In twenty seventeen, Gone Cold, Texas True crime began with the story of
Carla Walker, and a community came together and demanded justice. Almost forty seven
years after her murder, Carla's case is solved. Since then, Gone Cold
has told the stories of hundreds of other cold cases, concentrating on lesser known
cases that the media has long left behind. Cases like the brazen two thousand
murder of Les Barrazza, who was shot to death in what appears to be
a targeted killing while setting up a garage cell, and the mysterious nineteen eighty
nine disappearance of thirteen year old Elisa Robertson, who disappeared while she was walking
a few blocks from home to meet a friend. On Gone Cold, you'll
also occasionally hear high profile cases, such as a comprehensive series on the nineteen
ninety six abduction and murder of nine year old Amber Hagerman The Little Girl Behind
the Amber. Alert. You're about to hear a clip from Gone Cold series
on nineteen year old Brittany McLoone. As you're listening, join Gone Cold's mission
to bring these forgotten cases back into the public's awareness by subscribing to Gone Cold
podcast Texas True Crime wherever you listen to podcasts, Gone Cold isn't simply a
murder podcast, It's a pursuit for justice. On Friday May fourth, two
thousand and seven, Brittany mcloone's boyfriend, Jeff Stagner, and his stepfather left
their home on the two hundred block of Country Road forty eight thirty seven to
travel to the Cleeburn area to pick up Jeff's maternal grandmother. The time was
just after eight thirty am. Cleeburn is located about thirty two miles due south
of Fort Worth. One hundred and forty five mile drive there from the Stagner
home in Wood County takes about two hours and forty minutes in non rush hour
traffic. Jeff's mother was at work at the local Alco store, and his
brother and sister in school. Brittany, who had just finished her shift early
that morning, went straight to Jeff's after and stayed there while everyone was gone
getting some rest. Early that afternoon, Jeff Stagner phoned Patricia, Britney's mother
from his cell phone and asked if Brittany was home. Brittany was not home,
and since she had told her mother that she'd probably go straight to Jeff's
after work. Patricia figured her daughter had gone to sleep while Jeff and his
parents were away. She'd be heading home soon enough, Patricia thought. Almost
an hour later, however, at about two twenty pm, Brittany still hadn't
made it home. Patricia called Britney's cell phone. It went straight to voicemail.
Patricia was already passively worried, but at this point a feeling of dread
was bubbling to the surface. It wasn't like Brittany to leave her mother hanging
as far as her whereabouts or movements were concerned, and anyway, the nineteen
year old's cell phone was, as her mother put it, like an extension
of her arm. She always had it nearby and always answered it never went
straight to voicemail. Brittany going to her boyfriend's right after work, too,
factored into Patricia's worry. She knew that was her daughter's plans that day,
but she hadn't known her daughter to do that before. Generally, as her
regular routine, Brittany came home, took a shower, and slept for a
bit before going to Jeff's. His calls to Brittany As he, his dad
and grandmother made their way back to Wood County, he later said had also
gone straight to voicemail. Patricia called Jeff back and asked him if he'd found
Britney yet, and as they pulled up at the Stagner home, Jeff replied
that he had. She was at his house sleeping, he presumed, because
as they returned home at about three pm, Britney's truck was still in the
driveway. When Patricia asked him why Brittany didn't answer her call, Jeff told
her that she must be sleeping hard and must not have heard the ring.
That certainly did not explain why Patricia's calls went straight to voicemail, But knowing
that her daughter worked hard and a lot, that answer satisfied Patricia. She
asked Jeff that he'd tell Brittany she loved her and to give her a call
when she woke up. Jeff told Patricia he would, and as he ended
the call with his girlfriend's mother, Jeff walked into his room where he thought
Brittany was sleeping. However, she was not. When he entered, Brittany
was there, but she was battered and bloodied. She'd been badly beaten,
brutally murdered, Britney's face and head bludgeoned with an object. The Wood County
Sheriff's office was certainly used to crime, but not a crime like the savage
attack against nineteen year old Britney McGlone. They had no witnesses, and one
state Attorney General's Office investigator told the family that it was as if the perpetrator
had entered the home, possibly sexually assaulted and killed Brittany while covered in plastic
wrap, an analogy meaning that he left no physical evidence. However, years
later, on a social media thread of all places, Wood County Sheriff Tom
Castleu, who was not sheriff at the time of Britney's murder, admitted that
officers who were unfamiliar with proper investigative techniques had contaminated the crime scene. Wood
County Sheriff's Office deputies too, let the family back into the house the crime
scene the same evening. Britney was found slain there just hours later. This
almost certainly resulted in further contamination. Even still, an affidaphit years later states
that numerous items of evidence were collected there. A later Wood County Sheriff revealed
that there were multiple sources of DNA bagged for evidence items taken from Jeff's bedroom
in areas such as the bed, the wall, the carpet, and from
clothing. Britney's boyfriend, Jeff was scrutinized for obvious reasons. He was the
last known person to see Britney alive, he found her body, and the
two had recently gotten back together after a pretty intense breakup. Jeff's DNA was
all over the scene. Of course, it was his room, so it
meant little in terms of evidence that he was involved in Britney's murder in any
way. The families and likely Wood County Sheriff's Office investigator's first reaction was that
Jeff was involved in Britney's death when Sheriff's deputies told Patricia that Brittany was deceased.
In fact, it was her first reaction, But there was someone connected
to Jeff or Jeff's sister, more specifically, who eventually became the Wood County
Sheriff's Office prime suspect. In fact, this person, chatter O Carr,
had become a person of interest within an hour of the discovery of Britney's body.
It wasn't simply because the man was visibly nervous when Deputy Mark Miller spoke
with him at the scene that made him look suspicious. Rather, it was
the combination of that, a criminal record that included violent offenses that mirrored Britney's
slang lies he told regarding his alibi, and strong, circumstantial and physical evidence
that pointed to him collected not long after the heinous crime was committed.