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dsw.com. a Boy Scout leader,

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a husband, a father, but

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he was leading a double

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life. He was a monster,

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hiding in plain sight. Journey

0:40

inside the mind of one of

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history's most notorious killers, BTK.

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through the voices of the

0:47

people who know him best. Listen

0:49

to Monster BTK on the I

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Heart Radio app, Apple podcast,

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or wherever you listen to

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your favorite shows. Do you

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want to see into the future?

1:00

Do you want to understand an

1:02

invisible force that's shaping your life?

1:05

Do you want to experience the

1:07

frontiers of what makes us human?

1:09

On Tech Stuff, we travel from

1:12

the minds of Congo to the

1:14

surface of Mars, from conversations with

1:16

Nobel Prize winners to the depths

1:18

of Tiktok, to ask burning questions

1:21

about technology, from high-tech to low

1:23

culture, and everywhere in between. Join

1:25

us. Listen to Tech Stuff on

1:28

the I-Hart Radio app, Apple

1:30

podcasts, or wherever you get

1:32

your podcasts. Murder on Songbird Road

1:34

is a production of I-Hart

1:36

podcasts. Previously. on murder on

1:39

Songbird road. I thought she

1:41

was guilty at first, aspiring

1:43

what the news said. In

1:45

Marion Illinois, an 11-year-old

1:47

girl brutally stabbed death.

1:49

Her father's long-time living

1:52

girlfriend maintaining innocence, but

1:54

charged with her murder. A

1:56

few hours ago, I charged

1:59

Julia Beverly, age 29 of

2:01

11. 304 Songbird Road Marian

2:03

with three counts of first

2:05

degree murder. The murder of

2:08

Jade Marie Beasley, an 11

2:10

year old girl. Most people

2:12

that kill have a reason.

2:14

A motive. There's always a

2:17

motive. Something. And it doesn't

2:19

exist here. It's scary because

2:21

a person who did it

2:24

is still out there and

2:26

nobody seems to care. I'm

2:29

Lauren Bright Pacheco and this

2:32

is murder on Songbird Road.

2:55

According to Jade Marie Beasley's

2:57

obituary, the sixth grader was

2:59

remembered as funny, smart, and

3:01

sassy. Fond of playing outside

3:03

and swimming, she enjoyed art,

3:05

drawing, painting, and video games.

3:07

The photo that accompanies the

3:10

remembrance is the same one

3:12

used by the Williamson County

3:14

State's attorney when he announced

3:16

her murder, showing a beaming

3:18

young Jade bespeckled in pink

3:20

frames, her face framed with

3:22

a golden bob, accented with

3:24

pink highlights. She's sporting a

3:26

pink-beated necklace and garments in

3:28

a matching hue. Jade's obituary

3:30

goes on to state that

3:32

she loved her friends, adored

3:34

her pets, and cherished her

3:36

siblings, unquote, before listing surviving

3:38

family. Missing from that list

3:40

is the woman who considered

3:43

herself Jade's stepmother, Julia Beverly,

3:45

although Julia's son, Jadein, is

3:47

listed as Jade's brother. But

3:49

from the day of Jade's

3:51

murder, Jaden's life would be

3:53

forever altered. You want to

3:55

live with his mom and

3:57

his two younger? sisters to

3:59

we lived with me in

4:01

Carbondale, which is 20 miles

4:03

away from Arion. Pretty much,

4:05

you know, we get to see

4:07

his siblings not being in the

4:09

same house. It was obviously bad,

4:11

sad for him. It was in

4:13

an entirely different situation. That's Stort,

4:15

the biological father of Jayden, Julia

4:17

Beverly's eldest son. The weekend Jade

4:20

Beasley was murdered, Jayden was staying

4:22

with him. I was going to have

4:24

him for a weekend, and then he was

4:26

going to go back. Sunday afternoon, evening,

4:28

I got a call from like DCFS.

4:31

DCFS, for those not familiar, is

4:33

the Department of Children and

4:35

Family Services in Illinois. But

4:37

your meaningful custody are right then,

4:39

so pretty much, you know, he's just

4:42

visiting for the weekend, and he was

4:44

with me. As will further explain,

4:46

DCFS would basically prohibit

4:48

Julia Beverly from physically

4:50

interacting with her children,

4:53

pending the investigation. So Renee

4:55

Hightower would be the one who

4:57

broke the news to her grandson,

4:59

Jaden, in person the night of the

5:01

murder. I told his dad that

5:03

I was coming over and I

5:05

wanted to tell him. And he said,

5:08

okay. And I got there and I

5:10

told him that something happened at

5:12

his house. I said, a man can't

5:14

broken. And his mom is okay. And

5:16

I said, but he hurt your mom

5:18

and he hurt Jade. He hurt her

5:20

too bad. So... He's looking at me

5:23

and I said, he's looking a little

5:25

confused and I said, Jay is no

5:27

longer with us. You can see I'm kind

5:29

of trying to swallow those tears, you

5:31

know, and that's when I told him,

5:33

I said, it's okay, it's project, you

5:36

know. So that's when he just let it

5:38

out and hugged me and he was

5:40

just crying in my arms for a

5:42

little bit. And I told him that

5:44

his mom was going to call him and

5:46

he could talk to her and they

5:48

talked for a little bit. I'm

5:51

not 100% on what Julie was saying to

5:53

him, but I could hear a little bit

5:55

of it how much she loves him and

5:57

he's gonna stay with Stuart for a

5:59

while. and until things get figured

6:02

out. And he said, okay. She calmed them

6:04

down a little bit. We will dive

6:06

much more deeply into this later,

6:08

but Julia Bevelie wasn't the only

6:10

one cut off from her two

6:13

youngest daughters and the son she

6:15

was unknowingly carrying at the time

6:17

of the murder. Her eldest child,

6:19

Jaden, would lose not only his

6:22

step-sister Jade and his mother, but

6:24

eventually all access to his

6:26

younger siblings. So would Renee

6:29

Hightower, their maternal grandmother, who

6:31

had been petitioning for visitation

6:33

when we first connected? Back

6:36

to Stuart, the Department of

6:38

Children and Family Services,

6:40

and Jaden. DCFS wanted to talk to

6:42

him, and I'm like, well, yeah, tell

6:44

him the truth, don't live, but there

6:47

wasn't anything. You know, DCFS talked for

6:49

like half hour, and they were like,

6:51

yeah, okay, well, we just have to

6:53

interview, but there's no signs or anything

6:56

of like those lines. Which was

6:58

in keeping with all the

7:00

years Stort had co-parented Jaden

7:02

with Julia Beverly. They never had

7:04

like a bad thing to say about

7:06

his mom. He was always, you know,

7:08

she was always nice and loving and

7:11

caring. There was no abuse. We never

7:13

said anything, no mark, nothing. I mean,

7:15

even later on then when he had

7:17

his younger sisters and other stuff, he

7:19

never, you know, he never had anything

7:21

bad to say about her. Suddenly,

7:24

the sole parent in terms of

7:26

Jaden's day today, Stort had to

7:28

manage the passage of time with

7:30

his young son's relentless optimism that

7:33

his mother's incarceration was temporary. It

7:35

took two years for the trial. What I

7:37

mean, it just was a drug out so

7:39

long and as sometimes he was telling people

7:41

to go, well, once in a long gets

7:43

out, I'm going back. Before the trial, he

7:46

was telling friends or his cousin, like, well,

7:48

I'm going to go back. Soon my mom

7:50

gets out. We're back there. Like, well, I

7:52

know that's what you want, but even if

7:54

she gets out, nothing will be the same.

7:57

Jaden's father has tried to help

7:59

him navigate. his new reality and

8:01

uncertain future. We even talked about stuff

8:03

like with the news like there's people that

8:05

are you know innocent locked up and then

8:07

you know years later then they're like oh

8:10

yeah whoops we got the wrong person even

8:12

if your mom gets out it's not going

8:14

to be the same it's still it's

8:16

going to be different you know everything

8:18

kind of like try to tell him

8:20

like your grandma might be too optimistic

8:22

and you kind of need to be

8:25

in the middle because I don't think

8:27

she did it but you know what

8:29

if She's been in for so long

8:31

as like, there's a possibility she doesn't,

8:33

in his reality, thinks we can go

8:35

back to normal. Like, we'll never

8:37

go back to normal. If there

8:40

was a magic wand waved tomorrow

8:42

and Julie was out, you

8:45

wouldn't have any reservation whatsoever

8:47

about Jayden being with her? No,

8:50

I mean, like I've told him, is

8:52

like, I don't think she did it.

8:54

They've never found a weapon or it's

8:56

like if you stabbed somebody that many

8:59

times you would have blood splatter with

9:01

you know like where's the change to

9:03

close where's this where's that. Yeah never

9:05

made sense still doesn't make sense. The

9:08

accusation that Julia Beverly brutally

9:10

stabbed her stepdaughter is particularly

9:12

nonsensical to Beverly's cousin Nikki

9:14

who witnessed not only Beverly

9:16

grow up but eventually interact

9:18

as both a mother and

9:21

stepmother. She loved all her children.

9:23

even the ones that she didn't

9:25

get birth to. That is one thing

9:27

that she is extremely good

9:29

at. Nikki says she knows

9:32

Julia extremely well, even for

9:34

cousins. She's my maid of

9:36

honor. She's my best friend. Julia's

9:38

been my best friend since

9:40

she was born. I'm a

9:42

little bit older, but we

9:44

grew up together. We almost

9:47

ain't cheerleading. Little League, you

9:49

know, all the way through high school. We

9:51

went to the thing high school with

9:53

each other pretty much like every weekend

9:55

at least. We were all so close. There was

9:57

between me and my siblings and her.

10:00

her siblings who were seven of us

10:02

running around my grandma's house all the

10:04

time. So we all grew up together.

10:06

We were all extremely closed. Particularly, Nikki

10:09

and Julia. We can look at each

10:11

other and not say a thing and

10:13

know exactly what the other want to

10:16

say in. Which is why Nikki was

10:18

the first to know when Julia found

10:20

out she was expecting her first child,

10:23

Jaden, while still in high school. She

10:25

was really young. I think she was

10:27

about to be 18 and she hit

10:30

it from us for a bit because

10:32

she was scared. and then obviously you

10:34

couldn't hide it. She did it on

10:37

her own for a few years until

10:39

his dad kind of came back into

10:41

the picture and had more of a

10:43

presence. I don't want to say she

10:46

struggled with it, but it's just like

10:48

any new transition. I know that I

10:50

did whenever I had my first child.

10:53

It's hard, it's difficult to do it

10:55

at such a young age. I can't

10:57

even really imagine. She pretty much had

11:00

to drop everything, become a mom. She

11:02

was a great mom and a changer

11:04

because you're 17 and you just got

11:07

to drop all the things that you

11:09

think are the most important things in

11:11

your life like your daily high school

11:14

life that you think is going to

11:16

be your entire life or going and

11:18

hanging out with friends on the weekend

11:20

or just pulling committed to being the

11:23

mom and she was there doing it

11:25

on her own with her own which

11:27

had to be extremely hard but she

11:30

loved him completely. Home videos show Jayden

11:32

as a toddler playing rock band with

11:34

a young Julia Beverly jamming on a

11:37

small plastic guitar as Jayden sings lead

11:39

Their energy is loving and relaxed and

11:41

natural as is the clip of Beverly

11:44

and Jayden still a toddler enjoying the

11:46

first flakes of a snowfall When

11:49

Nikki and her parents moved from

11:51

Marion to Massachusetts, Beverly eventually living

11:54

with Nikki for a period of

11:56

time. Jane was too, when she

11:58

moved out here. I would be

12:00

like 20 or 21, because I

12:02

had met my husband at the

12:05

time. She had Jane out here

12:07

too, so it was me, Julie,

12:09

and Jane living together. And so

12:11

she went back after a few

12:13

years. Yes, yeah, I would say

12:16

it was probably about a year

12:18

or so. It was just a

12:20

little hard. Like we were here

12:22

to help her, obviously, you know,

12:24

but it was hard for her,

12:27

I think. just being so far

12:29

away from her own mom. It

12:31

was soon after Beverly returned to

12:33

Marian that she met and started

12:35

dating Mike Beasley. She was extremely

12:38

excited when she met him because

12:40

he had a daughter who was

12:42

the same age as dating. So

12:44

she was excited because she being

12:46

a single mom, she thought that

12:49

it was going to be extremely

12:51

hard to find somebody to be

12:53

with. So when she met Mike

12:55

and found out that he also

12:57

had a daughter who was the

13:00

same age, it was almost kind

13:02

of like... amazing because their kids

13:04

could play together, you know, and

13:06

they both kind of have a

13:08

same situation going on. So she

13:11

was extremely happy when she met

13:13

him, never really a boy otherwise

13:15

with me. They both together for

13:17

eight years. She actually came to

13:19

visit you more than once with

13:22

Jade. Yes, yeah, so she came

13:24

with Mike and Jade and Jade

13:26

and they came a couple times.

13:28

They stayed with my mom one

13:30

time and then they came out

13:33

again for a wedding. Just tell

13:35

me a little bit about your

13:37

observations as to how Julie welcomed

13:39

Jade into her life and their

13:41

relationship dynamic. She was obviously extremely

13:44

very welcoming when you come in

13:46

as the the girlfriend, you know,

13:48

she never stepped any sort of...

13:50

boundaries with her, but she was

13:52

very much there, always there, to

13:55

talk to you to be supportive

13:57

of. Julie treated her like her

13:59

own by things for her as

14:01

if it was her own child.

14:03

Never had any sort of complaints

14:06

about her. They came pretty close

14:08

to the point. I think she

14:10

would prefer to stay at Mike

14:12

and Julie's house over her mother's

14:15

house, just from why I was

14:17

old. He had her own space,

14:19

had her own room. She was

14:21

included in all family functions, all

14:23

things, the holidays, pictures, and things

14:26

like that. So I mean, she

14:28

was very much a part of

14:30

the family. even though they weren't

14:32

technically married, that they were family.

14:34

Photos that Renee Hightower has shared

14:37

appear to back up this assertion,

14:39

as does Julia Beverly's still existing

14:41

social media. Her Facebook cover photo,

14:43

now updated by Renee, boasts a

14:45

banner with, I stand with Julie.

14:48

Underneath is a collage of seven

14:50

photos, four depicting Jaden and Jade

14:52

over the years. One shows a

14:54

very pregnant bevelie as she smiles.

14:56

Her arms warmly wrapped around the

14:59

backs of each step-sebling as they

15:01

bend down to kiss her large

15:03

expectant belly. Julia and Jade are

15:05

both wearing similar shades of bright

15:07

purple, which pops against the green

15:10

of the grassy background. Another photo

15:12

shows Jade and Jade in front

15:14

of a colorfully lit Christmas tree.

15:16

They appear to be around age

15:18

six, with their arms affectionately draped

15:21

around each other's. Jayden, the shorter

15:23

of the two, is lifting his

15:25

head up towards the camera wearing

15:27

a wide grin. Jade is kicking

15:29

one leg up to the side

15:32

in a cheeky pose. They're adorable.

15:34

As are all the siblings shown

15:36

together, especially in photos that depict

15:38

the two youngest girls being proudly

15:40

and tenderly held by their big

15:43

brother and sister. Jayden and the

15:45

younger girls all shared Julia's broad

15:47

smile. A deeper dive into Julia

15:49

Beverly's Facebook history reflects the ongoing

15:51

yearly tradition of posting jadens back-to-school

15:54

photos alongside jades. Also reflected in

15:56

past years is the blended families'

15:58

apparent love for somewhat the... Halloween

16:00

costumes, all while juggling a

16:02

job that, like motherhood, required patience.

16:05

As a customer service representative

16:07

for Hyatt, Beverly was used

16:10

to diffusing disgruntled people's frustrations

16:12

in a calm, respectful, and

16:14

efficient manner. She was actually incredibly

16:16

patient. probably more patient than me.

16:19

Motherhood was everything to her. I

16:21

mean, she did work from home,

16:23

so she still had a job

16:25

as far as like bringing in

16:27

money into the household. I'm pretty

16:29

sure she was also the primary

16:31

redwinner of the household, but she

16:33

worked from home as a way

16:35

to still be extremely present and

16:37

available to her children. Every waiting

16:39

moment was dedicated for her children. It

16:41

is of note again that Mike and

16:43

Julie were together for nearly eight years

16:46

and had already purchased wedding bands. They

16:48

had planned for both of their daughters

16:50

and were trying for a third, hoping

16:53

for a son. Mike shared custody of

16:55

Jade with her biological mother, Jessica. Before

16:57

the murder, there had never been any

17:00

reports of Beverly being violent or abusive

17:02

to any of her children, including Jade.

17:04

If there had been, it's doubtful that

17:07

her father would have continued not only

17:09

to live with Beverly, but to plan

17:11

on having more children with her. Murder

17:15

on Songbird Road will return

17:18

after the break. He was a

17:20

Boy Scout leader, a church deacon,

17:22

a husband, a father. He went

17:24

to a local church, he was

17:26

going to the grocery store with

17:29

us, he was the guy next

17:31

door. But he was leading a

17:33

double life. He was certainly

17:35

a peeping Tom, looking

17:38

through the windows, looking

17:40

at people, fantasizing about

17:42

what he could do. He then began

17:44

entering the houses. He could

17:47

get into the home, take something

17:49

and get out and not be

17:51

caught. He felt very powerful. He

17:53

was a monster, hiding in plain

17:55

sight. Someone killed four members

17:57

of a family. It just...

18:00

didn't happen here. Journey Inside

18:02

the mind of one of

18:04

history's most notorious killers, BTK,

18:06

through the voices of the

18:08

people who know him best.

18:10

Listen to Monster BTK on

18:12

the I-Hart radio app, Apple

18:14

Podcasts, or wherever you listen

18:17

to your favorite shows. 2025

18:19

is bound to be a

18:21

fascinating year. It's going to be

18:23

filled with money challenges. and opportunities. I'm

18:25

Joel. Oh and I am at. And

18:27

we're the host of How to Money.

18:29

We want to be with you every

18:32

step of the way in your financial

18:34

journey this year, offering the information and

18:36

insights you need to thrive financially. Yeah,

18:38

whether you find yourself up to your

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eyeballs and student loan debt or you've

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got a sky high credit card balance

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because you went a little overboard with

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a holiday spending or maybe you're looking

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to optimize your retirement accounts so you

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can retire early. Well, how-to-money will help

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Wednesdays, and Fridays for money advice without

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I'mosveloshen, one of the

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text stuff. I'm slightly skeptical, but

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early and often. On Tech Stuff, we travel

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all the way from the minds of

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Congo to the surface of Mars, to

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the dark corners of TikTok, to ask

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and attempt to answer burning questions about

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technology. One of the kind of tricks

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for surviving Mars is to live there

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to survive the singularity. So join

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us. Listen to Tech Stuff on

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the I Heart Radio app, Apple

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podcasts, or wherever you get your

20:14

podcasts. Now, back to murder on

20:16

Songbird Road. Everything would change when

20:18

Jade was murdered. Here's Renee's recollection

20:20

of picking up Beverly at the

20:22

police station the night of the

20:24

murder and the days leading up

20:26

to her arrest. Tell me what

20:28

that car ride back from the

20:30

station with Julie was like. Well,

20:32

she was telling me the story,

20:34

and I was just in disbelief.

20:36

And I was like, oh my

20:39

God, you've got to tell Mike,

20:41

they're under the impression this was

20:43

suicide. And she's looking at me

20:45

confused, like, what? I was telling

20:47

her what was being said to

20:49

me, and I was going through

20:51

the story. And she's just shaking

20:53

her head. And she's crying, and

20:55

she's telling me how this man

20:57

came in the house. She said

20:59

no parent should ever have to

21:01

see that. It was a quick

21:03

ride, a 10 minute ride. We

21:05

got in the house and she

21:08

sat down and my mom was

21:10

hugging her and my mom was

21:12

crying and made her cry some

21:14

more and then her brother came

21:16

and he just grabbed her and

21:18

hugged her and then she lost

21:20

it again crying more and then

21:22

my mom's just sitting there rubbing

21:24

her back and she just kept

21:26

saying I should have just took

21:28

her with me. And my mom's

21:30

tell me, you can't blame yourself,

21:32

Julie, you can't, you can't put

21:35

this on you. She still had

21:37

the jail uniform mom, the little

21:39

jumpsuit they gave her because they

21:41

took her clothing. When Bevley agreed

21:43

to be questioned at the Williamson

21:45

County Sheriff's Department without a lawyer

21:47

present, she also willingly consented to

21:49

the collection of DNA from both

21:51

her person and her articles of

21:53

clothing. We'll dive much more deeply

21:55

into issues with how that DNA

21:57

was collected later. Back to Renee.

21:59

I got some of my clothes,

22:01

gave her some little sweat pants,

22:04

stretch pants, and leggings and a

22:06

hoodie to wear. And she went

22:08

in the shower and she was

22:10

in there for a little while.

22:12

I went check on her and

22:14

I can hear her crying in

22:16

her. And she told me after

22:18

she was in there crying because

22:20

she had blood on the bottom

22:22

of her feet. And when she

22:24

got in the shower, I kind

22:26

of brought it back. This is

22:29

actually an important detail. Jade was

22:31

murdered on an unseasonably warm day,

22:33

and Beverly had been wearing flip-flops.

22:35

At some point, she'd flipped them

22:37

off, and likely walked through blood

22:40

at the crime scene. Back to

22:42

Renee. She got out of the

22:44

shower. I said, you have to

22:46

tell Mike. We ended up driving

22:49

back to Marian to go to

22:51

Mike's parents' house. Called him on

22:53

the way. He said, we're on

22:55

our way over. And he said,

22:57

well, DCFS, just called him, they're

23:00

about to be here too, too,

23:02

so you, so you might want

23:04

to wait a wait a minute.

23:06

And I said, well, we're right

23:09

down the street, so, and we

23:11

ended up pulling up almost right

23:13

at the same time as DCFS.

23:15

And we sat in the car,

23:17

it was me, Michael, and Julie.

23:20

Quick clarification. Michael is Julie's older

23:22

brother and an aviation mechanic with

23:24

the US Navy. Not to be

23:26

confused with her boyfriend and then

23:29

fiancé, Mike. We sat in the

23:31

car. Cindy McGuire was her name

23:33

from DCFS. She came over to

23:35

the passenger side of my vehicle

23:37

to talk to Julie. And that's

23:40

when she informed Julie that she

23:42

cannot see her children. And she

23:44

lost it again. And she's like,

23:46

no, she's going to know. Because

23:49

at this point, all she wants

23:51

to do is hug her family,

23:53

her children, after some tragedy and

23:55

horrific tragedy like this, she wants

23:57

to hug her children, hug Mike,

24:00

and grieve. What did they tell

24:02

her? They said that its protocol

24:04

is how they termed it. that

24:06

she has to have no contact

24:09

with her children. She can have

24:11

a video visit once a day

24:13

for 15 minutes. And that's it.

24:15

That's the contact she gets with

24:17

her children until this is resolved.

24:20

So she had to sign a

24:22

paper to where Mike gets temporary

24:24

custody of the children so they

24:26

don't become more of the state.

24:29

And she agreed to let them

24:31

stay with him. She asked if

24:33

she could talk to Mike and

24:35

they said well, we're gonna talk

24:37

to him first and then we'll

24:40

see if he wants to come

24:42

out and talk to you So

24:44

they were in there for a

24:46

good 20 30 minutes Mike came

24:49

out and as soon as she'll

24:51

Julie seen him she jumped out

24:53

of my car and ran to

24:55

him and Hugged him and he

24:57

hugged her back and they were

25:00

both crying and then I can

25:02

see Julie talking to him and

25:04

then he And this is what

25:06

me and Michael found really strange

25:09

is the way he was consoling

25:11

Julie. His immediate response was to

25:13

Hugger and he did. And then

25:15

after a while he steps away

25:17

while she's talking and he lights

25:20

a cigarette. And then he's smoking

25:22

his cigarette and he's still close

25:24

to Julie and then he puts

25:26

one arm around her shoulder. Almost

25:29

like resting his arm. Almost like

25:31

he... He had to do it

25:33

to put up a front. It

25:35

didn't look like a comforting hug

25:37

that she needed. It just looked

25:40

like he was just going through

25:42

the motion. And I'm watching this

25:44

and I said to Michael, he's

25:46

like, well, maybe it's because he

25:49

smoked a cigarette. He doesn't want

25:51

to, because Julie don't smoke, you

25:53

know, and I was like, no,

25:55

no. I said, look at his

25:57

actions. And he was looking away

26:00

from her smoking a cigarette and

26:02

just... It was weird. And Julie

26:04

said she was just going through

26:06

like a brief summary of what

26:09

happened. It was just an odd

26:11

behavior consoling her for like 10

26:13

minutes. In Renee's opinion, Mike was

26:15

already doubting Beverly's innocence the night

26:17

of the murder. Subsequent events would

26:20

reinforce her opinion and add even

26:22

more painful layers to this tragedy.

26:24

They talked and she got back

26:26

in the car and... She was

26:29

just upset. And for the next

26:31

three to four days, she got

26:33

to talk to Mike once a

26:35

day for 15 minutes. And the

26:37

very first phone call, she got

26:40

to face time with the girls.

26:42

Being denied physical contact with her

26:44

children, compounded by the stress and

26:46

trauma of the murder, was overwhelming

26:49

for Beverly, according to Renee. Mike

26:51

and the girls were staying with

26:53

his mother Sheila. Jayden remained with

26:55

his father. Beverly stayed with her

26:57

mother and grandmother. She didn't eat

27:00

anything for two and a half

27:02

days. I finally forced her to

27:04

eat a sandwich. And she ate

27:06

probably not even a half a

27:09

sandwich. I made her some juice

27:11

to drink some, she had to

27:13

get something in her. I said,

27:15

Julie, you can't not eat. She

27:17

wasn't eating, she wasn't sleeping, she

27:20

wasn't drinking. Would you categorize her

27:22

as in shock? horrific

27:24

grief. I mean, yeah, yes. In

27:26

the four days she was with

27:29

me, the food she ate probably

27:31

equated to three-fourths of a sandwich

27:33

and a half a cup of

27:35

liquid in four days. That's what

27:37

she consumed. Beverly's already limited access

27:39

to her daughters would entirely disappear

27:41

five days after the murder when

27:43

Julia Beverly was arrested. Rene had

27:45

been trying to help her daughter

27:47

remember any details from the day

27:50

Jade was killed, hoping they would

27:52

vindicate her with a timeline. Well,

27:54

I remember it like it was

27:56

yesterday. When she left that police

27:58

station, she was with me for

28:00

four days before her arrest. In

28:02

that four days, she wasn't remembering

28:04

a lot, and I didn't want

28:06

to force her because I know

28:09

what she had been through, but

28:11

she would give me little bits

28:13

and pieces that she could put

28:15

together. It wasn't a clear picture.

28:17

So I told her that fourth

28:19

day, I said... I want you

28:21

to sit down and write everything

28:23

out that you did. Maybe that

28:25

will trigger some more memories for

28:27

you and start with the time

28:30

you woke up. And she started

28:32

writing it and a few minutes

28:34

later, she said, I went to

28:36

Hux and I had to get

28:38

gas. This was like late morning

28:40

and that's when I made that

28:42

phone call to Gussentine to say

28:44

that she remembered she stopped at

28:46

Hux. We'll get to the importance

28:48

of Beverly's recollection that while she

28:51

started out for Walmart, she never

28:53

got there. Beverly suddenly recalled in

28:55

the days that followed Jade Beasley's

28:57

murder that she actually stopped at

28:59

Hux, the closest gas station to

29:01

her house, because her gas light

29:03

came on. Thinking it would prove

29:05

her daughter's innocence, Renee Hightower wanted

29:07

to share the information with the

29:10

police. I said, Julie, you gotta

29:12

tell them, you're on camera, because

29:14

as of right now, they're trying

29:16

to say you never left the

29:18

house. And she's like, I can't.

29:20

I already invoked an attorney, so

29:22

I can't speak to them without

29:24

her without her. I said, do

29:26

you want me to tell him?

29:28

And she's like, well, I don't

29:31

know if you can, but I

29:33

guess. So I picked up the

29:35

phone and I called and asked

29:37

for Carl Gussentine personally. He answered

29:39

and I told him that Julie

29:41

remembered she stopped at Hux for

29:43

gas and realized she forgot her

29:45

cards at home and then she

29:47

had to go back to the

29:50

house. He said, well, I'll have

29:52

to hear that from her. And

29:54

I said, well, she's already invoked

29:56

an attorney, so you have your

29:58

information. And he said, okay. and

30:00

hung up the phone. That call

30:02

didn't have the effect

30:04

High Tower had hoped. Within

30:07

an hour and a half, they were

30:09

not our back door. We'll be

30:12

right back with murder on

30:14

Songbird Road. He was a

30:16

Boy Scout leader, a church

30:18

deacon, a husband, a father.

30:20

He went to a local

30:22

church. He was going to the

30:25

grocery store with us. He was

30:27

the guy next door. But he

30:29

was leading a double life. He

30:32

was certainly a peeping Tom,

30:34

looking through the windows, looking

30:36

at people, fantasizing about what

30:38

he could do. He then began

30:40

entering the houses. He could

30:43

get into their home, take something,

30:45

and get out and not be

30:47

caught. He felt very powerful. He

30:49

was a monster, hiding in plain

30:51

sight. Someone killed four members

30:54

of a family. It just

30:56

didn't happen here. Journey Inside

30:58

the Mind of one of

31:00

history's most notorious killers, BTK,

31:02

through the voices of the

31:04

people who know him best.

31:06

Listen to Monster BTK on

31:08

the I Heart Radio app,

31:10

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

31:12

listen to your favorite shows.

31:14

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31:16

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31:23

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31:25

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31:27

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31:31

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33:16

Cindy Geithman, Carl

33:18

Gustin, and another officer

33:21

stepped into my home,

33:23

my mother's home, through the

33:25

back door. They said they were

33:27

there for Julie, and they

33:29

had a warrant for her

33:32

arrest. A few moments prior

33:34

to this, we seen comments

33:36

on Facebook showing her

33:38

warrant on the judiciary

33:41

page, and Julie began to

33:43

panic at that point. And

33:45

then a few minutes later there

33:48

was that knock at the door.

33:50

So I came in and Julie

33:52

immediately started crying. She had her

33:54

promise ring from Mike that she

33:56

immediately took off and handed to

33:58

me. My mother

34:01

was there, my

34:04

mother's scene that

34:06

they were putting

34:08

cuffs on Julie,

34:11

and she

34:13

started crying,

34:15

and she said,

34:17

you guys are

34:20

killing her. I'm sorry,

34:23

I just named

34:25

a minute. Yeah.

34:28

And Cindy Geithman tells my

34:30

mother, well, that's what she

34:32

gets for killing somebody. I

34:34

just can't believe she said

34:37

that to my mother. And I just

34:39

looked at her. Like, why would you

34:41

even say that? Why would you say

34:43

that? I have reached out to both

34:45

Cindy Geithman and Carl Gustentine.

34:48

Both have since retired.

34:50

as have multiple officers

34:52

and officials involved with

34:54

the investigation into Jade

34:56

Beasley's murder and the case

34:59

against Julia Beverly. Geithman and I

35:01

spoke on the phone and she

35:03

made it exceedingly clear that she

35:05

did not intend to comment on

35:07

what would be her first and

35:09

last time leading a murder investigation.

35:11

Back to Renee. I found

35:13

out later when Cindy Geithman

35:16

walked Julie outside to frisk her and

35:18

check her. Julie had her hair in

35:20

a ponytail with a

35:22

scrunchy, not a ponytail

35:25

holder, not a super tight

35:27

one, very loose, made of cloth,

35:29

scrunchy. And she grabbed

35:31

it out of Julie's hair, and

35:33

Julie said she grabbed her hair

35:36

so hard that it yanked her

35:38

head back, pulled some of her

35:40

hair out, and later I found

35:42

that scrunchy sitting on

35:45

top of my car with Julie's

35:47

hair all over it. and then

35:49

put her in the car and took her down

35:51

to the station. Well, Carl Gustentine did

35:54

not respond to my multiple attempts

35:56

to question him about receiving the

35:58

tip Renee High Tower. so she

36:00

gave him. The police appear to

36:02

have acted upon it. After

36:05

she was arrested I was I

36:07

was furious so I said I

36:10

guarantee they're out there searching right

36:12

now so I went past the

36:14

gas station and there they were

36:17

searching the trash cans somewhere

36:19

in the dumpster. And once

36:21

they pulled the video from

36:23

the gas station what did

36:25

they claim they'd found? They

36:27

said that They got Julie

36:29

on camera, stopping at the gas station

36:32

to throw away items. And they see her on

36:34

camera with this bag that could fit in

36:36

the palm of her hand, about the size

36:38

of a diaper, because that's what she had

36:40

in the bag, a diaper. She said, maybe there

36:42

was two in there, but it was diapers.

36:44

But she can clearly see on the camera,

36:46

and it can fit in the palm of her

36:48

hand, and she threw it away, and then she

36:51

went back to the house to get her cards.

36:53

The prosecution would contend

36:55

that the small bag, Beverly

36:57

discarded, contained the murder weapon,

36:59

blood-saturated clothing, and any material

37:01

she used to clean up

37:03

any trace of blood on

37:05

her person. None of these items

37:07

have ever been located. Not at

37:10

that Hox gas station, nor the

37:12

dump, police combed for evidence. Hightower

37:14

continues to take issue with how

37:16

the incentive to search Hox was

37:19

portrayed in court. There was an

37:21

officer in trial who testified that

37:23

he went to hugs and the

37:26

defense attorney She asked well, what

37:28

made you go there? And he

37:30

said oh, I just got a feeling

37:32

Just got a feeling. So they set

37:35

it up to make it look

37:37

like Julie lied when it was

37:39

something that she remembered and you

37:41

gave as a tip and then

37:43

they didn't even attribute it to

37:46

Julie or to you correct so

37:48

Gerson team was also on the

37:50

prosecution's witnesses, and if he would

37:52

have testified, then I could have.

37:54

But they kept him off, too.

37:56

He didn't testify even. And so

37:58

they never disclosed. that tip came

38:01

from? Never. I've even said this

38:03

to people on my social media

38:05

platform and I get called a

38:07

liar and no they found out that

38:09

she lied and I'm like okay well

38:11

I've got a text message to my sister

38:14

to prove it time-stamped and

38:16

all. You probably would have

38:18

phone record showing that you called.

38:20

Sure do and every call is

38:22

recorded that comes into that

38:25

police station. Hightower has indeed

38:27

showed me text messages and phone

38:29

records that back up her version

38:31

of that outreach. Again, to

38:33

date, Carl Gustentine has not

38:35

responded to my multiple attempts

38:38

to reach him. But while Renee's

38:40

call didn't prevent her daughter's arrest,

38:42

it didn't provoke it. The arrest

38:45

warrant was issued the day before, actually.

38:47

It was signed and issued the day

38:49

before. And they chose to arrest her

38:51

on this day, because her first

38:53

appearance. it would line up on the same

38:55

day as Jay's funeral. And that

38:58

was a calculated decision,

39:00

I believe, to boost and bolster

39:02

the emotional outrage of the public.

39:04

Because here you have her having

39:06

her first appearance at the

39:09

exact same time that the funeral

39:11

is going on and they are a parking

39:13

lot away from each other. Criminal

39:15

Defense Attorney Bob Mata and

39:18

I connected with Renee on a

39:20

call. Hello? Hey, how are you?

39:22

Hi, I'm good. I'm going to Patch

39:24

and Bob, stand by. Hello? Okay, I'm

39:26

merging us with Renee. Hold on one

39:28

second. All right, you guys, Bob,

39:31

Renee, Renee, Bob. So Bob, we

39:33

have some really interesting updates

39:35

for you. In the press

39:37

conference held five days after the

39:39

murder, the then Williamson County

39:42

state's attorney states that Julia

39:44

Beverly's claim she was met

39:47

by a knife-wielding mast assailant

39:49

were proven false. But Renee

39:51

Hightower and Julius supporters have

39:54

never stopped looking for him.

39:56

Renee even hired a

39:58

private investigator to find him.

40:00

investigator said that he

40:03

overheard a way to the other

40:05

911 call. Julie's 911

40:07

call was placed at

40:10

1224. Okay. So there's

40:12

supposed to be another

40:14

call. They're supposed

40:17

to be another call. They

40:19

subpoena the 911 calls. It's

40:22

not in there. However, there

40:24

is a incident out

40:26

in the same area. that

40:29

Julie is at and this

40:31

call was made at 1030

40:34

for suspicious person. No way.

40:36

Yes, this is at 1030.

40:38

He was out there belligerent

40:41

talking about harming

40:43

somebody just cussing

40:45

and carrying on and

40:48

somebody called the cops

40:50

on them and they go

40:53

respond and they pretty much.

40:55

did whatever, talked, got his name,

40:58

information, sent him on his

41:00

way. He's wearing a black hoodie

41:02

and dark pants. This would spur

41:04

the first of many rabbit holes Bob

41:07

and I would go down looking

41:09

for the knife-wielding man Julia

41:11

Beverly claimed she encountered. But

41:14

this tip led to a

41:16

specific man, a man now incarcerated

41:18

for attempting to disarm an

41:20

officer, and arrested multiple

41:23

times previously. A man who,

41:25

unlike Julia Beverly, has a

41:27

history of crimes, mental illness,

41:30

and a fondness for hunting.

41:32

Never in a million trillion

41:34

years, whichever suspected Julie

41:37

of this. Never. Not one person.

41:39

As a matter of fact, they thought it

41:41

was suicide before they even

41:43

thought about Julie until the police

41:46

said it was Julie. I mean,

41:48

that guy sounds like somebody that

41:50

we really need to look at.

41:52

Yes. Man. That is crazy. If

41:54

Julia Beverly didn't kill Jade Beasley,

41:57

someone else did. And there was

41:59

one like... place to start

42:01

searching. We're heading to Marian. Yes, we

42:03

are. Yes, we are. Yes, we are.

42:05

I'm here for it. I'm ready. On

42:07

the next murder on Songbird Road,

42:10

we travel to Marian Illinois

42:12

to sit face to face with

42:14

Julia Beverly. She said she wasn't

42:17

even thinking and then she's walking

42:19

through and then she sees the blood

42:21

in the living room. She said, oh

42:23

my God Jay. And encounter

42:25

a community divided. The woman

42:27

behind the desk at Starbucks,

42:29

she said it's sad, but

42:32

she also had her doubts

42:34

as to whether or not

42:36

Julie did it. Before heading to

42:38

the site of the murder. Should we

42:41

go walk it? I think so. I

42:43

think we should. I think we should.

42:45

I think we should. All right, let's

42:47

go see what's up. Murder on

42:49

Song Bird Road is a

42:52

production of I Heart Podcasts.

42:54

Our executive producers are Taylor

42:56

Chicoin and Lauren Bright Pacheco.

42:58

Research writing and hosting by

43:01

Lauren Bright Pacheco. Investigative reporting

43:03

by Bob Mata and Lauren

43:05

Bright Pacheco. Editing sound design

43:07

and original music by Evan

43:09

Tyre and Taylor Chico. Additional

43:11

music by Asher Kurtz. Archival

43:13

elements courtesy of W-S-I-L News3.

43:15

Please like, subscribe, and leave

43:18

us a review wherever you're

43:20

listening. You can follow me

43:22

on all platforms at Lauren

43:24

Bright Pacheco and email the

43:26

show with thoughts, suggestions, or

43:29

tips at investigating murder

43:31

at iheartmedia.com. For

43:47

more I-HART podcast, visit the

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