[Music] So, I woke up that morning and you was you were thinking about this. It would, you know, I guess I was thinking about it how I was going to get out of this. What was I going to do, right? Yeah. And um, you know, because I'd already given her the check, so I didn't I didn't know what else to do. Okay. which was of course the wrong thing to think of. I've never done anything like this in my life. Yes, sir. Now, whenever you bought the bat from Walmart, was that your intention on using that bat against her? I don't know. At the time, I was I was thinking maybe yes, maybe no. Okay, if you You guys have purchased a raffle ticket for Edge of Paradise baseball. Go ahead and pull your tickets out now cuz Vicki is going to draw a number and somebody is going to win. That was somebody is going to win either a facial or a massage from Edge of Paradise Day Spa. Thank you, Vicki. Destin, Florida, nestled in the panhandle, is renowned for its beaches and golf courses, drawing visitors from near and far. This picturesque setting was home to Vicky Edge. Born to Mayo and Willow Edge in April 1961, Vicki grew up in Fort Walton Beach, graduating from Chakahhatchee High School in 1979 before earning a bachelor's in marketing from the University of West Florida. Vicki built a reputation as a highly dependable esthetician, eventually opening her own business, the Edge of Paradise Day-Spa. By 2020, 59-year-old Vicki had achieved many of her life goals, running a successful business, raising her son, spending time with close friends, and enjoying the company of her beloved dog, Buddy. Despite Buddy's loyalty and the joy he brought her, Vicki yearned for human companionship and turned to online dating. She matched with 61-year-old Jerry Odum, a 6'3 former karate instructor. Their first date gave Vicki Butterflies as Jerry's charm and apparent financial stability excited her about their future together. The relationship progressed rapidly. Jerry even got a tattoo of Vicky's name on his arm and within 4 months they were planning to get married. Although the CO 19 pandemic prevented her family from meeting Jerry, Vicki eagerly embraced this new chapter, telling her brother Derek, "I met someone pretty good." Jerry promised they would settle down in a lakehouse in Defoniac Springs after the wedding. To show his commitment, Jerry cut Vicki a check for $15,000 to cover wedding expenses, and they began looking at homes in the $260,000 range. Around July 24th, 2020, Vicki left her home in Destin to visit Jerry in Milton, as she had done on previous occasions. While spending time together, Jerry continued his daily routine, chatting with neighbors and purchasing an aluminum baseball bat at Walmart during the week of August 1st. But by August 7th, Vicky's relatives had become deeply concerned, having received no return calls or texts from her in 48 hours. Two days of complete silence felt like an eternity. In desperation, they tracked Jerry's address and visited his home in Milton unannounced. The scene that greeted them was unsettling. Vickiy's car was in the driveway, but someone had removed the license plate, and they could hear Vickiy's dog barking furiously from inside Jerry's house. With hearts pounding, they called the police, fearing the worst. 7:31 p.m. 54 seconds. Yes, ma'am. I need a deputy to come out at a home over here. Um, and she hasn't been heard of in almost 48 hours and we're trying to get in the house. Um, we know we just spoke to a neighbor over here and they said they just saw her boyfriend walk up and down the street about 30 minutes ago and we're just concerned about her well-being. And this is where she lives. This is where her boyfriend lives. And your sister your sister-in-law is in a home. Well, yes, ma'am. It's a residential house right here. And this is her boyfriend. And like I said, she I mean, she's an esthetician at a spa. She had several clients today, didn't call in. Um, nobody talked to her yesterday or today. She's not returning any phone calls, texts, anything. Just been, you know, radio silence for almost 48 hours. Okay. So, is this where she lived, the vendo? No, ma'am. This is this is just her the boyfriend's house. So, she lives in a residential home. She hasn't been seen or heard from in two days. So, you came to the boyfriend's house? Yes, ma'am. Now, when you say resident, like she like she's not in like a facility or anything. I mean, she's got you mean by residential home. She was telling me now she lives in Dustin. Yes, ma'am. Vicki lives in Dustin and she's over here visiting her boyfriend. She's been here for the last couple days. I believe her vehicle's out here. Her dog's inside barking. Um I'm Nikki. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. Well, I'm in the front of the police right now trying the dogs in there. That's that's her car and the the neighbor here said they just saw the man out of the dog walking about 30 minutes ago and he didn't answer the door. So, do y'all you need any other information from me? Yeah, I need lots. Hold on just a minute. I'm nowhere near through. Give me just a minute. Okay. There is Derek right there. if y'all want to call on I mean at this Okay. Okay. They said something too like I've spoke to several friends and one of them just told me that he does have an like alcohol drinking problem or something and can get very um confrontational and things. Okay. Did you report your sister missing and destined? Um, my one of her co-workers reported her this morning, I believe. Okay. Where's the sister's car? Her car is in the driveway right here with the other where the boyfriends were at. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Over the past 48 hours, a series of suspicious events had alarmed Vickiy's loved ones. Staff at her business notified a family member that Vicki had failed to show up for work, missed client appointments, and hadn't distributed paychecks to her employees. Concerned, the police conducted a welfare check at Vickiy's home, but officers failed to make contact. Determined to find answers, Vickiy's brother, Derek, tracked down an address for Jerry. When he arrived, he knocked on the doors and windows, but received no response. Noticing the commotion, a neighbor approached him and said, "Jerry just called me. We were shooting the [ __ ] so he's definitely in there." Persisting in his efforts, Derek continued knocking on doors and windows and even shut off the central air conditioning condenser unit outside the house. In response, Jerry called 911 to report a possible prowler. 7:37 p.m. 27 seconds. Sheriff's office emergency. I got somebody banging at my door. Okay. Can you see who it is? Uh, no. I don't know who it is. It's somebody banging at my door. Okay. Like a guy and girl. Okay. Are they trying to get into your house or they just knocking on your door? They're just buying and buying and buying. I don't know what they want. So, how long have they been there? About 10 minutes. Okay. Is there anybody in the house with you? Uh, no, ma'am. Okay. Okay. Apparently, um, she's trying to make contact with you about her sister-in-law. Oh, yeah. She Yeah, she's my sister-in-law. Yeah. Yeah. So, could you go because that's going to be her because she's calling us seeing if we can come get you to come answer the door. Yeah. Well, I I I don't know where she is. I don't I mean I don't want to talk to him. I mean I mean I'd like you to come get rid of them. I mean Okay. So, you don't want to talk to her? No. Even though it's about And it's your sister-in-law or her sister-in-law? No, it's not my sister-in-law. Okay. Is that your girlfriend then? Uh, yes. Okay. So, you don't want to talk to to her about your girlfriend? No. I'm not like that. I don't know where she's at. Okay. Well, we have Okay. Well, why they're banging on your door? Cuz they're trying to talk to you about it. So, if you just just stay in your house and not have a deputy on the way. Okay. Okay. I'll, you know, um, I'll come out when it gets to you. Okay, that's fine. Thank you. Okay. All right. Thank you. [Music] Police arrived at Jerry's house at 7:42 p.m. and asked Jerry to step outside. When Jerry finally answered the door, an officer asked, "Is Vicki inside?" Jerry replied with a whisper that sent chills down their spines. "She's been deceased for 2 days. He then stated he would not answer further questions without a lawyer and mentioned an aggressive dog inside the house. Jerry was promptly detained in the patrol car as officers awaited the arrival of animal control. Once Buddy was safely taken into custody, the officers swept the premises. Inside the house, they found Vicki lying on the living room floor, her body entirely covered by a pink and white striped comforter. A large pool of blood had formed beneath her head. An officer checked for a pulse and finding none declared her deceased. The gravity of the situation sank in as the officers notified the homicide unit and crime scene technicians. An autopsy later determined Vickiy's cause of death to be blunt force injuries to the head with esphyxiation and the manner of death was homicide. Items collected by crime scene technicians included a bloodstained aluminum baseball bat, red tennis shoes with blood, and a revolver with five cartridges from inside the center console of Vickiy's vehicle. While in the patrol car, Jerry told an officer that he wanted to speak to someone at the jail about what happened. He was transported to the Santa Rosa County Jail where he was subjected to interrogation. Good morning, sir. Take a left. Take a left of that first door right there. Take them cuffs off of you. Open your hands up like that. [Music] Mr. Jerry, my name is Jason Yoder. I'm a detective with the sheriff's office here. How are you doing today? Well, not too good, sir. Not too good. Okay. Um the deputy, my understanding, read your Miranda rights. Is that correct? Yes, sir. He did. Do you know and understand those rights? Yes, sir. Um with those rights being in mine, do you do you want to do you wish to speak with me? Uh, yes. I I I'd be willing to talk. Okay. Okay. Mr. Jerry, is that what you go by? You go by Jerry? Yes, sir. Okay. Um, well, tell me a little bit about what happened. Um, what happened today? Well, it was basically yesterday's when it happened and um she was getting ready to leave. Now, when you say she, you're talking about girlfriend, Miss Vicki. Vicki. Okay. Miss Vicki. She getting ready to leave. And um I guess this all started a long time ago. Uh I got divorced about a year ago and I had $50,000 in the bank and I had my truck and I I haven't paid my taxes in about 16 years. So I guess basically I was going broke, you know. So Okay. And um we started dating each other and it was at the beginning of May and you know she started talking about getting married and you know one thing led to another and and she was talking about wanting to get a house and I was just agreeing to it even though I didn't have the money to do it realistically. Yes, sir. And u new cars and that sort. And uh I guess I didn't know how to get out of it. And then uh that's what pre precipitated what happened yesterday. Okay. Um she was getting ready to leave and um I uh told her that I had another surprise for her, but and she put this blanket over her head and I had a baseball bat and I I hit her with it. Okay. And then u a couple of times and then um she said, you know, why are you doing this? And I I guess it was all precipitated with all this, you know, I I didn't have the money to pay for it. I guess I had no I had no way to get out of it. I didn't know what else to do, you know, and um so um she uh started to scream and I um put a choke hold on her until she went to the ground and I I choked her after that. Okay. The calm and open manner in which Jerry Odum recounted the grizzly details of the murder is remarkable. His unflinching demeanor was chilling as he meticulously explained how he committed the act and why he felt compelled to do so. It was as if he were recounting an ordinary event, the weight of his confession magnified by his unsettling composure. Several psychological and situational factors generally drive such confessions. Feelings of guilt and remorse often drive individuals to confess as they seek psychological relief from the heavy burden of their actions. A perpetrator's need to control the narrative of their crime may also compel them to be forthcoming. Additionally, the desire for attention, whether positive or negative, and the hope for leniency often play crucial roles. Furthermore, no matter how terrible their crimes are, some criminals still see themselves as good people with strong moral and religious beliefs, which can push them to take responsibility for their actions. So, you guys, you have been dating about 3 months since May or 3 4 months, somewhere in that time frame. Mhm. She wanted to get married. Mhm. Get a house. Yes. Just you know what married couples do. Um you and you knew that you couldn't afford that. I I knew basically I couldn't afford it. I was just kind of going along with the ride. I thought maybe it would end beforehand, but it just it just I kept getting deeper and deeper into the relationship and I didn't know how to get out of it. Okay. So, Okay. Do you know about what time that was yesterday when all that went on? um about 10:30 in the morning. Okay. I'm going to take a few notes cuz I I forget what we talked about. Now, you said she was she was getting ready to leave. Mhm. Where was she going to uh work? She owns a a hair and nail salon, I think, or something like that. Where she does facials? No, facials and massages. Okay, I got you. And Destin. Okay. So, this is this happened Thursday. Thursday morning. Uh, Thursday morning. Okay. Yesterday morning. Had you thought about this before? I guess I did. I thought maybe this might be an end result, you know, because I mean, I I went down and I bought the baseball bat, so um from Walmart. Okay. Sometime back I just like I say I was just getting deeper and deeper in a hole and I didn't know how to get out of it. Right. Um then one thing led to another. Okay. And which Walmart did you go to to buy the bed? The one at um Milton. Okay. You remember what? Do you remember when you bought that bat? Um, I don't know. Maybe a week before. Okay. So, last week sometime. I got you. Have you had you been thinking about doing this since then? Since since last week or before that? It kind of crossed my mind, I guess. Yes. Okay. Tell me about yesterday morning when you when y'all whenever you woke up whenever you and her well we woke up she was getting ready and I I didn't know what I was going to do you know basically um and um I had um you know she'd been making plans to um for a wedding and and all that to have a u wedding planner and I gave her a check for $15,000 of course which I didn't have to cover and um you know I guess that's what led into this too. I didn't know what else to do but um you know I probably got about $2,000 in the bank right when did you give her the check? Was that yesterday? Um, I gave it to her Wednesday. Okay. How long How long had she been staying at your house? How long? How many days? She she got uh she um contracted COVID back at the um 1st of um maybe maybe before the end of June. We went out on my birthday on June 23rd and we were around a bunch of people in Destin have any mask, right? And um we went on a boat and within about three or four days she was sick and she stayed with me for about 2 and 1/2 weeks after that. Okay. So So she'd been staying at your house for for a while. For a while. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And she fortunately I didn't get it. I took a test and I tested negative. Okay. Okay. So, I woke up that morning and you was you were thinking about this. It was Yeah, I guess I was thinking about it how I was going to get out of this. What was I going to do, right? Yeah. And um you know, because I'd already given her the check, so I didn't I didn't know what else to do. Okay. which was of course the wrong thing to think of. I've never done anything like this in my life. Yes, sir. Now, whenever you bought the bat from Walmart, was that your intention on using that bat against her? I don't know. At the time, I was I was thinking maybe yes, maybe no. I don't know. I mean, I got you. Okay. So, go with I had guns in the house, but I, you know, I didn't want to go that route. Why not? I don't know. I guess I I guess the noise with the neighborhood and Sure. and the the mess. I don't I don't know. I I didn't want to, you know, it's it's like after it was all over, I felt bad about it and I I covered her up um about what I'd done. Sure. You're a human being. Yeah. Human beings have feelings. Yeah. Y'all got up, ate breakfast. Mhm. She was going about her daily routine, getting her stuff loaded up in her truck, back up, getting dressed, getting ready to go. Okay. Then um walk me through from that point in in in detail as much as you can. Well, uh, from that point, you know, and she was getting ready to go and then I I told her I had her another surprise and and she put the cover over her head and and I hit her in the back of the head with a baseball bat. Okay. So, she she put a she put a cover over her head. Yeah. And and so she came up and she was like, "Why are you doing this?" And then and I struck her a few more times and uh then she began to scream and after that I started choking her till we went to the ground and I finished choking her. Okay. How many times you think you hit her with the with the bat? Several four or five times. Four or five times. Okay. But she was still alive after after those strikes with the bat. Yes, I think so. Yes. How did you grab her whenever you you choke her to the ground? I I grabbed her from behind over and I could show um I trained martial arts so I knew what to do. Yes, sir. And then when she was on the ground, then I used my hands and then then after that I used the bat to choke her. Okay. So you first first start out with with with your hands. Show me show me how you hand. Okay. Then I use the bad. Okay. So she was she laying uh she was laying flat on the floor. Prone on the floor. Was she laying face up or face down? Face up. Okay. Was she saying anything at that point at all to you or Okay. Just kind of gurgling. Okay. You know, one of my brothers was a criminal lawyer and he'd be telling me now not to say a thing to you, but he he he passed away two years ago. But, you know, I I feel in the long run it's best to get things off your chest. Yes, sir. I I feel the same way. You know, like I said, I never thought at 61 I'd be sitting here and I be the end of the road in my life, but here I am. Yes, sir. I didn't expect it when the relationship started and it was just like a snowball going downhill, right? Okay. Did you guys have any like like I mean obviously the financial problem, but y'all have any kind of other problems with each other with ever? It seemed to get along pretty good, you know. She just I I She just kept pushing this marriage thing and I kept going along with it. I I I don't know. I mean, I was in love with her, but you know, I I I didn't want to say no. And then, you know, then one thing that one time she wanted me to go down to look at a ring and I thought, well, maybe I'm like a,000 or $2,000 ring and she picks out this $14,000 ring and I'm like, oh, okay. you know, I didn't have the money to get it. That's an expensive ring. Yeah, it was an expensive ring. And then she wanted to get a house on the lake for $265,000 and get it fixed and pay for a wedding planner and get a lot of money. I I did have a lot of money at one time. I was a millionaire at one time, but I I lost it. Uh I made some bad real estate deals. I owned a a repair shop and I owned a I own a Chevron and they went bankrupt. So, oh my goodness. So, I mean, you know, I I' I've had everything and then lost it all. So, well, you're doing the right thing. I'm I'm sorry for the family. got anything else? Miss Jerry, you probably know we got a lot of work to do. So, we're going going to get out of here and get to work. Okay. Um, they have my numbers in here. If you get back there and if there's something else you want to talk to me about, you just tell them you want to talk to that detective again and I will be Tell me your first name again. Jason. Jason. Yod. Yes, sir. I'm the only one here, so they'll they'll know who you're talking about. Just a good looking baldheaded guy. They'll know who you're talking about. Well, listen. Jerry, I appreciate you coming in and talking with me and being as honest with me as you can. I really appreciate that. I can think of anything else. I'll let you know. Yes, sir. I' I'd appreciate it. Okay. Okay, Mr. Terry, thanks, sir. Best of luck to you, sir. All right, we're going to go around across here. All right, I'll meet you in the car. Okay. [Music] Jerry was booked following the interview and charged with first-degree murder. With the overwhelming evidence, the case against Jerry ODM moved quickly through the Florida criminal court system. On Friday, February 5th, 2021, just six months after the horrific incident, Jerry plead guilty to first-degree premeditated murder. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison, ensuring justice was served for Vicky Edge and her loved ones. Hey, hey, hey.