What does it mean?

     The title of this blog means exactly what it says, I like to mop (or do any kind of housework) while listening to murder. That can be a podcast, audiobook, or just the ID channel blaring throughout the house. My current favorite is a podcast called, "My Favorite Murder" it is the only reason my floors stay semi-clean and is definitely the only reason I walk on the treadmill every day. The irony that murder fuels my life is not lost on me, by the way. I don't feel like I am alone in this, in fact, I know there are tons of true crime loving moms that take a dip in the murder pool every chance they get. Look around you. You see a woman with headphones in while her kid plays soccer with your kid? She is probably listening to murder. See the woman reading on her Kindle? Probably a murder mystery.  I also believe my obnoxious blaring of the ID channel is the very thing that prevents  Jehovah's Witnesses from knocking on my door in an attempt to convert me. They figure I'm too demented to join them or that I am in the midst of getting murdered. They just know there are screams coming from my house. I spend a lot of my life with murder. 

     Okay, so let's get to why I started this blog. I am from a small town called Greeneville, TN. It is mountains and farmers and the epitome of "The Bible Belt"   Murders happen there, not often, but they do occur, and instantly everyone becomes a murder sleuth, myself included. I think this is normal, what might not be normal, is the extent that I have taken it to this time around. I am currently writing a true crime novel about a murder that happened in Afton, Tn. There has been a conviction and a life sentence plus twenty-five years handed to Vonda Star Smith of Afton, TN for the murder of Jessie Nicole Morrison, she was from Rogersville, TN but lived in Greeneville at the time of her death. She was four months pregnant and found on the side of a remote, narrow road in Afton called "Jud Neal Loop" by an elderly man walking his dog at 7:30pm on August 12, 2016. Vonda is the grandmother of Jessie's oldest son, who was 3 at the time of her murder.

   When it first happened, I friend requested anyone that was connected to the victim that I could locate on Facebook. I snooped and went through tons of photographs that Jessie had been tagged in and it broke my heart. She was 21 at the time of her murder. A mother of two boys and another child on the way. It upset me then but I didn't become as consumed as I am now.

     Flash forward to 2017, when Vonda was officially arrested for the murder. I became interested in the case again because now we had a suspect, that was exciting to me. I tried looking into her but she had no online presence that I could find so again, the case crawled into a dark corner of my mind and took a long nap there. Life goes on, after all. I have a family that I have to devote a LOT of attention to so when it fell from the public interest, it fell from mine as well. I had that luxury, unlike her poor family.
     Then in May 2018, the trial started. It lasted 4 days. I shit you not, 4 days. I mean, I'm no lawyer but that seems awfully quick considering the evidence that was presented often raised more questions than answers, in my opinion. I did look into it, and apparently, that isn't outside the norm in everyday murder cases but then came the Reddit posts. I was hooked, I have no lies to tell. One of my friends posted a link to the Reddit and I felt so compelled that Vonda was innocent. The things they were saying, the direction they were leading me with their storytelling. I believed them, but I have always questioned everything and that is how my research and investigation into this case started. I expected to find myself fighting to prove Vonda was innocent, but that gave way to me just wanting to find out facts that were unbiased. It turns out the Reddit/Tumblr authors are related to Vonda and seemed to be swimming in a deep pool of conspiracy and fear. Maybe there is a reason to be afraid, but I won't let it stop me from searching for truth.
     Before anyone assumes or tries to interpret my feelings for me I will go ahead and state that I do NOT think Vonda is innocent. If you feel she is, fine and great, but I would encourage you to put in the work and search for all the truth, not just the information that has been handed out previously.  Check for yourself, after everything I have found, I can't see how anyone could consider her innocent. I will say this though if I find anything that proves otherwise, I am not glued to my opinion. I will change it if provided evidence that would merit a change. I do think someone else, at least one other person was involved. I don't think Vonda is physically capable of doing what was done to Jessie on her own. This is my opinion though, I want to make sure everyone knows that. Even though it is my opinion, from what I have seen so far from the case, I am unsure how the jury found her guilty of first-degree murder but I digress. I think she had a hand in it, I think she may have even directed it, but I don't think the state proved that she committed the murder.  I will discuss this more in the next post if there seems to be enough interest to merit the next post.  I will try to add to this every day if I can, I'm sure I will falter on that at times but I do research/work on this case every single day. I will provide updates on that in this blog, so subscribe if you want to know when I post such things. If you know someone that is interested in this case, share this with them if you want to.
Until next time...