[suspenseful music playing]
[Steven Fry] A young vibrant person
who had their entire life ahead of them
was snuffed out in one violent act.
[woman groaning]
[Keira Stockdale] He may have built up a huge fantasy
in his mind of a sexual nature.
And then when he went to act on it,
it didn't play out as he expected.
[Fry] She'd come out of the shower
and the man was standing in her living room.
[Lance Mathews] The person had access
to the lockbox that contained keys to her apartment.
[Michael Arntfield] She could be the target for the offender
but doesn't even know she's on their radar.
[screams]
[Fry] He was unable to provide any valid reason
why his DNA would be on her.
[Mathews] This case would still be haunting me
if we weren't able to bring justice.
[narrator] Every day in North America,
dozens of people are murdered.
The key to solving the toughest
of these homicides lies in the final 24 hours
of the victim's life.
To crack the case, detectives must reconstruct
that critical timeline.
The minutes and hours containing evidence
that can help unlock the mystery
and catch the killer.
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Bryan, Texas, a small town
in the central part of the state
where the Old West meets the modern world.
[Fry] Bryan is located between Houston
and Austin, Texas.
Bryan is a fairly safe residential town,
population of about 80,000.
It's a mixture of college students,
family residences,
as well as blue-collar business areas.
Compared to major towns,
the crime rate is fairly low.
[Fry] Bryan has a small college community.
Blinn College is located in Bryan.
General area around campus
is where a lot of the students live.
[narrator] One of the largest student housing complexes
in the area is Autumn Woods.
[Fry] This particular apartment complex
is adjacent to the Blinn College campus
and consists of several buildings
with close to a thousand residents.
[narrator] As spring takes hold
and the semester starts winding down,
911 gets an urgent call from a student
living in the Autumn Woods Complex.
[dispatcher speaking]
[Mathews] At 11:30 AM, 911 received a call
from this local apartment complex
near the Blinn College campus.
[Fry] The student informed us that there was
a potentially deceased person inside the apartment complex.
[Fry] Bryan patrol officers were dispatched to the scene.
When Detective Mathews and I arrived,
patrol officers had already locked off the apartment.
[Mathews] We entered the apartment
and noticed the... A deceased female
lying in her bedroom on her back.
[Fry] Her body was positioned approximately halfway
between the bedroom door and the foot of her bed.
Our initial observation of the victim's clothing
was that it looked to be something that someone
would have worn to bed that night.
[Mathews] There was no obvious signs
of cause of death.
[narrator] The deceased is 20-year-old
Jenna Verhaalen, a student at Blinn College.
[Mathews] Jenna got along with everybody
and was from all accounts just a bubbly person.
[narrator] She loved to laugh and developed a reputation
as her class prankster.
[Fry] She had her schooling going on.
She had a job working in a restaurant.
She was a hard worker,
had all kinds of things going for her.
[narrator] Tasked with investigating
the suspicious death of Jenna Verhaalen
are Detectives Lance Mathews
and Steven Fry of the Major Crimes Unit.
[Mathews] We assessed the scene completely.
There's no actual signs of a burglary or anything
that would indicate that someone
had broken into the apartment.
[Fry] I did not see any signs of any forced entry.
Her purse was still hanging next to the door.
Her cell phone and wallet were still in her bedroom.
We did notice in the spare bedroom,
there was a window that was not locked
and the screen was off that window,
that could have possibly been an entry point
for somebody to get into the apartment
without causing any damage.
[Stockdale] It's possible the killer
entered Jenna's apartment through a broken window.
You have to think, well, is this person
having knowledge of this apartment complex?
Are they watching Jenna?
How did they know about the window
and that point of entry?
So, you would likely think perhaps the killer lives
in this apartment complex.
[Fry] On the scene, Detective Mathews and I
were able to examine the body and found
she was in full rigor at the time.
Lividity had also set.
Based on the rigor and lividity,
we do know that she had been deceased for some time.
Lividity occurs in a person after they are deceased
and gravity forces the blood to pool
in areas closest to the ground.
Lividity was visible on her body.
Upon our initial observations,
we did notice some minute blood droplets on the collar
of the T-shirt that the victim was wearing.
[Mathews] Also, there was a spot on her forehead
that looked like bruising
and there were two linear scratches on her chin
and on her arm as well.
Given Jenna's age and that she was a college student,
investigators need to question
if this was a sexually motivated crime.
[Fry] We looked for other injuries,
some other types of wounds that we might see on the body.
At this time, we did not find much.
[Mathews] Next to her body, there were some blood spots
on the carpet but there wasn't anything
that would indicate what actually occurred.
[Fry] At that point in time, we were unable to determine
how Jenna died,
but we cannot rule out homicide.
[narrator] Detective searched the remainder
of Jenna's bedroom,
looking for signs of foul play.
[Mathews] In the bedroom,
there was a couple of things out of place.
There was a picture frame and a lamp
that had fallen over.
There was also a rug crumpled up next to the bed.
There were signs of a struggle.
[Fry] Also, the bed covers were pulled back
as though somebody had possibly had some type
of altercation in the bed.
All these gave us reasons to believe
there could have been an altercation
that occurred in the room.
[narrator] To help solve the mystery
of how Jenna died,
investigators call in the local medical examiner.
[Fry] I spoke with the medical examiner
about the possible cause of death and at that time,
he was able to relate to me that Jenna had died
from strangulation
and that he was going to rule this case a murder.
[narrator] Investigators must now
track down Jenna's killer by focusing
on the last 24 hours of her life.
[Fry] Detective Mathews and I walked outside
and took note of who we saw standing around.
Some patrol officers pointed out Spencer Hood
who we learned was Jenna's boyfriend.
My initial observation of Spencer
was that he was very distraught.
Spencer said he was the one who found Jenna
in her apartment that morning.
[narrator] They asked Spencer if he knows of anyone
who would want to harm Jenna.
[Mathews] Spencer told me that, no.
He couldn't answer why someone did this.
[Fry] While speaking with Spencer,
we did try to get a timeline of Jenna's activities
from the day before on April 8th.
[Mathews] According to Spencer on April 8th,
Jenna worked her shift at Wings 'N More
from 10:30 AM to 9:00 PM at night.
[Fry] After leaving work, Jenna went by Starbucks,
picked up a coffee.
About 9:20, Jenna gave him a call to come over.
Spencer and Jenna were living very close to each other,
so he went over to her apartment.
[Mathews] From 9:20 to about midnight,
the couple spent some time together,
did homework, and then Spencer went home.
[narrator] Spencer says he called Jenna 12:30 AM
and said goodnight.
[Fry] And Spencer indicated that was the last time
that night that he spoke with Jenna.
[narrator] The next morning,
Spencer went to class as usual
then stopped by Jenna's place to pick up a book.
[Fry] Around 11:30,
he went over to Jenna's apartment,
he went inside and that is when he found
Jenna laying in the floor.
Once Spencer determined that Jenna was deceased,
he ran outside, found the neighbor,
and asked him to call 911.
Based on when Spencer last spoke to Jenna
and when she was found,
that narrows down her window of death
to approximately 12:30 AM through to 11:30 AM.
[narrator] Investigators begin to look at Spencer,
less as a witness and more as a potential suspect.
Spencer was the last person to see Jenna alive
and also the person to find her dead body.
This immediately, whether coincidence or not,
elevates Spencer to being a person of interest
and raises a number of red flags
for investigators.
[Fry] Oftentimes, we look towards the person
who was last with the victim
and then also the person who found her.
In both of those instances, that was Spencer Hood.
So, at this time, we felt we had a viable suspect.
The focus of our investigation
shifted to Spencer.
[narrator] Hours after college coed Jenna Verhaalen
is found strangled to death,
police have their first suspect,
her boyfriend Spencer Hood.
They bring him to the station for further questioning.
[Fry] We had to determine whether or not
Spencer had committed this murder.
One of the things we look for in an interview
is a person's response to the questions,
body language or emotional response.
During our conversation, Spencer told us
what had happened without a great emotional response.
He was calm and collected.
[narrator] Investigators dig into Spencer's relationship
with Jenna.
[Fry] Spencer told us that they had been dating
all the way from high school and then into college.
[Spencer speaking]
[detective speaking]
[Spencer speaking]
[dramatic music playing]
[Mathews] According to Spencer,
he and Jenna had a great relationship.
They were in love and their joint plans
were to later transfer to Texas State together
so that they could be with each other.
But we don't know if he was telling us the truth.
[Fry] It's not uncommon for someone
to give us indications that all is going well
with their significant other.
We take that with a grain of salt.
[narrator] When detectives press Spencer
for more details, he admits
they had rocky times in their relationship.
[Spencer speaking]
[Arntfield] Given that Jenna and Spencer had broken up
at least once before her murder,
this opens up a realm of possible motives,
jealousy, resentment, retribution for rejection
or a perceived impending final break up.
[Fry] At this point, we had to wait
until the autopsy was completed
and we received all the evidence,
but based on the fact that Spencer and Jenna
were college students living very close to each other,
we did have to look into the possibility
of sexual assault along with the homicide.
Spencer indicated at times they were intimate.
However, he was somewhat embarrassed
during that conversation.
[detective speaking]
[Spencer speaking]
[detective speaking]
[Spencer speaking]
[detective speaking]
[Spencer speaking]
[Arntfield] As uncomfortable a topic as it may be,
investigators need to question
their sexual practices, the frequency,
anything unusual that they may have engaged in.
[narrator] As detectives continue to question Spencer
about their relationship, he becomes anxious.
[Spencer speaking]
[detective speaking]
[Spencer speaking]
[narrator] Having established that Jenna was killed
on Wednesday, April 9th,
between 12:30 AM and 11:30 AM,
detectives questioned Spencer about his whereabouts
during this time.
[Fry] Spencer told us that he was in his apartment
that night at the time that she was likely killed.
[Mathews] Earlier that evening on April 8th,
he and Jenna spent some together time
till approximately midnight.
[narrator] According to Spencer,
Jenna was alive and well when he left the apartment.
After Spencer arrived at his apartment,
he called Jenna one last time around 12:30 AM.
At 1:00 AM, Spencer's roommate Chad
came out of his room,
and he and Spencer had a quick chat.
And then approximately 2:00 AM,
Spencer went to sleep.
[narrator] The next morning, Spencer goes to class
until 11:15 AM.
Then he calls Jenna but there's no answer.
He goes over to her apartment to check on her.
Arrives at 11:30 and finds her body.
[Mathews] Spencer told me that when he first found Jenna
lying in the floor that she was,
kind of, on her side.
He rolled her on her back and that's when he realized
that she was stiff.
[Fry] Detective Mathews and I wanted to dig further
into that to find out
what the point of moving her was.
[narrator] With Spencer's behavior
becoming increasingly suspicious,
detectives drill down on why he moved Jenna's body.
[Mathews] Spencer told us that he thought
that she was joking around with him.
She was known to play pranks.
So he called out her name. He didn't get an answer.
[Fry] Spencer said that something did not feel right
and he rolled her over and that's the point in time
in which he realized that she was likely deceased.
The explanation that he gave at that time
seemed somewhat reasonable.
However, it did require further investigation.
We have to determine whether or not
the crime scene has been altered
by someone who is doing it intentionally
or just someone who found her and was distraught.
Detective Mathews and I did look into the fact
that Spencer did not make the 911 call
and rather had the neighbor and do that for him.
It's an interesting question
why Spencer wouldn't use his own cell phone
when he discovers Jenna's body.
Maybe he panics.
Maybe he goes in search of help.
Or maybe he's trying to stage the scene
and distance himself from it
if he did have some involvement.
[suspenseful music playing]
[narrator] With Spencer now the prime suspect,
detectives request a sample of his DNA.
Spencer willingly gave a sample of his DNA
and that was sent to the lab for a comparison
to DNA that was found on Jenna's clothing
and under her fingernails.
[narrator] As detectives await the DNA results,
they work to verify Spencer's alibi.
[Fry] We did fact-check Spencer's story
through his cell phone records.
A phone call was made between he and Jenna
around 9:20 PM.
We also found that there was a phone call
around 12:30, and again the next morning,
around 11:15 or so.
Detective Mathews and I went and spoke
with his roommate Chad.
In that interview,
we did learn that on April 9th,
Spencer had come home about midnight.
Chad had been asleep and when Spencer got home,
he woke up.
They spoke until about 1:00 in the morning,
when Spencer decided to go to bed until the morning.
[Arntfield] It would not necessarily
have been impossible for Spencer to loop back
to Jenna's place in the morning and kill her.
At the same time, there's no evidence
that that's what happened.
[Fry] Although the information seemed to indicate
that Spencer's story was correct,
we did still have to do further investigation.
[narrator] In search of new evidence,
investigators turn to the medical examiner
on the case.
[Fry] The autopsy did confirm it was a homicide.
The doctor at that point was able to determine
that there were no ligature marks indicating
that an object such as a rope or a wire was used.
Their best guess was that Jenna had died
from manual strangulation.
[narrator] Based on rigor and livor mortis,
investigators are able to narrow down
Jenna's window of death.
[Fry] We believe her murder occurred
sometime after 12:30 up to 1:00 in the morning.
We received all the results from the lab
that included the victim's clothing,
the fingernail scrapings,
as well as the sexual assault examination kit.
The medical examiner and the lab
did not find any evidence
of sexual assault in this case.
[narrator] The results also provide new key evidence
about the crime.
[Mathews] The assessment determined
that most of the DNA belonged to one person.
[Fry] The lab was able to retrieve unknown male DNA
from underneath the fingernails
from the fingernail scrapings
that were taken from the victim.
And the small blood drops on the collar
of the victim's shirt.
[Jenna shrieks]
[Fry] The presence of male DNA under her fingernails
as well as that same male DNA on her shirt
let us know Jenna had certainly fought
with her attacker.
[narrator] With the killer's DNA on file,
investigators can now match it
with potential suspects in the case.
They begin with Spencer's DNA.
[Fry] After getting lab results,
we learned that Spencer was not a match
to either the blood on the collar
or the fingernail scrapings.
So at that point,
we eliminated him as a suspect.
Spencer may have been eliminated
from the investigation as a person of interest,
but the DNA is still huge.
If police can link that DNA to an offender,
that's the case.
[suspenseful music playing]
[narrator] In the murder of 20 year-old
Jenna Verhaalen,
investigators have discovered unknown male DNA
at the crime scene that they believe
belongs to her killer.
With no potential suspects,
police turn to the community for help.
[Fry] One of the first steps that we took
during the investigation
was to canvass the apartment complex.
We find with most homicide cases,
the victim knows the perpetrator.
So at this point, we started focusing
on the people that were most likely
to be associated with Jenna.
[Arntfield] If someone had been watching her,
studying her movements, stalking her,
it was very likely someone
within that same apartment complex.
You're still looking for a needle in a haystack.
[narrator] After talking with dozens of people
in the complex and surrounding areas,
police get a lead from Blinn College student,
Laura Saunders.
[Fry] The night that the murder occurred,
she and several of her friends were outside the building
where Jenna lived, around midnight
to well after 1:00 in the morning
playing volleyball.
Laura said a white male came walking up
from between Jenna's apartment
and another apartment.
His demeanor was so angry and disturbing
that they actually halted their volleyball game.
We did go talk to the other volleyball players as well.
Those players also backed Laura's story up.
Based on the information about what time
the male had walked through there
and the direction that he was coming from,
we did feel important to try to determine who he was.
[narrator] Detectives consider a new theory.
Could this mystery man
be behind Jenna's murder?
[suspense music playing]
After speaking with the volleyball players
and the description they gave us about the male,
Detective Mathews and I were able to make
the determination that that person matched
fairly closely with another resident
called Sean.
He was a 27-year-old student
at Blinn College living in those apartments.
Sean was known to us through his prior record
for a violent crime.
[Mathews] He was accused of assaulting someone
at a local store.
[narrator] Detectives look closer at Sean Underwood
as a potential suspect,
and quickly discover a disturbing detail.
Jenna's apartment was directly across
a small courtyard
from where Sean lived.
Jenna was on the first floor
and Sean was on the second.
It would be very easy for him
to step out on to his balcony
and look right down upon Jenna Verhaalen's apartment.
[Arntfield] This is a break. Police had been looking
for somebody who may have known Jenna's movements,
who knew her routine.
Very likely someone in that apartment complex
and Sean, as it turns out,
would have had a direct sightline to her apartment
and could have been stalking and monitoring her movements
without her even knowing it.
[narrator] Investigators pay Sean a visit
at his apartment.
[Fry] While speaking to Sean,
we did notice another male walking around
the apartment.
Sean identified the other male
as his brother, Justin.
[Mathews] Justin was visiting Sean
on April 8th and April 9th.
[Fry] Both Justin and Sean
matched the physical description
given by the volleyball players,
so both of them fit as a possible suspect
- for this case. - [muffled scream]
[narrator] As police continue to question the residents
about the Underwood brothers,
more alarming details emerged.
We learned through other female residents,
Sean and Justin had been verbally harassing
- many of the residents. - [Mathews] Speaking
with people throughout that apartment community,
we found that Sean was known
as a heavy drinker.
[Fry] We also found out there are several times
where Sean had stood on his balcony
and made rude and snide comments
to Jenna as she walked through her apartment.
The verbal harassment had occurred
several times.
[Arntfield] In criminology, Jenna could be
what we call the "targeted stranger."
The victim is the target for the offender.
But the victim doesn't even know
that they're on their radar.
[narrator] With the two brothers in their crosshairs,
investigators returned to Sean's apartment
to bring them in for questioning.
[Fry] Detective Mathews and I went to the apartment
and we learned that they had returned back to Oklahoma.
Certainly, that would raise a big red flag for us
in the fact that we were looking into a murder
and then suddenly they leave town.
[narrator] Police tracked down the two brothers
at their parents' house in Oklahoma.
[Fry] Both brothers agreed
to be questioned about the case.
And we've asked them for their DNA.
The DNA samples relayed to the lab
for comparison to the suspect's DNA.
[narrator] The detectives question Sean Underwood
about his whereabouts during the time
Jenna was killed.
[Fry] The night of the murder,
Sean said that he had been out
with his brother around 9:00 PM.
And they had gone out bar hopping
all night long and did not return
until the morning.
He indicated that he did not have much recollection
of what occurred that night
because of his extreme intoxication.
[Arntfield] If you know that you're now involved
in a murder investigation,
you would damn well start thinking hard
about where you were on that day.
That kind of offhand disregard
and cavalier approach
is naturally gonna raise suspicion.
[narrator] Detectives interviewed Justin next
and immediately noticed something unusual.
[Fry] Justin had a bruising under his eye
as well as other places
and that his explanation for that
was that he got into a fight
while they were bar hopping that night.
Knowing what we knew about the way Jenna
was killed with her attacker,
strangling her in a struggle.
That certainly piqued our interest into him.
[narrator] With Justin now at the top
of their suspect list,
police dig into his movements
on the night of Jenna's murder.
[Fry] Justin had arrived at the apartment complex
just one day prior to Jenna's death
to visit his brother Sean
and had planned to stay for two weeks.
He left shortly after her murder
and gone back to Tulsa.
[Mathews] Justin told us that he was nowhere
near the complex on the night of the murder
or the day that Jenna was found
because he was partying.
[Roots Gadhia] Justin offered up his debit card
in order to prove that he'd been out partying
having spent significant money
at the bars up to about $3,000.
[narrator] Officers look into Justin's bank statements
and debit charges to verify his whereabouts
in the hours surrounding Jenna's murder.
We did learn through receipts that both brothers had been
to several bars.
The timeframe we were looking into
matched very closely to what they had given us
as far as being at different bars
throughout the night
from around 9:00 to that next morning.
At that point, the information
did seem to support the fact
that they would not have been around
Jenna's apartment at the time that she was likely killed.
The lab was able to test the DNA from Sean and Justin
and compared that to the DNA of the unknown suspect
that we had from Jenna's clothing
as well as the fingernail scrapings.
We learned that neither brother was a match
for our suspect.
[narrator] With the Underwood brothers eliminated
as suspects, the investigation
hits another dead end.
[Fry] Unfortunately, we were at a loss
for what could have happened
and we didn't have any suspects.
[suspense music playing]
[narrator] In an attempt to crack the case,
detectives use a new strategy.
[Arntfield] So investigators make a plan
to trap the killer.
They conduct what's known
as a DNA dragnet.
They have the offender's DNA,
they know it's a male, so they start
going door to door to every apartment
in the complex taking voluntary samples
from male residents.
The hope is the DNA leads them directly
to Jenna's killer at his front door.
[Mathews] We were working off the theory that the suspect
could be someone that was local
to that apartment community
that knew the apartment complex
or possibly even Jenna.
[Arntfield] But it turns out that when all the DNA samples
from all the males living at Autumn Woods come back,
none are a match to the sample left at the crime scene.
[screams]
So this is a huge setback. But the investigators,
They're not going to stop.
They're going to ensure
justice for Jenna.
- [birds chirping] - [dramatic music playing]
[narrator] In the senseless murder of college freshman,
Jenna Verhaalen,
all leads have dried up
and investigators are back to square one.
Determined to solve the case,
police turned to Jenna's family for help.
[Mathews] Steven and I drove to Wimberley, Texas
and spoke with Jenna's parents.
They relayed to us, Jenna told them earlier
in the year that while she was living alone,
she started noticing
items being moved in her apartment.
[narrator] This wasn't the only suspicious activity
in Jenna's home.
[Fry] A couple months prior to the murder,
a maintenance man had come into the apartment
to do some maintenance work
and Jenna was in the shower.
[intense music playing]
[Fry] Jenna told her mother
that she'd come out of the shower
and the man was standing in her living room.
She was very upset
and the maintenance man left.
That would be a very disturbing situation
for anyone to come out of a shower
and find somebody unknown to you
standing in your home.
[Gadhia] It's very possible for an individual
to become obsessed with someone
that they've seen only briefly.
In the circumstances surrounding Jenna
being in the shower when this man intruded
into her apartment, it might have started off
as a desire to wanna be with her,
and that parlays itself
into a full blown
stalker style obsession.
[narrator] Detectives head to the apartment complex
to gather more information.
[Mathews] We decided to start looking
into the maintenance workers.
We were able to find that the maintenance workers
had access to the lockbox
that contained keys to each of the individual apartments.
[Fry] We learned through the management
around the timeframe that we were looking at,
only two maintenance workers were currently there,
Emrick and Jeremiah.
[Mathews] Emrick was the supervisor
over Jeremy at the time,
so he was responsible for giving Jeremy direction
on where he should be going, which apartments
he should be taking care of.
[narrator] Investigators track down Emrick Muller
and bring him in for questioning.
[Fry] He was able to tell us that he had in fact
been a maintenance man there.
Emrick was aware of the time
where Jenna found the maintenance worker
inside of her apartment.
He said it was Jeremiah Rosser
and he had gotten Jeremiah the job there.
Jeremiah had a work order over there for that day.
And Emrick said that they had apologized.
We did ask Emrick the details of where he was
the night Jenna was killed
and it seemed that from 9:00 PM
to 11:30 of that morning on the 9th,
he was at home, and we're able to confirm that
through his family.
Emrick consented to giving a sample of DNA
and that sample was relayed to the lab.
- It was not a match. - [narrator] Then,
detectives turned their attention
to maintenance man, Jeremiah,
also known as Jeremy Rosser.
[Fry] We informed him that we were working
a murder investigation and inquired
about his employment with the apartment complex.
Jeremy Rosser confirmed
that he had been employed there
approximately four months.
[narrator] Detectives asked Jeremy for details
about that day when he entered
Jenna's apartment
while Jenna was in the shower.
[Mathews] He explained to us that he was sent over there
to paint one of the rooms
and she came out of the shower.
He had no idea that she was in the shower
and then he'd left immediately.
[Fry] He said he knocked on the door,
didn't hear anybody respond, so he just let himself in
with the keys that they had at the apartment complex.
Jeremy explained this incident as just being
a big misunderstanding.
Said that he apologized.
[Mathews] Jeremy seemed honest with his answers.
There was nothing that sent off
any kind of red flags
while we were talking to him.
[narrator] Detectives asked Jeremy
about his activities in the hours
surrounding Jenna's murder.
[Fry] We inquired with Jeremy about where he was
on the 8th of April and he did tell us
that he had been at work at the apartment complex
from around 9:00 to 5:00 in the evening.
After that, he went home.
He said he was scheduled to work again
on the 9th the following day.
However, he did not show up and quit
his employment with the apartments.
That was something that certainly increased
our interest in him.
It did require further investigation.
[narrator] As detectives wrap up their interview
with Jeremy, they ask him
to provide a DNA sample.
[Fry] We explained to him that we did have suspect DNA
from the scene that we wanted to compare to.
He was very calm, was willing to give a sample,
and we did send that sample off for testing.
[narrator] As detectives await the results from the lab,
they conduct an experiment of their own
at Jenna's apartment.
[Fry] After learning that Jeremy did not return
to work at the apartment complex,
that raised some red flags for us.
[Mathews] We actually got one of the apartment managers
to allow us into the apartment.
We stood at the front door
and while she turned on the shower,
we were actually able to hear the shower running
with the bathroom door closed.
It would have been obvious to anyone
who entered that apartment
that someone was in the shower.
[Fry] There's no way that Jeremy Rosser
did not hear that somebody
was inside the apartment in the shower
when he made entry.
That was a major concern
for both Detective Mathews and I.
That led us to believe Jeremy was certainly lying to us
about that situation.
[narrator] With suspicion swirling
around Jeremy Rosser,
detectives dig deeper into his background.
[Fry] One of the things that we did
after being told lies
from Jeremy Rosser
was to inquire about who he was.
One of the ways we did that was by meeting
with his ex-wife, Amanda.
I was struck by the way that she looked
very, very similar to Jenna
in both her size and stature.
[Stockdale] He said that Jenna resembled
Jeremy's ex-wife.
Is he projecting his feelings from that relationship
on Jenna?
Is this how she became a symbolic target?
[Mathews] Amanda told us Jeremy came
from a religious family
and the two of them got married
when they were young.
Their marriage ultimately
ended in divorce.
[narrator] Amanda then shares with police
how Jeremy had been violent
towards the end of their marriage.
[Fry] We learned from Amanda that, uh,
Jeremy had assaulted her
and choked her during that assault.
Certainly that information led us to believe
he is capable of the same type of thing
- with Jenna. - [Jenna cries]
[Arntfield] Violence towards women is learned behavior.
If a man is a batterer and physically abusive,
the best indicator of behavior
is past behavior.
That type of violence
operates along a spectrum.
It can very quickly escalate to murder
faster than I think most people realize.
Jeremy could have been responsible
for Jenna's murder.
[narrator] Having learned that Jeremy choked his ex-wife
in the middle of a fight,
detectives work a new theory.
Could his violent history have reemerged with Jenna?
This time, with deadly consequences.
[Fry] When we received confirmation
back from the lab that Jeremy's DNA
matched 100%
the DNA that was found on Jenna's clothing
and under her fingernails.
[narrator] Investigators now have crucial
physical evidence that connects Jeremy Rosser
to the murder of Jenna Verhaalen,
but they don't have a motive.
[Fry] We knew that Jeremy had been inside
Jenna's apartment,
uh, while she was taking a shower.
[shower pattering]
[Fry] It's very possible at that point
that he became infatuated or obsessed with her.
She did look very much like his ex-wife
who we learned he was having problems with.
If he made advances towards her,
which she likely rebuffed,
and knowing his history of violence
especially with strangulation with his own wife,
we believe it may have set him off
and he strangled Jenna.
[narrator] Despite all the evidence stacked up
against Jeremy,
detectives still need more
to convict him of Jenna's murder.
[Fry] Jeremy Rosser was our number one suspect.
I needed to make sure there was no other explanation
as to why his DNA would be found on Jenna.
[narrator] Detectives bring Jeremy Rosser in
for questioning.
[Fry speaking]
[Jeremy speaking]
[Fry] I questioned him if he had been
in her apartment that night
and he said that he had not.
[Fry speaking]
- [Jeremy speaking] - [Detective Fry speaking]
[Jeremy speaking]
[narrator] Then, detectives confront Jeremy
with the DNA evidence.
[Fry speaking]
- [Jeremy speaking] - [Fry] You have no Idea?
He was unable to provide any valid reason
why his DNA would be on Jenna's clothing
and under her fingernails
around the time of her death.
With that info, we were able
to make an arrest.
You have the right to remain silent.
Any statements you make
may be used as evidence against you in court.
[camera shutter]
[narrator] In the brutal death of Jenna Verhaalen,
police charged Jeremy Rosser
with first degree murder.
[Mathews] After Jeremy's arrest, we did conduct
a search warrant on his apartment
and his vehicle.
We did not find a key that belonged
to Jenna's apartment,
but we did find several keys
that belonged to individual apartments
at the complex.
[Stockdale] Jeremy, given his job
as a maintenance person,
he's able to access apartments.
He may have built up a huge fantasy
in his mind of a sexual nature.
And then when he went to act on it,
it didn't play out as he expected
which led to rage and, in this case,
unfortunately murder.
[narrator] With this final piece of the puzzle in place,
investigators can now piece together
Jenna's final 24 hours.
On April 8th,
Jenna worked a shift
at Wings N' More
from 10:30 AM to 9:00 PM.
After Jenna got off work, she bought some coffee
and then arrived back at her apartment
about 9:15 that night.
Jenna called Spencer at about 9:20.
He went over to her apartment and they studied
and spent some together time
until about 12:00 AM.
[Fry] Spencer then left, went back to his apartment.
And approximately 12:30,
he called Jenna again,
wished her good night,
and then Jenna went to bed.
On April 8th, we believe that at some point
that evening, Jeremy let himself
into Jenna's apartment with a key that he had
on file or through the window
and hid inside of Jenna's apartment.
[Gadhia] Shortly after the phone call
between 12:30 AM and 1:00 AM,
Jeremy came out of his hiding spot
and confronted Jenna.
A struggle ensued
and she was overcome,
overpowered by Rosser.
And that is where he strangled Jenna
to death.
Based on the evidence that we gathered on this case,
from the timeline along with the DNA,
the conclusion was very definitive,
Jeremy Rosser was responsible for the murder
of Jenna Verhaalen.
[Stockdale] In this case, Jeremy has been watching Jenna.
He may have a voyeuristic fantasy that grows
and so when he enters the apartment that night,
he may be surprised by her reaction
that this fantasy doesn't unfold
the way he expects, which I think
led to his actions in killing her.
[narrator] On December 28, 2009,
Jeremiah Rosser pleads guilty
and is sentenced to 55 years in prison.
[Mathews] I try my best on every homicide case
that I'm assigned to bring the guilty party to justice.
But in this case, if we weren't able
to bring Jeremy to justice,
I feel like in the back of my mind that this case
would still be haunting me.
[Fry] The thing that sticks out to me the most
about this case is just how senseless
it really was.
A young vibrant person
who had their entire life ahead of them
was snuffed out in a minute for no reason.
One violent act, there's no sense to it.
[Stockdale] Jenna's a young woman.
She's described a very positive terms
with lots of motivations
and hopes and dreams for the future.
So to me, this is very sad and devastating
that she didn't have opportunity
to continue her life.
And we don't know where her life
would have taken her.