On now...Bryan-College Station murder/rape cases (Jamie Hart) from 1999

Mathews death sentence

Dateline NBC will take viewers back to that fateful day in May 1999, when a Saturday morning jogger happened upon the body of a dead woman who had been left in a ditch off of Old Reliance Road. The woman was identified as Jamie Hart, a 21-year-old woman, originally from Baytown, who was attending Texas A&M. An autopsy report revealed that the young student had been beaten about the face and head, which left her with a black eye and severe bruising. Her car was later located a distance away. It appeared that the woman had been thrown out of moving vehicle while still alive. Coroners also found evidence that the woman had been strangled before she was tossed out, but the strangulation did not cause her death, Dateline NBC's coverage will reveal.

Watching it. Great Chamber of Commerce story for BCS.

Damn, I was class of 2001 and I don't remember anything about that story.

horrible

We were building our house off Old Reliance Rd. that year and on the way to the site I encountered a police roadblock at Old Reliance and Highway 6. They let me through when I told them where I was going but I still saw the active crime scene investigation from a couple hundred yards away. (I was thinking, is this a bad omen?)

As I recall, the killer had pretty much gotten away with it until he committed a similar crime in College Station and they traced his DNA back to this incident.

Not sure why it's a great Chamber of Commerce story. Because it's a terrible story that continues to torture these families.

I know very personally, the family of Jamie Hart and yes, the murder of Carolyn Casey helped them get back to the murderer of Jamie. While it is sad that it took the clues from Carolyn's murder to get back to Jamie's, it was not ineptitude on the part of CSPD - there just weren't enough clues to go on; and it doesn't mean that Carolyn's murder could have been prevented by law enforcement.

There was more information about who was around at the immediate time, when it came to Carolyn's case that allowed them to see that it could involve Jamie's prior and very similar case. The combination of similarities and DNA proved to be the means of solving Jamie's murder.

I'll defer to you since your have knowledge of the actual events beyond an hour long dateline, but the ineptitude I was referring to is when they arrested him the first time based on the other girl's account of sexual assault and then let him go when he spun some story about a drug deal gone bad. All while he had a history of violent behavior towards women.

T&p to the families impacted.

I should clarify as I replied too promptly and you did have a point. Kristin Lancaster's (the girl who survived an attack by him in his apartment) yelling and noise-making caused the Bryan PD to respond. But after being presented with the information on her case, the grand jury declined to indict him.
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There was a witness. The girl that was assaulted gave a first hand account of the attack. The guy had a history arrest for sexual assault and assaulting females. Arrests in 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1999.

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There was a witness. The girl that was assaulted gave a first hand account of the attack. The guy had a history arrest for sexual assault and assaulting females. Arrests in 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1999.

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But a Grand Jury no billed.

I did not realize the separate jurisdictions. Good point. Re: the grand jury, those sessions are sealed but given the survivors interview, it seems as though the arresting department was not very aggressive in pursuing sexual assault charges.

I do acknowledged hindsight and the made for tv dynamic. That said, both cities combined only have around 5 murders per year. And this one was unusual because of the sexual assault prior. You would think they would connect the dots.

dp

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I did not realize the separate jurisdictions. Good point. Re: the grand jury, those sessions are sealed but given the survivors interview, it seems as though the arresting department was not very aggressive in pursuing sexual assault charges.

I do acknowledged hindsight and the made for tv dynamic. That said, both cities combined only have around 5 murders per year. And this one was unusual because of the sexual assault prior. You would think they would connect the dots.

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On the show the Bryan Police Chief said that he reviewed the case report and that the detective did in fact believe that a sexual assault had occurred - thus the added charge. Had he not believed her he would not have asked the DA to pursue that. Remember the original charge was only unlawful restraint. I don't see why the detective would request that the charge be added and then not be aggressive in pursuing it. Just my thoughts.

Also, connecting the dots is what happened. The second murder occurred and then they confirmed that the DNA from the suspect in Carolyn's murder matched the DNA in Jamie's murder. Remember, DNA results take much, much, much longer to return in real life than the 30 seconds it takes on television. Plus this was a long time ago when testing took even longer than it does now.

Some of the interviews were filmed at a location near Hearne. The interview with the police detective was filmed at this inn.

Did they show the site where they found Jamie's body in the ditch on Old Reliance Road? Because it hasn't changed much since.

Why did the Bryan PD officers not tell the young woman who alleged that she had been raped to go to the hospital and have a rape kit done? They just let her walk downstairs and sleep on her friend's sofa. I can't imagine law enforcement not suggesting that she get checked out, thus providing more evidence for the rape case against him.

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Why did the Bryan PD officers not tell the young woman who alleged that she had been raped to go to the hospital and have a rape kit done? They just let her walk downstairs and sleep on her friend's sofa. I can't imagine law enforcement not suggesting that she get checked out, thus providing more evidence for the rape case against him.

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It was my understanding that the allegation of sexual assault didn't come until the next day.

Hm. I didn't get that from the Dateline story. It said something about multiple law enforcement personnel showing up. I thought she told them then that he had raped her. At that point, they should ALL have told her to get herself to St. Jo's!