Murder of Patricia Jeschke

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Murder of Patricia Jeschke
LocationSt. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
DateNovember 12, 1980; 43 years ago (1980-11-12) (CST)
TargetPatricia Jeschke
Attack type
Murder via strangulation[1]
Deaths1 (Patricia Jeschke)
AccusedMichael Holman
ConvictedSandra Lynne Hemme

Patricia Jeschke was an American woman murdered in St. Joseph, Missouri, on November 12, 1980. An investigation led by Lloyd Pasley arrested Joseph Wabski and Sandra Hemme for the murder and Hemme was convicted for Jeschke's murder in 1981. However, Hemme recanted her confession and a new trial was held in 1985, which found her guilty. Hemme claimed to have knowledge about the disappearance of Micki Jo West, which was later featured on Unsolved Mysteries.

Hemme's guilt is debated and Michael Holman, a St. Joseph police officer, is accused of having committed the murder, including by Pasley. If Hemme is released from prison that would make her prison tenure the longest-serving wrongful conviction for an American woman.

Murder[edit]

Patricia Jeschke, age 31, did not come to her secretarial job at the St. Joseph, Missouri library. Library director Dorothy Elliott went to Jeschke's one-story duplex home after unsuccessfully trying to call her. She was unable to enter the house due to it being locked and called Jeschke's mother, Helen F. McGlothlin. McGlothlin broke a window to enter the house and discovered Jeschke dead with a laceration in the back of her head and a cord around her neck at 1 P.M. on November 13, 1980. James Robert Hayes, a police chief, stated that there was no signs of force entry. Jeschke was last seen alive around 5 P.M. on November 12.[2][3][4][1] Jeschke was naked and sexually molested.[1] She was killed via strangulation and suffered multiple head wounds.[5] She had been dead for twelve to sixteen hours before she was discovered.[6]

Investigation[edit]

Lloyd Pasley was placed in charge of the investigation[7] and a $1,000 reward was offered by her parents.[8] A journalist incorrectly published a bulletin stating that a 24-year-old man was charged with Jeschke's murder after hearing half of a conversation between a captain and lieutenant.[9][10] The police investigated over 200 leads.[11] It was theorized that Jeschke's murder was connected to the murder of Roger Atkison and Rose Burkert, but police in Iowa found no connection.[12]

Sandra Lynne Hemme and Joseph Patrick Wabski were arrested on December 5.[5][13] Wabski was charged with murder and Hemme was charged with a Class D felony of concealing knowledge of the crime. Hemme was also charged with a Class D felony assault for attempting to use a knife against a police officer in an unrelated case on November 25. Hemme, a former patient at the St. Joseph State Hospital, stated that she was "just bumming around" as her parents lived in Concordia, Missouri.[14][12] Hemme attempted suicide at age 13 and was hospitalized in mental institutions for six of the next eight years in Kansas City, St. Louis, Jefferson City, Columbia, and in Maryland. She attempted suicide three to four more times.[15] Wabski was identified as the killer by Hemme.[16][17] Wabski stated that he did not know Hemme.[18]

Hemme's initial story to detectives did not mention murder and was instead about her hitchhiking with two people, named Joe and Pat. However, the next day she stated that the man's full name was Joe Wabski. They went to a house with Pat and he came out with blood on his hands stating that "I killed that fucking bitch" after talking about "human and animal sacrifices" and threatened to kill Hemme if she told anybody.[19] Hemme was able to lead police to Jeschke's house, but her lawyers later stated that police drove her there. She later stated that she witnessed the murder and attempted to stop Wabski from killing Jeschke.[20]

Wabski had been in prison multiple times since 1958, including for the assault of two officers in September 1977, and was living at a halfway house.[21][13] However, the murder charge against him was dropped after three witnesses and business records in Topeka, Kansas confirmed his alibi.[22] Wabski considered suing the police for damages due to the false accusations of murder.[18] Hemme was charged with murder on December 10, and denied bail[17][23] while her assault charge was later dropped.[24]

Court history[edit]

First trial[edit]

Hemme was initially scheduled preliminary hearing on December 18, but a grand jury indictment on December 15 resulted in her being arraigned by the Circuit Court Division III instead. This resulted in evidence not being shown publicly until the beginning of the trial.[25][26] Her lawyer, Dale Sullivan, requested a mental examination for her.[27]

Hemme initially pled not guilty,[28] but later pled guilty on April 10, 1981. Judge Fred E. Schoenlaub initially did not accept her guilty plea as it was too vague with her not remembering "how she had gotten there" and ordered that the case go to trial, but accepted it minutes later. Schoenlaub senteced her to life imprisonment without parole for 50 years. "I lost control" and that "I was pretty well intoxicated". She claimed to have first met Jeschke at Platt College. Jeschke picked her up while hitchhiking to Kansas City and Hemme asked if she could get a shower at Jeschke house. Hemme claimed that they argued over money that Jeschke owed her due to a drug deal.[29][30][31] During her guilty plea Hemme stated that the prosecution "promised that if I plead guilty he will not ask for the death penalty".[32] Hemme stated that she used a hunting knife to kill Jeschke before throwing it away at a battlefield park in Lexington, Missouri, and threw Jeschke's purse away near Interstate 70, but police were unable to find either item.[20] Jeschke's father, Earl McGlothlin, criticized Hemme's claim that she killed Jeschke due to a disagreement over a drug deal and that his daughter "neither used nor sold drugs".[33]

Second trial[edit]

Hemme was questioned about the disappearance of Micki Jo West the day after pleading guilty. Hemme claimed that a cult buried the body of West near St. Joseph. She claimed that West was a member of the cult and that her body was cut open and had her organs removed. No evidence of the crime was ever discovered despite thirteen officers searching the area.[34] West's disappearance was later featured on Unsolved Mysteries in 1988.[35]

Hemme later recanted her confession and filed a motion on November 12, 1982, to have her guilty plea withdrawn and sentence vacated. She claimed that she waived her constitutional rights without fully understanding them and that her counsel was ineffective.[36] Hemme stated that she was told by the prosecution to mention the phone cord as it would show that the murder was premeditated and Sullivan said it "sounded more believable".[20] She stated that she was not aware that she could request a mental examination or a change of venue and that she would not have pled guilty if she had known.[37] She also claimed that Sullivan told her she would only serve nine to thirteen years in prison while the fifty years before parole was "just to impress the family".[38]

The Buchanan County Circuit Court rejected her motion in 1983,[39] but the Missouri Court of Appeals overturned her conviction in 1984.[15] Hemme was found guilty on June 5, 1985, after three and a-half hours of deliberation.[40] The trial was one day long and featured no evidence besides Hemme's confession. The prosecution altered Hemme's motive from a financial dispute to having an uncontrollable urge to harm people.[20] Three weeks later Hemme filed a motion for a new trial,[41] but it was denied.[42]

Attempts at release[edit]

An evidentiary hearing for Hemme is scheduled for January 16, 2024.[43] If Hemme is released from prison that would make her prison tenure longest-serving wrongful conviction for an American woman.[44][45] During the hearing Steven Fueston, a former detective, stated that he stopped one of the police interviews of Hemme because "she didn't seem totally coherent".[46]

Michael Holman[edit]

During Hemme's prosecution Sullivan was informed by two journalists from the St. Joseph Gazette and St. Joseph News-Press of a possible police coverup with police hiding evidence from the defense. He was informed of a possible suspect affiliated with the St. Joseph Police Department. The reporter told him that the man was seen in the vicinity of Jeschke house and later used Jeschke's credit cards to purchase a camera in Kansas City the day after she was discovered. Pubic hair samples were taken from Jeschke's body and the man who used the credit cards. Michael Insco, the prosecuting attorney for Buchanan County, Missouri, stated that "we do not expect to file any charges against anyone else in the Jeschke case". Police denied the allegations and stated that no FBI report existed and that the man took the credit card from Jeschke's purse after finding it near a cabin he rented.[47][48][49][50] However, a FBI report did exist and Sullivan sought a copy of it,[51][52] but the allegations and the actual report "varied substantially".[53]

The police officer, Michael Holman, was brought up during Hemme's 1985 trial.[54] Holman quit his job as an officer a week after Jeschke's death.[55] Holman attempted to purchase $630.43 of photography equipment. Hairs from Holman and Jeschke's bed sheets had similar "microscopic characteristics. Holman claimed that he had sex with a woman named Mary in a motel near Jeschke's house and that he found a purse with the credit card while walking back to his truck. He altered the name on the credit card from Patricia to Patrick. The woman could not be contacted to verify his alibi and Holman refused to draw a diagram of the motel's interior. His alibi was not proven and the motel manager did not remember somebody named Mary staying there at the time. Holman was later incarcerated in Missouri and Nebraska and died in 2015.[56][44][20][57] The hair in Jeschke's bed sheets, which was from a black man, was alleged to be from Vernon Burris, the only black officer that came to the crime scene, but the FBI reported that it did not match Burris' hair.[45]

Views[edit]

In February 2023, the Innocence Project filed a petition to release Hemme from prison stating that she falsely confessed to the crime and that Holman committed the murder. Jeschke's earing was also found at Holman's house and that information was hidden from the defense. Larry Harman, who worked as Hemme lawyer, stated that Hemme's "mentally fragile state" was taken advantage of.[44] Bobby Cummings wrote to Hemme during her time in prison and stated that he was the one who picked her up while hitchhiking, but his letter was not mentioned during her trial.[20]

Pasley believes that Hemme is innocent and that Holman was the murderer. During an insurance fraud investigation Holman claimed that his service weapon was stolen, but it was found in a storage unit he used. Pasley theorized that the gun was used to beat Jeschke, but the gun was sent for cleaning and returned to service before he could test it.[44][45]

Patrick Robb, an assistant prosecuting attorney in Buchanan County while Hemme was on trial in 1985, stated that he knew Holman "was connected to the case" and talked about it with Hemme's lawyer Robert Duncan. He stated that he did not trust Hayes, who tenure as police chief saw Melvin Lee Reynolds falsely confess to murder.[46]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Police Have No Suspects In Slaying". Parsons Sun. November 15, 1980. p. 4. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Patricia Jeschke". St. Joseph News-Press. November 14, 1980. p. 6A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Woman murdered here". St. Joseph Gazette. November 14, 1980. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Woman Found Murdered". Parsons Sun. November 14, 1980. p. 7. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "Accomplice suspected in murder". St. Joseph News-Press. December 9, 1980. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Hemme case goes to state high court". St. Joseph News-Press. October 17, 1984. p. 5A. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  8. ^ "$1,000 reward in murder case". St. Joseph News-Press. November 16, 1980. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "No Jeschke murder suspect in custody". St. Joseph News-Press. December 4, 1980. p. 2A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Bulletin". St. Joseph Gazette. December 4, 1980. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  12. ^ a b "Insco expects Wabski to waive extradition". St. Joseph Gazette. December 9, 1980. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b "Extradition right waived". St. Joseph Gazette. December 10, 1980. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Two charged in Jeschke murder case". St. Joseph News-Press. December 6, 1980. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b "Court overturns Hemme murder conviction". St. Joseph News-Press. September 5, 1984. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  17. ^ a b "Hemme formally charged in killing". St. Joseph Gazette. December 11, 1980. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b "Wabski may seek damages over false accusation of murder". St. Joseph News-Press. December 13, 1980. p. 1B. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Hemme". The Kansas City Star. March 8, 2023. p. 4A. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  21. ^ "Wobskie, in 1978, admitted problems with drugs, alcohol". St. Joseph News-Press. December 9, 1980. p. 5A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Wabski murder charge is dismissed". St. Joseph News-Press. December 10, 1980. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  24. ^ "Insco drops assault case against Hemme". St. Joseph Gazette. December 18, 1980. p. 2B. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Insco takes murder case to grand jury". St. Joseph Gazette. December 16, 1980. p. 1B. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  27. ^ "Hearing tomorrow for murder suspect". St. Joseph News-Press. December 17, 1980. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  32. ^ "Hemme feared death". St. Joseph News-Press. April 12, 1981. p. A1. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "Victim's father critical of story". St. Joseph News-Press. April 12, 1981. p. A2. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ "St. Joseph police are told cult sacrificed woman". Kansas City Times. April 18, 1981. p. E1. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ "TV program to feature West case". St. Joseph News-Press. October 20, 1988. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  44. ^ a b c d "MO attorney general agrees to hearing for woman imprisoned 42 years who claims innocence". The Kansas City Star. June 22, 2023. Archived from the original on June 23, 2023.
  45. ^ a b c "Hemme". The Kansas City Star. March 8, 2023. p. 6A. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  46. ^ a b "Missouri woman presents her case for innocence. Her lawyers point to cop as suspect". The Kansas City Star. January 19, 2024. Archived from the original on January 21, 2024.
  47. ^ "Police chief assails 'coverup' implication in Jeschke case". St. Joseph Gazette. March 11, 1981. p. 1A. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  55. ^ "Hemme". St. Joseph Gazette. June 5, 1985. p. 4B. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  56. ^ "'She should be freed'". The Kansas City Star. March 8, 2023. p. 3A. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  57. ^ "Ex-officer had mysterious role in Hemme case". St. Joseph Gazette. June 7, 1985. p. 1B. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

External links[edit]

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