WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:11.000 In October of nineteen ninety four, a young woman named 2 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:15.880 Emilia Reeves vanished from her home in Arlington, Texas. At first, 3 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:19.559 her disappearance looked like another troubled marriage coming apart, with 4 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:23.280 a young woman running off with another lover. That is 5 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:27.600 until detectives learned that two of her husband's previous wives 6 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:31.839 were already dead. What began as a missing person's case 7 00:00:31.879 --> 00:00:35.960 would ultimately unravel a decades long trail of violence that 8 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:40.719 had gone unquestioned for years. This is the story of 9 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:44.359 how good police work makes all the difference. This is 10 00:00:44.359 --> 00:00:46.840 the story of Jack Reeves. 11 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:51.560 My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked 12 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:55.520 and Grim, a true crime podcasting. 13 00:00:56.159 --> 00:01:04.680 The following podcast intended moan your audience, listeners. 14 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.840 Guess what I recommended this case? 15 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:26.480 You did? 16 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:27.120 I did? 17 00:01:27.239 --> 00:01:28.400 You did two? 18 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:35.079 And are the three cases I recommended were like spousal issues? 19 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:37.760 Are you trying to say something? 20 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:42.040 No, they attract me for some reason, just because not 21 00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:44.879 that I think they're relatable, but they're relatable in a sense, 22 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:49.120 right because it just people are generate lots of times 23 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:51.519 in relationships and you could. 24 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:52.560 Put yourself in that position. 25 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:55.480 Yeah, So I don't know, I've always been a little 26 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:59.000 bit attracted to spousal dispute ones, I guess, which is 27 00:01:59.079 --> 00:01:59.640 kind of weird. 28 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:02.280 What are you saying here exactly? 29 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:03.120 I don't know. 30 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:05.359 You don't know, I don't know. Okay, well, I'm just 31 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:06.879 gonna move on. 32 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:10.680 I guess I do find them actually fascinating, because I 33 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:14.560 do find that they would I'm surprised they happen. 34 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:18.159 Okay, you know what, Actually I kind of think that 35 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:21.400 you and I have a similar mindset, but for different 36 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:26.039 things that we prefer. I like mystery ones because I 37 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:28.639 feel like I could put myself in that position and 38 00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:30.879 try and like, well, what happened? I really want to 39 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:33.560 think about it, right m and then so it's almost 40 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:36.240 like you're kind of doing the same thing. You're putting 41 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:38.360 yourself in the shoes, like, well, how could that happen? 42 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:41.479 What if that happened to me? Like that perspective, So 43 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:44.639 it's almost like we're taking on that point of view 44 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:49.080 ourselves in our own preferred Niche does that make sense? 45 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:51.759 Or Am I going for a stretch here? No? 46 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:55.599 I mean just no, maybe not a stretch, but in 47 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:58.680 the sense I'm like the other ones I also sometimes 48 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:01.520 get drawn to are the ones like cannibalism. 49 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:02.680 That's true. 50 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:04.680 That's kind of messed up when you think about that. 51 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:07.479 At one point, when the podcast was only in like 52 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:09.560 a year or two old, we were kind of tallying 53 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:12.680 who had done more cannibalism cases because you were doing 54 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:14.400 more of the episodes too. It was kind of fifty 55 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:14.759 to fifty. 56 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:15.199 Yeah. 57 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:17.639 But nowadays, if we were to tally, I've certainly done 58 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:21.000 with more. Well yeah, almost unfair, And I'll be honest, 59 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:23.080 I kind of still think about that when I run 60 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:24.560 across the cannibalism. 61 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:25.879 One, like Nichole should be doing this. 62 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:27.919 Yeah, and like Nicole needs to be doing this one, 63 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:29.840 or I don't want to do that one because I 64 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:32.240 don't want to add another cannibalism one to my tally, 65 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.639 you know. Yeah, But it's different now it's oh, I 66 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:38.479 still do them, but that initial thought is still there. 67 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:42.400 Yeah. Well, I've been indulging in some documentaries lately, and 68 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:46.039 there's some that have been like holy shit, and so 69 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:48.479 I just felt the need to pass them along to Ben. 70 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:50.879 Has that been the title holy shit? Or that's your 71 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:54.000 reaction or is that the reviews or what or all 72 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:54.439 the above? 73 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:56.759 My reaction? 74 00:03:57.159 --> 00:04:00.400 Okay, Yeah, So It's not called holy shit on net flicks. 75 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:03.960 You know though, that would probably grab my attad jute probably. 76 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.199 Oh holy shit. Okay, let's watch it. Anyways, I think 77 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:09.879 we're yabbering way too much for this story. It's a Friday, 78 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:11.919 and if you're listening on the weekend or listening on 79 00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:14.439 another day in the future, mean what, Let's just get 80 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:16.639 to the story and enjoy our day. How's that sound. 81 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:17.439 Let's do it? 82 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:21.160 I like it. When police began asking the serious questions 83 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:25.639 regarding Jack Reeves, too much time had already passed. You see. 84 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:29.279 Years earlier, a woman who was his wife had been 85 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:33.120 found dead in her own bedroom. A shotgun was resting 86 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:36.680 between her legs, with a suicide story that sounded unsettling 87 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:41.079 but complete enough to accept. Another wife would later die 88 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:45.040 in open water on a quiet Texas lake, with no witnesses, 89 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.360 no autopsy to challenge the explanation that was offered either. 90 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:53.360 In both of these cases, the conclusion came rather quickly. 91 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:56.839 Officials recorded what they saw, and they trusted what they 92 00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:01.920 were told, and with that they closed the file. Nothing 93 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:05.519 about Jack Reeves triggered any alarm at that moment. He 94 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:08.800 didn't panic, he didn't run. He didn't even contradict himself. 95 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:14.759 He presented himself as a man repeatedly touched by misfortune. Now, 96 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:19.480 each incident seemed isolated on their own, separated by years, locations, 97 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.600 and circumstances. That made it easy to treat them as 98 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:26.360 unrelated tragedies rather than a part of a larger story 99 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:30.959 strung together. And so that's how they were handled. The 100 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:34.759 shooting was a suicide, the drowning became labeled as an accident. 101 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:39.120 The paperwork was completed, and life well, life moved on. 102 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:44.399 Whatever doubt existed stayed rather informal and whispered by family members. 103 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:47.680 It was dismissed by lack of evidence and just buried 104 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:52.560 with time. It wasn't until October nineteen ninety four, when 105 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:57.199 a twenty six year old woman named Emilita Villa failed 106 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:02.160 to answer her phone. That was when those early deaths 107 00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:06.120 were forced back into the light. Now, her disappearance didn't 108 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:10.759 immediately register as a homicide. It looked like another troubled marriage, 109 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:14.079 another adult who might have chosen to leave, for example. 110 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:18.560 But as detectives began retracing Jack Reeve's past, his marriages, 111 00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:24.560 his movements, his explanations, a pattern emerged that hadn't been 112 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:28.600 visible before, not because it was hidden per se, but 113 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:31.160 because no one had ever laid it out all at once. 114 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:37.319 From there, the story of coincidental tragedy soon became the 115 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:42.839 story of investigators reopening deaths that they believed they understood 116 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:47.240 in order to take a closer look, and how years 117 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:52.319 of accepted answers unraveled when examined together, revealing the truth 118 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:59.759 that no one could explain with coincidence anymore. On the 119 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:04.600 morning of October twelfth, nineteen ninety four, Arlington police received 120 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:07.600 a call from a worried friend. She said she hadn't 121 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:12.319 heard from Emilita Reeves since the night before. Emilita, she explained, 122 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:16.079 always returned pages. Remember this is the nineties, so she 123 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:19.560 had a pager and she always answered her phone. Going 124 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:24.120 silent was not like her. Officers were soon dispatched to 125 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:26.800 the Reeves home in Arlington, Texas for a welfare check 126 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:29.879 and to make sure that everything was okay. When they 127 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:33.319 arrived and knocked on the door, there was no answer. 128 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:40.360 They waited and knocked again, but still nothing. As they 129 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:43.120 walked the perimeter of the house, shining their flashlights around 130 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:46.000 and looking in through windows, that's when they noticed movement 131 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:48.920 inside a garage. It was a man who was kneeling 132 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:52.360 down near vehicle. Officers called out, mentioning that they had 133 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:54.600 seen him, and eventually he did come to the front 134 00:07:54.600 --> 00:07:59.399 door and identified himself as Jack Reeves. The officer explained 135 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:01.199 what they were there for, you know, the welfare check 136 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:05.680 for Emalda Reeves, which was Jack's wife. Now, Jack casually 137 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.800 told police his wife wasn't home. He said she'd likely 138 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:11.360 gone out and would return in a day or two. 139 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:15.240 According to him, Emlita sometimes disappeared without warning, and so 140 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:17.240 he didn't seem alarm with the situation at all. He 141 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:21.079 didn't even ask officers to help find her. Now, at 142 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:24.839 that moment, nothing about the situation clearly pointed to a crime. 143 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:29.160 You see, Jack Reeves was also pretty trustworthy in the 144 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:32.080 eyes of police. He was a fifty four year old 145 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:36.919 retired US Army Master sergeant. That's not an excuse, mind you, 146 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.600 but it offered some level of credibility to his name. 147 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:44.039 For sure. Jack's life living in a quiet suburb of 148 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:48.080 this neighborhood, by all accounts, seemed pretty normal and there 149 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:51.919 was nothing really to question. Now, his wife, Emalita was 150 00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:54.600 twenty six years old, and she was an immigrant from 151 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:58.639 the Philippines who had married him through a mail order 152 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:03.360 bride's service. They also had a young son together as well. 153 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:07.639 Despite his status and credibility, on paper, the situation looked 154 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:11.600 more like a troubled marriage, not an emergency. So police 155 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:15.919 documented the encounter and they left, but Emelita did not 156 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:18.679 come home that night or the next night either, for 157 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:23.399 that matter. When detectives followed up, however, she still wasn't home, 158 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:27.159 and Jack repeated the same explanation to them. This time, 159 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:29.720 he even suggested that Emelda may have run off with 160 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:34.039 someone else. He mentioned that she had friends and recently 161 00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:39.559 other lovers. He spoke calmly and appeared cooperative. Investigators once 162 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:42.639 again had little reason to doubt him. But it wasn't 163 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:47.159 until police began digging a little deeper, not into Emlita's life, 164 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:52.120 but into Jack's that this case began to change. Because 165 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:54.360 this wasn't the first time a woman married to Jack 166 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:59.080 Reeves had vanished or died under unusual circumstances. It just 167 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:03.159 took sixteen years and this one missing person's report for 168 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:07.080 anyone to look close enough to notice what's the saying? 169 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:08.200 Three as a crowd. 170 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:09.759 So I feel like. 171 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:13.519 Looking back upon this, and you know, at one point 172 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.840 and you've seen that he had another you know, wife 173 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:20.120 missing or murdered or dead or whatever, it wouldn't have 174 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:21.799 been a big deal. But then all of a sudden, 175 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:24.759 it's a third one. It's like that's I don't know, 176 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:26.399 a little bit more of a red flag. I think. 177 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:28.720 Oh, and I don't know if this is like a 178 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:31.200 real like saying per se or anything, but I've got 179 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.679 something that I kind of go by, like one is 180 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:37.000 an accident, two is a coincidence. Three is a pattern. 181 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.000 And at this point you're on three and now you 182 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:41.440 have a pattern. 183 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:45.000 Mm hmm. It's kind of stupid to me that he 184 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.200 would do a third really, because I mean I would 185 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:51.639 I would never murder anyone. I'm just gonna put that 186 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:54.240 out there, but I would hope that I was. I 187 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:55.399 wouldn't be that dumb. 188 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:58.360 Well, I mean, one is dumb, two is dumb, Three 189 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:00.679 is dumb. But yeah, he's getting dumb as he goes, 190 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:01.399 that's for sure. 191 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:03.919 Like the more it be caught, it's obvious. 192 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:08.000 Yeah, you're creating that pattern. You're creating a sense of hey, 193 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:11.480 look at me, You're becoming a giant red flag and 194 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:14.519 eventually someone's gonna look close enough to analyze and figure 195 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:16.960 out what the fuck you're doing. And I mean, that's 196 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:19.840 that's basically the case of this story. That's how it operates. 197 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:22.960 But I mean, honestly, though, with police looking back on 198 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:25.000 his history, though, I think it's time like we should 199 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:25.720 probably do the same. 200 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:26.159 Yeah. 201 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:30.080 So, Jack Wayne Reeves was born on June twentieth, nineteen forty, 202 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:34.519 in Wichita Falls, Texas. The city sat near Shepherd Air 203 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:37.679 Force Base and was shaped largely by a military culture, 204 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:41.720 also with steady blue collar work and post war patriotism. 205 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:45.440 Jack grew up in a working class household during the 206 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.279 nineteen forties and the nineteen fifties, which is a period 207 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:52.679 defined by very rigid social expectations and also at the 208 00:11:52.679 --> 00:11:56.039 time clear gender roles, which are not so much prevalent 209 00:11:56.039 --> 00:12:00.399 today but then they certainly were now. Public records from 210 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:03.960 Jack's early life are rather limited, but there's no indication 211 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:06.879 of any sort of criminal behavior or serious trouble during 212 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:11.240 his childhood or even his adolescents. He attended local schools. 213 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.879 He graduated from high school in which Ta Falls. Friends 214 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:18.399 and family later described him as quiet, disciplined and eager 215 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:22.200 to leave town. Now, at seventeen years old, Jack found 216 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:25.360 himself enlisting in the United States Army, which was a 217 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.440 common path for a lot of young men in this community. 218 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:32.960 It held patriotism, it offered structure, income, and of course, 219 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:37.600 the promise of travel beyond North Texas. As a result, 220 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:41.480 the military would become the central organizing force of his 221 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:46.159 adult life. Just a year later, in nineteen fifty eight, 222 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:49.519 Jack married for the very first time. He at the 223 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:52.799 time was eighteen years old and his wife was just 224 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:56.200 fifteen years old. Now, I'm not going to really go 225 00:12:56.279 --> 00:13:00.519 on that age discrepancy. I mean, we're all relative aware, 226 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.639 different time, different time. I'm just gonna say that and 227 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:07.480 move on. The marriage itself, though, was very short lived 228 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:10.759 and rather unstable. In fact, it lasted only a few 229 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:14.679 months before unraveling entirely, and in nineteen sixty the union 230 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:19.919 was formally annulled. No children resulted of the relationship, and 231 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:23.000 it left very little trace beyond you know, court records. 232 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:26.639 At the time, it appeared to be a youthful misstep, impulsive, 233 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:30.919 poorly considered, and quickly undone too. I guess you could 234 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:33.559 even consider it a learning situation for a couple of 235 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:38.240 young adults. By nineteen sixty, Jack was focusing solely on 236 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.519 his military career and preparing to move forward. But that 237 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:44.320 too was short lived. Not the military career, mind you, 238 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:48.559 but the focusing on himself and his career aspect, because 239 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:53.159 in nineteen sixty one, Jack Reeves married Sharon Delanne Vaughan. 240 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.600 He was twenty one years old and still steadily building 241 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:00.159 that career in the US Army, and so Sharon and 242 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:03.360 she joined the relationship. She also stepped into a role 243 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:06.279 that was expected of many military spouses at the time, 244 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:10.799 following her husband from post to post, managing the home 245 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:14.960 and raising a family largely on her own during Jack's deployments. 246 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:19.519 Over the next several years, Jack advanced through the enlisted ranks. 247 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:23.759 The couple lived both in Texas and overseas, eventually being 248 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:28.799 stationed in Verona, Italy in the mid nineteen sixties. By then, 249 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:31.480 they had begun building what looked like, at least for 250 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:35.919 their lifestyle, a stable life. There was a long term marriage, children, 251 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:39.120 and a career that promised a lot of security. But 252 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:45.360 like before that stability would eventually end abruptly. Now, while 253 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:48.919 stationed in Italy, in the mid nineteen sixties. Still Mary 254 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:52.279 Jack Reeves was living with his second wife, Sharon, near 255 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:57.480 his military posting. In nineteen sixty seven, Jack shot and 256 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:02.000 killed a local Italian man outside their residence. Now Jack 257 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:04.200 told authorities that the man had been looking into the 258 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:08.240 bedroom window of their home and was watching Sharon. According 259 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.159 to Jack, he confronted the men during an encounter, and 260 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:14.039 he fired the pistol to try and scare him away, 261 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:18.519 but in this encounter he ended up hitting and shooting 262 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:21.600 the guy, killing him. He later claimed that the bullet 263 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.919 ricocheted off metal railing and struck the man in the chest. 264 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:30.919 Regardless of the situation, Italian authorities did not accept Jack's explanation. 265 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:35.919 The incident was investigated through both Italian civilian authorities and 266 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:41.480 the US military channels. Investigators ultimately determined that Jack's account 267 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:45.360 did not justify the use of deadly force, and he 268 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:49.519 was charged with manslaughter. He was convicted and sentenced to 269 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:55.159 time in an Italian prison. Now Jack ultimately served approximately 270 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:59.559 only four months before being released after his mother had 271 00:15:59.639 --> 00:16:03.879 organized a petition collecting hundreds of different signatures. The petition 272 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:07.039 was forwarded to the then President of the United States 273 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:11.840 Lyndon B. Johnson, who then intervened diplomatically on Jack's behalf. 274 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:16.759 Shortly afterwards, Jack was released and allowed to return to 275 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.679 the United States, and he was also allowed to continue 276 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:25.200 his army career. Legally, the case ended there. Jack resumed 277 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:29.480 his military career. He suffered no lasting professional consequences, and 278 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:33.480 continued to serve for nearly two more decades before retiring 279 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:37.600 as a master sergeant. At the time, the shooting was 280 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:42.440 simply treated as an isolated incident, an overseas altercation explained 281 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:48.960 by circumstances, youth, bad judgment, and somewhat accidental. Potentially, no 282 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:52.000 one connected that shooting to anything larger. It did not 283 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:56.320 follow Jack back to Texas in any meaningful way. There 284 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:00.639 were no public warnings, no internal alarms, no sense at 285 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:03.600 this moment, would you know, kind of make sense and 286 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.519 matter in hindsight. But it was in fact the first 287 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:10.519 time Jack Reeves had ever killed someone, and the first 288 00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:14.880 time a death associated with him had officially been explained away. 289 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:19.720 After returning from Italy, Jack and Sharon Reeves settled into 290 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:23.920 Copperas Cove, Texas, a small city outside Fort Hood built 291 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:28.119 largely around the rhythms of that same army life. Jack 292 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:32.000 continued his career in service. Sharon raised their two sons, 293 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:36.000 Ricky and Randall, and managed the household during his frequent absences. 294 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:41.000 To neighbors and acquaintances, the family just simply appeared ordinary, 295 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:45.000 just another family amongst the rest. Jack was a career soldier, 296 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:48.720 Sharon was a homemaker, active in church and social circles. 297 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:51.279 Nothing about the day to day life suggested that it 298 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:55.759 would end violently, but by the nineteen seventies the marriage 299 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:59.920 had begun to fracture. While Jack was stationed in South Korea, 300 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:04.680 Sharon started an affair with a retired army officer named 301 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:08.920 John Benneman. She spoke openly to friends about wanting to 302 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:12.480 leave her current marriage, and eventually, in February of nineteen 303 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:17.119 seventy eight, Sharon filed for divorce. Her plan, according to 304 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:19.960 the people who were closest to her, was to finalize 305 00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:24.359 the separation and go build a new life. Then Jack 306 00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:28.599 returned home from South Korea unexpectedly in early July of 307 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:34.279 nineteen seventy eight. The timing was actually immediately massive and 308 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:39.119 raised some severe tension in the home. Their son even 309 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:42.799 later recalled arguments in the weeks that followed, Sharon appeared 310 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:46.559 anxious and Jack well, he appeared angry, but the divorce 311 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:51.319 while it still proceeded. On July nineteenth, nineteen seventy eight, 312 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:55.599 the Coriel County Judge signed the divorce decree. Then the 313 00:18:55.640 --> 00:19:00.680 following day, July twentieth, nineteen seventy eight, Sharon Reeves was 314 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:04.359 shot in the chest with a shotgun inside the couple's home. 315 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:08.839 So according to Jack, what had happened was he was 316 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.480 in the kitchen when he heard a gun shot ring 317 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.279 through the house. One of their sons was outside, but 318 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:17.599 the other wasn't home. Jack told police he ran straight 319 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:20.799 into the bedroom and found Sharon on the bed, wounded 320 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:24.119 from the shot to the chest, but still alive, with 321 00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:28.960 the shotgun laying between her legs. When the Coppera's Cove 322 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:32.880 police arrived, they found Sharon grievely injured in the home. 323 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:37.119 Officer Johnny Smith later recalled that he checked her pulse 324 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:41.240 and she grabbed his wrist in a brief moment right 325 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:47.480 before she died. Jack told the officers Sharon killed herself. 326 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:50.960 He even pointed to a cut on her toe, suggesting 327 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:54.480 that she had pulled the trigger with her toe. He 328 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:56.480 handed police a note, he said he found in a 329 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:00.000 China cabinet, a message Sharon had written, he claimed, explain 330 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:02.599 that you know, she was torn between two men and 331 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:03.680 couldn't go on. 332 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.839 Pretty messed up time, though, definitely for something like that 333 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:08.680 to happen. 334 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:10.920 The day after divorce, yeah. 335 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:13.400 When really that should kind of almost be like a 336 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:14.920 new beginning of sorts. 337 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:18.400 Right exactly. There was no autopsy, though that was ordered, 338 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:20.920 as the local Justice of Peace ruled that the death 339 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:24.599 was in fact a suicide. The explanation that Sharon had 340 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:27.160 positioned the shotgun and pulled the trigger with her toe 341 00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:30.920 was just accepted, and the note was treated as confirmation. 342 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:34.880 The scene was photographed, documented and closed just like that. 343 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:38.720 Sharon Reeves was thirty four years old when she died, 344 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:43.799 and within days the case was over with no criminal investigation, 345 00:20:44.359 --> 00:20:46.880 no forensic testing beyond what was done at the scene, 346 00:20:47.079 --> 00:20:50.680 no follow up interviews months later. Nothing. It was as 347 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.480 if they just assumed, you know what, this was an 348 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:57.640 open and shutcase. But even though they thought this was 349 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.599 so straightforward, the reality was far from different if they 350 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:05.240 only looked just a little bit closer. For example, the 351 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:09.640 shotgun wound was documented, but no detailed analysis was done 352 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:13.559 on distance trajectory or whether Sharon could have physically have 353 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:18.000 fired the weapon herself. The note Jack provided it too, 354 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:21.920 was accepted at face value. It was not preserved as 355 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:25.640 evidence per se. He was not subjected to handwriting analysis. 356 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:28.880 Either no attempt was made to verify when it he 357 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:31.720 had even been written, or maybe it was written under 358 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:36.680 certain circumstances like duress. And most of all, after the 359 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:41.039 case was closed well, the note went missing. Police took 360 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:43.400 photographs of the bedroom where Sharon was shot too, but 361 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:46.720 the images were filed away and largely forgotten, and over 362 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:49.720 time most of them were lost as well. Only a 363 00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:55.480 single crime scene photo would later be found. Witness statements 364 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:58.759 were minimal two and Jack's accounts of the events became 365 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:02.759 the framework for the official ruling. There was no reconstruction 366 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.920 of shooting or anything, no follow ups with friends or 367 00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:08.319 family about her state of mind in the days even 368 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:11.640 leading up to her death in nineteen seventy eight. None 369 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:14.359 of this stood out as unusual, I mean, for them 370 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:16.880 at the time. The notes seemed to offer motive, and 371 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:21.200 Sharon's recent divorce and emotional strain fit a narrative investigators 372 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.039 were accustomed to accepting in situations like this. Less than 373 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:29.799 three years after Sharon Reeves's death, Jack Well he remarried 374 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:33.319 once again. While stationed in South Korea, Jack met a 375 00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:37.839 woman by the name of Meunghai Chung, a young Korean 376 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.640 woman with limited English and no family ties to the 377 00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:45.000 United States. They married on December thirty first, nineteen eighty 378 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:48.359 and soon after Jack brought her back to Texas, where 379 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:51.759 he continued his army career until retiring in nineteen eighty 380 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:55.559 five as a master sergeant. Now after leaving the military, 381 00:22:56.039 --> 00:22:59.960 Jack settled into civilian life in Arlington, Texas. He lived 382 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:04.000 comfortably with his military pension and income from a paint 383 00:23:04.119 --> 00:23:08.920 contracting business that he had and additional money from family inheritance. Together, 384 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.880 the couple also owned a home, multiple vehicles, and some 385 00:23:11.960 --> 00:23:15.640 outdoor toys like a fishing boat and a camper. Jack 386 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:19.240 actually frequently went camping and fishing, particularly around Lake Whitney, 387 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:23.279 which is a large reservoir southwest of Dallas. To all 388 00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:27.599 outsiders looking in, the marriage was stable like every other 389 00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:32.799 typical couple, but people closer to Miyanghai Well they later 390 00:23:32.839 --> 00:23:36.880 described a far different picture. She struggled to adapt to 391 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:39.920 life in the United States. She spoke very little English 392 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:43.559 and relied heavily on Jack for everyday life. Family members 393 00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:46.519 in Korea also said that she feared water and could 394 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:49.680 not swim, so she generally wasn't exactly going out on 395 00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:52.640 the boat and enjoying it like Jack was. Some of 396 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:56.400 her close friends and family also reported that she confided 397 00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:01.400 in them that Jack was very controlling and abusive towards her. 398 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:06.640 In letters written shortly before her death, Miyanghai described being 399 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:10.359 unhappy and wanting to leave the marriage. It was on 400 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:13.880 July twenty eighth, nineteen eighty six when the couple went 401 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:17.519