BONUS: Britney Overton and Justin Blake (Snapped: Killer Couples)

Summary

Snapped: Killer Couples – The Case of Brittany Overton and Justin Blake

In this gripping bonus episode of Snapped: Women Who Murder, Oxygen delves into the harrowing true crime case involving Brittany Overton and Justin Blake. This detailed account unravels the intricate web of relationships, deceit, and violence that led to the tragic murder of Alex Jackson in Morgan County, Indiana.

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1. Introduction to the Case

The episode opens by setting the stage in a quiet Midwestern community, Morgan County, known for its family-friendly atmosphere and low crime rates. However, this tranquility is shattered on September 13, 2019, when the body of Alex Jackson is discovered, marking the beginning of a complex investigation.

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2. The Victim: Alex Jackson

Alex Jackson, a 23-year-old environmental science student from Jacksonville, Illinois, was described by friends as "bright, brainy, outgoing, caring, and bubbly". Alex had recently moved to Indianapolis to live with his aunt and explore his identity, including his coming out as gay during his sophomore year at Western University (06:05).

Justin Blake [06:05]: "Alex was really outgoing, caring, bubbly. He loves science, everything with trees. He always just wanted to do what he could to help the environment."

Despite his promising future, Alex's life took a downward turn after moving out of his aunt's home in July 2017. Issues such as leaking water in his apartment forced him into unstable living situations, leading him to associate with new, questionable acquaintances (10:12).

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3. Discovery of the Crime

On September 13, 2019, at approximately 3 PM, a local resident panics and calls 911 after discovering a deceased person lying along a fence on their property. The body exhibited signs of advanced decomposition, a gunshot wound to the head, and a missing right pocket, initially suggesting a possible robbery (03:00).

Alex's Mother, Wilona Jackson [07:56]: "I just remember laying down and crying. My heart had been ripped out. I couldn't believe that this was happening. Who would want to hurt him?"

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4. Initial Investigation

Detective Mark Anderson and the Morgan County Sheriff's Office began their investigation by examining the crime scene. Seven 9mm shell casings were found, pointing to an automatic handgun, possibly a Glock. Blood traces suggested a struggle occurred near the fence (04:33).

Detective Mark Anderson [05:25]: "The investigation will take a sharp turn as rumors of a toxic romance come into focus, leading to the discovery of a disturbing betrayal."

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5. Developing Lines of Inquiry

As investigators delved deeper, they explored Alex's personal life, particularly his online dating activities on Grindr. Concerns arose about the dangers associated with meeting strangers, especially predators posing as potential partners (03:46).

Justin Blake [12:08]: "Anytime you're dealing with one of these dating apps, there's a concern that you don't know who you're dealing with. And unfortunately, there could be predators out there."

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6. Justin Blake: A Suspect Emerges

Justin Blake entered the investigation as a suspect after his fingerprints were found in Alex's rental car. Justin, an 18-year-old with a troubled past, had reconnected with his grandmother six months prior and was known for his criminal history, including a recent arrest for a stolen vehicle and firearm (24:26).

Justin Blake [25:02]: "I still cannot wrap my mind around how you could be so close to somebody and do something so horrific."

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7. The Breakthrough: Linking Justin and Brittany

A crucial tip led investigators to Brittany Overton, a friend of both Justin Blake and Alex Jackson. Cell phone records placed Brittany near the crime scene at the time of the murder, and DNA evidence linked her to the rental car (32:38).

Detective Mark Anderson [33:20]: "And fourth, 31 AM on September 9, investigators have the evidence they need to secure a warrant for Brittany's arrest."

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8. The Arrests and Charges

On October 3, 2020, Brittany Overton and Justin Blake were arrested. Charges included murder, felony murder, and robbery against Justin, while Brittany faced felony murder and robbery charges. The prosecution's case was strengthened by Brittany's testimony and the accumulation of physical and digital evidence (34:26).

Detective Mark Anderson [42:23]: "On October 3, 2020, more than a year after Alex Jackson's murder, police take Justin Blake and Brittany Overton into custody."

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9. The Trial and Conviction

During the trial in February 2022, prosecutors argued that Justin and Brittany orchestrated the murder to cover up their robbery of Alex. Despite Justin's defense team attempting to shift blame solely onto Brittany, the jury convicted him of all charges, sentencing him to 61 years in prison. Brittany accepted a plea deal, receiving a 20-year sentence with the possibility of parole in 2033 (43:32; 44:25).

Justin Blake [43:45]: "I just will never understand why."

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10. Aftermath and Reflections

The case concluded with both individuals facing severe consequences for their involvement in Alex Jackson's murder. Brittany Overton was deemed eligible for parole in 2033, while Justin Blake faces a lengthy incarceration until 2066.

Detective Mark Anderson [45:14]: "They took an amazing person. And that was part of the problem. He was so trusting and befriended people because he saw the good in everyone."

The episode underscores the tragic loss of a promising young man and serves as a cautionary tale about the perils of dangerous associations and the complexities of human relationships in criminal activities.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Justin Blake: "I still cannot wrap my mind around how you could be so close to somebody and do something so horrific." [00:26]

• Detective Mark Anderson: "The investigation will take a sharp turn as rumors of a toxic romance come into focus, leading to the discovery of a disturbing betrayal." [05:25]

• Justin Blake: "Anytime you're dealing with one of these dating apps, there's a concern that you don't know who you're dealing with. And unfortunately, there could be predators out there." [12:08]

• Detective Mark Anderson: "On October 3, 2020, more than a year after Alex Jackson's murder, police take Justin Blake and Brittany Overton into custody." [42:23]

• Justin Blake: "I just will never understand why." [43:45]

• Detective Mark Anderson: "They took an amazing person. And that was part of the problem. He was so trusting and befriended people because he saw the good in everyone." [45:14]

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting the key developments, character backgrounds, and pivotal moments that led to the unraveling of this tragic case. For those unfamiliar with the episode, it provides a clear and engaging overview of the complexities involved in the investigation and the eventual justice served.

Transcript

[Narrator]

The streets are buzzing about Bravo's the Valley. You heard about the breakups? I'm putting a restraining order against you.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

I don't want this to be my life anymore.

[Brittany Overton]

Now see how it really went down? This divorce has been very nasty.

[Narrator]

Bravo's suburban saga continues.

[Justin Blake]

You give Carrot energy.

[Brittany Overton]

And I'm done with it.

[Narrator]

With nonstop bombshells and betrayals.

[Justin Blake]

Tell me the tea, please.

[Brittany Overton]

When Jason goes out, he takes his wedding ring off.

[Justin Blake]

I'm the mother of your child.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Why can't we just not cause a scene?

[Narrator]

The Valley New episodes Wednesdays. Watch Bravo on Peacock Sunday. Meet the most compelling characters on earth. Your wild neighbors.

[Brittany Overton]

From the producers of Planet Earth comes.

[Justin Blake]

An epic 10 part event.

[Brittany Overton]

Narrated by Tom Hanks. From ancient mystical forests and sky high.

[Narrator]

Ice worlds to the bountiful coast, this.

[Brittany Overton]

Is life in your own backyard. The Americas.

[Justin Blake]

Narrated by Tom Hanks.

[Narrator]

It's nature like you've never seen it.

[Brittany Overton]

Sunday on NBC and Peacock.

[Justin Blake]

Hi Snap listeners. We are bringing you a special bonus.

[Brittany Overton]

Episode today from Oxygen's hit series Killer Couples.

[Justin Blake]

You can also watch full episodes live.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Or on demand on the free Oxygen.

[Justin Blake]

App or on Peacock by clicking the link in our description. Enjoy.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

A peaceful midwestern community is rocked by a tragic murder.

[Brittany Overton]

There was a gunshot wound to the head.

[Justin Blake]

I just remember laying down and crying. My heart had been ripped out. I couldn't believe that this was happening. Who would want to hurt?

[Detective Mark Anderson]

As authorities search for a suspect, the investigation descends into the dangers of online dating.

[Justin Blake]

He said he was going to go meet up with some guy on Grindr. You don't know who you're meeting up with. It was a big fear.

[Narrator]

Was this a date that went bad? Was this a setup date as a robbery? Lots of questions.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

The investigation will take a sharp turn as rumors of a toxic romance come into focus, leading to the discovery of a disturbing betrayal.

[Justin Blake]

Fueled by desperation, they punished him to protect themselves.

[Brittany Overton]

They needed each other to survive.

[Justin Blake]

I still cannot wrap my mind around how you could be so close to somebody and do something so horrific.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

A quiet community south of Indianapolis, Morgan County, Indiana may be best known for its family friendly living.

[Justin Blake]

Morgan county is a small rural area about 30 minutes south of Indianapolis. It's a peaceful, quaint community with not a lot of crime.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

But at 3pm on September 13, 2019, a local resident calls 911 in a panic.

[Brittany Overton]

We've been feeling a couple of days here and we just thought it was.

[Justin Blake]

A dead animal, but there's a dead.

[Brittany Overton]

Person laying up here.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

The caller reports the victim is lying along a fence adjoining her property.

[Justin Blake]

And you're for sure that that person is deceased, right? Oh yes.

[Brittany Overton]

There's bugs crawling around him. There's officers on the way.

[Justin Blake]

They're going to be there in just a few minutes.

[Brittany Overton]

Okay.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Investigators with the Morgan County Sheriff's Office are immediately dispatched to the scene.

[Brittany Overton]

I was on call so I proceeded to the location. This particular area was isolated. It had one residence right off the road and the area was shaded by trees and thick brush. The deceased person was in LA stages of decomposition. When we looked at the body, it was difficult to even tell if it was male or female. There was a gunshot wound to the head and I've noticed that the deceased right pocket was pulled out. So it automatically had us leading to believe a possible robbery.

[Narrator]

Most people carry cell phones. Most people have some kind of ID or credit card or so the fact that there was really nothing there led police to believe that maybe that was intended.

[Brittany Overton]

As we started looking at the scene, we found seven 9 millimeter shell casings. We determined that it was an automatic handgun and possibly a Glock due to the indentions on the shell casings.

[Narrator]

There was some blood found coming from the top of the fence to the bottom. There was some blood found on the rocks below the fence. It was the hypothesis or assumption at the time that the victim was going over the fence and then was shot.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

When investigators speak with the 911 caller, she says she hadn't seen anything suspicious but she had heard something four days earlier.

[Brittany Overton]

She had gone to sleep on September 9 at 4:30 and heard several gunshots. But it was a rural area so there's a lot of target practicing and hunting different people in that area shooting guns off. So it wasn't uncommon.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

With no clear evidence pointing to who might be responsible, investigators focus on identifying their victims.

[Brittany Overton]

The body was transported to Morgan county morgue and then forensic pathologist did an autopsy on the deceased the next day. The forensic pathologist determined that it was a male, probably in their 20s, approximately 6263.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

The pathologist confirms the victim died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

[Brittany Overton]

They couldn't say exactly when, but they just know. So the body had been out there for a few days. We also were able to get fingerprints from the deceased at the autopsy and those were put into what's called aphis. We got a hit on a fingerprint for a male out of Jacksonville, Illinois named Alexander Jackson.

[Justin Blake]

The Morgan County Sheriff's Office, they were asking themselves questions like what was this guy doing out here and why was he killed?

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Born in Illinois in 1996. Alexander Jackson had always been bright and brainy.

[Justin Blake]

Alex was born and raised in Jacksonville.

[Brittany Overton]

He was a good kid and he.

[Justin Blake]

Was really, really smart. Alex was very outgoing, caring, bubbly. I mean, when you think of somebody that would literally give you the shirt.

[Narrator]

Off their back, I mean, that is.

[Justin Blake]

Him to a T. He loves science, everything with trees.

[Brittany Overton]

He would always hate seeing people cut.

[Justin Blake]

Trees down and everything.

[Brittany Overton]

He always just wanted to do what he could to help the environment. We called him Sid, Sid the science kid, because he would have all these, like, facts that no one like, why.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Do you know that?

[Justin Blake]

You know? When he graduated high school, he then decided to go to Western University in Illinois to study environmental science.

[Brittany Overton]

One day his sophomore year, I guess there's a coming out day, he had posted this post and said that I was gay.

[Justin Blake]

He just really figured out who he wanted to be, what he wanted to do, and we were all just really proud of that.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

After sophomore year, Alex decided to join his aunt in Indianapolis.

[Justin Blake]

Alex moved in with me January of 2017. He wanted to come here to spread his wings. I was the person who kind of just introduced him to the scene, the gay scene, you know, on Mass Ave. He did drag and things like that. And he was having a lot of fun with that. In July 2017, he decided he wanted to get his own apartment. And I was kind of sad when he decided to leave because I really enjoyed having him around, but I was happy that he was finding his way in life.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

But Alex's plans for the future would come to a tragic end on an isolated stretch of road nearly 20 miles from home in Indianapolis.

[Justin Blake]

Once they got Alex identified, then the detective would reach out to the family.

[Brittany Overton]

I was able get in contact with Alex's mother, Wilona Jackson.

[Justin Blake]

I remember them telling me that they had found him.

[Brittany Overton]

It's. That moment is kind of a blur because I was there by myself. I just remember laying down and crying.

[Justin Blake]

I think it dropped to the floor. Felt like a part of my soul. My heart had been ripped out. I couldn't believe that this was happening. Who would want to hurt him?

[Brittany Overton]

I learned that Alex had moved to Indianapolis to live with his aunt Heather. He was taking classes there and working a job and doing really good for the most part.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Alex's mother says her son's life had taken an unexpected turn after he moved out of his aunt's home in July of 2017.

[Brittany Overton]

He lived in an apartment complex and something had happened above him and so water had leaked into his apartment and he ended up needing to leave. Talking to Lalona. He was actually staying with friends at different places and hotels and. And I think that kind of got him in a situation where he was getting with the wrong people. He had quit his job and had quit school and started to hang around some people that were partying a little too hard.

[Justin Blake]

Alex called me and voiced some concern about the people that he had been hanging out with and that he had been doing things that maybe he shouldn't have been. He knew he needed to stop. It was quite a shock.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Coming up. A chilling discovery leads investigators to uncover a bitter conflict between friends.

[Justin Blake]

He made a cryptic Facebook post in which he tagged Alex and said, robbing the dead. That post sounded very awful, especially the timing.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

But a deeper look at Alex's dating life suggests a more sinister motive.

[Justin Blake]

Anytime you're dealing with one of these dating apps, there's a concern that you don't know who you're dealing with. And unfortunately, there could be predators out there.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Investigators have identified 23 year old Alex Jackson as the murder victim found off a rural road in Morgan County, Indiana. And law enforcement has learned that Alex's family had become concerned about him in recent months.

[Narrator]

There was about a month or two there that I'm not sure exactly what.

[Brittany Overton]

Happened, but things went downhill quickly. You know, the people he hung out.

[Narrator]

With, I didn't know them.

[Brittany Overton]

I knew his friends before and all of a sudden things changed.

[Justin Blake]

These people, I had no clue who they were. No.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

While Alex's family is unable to name any of Alex's new friends, they can offer investigators helpful insight.

[Justin Blake]

Alex's car actually was in the shop, so he needed a rental car. And this family friend offered to get him a rental car for four days. And after that, four days, they're like, well, why wasn't the rental car returned?

[Narrator]

It was a short term rental. That would have been on September 6th. On the 10th, that rental car was not returned. They didn't know where the car was.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Investigators immediately begin the search for the vehicle, a 2018 Hyundai Elantra. They also issue a press release, hoping to identify Alex's new friends in the city.

[Brittany Overton]

It's important to know who was the last person to talk to him or had seen them. We were trying to locate names as far as who he hung out with and where he might have been. And with the press release, we had gotten a call from one of Alex's friends who gave us some information on who he had been hanging out with at the time.

[Narrator]

One of the names mentioned was Chad.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

According to the tipster, Chad had made an alarming Post on social media on September 6, three days before authorities believe Alex was killed.

[Justin Blake]

On September 6, Chad made a cryptic Facebook post in which he tagged Alex and said something to the effect of robbing the dead.

[Brittany Overton]

They were concerned about the post due to the fact that Alex was deceased.

[Justin Blake]

That post sounded very awful, especially the timing.

[Brittany Overton]

So at that time, we locate Chad, and we went and spoke with him.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

When investigators confront Chad about the social media posts, he alleges that Alex was the thief in question, not him.

[Brittany Overton]

Chad said that him and Alex were friends and that Alex had actually stayed with him for a while, and that him and Alex had a falling out due to the fact that Alex might have taken some items from him.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Chad claims that the alleged theft occurred after the two friends partied together on September 6th.

[Brittany Overton]

Chad had bought some drugs and had used the drugs and had nearly overdosed. When he woke up, his money was gone, and he blamed Alex for taking it. So he stated that he posted that due to the fact that he was robbing him while he was almost dying. So that was his explanation for the post.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

The situation had bothered Chad, but he's emphatic that he didn't kill Alex.

[Brittany Overton]

We have a software that we use that actually can show which towers in an area that cell phones had sent data to. And when our evidence tech ran those numbers through, we found that Chad's number at the morning of the homicide was far away from the crime scene, cleared.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Of any connection to Alex's death. Chad suggests they talk to Alex's closest friend in Indianapolis.

[Brittany Overton]

He advised that there was another person that Alex hung out with on a regular basis named Brittany Overton.

[Narrator]

Alex really trusted Brittany and kind of looked at her as maybe a big sister. She was older and looked up to her for guidance, protection, stability. Brittany's name came up, and that eventually led the investigators to pay a visit on Brittany.

[Brittany Overton]

We proceeded to her grandmother's house, and we talked to Brittany.

[Justin Blake]

This is Mark Anderson working shears Work. Okay.

[Brittany Overton]

We are investigating Alex's death. What.

[Justin Blake]

What happened to him?

[Brittany Overton]

He was shot and killed. Was shot.

[Justin Blake]

I'm sorry. I can't. I can't.

[Brittany Overton]

She said she had been friends with Ale a year or so, ran around with him on occasions, and partied with him. So had Alex ever lived with you or stayed with you, or have you ever lived with him?

[Justin Blake]

He never lived with me. He was talking about getting an apartment together. Okay.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

According to Brittany, the last time she saw Alex was the evening of September 8, 2019.

[Brittany Overton]

She said they were driving around in a blue rail car that Alex had. They had gone to a couple stores during the day and at 11 o'clock that night, he had dropped her off at her house.

[Narrator]

Brittany puts herself with Alex together at her house in the blue rental car. Alex leaves at 11pm was supposed to come back. He never came back. So now we're getting a lot closer to what happened to Alex. The morning of the 9th, one of the neighbors heard gunshots at 4:30am so.

[Brittany Overton]

We'Re not sure exactly who he was with or where he was at from 11pm before a.m. he said he was.

[Justin Blake]

Going to go meet up with some guy on Grindr.

[Brittany Overton]

Grindr is an app where men can meet other men. Did he say who that guy was?

[Justin Blake]

No name. Like, okay, well, be careful, you know, come back if you want to, because he didn't have a place to stay at this point in time.

[Brittany Overton]

I was concerned maybe he met up with somebody on the ground and that something had happened and that we really wanted to find out who he met up with at that time.

[Narrator]

Was this a date that went mad? Was this a setup date as a robbery? Lots of questions.

[Brittany Overton]

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[Narrator]

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[Detective Mark Anderson]

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[Brittany Overton]

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[Narrator]

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[Brittany Overton]

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[Justin Blake]

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[Detective Mark Anderson]

We all wind up in a hot tub?

[Brittany Overton]

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[Narrator]

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[Justin Blake]

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[Brittany Overton]

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[Narrator]

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[Brittany Overton]

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[Narrator]

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[Brittany Overton]

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[Detective Mark Anderson]

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[Brittany Overton]

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[Brittany Overton]

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[Justin Blake]

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[Brittany Overton]

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[Detective Mark Anderson]

One week after the body of Alex Jackson was discovered. His friend Brittany Overton has just told investigators that Alex planned to meet up with a Grindr date the night of September 8th. The last time anyone saw Alex alive.

[Narrator]

Brittany said that he was meeting or talking to a male on a dating app. If it's true, Alex was with Brittany at 11pm the night before he was killed and he went on a grinder 8. How did this person come into play?

[Justin Blake]

Anytime you're dealing with one of these dating apps, there's a concern that you don't know who you're dealing with. And unfortunately, there could be predators out there.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Detective Mark Anderson immediately obtains a search warrant for Alex's personal Grindr account.

[Brittany Overton]

When I got the information back from the dating app, it just gave me the username and when they would log in or log off, it didn't give me any names, who they talked to, it didn't give me any names that they hooked up with or anything like that.

[Narrator]

That reached a dead end. A lot of these dating sites are very discreet for the obvious reason.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

But just as the investigation hits a roadblock, authorities receive crucial information that breathes new life into the case.

[Justin Blake]

Alex's rental car was found by Indianapolis police, abandoned.

[Narrator]

The rental car was found wrecked on a road in Indianapolis. The theory then is the people that killed Alex may have been the same people in the rental car when it was wrecked. So we did search warrants on the rental car.

[Brittany Overton]

When we got the vehicle back, we noticed that in the passenger seat there was a set of keys. And we realized there was a car key to Buick.

[Justin Blake]

The keys to the rental car were there. But this extra set of keys was significant to investigators because it led them to wonder who did these belong to?

[Narrator]

Also interestingly about the rental car, the front plate of the radio was removed and the radio was actually pulled out. And we were able to recover some, some very good fingerprints of the right hand of an individual on top of the radio. Detectives, evidence technicians processed for evidence and of course, it doesn't come back right away. So we're waiting on DNA, we're waiting on fingerprints.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

While investigators wait on forensics. Weeks pass without any new leads.

[Justin Blake]

For the first several weeks, investigators didn't really have a lot to go on. They were reaching out to anyone who might have known Alex in the Indianapolis area. Unfortunately, they really weren't able to get any answers.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Five weeks after Alex's death, investigators received a promising tip from a concerned woman.

[Brittany Overton]

We went and spoke with her. She stated that her grandson had told her that he had shot somebody named Alex. He then showed her on his phone a article from a local television station where Alex Jackson was identified as deceased and a homicide. She had asked him why and he had made a comment that he thought that this person was going to try to hurt him. She gave me the name of Justin Blake. I had never heard that name in the investigation.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Justin's grandmother explains that 18 year old Justin had had a tumultuous upbringing.

[Brittany Overton]

Justin grew up in Indianapolis. And at a very young age, his sister and him were taken from biological parents through department of child services and spent some time in foster care, and he was adopted. At one point in time, Justin had gotten into some trouble and had gotten incarcerated as a juvenile. It was too hard for them to take care of him, so they kind of washed their hands of him and he went to the system.

[Narrator]

Justin lived on and off on the streets. By the time he was 18, a fairly hardened individual, which is really sad.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Six months earlier, Justin had reconnected with his grandmother.

[Narrator]

Grandma treated him with love, was concerned about his appearance, concerned about who he was hanging around with. But still, as a grandmother's love would be, what can I do for you? And Justin bared his soul and basically told grandma that he'd killed somebody.

[Brittany Overton]

She was still in shock that he had said this to her, but she knew she was trying to do the right thing, so she gave that information.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Investigators know they need to speak with Justin immediately.

[Brittany Overton]

She told me he was at the Hendricks county jail in October of 2019, that he had gotten arrested for having a stolen van and a stolen gun. And she was concerned that possibly that maybe that gun was involved in the case.

[Narrator]

We had then a good belief that this person was a viable suspect in Alex's killing.

[Brittany Overton]

And that's when I went to the heaterish county jail and spoke to Justin. Justin. Hey. Good, good. I'm Mark Anderson with Morgan county sheriff's department. This is dean mitten. Okay. And first thing is, we're not here. We don't care what you're in here for. Absolutely don't care. Okay. We're here for something else. And you go back to your cell anytime. You don't have to talk to us. I advised him that I was here to speak to him about homicide.

[Justin Blake]

Who?

[Brittany Overton]

The homicide. He was a man named Alex Jackson. He's tagged. And it wasn't until a short time later he stated, oh, yeah, I know Alex. I've only met him two times.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Investigators inform Justin an anonymous tip has implicated the teen in Alex's mur.

[Brittany Overton]

So why would your name come up in this homicide? I don't know, sir. I mean, did they specifically mentioned your name? I mean, I have a bad reputation because I've been locked up. You not shot anybody?

[Justin Blake]

No, sir.

[Brittany Overton]

You didn't tell anybody you did? No, sir. He tried to explain that he only met Alex twice, and he tried to brush it off that he didn't really know.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

When asked how he met Alex, Justin tells investigators they were introduced through Justin's Girlfriend.

[Brittany Overton]

What's the girl's name?

[Justin Blake]

Brittany.

[Brittany Overton]

Brittany what? When I heard that, then it started clicking together that the two names were connected. Brittany and Justin.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Over a month after the shooting death of Alex Jackson, investigators in Morgan County, Indiana, have zeroed in on Justin Blake as the primary person of interest. When Justin reveals he was introduced to Alex by Alex's friend Brittany Overton, investigators.

[Justin Blake]

Made the connection that Justin knew Brittany. In fact, the two had a relationship for some time. And add that to the fact that investigators were told by Justin's grandmother that Justin had confessed to killing Alex. These were strong pieces of evidence.

[Brittany Overton]

Justin was pretty much saying he's not involved. I don't know why you're here.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

However, Justin does admit to being with Britney and Alex. On September 8, the evening investigators believe.

[Narrator]

Alex was killed, Justin started to tell a story very similar to Brittany. That he saw Alex that night. Alex had a date on the dating app, and that Alex left in a blue rental car at 11pm and never came back.

[Brittany Overton]

And he said that Alex dropped him off at the house. He never saw Alex after that. I just don't think you're giving me all the information I gave you all.

[Justin Blake]

The information that I know.

[Brittany Overton]

We didn't talk to him much longer after that because we wanted to make sure we had another shot to talk to him.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

While Justin is escorted back to his jail cell, investigators focus on the stolen weapon found in his possession during his recent arrest.

[Brittany Overton]

I then called the arresting officer in that case to confirm what kind of weapon that he was charged with. He had a revolver in his possession at the time, so it didn't match the shell casings that we found at the scene. Due to the fact the revolver doesn't spin out shell casings, they weren't able.

[Justin Blake]

To find the murder weapon. So they strongly suspected that Justin had dumped the weapon shortly after the murder.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Still, investigators have no idea what motive Justin would have or what role Brittany Overton might have played in the crime. Before circling back to Brittany, they focused their efforts on developing evidence against her.

[Narrator]

So we did search warrants of social media, cell phone records, cell phone power locations, anything that we could to either include or exclude someone.

[Justin Blake]

As a susp, Brittany had clearly kept some interesting company.

[Narrator]

There was some involvement in the drug community. Not terrible, but enough that she was on probation. We learned that Brittany met Justin Blake through a drug dealer. They had the same dealer.

[Brittany Overton]

Once I got the Facebook records for Brittany Overton, you can see that she's hanging with Justin a lot as a couple. In pictures, Brittany and Justin did have A sexual relationship with each other. He had a bad guy Persona about him already, and he was only 18 at the time.

[Narrator]

I think in looking at some of the social media, she had a bad boy crush on him. There's some comment that all they've been through, they had a bond like a band of brothers, thick as thieves type of bond.

[Brittany Overton]

When I'm going through her account, I'm finding conversations with her and other subjects in the criminal world. Just days prior to the homicide, she's actually talking to people about wanting to get a gun.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Investigators are unable to determine if Britney had acquired a gun, but as they continue analyzing her social media data and usage, they come to a startling realization.

[Justin Blake]

Neighbors heard gunshots at around 4:30am on the morning of September 9, which is believed to be the time that Alex was killed. And then at 4:45am Brittany logged onto her Facebook account and she unfriended Alex.

[Brittany Overton]

That stuck in our mind really hard. It was exactly 15 minutes after the homicide that she defriends Alex Jackson.

[Narrator]

Once we had that foundation. Then when those cell records came back, her cell phone put her in the area of Northman road, very close to where Alex was killed.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

And fourth 31am on September 9, investigators have the evidence they need to secure a warrant for Brittany's arrest. When they receive the forensic analysis on Alex's rental car, the case becomes more than circumstantial.

[Brittany Overton]

We sent a copy of Justin Blake's fingerprints to the state lab with the fingerprint that we found on the radio. They called back and confirmed it was a match to his fingerprints. So that places him in the vehicle. The DNA results on the keys, those DNA results came back to Brittany Overton.

[Narrator]

The DNA, the phone records, all kind of put just in there. Brittany, there. There didn't seem to be any obvious motive, but it was time to to roll up our slaves, file the charges and get arrest warrants for Justin Blake and Brittany Overton.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

On October 3, 2020, more than a year after Alex Jackson's murder, police take Justin Blake and Brittany Overton into custody.

[Justin Blake]

Justin had been in Hendricks county jail for stealing a car and having a gun in his poss. But at that point, Justin had been released from jail.

[Brittany Overton]

Justin was in Indianapolis with a new girlfriend, and he was located at her residence. Brittany was found inside Indianapolis city limits. All right, Justin, you remember me.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Investigators sit down with Justin first and confront him with the evidence stacked against him.

[Brittany Overton]

So why would I just kill somebody? Well, I don't know. Why would you? Because there's something going wrong. They have Dope you on the body fight? Is there a fight? He just denied it the whole time and said the same story. He said before he was given a waist stress test, he agreed to take one and of course he failed it. After that. He pretty much said, oh, I want to talk to a lawyer. Hey, Brittany.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Detectives next turn their attention to Brittany.

[Brittany Overton]

I think you want to get it off your chest of what happened and get justice for Alex.

[Justin Blake]

And the viewers about so. So you're saying that I'm associated with it because I witnessed it? Did you witness it? No, I'm saying, like, this is what he's saying.

[Narrator]

Brittany, for two hours played innocent.

[Justin Blake]

We know you were there 100% when Alex died. You were there. There's no doubt in our mind.

[Narrator]

And it wasn't until the detective talked about that her phone records put her at the scene. There was no way she wasn't there.

[Justin Blake]

These are all locations where your phone is pinging. That's the exact time Alex was killed. And you're all over here.

[Brittany Overton]

I think she finally realized, well, let's tell this story and see what happens. And then she gave a story of what happened that night.

[Narrator]

All those pieces of the puzzle fell into place as we had planned.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Indiana authorities have arrested Brittany Overton and Justin Blake for the murder of Brittany's friend Alex Jackson. While Justin continues to maintain his innocence, Britney eventually crossed cracks under the pressure.

[Justin Blake]

Brittany told them that on the night of September 8, Alex had picked her up in his rental car.

[Brittany Overton]

Brittany said Alex and her was running around and at some point in time in the night, they picked just enough.

[Justin Blake]

They were driving around partying, and at a certain point, Justin suggested they go try to make some fast money.

[Brittany Overton]

They get Alex to contact a guy from Grindr and they set up a date to meet him and they were going to rob him.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

According to Brittany, when the trio arrived at the apartment complex, Justin forced Alex to accompany him to the front door.

[Justin Blake]

I sat in the car. They ended up going inside.

[Brittany Overton]

Brittany stated that when they met the guy, Justin started pistol whipping him. Britney said that Alex didn't expect them to beat him up and be that violent.

[Justin Blake]

So they went back into Romney.

[Brittany Overton]

What'd they come out with, do you know?

[Justin Blake]

Came out with some credit cards, an Xbox, I believe there was a PlayStation X1 and maybe a check.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Brittany claims the trio partied for the next several hours, but Alex became increasingly upset about what had happened.

[Justin Blake]

Alex has never seen this kind of stuff before. He's not a criminal. He. That must have been a shock.

[Brittany Overton]

He was kind of regretting doing the robberies and stuff, and was talking about it.

[Narrator]

There was a concern that Alex would snitch on them.

[Brittany Overton]

They ended up on this road. And at that time, then Justin supposedly tells her to stop the car.

[Justin Blake]

What do you mean, stop the car? He's like, it's not the car, and he's got a gun, and it's held right here to my head. At that point in time, I was scared.

[Brittany Overton]

When she stopped the car, he then made the comment, alex, you know, it's time. And at that time, she says, Alex looks over at her and said, what's going on, Brittany?

[Justin Blake]

I'm freaking out. He said, brittany, what's going on? I said, I don't know. And we were both pretty hysterical that time. So Justin gets out of the car and pulls Alex out of the car.

[Brittany Overton]

Justin gets out with the gun in his hand, and she proceeds to look straight ahead and hear several gunshots.

[Justin Blake]

Hear Alex screaming.

[Brittany Overton]

Anything like a. Yeah, I did.

[Justin Blake]

It's just like a spirit kind of scream and gunshots.

[Brittany Overton]

And then Justin gets in the front seat of the car. He had the gun in his hand and Alex's cell phone. And Justin drives hurt, drops her off and says, don't say anything to anybody, or you're going to die. And then he drives off and leaves.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Investigators aren't buying Brittany's story. If Britney was afraid of Justin, she certainly didn't seem to show it. In the days after the murder, Brittany.

[Justin Blake]

Admitted to police that they used the rental car for two days after the murder. He had it hid for a couple days.

[Brittany Overton]

Okay, and then came back and got you?

[Justin Blake]

Yeah.

[Brittany Overton]

She said that her and just were drinking and that he ran off the road and hit the tree.

[Justin Blake]

So you were in the car when.

[Narrator]

The car was wrapped, right?

[Justin Blake]

Yeah.

[Brittany Overton]

So I'm seeing now that she's more of a mischief, manipulative person, and you can see where she's doing anything she can to survive.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

While Justin continues to deny any involvement, investigators have what they need to file charges.

[Narrator]

We charged Justin Blake with murder and felony murder. Murder for shooting Alex, felony murder for stealing the car. We charged Brittany Overton only with felony murder and robbery. We did not believe that she pulled the trigger.

[Brittany Overton]

I didn't know anything about Brittany, but I just needed whoever was responsible to pay for it.

[Justin Blake]

They took my baby.

[Narrator]

For no reason.

[Justin Blake]

After the arrests were made, the family was happy. Lalana was happy. My brother was happy. But now comes trial.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

With Brittany's testimony and a mountain of physical and digital evidence in tow, prosecutors take Justin's case to A jury in February of 2022. While prosecutors don't need to prove motive as an element of their case, they believe they know why Alex was killed that night.

[Justin Blake]

Alex fell in with the wrong crowd. He certainly wasn't hardened like Brittany and Justin. Ultimately, Alex was caught up in their crimes, and as soon as he showed a sign of weakness, they punished him for that.

[Narrator]

To protect themselves, obviously, they were intimate. They found some attraction to each other. I think it became a bond of what they did together that night and then a bond of how they thought they could get away with it.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Despite Justin's defense team attempting to shoot blame solely to Brittany, on February 24, 2022, the jury sides with the prosecution.

[Narrator]

The jury convicted Justin of all counts murder, felony murder, and robbery. We proceeded to sentencing, and the judge gave him 61 years.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

In May 2022, Brittany Overton accepted a plea bargain.

[Narrator]

The judge did credit her for testifying in Justin's trial. The judge ended up giving her 20 years with 17 and a half to do.

[Justin Blake]

Brittany teared up a little bit, but.

[Narrator]

I didn't think she was very remorseful.

[Justin Blake]

I still cannot wrap my mind around how you could be so close to somebody like Alex and do something so horrific. I just will never understand why.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

They.

[Brittany Overton]

Took an amazing person. And that was part of the problem. He was so trusting and befriended people because he saw the good in everyone.

[Justin Blake]

Brittany Overton will be eligible for parole in 2033 at the age of 39. Justin Blake will be eligible for parole in 2066 at the age of 65.

[Narrator]

In the early hours of December 4.

[Brittany Overton]

2024, CEO Brian Thompson stepped out onto.

[Narrator]

The streets of midtown Manhattan.

[Brittany Overton]

This assailant pulls out a weapon and starts firing at him.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

We're talking about the CEO of the.

[Narrator]

Biggest private health insurance corporation in the world.

[Brittany Overton]

And the suspect he has been identified as Luigi Nicholas Mangione became one of.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

The most divisive figures in modern criminal history.

[Brittany Overton]

I was targeted, premeditated. Admit to sow terror.

[Narrator]

I'm Jesse Weber, host of Luigi. Produced by Law and crime and Twist.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

This is more than a true crime investigation.

[Narrator]

We explore a uniquely American moment that could change the country forever.

[Justin Blake]

He's awoken the people to a true issue issue.

[Brittany Overton]

Finally, maybe this would lead rich and powerful people to acknowledge the barbaric nature.

[Justin Blake]

Of our health care system.

[Detective Mark Anderson]

Listen to law and crime's Luigi exclusively on Wondery plus.

[Narrator]

You can join Wondery plus on the Wondery app, Spotify or Apple podcasts.