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Trial of Jennifer Odom's accused killer
Jeffery Crum is accused of kidnapping and murdering 12-year-old Jennifer Odom in 1993. The trial in a decades-old case began on Tuesday. FOX 13's Kylie Jones reports.
BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - The trial in a decades-old kidnapping and murder case in Hernando County began Tuesday morning.
Jeffrey Crum is charged with the kidnapping, sexual battery and murder of 12-year-old Jennifer Odom in 1993.
RELATED: Man accused of kidnapping, killing Jennifer Odom in 1993 heads to trial
Hernando County murder trial
What we know:
Opening statements began Tuesday morning.
Jennifer disappeared from the bus stop in Pasco County in February 1993. Prosecutors say Jennifer's best friend, Michelle Sample, and another student saw Jennifer get off the school bus that day and walk in the direction of a blue truck.
Her body was later discovered in a wooded area in Hernando County. About two years later, detectives found her backpack with her name written inside and her clarinet case many miles away from where her body was found.
The prosecution highlighted this detail.
"You're going to hear from Jeffrey Crum Jr., the defendant's son, who's going to tell you about the defendant giving him a clarinet as a gift when he was a young child," the prosecutor said. "He's going to tell you that that was really odd, because he wasn't the clarinet, musical instrument kind of kid."
Jennifer's mother testified on Tuesday morning, saying she never knew anyone named Jeffrey Crum. She says her other daughter called her at work to tell her that Jennifer never came home from school.
"My heart dropped to the floor at that moment, because I knew something was wrong because Michelle had seen her get off the bus, so I knew immediately something bad was wrong," Renee Converse, Jennifer's mother, said.
The jury is also expected to hear from an old acquaintance of Crum's, who he allegedly confessed details to about Jennifer's murder.
"The defendant told her about what he had done to Jennifer Odom," the prosecutor said. "He had picked her up at a bus stop, took her to the woods, raped her and killed her."
Pasco County bus stop attack
The backstory:
Crum walked free for decades, while building a long list of other criminal charges.
Prosecutors say that in 2015, Crum's son was arrested, and his DNA was collected. Because of advancements in DNA technology, this later helped detectives identify Crum and link him to a 1992 case where a 17-year-old girl was kidnapped from a Pasco County bus stop and sexually assaulted.
Crum was convicted in that case in 2019 and is currently serving two life sentences.
In 2023, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office charged Crum with Jennifer's kidnapping, sexual battery and murder.
Defense challenges state evidence
What they're saying:
During a brief opening statement from the defense Tuesday morning, Crum's attorney wanted the jury to focus on what she called a 'lack of evidence.'
"Just because somebody's convicted of one crime, doesn't mean they're guilty of another crime, and that's basically what they're asking you to do," the defense said. "Because, Mr. Crum has been found guilty and convicted, he must've done it. He drove a blue truck, and he made some statement to some woman decades ago."
The defense didn't deny the horrific crime, but argued that the state can't prove that Crum is the right suspect.
"Really what they said is that somebody will say that he drove a blue truck around that time, he allegedly, and I want you to listen when people tell you statements that he made," the defense said. "That he allegedly made statements years ago."
What's next:
The trial is expected to continue Wednesday morning and the state is expected to call several more witnesses.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from opening statements in Crum's trial, statements made by the prosecution and defense and witness testimony.