On September 21st, 2004, a man was arrested in Mobile, Alabama for the murder of 43-year-old Lisa Marie Nichols. Lisa had been found shot to death in her home, which was then set on fire. 32-year-old John Paul Chapman was taken into custody, but detectives quickly found that the man was actually Jeremy Bryan Jones. Jones was a fugitive after fleeing Oklahoma when his bail was revoked. More concerningly, Jones had been arrested under his ‘Chapman’ alias three times, and was released each time. Once he was in custody, Jones confessed to over 20 murders. How many people had this man, once described by ADA John Furman as a “low-rent Ted Bundy”, actually killed? And could any of them have been prevented if Jones’ real identity had been discovered earlier?
Trigger Warnings: murder, drug/alcohol abuse, sexual assault
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