Real Life Real Crime | What Happened To Jackie, Part 3 (Remastered)

Host: Woody Overton
Date: December 26, 2025
Podcast: Real Life Real Crime

Episode Overview

In this riveting and emotionally harrowing third installment of “What Happened To Jackie,” Woody Overton brings listeners deep into the darkest corners of a baffling, tragic case that left both detectives and the victim’s family without closure or true justice. Drawing from his own experience as the case investigator, Woody recounts the twists, missed opportunities, and heart-wrenching outcomes that defined Jackie’s case—from the initial investigation, through disturbing medical discoveries, all the way to a courtroom battle and the final, devastating aftermath.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recap of the Case Status and Investigative Challenges

• Woody starts by clarifying where the case left off previously: Boudreaux had confessed to sexual battery, but not to the physical injuries evident on Jackie.
• Critical issues arose due to an emergency room doctor’s refusal to allow detectives access to Jackie—or to photograph her—for crucial initial documentation.
  • Woody: "That emergency room doctor locked us out of the room...he stated she had no injuries...He just lied to us..." (05:25)

2. A Disturbing Discovery at the Hospital

• Days after the arrest, Woody and his partner Chuck are summoned by the ICU doctor, who reveals alarming findings:
  • A “perfectly round hole” at the base of Jackie’s skull, previously hidden by her thick hair, with “free air” (air not entering via natural passages) detected inside her head.
  • The doctor believes it to be an injection site, but not from a standard needle—rather, something larger.
  • Woody recalls seeing a "Cajun injector" syringe, used for marinating turkeys, in Boudreaux’s kitchen—a tool likely consistent with the wound’s size.
  • Woody: "The first thing that didn't pop into my mind is that second drawer to the left of the kitchen sink. The Cajun injector syringe...it's a big ass needle. It's stainless steel and hollow. It's made to push massive amounts of liquid through..." (12:45)

3. Toxicology & Potential Motive for Murder

• The same doctor shares another bombshell: Jackie’s toxicology report showed not only a mix of barbiturates and benzodiazepines but also unusually high levels of acetone—an industrial solvent used in paint remover and nail polish.
• Woody links this finding to a can of acetone found at the crime scene.
  • Woody: "I'm thinking, now, you know, she's got this injection site...somebody injected her in the back of the neck with acetone...thinking that they would never find that site to kill her..." (16:37)
• There is consensus among the investigators that few would voluntarily ingest such a substance, raising foul play suspicion.

4. Case Stalls and Evidence Difficulties

• Woody and team are instructed to secure the acetone can for forensic analysis, but when they return to Boudreaux’s home, the can is gone.
• A discussion among investigators turns to the near-impossibility of definitively tying the syringe or the acetone to Jackie’s cause of death, given the absence of direct physical evidence and the loss of critical time/opportunity from initial hospital access refusal.
• Woody laments the procedural and medical missteps that severely weakened the case.
• Woody: "This case just couldn't be any more bizarre or stranger than it already is. Now, you know we have the sexual battery...but Jackie still wasn't dead, and we're at a standstill..." (30:24)

5. Courtroom Drama: Motion to Suppress

• The defense, led by the formidable attorney Wayne Stewart, attempts to exclude Boudreaux’s confession by arguing improper police procedure and violation of rights.
  • Stewart employs a “fact-finding mission” style cross-examination, seeking contradictions—especially about Jackie’s initial lack of documented injuries and subsequent emergence of 57 distinct marks.
  • Woody firmly maintains procedure was followed and pushes Stewart to play the actual confession tape.
  • Woody: "The one thing that can't get twisted around Mr. Wayne, well, like you're trying to do is the truth. And that tape is the truth. Play it." (1:02:50)
• Ultimately, after hearing Woody’s testimony and before the tape is played in open court, Stewart withdraws the motion, but not before sowing doubt and securing advantageous notes for his client’s defense.

6. Jackie’s Long Suffering and Death

• Jackie lingers for nine excruciating months in a vegetative state before passing away.
• Woody poignantly describes viewing Jackie’s emaciated body during the autopsy, haunted by the contrast between vibrant life and her final state—bedsores, extreme weight loss, hardly recognizable.
  • Woody: "She didn't even look like a human being...There’s literally not a piece of meat on this girl's body...just absolutely heartbreaking..." (1:09:30)
• The pathologist, though thorough, is unable to certify her death as a homicide due to the passage of time, medical ambiguity, and lack of direct evidence:
  • Woody: "[The pathologist] said, 'I can't tell you if the hole in the back of the neck killed her...I can't call it a homicide...There just isn’t enough proof...'" (1:12:15)

7. Justice Denied: Plea Deal and Reflection

• With no homicide charge possible, Boudreaux is allowed to plead down to “attempted sexual battery,” serving only five years’ probation.
  • Woody (to defense attorney): "'You motherfucker.' He said, 'Hey, man, it's the job...they never get a murder charge out of us...'" (1:13:40)
• Woody reflects on how the failure of systems—medical, procedural, forensic—and the indifference, or miscalculations, of individual actors combined to deny Jackie justice.
• The episode closes with Woody’s honest, lingering sense of injustice, recognizing some cases never get solved—or closure.
  • Woody: "So here’s the answer to what happened to Jackie. The answer is we’ll never know." (1:14:15)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the emotional toll:
  "I guess I just bury [the bad cases] down in my mind and don't think about them...I hadn't thought about Jackie in a long time..." (1:11:45)

• On system failures:
  "If we’d seen her in that emergency room—photographed those bruises and scratches—it would have been different. But we didn’t. And that’s what cost this case." (paraphrased summary throughout)

• On defense tactics:
  "Wayne Stewart...he's a shrewd little fucker when it came to court. And he was really, really good. I wasn't intimidated by him..." (28:53)

• On the case outcome:
  "He got five years probation for admitting to all the stuff that I told you...Jackie died...her body just quit. And I don't know..." (1:13:44)

Key Segment Timestamps

• [04:15] — Case Recap & Status
• [10:35] — ICU Doctor Calls for Meeting & Discovery of “Free Air”
• [13:20] — Discovery of Injection Site
• [16:37] — Toxicology Report: High Acetone
• [22:05] — Investigative Plan: Secure Acetone Evidence
• [28:53] — Courtroom: Meet Defense Attorney Wayne Stewart
• [38:50] — Motion to Suppress: Defense Cross-Examines Woody
• [53:58] — Testimony on Initial Lack of Injury Documentation
• [58:50] — Woody Calls for the Tape: “Let’s Play It”
• [1:09:00] — Jackie’s Autopsy & Pathologist’s Conclusions
• [1:12:15] — Cause of Death Unclear, No Homicide Ruling
• [1:13:44] — Boudreaux Pleads Out, No Justice for Jackie
• [1:14:15] — Woody’s Reflections and Painful Lack of Closure

Tone & Language

• Woody Overton's style is blunt, emotional, and unvarnished—mixing gritty detail with raw humanity. He pulls no punches in expressing anger at failures in the system, disgust at defense tactics, and heartbreak for victims.
• At times, dark humor and regional colloquialisms surface, but always in service of painting a vivid, honest portrait of the case and its consequences.

Summary Takeaway

This episode is a searing account of how missed chances, bureaucratic barriers, and the gritty realities of criminal justice can snuff out the possibility of true justice. Woody weaves together forensic intrigue, investigative setbacks, courtroom maneuvers, and wrenching personal reflection. The heart of the story: In real life, sometimes, there are no answers—just hard truths and unresolved pain.