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00:00Police asked for your help in finding the missing man Gregory Rice. He was most recently seen on
00:11Friday. They used drones, people on horseback. They searched a lot of area looking for Greg
00:19Rice to no avail. Where do you think he is, you think? I have no idea. Our fear was that the body
00:25had been burned and we would never find it. I did not premium. I can't even run the machine. Megan
00:31and Chris were seen together constantly. I don't think it was a particularly well-kept secret. The
00:37only thing that I'm guilty of is somebody that's married. There were some locals. They smelled what
00:43you can never forget, the smell of a dead body. There's the body you threw over the bridge. You're
00:49gonna be charged with murder, Chris. He had a murder dump kit in his shopping cart. The exact items that
00:54Greg Rice's body was wrapped in. This is a tale as old as time. An affair, a pregnancy, and a murder.
01:02She said, have you ever cheated on your wife? I said, no. She said, well, you're about to.
01:24The central part of Horry County has a small-town feel. Everybody knows each other. It was not
01:37the norm to have someone just completely disappear like Greg Rice did. My name is Ginger Popp. I'm an
01:49investigator here at the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office. Initially, there was talk that
01:58maybe he had a drug problem. Maybe he had an alcohol problem. You know, maybe he just wandered off and had
02:05drink too much. Where do you think he is? You think? I have no idea. This is not like him.
02:12The person initially who reported Gregory Rice missing was Megan Jackson. Megan Jackson and Gregory
02:20Rice had had a long-standing relationship. They had several children in common and did not live together
02:26anymore. Never done this before at all? No. If he disappeared, he never, he's never actually
02:33disappeared. Why did y'all actually split? Was it his? He can be **** somehow. Is that why y'all actually
02:40split up though? Well, you got four kids together. I was with him for like 15 years. Okay. But he has a
02:48drug problem. Megan Jackson reported him missing after she took the children to Greg Rice's apartment
02:56for a scheduled visitation and he didn't answer the door or the phone. I said, you know what?
03:02Something's not right here. His car's here. He's not answering. And I was with talking to him Friday
03:07and knowing he was like kind of messed up. I was really scared he was like in the apartment and
03:14no deed or something. Normally when people take off, they take certain items on them that they can
03:21survive with. I mean, well, that's why I'm, I was concerned. Megan Jackson was
03:25already known to local authorities because of her work for them as what is known as a body mover.
03:31We pick up bodies for the local coroner's office and the local funeral homes. My name is Charles
03:37Benjamin and Megan Jackson used to work for me going to crime scenes and making the removal and
03:44taking them to the morgue. A lot of people say, oh, I could do that. And until they get out and have to
03:48clean up a nasty scene, but she adjusted real well. Has he ever tried to commit suicide or threaten
03:55suicide in the past? Just that one time I knew it was all his family stuff was going on. It was like 2007,
04:03but it wasn't like a, he just kind of threw himself down the steps. It wasn't a legit attempt.
04:10No. And I gotta ask, does he like, as far as women, I mean, would he get online and find a prostitute? I mean,
04:21I hate to say that, but it's more frequent than you think with men. I honestly have no idea. He's into some...
04:29What's his sexual name? Is he...
04:31I know...
04:33...mellow, or does he like the weird stuff?
04:36He likes torture stuff.
04:39Okay. Well, thank you. Thanks for talking to us. Sorry for the situation.
04:44Horry County Police Department initially treated this right out the gate as a true missing person.
04:51A missing persons flyer was created, and it was all over the local news.
04:56Police asked for your help in finding a missing man. Who you see right here is Gregory Rice. He was most
05:01recently seen on Friday near Flint Lake Drive outside of Myrtle Beach.
05:05Horry County Police Department had dogs come search. They used drones. People were on horseback.
05:12Four-wheelers. They searched a lot of area looking for Greg Rice to no avail.
05:22It doesn't make sense. One day, not hearing from him as normal, but two days, I kind of knew something was up.
05:31My name's Ryan McNevich. I was best friends with Greg Rice. Worked with him and golfed with him and surfed with him.
05:39I was in constant contact with a lot of the detectives at the time.
05:46Greg Rice's cell phone record showed he was home most of the Friday night before he was reported missing.
05:52They knew the last contact that Greg had had with anyone, and that was with Megan Jackson.
05:58My name is Mary Ellen Walter, and I'm a senior assistant solicitor in Horry County.
06:03At that point, Megan Jackson and Greg Rice had been separated for some time.
06:07Didn't get along particularly well, but Greg was very, very focused on his children.
06:12Detectives began to gather surveillance video from the places Megan said she had been that Friday night,
06:18including a restaurant where Megan was seen with the county's deputy coroner, Chris Dantel.
06:24They were seen together constantly. They would often go to dinner together or lunch together.
06:31I don't think it was a particularly well-kept secret.
06:35So Chris Dantel was brought in for questioning in what was still a missing persons investigation.
06:41How we got your name was Megan. It said that you guys had gone out to eat on Friday night.
06:47What's the relationship with you and Megan?
06:50If I'm being honest, it's something I would get divorced over.
06:55And that's why I said, whatever is sitting here, it stays here. We ain't gonna run and tell nobody.
07:02I mean, you know, I was expecting this, so.
07:08Did you ever have any contact with Greg about anything?
07:11None.
07:12I mean, not just like on this day, like period. Have you guys ever had contact with each other?
07:16I've never even said a word to him. I know of Greg. I know, to be honest with you, he's kind of a weirdo.
07:25Yeah.
07:26I know he's into some crazy stuff and I think that's why she moved away from him.
07:32She told me that it was an abusive relationship, but obviously she never got into details, but.
07:37Yeah.
07:38He's, he, um, he is a, he's a pervert. He's a violent pervert.
07:47Have you ever been to Greg's apartment?
07:49No.
07:50So she would always go there by herself? He would never, he never went over there?
07:54I never went there. I've never been to his apartment.
07:57Okay.
07:59And then later that day, Megan was brought in for a second round of questioning.
08:04Not in any trouble.
08:06Okay.
08:07There are claims that are being made against you that we have to have answers to.
08:12Right.
08:13Okay.
08:14Um, we talked to Chris this morning.
08:18We know about you and Chris.
08:21Okay.
08:23We don't care.
08:25Okay.
08:26That has nothing to do with this.
08:28But if some of the vagueness you gave the other day was to try to cover that up, it needs to go away.
08:33Okay.
08:34What are they going to know about?
08:35What?
08:36Who said something about me?
08:37Well, he's.
08:38It's nothing against you, but I mean, I, all the fingers from his family were like.
08:51Pointing at me?
08:52Yeah.
08:53So I have.
08:54Do you know what happened?
08:55So I got to treat you as.
08:56Do you know what happened?
08:57Suspect number one and prove that you aren't suspect number one.
09:01Detectives wanted to know what happened after Megan and Chris left the restaurant that Friday night.
09:07We both got in my car.
09:09Okay.
09:10That's the uncomfortable part, right?
09:13Yeah.
09:14Hmm.
09:16So y'all were in your car?
09:18Yeah.
09:19Okay.
09:20Did y'all have sex in your car?
09:22Possibly.
09:23Where did y'all go?
09:24Okay.
09:25What I've kind of gathered over the past couple days is that, or what I've been told is that
09:36Greg recently found out that you and Chris were having sex together.
09:40And then detectives asked if Megan would let them go through her phone.
09:51You are going to see stuff on there where he, uh,
09:55And I, I'll admit that there's been times that I was a true to him after he was rude to me first.
10:07Did you do anything to cause his disappearance?
10:09No.
10:10Okay.
10:11Then you don't have anything to worry about.
10:12Three weeks after Greg Rice was first reported missing, there was still no sign of him.
10:29And detectives brought Megan Jackson in for a third round of questioning about her timeline on that pivotal Friday night.
10:38The lack of details is what's throwing these red flags and why we keep having to bring you back here.
10:43I mean, it's just cause I don't remember.
10:46Here's the kicker and the whole thing. Did you ever go to Greg's house?
10:49No.
10:50But a license plate reader showed Megan's van going into Greg Rice's neighborhood that Friday night.
10:57Well, it shouldn't have.
10:58I have pictures of it.
11:00I mean, that's fine, but it shouldn't have.
11:04But it did. Right at the time that you called Greg and you exit six minutes later.
11:15Which I've timed out is just enough time to go to Greg's apartment.
11:19I didn't go anywhere.
11:20I have the camera from the LPR.
11:22From the license plate reader.
11:23Okay, but I didn't go to his apartment at all that night.
11:26Honestly, I think you're either covering for somebody's or you're covering for yourself at this point.
11:36You see what I'm getting here?
11:38It all adds up and it all, you're not telling me the truth.
11:43Like, I know there's more to this than you were telling me. I know. It's not a coincidence. And there's more to what you're giving us.
11:52I mean, I can't help you with anything. I mean, I get it. I know it looks bad.
11:59One of the things that Megan Jackson told police was that Greg Rice was threatening to expose her affair with Christopher Dontell.
12:07Someone had sent anonymous messages to Erica Dontell, Christopher Dontell's wife, saying that he was having an affair with Megan Jackson and she was pregnant with his child.
12:17Megan admitted she had been pregnant, but then had a miscarriage.
12:21Megan Jackson told Christopher Dontell that it was Greg Rice. She also told Erica Dontell that it was Greg Rice.
12:27Erica confronted her husband and things changed for them, but Greg Rice went missing pretty quickly after that.
12:34You know who has the motive?
12:36Who?
12:37Chris.
12:38He was with me.
12:39He has the motive. Chris has a wife, kids, a job. He has everything to lose. Okay? And Greg knows and Greg was supposedly leaking information to Chris's wife.
12:52What do you do if somebody's leaking information? You plug the leak.
12:57He wouldn't do that though.
12:59Is it worth covering up for somebody that doesn't really give a . It's just a piece of .
13:04Because if you want to look at his phone, you're just a piece of .
13:09Is it worth covering up for somebody like that?
13:12I'm not covering for him though.
13:14I think you are.
13:16If he did something, I don't know about it.
13:20That would be the stupidest thing that he could do. I'm not okay.
13:25You do stupid stuff when your world is about to come crashing down. I mean, we're human beings. That's the way we were at.
13:32If you did know Chris had done something, would you tell us?
13:36I mean, if I knew he'd hurt him, then yes. Because, I mean, that's my kid's dad. He's a . But I wouldn't be okay with something like that.
13:52But GPS phone data also showed that after about 10 p.m. that night, the phones of Megan, Chris, and Greg were all traveling together.
14:02All signs point towards that y'all were together that way, the three of you.
14:08We were not together.
14:10Then what? Where's Greg?
14:12I don't know. I'm the one that called you guys. I knew something was wrong right away. I honestly thought he was going to be dead in his apartment from an OD.
14:20The more I talked to you, it puts more doubt in my mind.
14:23I mean.
14:24And it just, it's, it's very alarming. And if something happened that night and you're covering up for somebody.
14:31Then I'm going to go down too, but I'm not. I don't, I don't care.
14:39As they tracked the three phones that night, it appeared there was a stop at a Myrtle Beach funeral home, which operates a crematory.
14:46And the only explanation for that is.
14:49As though I cremated him. I did not cremate him. I can't even run the machines.
14:54The explanation of that is something happened that we don't understand.
14:58Our fear was the body had been burned and ashes were dispersed.
15:02We wouldn't have had the evidence we needed to know that it was a murder case.
15:08There is no doubt in my mind that you and Chris have done something that has resulted in Greg's disappearance.
15:15A thousand percent. Like there's no doubt in my mind.
15:20And all I'm going to do is end up working in order to prove, to find out what it was that you all have done.
15:26I mean, that's fine.
15:28No, it's, I tell you right now.
15:30You're not going to find anything.
15:31You know what? You can say that, but all three of us in this room know that that's not true.
15:36It had nothing to do with it. I didn't have anything to do with it.
15:41The only thing that I'm guilty of is somebody that's married.
15:47The case was at a standstill for another two weeks until the waters of the Little Pee Dee River would surface a grisly discovery.
16:04Greg was missing for seven weeks.
16:06There were some locals who would go to Pitts Landing and they would set catfish lines.
16:15As they were setting the lines, they smelled what you can never forget, the smell of a dead body.
16:23It was the body of Greg Rice, shot dead, wrapped in a tarp that had been weighed down with cinder blocks.
16:30They went to some stores around Horry County to see if they sold those items.
16:35And surveillance footage at one of the stores the day after Greg Rice was last seen alive told the story.
16:41You can very clearly see Christopher Dantel pushing his shopping cart into the self-checkout line
16:46and find the exact items that Greg Rice's body was wrapped in.
16:50He had a murder dump kit in his shopping cart. Very clear. It was cinder blocks, zip ties, ratchet straps and a tarp. That was a big break.
17:01It was pretty clear, I think, to law enforcement who had caused Greg Rice to disappear.
17:06Megan Jackson was brought in for a fourth time.
17:11So, we're back for round two, I guess we'll say.
17:18Round four?
17:19Well, all I want, Megan, is the truth. Okay? So, you want me to show you where Chris was at 2.55 on Saturday?
17:30Uh, sure. What is that?
17:37Some cinder blocks, a tarp, zip ties, ratchet strap.
17:48I'm going to show you where I was this past Saturday. I got called out at 2 o'clock in the morning.
18:00You know who that is?
18:04Is that Greg?
18:05That's Greg.
18:07And guess what he was wrapped in and sunk with in the river?
18:10The s*** Chris bought on the 3rd.
18:16So, like I said earlier, either you're this f***ing horrible person that killed your kid's dad,
18:22or you just took Greg to go see Chris to have a conversation.
18:26Greg was in the river for a f***ing month.
18:39You got two, two choices.
18:43Explain to us what happened.
18:46Or look like the horrible person who killed your kid's father.
18:51You got two choices.
18:52What happened?
18:54You just said you guys were together the entire night.
19:01I don't know what happened.
19:02Yes, you do, Megan.
19:04I don't know what happened.
19:06Greg's f***ing dead.
19:07Somebody f***ing killed him.
19:09Shut up.
19:10This ain't a f***ing Megan story.
19:13Chris is going to be charged with murder today.
19:14This is your time to get yourself out of it.
19:21Do you want to be charged with murder today, or do you want to tell us what happened?
19:27I don't know.
19:29You do know, Megan?
19:31Down the hall, another pair of detectives was questioning Chris Duntel, who asked for a lawyer.
19:36All right, Chris.
19:37I'm not going to ask you any questions.
19:40I'll explain everything to you here in just a few minutes.
19:46What I do want to do, though, is I'll leave these here with you.
19:51As you're shopping, you bought a ratchet strap, a tarp, some zip ties, and two cinder blocks.
19:58All right?
20:01And there's the body you threw over the bridge.
20:07Or place thrown the ribbon.
20:12Take his phone, take his wallet, you understand.
20:15You're not leaving the building today.
20:16You're going to be going to county jail here shortly, okay?
20:19Is there a warrant for my arrest, or am I a free person right now?
20:21No, you're not a free person.
20:22You're not a free person.
20:23Why not?
20:24Because you are being charged with a crime, Chris.
20:25That's why.
20:26I'll tell you what.
20:27Sir, is there a warrant for my arrest right now?
20:29You're going to be charged with murder, Chris.
20:30Am I?
20:31No.
20:32You're not a free man.
20:33I've answered your question.
20:34You are not a free man.
20:35You were not a free man when you walked out of your house and told your one-year-old boy
20:40I love you.
20:41You're not a free man.
20:42You're going to jail, and that's it.
20:45At what point can I speak with my lawyer?
20:54Chris, stand up, turn around.
20:56All right, Chris.
20:57You're under arrest for the murder of Greg Rice, all right?
20:59I'll see you later on.
21:01Detectives tried to get Megan to confess by telling her that Chris was already blaming
21:07her.
21:08Chris is in another part of the building telling the story.
21:11And you know what he just said?
21:12What was your plan?
21:13What was your plan to kill Greg?
21:14I didn't have any plan to kill Greg.
21:15Well, you look at it like this.
21:16Chris just lost his job.
21:17He's about to lose his family.
21:18So who do you think he's going to put it on you?
21:19He can put it on me all he wants.
21:20I don't have a story to tell.
21:21You are clear on how this is going to end today.
21:22Right?
21:23You're either honest or you're taking a ride.
21:25You can give me that all you want.
21:26My next phone call is to Greg's family to let them know that you and Chris dumped him
21:32in the damn room.
21:33You're under arrest for murder, Megan.
21:34And I'm going to get a call on my lawyer, right?
21:37You used to judge why they're.
22:02Megan or Chris? So prosecutors decided to take Chris Dantel to trial first,
22:09believing he was most likely the one who actually killed Greg Rice.
22:13I was halfway out of my chair about to stand up and give the opening statement in the case when
22:17Christopher Dantel stood up and said he wanted to plead guilty. That was not an agreement he made
22:25with the state in advance. He simply stood up and pleaded guilty. The murder charge against Dantel
22:31was dropped. He pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder and criminal conspiracy to
22:36commit murder. It was a big moment for us when Christopher Dantel finally decided to tell us
22:41what exactly had happened to Greg Rice that night. According to Dantel, he and Megan Jackson had
22:49indeed driven to Greg Rice's apartment that night and they saw him walking along the road.
22:54Christopher Dantel said that Megan asked him to drive past and then pull alongside Greg and then
22:59she jumped out and shot him. And when detectives searched Megan's home, they found evidence of
23:05another possible motive, the treatment of her children, malnourished and often locked in their
23:11rooms. They actually ended up charging Megan Jackson with unlawful conduct toward a child based on the
23:18living conditions in the home. So I think Greg was extremely concerned for the welfare of the children
23:23and may have been exploring getting custody of them, which means that Megan Jackson would have
23:28had to pay him child support. And that's certainly not something that she wanted to do.
23:32And then a final surprising discovery about who had sent those anonymous messages to Dantel's wife
23:38about the affair with Megan. Phone records showed it was not Greg Rice.
23:43In reality, it was Megan Jackson who was sending anonymous texts exposing the fact that she had
23:50been sleeping with Chris Dantel and was in fact pregnant with his child. She had two goals in mind.
23:57Number one, to be rid of Greg Rice and also to destroy Chris Dantel's marriage.
24:04Now he would be the key witness against her.
24:13We're now turning to a case out of South Carolina. Opening statements are about to begin in the trial
24:19of Megan Jackson, charged in the murder of her ex-boyfriend and the father of her children, Greg Rice.
24:25All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to begin the opening statement.
24:28Megan is a small female, short, very petite, long hair. Anytime you have a female defendant
24:38that can look frail, not strong, you can worry about what a jury may think of this person. Could
24:48they be capable of this? One of Megan's former co-workers, Marilyn Wood, was in the courtroom every
24:55day. Just as her support system for her. She had no friends, family, everybody's abandoned her.
25:02She says she doesn't know what happened. And I said, well, either you or Chris killed Greg. And she goes, it wasn't me.
25:11Can I please the court honor? Yes, ma'am.
25:14Good morning.
25:17This is a tale that's on its own. It's the story of an affair, a pregnancy, and a murder.
25:25And the victim of that murder is Gregory Rice, the father of four of her children.
25:32There's one person at the center of everything you're going to hear. And that person is Megan Jackson.
25:40She's sitting right over there.
25:42Now, when you look at Megan Jackson, you may think, she looks me, mild. She's a small woman.
25:48But looks can be deceiving. And this defendant is certainly deceiving. She deceived Greg Rice.
25:57She deceived her co-defendant, Christopher Dontell. She deceived Christopher Dontell's wife, Erica Dontell.
26:04And she deceived law enforcement. Not only is she a master manipulator, she was literally in the business
26:12of death. And at the end of this case, if you believe that Christopher Dontell and Megan Jackson
26:20are responsible for the murder of Gregory Rice, then there's only one verdict, and that's guilty.
26:28Yes, sir, Your Honor.
26:32May I please support?
26:33Yes, sir.
26:35I'll be honest with you. I thought she was going to say Dontell in there, because that's what it sounded like, right?
26:38That at the end of all that, that Dontell was the one in the hand.
26:43Megan Jackson had written Greg Rice off.
26:46She's done. 15 years. Gone. See ya. Bye.
26:50She's already done something. She didn't need to do anything with him anymore.
26:54But the deputy coroner?
26:58Don't touch me, man. I'm a deputy coroner.
27:01He's got something to lose.
27:03That's motive.
27:04So, we have a chance in this courtroom, these halls of justice, to show that the presumption
27:13of innocence is paramount.
27:18Alright?
27:19It means that you don't convict somebody of a murder without a murder weapon.
27:24You don't convict somebody of a murder without any video of a crime or a shooting.
27:32Any audio of the crime they're accusing of.
27:35Or any 911 calls from an apartment complex of that evening with five shots.
27:42No 911 calls.
27:45Zero.
27:46The prosecution's first witness was the daughter of Megan Jackson and Greg Rice.
28:13Savannah.
28:15She called us after Christopher Dantel pleaded guilty and said she really needed to see justice
28:22for her father and she wanted to testify against her mother.
28:25How would you describe your parents' relationship?
28:29It was not great at all.
28:31There was constant fighting.
28:34They were mean to each other.
28:35They were mean to the kids.
28:37Just they didn't, they weren't compatible.
28:39You didn't hear I love you very much throughout the house.
28:45At some point, did you come to know that your mother was having an affair with Christopher Dantel?
28:51Yes, but not at first.
28:53Okay.
28:54Do you, how did you find out about the affair?
28:56I had some friends over and it was quiet.
29:00We went downstairs and we heard them having sex in our bedroom and it just kept getting louder and louder.
29:07And the next day I asked her and she said, I thought you knew.
29:10Did your mother ever say anything about your father between the time that he went missing and the time that they found his body?
29:20Yes.
29:22Can you just tell us about that?
29:24Take a couple deep breaths and tell us about that.
29:26She had come home drunk one night and I was in the kitchen and my sister wasn't, she wasn't behaving and I told my mom and she started screaming and my sister was upstairs but then she looked at me and she said, I hope what happened to your dad happens to your sister.
29:48And I asked her, what do you mean?
29:50And she just wouldn't say anything.
29:52And that was before they found her father's body?
29:58It took such strength for Savannah to get up there and testify against her mother for killing her father.
30:05And Megan Jackson showed absolutely no emotion during that testimony.
30:15Thank you, Your Honor.
30:17The state calls Christopher Dantel.
30:22Was your case called for trial in December of last year?
30:34Yes, ma'am.
30:36What happened when it was called for trial?
30:40When it was called for trial, I planned to access the after the fact and conspiracy.
30:47Did you plead guilty to those charges because you are in fact guilty of those charges?
30:54Yes.
30:58At some point, did you and the defendant begin a sexual relationship?
31:03Yes.
31:03How did that begin?
31:05She said, have you ever cheated on your wife?
31:07I said, no.
31:13She said, well, you're about to.
31:17Dantel said after dinner that night at a local restaurant, Megan told him she had to go see Greg.
31:23And I saw Greg on the left side of the road walking towards us.
31:28I was stopping right next to him and she said, pull up, don't be awkward.
31:35So I said, pull up.
31:36She said, yeah, pull up.
31:37So I pulled up so that we had passed him.
31:41What happened next?
31:42She opened the door and shot him.
31:50How many shots did you hear?
31:52A lot.
31:54What did you do?
31:58I froze.
32:03Did the defendant say anything to you at that point?
32:05Yeah, she said, what are you doing?
32:10Help me, help me.
32:12Cursing at me, help me.
32:14So what did you do?
32:15She said, put him in the back of the van.
32:17So I opened the back of the van and we started treating him just as we would treat any other body.
32:27And we got in the van and I hightailed it out of there.
32:33Dantel said they stored the body overnight at the Myrtle Beach Funeral Home, as if it were an official coroner's action.
32:41She told me that if I ever told anybody what happened, she would kill me.
32:49And that we have to be in this together.
32:54So did you agree to dispose of Greg's body?
32:57Not at first.
32:58I heard her say, you know, do this or do that or I'm going to kill you.
33:07I had just watched her kill the father of her kids.
33:10I'm going to take it serious.
33:15So did you, in fact, dispose of Greg's body?
33:18I did.
33:20So I went and I just started buying things that I thought might be useful.
33:27And it makes me sick to even tell this story.
33:32I'm sorry.
33:33I knew that the Petey River was out on the county line.
33:39And it took about 10 seconds to put them in the water.
33:42What did you do after that?
33:46Went back to the defendant's house.
33:51Was there any conversation at that point about getting rid of, had you done that?
33:57I came in and she smiled at me.
34:01And said, did you do what you needed to do?
34:03I said, yes.
34:08And she said, good boy.
34:11I don't have any further questions at this time.
34:13I believe Mr. Tommy Burton may have some questions for you.
34:15Across the generation.
34:18You're the kind of man that will lie and betray an own wife.
34:24Is that true?
34:25I did for a period of time, yes.
34:29Well, let's just say, how many times do you have sex with Megan Jackson?
34:33I don't know.
34:34Too many to count, right?
34:36I suppose so.
34:38You blame Megan Jackson for having oral sex for you and all that kind of thing.
34:44Do you blame her?
34:45I don't blame Megan Jackson for that.
34:47No, sir.
34:47I blame myself.
34:49Okay.
34:50But even after the way you described any events for that night, through your tears,
34:58you were still having sex with Megan Jackson, afterwards.
35:05Correct, for a period, yes.
35:07Okay.
35:07That's adultery.
35:08You were committing adultery, right?
35:10Right.
35:11So you finally decided to tell the truth today, huh?
35:15I decided to tell the truth once I had protection from your client,
35:20once my family was protected from her and her threats.
35:22Your testimony is you don't have anything to do with shooting.
35:25You didn't know it's going to happen, right?
35:31That's correct.
35:32I did not know the shooting was going to happen.
35:34You don't expect this jury to believe that you were scared of that woman to such an extent
35:40that you wouldn't report what you consider to be, and are now telling us, it's her misconduct.
35:45What was the question?
35:51Are you scared?
35:52You said you did think wrong, but you're scared of that woman sitting over there.
35:56Absolutely.
35:57My question is, as a county officer, why don't you take matters into your own hand
36:01and report her and see that justice was served on her?
36:05I've answered this question twice already, and the answer is because she told me she would
36:11kill me, and I had seen her kill the father of her kids, and I believed that she would
36:17kill me as well.
36:19Nothing except your fear of that little woman there prevented you from reporting these incidents
36:29to the police.
36:31True of all.
36:31No, that's true.
36:42Have you made a decision as to whether or not you wish to testify in this case?
36:47Yes, sir.
36:47Do you wish to testify in this case?
36:50No, no.
36:50And is this your decision?
36:52Yes, sir.
36:53All right.
36:54Will the defense be putting up any other witnesses or any other defense in this case?
37:00No, sir.
37:00Yes, sir.
37:01It kind of surprised me that she didn't testify, just because I think she's enough of a narcissist
37:05to think she could have gotten away with it and garnered some sympathy.
37:09Ladies and gentlemen, the defense has rested their case, and now is the time of the trial
37:13where the attorneys will make their closing arguments.
37:16All right.
37:16State wish to close.
37:17May I please the tort?
37:18Yes, ma'am.
37:20This is a tale as old as time, as you were told in The Infinite.
37:24The defendant involved an affair, a pregnancy, and a murder.
37:29But there was a fourth aspect of this case that is equally as important, and that's deception.
37:36The defendant was the center of the affair, certainly the pregnancy, and most definitely the murder.
37:43She began to spin her web of lies because she wanted to destroy the Don Tells' marriage.
37:50But she also wanted to get rid of Greg, and so she started to frame him for revealing information about the affair.
38:01What it is up to you to decide is, is the defendant guilty of the murder?
38:07Certainly, by Mr. Don Tells' testimony, she is.
38:11If you have any hesitation about that, then South Carolina has hand of one, hand of all, which says that it doesn't matter.
38:21Two people can be guilty of killing another when only one of them has a gun and only one of them fires a shot.
38:27Now, the defendant is the only one who benefited from Greg's murder.
38:32It is your job to end the defendant's continued deception and speak the truth and convictor of murder.
38:45Defense?
38:47Your Honor.
38:53Good morning.
38:54What you're looking for in this case is a reason to hesitate.
38:59And in this case, there are many reasons to hesitate.
39:05How about the first one?
39:06Every word that was just uttered to you would have been used in a trial to try to convict Chris Don Tell of murder.
39:18Now, all of a sudden, he's an eyewitness to it?
39:20If that doesn't give you a reason to hesitate, I don't know what else could.
39:24He's about himself.
39:25That's the reason he's pushing Megan.
39:28And that's the reason he killed Greg Rice, because he is about himself.
39:33You can piece it all together.
39:35But when you get right down to it, you're always going to have to come back to trusting Chris Don Tell.
39:41And that's the one thing the state didn't want you to have to do.
39:43But they could never get around that.
39:45He sat up here and told you he disposed the body in some kind of favor?
39:51You ain't mind that.
39:53You can.
39:54You know what?
39:55He did a lot.
39:56I called him Chris Don't Tell.
39:58Full of lies and cries.
39:59I'll tell you one, he wasn't crying.
40:01He wasn't crying when he was shopping.
40:02Just grab in cinder blocks and tarts.
40:07But just ask yourself at the end of the day, do you trust Chris Don't Tell?
40:11Because the only way you can predict her is if you trust that man.
40:14I don't think you can.
40:16The jury was out for about an hour and a half or two hours, so relatively quick verdict.
40:23I understand the jury's reached verdict.
40:25Is that correct?
40:27All right.
40:28I ask the clerk, if you would please pose the verdict.
40:32The state of South Carolina, the county of Ory versus Megan Marie Jackson,
40:36as to the charge of murder, will the jury, by unanimous consent, find this defendant?
40:41He said, guilty.
40:48That was the one time she showed emotion.
40:51It was kind of like, oh, God, I got caught.
40:53They realized what I did.
40:54So she finally showed emotion.
40:57Chris Don't Tell was sentenced to 20 years in prison,
41:01and Megan Jackson faced between 50 years and life.
41:05Jackson, anything you want to say?
41:07Does anybody want to speak on your behalf?
41:11Your Honor, she wishes her to speak.
41:14All right.
41:15Your Honor, I can have Miss Savannah Rice come off.
41:19But Savannah couldn't do it.
41:25Your Honor, she's understandably emotional.
41:27She says, this crime has torn apart my family, others' families, and friends beyond any measure.
41:33Not only from the loss of my father, but the loss of a mother, too.
41:38The loss of our lives.
41:40We have been waiting so many years for just a bit of closure, and this is it.
41:43I finally got to say what has been sitting in my brain the last four and a half years.
41:48It was a relief finally being able to tell the truth, and it goes towards a cost.
41:53I believe that 50 years to life would be a sufficient amount of time.
41:56I thank you for your time, for listening to what I had to say.
42:03Your Honor, the state is asking for the maximum term of life imprisonment.
42:06We believe that there is clear evidence that this defendant not only plotted and planned this murder,
42:12but also tried to frame the victim for things that she was doing.
42:16We believe that there is nothing short of life in prison that would address this crime.
42:23All right, Ms. Jackson, you have been found guilty of murder by a jury of peers.
42:28A sentence of the court, I rule it to say.
42:31A sentence of the court would be committed to the Department of Corrections for the remainder of your life.
42:38Life in prison, and that's no parole in South Carolina.
42:41She will be in prison until the day that she dies.
42:44Justice has been done, but you can never fully achieve justice for someone who's been killed.
42:53He was robbed of his life with his children, who he loved.
42:57He was so devoted to them.
42:59And you certainly can't achieve justice for those four children.
43:02They lost both parents in the worst possible way.
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