Bringing Jay Home

28:34I'm like who are you going to see at six o 'clock in the morning? Jay told him he was going to hook up with someone but he wouldn't give Khalid a name. He told me he was going to see someone that he had saw earlier in the night. he told me that they had gotten into a huge argument and that he would tell me about it later. Jay told Khalid he got so mad at the guy, he blocked him from his social media. But the man found a way to reach him anyway. I was like, well, what are you going over there to do? He said that the guy told him he was going to do something that he had never done before. I want to say it was like a three-minute phone call.

29:12And he was just like, okay, I'm here, I'm going to let you go. And I was just like, okay, friend, have fun. You know, talk to you later. For police, this was good, concrete information. A three-minute drive from Campus Walk is still a good-sized area, but it kept us centered around where we needed to be. Ryan, take a look at this. Lieutenant Shane Fortner was in charge of Oxford Police's Criminal Investigations Unit. So you knew wherever he was going, it was within three minutes of his home. Yes. Who was Jay going to see? The search continued. And a closer look at that security video from the apartment complex where Jay's car was found would point the case in a whole new direction.

29:56Here's this individual running out of the complex. A running man. Was he somehow connected to Jay Lee's disappearance? That's somebody that wants to get out of the area. They don't want to be here.

30:22Summertime Mississippi can be an unforgiving place. A relentless heat that just kind of hangs there, stays with you, no relief. Such was the pain for Jay Lee's friends and family, now seven days since his disappearance. I started like losing faith. I was like, okay, Lord, what type of punishment is this?

30:52Investigators were trying to figure out who Jay met up with when he left his apartment that morning. We were able to obtain Jay Lee's call detail records, who he talked to previously before he went missing. One man stood out. A restaurant worker, Jay, texted shortly before Khalid called him the morning he disappeared. Detectives found him and brought him in for questioning. What was his demeanor? It was kind of evasive at first, kind of didn't really want to give us a whole lot of information about what he was doing and where he was during the time frame and so forth. The man said he worked that night and went straight home after.

31:32Detective Baker said he appeared nervous, fidgety. He denied having a relationship with Jay, but then admitted they had sex once. His reason for not being honest at first? He told detectives he wasn't openly gay and worried his family would find out. That raised the detective's suspicion. Jay's friend Khalid had told them about men who he described as being on the DL, or the down-low. My definition of DL is just somebody who's living like a double life. So it may be someone who has a family, have a wife, might even have kids. But on the outside, they live their life as a heterosexual person. But, you know, in their spare time, they're exploring all their fantasies.

32:24And that, Khalid told us, can bring trouble. The risk that you take when dealing with people who aren't comfortable with their sexuality. I remember telling Jay that a DL man will kill you before they let their dirty little secret get out. I think that when it comes to download men in the Black community, there's definitely a warning on them that if you mess with those men, something bad could happen to you. So just inherently, the nature of that relationship was a risky one, a dangerous one for Jaylee. Definitely. And there was more. The restaurant worker told them Jay had blocked him on social media.

33:07He did, to a degree, fit the profile of the person that Khalid Fiers told you about, right? He did. The man was adamant he had nothing to do with Jay's disappearance. Detectives let him go, but they weren't done digging. They got a search warrant for his cell phone to extract his data, call detail records, you know, the whole nine yards. They also worked to verify his alibi. Could anybody confirm that he was at home? No, there was nobody that we could really confirm. Detectives pulled security video from the restaurant where the man worked, and they learned something else. He had left work a little early that night than he probably should have.

33:48An hour early, in fact, a detail he left out during his interview. Police wondered what else the man might be hiding. He's a person of interest, definitely. But for police, he was by no means the only person of interest, especially after a fellow investigator noticed something on the security video from the Molly Bar Trails apartments where Jay's car was found. Something the others had missed right there. a person running out of the apartment complex about nine and a half minutes after Jay's car pulled in. What he was wearing really caught our eye. It's July 8th. It's in the middle of the summer here in Mississippi.

34:28It gets warm. Very hot. Very hot. Somebody wearing a hoodie, a pretty heavy, heller gray hoodie, long sleeves, hood up. They wanted to track this runner down. How close are we to the apartments from where we are? You're about a quarter mile from the apartments, that direction. So when you start pulling surveillance video, what do you see? The individual that ran out of Mollibar Trails, we see that individual actually start walking down the hill and come in front of the gas station here. The mystery jogger. He'd stopped jogging as soon as he exited Mollibar Trails. And now, here he was at a gas station up the road.

35:10We see a car come beside him, and that car actually slows down. And then that same white car circles the parking lot and pulls in by a gas pump. They have a brief exchange, it appears, and that individual gets in the car and they drive off. So it's very clear to you immediately that this wasn't somebody out for just a morning run or a morning jog. No, it wasn't. That's somebody that wants to get out of the area. Detectives were convinced it was the jogger who had ditched Jay's car in the apartment complex before fleeing with the unknown driver. We don't have any clue who the individual is that ran out or who's in the car.

35:49We got to find that car. We got to figure out who was in the passenger seat. And whether they had any connection to Jay. Could those answers be found in the direct messages in Jay's social media accounts? Well, the police were having trouble finding out. They wanted his Snapchat information. He'd been using the app the very morning he went missing. But they felt there wasn't time to file a search warrant and wait for Snapchat to respond. So Detective Baker says they filed an emergency request with the company. It was denied. Desperate, Jay's father Jimmy called Apple with a personal plea. Access to his son's iPhone data.

36:27Literally, you know, asked him, this is a missing person. Under the age of 21, this is my child. And I'm trying to see if there's any way we can get login information. Jimmy says the rep assured him they would send him the information, but a second rep told him no. Apple didn't respond to our request for comment. How frustrating was that for you? Very. It was like emotional torture to tell us you can get it and then get over there and say, no, we can't. Meanwhile, time is ticking. Yes. And you were still trying to find him. Still trying to find him. So investigators would have to find another way into Jay's social media accounts.

37:08And once they did, what they uncovered was well worth the wait. We see this name, Red Eye 24.

37:21Festival season is here. And Apple Cash is an easy and secure way to split the bill. Just send or request money right in your group chat in the Messages app. Once you're settled up, you can spend the money you receive anywhere Apple Pay is accepted. Open your wallet app and set up Apple Cash today. Apple Cash services are provided by Green Dot Bank, member FDIC.

37:50There's only one Ozempic. Hello, I'm Ozempic. And I'm other GLP-1s, kind of like him. Ozempic, you redid your jingle? Ah, thanks for noticing. Catchy, right? No. Okay, then. Well, ask your doctor about which FDA-approved uses of me, the Ozempic pen, may be right for you. Call 1-833-OZEMPIC or visit Ozempic.com to view the medication guide and learn more about Ozempic semaglutide injection, 2 milligrams. Only Novo Nordisk makes FDA-approved Ozempic. There's only one Ozempic! I told you it was catchy. Since he got out, bad things keep happening. Cape Fear, a new series, is now streaming on Apple TV.

38:31Why would I want to hurt you? Why? Starring Academy Award winner Javier Bardem. Why? And Academy Award nominee Amy Adams. He is coming after my family. Why? Why? Cape Fear, now streaming on Apple TV.

38:58Oxford police had a tantalizing new nugget, that overdressed jogger. So as you're trying to piece everything together, how significant is that? I think it's very significant because you're talking about somebody that I want to get out of the area. I don't want to be seen by anybody. But as they tried to figure out who the jogger was, they did figure out who he wasn't. That jittery restaurant worker. He went home and he had sat in his driveway for a while playing on his phone before he actually went into his house. If someone were preparing to commit a crime, they could easily leave their cell phone someplace and then go about and do whatever they meant to do.

39:40Could that have been a possibility here? No, because the phone was being interacted with. So they cleared the restaurant worker and zeroed in on what Jay told his good friend Khalid fears before he vanished. He told Khalid that he was going somewhere that he had previously been that night. And it was somebody that he had previously blocked on social media. Since police still couldn't access Jay's social media accounts, a university officer fashioned a workaround. He did a search warrant for Jay Lee's Apple iCloud account, and he was able to find passwords and user accounts for search of media and stuff like that.

40:23The university granted access to Jay's college email account so investigators could get his Snapchat data. There's a function in Snapchat that you can download your own data. Kind of a deep hidden thing, not a whole lot of people know about it, but you can. And so we used his university email account that we now have control of and sent his personal data, Snapchat data, to that email. Finally, they were in. Well, kind of. The Snapchat log only showed the messages Jay received and the username of the sender. The last message chain began at 5.25 a.m. That's the first time we see this name, Red Eye 24.

41:05And that's a screen name. That's a screen name. Red Eye texted, come back. You coming or nah? What was it about those exchanges with Red Eye 24 that caught your attention? It appeared that he had met with them earlier. Kind of seemed like Jay Lee was upset with this person based on the previous encounter that they had had. To detectives reading between the lines, it appeared Jay thought Red Eye wanted to break off contact with him. Red Eye responded, You tripping. I do feel bad because we cool, so I ain't trying to end it like this. Then Red Eye seemed to give in to something Jay asked for, texting, Okay, I'll do it.

41:46The detectives wondered if that meant something sexual. Because we know a lot of things about Jay Lee. And we learned throughout the investigation, Jay Lee would go meet other men and have sexual encounters. At around 6 a.m., detectives believe Jay, chatting on the phone with Khalid, was driving to meet Red Eye. Then once he kind of got close to, or what Clint thought was appeared to be close, he kind of just ended the conversation and basically he had to go. That's when detectives believe Jay showed up at Red Eye's front door. We were confident that that was the last person that saw Jay Lee alive.

42:23You got to figure out who this Red Eye underscore 24 is. And I make a phone call to a friend at the U.S. attorney's office and just say, how can you help us? The U.S. attorney filed a federal warrant and this time, Snapchat delivered. So that really was a turning point. It was huge. Now the detectives had Red Eye's email address and found it was the same email for a podcast called Dirt to Diamonds. Another episode of Dirt to Diamonds podcast. Today I have a special guest. The host, a handsome 22-year-old man and fellow Ole Miss graduate. Tim Harrington. What do you learn about Tim Harrington? Highly thought of on the Ole Miss campus.

43:01I was a good student. Jay's friend Braylon knew him well. I definitely had leaned on Tim Harrington for help in the past. He was giving me advice on, you know, how to stay out of trouble and what to do if your grades are bad. I looked at Tim as a friend. You have those people who kind of like take you under their wing. Was Tim kind of like that? Definitely. Tim was very outgoing and he was definitely the life of the party type of person. Detectives learned Tim was from Grenada, a small town about an hour from Oxford. Like Jay, Tim was a preacher's kid, his grandfather an influential bishop. Tim was active in his community too, as a youth counselor and a guitarist in the church band.

43:49He was also an entrepreneur. He started his own moving company while still in college. He looked to be a young man that had a very bright future. He was ambitious, whether that was going to be politically or in real estate. And he projected confidence in an interview with the Ole Miss TV station. My name is Tim Harrington. I'm from the lovely city of Brunetta, Mississippi. Here he was, laying out his career path. That's what I see myself doing, developing real estate. Even casting himself as an entrepreneur influencer of sorts. Don't worry about age or little things like that holding you back.

44:24Get started. You'll learn as you go. believed in himself, believed that he had a future. He wanted greatness for himself and for his life. This hardly sounds like the type of person that you would look at and say, you are responsible for killing somebody. Yeah, it did. You just follow the evidence. The detectives wanted to speak with Tim immediately. They headed to his apartment, not knowing who or what they might find.

45:04Two weeks after Jay Lee walked out of his campus apartment for the last time, the detectives, with body cameras rolling, followed the trail of Snapchat messages to the door of another Ole Miss graduate, Tim Harrington.

45:22Tim opens the door. We introduce ourselves. We kind of tell Tim, hey, this is why we're here. All right. Jaylee's been missing. Can we come in and talk to you? Yes, sir. And he opened his door and allowed us to come in and speak with him. So he's cooperating. No, absolutely. All right, Tim. Do you know Jaylee? Yes, sir. We were in Black School Union together. How well do you know him?

45:51He was saying, yeah, we weren't that close. We knew each other in passing. But it was obvious to us based on the Snapchat messages that they had more of a relationship than he led into. We didn't know the nature of it, but we knew that there's more of a relationship than I knew him from school and passing.

46:14When was the last time you had any contact with him? That night. It was the night, or rather the very early morning, that Jay Lee went missing. So you're actually the first one that's been able to say, you know what, I saw him that night. Yeah, I did see him. Tim told the officers he was getting ready to move to Dallas, that he'd run into Jay while he was out looking to buy a drill. And Jay called him later. And he was like, you know, I got you a deal, blah, blah, blah. I was like, cool, you know, just stop by. I appreciate it, thank you. So he brought the gifts and that was about it. Detectives then changed their line of questioning.

46:56So I'm just way asking everybody, okay? Yeah. Do you think he'll have a sexual relationship of any kind? No, I'm not sure. And Tim dismisses it. Where does the conversation go from there? The question that stood out to me the most was, what do you think happened to Jaylee? What do you think happened to him? I don't know. I don't know if he just went and had casual sex with somebody and got kidnapped like this. Tim goes on to say it's possible he went and had casual sex with someone and they kidnapped him. Out of the blue. Out of the blue. It feels oddly specific. It does. You know if Jay Lee was going to meet and talk to anybody after he left your apartment?

47:37Nah. All along in this conversation, you've got things going to simmer, let's say. At some point, you turn it up to a full boil. Oh, absolutely. We had to crank the heat up. Hey, Tim. Is there a floor?

47:52We detained him for further questioning. So when you brought Tim down to headquarters, you were doing it right here in this room? Yes. So you have the right to remain silent. Now it's starting to get real, and let's start trying to figure out how we can get him to say, I was lying to y 'all. So is it possible, Tim, what you told us in the apartment was not as accurate? Did it was made out of state? No, sir, it wasn't as accurate. I didn't think so, Tim. So tell me about this deeper relationship you and Jay Lee have. It was just like a sexual thing. We went the night series. How many times have you and Jay Lee had sexual intercourse?

48:29I'm not sure. Probably like maybe two or three. Tim changes his story. He admits, yes, they did have a sexual relationship. That's a big admission. Absolutely. The night he came over, did y 'all have sexual relations that night? Yes, sir, we did. He came over and then, like, you know, he just gave me over like he usually does. That was about it. Like, he just, like, we just talked and then he left. But you know that he went back a second time. Yes. Did Jay Lee come back? Yes, sir, he came back. And Tim says, yes, it was for a sexual encounter that I was supposed to give Jay Lee. And we come back and then, like, we do the same thing.

49:11I make it up to him. You make it up to him? So this is in direct contrast to the story that he had just told you. No, it's in direct contrast to everything he's told us up to that point. That was the time they didn't like me. He just like left. That was it. Okay. How did he leave? Like he was cool. Like he was just like, he thought like I wasn't going to do it because I don't do it. So he left the apartment walking? Yeah. Hmm. And then what? Did you leave the apartment? Yes, sir. Where'd you go? I went to Walmart. That was news we had no information about. So he's the one who introduced that to you?

49:53He introduced that. He went to Walmart. Okay. What'd you do at Walmart? Nothing. I have a moving company. I had a moving around the day, so the tape for the boxes and stuff like that. The detectives wanted details. So you bought duct tape or tape in general, not duct tape. The big clear tape you wrap around it? Yeah. Tim had a moving company, so he said it's what they wrap boxes in. Moving tape. Packaging tape. Moving tape, page tape. The detectives pressed Tim for more information about what he did that morning. And that's when he asked if he needed a lawyer. Want to talk about your thing today?

50:28I can get you a turn down here. Okay, whatever. I don't talk about your thing today. Well, keep investigating. But you're not leaving here today. That's fine. Tim had stopped cooperating, but the detectives felt they had their guy. So at this point now, he's charged. He's under arrest. You've charged him with murder. Yes. So what happened next came as a big shock. We were actually on the lawn of the courthouse just crying. The details were heavy. I was confused. I was disgusted.

51:04festival season is here and apple cash is an easy and secure way to split the bill just send a request money right in your group chat in the messages app once you're settled up you can spend the money you receive anywhere apple pay is accepted open your wallet app and set up apple cash today apple cash services are provided by green dot bank member fdic

51:33There's a pill version of Ozempic! Hello, I'm Ozempic. And I'm other GLP-1s kind of like him. Hey, did I hear there's a pill version of Ozempic? Yep, you sure did. Ask your doctor about which FDA-approved uses of the Ozempic pen or pill may be right for you. Call 1-833-OZEMPIC or visit Ozempic.com to view the medication guide and learn more about Ozempic semaglutide tablets 9mg and Ozempic semaglutide injection, 2 milligrams. There's a pill version of Ozempic. Since he got out, bad things keep happening. Cape Fear, a new series, is now streaming on Apple TV. Why would I want to hurt you? Why? Starring Academy Award winner Javier Bardem.

52:21Why? And Academy Award nominee Amy Adams. He is coming after my family. Cape Fear, now streaming on Apple TV.

52:42News of Tim Harrington's arrest hit Jay's family and friends like one of Mississippi's merciless tornadoes. tomatoes. Before you're holding out hope, you're searching for him. Police are searching for him. Now there's an arrest and somebody charged with his murder. Yes. It was hard. I mean, the evidence was there to say something happened, but where he's by it, we didn't know. Freeland, you knew Tim Harrington. You were students together. I was very angry when I saw his mugshot. From that moment forward, I knew that Tim Harrington had something to do with it in some way. 22-year-old Harrington makes his way inside to appear.

53:28People were shocked to learn that, one, that they had a relationship, and then two, that Tim Harrington was being accused of murder. Tim Harrington was in jail, and DA Ben Creekmore would make the case to keep him there. But without Jay's body, that could be tricky. Typically in a criminal case, you're going to have the body. You're going to know what form of violence was used. You're going to be able to call the medical examiner in to tell the jury the manner of death, cause of death. And you had none of that. I had none of that. So he needed to build a circumstantial case. By now, he had obtained Jay's side of his early morning Snapchat exchange with RedEye24, aka Tim Harrington.

54:16At one point, Jay seemed suspicious of Tim, texting, yeah, now it seemed like you're just trying to lure me over there to beat my ass or something. And he warned Tim against violence. Jay at some point says, you know, if you try something fast, it won't end up good for you, right? What does that mean? It's saying that Jay Lee is kind of concerned or maybe a little fearful to come back over to Tim's apartment. But then Jay messaged, I'm coming. Even though Jay is suspicious, he still gets him to come over. Yes. Detectives believe Jay showed up at Tim's front door because he texted a single word, open.

54:53So he's saying open, basically open the door, I'm here. Yeah, I'm here, open the door. It was the final text Jay sent, the last evidence he was still alive. The prosecutor got Tim's phone and computer, which would turn up more clues. And investigators also found security camera footage that captured Tim's movements in the minutes and hours after Jay went to see him. Moments after Jay Lee enters the apartment, Tim is, you know, leaving the apartment, going to Walmart. He looks at where all the trash cans are. There's a trash can big enough to put a body in, is what he's looking at. At Walmart. That's right.

55:33But he ends up just buying a roll of duct tape. Duct tape, not clear packaging tape, as he told police. We had found a roll of duct tape when we searched his apartment and took it as evidence. After he left Walmart, a security camera captured Tim's company truck. He goes and gets a box truck and then he returns to his apartment. About three and a half hours later, he drove the box truck to his parents' home in Grenada, where another camera picked up something suspicious. From the neighbor's surveillance camera, we're able to see Tim Harrington put a wheelbarrow and shovels in the back of that box truck.

56:15As night closed in, Tim left his parents' house for about an hour, but his phone stayed. Detectives had a theory. Tim's going to get rid of Jay Lee. Disposing of his body. Yes. But it was just a theory. You have to prove that there's a murder. Afram Sellers is a Harrington family friend. He's also a criminal defense attorney. How are you going to convict this man of murder and you don't know a manner or cause of death? Or even that he's dead. Or even that he's dead. Police had searched Tim's apartment, his car, and the box truck, but didn't find any incriminating evidence. You know that Jaylee was at the apartment, but there's nothing that supports a violent act or a murder.

56:58It was just speculation. So you're saying even with the best set of circumstantial evidence, without any sort of physical evidence, it's just a theory. That's the argument, yes. Another argument, he says, murder was totally out of character for this young man. For his family, it was impossible to imagine. How did his parents respond to this? This belief in that he's being charged, this belief in that he could be involved in something like this, that's a natural part of their response. It's to be in shock, to be angry, to be fearful. And they were all of those things. They were all those things, but they were also very prayerful.

57:32Anything you'd like to say, Mr. Harrington? Some of their prayers were answered. About a month after Tim was arrested, as Tim's lawyers prepared to argue for his release at a bond hearing, his supporters came out in droves. These are people from church, from the community, people he knew growing up? Yeah, well, I think it was natural for them to give that support because what he had put out in the community, he was getting back because the people are supporting someone that they just couldn't imagine being involved or charged with murder. He had received over 70 letters from the Grenada sheriff and other law enforcement officers in his church community, basically campaigning for him to get out before they had ever heard the evidence or knew what was going on based on Tim Harrington being a good boy.

58:19It upset us. It enraged us. We quickly organized to make sure that if Tim Harrington was being accused of doing something to Jay, that he wouldn't get Bond. That movement, Justice for Jay, started on social media and quickly grew to much more. Jay Lee matters! Jay Lee matters! Justice for Jay Lee! At this point, these are physical gatherings now. Rallies, retabling, community projects, drives. To raise awareness. To raise awareness. Justice for Jay Lee! Justice for Jay Lee! Justice for Jay Lee! The bond hearing got underway. We weren't in the courtroom. We were actually on the lawn of the courthouse just crying as we were getting the information from Twitter.

59:07As they were releasing evidence in the courtroom and a new tweet would drop, we would read it and then take a moment to just cry. So this is the first time that you are learning the details of what prosecutors were saying happened. Yes. The details were heavy. I was confused. I was disgusted. The judge initially denied Tim's motion for release, but about four months later, after his lawyers filed a civil suit, the prosecution agreed to release him. Harrington was released from jail yesterday, just before three o 'clock. And the judge let him out with an ankle monitor on a$250 ,000 bond. I was like, why did they let him go when they know that they got these things on him?

59:46It didn't seem fair or right. It was crazy, and everyone's taking pictures of him. So you're seeing him around town. He was just walking free. Just walking free. All the while, Jay's father remained stoic. It bothered me a little to see him walk, but I knew it was a part of the process. And you had faith in the process? Yes. The investigation wasn't over, and Jay's father, Jimmy, had faith in Chief McCutcheon. He was an armed man. Did you trust that he was doing everything that he could to find your son? Absolutely. He's a pastor, a man of faith, as are you. Would you all pray together, call on that faith together?

1:00:24Oh, we did. He and I got so close that I could just be honest and say, hey, I'm frustrated, I'm worried about this. And he would say, hey, let's just pray. It felt like friends that came together that were on one mission together. Nine months after Jay Lee went missing, that mission entered a new phase. A grand jury indicted Tim Harrington on upgraded charges of capital murder and kidnapping. But as the case headed to trial, Jay's family and friends wondered if the evidence would be strong enough to convict. Is it almost like you're walking in with one hand tied behind your back? You're having to convince these people that someone is dead without even a body.

1:01:04That's a huge reasonable doubt right there. You

1:01:20In December of 2024, two and a half years after Jay Lee disappeared, Tim Harrington went on trial for his murder. Jay's father, Jimmy, was ready for it, but he was nervous. Were you worried going in? I think I was a little. I even remember praying one night for the Lord to give me strength if it didn't come, if he was to walk. Gwen Ago, D.A. Ben Creekmore's co-counsel, let off the prosecution's case. Did you have a concern that, where we are in Mississippi, in the South, that it could make a jury less sympathetic to Jay? 100 % because of people's just sort of ignorance and lack of understanding that Jay's just like you or me, that he was just a college kid whose parents supported him like anyone else's kid and their parents.

1:02:14So Coop was Jay. He was vibrant. He walked to his own feet. If he wanted to wear heels, that thing, he's going to wear heels. But he was more than just that. You're going to hear, he's family oriented. He loved his mother more than he made his whole family. And that's why Ago called Jay's mother Stephanie to the stand. What did you want the jurors to take away from your words? I wanted them to see that I was a mother, that was for sure that something had happened with my child, and that he was no longer here with us. Stephanie told the jury she knew something was wrong when she didn't get that birthday phone call.

1:03:01Jay would call me every year on my birthday to sing happy birthday, no matter what time it was. She also told the jury she had access to his credit card and bank accounts, and all activity stopped on July 8, 2022. As you were up there, what gave you strength? The support of my family. Looking out at my children and my husband, and knowing that they were there. And who was it a picture of? I apologize. It's my son, Jay Lee. That's his first day of his first job when he first graduated high school. Her heart was broken. I've always said that I admire her strength to do it. The strength that God gave her to just get up there and do that, I saw as a hero.

1:03:49I knew I had to do this for Jay. I had to be a voice for him. Next, the prosecution had to prove that Tim Harrington murdered Jay to protect his own reputation. Jay's friend Khalid Fiers told the jury how he warned Jay not to hook up with a guy who was on the down low. I said they will kill you before that dirty little secret gets exposed. And that, prosecutors said, was precisely why Tim killed Jay. Detective Ryan Baker told the jury about another message Jay sent Tim right after he left Tim's apartment in a huff. It was 4.36 a.m. Jay Lee sent it to Timothy Harrington. He says, I just wanted to be able to say I had you be DL.

1:04:37Again, fun to have been the first guy. Experiment over. The prosecution argued Tim took that message as a threat, that Jay was going to out him. Chief McCutcheon said the motive came down to one word. I wanted to say. Say is a key word. Because that is a verbal, someone's going to hear that. To me, that was the trigger. That was that hinge moment of, that's the out. The prosecution argued Tim lured Jay back with a promise of sex and then murdered him. To show Tim's true intention, the prosecutor asked Detective Baker about a Google search he found on Tim's phone. One the detective told us was a critical piece of evidence.

1:05:22And this is what I found. How long does it take to strangle someone? This is something that he searched. Yes, five minutes before Jay Lee got there. How crucial was that? Extremely crucial. It helped us come up with intent to kill. And if that wasn't incriminating enough, the prosecution had an ace in the hole. Prosecutors showed jurors that video of the jogger running away from the Molly Bar Trails apartment complex. where Jay's car was found and later getting into a white car at a gas station. And then they heard from this man. My name is Keziah Carter. Keziah Carter told the jury he was driving the white car that morning and he picked up the jogger because he knew him.

1:06:04It was Tim Harrington.

1:06:18to Lafayette. The prosecutors showed jurors how Tim drove that box truck to his parents' house, loaded it with a wheelbarrow and shovel, then left his cell phone in his parents' home as he disappeared for almost an hour. And they showed the jury Tim's conversation with police at his apartment, where he lied repeatedly. And he was like, you know, I got your deal, blah, blah, blah. I was like, cool, you know. We just chilled and talked. and then he went back to his apartment. That was it. Did you and he don't have a sexual relationship of any kind? No, I'm not sure. DA Ben Creekmore said that was the key to their case.

1:06:57Even though we didn't have a confession, sometimes I'd much prefer lies in an interview over a confession. He lied to his church, his family, his friends. He lied to Jay Lee and gave him over that tie because he had a problem that he had to fix. Then he lied to the police about everything. In order to protect that lie, he had never protected. And that's what he did. But the defense had some ammunition of its own, and it went right back to the prosecution's biggest problem. With no body, where was the proof of first-degree murder? Proof of any death whatsoever. Zero. DNA evidence.

1:08:16We'll see you next time. This message is brought to you by Capital One Venture X Card. Venture X offers the premium benefits you expect, like a$300 annual Capital One travel credit for less than you expect. Elevate your earn with unlimited double miles on every purchase, bringing you one step closer to your next dream destination. Plus, enjoy access to over 1 ,000 airport lounges worldwide. The Capital One Venture X card. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. Lounge access is subject to change. See CapitalOne.com for details. Since he got out, bad things keep happening. Cape Fear, a new series, is now streaming on Apple TV.

1:09:06Why would I want to hurt you? Starring Academy Award winner Javier Bardem. Why? And Academy Award nominee Amy Adams. He's coming after my family.

1:09:21Cape Fear, now streaming on Apple TV.

1:09:33The prosecution had presented a mountain of circumstantial evidence against Tim Harrington. Now, defense attorney Kevin Horan was about to tell the jury what evidence prosecutors did not have. 22 ,000 documents we had provided in discovery. Seven law enforcement agencies. 71 search warrants. And they had recovered not one bit of direct evidence. Holren launched his attack on the prosecution's case, telling the jury there was no evidence in Tim's apartment that he murdered Jay. He grilled Lieutenant Shane Fortner. I ask you if you find any fiber or any trace evidence of any of those items ever having been in his apartment or left in his apartment.

1:10:26No fibers of any kind. No blood? No blood. No DNA. No DNA. Horan made sure the jury knew investigators hadn't found anything in that moving truck or on the wheelbarrow and shovel. You got a report, zero evidence showing you that Mr. Lee's body was in that box truck, right? Mr. Lee went missing on July the 8th. We did not get the box truck until July 26th, I believe. Okay. But you didn't find any evidence. You also investigated whether or not the cleaning agents to scrub it down. It appeared visually that any of those things had occurred to the box truck, right? Nothing I'm aware of. No, sir. But there was one piece of evidence that was difficult to explain away.

1:11:24The Google search on Tim's phone. At 5.57 a.m., Mr. Harrington searches in Google. Does a Google search, how long does it take to strangle someone? Horan asked Jay's friend Khalid fears about that, suggesting Tim was interested in choking because Jay was, as a sexual thrill. We pointed out that y 'all had conversations about choking and things of that nature in that conversation. That's not sexual preference, though. Not sexual preference, but sexual conduct, sexual conversations about certain families. Okay. Horan had Khalid read from one of their text exchanges. He says, ooh, you like to choke and to be choked?

1:12:12And your response was? Heavy on him. I felt stripped naked that I was sharing my private, intimate conversations with my friend with everybody. In fact, between the evidence and the testimony, the trial was full of sex talk. A bit of a shock for the religious crowd. So a lot of the stuff, I was just like, Lord have mercy. Horan implied that Google search could have just been Tim researching a sex act he thought Jay wanted to try. Maybe, but what about that message Jay sent Tim that the prosecution said Tim perceived to be a threat? Horan cross-examined the Oxford police chief about that. Do you see anything in there that J.

1:13:01Lee had threatened my client that he was going to quote-unquote out him at all? At 4.36, J. Lee states, I just wanted to say, say, which is outing, that I had you on the DL again, which is the download. So fun to have being your first guy experience. Jaylee says I wanted to say he wanted to out him. But Horan told the jury Tim didn't worry about being outed. Even his deeply religious minister father said it would have been okay with him. As far as Timmy, I assume you treated him like a son or a child like you did all the other two. Sure. You accepted him still as your son if he told him that he was bisexual?

1:13:51If he told him he was bisexual? You still accept him and love him like you did your other children? Sure. So was Tim really so afraid of being outed that he murdered Jay? According to the defense, that was a stretch. And once again, Horan said, police still had no proof that Jay was even dead. A painful reminder for the chief.

1:14:18We've been looking for J. Lee's body for two years, and we're not going to stop until we find him. And I can guarantee you that. But they had not found him, and therefore, Horan told the jury, the prosecution had not proven its case. Ladies and gentlemen, you've got to look at the burden of proof in this case. The perfect proof is beyond the original doubt. The most reasonable burden, and the one that's supported by the lack of evidence, is not given. Thank you. The case was headed to the jury, and the court was in for a surprise. How did you find out what had happened? I'm sorry. It's okay. Holy cow.

1:15:22it seemed so simple to the people who loved Jay Lee. He was clearly dead and Tim Harrington most certainly killed him. So as the case went to the jury, Jay's sister was counting on a quick verdict. And they go back and they're deliberating. How are you feeling? I was feeling very confident. And when I tell you my confidence was up the roof, I felt like I was jaded that day. But the jury had to weigh all the evidence. And the defense had argued there was no blood, no DNA or fibers, not even a body that linked Harrington to murder. After four hours, the jury sent a note to the judge. We have a note from the jury that says we feel confident we are unable to reach a unanimous decision.

1:16:07They were deadlocked. He encouraged them to dig a little deeper. I'm going to see you back. I was like, okay, what in the world is going on? Like, why are y 'all taking so long to just come to an agreement when it's there, it's clear? The prosecution and defense knew it could go either way. So as the jury deliberated, they were discussing a plea deal. The number one thing that any plea offer is going to require, tell us what you did with J. Lee. We wanted Mr. Jimmy, we wanted Ms. Stephanie to be able to bury their son. They deserve that. But Harrington turned the deal down, and the jurors kept talking, to no avail.

1:16:51All right, ladies and gentlemen, I have received another note that says we are unable to reach an agreement. I'm going to declare a mistrial. After a total of nine and a half hours of deliberations, a mistrial. Just sick, you know, just sick. for the family, for your team, for justice. One of the things that bothered me worse than anything was to watch Timothy get up and arrogantly tell his folks, come on, let's go. The arrogance of it, you know? But I had to go through a lot of praying behind that. But it took a lot of prayer for you to stay calm. Yes. For you to not let that anger take over.

1:17:37Yes, it did. Yes, it did. In that moment, Chief McCutcheon wanted to be there for the man he now called his friend. He took Jimmy's hand. He said, oh, it ain't over. So that, you know, that was the encouragement I really needed at that time. I'll never forget, we all left the courthouse. We go back to the district attorney's office and it was, you know what? Tomorrow's a new day. Let's get back after it and let's go find Jay. and let's bring this thing home for the Lee family. And then seven weeks later, as prosecutors were preparing for a second trial, unbelievably, it happened. Right here in this patch of forgotten woods, about 20 miles from the home of Tim Harrington's parents.

1:18:26Jay Lee had been gone for about two and a half years when on a cold February day, the property's owner happened upon what appeared to be remains, Human remains. He called 911. I walked down the hill and made sure to watch where I walked to make sure I did stuff on any evidence. Carroll County Sheriff's investigators Jerry Bankston and Tucker Banks were among the first on the scene. I see what appears to be a human skull laying on the ground right over here. There were a few other bones. I believe there was a pelvis bone and an arm bone or another leg bone link in close proximity to this tree also.

1:19:07Some of the remains were found wrapped in a blanket. It was laying here beside this stump. It had duct tape on the outside of it. I'm just picking up dirt basically like this, and I'm just sifting it through my hands. And a flashlight catches a glimpse of something shiny. and I was able to see at that point that it was a piece of jewelry. It was a gold necklace and when Chief McCutcheon got the photo on his phone, he knew. As you're racing down to get here, what are you thinking? A lot. Is it real, you know, excitement that of all the sadness that everyone had been through, that there was this real possibility that we were going to get to make that phone call that we had promised that we were going to get to make.

1:19:55Talk to me about the moment when you called Jay's father. Oh, man, yeah. So it was such a cool moment. I called him, and I could tell he was in his truck. You could just hear the wind noise. And I said, hey, are you by yourself? And he said, no, Stephanie's with me. He said, can you pull over? I'm like, okay. When he said pull over, I was like, okay, something's going on. So we pulled over, and he said, we found Jay. What was it like to hear that? Well, it was like the dream. I mean, I've always dreamed of. Take me to February 2025. How did you find out what had happened? I'm sorry. It's okay.

1:20:37I didn't know what to expect. That just came up. Just thinking about that day. Holy cow. I can see it just impacts you still. I was very, very relieved. Yeah. And in my mind, I always felt that something was missing, even if we got a conviction, because we would never know where Jay Lee was. They'd finally fulfilled their promise. They brought Jay home. Chief McCutcheon had no doubt that it was Tim who got rid of Jay's body. What do you believe happened? That he just tossed here? When we got here and was kind of explained what was found initially, you have to believe he pulled up in the box truck, pops the top, and then just pitches him off into the woods.

1:21:33But could they prove it? They found a body that was, well, not a body. They found a skeleton. It got us the direct evidence that he was dead. Now, was he killed? that question still remained.

1:22:06Jay Lee was finally home, and it was time to say goodbye. Two weeks after Jay's remains were found, hundreds of people came to his funeral to bid him a tearful farewell. What stand out to you the most about that funeral? The gold casket. I know Jay would have been like... over-extounded, like, oh, y 'all got gold.

1:22:40It was a sense of closure. It was a sense of, okay, he came home. Jay came home. But prosecutors still had work to do. I want to talk about the state that you found Jay Lee in. His body was decomposed. There was no DNA evidence to take from it. the hyoid bone, which typically indicates strangulation if it's broken, that was still intact. There were some things there that the defense could certainly poke holes in. Finding the body, did that yield as much evidence as you expected it would? Yeah, I'll tell you about that. Didn't really know. But when the crime lab reported back, investigators realized they did have something, and it was big.

1:23:37The prosecution knew it and so did the defense. Yes, absolutely. And it was the tape that was found on that body. The duct tape? The duct tape, yes. And I walk out of here... Defense attorney Afram Sellers had taken over Tim Harrington's case. This is objectively a very damning piece of evidence for your client. Very much so. Now why would that be? Remember, investigators had found a roll of duct tape in Tim Harrington's apartment They sent that tape and the duct tape from the body site to the FBI. And they were able to, I'm going to say, perfectly match the tear pattern from that roll of duct tape out of Tim's apartment to an end that was wrapped around Jay Lee's body.

1:24:25Match like puzzle pieces. Like a puzzle piece. Wow. Given this new evidence, the defense attorney decided it was time to talk to Tim Harrington and his family. I just walked it piece by piece from a standpoint of this is what they're about to try. So you're giving him a reality check at this point. Reality check. Suddenly, Tim Harrington was very interested in a plea deal. At this point, you all found Jay. And now he's asking for a plea deal. Were you thinking, you're a little too late? I was thinking in that sense, but more importantly, my thought was averted her from going through that. To spare Stephanie the pain of testifying at yet another trial, the family was leaning toward a deal.

1:25:12But prosecutors needed some convincing. More than anything, they wanted Tim Harrington to admit to what he did. I needed to know that he was going to say that he killed Jay Lee, that this wasn't an accident. Guenago met with Harrington and his attorney, and that's when Harrington confessed to everything. He told me through a lot of tears that he had strangled him. Did he seem genuinely remorseful? To me, he did. And it wasn't just, you know, slow cry. It was a lot of tears and it was physical. You could see the physical reactions in his body. Did he give you details? What did he tell you? He confirmed that text message was a trigger for him.

1:25:59The down-low message. The down-low message, yeah. Harrington told Argo that he'd intended to bury Jay, but when he looked into his dead face, he panicked and dumped him. He said that he couldn't call the police because he just knew that he had killed somebody. And he just knew it was his fault. So on December 1st, 2025, just as jurors were being selected for trial number two, Tim Harrington pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with a body. At the sentencing hearing, Jay's father had a message for his son's killer. I hadn't said much in this entire trial, but with my broken heart, I'm standing God's love to you.

1:26:47I want to remind you of God's redemptive plan. The judge sentenced Harrington to 40 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole at the age of 58. That's still enough time to get out of prison and live a whole second life. Yeah, it is. Are you okay with that possibility? I am. We can't talk about God's grace and not be completely understanding of how it works. It's always been about the family. I mean, if they felt like it was justice, then it was justice for me. And once the Lees felt that that was justice, it gave me some relief and reprieve to know that they have that closure that they've been lacking for so long.

1:27:37And through closure, action. I'm asking for a bipartisan bill. Jay's family is now pushing for a federal law that would require tech companies to share user data with police and parents when someone under 21 goes missing. The Jay Lee Information Act. I'm hoping that this bill will allow law enforcement to reach out to any social media communication giant, making it possible that they can get some leads much faster. Jay's family is determined to keep his story and his spirit alive. And that's what Tayla did as she led the Oxford Pride Parade, holding Jay's almost life-sized picture. For victims who are members of the LGBTQIA community, what do you hope this means for them?

1:28:31I hope this means that there is some type of hope out there. Keep fighting, because justice is right around the corner. In an extraordinary statement at Tim Harrington's sentencing, the judge had something to say about that. The state of Mississippi does not have a good reputation in matters concerning this, quite frankly. I may say more than I should say, but when I heard that we'd been getting national publicity over Mr. Lee's death and the fact that he lived a lifestyle that was different from most people in Mississippi, I assume that a lot of people in this country thought that there will not be justice in this case.

1:29:22I want the world to know that Mississippi got it right this time. Mississippi did get it right this time because they didn't give up on Jay. They didn't stop fighting for Jay. and that's a beautiful moment that they did not give up.

1:29:44That's all for this edition of Dateline and don't forget to check out our Talking Dateline podcast in which we'll go behind the scenes of tonight's episode. Available Wednesday in the Dateline feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're off for the next three weeks as NBC brings you coverage of the Winter Olympic Games and Milan Cortina. So we'll see you back here February 27th at 9, 8 central time. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.

1:30:34or visit ozempic.com to view the medication guide and learn more about Ozempic semaglutide tablets, 9 milligrams, and Ozempic semaglutide injection, 2 milligrams. There's a pill version of Ozempic!