Murder With My Husband - 131. Jessica McHenry - The Kind School Girl

Episode Date: September 26, 2022

On this episode of MWMH, Payton and Garrett discuss the kidnapping and murder of 14-year-old Jessica McHenry. Links: LIVE ONLINE SHOW TICKETS HERE! https://www.moment.co/murderwithmyhusband https://linktr.ee/murderwithmyhusband Ads: Rocket Money: www.rocketmoney.com/husband Betterhelp: www.betterhelp.com/husband Faherty: www.fahertybrand.com/husband and use code HUSBAND Flip: Download the Flip app for free today and order with code ‘husband’ Case Sources: https://stacker.com/stories/2804/boy-bands-top-billboard-charts-1980 “On the Case with Paula Zahn,” video, Season 10, Episode 1, “Snake in the Grss,” July 31, 2014 Mercury News, “15 years later, police name teen’s killer,” by Roman Gokhman, March 19, 2007 Sfgate.com, “Suspect in 1991 Livermore slaying kills himself in prison,” by Henry K. Lee, March 19, 2007 Eastbaytimes.com, “A grave injustice for slain Livermore girl,” by Jeanine Benca, September 2, 2009, updated August 15, 2016 Eastbaytimes.com, “Family to celebrate life of slain teenager,” from MediaNews Staff and Roman Gokhman, June 2, 2007, updated August 15, 2016 Losangelestimes.com, “Inmate, linked to killing, commits suicide,” March 20, 2007 Inquisitr.com, “Jessica McHenry, Derick Moncada: Case of Missing California Teen Whose Body Was Found Smoldering in 1991 On Investigation Discovery,” by Traciy Reyes, November 7, 2017 Findagrave.com, Jessica Anne McHenry Findagrave.com, Derick Dee Moncada livermoreca.gov Smh.com.au, The Sydney Morning Herald, “Cell suicide over Jessica DNA link,” AP, March 20, 2007 Fullhousemagazine.co.uk, “Stalked from the grave, Even after 18 years, the killer wasn’t going to leave Jess alone…” by Fiona Rod & Amy Thompson, January 14, 2010 Mylifeofcrime.wordpress.com, “Cold Case: Derick Mocada was linked by DNA to the murder of Jessica McHenry, then he committed suicide,” posted on August 3, 2014 by lifeofcrime googlemaps.com truepeoplesearch.com United States Census Bureau, Livermore Links: https://mwmh.contactin.bio/ https://linktr.ee/murderwithmyhusband Ads: Rocket Money: www.rocketmoney.com/husband Betterhelp: www.betterhelp.com/husband Faherty: www.fahertybrand.com/husband and use code HUSBAND Flip: Download the Flip app for free today and order with code ‘husband’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everybody welcome back to our podcast. This is murder with my husband. I'm Peyton Moreland and I'm Garrett Moreland And he's the husband. I'm the husband. How's everyone doing this week? I hope you guys are all doing good another bonus patreon episode is coming out this week So stay tuned for that again. That's for our patreon and apple subscribers So if you want to check that out go ahead and do so all right. Let's jump into your 10 seconds I'm currently trying to convince Peyton to sell one of our cars and get a old Bronco. It's not going very well, but I'll get there. Just a little bit of time, a little bit of smooth in, little by little. I told him, go ahead, sell your truck,

and we can get a Bronco. See, we sell Payton's car. Yeah, that's the problem. Yeah, it's okay though. Then I have to drive the problem. I drive you around anyways. So that's what I'm working on just in case anyone was curious. As well, my fantasy team for football is, I never do good and let me tell everyone why I don't do good. It's not that I'm bad at fantasy football or that I am dumb. It's that I just pick my favorite players instead of picking who I

should pick. But I think that would mean you're bad at fantasy. That's just a fun of it to me. Is I'm like, I just fingers crossed, please do good instead of just picking someone I know that's going to do good consistently every week. So hanging in there, I'm about middle of the pack right now. every week. So hanging in there, I'm about middle of the pack right now, I think some, I think some magic will happen. It's, we still got a lot of weeks left. You know, one time in high school, my dad was like, oh, we're doing fantasy football. Do you want to join? And I was like, I don't watch football by the way. I said, sure. And then I got my thing, and I googled every mascot and picked them by what mascot I thought was better. How'd you do? Awful.

I mean, I don't think I got last, but my dad was like, how did you come up with these? Every mascot is hilarious. I said, I just picked my favorite mascot. Okay, so should we just get right into the story today? Let's do it. Our case sources are stacker.com on the case with Paul Azon. Mercury news, sfgate.com, eSpaid times.com, Los Angeles Times.com, and Quisitor.com, Find a Grave, Full House Magazine.com, My Life of Crime, Google Maps, For Garrett, TruePeopleSearch.com,

and the United States Census Bureau. Our episode today begins on August 9, 1976, when a young girl named Jessica Ann McHenry was born in Livermore, California. Now Livermore is in the East Bay in the San Francisco, Oakland region. Jessica was the oldest child to her mother, Tammy Dunn, but her younger brother, Nick McHenry was born only a year after her so they ended up being really close as they grew up together. According to Tammy, Jessica was soft-spoken and

always a good girl, as she got older, Jessica was known for her maturity and responsible behavior. She was kind of that child every parent wanted to raise. She never caused problems or gave any reason for her mother to worry about her. When she wasn't playing with Nick or enjoying time with her family, young Jessica loved learning about fashion and obsessing over boy bands. No source specifically listed what boy bands Jessica loved in her pre-teens, but based on the fact that it's roughly the late 80s, early 90s, there was a couple big ones she could have loved.

We have new kids on the block who peaked around 1989 when Jessica was 12 or 13 years old or high five an R&B group who hit number one in 1991. And I know when we think 90s boy bands we typically go for the Backstreet Boys or in sync, but both of those boy bands wouldn't become super popular until after our story takes place today. I feel like late 90s. Yeah, they were in the late 90s. My first concert was actually Backstreet Boys. Really?

Eventually around this time, Jessica's mother Tammy had two other children. And because Jessica was much older than them, she actually stepped up to help take care of them and act as almost a second mother to them. When Jessica turned 14 years old and became a student at Granada High School, she was popular because of her kindness. She was really blossoming, and according to the Paulazons show that covered this case, Jessica was becoming a talented musician.

Life was going well for Jessica and her family at this point. I think making that transition from middle school to high school can be tough, but also exhilarating as it's a chance for you to start discovering who you are. And this is exactly what Jessica was doing. She was so young and had so much brightness in her future. But as we know, this podcast doesn't usually come with happy endings. We have to fight to find the light in these stories to remember the victim for who they were in R and today

we're gonna do just that. Tuesday, June 11th, 1991, 14-year-old Jessica McHenry attends the last day of regular class schedule for the school year at Grenada High School. So school let out early this Tuesday because final exams would begin the next day and at the end of the week summer break would start. I remember the craziness of the last week of school before summer, the schedules changing because of exams literally this exact thing. Oh, I always loved the last week of school. Did you like, so you would have your half day and then do exams like Jessica's doing in our story? But then on the last day, did you have exams

or was there this like random floating day? Yeah, it was usually a random floating day. I mean, I think sometimes I would have a test, but now usually it was random floating days. That's how I feel. I honestly felt like as soon as exams were over, school was pointless. Most teachers were just like, just hang out,

just don't cause a problem. So that morning, Jessica's mom drops her off at school at 7.30 a.m. And around 12 p.m., school is let out. Friends say that Jessica signed their yearbooks that day before she started walking home from school around 12.15 p.m. Now, sources don't clarify, but either on her way home

or before she even left the high school, Jessica realized she's forgotten her house keys from that morning. This means even if she does walk home, she won't be able to get inside the house until her mom gets home from work that day. Because of this, Jessica McHenry finds a pay phone to call her mom's work number. Remember this is 1991, so Jessica call her mom's work number. Remember, this is 1991, so Jessica and her mother have cell phones. Jessica had to find a pay phone and leave a message on her mother's work phone when Tammy didn't answer. The message

Jessica left her mother was that she wasn't going to walk straight home anymore because she didn't have her house key. She told her mom that she was just going to walk to a friend's house instead and wait for her to get home. It's never been disclosed who that friend is that Jessica was talking about or where she or he lived. But in an interview with Paulazand Tammy claimed that she did know the friend well and wasn't worried when she found out that that's where Jessica was going to go instead. After leaving the message, several students physically see Jessica leave the payphone and begin walking away. So this information really makes me think the payphone was literally in the high school or right out front of it. Technically this would make sense because the school would want away for students to be able to call their family. So I think Jessica called her mom's work phone from school property. So now I know it's only 1991, but Garrett, guess what this school has?

Pickleball court, yeah. Oh, shut up. No, guess really what it has. Pickleball court. Okay, no. There are not many, but the school had some security cameras. Oh, you did. You were not picking up what I was throwing that for sure. You're gonna say, pickable court. So I'm in the wrong state of mind and you get back into crude true crime Garrett. Okay, are you there? Yes. Okay, wait, let me try again. Security cameras. Yes, they have security cameras installed back in 1991. And one of those cameras catches Jessica walking away from the school

and making a right turn out of the school parking lot. The road she turned onto is called Wall Street. Now from 12.15 pm to 1.45 pm, we, the media and public, do not know where Jessica was. I'm guessing the police likely know her movements during this time, but haven't made it public. Do not know where Jessica was. I'm guessing the police likely know her movements during this time, but haven't made it public. It seems from all interviews and stories that no one is to hung up on this time period,

which is what led me to think that police know this, but it doesn't really matter. I'm assuming maybe Jessica made it to the nearby friends house and police have kept it quiet to keep the friend out of the media. Either way, we don't know where Jessica is between 1215 and 145 pm, but we're assuming she's safe. Around 145 pm, a classmate of Jessica's that lives on college avenue, another street near the school in Livermore, is watching TV when she notices something out of her living room window.

It's a young girl walking down the street. The classmate looks closer and recognizes that the young girl walking down the road is actually Jessica McHenry. Again, I have no information as to where Jessica was walking to or from from this point. Was she walking home from the friend's house? Was she walking to the friend's house after being somewhere else? We don't know. Is this after she had called her mom?

Yes. OK. And I also don't know what time Jessica's mom was due home from work that day because that would definitely help us clear up this timeline. I assume six o'clock. Yeah, somewhere around there. If we knew what time Tammy was coming home from work,

then we might have a better idea what Jessica was doing walking outside this person's house at this point. But I guess it's just not necessary to be released to the public. Which technically, it is in either way we just know that Jessica McHenry is seen by a classmate walking down college avenue around 145 pm. An unbeknownst to this classmate, Jessica, or anyone involved in this story, this is reportedly the last time Jessica would ever be seen alive again.

On June 11, 1991, around 7 pm, so later that day, Jessica's mom is worried sick. She has been looking for her daughter, but no one knows where Jessica is. She's called friends, the school, but by all accounts, it appears that Jessica just up and vanished while walking through town in broad daylight.

You can never imagine that feeling. Tammy frantically calls 911 after trying her best to track down Jessica on her own. It was now 7 p.m. and it seems like no one had seen her since that afternoon between 1 and 2 pm. We know the last time she was seen was by her that classmate walking outside her home, but her mom doesn't know that yet.

Tammy Dunn gets in touch with police and tells them what is happening, that her 14-year-old daughter Jessica McHenry was missing. But once Tammy begins talking to police, her calls get transferred. It almost seems like no one is hearing what she is saying. No one is asking follow-up questions. Finally, Tammy begins speaking to higher ups, who immediately ask her if Jessica has any dental records.

Now this alarms Tammy because she doesn't feel like jumping immediately to dental records is the way to go about a missing child. Everything about this procedure seems off. It's almost like everyone she's talking to knows something she doesn't. Worried, anxious, and now a little angry, Tammy demands to know what is going on. Yeah, I'm not confused. Police don't want to worry her or make things worse, but this isn't a typical missing

person's report. Also, like, worry hurts. She's already worried. Yeah, your daughter's missing. I think he's got to tell them everything, right? Right. So, usually, when a child goes missing, the child is missing. But, unlike every other case, police fear they have already found 14-year-old

Jessica McKenry. They had found her three hours before Tammy even called and reported her missing. They just needed to make a positive identification. Because what are the chances that around 4pm that day, two men had stumbled upon the body of a teenage girl and now at 7 p.m. a mother is calling to report her 14-year-old daughter missing. Nobody seeing her for hours. That never happens. It never happens. And police don't want to tell Tammy. Well, we already found a teenage girl's body in case it's not her daughter, but also what are the chances? So they're like, we need your daughter's dental records

right now to make this identification. So earlier that day, long before Tammy became worried about Jessica's whereabouts just before 4 p.m., two truckers were driving on their way to a garbage dump when they saw smoke rising from the hillside just off of the road. So the truckers were out in more rural area and they were thinking maybe this was just a small fire so they pulled into a turnout and climbed the hill on foot to try and put the fire out. Climbing towards the smoke, they

eventually reached the crest of the hill where they stopped dead in their tracks. There was a small fire, but it wasn't accidental. The body of a young girl was burning on the side of the hill. She was half naked and unrecognizable as her hair and face were completely burned at this point. A park ranger in the Livermore area called 911 after this, telling police that he had two gentlemen come into the park and report that they found a dead body. They said they found a female body half naked, and according to them, she had just been set on fire and the body was smoldering. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

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husband and use promo code husband. Now police responded to the horrific scene. At this point, no one even knew Jessica McHenry was missing. Jessica's burned body had been found on an isolated turnout south of Livermore in rural area. She was naked from the waist down. According to Paulazone Show, the police described it as a challenging crime scene. They would mean this in every way. As it was very upsetting, plus there were very few clues and they didn't have any idea at first who the girl was. There was no purse, or backpack, or any ID.

And according to Paul Azon's show, the only clue to the young girl's identity was a piece of jewelry she was wearing. She had a small necklace on, but besides that, there was no other type of identification on her. All police knew was that whoever had done this was a monster, an animal to leave a teenage girl like this Yeah, absolutely disgusting. So they go back

I'm sure they go and talk to the mom To get the dental records. Yes, so back at home You can imagine what Tammy done is going through while waiting to hear if the body found earlier that day was her missing daughter Jessica, which is so hard because obviously you want your kid to be alive. But it's also hard because we have cases where the body's never found. I mean, it's a loose, loose situation. Always. No matter what.

It just sucks. Police let her know that they actually won't be able to make the dental record match until the next morning. So as you can imagine, no one is sleeping that night. Even Nick McKenry, Jessica's younger brother, who was only 13 at the time, knew something was really, really wrong. The next morning, June 12, 1991, literally the day after Jessica disappeared. Tammy Dunn gets the news that no mother should ever have to hear. Her daughter's body had been found. Police sit Jessica's mother down in person and inform her of the discovery and also the

condition the body had been found. So not only do you have to hear, your daughter has been found. You have to hear that your daughter was found burning on a hill. They gave Tammy the necklace that Jessica had been wearing which just confirmed to her that it wasn't a mistake. It must really have been Jessica and in that moment 13-year-old Nick in the other room heard his mother scream and he too knew that everything about his life had just changed instantly. It's so so sad. Shortly after the murder, the autopsy is performed, which reveals that Jessica died from, quote, exfixiation due to strangulation, blunt force trauma, and she had been sexually assaulted.

And according to sfgate.com, they had DNA, semen, which would be hard to argue if police were ever able to test it. There was an outrage felt across the department as more details come out. This crime hit everyone hard, including the police officers, many of whom had kids about that age. They were determined to catch whoever had done this. But what happened to Jessica? How does a girl go missing while walking down the road in broad daylight?

Investigators process the crime scene off Tesla Road, but they don't find anything definitive that they think is linked to the crime. For instance, there are crime scene photos of beer bottles and trash, but those could have easily been there from other people at other times. The police also take a helicopter to do an aerial search and investigation of the area, taking video, but they find nothing of significance in the area. Investigators did make some deductions, however. They believe, based on the evidence,

that there was premeditation and that the killer had carefully planned his actions. Which is interesting because what are the chances that she doesn't have the keys that day? And that she's walking where she wouldn't normally be walked exactly. It appeared that the killer had come to the crime scene equipped because it seems like he planned ahead in terms of how to enter the private property where Jessica's burned body was found. Police found a heavy duty lock for the gate to the private property that had been cut off,

which is how the killer gained access to the area where Jessica's smoldering body was found. Quote, he would have had to use bolt cutters. It was a very, very heavy and very thick lock designed to keep people from getting onto the property. This meant that the killer came prepared. The police also are now interviewing a large number of people, including Jessica's friends

and her classmates at Granada High School. This is how the police are able to come up with the timeline we talked about earlier, where Jessica was in the hours leading up to her death and also the map of her whereabouts. So according to police, Granada High School is located at 400 Wall Street in Livermore. Jessica was last seen by her classmate walking on college

avenue in Livermore. The closest point of college avenue to Grenada High School is just one mile away. So this tells us that Jessica has stayed in the area this whole day. Jessica's body was found off of a remote part of Tesla Avenue just outside Livermore. If you take college Avenue, the road Jessica was last seen on and travel about 1.3 miles eastbound, it dead ends at the intersection with Tesla Avenue, the road Jessica's body would be found off of.

That being said, this is likely the route the killer took. It seems like he somehow kidnapped her just five minutes after her classmates saw her out of the window. So she literally walks by her classmates house five minutes later. Someone drives up and kidnaps her off of the side of the road in broad daylight. It just seems so odd. Right. You can take Tesla Road pretty far out of civilization. And if you head southeast out of Livermore, it takes you past wineries, and the area gets more rural. In looking at Google Maps, Street View images,

and comparing those with images from the crime scene, I'm fairly certain Jessica's murder took place where Tesla Road intersects a private dirt road called Coleman Road. And this spot on Tesla and Coleman is about 11.6 miles 23 minutes by car from Granada High School. So if you put two and two together, that's 23 minutes in the car with a kidnapper, an attacker, and a murderer. 23 minutes too long for an innocent little girl.

It's also pretty quick. If you're good, I'm saying I feel like they kidnapped her. They sexually assaulted her drove 23 minutes first. They killed her and then they found the body. Right. Three, I would like that. It's insane. And what for?

Like I know, I know we see this over and over again. And it'll never make sense. And what for? Like I know, I know we see this over and over again, and it'll never make sense. But when it came down to suspects, police immediately became suspicious of the two men who initially found Jessica's body. Investigators had talked to other people traveling Tesla road that day,

and no one else noticed the smoke. So how did these truckers notice the smoke? According to Paul Azon's show, it led police to carefully examine everything those two men had said and done that day. Police believed the two were so calm and matter of fact one questioned that it was like it had been rehearsed.

Police began to wonder if the two good Samaritans actually knew more than they were letting on. Bringing the men in, the police are trying to pinpoint their exact movements and exactly where and when they first saw the smoke. They want to recreate how long it took for the two men to get out of their truck and go on foot up to where they saw the body. They also drive the men back to the scene and take them through their story step by step. Likely, they do this one at a time. It was the fact that one man said there were flames when they got to the body fact that one man said there were flames

when they got to the body and the other man said there were no flames at all that didn't help the trucker's story. Police right, police recreated a fire to see how long the smoke was visible for from the road and it was roughly two minutes. This made detectives weary that the men would see the smoke during that two-minute window get out and head up without running into the actual killer. Oh yeah, this is all bull crap.

Police also searched both men's homes and found a pair of bull cutters in one of the garages. They forensically tested the cutters and determined that they weren't the ones used on the gate. This was a major blow for them because they were almost certain that they had the right suspects in the case. But because DNA testing for the semen wasn't possible yet, and there had been no other forensic evidence found, police could not determine with certainty that it was the truckers. And time began to go on without solid answers. The men remain suspects as friends and family grieved Jessica's death and her memory lived on. Eventually, the case grew cold. Jessica's family did what they

could to keep it in focus, handing out flyers and fighting for justice. Years passed. It seemed like everything police found was a dead end. The police truly just did not have enough until 1997, more than six years after the murder. When experts discovered they now have a way to test the DNA in Jessica's case. Okay, I know you're about to tell me, but what's different that they can test now that they couldn't test before. They literally didn't have the technology to test that kind of DNA back then, but six years have passed and in those six years, they've created the technology to test it. Got it. So, of course, police run to the lab with the trucker's DNA in hand. I mean, these were suspects number one.

They are ready to close this case, ready to finally have the last piece to the puzzle. But the results came back and showed that neither of the have the last piece to the puzzle. But the results came back and showed that neither of the two men were matched to the semen found. Oh, that seems insane because I don't believe their story. Right. But if it's true, then sorry. After years of suspicion, the two truckers are officially cleared of any wrongdoing in the case. And once again, the case goes cold. So I think police are like, absolutely neither of these men did it

because the semen found, was found in Jessica's body. And the only DNA evidence they have is semen. Semen, and there's nothing else. No, and if it was her sexual assault, then that is most likely the killer's DNA. I mean, a hundred percent the killer's DNA. I mean, 100% the killer's DNA. Seven more years would pass in the case without any movement.

Despite the fact that they can now test the DNA, unless they have someone to test it against, it's a lost cause. Finally, in 2004, two detectives decide to reopen Jessica's cold case. It's now, like I said, 2004, and investigators are able to submit DNA from the case to the Department of Justice's CODIS system. Now CODIS equals combined DNA index system, and truly was a game changer in criminal justice history. As we know, Kodus was a database where everyone from all around could submit DNA and it could be ran against everyone else who had submitted other DNA, usually criminals. Waiting for Kodus results, cold case detectives were also struck by the cruelty and devastation

of Jessica's murder. Seems like everyone who got involved in this case could barely stomach it. From Paulison's show, the police think about the crime psychologically and begin to believe it was, quote, someone who enjoyed causing pain. They could do it again and had probably done it again. Detectives scoured police reports for similar types of crimes in the area and one caught their attention. They found a report where a year before Jessica's murder, a girl had been attacked while she was walking towards Grenada High School. This girl reported that a man pulled up in a truck and got out and asked her for directions.

Next thing she knew, he grabbed her from behind. This 15-year-old girl fought for her life she kicked, screamed, and knew she was going to die if she went inside of his truck. And somehow this high school sophomore managed to escape and call the police. 18 year old Gregory Sado was arrested and convicted for the attempted kidnapping of this other girl. 18. He was 18 trying to kidnap a 15 year old. And this is a year after Jessica had been killed? This is a year before she gets killed. So a year before Jessica gets killed,

18 year old Gregory tries to kidnap a 15 year old girl, walking to Grenada, high school. So it would make him 19 years old. It would, yeah, yeah, would have made him 19 years old. He was arrested and convicted. Six months later, he was released from prison. Therefore, he was a free man just weeks before Jessica was abducted. Police were convinced he was Jessica's murderer, as so many things between the two cases were so similar and everything

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that Jessica lived on just around the corner from her. The detectives now investigate further and discover that Sado had moved to Springfield, Ohio. With help of local police in Ohio, the cold case team investigating Jessica's murder receives a DNA sample from Sado to compare to the DNA found in Jessica's case. They are thinking no doubt he's their guy. After waiting two to three weeks for the test to come back, Sado's DNA does not match Jessica's killer's DNA. The police are, quote, floored and deflated.

Okay. How many times does it seem like this is it? We've got the person and it just doesn't end up being them. The cold case team described themselves as relentless from this point on. The California Governor's Office even announced a $50,000 reward for information in the case. Everyone wanted to close Jessica's case. And the effort paid off, like so many

other cases before, it was DNA that would finally crack Jessica's cold case. In October or November of 2006, 17 years later, Jessica's cold case team gets the news that the Department of Justice has finally gotten a hit through COodus to the DNA from Jessica's case. It comes back to an individual named Derek Moncada with no connection to Jessica. He hadn't been on the police's long list of suspects back when the crime happened. But again, Jessica's family had always said it had had to be a

stranger who had done this because no one who knew Jessica would have ever done this to her. Derek Moncada had a lengthy criminal history involving violence to women and was ultimately serving time in prison for this when law enforcement received a DNA match to him 17 years after the crime. 17 years, that is such a long time. Derek D. Moncada had gone to various high schools, including Livermore High School, Grenada High, where Jessica went, and three other schools, but he never graduated or earned a GED degree, essentially becoming a high school dropout. Moncada was 19 years

old when Jessica was murdered. And despite the fact that they could have, he and Jessica did not overlap at Granada High School considering the fact he dropped out. At the time of Jessica's murder, Moncada lived in Livermore and was working at a gas station in San Ramon, California. Despite his young age, Moncada had already amassed quite a rap sheet. He was and would be convicted for various offenses involving weapons, drugs, and resisting arrest and for violence against women. He was and would be convicted for various offenses involving weapons, drugs, and resisting arrest and for violence against women. He would serve time at Selena's Valley State Prison, California State Prison, and Kern Valley State Prison. One of these violent offenses that happened after Jessica's murder was almost like an enraged crime spree. It started back in 2003 when

Moncada drove to his girlfriend's home and held a gun to her face. Fears firing at near her head. He then left and drove to Sacramento to beat up his ex-girlfriend. When cops arrived, he led them on a high-speed chase in her stolen car. It's wrong with this guy. At this point in his life, Moncada was a father of three. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for this whole ordeal, which is where police would eventually find him in 2007 when his DNA matched the semen found in Jessica's case, which is even crazier because he's pretty close to getting out. Right. Mm-hmm. In early March 2007, knowing their suspect is already in prison, police set out to try and get a statement

from Moncada about the case. About a week before the prison interview with Moncada, police get a fresh DNA sample from him just to confirm the results they already have, and it was, it was his DNA. Police interview Moncada in prison where he's being held at Kern Valley State Prison. The interview started cordially, according to the Los Angeles Times, but when police asked about Jessica, everything changed. When asked specifically about Jessica McHenry, he denied involvement and asked to speak to an attorney terminating the interview. Because he knew that he was going to get out in a couple in a few years.

Yeah, he was like, oh, I'll talk to you about all these crimes I'm already in here for, but wait, why are you bringing Jessica up? Exactly. Because he knows he's going to get put in a couple in a few years. Yeah, he was like, oh, I'll talk to you about all these crimes I'm already in here for, but wait, why are you bringing Jessica? Exactly. Because he knows he's going to get put away for life. He claimed he didn't know Jessica. He didn't recognize her, but police couldn't help that notice that Moncada wouldn't stop staring at the photo of her they had placed on the table. After the interview concludes, detectives notify Tammy Dunn that they had a match to the

DNA in Jessica's case. Jessica's mother is relieved to know that Jessica's killer is already in prison, but is anxious about getting her day in court with him. Her daughter deserves justice. It's important that Moncada be held responsible for Jessica's murder. On March 13th, 2007, the next day, around 12.45 am. Now 35-year-old Derek Moncata is found dead inside of his gym cell. He had hung himself leaving behind a suicide note. It said, first and foremost, I would like to sincerely apologize to all of my family members who I have shamed.

This incident, being my death, is not admitting guilt, but rather a way to prevent any further humiliation to the Mancada name. I have disgraced my family for which I cannot accept. That's... That annoys me. That whole thing annoys me. Me too. He signed it death before dishonor.

Derek D. Moncata. What a disgusting, disturbing and dishonor old man. Just his ego was so big, he was so worried about people finding out he sexually assaulted and killed a little girl. Yeah. That's disgusting. And mine I say, Derek, if you can somehow hear this, just know, you have shamed your family. Your death was an admission of guilt in this case, and

you did further humiliate the Mancada name and are still doing it to this day. So maybe you should have just taken accountability for your crimes when you had the chance. 100% Some of Jessica's family are angered that her murderer took the easy way out and that questions would never be answered. Like why? However, it would also avoid a very painful trial for that. As quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald, Nick said, the night that I found out he killed himself is the first night I fell asleep

without thinking about something in 16 years. Yeah, because as well, I mean, it's not that just, I mean, they had, they had DNA, they had evidence, right? So they knew he did it. So even though he hung himself, I mean, they couldn't go to court and everything, but they had that DNA. And I think that was a huge, I would assume it's a huge shy relief. Oh, 100% to an extent, obviously. Nick adds to the statement that his biggest fear was that his sister's killer might still be out hurting others. Yes. To the fact that he had taken his life. Although, yeah, although hurtful did help them sleep at night. After this, police held a press conference announcing

that they finally found Jessica's killer, and when addressing the suicide, noted, quote, action speak louder than words. They also mentioned that there was another case from around the same time where an unidentified female was beaten and set on fire. They will never know if it was Derek, but he was a very violent person and they had profiled that he would reoffend. Many of Jessica's family members attended that press conference. This included Jessica's mom, her grandparents, her brother Nick McKenry, who was now 28

in 2007, and her two younger siblings now 18 and 19 in 2007, along with other friends and supporters. According to the Sydney Morning Haerald, quote, they cried and embraced investigators who attract the case for nearly two decades. Every year since 1991, Jessica's family has gathered in June to mourn her loss. Beginning in 2007, with the killer being identified, the family made plans for June 9, 2007 to publicly have a celebration of her life. They were looking for her friends and teachers to join them. Jessica McKenry was buried at St. Michael's cemetery in Livermore, Almeida County, California. On the day of the press conference, Jessica's family received the

extremely disturbing news that Moncada, her killer, had been buried in the same cemetery as Jessica. What are the chances of that? Only 170 yards away. When Jessica's family learned of this outrage, they asked Oakland to move Hongkada out of the cemetery. Jessica's family has found it more difficult to visit her grave because of this. Can I even be done? Well Tammy Dunn has filed numerous appeals with Oakland asking that his grave be removed.

And it can be done. Usually, if a killer would never be buried, but according to Oakland, when they went to bury him, his family didn't say that the reason he had taken his own life was because one of his victims had been tied to him. So they didn't know. They had no idea. So when Tammy reached out, they said, oh, we wouldn't have buried him so they didn't know. They had no idea. So when Tammy reached out,

they said, oh, we wouldn't have buried him there if we had known, but they claimed that without permission from his family, they are unable to move his grave. They claim they have reached out, but they can't get a hold of family. To this day, Tammy has tried over and over again. So I think we as the public could also help by drawing attention to this case and hopefully making it possible for Tammy to be able to get his grave moved to a death. Because they just don't want to. No, I don't know.

I don't know what's going on. That's what's going on. But also like, he murdered this girl. He shouldn't get to be buried near her. I looked to see if there was a petition or something we could do as murder with my husband listeners to try and get this moved, but there was nothing I could find. So I think just bringing attention to the case might help.

Nick, her brother struggles to this day with what happened to Jessica. He says she was his best friend and knew, no one who knew Jessica would have done this to her. She was too sweet and kind. Jessica McHenry is missed dearly. And that is her story. Once again, like every other week, I, people are just taken away and killed for just a zero reason. Zero reason. And then zero good reason, I think, is maybe what should be said. And the fact that this guy just went on to live life kept abusing women kept breaking the law only to then go out with his head held high yeah it's just disgusting it's disgusting because what about Jessica what about Jessica she was

a real person she was kind she had a bright future ahead of her, and she didn't get that chance because of him. So today we will think of Jessica, we will think of her family, and we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers. We will see you guys next week with another episode. I love it. And I hate it. Goodbye. you