Debbie Flores: The Murder of a Showgirl // 612

Summary

Going West: True Crime

Episode 612 – Debbie Flores: The Murder of a Showgirl
Released: May 29, 2026
Hosts: Daphne Woolsoncroft & Heath Merryman

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Overview of Main Theme

This episode examines the chilling 2010 disappearance and murder of Debbie Flores Narvaez—a brilliant, ambitious Las Vegas showgirl with a promising future. Daphne and Heath break down the timeline, relationships, investigation, and legal aftermath, ultimately reflecting on how the pursuit of dreams can become entangled with tragedy. The case is presented in the context of CrimeCon in Las Vegas, tying the episode’s location to its subject.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Debbie Flores Narvaez: Background and Ambitions

• Early life: Born July 5, 1979, in Puerto Rico. Moved to Baltimore, MD at age 8. Learned English, became a cheerleader, attended Old Mill High School.
• Education & Career: Earned business and law degrees (University of Baltimore, Towson University). Worked as a financial analyst before choosing her passion—entertainment and dance.
• Las Vegas Move: Moved to pursue showgirl career against her family’s wishes. Quickly networked in the Vegas dance community.

“No one could stop her. She had made up her mind, and she wanted to give Vegas a shot.” – Daphne, (09:49)

2. Rising on the Strip & Relationships

• Big break: Landed a spot in “Fantasy” at the Luxor, a celebrated burlesque show featuring pop/R&B artist Sisqó (“Thong Song”).
• Important relationships:
  • Jameel McGee: Moved to Vegas together, relationship ended in alleged domestic violence—Debbie won a $250,000 civil suit in April 2010.
  • Jason “Blue” Griffith: Cirque du Soleil dancer from NYC, met Nov 2009, relationship began quickly but was fraught with jealousy, violence, and toxicity.

“The guy’s a player and this is something that they fought and argued about frequently. These fights would often become violent…” – Heath, (29:26)

3. Disappearance Timeline

• December 12, 2010: Scheduled final midnight rehearsal for “Fantasy.” Last seen leaving her Onyx Apartments in black outfit at 7pm, planned to watch the “Dexter” finale (season 5) at Jason’s.
• Missed rehearsal and show premiere: Prompted concern, leading roommate Sonya to file a missing person report on December 14.

“This was the last rehearsal before the show’s premiere. So this is like—it’s go time, baby... You do not miss that.” – Daphne & Heath, (14:34)

4. Search, Investigation, and First Major Clues

• Car found: Maroon 1997 Chevy Prizm, abandoned behind an empty house near the Strip, license plate removed and stashed in trunk, Debbie’s clothes, shoes, purse and dance bag inside. No immediate evidence of foul play.
• Press conference: Jason (ex-boyfriend) named as someone being questioned, but not yet a suspect. Police state “they hadn't found any evidence of foul play.” (20:45)
• Investigation turns to past abuses: Jameel McGee ruled out (alibi), focus returns to tumultuous relationship with Jason Griffith.

“In case there is an emergency with me, contact Blue Griffith in Vegas—my ex-boyfriend, not my best friend.” – Debbie, in text to mother, (32:01)

5. Toxic Relationship Profile

• Pattern of violence: Frequent, mutual jealousy; police had responded to several domestic disputes between Jason & Debbie, including bruises, tire slashing, and an arrest for battery.
• Debbie’s desire to leave: Friends saw her distancing herself and expressing fear.

6. Break in the Case: The Confession and Body Discovery

• Kalei Casorso’s tip: On January 5, 2011, Jason's former girlfriend revealed he and roommate Louie Colombo brought a large, suspicious concrete-filled plastic tub to her house, later identified as Debbie’s remains.
• Louie’s confession (in exchange for immunity):
  • Debbie and Jason fought violently at his house after Debbie came in to watch Dexter.
  • Louie saw Jason choke Debbie, left briefly, returned to find Debbie dead with a plastic bag on her head.
  • Together, they concealed the body in a plastic tub encased in concrete; after the tub cracked, Jason dismembered Debbie for easier disposal in multiple tubs.

“Louis claims that Jason alone dismembered Debbie with a handsaw, while he held a light on Debbie’s body.” – Daphne, (43:51)

7. Arrest, Trial, and Legal Outcome

• Discovery: January 6, 2011, police found two concrete-filled tubs with Debbie’s dismembered body inside an abandoned house, with U-Haul GPS and testimony corroborating the events.
• Arrest: Jason Griffith arrested January 8, 2011.
• Trial (2014): Jason testified it was self-defense during an argument spurred by Debbie allegedly telling him she was pregnant; defense argued lack of direct forensic cause of death.
  • Jason attempted to cast Debbie as an abuser.
  • Prosecution stressed disproportionate concealment efforts post-mortem.

“If Jason was innocent, or if it had been an accident and he was the victim in the situation, it was hard for them to believe that he would dismember her, entomb her body in concrete, hide it in tubs, hide her car, and lie to police about it all.” – Daphne, (46:49)

• Conviction: May 22, 2014 – Jason found guilty of second-degree murder; sentenced to 10 years to life. Remains incarcerated as of 2026.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Debbie’s drive:

  “She had made up her mind, and she wanted to give Vegas a shot.” (09:49 – Daphne)

• On missing her final opportunity:

  “This is like—it’s go time, baby. You know, you gotta be there.” (14:34 – Daphne)

• On the toxic relationship dynamic:

  “The guy's a player and this is something that they fought and argued about frequently. These fights would often become violent…” (29:26 – Heath)

• On the immunity deal:

  “What sucks is that this guy [Louie] is not gonna get charged with anything because he's got immunity.” (44:02 – Heath)

• On Jason’s continued denial:

  “To this day, Jason claims his innocence... and is still trying to put it on Louis.” (49:35 – Daphne)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 05:28 – True crime news updates (Gretchen Fleming, Alex Murdaugh, Netflix’s Crash doc)
• 06:43 – Case introduction: The disappearance of Debbie Flores
• 09:45 – 12:00 – Debbie’s ambitious background, move to Las Vegas, career highlights
• 13:03 – 15:05 – The night of her disappearance, missed rehearsal
• 18:02 – Discovery of Debbie’s abandoned car and early investigation
• 21:05 – Prior abusive relationships investigated
• 28:50 – 32:00 – Investigation refocuses on Jason “Blue” Griffith, their violent relationship
• 35:25 – Break in case: Kalei Casorso’s tip about the concrete tub
• 39:30 – 44:37 – Louie Colombo’s confession and detailed account of the crime and cover-up
• 44:37 – 46:36 – Recovery of Debbie’s remains, Jason’s arrest
• 46:36 – 48:57 – Trial highlights, defense and prosecution strategies, outcome, current status

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Additional Notes

• Debbie’s murder shook Las Vegas’s entertainment community, raising awareness about domestic violence—even among high achievers.
• The reaction to Jason’s sentencing (second-degree, 10 years to life) and his possible parole in 2030 remains a point of frustration and pain for Debbie’s family.
• The complexity of immunity deals in murder investigations is starkly illustrated here, as Louie—who helped dispose of the body—walked free.

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Overall Tone

Daphne and Heath balance respectful empathy for Debbie’s story and family with a lively, conversational tone. They express frustration and disbelief at the crime’s brutality and the subsequent legal compromises. The show is thorough yet accessible, weaving listener engagement (especially for new listeners or those attending CrimeCon) with informative storytelling.

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For more photos and updates, the hosts encourage following them on @goingwestpodcast (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok).

Transcript

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What is going on? True crime fans? I'm your host, Teeth.

[A]

And I'm your host, Daphne.

[B]

And you're listening to Going West.

[A]

Hello everybody. Today, the day that this episode comes out, we are at Crimecon in Vegas which is an annual event dedicated to all things true crime. It provides education surrounding criminal cases. So we wanted to cover a Vegas case in the spirit of our little trip. And I stumbled on this one. A story of an amazingly bright and beloved young woman. And when she was murdered, she worked as a showgirl in Las Vegas. So thank you guys for tuning in to this one. Might have some new people listening. Thank you for being here. Hopefully we will be seeing a lot of you this weekend.

[B]

Yes, and we also have some special goodies at our booth this time and we really look forward to seeing you guys there. So if you are at Crimecon, stop by the booth, come pick up some goodies and we'd love love to see and hang out. But for right now, without further ado, this is episode 612 of Going West. So let's get into it.

[A]

Before we dive into today's episode. Here is this week's rapid fire on what's hitting the news in true crime. Back in episode 460 of Going west, we discussed the suspicious disappearance of Gretchen Fleming, a 27 year old who in December of 2022, went missing from a bar in her West Virginia town after leaving with a man. And in the episode, we very much discussed our massive suspicion of said man. Well, guess what? On May 15, 2026 this month, 58 year old Preston Pierce was arrested for her murder after Gretchen's remains were found. Now, her remains were actually uncovered in Werk county back in September of 2025, but the testing took some time due to decomposition and were ultimately linked to her via genetic testing. We don't know exactly where her remains were found just yet, but after they were found to belong to her, a grand jury indicted Preston for her first degree murder, kidnapping, and for concealment of a deceased human body. More details are bound to come out soon, but right now, Preston's preliminary hearing since he was arrested in North Carolina is set for June 5th.

[B]

One of the craziest true crime updates happening right now involves Alex Murdaugh. Because despite being sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife Maggie and his son Paul back in 2021, he may actually end up getting a new trial. So after years of appeals, an appeals court recently ruled that allegations of jury tampering involving former Colleton County Clerk Becky Hill deserves a much closer look. Now, basically, several jurors claim that Becky may have made comments during the trial that actually pushed them toward a guilty verdict. And now the courts are taking those accusations seriously enough to reconsider whether Alex got a fair trial in the first place. Becky has denied intentionally influencing the jury, but the controversy surrounding her has gotten bigger over time, especially after criticism over media appearances and a book that she released after the trial. Prosecutors are still arguing the evidence against Alex was overwhelming and that the conviction should absolutely stand. But now the possibility of a retrial is very real, which could drag one of the biggest murder cases in recent memory right back into court all over again.

[A]

And finally, in True Crime tv, Netflix's newest true crime documentary, the Crash, officially dropped on May 15, 2026, and it's already become one of the platform's biggest trending documentaries. The film focuses on the controversial case of Mackenzie Shurrilla, an Ohio teenager who in 2022 crashed her car into a brick building at more than 90 miles per hour, killing her boyfriend, Dominic Russo. And his friend Davion Flanagan, while she survived. At first, investigators treated it like a tragic accident. But after looking deeper into the case, including Mackenzie's social media activity, relationship issues, and evidence prosecutors believed pointed toward intent, the entire investigation shifted into a murder case. And what's making the Netflix documentary such a huge topic right now is that it includes Mackenzie's first ever major prison interview, where she continues to insist the crash was not intentional and claims she has no memory of what happened that night. So Heath and I definitely have to watch it. It is on our list. Maybe we'll watch it this weekend at our hotel in Vegas.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

But for now, let's get into the episode. In December of 2010, a 30 year old Vegas showgirl was preparing for the final rehearsal of her first major production on the Strip when she vanished without a trace. Police reviewed surveillance footage and spotted her getting into her car and driving away, never to be seen again. But soon, tips would come in from terrified locals, some claiming she had an unknown stalker and others bringing forth one particular suspect. This is the murder of of Debbie Flores. Deborah Flores Narvaez, known as Debbie, was born in puerto Rico on July 5, 1979, to parents Elise Narvaez and Carlos Flores. But when she and her sister Celeste were still young, Debbie, about 8 years old, they moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Now, when they made the move to Maryland, they didn't speak any English, but were really excited to be in a new place and were very much welcomed by their peers, which of course made the transition easier there. Debbie eventually attended Old Mill High School, a member of the cheerleading squad, and after graduating, she headed straight to college to pursue law at the University of Baltimore, as law was a passion of hers. But she was a woman of many passions because as much as she wanted to have a strong career, she always wanted to have fun and explore more creative interests, like in entertainment and dancing. Now, as I just said, she was a cheerleader in high school because she loved to dance. She loved being a cheerleader. So in 2007, she became an ambassador for DC's NFL team, the Washington Redskins, now of course, the Washington Commanders, which meant that she helped promote and market the team at games and events. But before this, she also attended Towson University, just north of Baltimore, and earned two degrees from the two colleges she went to in business and in law. So she stayed locally near her family and friends and achieved a lot, both in school and in her ambassador role. But even after earning both of those degrees and working for a time as a financial analyst, she couldn't Ignore her need to entertain and dance. And she felt like while she was still young, she wanted to leave corporate America and explore that option because, you know, she could always use her degrees later if she chose to pursue a more formal career. And she had one place on her mind, Las Vegas, which of course, considers itself the entertainment capital of the world. Because she wanted to be a showgirl. Debbie wanted to dance and be a star on stage. And although she had such an amazing support system in her family and friends, they admittedly were all just really shocked and kind of unhappy that she chose to do this because she just spent all this time in college. And they hated the idea of her moving across the country since she had such a strong community in Baltimore. But no one could stop her. She had made up her mind, and she wanted to give Vegas a shot.

[B]

Well, in 2008, she landed her first job on the Las Vegas Strip and performed in various stage productions, meeting other dancers and just building a community in her new home. One of the people that she met early on was a fellow dancer named Jason Griffith, who went by blue, and he performed in the Cirque du Soleil shows after moving to Vegas from New York City, where he's from. They had met during a football halftime show that they were both performing at in November of 2009, and they began dating within a few months. So it was perfect. They were having fun in their budding relationship. Debbie was making friends, and she was building the career of her dreams. Then in 2010, Debbie earned her spot in a special segment for Fantasy at the Luxor Hotel. Now, this is a show that's been going on since 1999. It's known as the Strip's Sexiest Tease. And their website states, quote, it has set the gold standard for seductive entertainment on the Las Vegas strip. It's earned dozens of awards, like Best of Las Vegas and Best production. And many considered it the best burlesque show on the Strip, Especially back when Debbie landed her spot in it. Though it's still running and well rated to this day, which can be very rare for Vegas shows. I mean, there's a lot of shows that go in and out of Vegas, so it's very rare to find one that's been around for a very long time. Now, the segment of the show that she was on was with pop and R and B singer Cisco, who gained a ton of popularity in the late 90s and early 2000s. So this was a really big show for her to be dancing in. And if anybody remembers the thong song,

[A]

yeah, that's the one.

[B]

That's the one. So this was her biggest break yet and she was working so hard doing countless late night rehearsals for weeks, just giving it her all. Because if she could prove herself on this particular show, she felt that she could only go up from there. The show was set to premiere on December 13th of 2010, but on the night before the final rehearsal, Debbie mysteriously vanished.

[A]

Debbie lived with a roommate at the Onyx Apartments in Las Vegas, which is right behind the Strip. Very convenient for her. Like she was only a three minute drive from work. So that day Debbie had a rehearsal

[B]

with Cisco, the thong man.

[A]

Yeah, you know, and it's funny because by this point, you know, that song had been out for like a decade. So he hadn't come out with anything like recent that was really popping. But still, you know this, it's really about the show. The fantasy or Fantasy the show. The Fantasy show at the Luxor was really big. Sure. You know, that was like the major point for her, but it was with Cisco. So they had a rehearsal that day, like during the day, and then they had one last rehearsal later that night because the premiere was the next evening, Monday, December 13th, and it was going through December 25th. So Christmas Day. On the chilly cloudy night of Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010, Debbie left her Vegas apartment, getting into her maroon 1997 Chevy Prizm to make the short drive to work for that final rehearsal. Now, of course, Vegas is alive at all hours of the night. So that final rehearsal for her Fantasy segment was actually scheduled at midnight. But she didn't show, which was not only concerning, considering how close she was to work, but like he said, because of how dedicated she was. And again, this was the last rehearsal before the show's premiere. So this is like it's go time, baby. You know you, you gotta be there.

[B]

Yeah. You do not miss that.

[A]

So when she didn't make it in, everyone was really worried about her. And not just at work, but people in her personal life too. Her friends were looking for her, her sister, her roommate. And actually when Debbie missed the premiere of Fantasy the next night, something she never would have missed, her roommate Sonia reported her missing. That happened on Tuesday, December 14th. Now, after Sonia called 911 to report 30 year old Debbie Flores missing, police headed to their apartment for further investigation. Gathering surveillance footage from the building to piece together her last known steps. Sonia said she had last seen Debbie around 7pm on Sunday night, which matched the footage of her leaving her apartment building dressed in a nice black outfit at about 7 o' clock.

[B]

After this, Debbie's sister Celeste reached out to Sonya to learn that she had filed a missing persons report, which greatly worried Celeste, of course, not realizing that it had become so serious so fast, even though she had been trying to reach Debbie for a couple of days herself on her phone, on Facebook, but of course, to no avail. Debbie's entire family and circle were terrified, not having heard from her and especially knowing that she was somewhat new to Vegas, still having lived there for only a couple of years, and that she worked on stage, scantily dressed. You know, in their minds, they're immediately going to, does she have a stalker? Did someone do something to her? Well, according to her roommate Sonya, before Debbie was to head to work, she planned to go to her boyfriend's house again. This is Jason Blue Griffith. She said that they were going to watch Dexter together, which. Oh, my God. Yeah, our favorite show.

[A]

We love Dexter and Dexter Resurrection is the best.

[B]

Yeah. And actually that night was the season five finale, and they loved watching this show together. So they were really excited to watch

[A]

the finale, especially back when it was live on tv, you know, before streaming services were popular. They're like, we cannot miss this.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

To be sat for the Dexter season five finale.

[B]

Yeah, Dexter was popping back then. So police headed to Jason's house right there in Vegas, where he lived with his friend Lewis. And Jason said that he hadn't seen Debbie in a couple of days since that past Sunday evening. He said that she stopped by his house, but that they only chatted briefly and actually so briefly that she didn't even get out of her car. They only spoke through her car window as she sat in his driveway, and that was that. So again, they're wondering if somebody had abducted her or possibly if she had gone off on her own, maybe driven into the night due to the pressures of her job. Because at this point, they don't have her. They don't have her car. They don't have additional surveillance footage to place her anywhere else. So it was quite complicated. But quickly, a massive clue surfaced. The day after she was reported missing. On Wednesday, December 15, 2010, at 5:30pm, Debbie's maroon 1997 Chevy Prism was found abandoned.

[A]

Concerningly, her car was found parked behind an abandoned house just off the Las Vegas Strip and was only discovered when a woman who lived next door called it in. So she told police that she had noticed the car there, especially due to its bright color, because there was never a car at that house. Obviously it was abandoned. And she is so us because she says that on Tuesday, December 14, when she first noticed it, she got out her binoculars from her window and looked at the license plate, noting that it was a Maryland plate.

[B]

Yeah, we would definitely do something like that.

[A]

Yeah. Queen. But then the next day, she saw that the license plate had been removed.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. She's doing a little investigating.

[A]

I know. And this was so suspicious to her that she called it into police. Now, when they came upon the car, police popped open the trunk and found that back license plate discarded there. And it was a Maryland plate. And guess who it belonged to? 30 year old Debbie Flores. Also concerningly in the car were the black clothes and shoes that she had been wearing on her apartment building surveillance footage, as well as her purse and her work dance bag. So this quickly became a horrific discovery because Debbie was without her car, without her clothes or everyday personal belongings, and her car looks as though someone was trying to keep it hidden. So automatically a horrific scene was being painted. But at the same time, there was no crime scene in or around the car. Debbie also wasn't found inside the house that her car was left at, nor in any of the cars or houses on that street. And unfortunately, there was no surveillance footage in the area to help trace her movements after the car had gotten there. So police held a press conference the following week on December 21, to share information with the public and hopefully garner some tips. During that press conference, they gave the information that we have given thus far and opened the floor to questions, including one regarding Jason, who was referred to as her ex boyfriend. In the presser, which we will get into, you know, somebody just asked if he was a person of interest. Lieutenant Rob Lundquist of the Las Vegas Metro PD Missing Persons Unit explained that he was still in the process of being questioned. Jason was. But that they were looking at all aspects of the investigation and at anyone who was in contact with Debbie on the night she vanished. He also stated that they hadn't found any evidence of foul play, that her car was drivable, and that they were still processing evidence in the vehicle to see if anybody else had been inside.

[B]

So while they waited for tips to come in, they looked deeper into Debbie's life, and they learned that there had been a domestic violence issue with an ex boyfriend of hers. So back in Maryland, like we explained, Debbie was living in Baltimore, and of course, she met a dancer named Jameel McGee. They started dating, and she actually moved to Vegas with Jameel because he was pursuing a professional dance career as well and had been on the show so youo Think youk Can Dance. I don't know if anybody remembers that show, but it was very popular back then. Well, just a year into their Vegas move, 28 year old Debbie filed a civil lawsuit against Jameel, accusing him of physically assaulting her during an argument that they had. In the suit, Debbie claimed that Jameel kicked her in the stomach, dragged her from her car, and then beat her in his apartment. So due to the brutality of it, she, in her lawsuit, claimed that she suffered scarring to her face and body that impeded her from landing modeling and dancing jobs in Vegas, since her face and her body and what she did with it was essentially her entire job. And in April of 2010, so just eight months before she vanished, she actually won that civil suit and she was awarded $250,000. So a lot of people are looking at this and they're going, well, is that motive to want her gone? But due to it being a civil case, Jameel was not criminally prosecuted for it, and there were no medical or police reports that proved the abuse occurred. To take the case a step further. So he denied it ever happened. Well, unfortunately, the full trial records aren't publicly available, so we can't be sure how she was able to prove the incident occurred. But we can imagine that it was due to visible injuries and witness testimonies for her to receive the win and also the payout. Though Jamil's team claims that it was because they stopped fighting it. So considering the fact that this happened the same year that she disappeared, it was of major interest to investigators to speak with Jameel and get a better idea of what happened from her friends. Her friends and family, of course, knew of the entire ordeal and how afraid Debbie had been surrounding the abusive incident, as well as while the case was going on. So detectives spoke with him right away. But they quickly learned that he hadn't even been in Vegas when Debbie went missing, and he had a very strong alibi for the days surrounding her disappearance. But as police dug deeper, they found that Debbie had also reported abuse from a different man.

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With Jamil out of the picture, investigators went back to the last known person that saw Debbie, her boyfriend, 31 year old Jason Griffith. And investigators found that he and Debbie didn't have a very positive relationship. First and foremost, Debbie was interested in being serious with Jason, especially since they had been dating for about a year. But Jason didn't want to settle down, so he was playing the field a bit. He was dating Debbie, but he was also dating at least five other girls on the side, which sounds like honestly exhausting.

[B]

Yeah, the guy's a player and this

[A]

is something that they fought and argued about frequently. These fights would often become violent, leading those close to Debbie to become privy to details of how intense and unstable things were between them. The police were called many times during that year, beginning in the summer of 2010, around when Debbie's lawsuit against Jameel was coming to an end. According to Debbie, Jason was controlling and possessive, despite her being the one who wanted to settle down a bit with him. So it's like he wanted to control her, and she's like, okay, let's be together for real. And he's like, nah, like, I have other girlfriends too. Yeah, you can't really be that way.

[B]

Four or five other girls I'm seeing,

[A]

like, then don't be possessive and controlling. I don't know. It's like. It's almost like he wanted things to go exactly the way he wanted things to go. He wanted his cake and to eat it too.

[B]

That's exactly what I was gonna say.

[A]

Took the words like. Debbie had even told police when they were called to a fight of theirs once that it had started because Jason became enraged after accusing Debbie of cheating on him. Co workers and friends of Debbie remember seeing bruises on her throughout that year, wondering if they were caused by Jason. These fights would become so explosive that Debbie would become involved as well, admitting on a recording made by Jason that she had thrown things at him and slashed his tires because he was seeing other girls. So it was just overall very toxic.

[B]

Yeah, not a good relationship.

[A]

It seems like they were both very jealous of the other stepping out on them, with Debbie being the only one telling the truth about her faithfulness in the relationship. In October of 2010, Jason Griffith was even arrested for battery, domestic violence, and coercion because during an argument, he stole her phone and threw it. And when she went to pick it up, he reportedly pushed her down, pulled her hair, and then kicked her. And when police arrived at the scene, they found her with cuts and bruises and discovered a chunk of her hair. Before Debbie vanished two months later, friends took note of her apparent desire to leave Jason altogether and just her fears surrounding him. Like, on December 1st, police uncovered that she had texted her mother, saying, in case there is an emergency with me, contact Blue Griffith in Vegas. My ex boyfriend, not my best friend. And then she told her mom to keep the text for her records. So, I don't know, it's hard to know exactly what she means. Like, if she's saying Jason did it or Jason is my emergency contact. But consider she's calling him her ex boyfriend. Like, my head goes to the former.

[B]

Yeah, this kind of seems to me like it's some sort of, like, warning, just letting somebody know that, like, hey, if anything happens to me, this is the person that you should probably look at.

[A]

Right. Well, obviously, as we know, they were still seeing each other in some capacity two weeks later when she went over to his house the night she vanished. Ready for a cozy night in to watch Dexter before heading to her final rehearsal. So police began to surmise that an explosive argument had ensued about one of them wanting to end the relationship. And something horrific happened after that.

[B]

Well, the problem here was that Jason was cooperating with police and answering all their questions, but his story basically stayed the same, that Debbie had come over that night briefly. They spoke in his driveway, and then

[A]

she left, which is also weird because we know she went over there to watch a TV show. So why. Why would they have an amicable conversation and then she just left after that? It would be different if he said, we got into a huge fight and then she drove away.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Why would you have. Why would she go all the way over there just to talk to you for a few minutes and then leave and not watch the finale?

[B]

Yeah, it doesn't really make sense. But without any evidence to the contrary, they just had to keep digging elsewhere. So then police wondered if another woman Jason was seeing was jealous of Debbie and had maybe done something to her. But Jason's love life was a seriously messy web, and they had to navigate all of it. They interviewed a French dancer who was a part of Cirque du Soleil with Jason named Anges Rue because she and Jason were dating off and on. And Anges was the other woman that Jason was most serious about, other than Debbie, of course. So they hoped that she had some viable information to share. So Anya said that at the time, she and Jason were on the outskirts and that she had actually told Jason days before Debbie disappeared that she wouldn't get back together with him if he didn't break up with Debbie for good. So it seems like both Angus and Debbie wanted to be the only woman in Jason's life. Well, after this, weeks passed, and police were struggling to find any solid leads in the case. Debbie's family spent the Christmas holiday without her, terrified back in Baltimore that something awful had befallen Debbie, but they were keeping hope alive that she would be found safe. But then, on January 5, 2011, nearly a month into the investigation, another woman came forward, A previous girlfriend of Jason's named Kalei Casorso. She and Jason were still close, so what she told investigators broke the case wide open. She had been holding on to a secret for three weeks and actually had a friend reach out to police on her behalf to give them this tip.

[A]

When investigators sat down with Kalay, she explained that on Wednesday, December 15, the day Debbie's car was found, Jason, along with his roommate Lewis, who also went by Louie. I'm gonna call him Louis, came to her home with A u haul truck, asking if she could store something for him for a little while. And when she saw what the item was, she got this horrible feeling because from the back of that u haul came a large plastic tub filled with concrete. So this tub was heavy. And both men were acting incredibly strange and suspicious about it, Asking if they could keep it on her patio temporarily.

[B]

And by the way, you know, Debbie's case was all over the news by this point. So she's probably thinking, is this related to Debbie somehow?

[A]

Yeah, because she was truly making huge headlines, Especially locally. You know, she's a showgirl. The, the news stations were like, eating this up. So kalay started pressing Jason about it. And he only told her, you don't want to know. But she kept asking him again and again until finally he said, it's debbie. So horrified and confused, Kalei told jason that they weren't allowed to keep the tub at her home and asked them to leave. They closed up the u haul suspicious tub inside, and they left. Now, kalei told police that the reason she hadn't come forward with this information until then was because she was terrified, saying, if blue can do that to her, he can do it to me. So with this new tip that Jason, or blue and Louie together were responsible for Debbie's disappearance, the police looked into the u haul rental, and investigators found that on Tuesday, December 14, two days after Debbie vanished, Jason and Louie rented a van and kept it for two days. And there was surveillance footage to prove it. But naturally, Jason continued to deny involvement. So they focused their efforts on his roommate, Louie colombo. Now, Louie was 30 years old, so the same age as Jason and debbie. As far as we know, he wasn't a dancer or involved in the Vegas entertainment scene, but he was a very close friend of Jason's. Together, they lived in a two bedroom, two bath, 1100 square foot house in a fairly typical residential neighborhood in southeast las vegas, just about a 12 minute drive from Debbie's apartment. And investigators believed that in that house, Debbie was murdered and they hoped Louie would tell them about it.

[B]

So based on all of this information, police brought Louie down to the station to question him. And just like Jason, Louie was not giving up anything. They had already interviewed him by this point, and he claimed that he didn't know anything about where debbie was or what had happened to her, and he was just sticking to his story. But detectives had been piecing together Jason and Louis movements, Especially with learning about that rented u haul truck, the giant concrete filled tub, and the strange behavior that kalay and others in their circle had described. So police leaned even harder on Louis, and eventually he broke after police offered him immunity. I mean, they flat out told him that he would not be charged in the case if he came clean about what he knew. Because at that point, police worried that they wouldn't be able to land a conviction for Jason otherwise because they just didn't have enough evidence. And time was of the essence.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, obviously that's gotta be such a tough situation if you believe that Louis is involved and that he committed a horrific crime, and you're basically saying, well, you're free to walk the streets if you tell us what happened. That's a tough decision to come to, but one that they really didn't have a choice but to come to.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, it's either that or there's just no justice in this case because they had just enough information to tell them that Louis knew something. So in exchange for immunity, Louis reluctantly told them that on the night Debbie vanished, he and Jason had been drinking at their house and hanging out when she came over to watch Dexter. And she didn't stay outside in the driveway like Jason said, she came inside and they all hung out. Well, at one point in the night, Jason and Debbie began arguing about their relationship, with Debbie still wanting to be with Jason and Jason not giving her enough of him. And according to Louis, things became violent. He claimed he witnessed Jason choking Debbie during that fight. And shortly afterwards, Louis left the house as he needed to bring his daughter to his ex wife's house, hoping that everything would calm down between Debbie and Jason. But when he returned, he saw Debbie's body on the floor with a plastic bag over her head. And Jason was absolutely panicking. Jason told him that after he had left the house, he continued to choke Debbie until she eventually fell unconscious. And hoping that she wasn't dead, he put this plastic bag over her head to see if she was still breathing, you know, to see if the bag would move. But she wasn't anymore. 30 year old Debbie Flores was dead.

[A]

You know, and I gotta wonder if he really wanted to see if she was breathing or he just wanted to cover her face because he didn't want to look at her.

[B]

Yeah, it could have been that. Or it also could have been that he just wanted to finish the job.

[A]

Right. Well, instead of calling police, Louis tried to calm Jason down, who was spiraling. Like he said, he's totally panicking, saying that if police found her, his life and career would be over. So they hatched a plan. Dispose of her body and cover up the crime completely. They temporarily concealed her body inside the house for the next day while they figured out what the hell they were going to do, spending the next two days buying storage tubs, bags of concrete, and renting the U Haul. Louis himself disposed of Debbie's car as Jason had instructed him to drive it somewhere inconspicuous so it couldn't be linked to them. And then returning the next day to remove the license plate, though forensically it hasn't been publicly released. If major forensic evidence tying him to the vehicle itself was ever found, you know, if Louis fingerprint or other DNA was at the driver's seat, etc. Well, as you can imagine, Louis described the concealment process as chaotic and gruesome, stating that their hope was that if they placed her body in a massive plastic tub and poured concrete over her, that the remains would be difficult to discover due to the concrete covering up the odor and signs of decomposition. But little did they know, concrete doesn't do that. Especially when so little is being used to fill the remaining space in a plastic tub that is already filled with a body. And the tub itself is plastic. It's not like they dug a six foot hole in the ground and then put a gazebo over her. Like, this is not going to work. But they didn't realize that until they were already knee deep in it. Louis said that the first tub cracked while they attempted to move it because it was too heavy. So that forced Jason to come up with another plan, which included dismembering Debbie so he could fit her body into multiple containers and move them more easily. Louis claims that Jason alone dismembered Debbie with a handsaw while he held a light on Debbie's body.

[B]

That's so gruesome.

[A]

Yeah. And he just said he looked away like, as if that makes it any better. Oh, you weren't looking, but you're holding the light for him.

[B]

And what sucks is that this guy is not gonna get charged with anything because he's got immunity.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. So once he was done, Jason scattered her remains amongst multiple plastic tubs and filled them with concrete. So this brings us back to Kalay's claims that they tried to store a tub at her home because they were hoping to place the tubs at different locations. But when she refused to take part in it, they moved the tubs again, this time to a vacant house in Las Vegas.

[B]

On January 6, 2011, at 10am, Louis Colombo led investigators to a small abandoned house in East Las Vegas, where inside they found two Tubs containing Debbie's dismembered body after they chipped away at the concrete around her. And two days later, based on Louis confession, Kalay's tip, the GPS data found on the U Haul truck that Jason and Louie used, proving that the U haul had traveled to the very spots mentioned. On January 8, 2011, police finally arrested Jason Griffith for Debbie Flores murder. Now, unfortunately, the Clark county coroner actually couldn't determine an official cause of death due to decomposition as well as dismemberment, which became an issue for the prosecution as they built their case against Jason. Because this gave the defense the opportunity to argue that Debbie's death had been accidental and not an intentional murder. So during Jason's trial in 2014, he took the stand in his own defense to paint the picture that he claimed to be true. That he and Debbie had gotten into a violent argument after she told him that she was pregnant. And also that he needed to stop seeing other girls. Though it is worth noting that there's no actual evidence that she was pregnant, so we really can't be sure. He claimed that as the fight escalated, Debbie struck him in the face and went to her purse with Jason, believing that she was fetching a gun to shoot him with. So he came up behind her and he strangled her. But that after she stopped struggling and they were both on the floor, that he released her, expecting that she would get up. But she didn't. Jason admitted that he helped hiding her body, but instead tried to place the brunt of the dismemberment and disposal on his roommate, Louis Colombo.

[A]

Right.

[B]

During his testimony, Jason painted Debbie as a relentless stalker and abuser. Playing the recording that we described earlier, where Debbie admitted to slashing his tires after an argument.

[A]

Jason's defense team also argued that there was no direct forensic proof showing how Debbie had died, and instead pointed to Louis changing statements and immunity deal as reasons not to trust him. But. But the prosecution stayed strong in their own reasonings that if Jason was innocent, or if it had been an accident and he was the victim in the situation, it was hard for them to believe that he would dismember her, entomb her body in concrete, hide it in tubs, hide her car, and lie to police about it all. Well, ultimately, after nine days of testimony and 14 hours of deliberations, on May 22, 2014, 34 year old Jason Blue Griffith was found guilty of second degree murder in Debbie Flores death. And in July, he was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison, which was all the judge could offer. Unfortunately, despite how horrific this crime and cover up was. So, of course, Debbie's family was devastated by this and has continued to fight to keep him locked up for what he did to their sister and daughter, which is part of why his August 2016 appeal to overturn his conviction was denied, as was his appeal in 2020. So to this day, over 15 years after murdering Debbie Flores, he remains incarcerated at the High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, Nevada. But he will be eligible for parole next in January of 2030 when he turns 50 years old. Thank you so much, everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.

[B]

Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode, this very special Vegas episode. If you are in Vegas, come by our booth, come say hi to us, get some goodies. We're gonna have some really cool things for you guys that we're gonna be giving out.

[A]

Yes. And thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. If you want to see photos for it and photos of what we're up to this weekend, head on over to our socials. We're on Instagram @goingwest podcast. We're also on Facebook and we're on TikTok. So go check all that out. God, this case, I can't believe I hadn't heard of it before until I just randomly stumbled upon it online. I know, it was like, vegas case.

[B]

It's so disturbing.

[A]

It's so disturbing and horrific. I mean, to this day, Jason claims his innocence in trying to intentionally murder her and again is still trying to put it on Louis. He's trying to act like he should get out of prison because he's a model prisoner and he's working every day and just putting her family through hell. So, yeah, thanks for coming on this ride with us. Hopefully we'll see some of you this weekend and otherwise we will see you on Tuesday for a freaking crazy case.

[B]

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