during the initial investigation because she was already dead. But we were able to confirm that after Mr. Perkins killed Ms. Klein, he put her in a dumpster, and then we were able to confirm with the dumpster company, the date and time that that dumpster was collected, which was before Ms. James was murdered and before detectives were at the hospitality in

and she was taken out to a landfill. The likelihood of any recovery was basically nil. Zebulon Perkins is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, although prosecutors keep the path open if they want to upgrade those charges. From early on, he started making plea offers. These plea offers started well below the sentences. range for second-degree murder, but quickly, those offers started getting higher and higher

until the point we presented to the grand jury and filed the notice of intent to seek the death penalty. In Florida, we are not allowed to file charges of first-degree murder without presenting to a grand jury. I presented the case of Vivian James' murder to the grand jury, and they indicted Zebulon Perkins on first-degree murder. We concluded that. the investigation into Leah Klein's case. And we actually had to go back before the grand jury, and they indicted Zebulon Perkins of two counts of first-degree murder. Nearly four and a half years after Vivian James and Leah Klein were killed,

Zebulon Perkins is set to go to trial on two separate counts of first-degree murder. And if convicted, faces the possibility of the death penalty. But his defense team already seems to have a plan to try to avoid those. consequences. In Florida, if you're convicted of murder one, you can be sentenced up to life in prison. And in Florida, there's no parole. Life is life. You come out in a box. The best scenario for somebody who has this kind of evidence with the forensic evidence that was available in this case is probably to plead to a term of years. In this case, there ended up being a plea. Defense counsel came with a significantly higher offer of 70 years. And at this point,

time Zebulon Perkins is 31 years old. Even with credit time, that is in essence a life sentence. Zebulon Perkins did speak at the sentencing hearing. Of note, he did not apologize. It was a rambling statement that at the time and to this day does not make much sense to me. Never sat right with me because there was a lack of remorse. He accepted the plea negotiations and I've thankful for the families that we were able to bring this case to a close. Zebulon Perkins is sentenced to 70 years in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of Vivian James and Leah Klein. The one thing that really sticks with us is the brutality of Ms. James' death and how sometimes it can be the people who are closest with us who can

hurt us the most. To find this record of him being in a fight, with Mr. Bradford, that would have been very easy to just overlook, but following that up, really it opened a whole other case where we were able to bring another family justice. Looking back on this case in the last six years, there are a few things that stand out to me. The first is the investigative efforts of Detective Abbott,

whose dogged persistence of facts and details in this case solved the murder of a woman who had been missing and brought finality to her family. Otherwise, without his persistence, no one would know Leah Klein's story. The other thing, sadly, that stands out to me is the importance of human connection, in reaching out to loved ones and staying in contact, and also of making sure that you trust those who are around you.