Pod Insights True Crime All The Time Deborah Ann Jessie About this episode In June 2013, Deborah Ann Jessie filed for a restraining order against her abusive ex-boyfriend Jammy Washington. She told authorities that she feared for her and her children’s safety. Days before a hearing to make the restraining order permanent, Deborah disappeared.
Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Deborah Ann Jessie. Deborah lived in Pahokee, Florida, and was said to be a godmother, grandmother, and missionary to the neighborhood. Deepening the mystery, the police found her close friend, Crystal Anderson, shot to death inside her home.
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Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 Hello everyone and welcome to episode 481 of the True Crime All the Time Podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. Gibby, how are you?
0:10 Speaker 01 Hey, I'm doing pretty good. How about you?
0:12 Speaker 00 I'm doing great.
0:12 Speaker 01 Yeah.
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0:36 Speaker 01 It does.
0:37 Speaker 00 All right, buddy. Are you ready to get into this episode?
0:39 Speaker 01 I am ready.
0:40 Speaker 00 We're talking about Deborah Ann Jesse. In June 2013, Deborah Ann Jesse filed for a restraining order against her abusive ex-boyfriend, Jammy Washington. She told authorities that she feared for her and her children's safety. Days before hearing, to make the restraining order permanent, Deborah disappeared and police found her close friend, Crystal Anderson, shot to death inside her home. So we've got a lot going on.
1:09 Speaker 01 We do.
1:09 Speaker 00 A lot to unpack. You know, this idea of a restraining order. A lot of people need one.
1:18 Speaker 01 That's true.
1:19 Speaker 00 I just think there, there are some real limitations to restraining orders.
1:24 Speaker 01 Yeah, I mean, they're not a fix-all.
1:27 Speaker 00 Well, not bulletproof, obviously, and someone who is intent on doing you harm is not going to give to you know whats about a restraining order. But still, you gotta go through that process.
1:40 Speaker 01 I mean, and it can help you if they abuse, you know, or break the restraining order, right? And authorities show up and can verify that they did break that restraining order.
1:51 Speaker 00 They can have legal ramifications, obviously. I also thought that, you know, her ex-boyfriend's name was, was a little strange. Jammy.
2:00 Speaker 01 Jammy?
2:00 Speaker 00 Jammy. I've never heard of that.
2:04 Speaker 01 Can you take somebody seriously with the name Jammy?
2:07 Speaker 00 Depends on the person, I guess. Some people you have to take seriously.
2:10 Speaker 01 Yeah, I'm just saying.
2:12 Speaker 00 Deborah Ann Jessie was born on March 18, 1990. She lived in Pahokee, Florida, and worked at a local Family Dollar store. Deborah had four children. Her neighbor, Crystal Anderson, often babysat her infant son. Deborah and Crystal were good friends, so much so that Crystal was the children's godmother. Crystal had two adult children of her own, and she was known for her kindness. She would lend money to those in need, make food for people in the community, and babysit kids in the neighborhood.
2:46 Speaker 01 Sounds like a pretty nice person.
2:47 Speaker 00 Yeah, I think she was, by all accounts. Crystal's sister, Willie Everett, told the Palm Beach Post that she was the community's godmother, grandmother, and missionary.
3:00 Speaker 01 So she was everything.
3:01 Speaker 00 Yeah, she was everything to this community, adding, she was an all-around person. She loved people. She gave what she didn't have. She was pure in heart, compassionate, loved animals. She was an animal lover. She was a giver of oneself. She was a selfless person, and she'd always keep you laughing. She always had a kind word to say to everybody. She just loved you.
3:27 Speaker 01 Oh, man. I think everybody needs somebody like that in their life.
3:30 Speaker 00 Yeah, and again, I don't know how you can give more praise, right, than her sister is giving her. But she does sound like she was an amazing person. Crystal's family and friends live in Pompano Beach, but Crystal chose to move back to Pahokee because, in her words, "Those are my people. I have to deal with my people. I love my people."
3:57 Speaker 01 Okay, I mean, Pompano Beach, not bad. I've been to Pompano Beach many times, you know, which is...
4:04 Speaker 00 You've been to Pahokee?
4:05 Speaker 01 I have never been to Pahokee.
4:07 Speaker 00 Me neither. Not even really sure where it is.
4:10 Speaker 01 It's in Pahokee.
4:11 Speaker 00 It's right by Pahokee.
4:12 Speaker 01 Yeah, it's right there.
4:14 Speaker 00 So you know what I'm getting from her, obviously very people oriented person. She also had the instinct to, you know, want to take care of people, want to help people out. But I'm getting an overarching sense of community.
4:32 Speaker 01 Absolutely.
4:33 Speaker 00 Like that was a big deal to her. She had her community. She knew the people and she wanted to help them out. She wanted to take, help take care of them.
4:41 Speaker 01 Sometimes I miss that, you know, that community feel.
4:44 Speaker 00 Yeah, I mean, again, are there still parts that have it? Yeah, I'm sure there are. I feel like in most places we get further and further away from it every year.
4:57 Speaker 01 Oh, yeah.
4:58 Speaker 00 You know. First of all, there's social media. That drives some of it.
5:04 Speaker 01 It does.
5:04 Speaker 00 You don't need to get together and have a quilting bee. You can say whatever you want in a group chat or a Facebook chat or, you know, whatever it is, but you know, it's maybe not quite the same. Deborah was in a relationship with a man named Jammy Washington. It's almost hard to say, to be honest with you, I'm not gonna lie.
5:27 Speaker 01 I, you know, I'm thinking maybe like his parents were like, let's call him Jimmy. And they're like, no, there's a lot of Jimmys. Let's switch the I out for an A. He'll be known as Jammy.
5:41 Speaker 00 Yeah, that's how it's spelled. I want to say Jamie, but.
5:45 Speaker 01 Yeah.
5:46 Speaker 00 Washington has a criminal record dating back to 2003 that includes drug possession, sexual battery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and killing, possessing or harming an alligator.
6:02 Speaker 01 Okay, well, you are in Florida. So I don't know why you would possess an alligator.
6:09 Speaker 00 I think some people have them as pets. I don't advise it. I wouldn't.
6:14 Speaker 01 But maybe you might have to kill one if it, you know, tries to attack you.
6:18 Speaker 00 Yeah.
6:19 Speaker 01 Or your dog.
6:19 Speaker 00 But I don't think you would be charged for that in most instances. That would be more like self-defense. So in May 2008, Washington was arrested for sexual battery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The victim was his ex-girlfriend. They'd been dating and living together since 2001. But after Washington was arrested in January 2008, she decided she wanted to end the relationship. However, they were still in contact and had consensual sex one night. Afterwards, they drove to a sugarcane field.
6:59 Speaker 01 Okay.
7:00 Speaker 00 The woman reported that Washington was upset. She didn't want to be with him and threatened to kill her and himself. He threatened to choke her and throw her in a canal. So he served a year in prison on drug and weapons charges and was released in December 2011. But I think we're getting a real sense here of this guy, including his convictions and his record.
7:28 Speaker 01 Got some anger issues as well.
7:31 Speaker 00 He's got anger issues, but he's got at least two convictions for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. I think it's one of the things that almost everybody knows, right? If you're a convicted felon, you can't legally own one.
7:48 Speaker 01 No.
7:49 Speaker 00 Which means you shouldn't possess one at all.
7:52 Speaker 01 No.
7:52 Speaker 00 But, you know, people still do. But I think even more concerning than that is the, you know, sexual battery type stuff, aggravated assault. That is really going to maybe the heart of what we're going to talk about, you know, in this episode. Deborah's friends later reported that Washington abused her physically, psychologically, verbally, and sexually.
8:22 Speaker 00 And I said, to me, that seems like all the different types of abuse right there.
8:27 Speaker 01 He's got to like, check, check, check, check.
8:30 Speaker 00 Full range. Deborah shared with friends, family and the authorities that Washington held her against her will inside her home and was violent with her numerous times. She feared for her life and wanted to make sure he could not go near her any longer. So, you know, again, we said it upfront, right? Restraining order, protective order, whatever you want to call it. I think we're, we're kind of setting the stage for why she would want one of those.
9:01 Speaker 01 Yeah.
9:02 Speaker 00 Or need, want slash need.
9:04 Speaker 01 I, I can see the writing on the wall.
9:06 Speaker 00 Yeah. In the spring of 2013, Deborah moved away from Bahoki to an apartment in Riviera Beach. She also transferred to a different family dollar store. Deborah continued talking to her family every day, even after she moved. And I think most people would, right?
9:25 Speaker 01 Yeah.
9:26 Speaker 00 A lot of people move, even if you move away from your family. Again, we're, we're talking about 2013 here. It's pretty easy to keep in contact with cell phone and unlimited minutes and plans that maybe connect you to your family. They've had all kinds of stuff like that over the years.
9:45 Speaker 01 By the way, the family dollar store?
9:48 Speaker 01 I love that place. Just random thought, sorry.
9:51 Speaker 00 No, I mean, my family's big into all the different dollar stores.
9:57 Speaker 01 Yeah.
9:58 Speaker 00 I mean, we can't hardly go anywhere without them finding one of those places. And somebody saying, hey, can we stop in there and just look around? And looking around one of those places, you're never going to walk out with nothing.
10:12 Speaker 01 Well, I know, exactly.
10:13 Speaker 00 There's always something in there that's like, I don't know why they call it a dollar store. Cause nothing in there now is a dollar.
10:19 Speaker 01 No.
10:20 Speaker 00 Even the 99 cent stores, I don't think have anything for 99 cents. They have different tiers, but.
10:28 Speaker 01 It's just a hook to get you in there. But yeah, I mean, you know, I live in a small village, so it's the only place that you can go get anything. Besides driving to the next town. And so I run up there just for like one item, but you always leave with like 10, 12 items.
10:44 Speaker 00 Well, you did make the decision that you wanted to live out in the sticks and that's what you get.
10:49 Speaker 01 It is what I get.
10:50 Speaker 00 But you're not wrong, right? There's some of those stores, they're nice, they're stocked, you know?
10:56 Speaker 01 They make, hey, works for me.
10:58 Speaker 00 Cheap?
10:58 Speaker 01 It's cheap.
11:00 Speaker 00 Or cheaper, maybe. On June 20th, 2013, Deborah filed for a restraining order against Washington. She was granted a temporary restraining order and a hearing for a permanent restraining order was set for June 25th. She filed for it on June 20th, right? So I think this is important. Filed June 20th, they set the hearing for June 25th. So just keeping that in the timeline.
11:31 Speaker 01 Okay.
11:31 Speaker 00 Deborah wrote in her petition, as reported by the Palm Beach Post, I want to separate from Jamie due to the fact that I fear for my life and the well-being of me and my children. He's beat me many times, threatened me if I call the police, he will beat the hell out of me and have a reason to go to jail. So, you know, the way that I look at things, you know, okay, it's one thing to threaten someone. You shouldn't do it.
12:01 Speaker 01 Right.
12:01 Speaker 00 But that's one thing. But when you have a very serious history and in fact, a documented history of being violent to someone, well, then what does that threat mean in relation to that person?
12:17 Speaker 01 True.
12:18 Speaker 00 To me, you might as well consider it legitimate. It's not a fake threat.
12:25 Speaker 01 No.
12:25 Speaker 00 When the person already has a record of doing it. Deborah wrote that she wanted to make sure Washington could not go near her home, her workplace, and the home of her friend, Crystal Anderson.
12:38 Speaker 01 These are the places that she's going to spend her time at. She doesn't want to have to sit there and be worried that he's going to show up.
12:45 Speaker 00 Yeah, and we mentioned it, right? What good friends the two were. Crystal was the godmother to her children. My thought about that is, well, I'm sure this guy knew that. He knew how important Crystal was to Deborah. And maybe in the back of her mind, she thought, well, that could possibly make her a target for his rage or his anger. On June 23, 2013, just two days before the hearing on the restraining order, Deborah drove back to Pahokee so she could attend church with Crystal. She was last seen at Crystal's home in the 700 block of Eisenhower Drive in Pahokee. I just enjoy saying Pahokee.
13:29 Speaker 01 You like saying Pahokee.
13:31 Speaker 00 I've actually never heard of it, but it's kind of fun to say. Deborah's cousin, Corey Young, also came to Crystal's home to attend church with them, but he left when no one came to the door. Deborah's family became worried when she failed to answer their calls and texts. And we talk about this in a lot of cases, especially the unsolved ones. At what point do people start to get worried? And here's a situation that I think you see in a lot of cases, which is people have plans, like concrete plans.
14:06 Speaker 01 Yeah.
14:06 Speaker 00 And if I say to you, hey, Gibbs, come over Sunday morning at nine, we're going to go to church at 10:00. And you agree to that. You drive over to my house and I don't answer the door. That's going to be weird.
14:22 Speaker 01 It would be weird.
14:22 Speaker 00 Because we've made these plans. Everybody knows about them.
14:26 Speaker 01 Yeah.
14:27 Speaker 00 So what's going on? Did I just leave you? Did I forget about you? But I think that's what you have here and why people start to worry the way that they do. Also, I think then it comes into the area of what type of character does this person have? Are they flighty? Do they miss things?
14:50 Speaker 00 Are they very regimented and by the book? And if they say they're gonna do something, they do it because that plays a factor as well.
14:57 Speaker 01 It does too. Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, you gotta know that person, right? And what they would typically do and not do.
15:04 Speaker 00 Yeah.
15:06 Speaker 00 Crystal Anderson was found shot to death in her home on the evening of June 24th. And that's why I made mention, right? To really call out the two dates around the restraining order filed on the 20th, set to go to a hearing on the 25th.
15:23 Speaker 01 Yeah.
15:24 Speaker 00 Well, Crystal is found dead on the 24th. And you gotta be wondering, right? What's going on with Deborah? A 2013 article by the Palm Beach Post reports that deputies conducting a welfare check found her, while a later article by the Post reports that Deborah's family members went to the home and found her. And that was when they started searching for Deborah. And how could you not? I mean, these people are best friends. I'm sure they were inseparable.
15:58 Speaker 01 Sure, yeah.
16:00 Speaker 00 If something happened to one, I think you would just naturally start to worry about the other.
16:07 Speaker 01 I would think.
16:08 Speaker 00 And in the wake of this filing.
16:12 Speaker 01 Well, that's it too, right? You have this filing, this restraining order out there, temporary.
16:20 Speaker 01 It has to be a pretty high level of concern.
16:23 Speaker 00 Well, I think your, your, your spidey senses would be heightened, right? During that period.
16:30 Speaker 01 For sure.
16:31 Speaker 00 There was a reason somebody filed for a temporary restraining order.
16:35 Speaker 01 Yeah.
16:35 Speaker 00 I don't think it was any secret. I think she had shared with her family that, right? He was abusive. So, you know, unfortunately, as we talked about, restraining order is, it's a tool, but it's not a foolproof.
16:50 Speaker 01 Yeah.
16:50 Speaker 00 Tool. But my other thought is, it is something that could set someone off or over the edge.
17:01 Speaker 00 And, and maybe that's what we're talking about here. Deborah's SUV was found parked at the Palm Beach Golf Center in the 7700 block of Military Trail in Riviera Beach, Florida, about two miles from her workplace, but she was nowhere to be found. Investigators immediately reached out to Jamie Washington as a suspect. And that would have to be the first person, right? Number one, he's ex-boyfriend. So that's going to put him in the crosshairs by itself.
17:34 Speaker 01 Right.
17:35 Speaker 00 And on top of that, the restraining order.
17:37 Speaker 01 Yeah, it's going to elevate it up.
17:38 Speaker 00 Yeah, I mean, he's got to be a number one person of interest. Deborah's father, Larry Young, later recalled how they searched canals, cane fields and buildings, looking for her. Deborah's family distributed flyers and they spoke to the media. Larry Young told W PBF that he believed she was dead, but he still wanted to find her. He said, if it was your child or one of your relatives, you'd want to do the same thing to find your loved one.
18:11 Speaker 01 Yeah, of course.
18:12 Speaker 00 You don't know if they're hurt or dead or whatever. We have a feeling that she's passed, but we miss her. And this is a very interesting statement to me because you and I talk a lot of true crime. We've done a gazillion episodes, it seems. And I'm always struck by, you know, how family members react because it varies wildly. You know, some people in their heart feel as though their loved one is not coming back. Now they, they want to recover them.
18:46 Speaker 01 Yeah.
18:47 Speaker 00 This is pretty early on.
18:48 Speaker 01 It is.
18:49 Speaker 00 Others will hold out hope for 15, 20, 30, 40 years. All the while, either believing or telling themselves that their loved one is still alive.
19:02 Speaker 01 Yeah, but I think they realize how bad of a person Jamie was.
19:07 Speaker 00 Yes.
19:08 Speaker 01 That they just, and they probably felt it on the inside too. People have those. You know, intuition.
19:14 Speaker 00 Yeah.
19:15 Speaker 01 And it's sometimes it's hard to deny.
19:17 Speaker 00 Yeah, and, and I'm sure they were privy to many more details than we've given here.
19:23 Speaker 01 Oh, for sure.
19:24 Speaker 00 As far as his conduct and, and the numerous, um, times that he had done something against Deborah.
19:33 Speaker 01 But you still want that person.
19:36 Speaker 00 Oh.
19:36 Speaker 01 To be home.
19:37 Speaker 00 No doubt about it.
19:38 Speaker 01 You can do what you want to do with their body and not have it somewhere out there rotting away.
19:44 Speaker 00 Yeah, I mean, you want to bring that person home, lay them to rest, have somewhere to, you know, pay your respects and all that. Crystal's sister Willie Everett said she wasn't familiar with Deborah, but babysitting children in the community was something Crystal normally did. On June 25th, the sheriff's, sheriff's spokeswoman said the two cases were not related, but documents obtained by the Palm Beach Post indicated they were. And again, you know, what the, the police or in this case, the sheriff comes out and discloses to the media. You know, how much do you really put into that? Because, you know, most times they don't want to give out a lot.
20:29 Speaker 00 And they're known to deflect.
20:33 Speaker 00 Now, for me, I, I, I get it. If you don't have anything concrete to say they're related, that's one thing. But if you actually come out and say they're not related, well, how do you know that? And what are you basing that on?
20:48 Speaker 01 Yeah, it's true.
20:49 Speaker 00 That's the question I would have. Maybe if I was a reporter or, you know, something like that because, okay, best friends, one is found dead and the other one is missing. And you're telling me they're not related in any way? That's, that's kind of strange.
21:04 Speaker 01 Seems a little fishy.
21:05 Speaker 00 Yeah, it does. Spokeswoman Terry Barbera wrote in the documents, Jesse was in the process of gaining a domestic violence injunction against a former boyfriend. Detectives are extremely concerned for her safety.
21:23 Speaker 00 And again, I mean, that to me is just common sense. On June 28th, 2013, Jamie Washington was arrested on an outstanding warrant stemming from a misdemeanor domestic charge involving a previous incident with Deborah. The misdemeanor was upgraded to felony domestic battery at a court hearing. Now, he was accused of domestic battery back in January 2013. That didn't come out very well, 2013, but he wasn't arrested for months. And I just wonder how much of that had to do with Deborah going missing?
22:03 Speaker 01 I think it plays a part of it.
22:04 Speaker 00 Yeah. Now, they were probably going to arrest him at some point, but did they, you know, can you envision a scenario where they're arresting him for a very valid reason? It's not like they're making it up, but they're doing it because they want to turn the heat up on this guy, right? It's one thing if, you know, you voluntarily come in and talk to the police, right? Because you know, you can leave at any time.
22:32 Speaker 01 Sure.
22:33 Speaker 00 It's different when you're arrested.
22:36 Speaker 01 Yeah, you're not going anywhere.
22:39 Speaker 00 And you're put in jail and then the police want to talk to you about this person's disappearance. Deborah reported to investigators that Washington followed her from a hospital in Belgrade to a convenience store in Pahokee and attacked her. This is going back to this domestic
22:58 Speaker 01 Violence.
22:59 Speaker 00 Violence charge. The two argued at the hospital and Deborah decided to drive to Pahokee to get away from him. She pulled into a gas station on East Main Street and got out of her car. She saw Washington pull in behind her and tried to get back in her vehicle and lock the doors. But as she tried to roll up the window, Washington jumped into the window.
23:26 Speaker 01 Oh.
23:27 Speaker 00 And pushed her with one hand against her face. This is a very violent encounter.
23:34 Speaker 01 Yeah.
23:35 Speaker 00 He grabbed the keys out of the ignition and forcefully pushed her into the backseat. He also took her cell phone.
23:42 Speaker 01 Very controlling.
23:44 Speaker 00 Yeah, and, and a very scary situation. I mean, you can try to put yourself in her shoes and, you know, there's an argument. You make the decision, all right, I gotta get away from this guy.
23:56 Speaker 01 Yeah.
23:56 Speaker 00 And you pull into a gas station and what do you see? He's right behind you.
24:01 Speaker 01 Yeah, he's not letting you go.
24:03 Speaker 00 So you get your out, but you, you're trying to get back into your vehicle as quick as you can so that you can escape. But man, he is, it sounds like he was there in a heartbeat and literally, you know, going through the window to get her.
24:19 Speaker 01 Taking your keys, your phone and throwing you in the back.
24:22 Speaker 00 Deborah was able to get her keys and phone back. Washington reportedly told her, I'll see you at the house.
24:32 Speaker 01 I'd be like, no, you won't.
24:34 Speaker 00 I'm going to the motel aid or whatever. But again, it's a scary situation. We said it, right? She's got kids and all that. It makes all of that much more difficult, but scary to me. A deputy came to the parking lot and talked to Deborah. Washington drove his car around the block several times, watching their conversation.
24:59 Speaker 01 Just wanted to see what was going on.
25:01 Speaker 00 Deborah told the deputy that Washington had beaten her up in the past and locked her in their home. She also said that he once told her, if the police try to arrest me, I'll kill them.
25:14 Speaker 01 Oh.
25:15 Speaker 00 You know what police don't like? Threat, threats on their life.
25:17 Speaker 01 Yeah. But he's also trying to talk tough right there, you know? Maybe he would try to.
25:22 Speaker 00 Yeah. Again, I think you have to take that pretty seriously. Anytime someone threatens to kill someone else, I, I get it. It could be bravado. It could be designed to scare her.
25:35 Speaker 01 Yeah.
25:36 Speaker 00 But I'm sure if the police heard that, they, they would take it very, very seriously. Deborah didn't have any signs of injury and she didn't want medical attention. Deputies followed Deborah home and found Washington inside. He called her phone and talked to a deputy, but refused to come out. The incident occurred on January 26th, but the investigating deputy didn't sign the arrest affidavit until June 14th.
26:07 Speaker 01 That's a healthy gap.
26:10 Speaker 00 Yeah, and it does kind of go against my thought process, right? That this was maybe a way for them to put the, um, turn the heat up on him.
26:23 Speaker 01 Yeah.
26:24 Speaker 00 Because June 14th is six days before she even files the restraining order.
26:29 Speaker 01 That's true.
26:30 Speaker 00 So you just wonder, why did it take almost six months to sign this arrest affidavit?
26:37 Speaker 01 Seems pretty long. I mean, I don't know what was going on behind the scenes, but.
26:42 Speaker 00 Yeah, I don't either. Maybe there was back and forth between the, the, uh, the DA and who knows, right? No idea. An arrest was not immediately made because the crime was classified as a misdemeanor and was not witnessed by law enforcement. So that kind of sheds a little bit of light on it.
27:06 Speaker 01 It does.
27:07 Speaker 00 State Attorney's Office spokesman Mike Edmondson said, per the Palm Beach Post, if it's a misdemeanor or not done in the presence of law enforcement, they can't do a physical arrest. They have to do exactly what was done here and request a warrant review. On December 19th, 2013, Jamie Washington was indicted on two counts of first degree murder. Authorities believed he learned that Deborah was going to leave him and he killed her. He told numerous people in the past, he would do so if she tried to leave. Police believe Crystal Anderson was an unintended victim who just happened to be there.
27:49 Speaker 01 Always hate that. If, if I can't have you, nobody can have you, uh, thought process.
27:54 Speaker 00 Yeah. And, you know, we've said it numerous times, but it's something we've learned over the, the years, right? We've been doing this podcast for 10 years now. The most dangerous time in many of these scenarios is when the person makes the decision to leave and is in the motion, right? Putting things into motion.
28:17 Speaker 01 Yeah.
28:18 Speaker 00 That can often be the, the most dangerous time. According to the probable cause affidavit released with the indictment, on the day Deborah visited Crystal to accompany her to church, Washington was looking for someone to use voodoo or black magic to compel Deborah to take him back.
28:38 Speaker 01 Okay.
28:39 Speaker 00 I know you're into some of that voodoo, black magic stuff and it's why you take so many trips down to New Orleans.
28:47 Speaker 01 Well, I, I, I do the great magic because I, you know, I want to keep it on the border of, you know.
28:53 Speaker 00 White and.
28:54 Speaker 01 Yeah.
28:56 Speaker 00 You kind of go middle of the road, right?
28:57 Speaker 01 So it's, it's more, uh, um, I was gonna say like VD magic, but I'm like, no, that sounds wrong.
29:05 Speaker 00 Yeah, I don't think that's good.
29:07 Speaker 01 Yeah.
29:08 Speaker 00 But apparently he carried Deborah's underwear and her comb with him.
29:13 Speaker 01 Okay.
29:14 Speaker 00 Because he thought it would make the magic more powerful.
29:17 Speaker 01 Yeah, I got her, uh, used, uh, underwear here and her brush with some of her hair. Let's, uh, do a little, uh, spell. That way she stays with me.
29:32 Speaker 00 So Deborah went missing, they think about two to three hours after she went to, to visit Crystal. Based on cell phone records, witness statements and DNA evidence, officials believed Washington broke into Crystal's house while the women were there and killed them. He left Crystal's body in the home, but dumped Deborah's body at an unknown site and drove her car to Riviera Beach.
30:03 Speaker 00 As bad as it is, right? This is a horrible situation. You know, that would make some sense, I think, from his perspective.
30:11 Speaker 01 Yeah.
30:12 Speaker 00 Deborah was the key. Crystal was not, but she was there.
30:17 Speaker 01 Yeah, by default.
30:18 Speaker 00 Yeah, I mean, she became an unintended victim. So he would leave her there, but he's gonna take Deborah because Deborah is the key to this whole thing.
30:29 Speaker 01 Sure.
30:30 Speaker 00 Washington told a witness that someone dropped him off at Crystal's house. He argued with Crystal and shot her twice while either in her living room or hallway. He then took Deborah's cellphone and shot her in the chest. Washington claimed he held Deborah in his arms as she died. So this is, again, like you said, right? One of those scenarios where if I can't have you, nobody can. It's also kind of one of those, you know, I love you so much. I'd rather you be dead than be without you. I mean, none of these make sense.
31:08 Speaker 01 They don't make any sense.
31:09 Speaker 00 Now, how they make sense in some of these people's minds, you know, that's a, that's the question.
31:16 Speaker 01 Yeah.
31:17 Speaker 00 Because I think in a lot of these, they do make sense to these people. And that's part of the scary thing about them.
31:24 Speaker 01 Yeah, I think they feel like they're, what they're doing is correct.
31:28 Speaker 00 Makes perfect sense.
31:29 Speaker 01 Yeah.
31:29 Speaker 00 Right? This was consistent with blood found on a white braided belt, which Deborah was wearing on the morning of the murder, as captured by Family Dollar store surveillance. Crystal's blood and gunshot residue were found on two pillowcases alongside her body. The pillows were believed to have been used to muffle the gunshots. Deborah's cousin, who arrived at Crystal's house around 11:30 a.m. To accompany the women to church, knocked on her door to announce his arrival. Messages were sent from Deborah's phone to try to get the witness to leave. But the messages were sent to a number the witness hadn't had for almost two months.
32:12 Speaker 01 Okay, so since an old number.
32:14 Speaker 00 Mm hmm.
32:15 Speaker 01 Yeah.
32:15 Speaker 00 Which kind of, you know, sheds a spotlight onto the fact that this was jammy.
32:22 Speaker 01 Right.
32:23 Speaker 00 Right, trying to get this person to go away. Maybe he had a number, but that number was old because he had kind of been out of the loop. Right, for a little while.
32:34 Speaker 01 He didn't know that the numbers changed.
32:36 Speaker 00 Yeah. According to the affidavit, Washington told a witness, he dumped Deborah's body in a canal near the Belle Glade sugarcane fields so that alligators would consume the remains.
32:49 Speaker 01 Cause I love you so much, nobody else can have you, but I'm gonna let the alligators have your body. That's how much I love you.
32:57 Speaker 00 Yeah, I, again, how do you make sense of it? You can't because it's not rational. Now, does it make more sense that after he had done what he did? He knew he had to get rid of her body. And unfortunately, or I guess fortunately, if you're a killer, Florida, having a lot of alligators, there are some pretty good places to get rid of a body.
33:26 Speaker 01 Yeah, unfortunately, there's options there.
33:28 Speaker 00 Yeah, I mean, that you wouldn't have like here in Ohio where we live. Now, you could dump a body in a body of water.
33:37 Speaker 01 You can.
33:38 Speaker 00 But there's no alligator that's going to eat the remains so that they, there's no way of ever finding.
33:46 Speaker 01 No, no, those, if you want that, you have to take them out to the pig farm.
33:50 Speaker 00 Yeah.
33:52 Speaker 00 We don't want to hear about your pig farm.
33:54 Speaker 01 Yeah, well.
33:55 Speaker 00 Sheriff Rick Bradshaw said at a news conference announcing the indictment that neither Deborah nor Crystal could have done anything more to protect themselves. And a restraining order is only good if law enforcement can arrive in time to enforce it. He said, if you take their gun, they'll get a knife. If you take their knife, they'll get a rock and smash your skull. There are some people that need to go to jail and not be allowed out of jail.
34:25 Speaker 01 Yeah, he's exactly right.
34:27 Speaker 00 Yeah, I wholeheartedly believe in that.
34:31 Speaker 00 You know, I get it, a lot of people don't like guns and I understand why. But if someone is intent on doing harm to you as a person, there are a lot of other ways other than a gun that they could do it.
34:45 Speaker 01 Sure there is.
34:46 Speaker 00 So if they don't have a gun, they'll find something else. If they're so intent
34:52 Speaker 01 Yeah.
34:52 Speaker 00 on getting to you or hurting you. And I also do believe there are certain people that are so bad, they just need to be locked up. They should not be walking around.
35:04 Speaker 01 No, you can't, you can't give them the opportunity to hurt somebody because they will do it.
35:09 Speaker 00 Because they're gonna do it.
35:09 Speaker 01 Yeah.
35:10 Speaker 00 Yeah. Washington's trial started in July 2019. The jury heard that Washington lied to detectives when he said he was in Pahokee all day on June 23rd. Cell data proved otherwise. He lied when he said he didn't know where Deborah had moved to. Because the day before she disappeared and on the day she went missing, he put her new address into Google Maps.
35:35 Speaker 01 Sometimes these guys are just idiots, man.
35:36 Speaker 00 Well, we talk about, you know, this electronic trail.
35:41 Speaker 01 Yeah.
35:41 Speaker 00 Right, this digital trail that people don't seem to think about.
35:48 Speaker 00 You know, do you think that the police are not gonna suspect you? Number one, you have to know they are. And do you think they're not gonna go back through your whole digital footprint and look for anything and everything they can find?
36:01 Speaker 01 I think a lot of people don't realize is that digital footprint is out there, even if you can't see it now.
36:08 Speaker 00 Oh.
36:08 Speaker 01 It's out there.
36:09 Speaker 00 Somebody can retrieve it.
36:10 Speaker 01 Yes.
36:11 Speaker 00 He claimed he hadn't spoken to her in several days, but text and a 30 minute phone call in the early morning hours of June 23rd showed otherwise. The defense argued that the case was circumstantial. There was no eyewitness testimony from anyone who saw the shooting. There was no evidence Washington owned a 38 caliber gun, like the one used in the shooting, and no murder weapon was ever found. There was no proof Washington was ever in Crystal's home. And if Deborah was shot in the home, where was the blood evidence? Additionally, no one saw him move Deborah's body. So I mean, I think from a defense standpoint, these are all good points to raise.
36:53 Speaker 01 They are.
36:55 Speaker 00 And let's face it, a lot of cases are extremely circumstantial, right? Most of the evidence is circumstantial. The only people who could put him at the scene were a woman walking by who believes she saw Washington sitting in Deborah's SUV and then walking to the back of Crystal's home. And also one of Washington's fellow inmates. Inmate Vincent Whitehead testified that Washington confessed to the murders while they were in the Palm Beach County Jail. And he said he went into detail. According to Whitehead, it was like a movie, like I was reading a book, like I was right there seeing it. Washington
37:39 Speaker 00 claimed he shot Crystal twice because she was in the way of him getting to Deborah. After he shot Deborah, he held her body, cried and said, look what you made me do.
37:50 Speaker 01 Oh my gosh. I, look what you made me do. I told you I'd have to do this. Look what you made me do.
37:59 Speaker 00 Sickening.
38:00 Speaker 01 It is. It really is.
38:01 Speaker 00 That someone could, could actually think that way. The defense noted that Whitehead was given the nickname superstar because of all his work as a police informant. Whitehead said he was not paid for the information he gave in the case. He was homeless and risking his safety by testifying. When asked what his motive was, if it wasn't money or a reduced sentence, Whitehead said that one of his family members was killed in front of others and no one came forward. And if he ever had the opportunity to provide information in a similar situation, he would. Now, you and I have talked a ton about jailhouse information.
38:40 Speaker 01 Sure.
38:41 Speaker 00 Some can be 100% accurate.
38:44 Speaker 01 It can be.
38:45 Speaker 00 Unfortunately, many of them are trying to get something.
38:49 Speaker 01 Yeah, it's normally a tit for tat.
38:52 Speaker 00 Hmm. You just wanted to say tit?
38:56 Speaker 00 Is that how this goes? Tit for tat? You could have said quid pro quo. You could have said a lot of things.
39:02 Speaker 01 Could I have said that? Quid pro? See?
39:05 Speaker 00 Oh, I don't know if you could say it.
39:07 Speaker 01 Yeah.
39:07 Speaker 00 But no, you're right. The problem is anytime someone has a vested in interest, right? In saying something in a particular way or towards a certain side, you really have to take that with a grain of salt. If it cannot be conclusively proven, and most of the time it can't. You're talking about two guys sitting in a jail cell, talking. And one supposedly says, or this and confesses to a murder. You know, even if it was more ramen noodles or it was more rec time, I don't know.
39:45 Speaker 01 Yeah.
39:45 Speaker 00 People are always wanting something when they're incarcerated. Witness Manuel Ramirez testified that the day before Deborah disappeared, Washington called him asking if he knew anyone who could perform voodoo. You ever get that call?
40:01 Speaker 01 Uh, not in a long time.
40:03 Speaker 00 Okay.
40:04 Speaker 01 Yeah, I took that ad down.
40:07 Speaker 00 I'm saying if somebody, if one of my friends calls me and says, hey, man, do you know anybody that can perform voodoo? Be like, no, lose my number and never call me again.
40:21 Speaker 00 He said Deborah broke up with him and he wanted her back. Washington took a comb and a pair of underwear to help perform a type of spell on the morning of June 23rd, but Ramirez testified the woman he thought could help them didn't practice voodoo.
40:40 Speaker 01 You know what? If the roles were reversed, what women would never do?
40:45 Speaker 00 Take a man's underwear?
40:46 Speaker 01 Exactly. I don't care how much they like, I want, I want him back so much. They're not going to touch his underwear.
40:54 Speaker 00 Nope, I'd have to agree with you there. Now, you know, my wife does have to wash my underwear. I mean, I do laundry too, but we wash each other's, I guess.
41:05 Speaker 01 Does she have to wash it?
41:07 Speaker 00 I don't know. I don't think she touches it. I think she just takes the, the basket and goes like that.
41:12 Speaker 01 Maybe use tongs?
41:14 Speaker 00 Yeah, or she uses gloves or, or something like that. But, you know, again, this woman doesn't practice voodoo. I'm assuming she was probably a little shocked to see someone show up with a comb and a pair of women's underwear.
41:29 Speaker 01 Yeah. Probably like, and you want me to what again?
41:35 Speaker 00 Yeah, this is a taxidermist. I don't know why you thought we, we did voodoo. Ramirez was asked by the defense if Washington expressed his desire to kill someone that day. Ramirez said he did not. Deborah's cousin, Corey Johnson testified that he was supposed to meet Deborah at Crystal's home to go to church together. When he arrived, both of their cars were there, but no one answered when he knocked. He went around back, knocked again, but still no one answered. He didn't have a cell phone at the time, so he walked home, but he felt that something wasn't right. Again, it goes back to, you know, are these people reliable? And if so, then it would be weird.
42:16 Speaker 01 Yeah.
42:16 Speaker 00 That they're not answering when they said, hey, this is what time we're going to leave. Also, neither of the women were returning phone calls or text messages. Corey later returned to the home and noticed Deborah's car was gone. No one answered the door when he knocked. Eventually, he went to the home of Deborah's stepmother, Angela Burrows, but no one answered the door. He opened the unlocked back door, but didn't go inside and instead went home. Angela Burrows testified that she walked into Crystal Anderson's home and saw a body on the floor, but wasn't sure who it was. She went to lift up the woman's face and recognized her as Crystal. That was when Cory Young heard her screaming, "She's dead, she's dead."
43:01 Speaker 00 On July 18th, 2019, Jamie Washington was found guilty of two counts of first degree murder and burglary while armed. He was sentenced to life in prison. In a letter to the court, Deborah's mother wrote that her youngest child was just a baby when she went missing and it pained her to know he would never bond with his mother. And that is extremely sad.
43:26 Speaker 01 It is sad.
43:27 Speaker 00 Number one, that she lost her life, but that her young son, you know, never got to, you know, really know his mother all that well.
43:38 Speaker 01 It's tragic.
43:39 Speaker 00 Over a decade later, Deborah Ann Jesse remains missing. She is presumed dead. At the time of her disappearance, Deborah was five foot seven, weighed approximately 150 pounds. She had black slash dark brown hair, brown eyes and a tattoo on her arm. She had pierced ears and also spelled her name Deborah, D E B R A. She was last seen wearing blue and white striped pants and silver and blue flip flop sandals. Anyone with information on Deborah's disappearance and the murder of Crystal Anderson is urged to contact the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, 561-688-3000.
44:23 Speaker 00 So, you know, little bit of a different case for us.
44:26 Speaker 01 It is.
44:27 Speaker 00 We have a conclusion, right? We have finality in the fact that we know who did this. A jury convicted him, but Deborah still has not been found.
44:38 Speaker 01 No.
44:40 Speaker 00 You know, it's well over a decade later. When, you know, you say she is presumed dead.
44:49 Speaker 00 Pretty hard not to think that.
44:51 Speaker 01 Especially with some of the things that he said.
44:54 Speaker 00 Some of the things he said, the restraining order, her best friend is found dead.
44:59 Speaker 01 Right.
45:01 Speaker 00 The more likely scenario, and I'm sure the, the one that, that a jury would believe or did believe is that he killed both women.
45:10 Speaker 01 Yeah.
45:11 Speaker 00 He was really only there though for Deborah and held her in his arms while she died and then took her somewhere and buried her and probably now really has no reason to disclose that information.
45:25 Speaker 01 Yeah, or he did throw her in the canal.
45:27 Speaker 00 Yes. And so there's really nothing that can be done.
45:32 Speaker 01 Yeah.
45:32 Speaker 00 Even if he were to come out and say, hey, yeah, this is what I really did. Well, what are the chances?
45:39 Speaker 01 It doesn't seem like the stand-up type of guy that would want to put closure to something.
45:44 Speaker 00 No, no, and I don't think he has any reason to.
45:47 Speaker 01 Yeah.
45:48 Speaker 00 But hopefully, you know, that life sentence turns out to be life.
45:54 Speaker 01 Yeah, that's true.
45:55 Speaker 00 Because I don't think, in my personal opinion, this is a guy who deserves to be free. I really don't.
46:02 Speaker 01 No. He killed her because if he couldn't have her, nobody was gonna have her.
46:08 Speaker 00 Yeah, absolutely. But that's it for our episode on Deborah and Jesse.
46:15 Speaker 01 Yeah.
46:16 Speaker 00 We love y'all.
46:17 Speaker 01 We do.
46:18 Speaker 00 And we'll, uh, we'll see you next episode.
46:20 Speaker 01 See ya.
46:21 Speaker 00 Bye.
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