My Mother’s Lies | 3. Prime Suspect

Summary

Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: The Binge Cases: My Mother's Lies
Episode: 3. Prime Suspect
Host: Beth Karras (Narrator)
Date: April 15, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode, "Prime Suspect," delves into how Susan Galbraith, an ordinary woman turned citizen sleuth, dramatically influenced the investigation into Jessica Currin’s 2000 murder in Mayfield, Kentucky. With the help of British journalist Tom Mangold, Susan’s unconventional efforts not only reignited a cold case but arguably redirected the investigation—with long-lasting, controversial consequences. The narrative dissects how private citizens and a journalist, through a blend of rumor, speculation, access to confidential files, and personal conviction, may have decided the fate of Quincy Cross, the man ultimately imprisoned for Jessica’s murder.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Susan Galbraith’s Investigation Takes Off

• Frustration with Stalled Police Work: After local and state police efforts failed to yield results, Susan, desperate for answers, began petitioning celebrities and media figures to take up Jessica’s case.
  • Quote, Susan Galbraith (02:57): "I started writing to so many people. I wrote to Oprah, I wrote to Julia Roberts, I wrote to Jay Z. I wrote to Jerry Springer. And I never got a response from anybody."
• The Turning Point: Susan contacts Tom Mangold after seeing his cable documentary, setting the investigation on a new, fateful path.

2. The Citizen-Reporter Alliance

• Tom Mangold Responds: A seasoned investigative journalist, Tom is drawn to Susan’s email—partly due to curiosity and personal circumstances—and decides to travel to Kentucky to investigate.
  • Quote, Tom Mangold (08:05): "There was something about her email to me--indefinable, but it touched the nerve of an old instinct. I couldn't delete it, but I couldn't ignore it. So I took the gamble."
• Rapid Collaboration: In May 2004, they meet, quickly bond, and set out to build a case theory from scratch in just 10 days, relying heavily on local rumor, incomplete police files, and witness speculation.

3. Ethics and Mishandling of Sensitive Information

• Access to Case Files: Tom and Susan gain access to crucial, confidential case files—including police reports, discovery files, and interview tapes—through defense attorney Renee Tuck, Jeremy Adams' mother, and even a disgruntled ex-police officer.
  • Quote, Narrator (16:06): "What she gave Tom is what we call discovery. Essentially a treasure trove of evidence and investigation notes. Typically, it can include witness names, addresses, and phone numbers, interview tapes, surveillance tapes, investigation reports, crime scene logs, forensic expert reports. Basically, just about everything."
• Potentially Compromising the Investigation: The episode highlights the dangers inherent in such access, including contamination of witness testimony and the risk of forming theories without proper evidence or context.

4. Building a Theory, Shaping a Suspect

• From Rumor to Reality: Susan and Tom organize their findings, interrogate witnesses (sometimes using manipulation), and develop a theory centering on outsider Quincy Cross based on slim, often ambiguous evidence.
  • Manipulative Interview Tactics:
    • Notable Clip (22:04): Susan leads and intimidates key witness Venetia Stubblefield, pretending to promise immunity for cooperation:
      • “Jeremy didn't kill her...We know you were there, I'm telling you...If you will help with this, I can see that everything with you is going to work out okay.”
  • Tom’s Disagreement:
    • Quote, Tom Mangold (23:45): (from his writing) "I pointed out that this was not the way to deal with putative suspects or witnesses... subtlety, tact, and rat like cunning were the only tools we had to quarry the truth."

5. The Chris Drive Party and Emergence of Quincy Cross

• Key Party Identified: Susan and Tom focus on a party on Chris Drive the night of Jessica's disappearance, which leads to scrutiny of Quincy Cross, present at the party as a relative outsider and drug dealer.
• Evidence and Timeline Issues: Testimony about a "belt" and Quincy’s odd behavior is conflated with the only physical evidence found (a belt fragment), though timelines and accounts don't match Susan's theory.
  • Quote, Miranda Hellman (34:12):
    "They said that he was wild, he was...partying, having a good time, and one of the girls was like, yeah, he was swinging his belt around like a lasso."
  • Narrator (34:54): "The confusion of the belt will run the length of this story, its importance growing at every step."
• Alibi Overlooked:
  • Quote, Miranda Hellman (36:00):
    "Everyone at Chris Drive said Quincy never left. Unanimously, he never left...once we settled in...Quincy didn't leave until the wee hours of the morning ...that timeline becomes really difficult to match to the story Susan brings in."

6. The Aftermath: The Power of Narrative Over Fact

• Theory Takes Root: Despite weak evidence, Susan fixes on Quincy as the prime suspect—a narrative that soon shapes official police inquiry.
  • Quote, Susan Galbraith (37:32):
    "There was, there was a feeling of euphoria... with the information of all these things coming together."
• Community Impact and Questionable Clout:
  • Quote, John Poole (25:47):
    "He made her feel important...he kind of glorified her, made her feel good. She was somebody again."
  • Quote, Joe Curran (Jessica’s father) (25:17):
    "If you get somebody like that on the wrong track, they could take that ball and go the wrong direction."
  • Quote, Miranda Hellman (39:19):
    "They just looked at the highlights, you know, the keywords gasoline, belt, that he was on Chris Drive."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Susan’s Relentless Outreach:
  • "I started writing to so many people. I wrote to Oprah, I wrote to Julia Roberts..." (Susan Galbraith, 02:57)
• Tom’s Initial Reflex:
  • "It just felt right." (Tom Mangold, 08:05)
• Tom on Susan:
  • "She's chubby, lively, great sense of humor, sexy, deep voice, and passionate about the one thing she needed to be passionate about. The murder of Jessica Curran." (Tom Mangold, 09:16)
• Local Perspective:
  • "Mayfield is not a secret town. As soon as you step foot in Mayfield, they know who you are..." (Venetia Stubblefield, 11:52)
• Pressure and Ethical Blurs:
  • "I was to play the bumbling Columbo character, which I did the entire time anyway. I always acted like I didn't know anything." (Susan Galbraith, 21:10)
• Narrative Power:
  • "There was, there was a feeling of euphoria...with the information of all these things coming together." (Susan Galbraith, 37:32)

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Key Timestamps

• [02:57] Susan describes her campaign to reach high-profile personalities.
• [08:05] Tom Mangold discusses his initial reaction to Susan’s email.
• [09:16] Tom Mangold recalls meeting Susan in person and their first impressions.
• [12:08] Susan’s early theory implicating local rumor and suspicion.
• [15:42] Jeremy Adam's defense attorney, Renee Tuck, on the peculiarities of the case.
• [19:05] Tom concludes Jeremy Adams was wrongly charged.
• [21:10] Susan on adopting the "Columbo" act for witness interviews.
• [22:04] Recording of Susan’s coercive interview technique with Venetia.
• [23:45] Tom’s critique of Susan’s interrogation style.
• [25:47] Private investigator John Poole on Susan’s drive for respect.
• [34:12] Lawyer Miranda Hellman explains the crucial "belt" detail.
• [36:00] Hellman on Quincy Cross’s alibi and the timeline issues.
• [37:32] Susan's feeling of euphoria upon landing on their prime suspect.
• [39:19] Lawyer and investigators reflect on how limited facts became the linchpin of the theory.

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Overall Tone & Style

The episode blends narrative suspense and true crime investigation with introspective, sometimes skeptical commentary from the host and assembled voices. It balances empathy for the victim and those seeking justice with a critical eye on the ethics and pitfalls of amateur sleuthing intersecting with formal investigation. Tom Mangold brings dry, self-deprecating British perspective, while Susan’s voice is impulsive and emotionally driven.

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Conclusion

Episode 3 of "My Mother’s Lies" dramatizes the pivotal moment when citizen obsession, media interest, and law enforcement authority intersected—sometimes irresponsibly—to set Quincy Cross on the path to conviction. It raises haunting questions about truth, justice, and whose version of events becomes the official record, setting up the stage for the next episode, as Susan’s influence—and the consequences of her investigative zeal—continue to ripple outward.

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Transcript

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[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

See full [e-mail] listen to every episode of My Mother's Lies ad free right now when you subscribe to the binge, you'll hear the entire series before anyone else, get exclusive bonus episodes and unlock more than 60 other true crime podcasts. Just head to the Binge channel on Apple Podcasts and tap subscribe or visit getthebinge.com to listen wherever you are. The Binge Features feed you'd True Crime Obsession the Bench. It's early afternoon in April 2004 in the small town of Mayfield, Kentucky. In an ordinary suburban home, an ordinary woman sits at her desk. Her notebooks are scattered all around her. They're filled with names of witnesses and half formed thoughts, a jumble of theories, rumors, even conspiracies. Names and ideas that need something or someone to help her make sense of. She opens up her email and pulls the keyboard toward her, and after a moment of thought, Susan Gabbrith starts to type. It's been more than a year since the official Mayfield police case against Jeremy Adams and Lolo Saxton was dismissed. A year has also passed since the Kentucky State Police took over the investigation. Things had stalled. The murder of Jessica Curran was a cold case, growing colder by the day. It needed an injection of energy from somewhere. As it turned out, that injection came from Susan Galbraith. But a nosy local on a personal crusade wasn't going to get lawyers, coroners, city hall, or law enforcement agencies to talk with her. To start really investigating Jessica's murder, she needed transcripts, tapes, witness profiles, lab reports. Most of all, she needed to identify a new suspect. And for that, she needed help. Years later, Susan recalled how she wrote to TV celebrities and Hollywood stars to take up her cause.

[Susan Galbraith]

I started writing to so many people. I wrote to Oprah, I wrote to Julia Roberts, I wrote to Jay Z. I wrote to Jerry Springer. And I never got a response from anybody. And I can remember watching a documentary and I saw this strappling, handsome man. I googled him and I wrote him a Letter.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

Susan's eventual savior would come from stumbling upon a cable documentary hosted by renowned British journalist Tom Mangold. This much you already know. But what you don't know is how this half hearted Hail Mary email typed on an ordinary spring afternoon is the moment everything changed. It would be the first domino to fall in an escalating tragedy. A tragedy that would play out like a slow motion car crash spanning the next two decades.

[Susan Galbraith]

Hello, Mr. Mangold. I am writing concerning a murder in a small town in the state of Kentucky here in the US the victim, a beautiful 18 year old black girl.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

You see, oftentimes a tragedy is the work of just one person acting alone. But in the case of solving Jessica Curran's murder, the case that would become the Commonwealth of Kentucky vs. Quincy Cross, that is the work of many people, from legal professionals and law enforcement officers to government officials. People who should have known better than to facilitate and enable the misguided work of this one ordinary woman. But it all started with this email to a journalist in England. Well, in this episode we're going to take a real hard look at how it really unfolded. How a private citizen gained access to crucial documents and official files that in my opinion should never ever have been shared with a non journalist. How a journalist and a citizen sleuth crafted their own theory in the space of just 10 days without physical evidence or forensic corroboration. A theory that started in a cheap motel room and spread like wildfire through the community.

[Venetia Stubblefield]

I was scared to even do an interview with hiring Tom Mango. That's why I laugh at you when you say this name. I have nothing to say to neither one of them.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

What might have started as a search for answers seemed to become something else entirely. The writing of a story. And once a story like that takes hold, it can be almost impossible to stop Tom sending the names to Susan and then Susan going, it's those two. Yeah.

[Joe Curran (Jessica's father)]

And then getting people to say what

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

they want them to say, man. Then writing this big story about what you supposedly did, right?

[Unnamed Speaker (possibly Susan or Narrator)]

Boom.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

Here we are. From Sony Music Entertainment and Message heard. You're listening to my mother's lies. I'm Beth Karras. This is episode three, Prime Suspect. Much of what you're about to learn about Susan's investigation over the next few episodes comes from her emails. Emails that have only recently been filed in court. To be honest, they read a lot like a diary. Which gives us a unique insight into Susan's process, her thoughts and feelings at the time she's writing them. Lets go back to that Very first email to Tom Mangold. I'll read it for you. It's interesting that right from the jump, Susan opens with Jeremy Adams's innocence. She writes, there was a person charged with this murder and on the very eve of this trial, the charge was dropped due to a supposed goof by our local police. I not only think they had the wrong person charged with the actual murder, I believe there is a political cover up involved also. When he received Susan's email back In April, in 2004, Tom Mangold would have been 69 years old and a very well respected journalist. From war zones to corporate conspiracies, he'd won awards and accolades for his pioneering investigative reporting. We did ask Tom to participate in this series, but he declined. But Here in a 2012 BBC radio documentary, Tom is reflecting on the mysterious nature of that email.

[Tom Mangold]

There was something about her email to me indefinable, but it touched the nerve of an old instinct. I couldn't delete it, but I couldn't ignore it. So I took the gamble. I just sensed that this might, might be a good story. Unusual location, crime, human interest. It just felt right.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

It seems that in the spring of 2004, around the same time he responded to Susan's email, Tom's career at the BBC had just come to an abrupt end. And the previous summer there had been some controversy over a story he'd published regarding US intelligence. He'd also been unable to work for some time following a knee operation. So when Susan's email popped up in his inbox, he was, in his own words, quote, grumpy and full of, quote, self pity. Whatever it was that caught his imagination, it certainly moved him. In May 2004, he boarded a flight and traveled thousands of miles to Western Kentucky to meet Susan in person. The two hit it off right away.

[Tom Mangold]

When I first met Susan, I liked her on site. She's chubby, lively, great sense of humor, sexy, deep voice, and passionate about the one thing she needed to be passionate about. The murder of Jessica Curran.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

That's Tom again. Taken from his later BBC Radio documentary charting their incredible tale. Apparently, Susan's first impressions of Tom were more uncertain, but she clearly felt pressure to make his visit worthwhile.

[Susan Galbraith]

When I first met Tom, I thought he was prim and proper, like he had a stick up his ass. I mean, he was just really formal, you know. Then all my nervousness really started coming. I started worrying, oh my gosh, what have I done? Is he gonna believe me? What if we don't find anything?

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

Susan's concerns would turn out to be unfounded. Over the next 10 days, they found plenty. Tom arrived in Mayfield on May 28, 2004, the start of a humid Memorial Day weekend. He was due to meet Susan for their first official discussion about the case. But first, he had an important matter to attend to. Here's an Excerpt from Tom's 2016 memoir, Mayfield is Dry. I am not in nearby Paducah, where I landed from Chicago. I bought two cases of high quality Sauvignon Blanc and headed for the Days Inn Motel, Mayfield's best, worst and only lodgings. It was in this modest motel room, drinking white wine out of styrofoam cups, that Tom and Susan planned their first move. They started at the beginning, Susan laying out what she believed were the facts. Due to a lack of forensics and the condition of her body, the cause of Jessica's death had never been officially established. However, over the years, rumors had circulated that she may have been killed by strangulation. This seems to have come from, in part, the fact that a fragment of a black belt had been found at the crime scene. Other rumors persisted, too, that the failure of the initial local police investigation was part of a conspiracy that ran all the way to City hall. That Jessica might have been involved in a secret drug ring run by the cops themselves. Another rumor revolved around the familiar name of Venetia Stubblefield, Jessica's cousin. We spoke to Venetia recently. She knows as well as anyone the way stories move through a small town like Mayfield.

[Venetia Stubblefield]

Mayfield is not a secret town. As soon as you step foot in Mayfield, they know who you are, where you from, how old you are, how many kids you got, what do you do for a living and stuff like that. Anybody in Mayfield can pinpoint anything about anybody.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

Back in 2004, based on local rumors, Susan's working theory was that Jessica had been kidnapped by a group of people driving a white car. And she suspected that Venetia was one of those people. Another name Susan had latched onto is Austin Leach, who was seen around Mayfield in his white Cadillac that night. So what did Tom make of all this? Having just arrived in Mayfield, sitting in his motel room, drinking Sauvignon Blanc, jet lagging, weary. Clearly, he realized he had his work cut out, not only in sifting through the gossip, but in training his new colleague on how to separate rumor from reality.

[Tom Mangold]

I became her news editor. She became my trainee cub reporter. I taught her my trade from the bottom up. Don't chase gossip. Check every reputation check and recheck every fact.

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We talk about celebrities who maybe shouldn't be celebrities, like the Beckham guy.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

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My name is Molly McLaughlin. I am one of Jen Shaw's many victims.

[Susan Galbraith]

She was defrauding the elderly, and her

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

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[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

After a good night's sleep. The first item on Tom's to do list was establishing the facts, starting with Jeremy Adams. He set up a meeting with Jeremy's trial lawyer, Renee Tuck, which makes sense to me. He needed to make his own assessment about the strengths and weaknesses of the case against Jeremy. Here's a tape of Renee talking to Tom years later, recalling how strange Jessica's case was and how reluctant people were to speak with Renee about the the murder.

[Renee Tuck (Jeremy's lawyer)]

This was one of the more odd cases I've ever had. Probably the most odd case I'VE ever handled. We would have people calling us on our personal cell phones or work cell phones. Wouldn't tell us who they were. They wanted to give us information, but they were scared.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

During their meeting, in spite of the unusual nature of the case, Jeremy's attorney discussed the details of this open investigation with Tom, a journalist. This is a big red flag for me. After all, this was an ongoing murder investigation, and Jeremy was still the main suspect. But it's what happened next that is truly troubling. Apparently, Renee Tuck not only discussed the case, she had signed permission from Jeremy to physically hand over Margaret much of his official case file. What she gave Tom is what we call discovery. Essentially a treasure trove of evidence and investigation notes. Typically, it can include witness names, addresses and phone numbers, interview tapes, surveillance tapes, investigation reports, crime scene logs, forensic expert reports. Basically, just about everything the Mayfield Police Department would have gathered concerning Jessica Curran's murder in their case against Jeremy and Lolo. So, naturally, we also reached out to Renee for an interview, but she declined. But she did confirm that she gave some of the discovery to Tom Mangold. Look, it's been a long time since I tried a case myself, but I've been reporting on criminal trials for decades, and I'm troubled by how quickly Renee gave the files to Tom. Even if Renee had her client's permission to release the files, personally, I question the wisdom in doing so. Not to mention the ethics. This was an ongoing murder investigation, and her client was the prime suspect. Releasing this kind of information to a private citizen risks putting the investigation in jeopardy. What if Tom decides to share those files with other private citizens like Susan? What if they then form their own opinions? What if they cherry pick certain details from those files to share with other private citizens? You get the idea. You can imagine the mess it could lead to. Leading witnesses to change their stories, false corroboration, contaminating the jury pool. So, yeah, sharing the files with Tom Mangold was, at least, in my view, not a good move. I'd say this was the second domino to fall. After meeting with Renee Tuck. Next on Tom's agenda was a meeting with Donna Adams, Jeremy's mother, presumably on Susan's advice. Tom was well prepared, arriving at Donna's mobile home with a bottle of tequila under his arm. Next, Tom went to meet Jeremy for himself, a man he later said, quote, didn't look like a killer. Whatever that means. I mean, Ted Bundy was a handsome man who didn't look like a killer either. Whatever the case, Tom was apparently as convinced as Donna and Susan, he too ruled Jeremy out as a suspect, as he would later state publicly on his BBC documentary.

[Tom Mangold]

By the end of the first week, we'd established that Jeremy Adams, the local small time criminal, had been wrongly charged by the cops.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

With Jeremy's innocence apparently well established, Tom and Susan were given even more of the discovery documents directly from Jeremy's mother, Donna. Here she is confirming as much to the state police. I had Jeremy's motion to discovery.

[Tom Mangold]

Did you give all that stuff to Sue?

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

Yeah, she got every bit of it. They now had most of the original police investigation into Jessica's murder, but not quite everything. This one's a real doozy. According to Susan's records, they also took possession of case documents from a disgruntled former Mayfield police officer. That is even more problematic than Jeremy's lawyer sharing some files. Let's face it, good journalists get a hold of documents that are off limits all the time. But an ex cop, possibly with an axe to grind. What is clear is that Tom's presence in Kentucky opened doors that Susan could only have previously dreamed of. Armed with a now bulging case file, they went back to Tom's motel, cracked open a bottle of wine and started the task of reviewing the mountain of paperwork. And so began their own investigation. With so much to get through, Susan and Tom split the case file in half before returning and comparing thoughts. Over the coming nights, they swap files and share notes. They start to identify the key witnesses they need to interview. During the days they hit the streets of Mayfield, conducting their own interviews, often taped covertly by Susan. Tom thought the fact that Susan wasn't an actual cop or reporter was an advantage. And he coached on how to exaggerate her ignorance to get people to talk.

[Susan Galbraith]

While Tom was here, he would do his questioning, I would do my questioning, he would give me things to do. I was to play the bumbling Columbo character, which I did the entire time anyway. I always acted like I didn't know anything.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

By the sounds of it, it was just another hustle, like putting on an act for social services in order to get her, quote, crazy check, as her son Ray had put it. As Tom and Susan pored over witness statements and police interviews, of all the names that crop up, one was at the top of their list. What you're about to hear is a covert recording made by Susan at the time. In it, she probes their key witness, Venetia Stubblefield. These recordings also capture Susan's approach, her assumptions, and the direction her investigation had begun to take.

[Unnamed Speaker (possibly Susan or Narrator)]

Jeremy didn't kill Her. Jeremy didn't kill her. They don't have a case on Jeremy. That's why they let you out. Because we all know Jeremy didn't kill her. We know you were there, I'm telling you. In fact, I have got in another hour and a half. I've got another meeting with someone here just shortly. And I am telling you there is going to be a big arrest here. Now, if you will help with this, I can see that everything with you is going to work out okay.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

There is a lot in that clip declaring Jeremy's innocence, pretending an arrest is imminent, insinuating that Venetia is in trouble and that Susan can protect her. Right from the beginning, Susan is leading the witness, threatening, offering inducements. Whatever the truth of her involvement, don't forget Venetia was just 16 when her cousin was brutally murdered. Possibly in front of her, possibly by local drug dealers who threatened her as well. And after all that, she was still only 20 at the time that interview was conducted in 2004. Did she really have the power to make deals on behalf of the police? At this point, probably not. But Ray thinks she enjoyed giving people that impression. My mom might have been saying that

[Ray (Susan's son)]

stuff for clout, just to get some attention. Notoriety scare people, too, you know. If you can do good for people, you can also do bad for people, too.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

It was something Tom called Susan out on, too. This is what he wrote about it in 2013. Quote. As we drove back to the motel, Susan and I had our first and last row. I pointed out that this was not the way to deal with putative suspects or witnesses. That no one ever confesses easily or quickly. And that subtlety, tact, and rat like cunning were the only tools we had to quarry the truth. To be fair to Susan, Tom also ruffled a few feathers in Mayfield. Since he was an outsider, people didn't quite know what to make of him. Much like Susan, Tom wasn't there to make friends. He was there to get things done. And they got a lot done in their 10 days together. From gaining entry into a prison using an expired press pass to extracting sensitive case information from an. One person who Tom did make a good impression on was Jessica's father, Joe.

[Joe Curran (Jessica's father)]

Tom Mangolda was a little different than I thought he would be. Because, honestly, talking with him, I thought he would be younger than what he was when he got here. And he was kind of a smaller guy, a little older than I thought he would be with Gray, you know, her. And he seemed to be the kind of person that pay attention to Small details.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

Even so, Joe worries that Tom is the type to push forward no matter what.

[Joe Curran (Jessica's father)]

If you get somebody like that on the wrong track, they could take that ball and go the wrong direction.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

They may have been an odd couple, but Tom's heavyweight credentials still needed Susan's local knowledge. And Susan was suddenly infused with a new energy. Her mission to solve Jessica Curran's murder was suddenly moving forward. Forward at breakneck speed. Here's Mayfield private investigator and former cop John Poole, who worked on the case for one of the defendants.

[John Poole (Private Investigator)]

He made her feel important because people in the community I've talked to thought she was a troublemaker and lazy, didn't work on drugs, alcohol. And so he kind of glorified her, made her feel good. She was somebody again.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

It was on one of their last nights together, pouring over police tapes, that Susan and Tom finally landed on the missing piece of their puzzle. A series of interview transcripts from a group who had all been at a house party that took place on the same night Jessica disappeared. This party was at an address on a street named Chris Drive, about four miles away on the other side of town from where Jessica was last seen walking home. A party which ended in a series of arrests in the early hours of Sunday, July 30th. Here is Susan talking about that light bulb moment of discovery in Tom's BBC documentary.

[Susan Galbraith]

I realized that there was an entire side of the case that the Mayfield Police Department did not look into at all.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

One of the partygoers was Jessica's then boyfriend of two months, Lolo Saxton, which naturally piqued their interest. But it was another name that would take center stage. It is in these transcripts and phone records, documents Susan and arguably Tom should never have had access to that led them to what they claim had been missing a new prime suspect.

[Ray (Susan's son)]

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[Jonathan Hirsch (Crime Scene Host)]

Welcome to Crime Scene, the new weekly show from the Binge, where we tell you the stories behind the world's most unforgettable crimes. I'm Jonathan Hirsch. You may know me as the host of My Fugitive dad or Dear Franklin Jones. Watching you. I'm an executive producer of the Binge, the True Crime Podcast Network where we bring you a new series on the first of every month. For Crime Scene. I'm joined by my producer and co host Cooper Maul, the reporter and voice behind Fatal Beauty and the Crimes of Margo Freshwater. We know there are a lot of true crime podcasts out there. I think what makes Crime Scene different is that Cooper and I have boots on the ground. We're investigative storytellers and so many of the stories that come across our desk we haven't been able to share with you until now. So if you're one of the millions of people who have flocked to the Binge for riveting storytelling, deeply investigated true crime series, think of this as all the things that you love about those shows in a single episode. Join us every week in the Crime Scene office wherever you listen to or watch your shows. This is Crime Scene available now.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

Let's go back to the night of the murder. Not to the address on Chris Drive, but 40 minutes southwest of Mayfield, just across the Kentucky state border in Union City, Tennessee. It's 7pm on Saturday evening, July 29, 2000. The night is just getting started. Lolo Saxton and two friends are driving around in a blue Pontiac. They're looking to pick up some cocaine for the party when they run into a childhood friend of one of theirs, Quincy Omar Cross. The guys are headed back to Mayfield to go to a party, so Quincy decides to tag along. Sometime after midnight, the four men pull up to a house on Chris Drive. There are a few kids hanging out and partying, including the son of a prominent local cop. There are drugs too, which isn't uncommon for a Mayfield house party. According to some, Quincy Cross is wired and is constantly on the house phone. Don't forget, cell phones weren't so common back then. Apparently he's calling girls back in Tennessee. He complains that all the women at the party are with their boyfriends. Between 1 and 3am Some of the partygoers, including Lolo, took a couple of trips in a blue Pontiac to a local cafe. Quincy Quincy doesn't go with them on these trips. He stays at the house on Chris Drive. When the group returns to Chris Drive, Quincy is apparently still wired and still making calls on the house phone. A few of the partygoers reported that he was acting a little erratically. Some even mentioned him swinging a dart colored belt around and just generally being annoying. As the night goes on, other people drift in and out, but by around 4am the party is winding down. The revelers start drifting off to sleep. Sometime between 5 and 5:30, Quincy asks to use the car, the blue Pontiac that's nearly out of gas. Quincy claims he wants to go down the street to see a grand girl he knows. The owner tosses Quincy the keys, but warns him he won't get very far. About an hour to an hour and a half later, around 6.30am, Quincy Cross returns to Chris Drive. Quincy reports that the car had indeed run out of gas and that he stole a gas container from a nearby house and attempted unsuccessfully to get the car going. It was there, stranded on the side of the road, where he was spotted by a state trooper who picked him up and drove him back to the house. Now, while Quincy was explaining all this to the bleary eyed partygoers, that same state trooper was on his way back to the stranded vehicle to take a closer look. Apparently on discovering the owner's firearm and various drug paraphernalia in the car, he called in some backup and return to Chris Drive. The cops enter the house sometime around 7am to conduct a search. They discover weed, plant and cocaine and proceed to arrest most of the occupants, including Quincy Cross. And that is how in the spring of 2004, four years after the fact, Quincy Omar Cross suddenly appeared on the radar of a journalist and a citizen sleuth poring over the files in the cold case murder investigation of Jessica Curran. Now, before we go any further, I admit I can see why Susan and Tom took an interest in Quincy. A man from out of town, a drug dealer, an outsider, restless, fueled by cocaine, possibly wearing a black belt, encountered by law enforcement just as the sun is rising over Mayfield, reportedly reeking of gasoline. All the same night, Jessica disappears just two days before her burnt body is discovered. Well, here's the problem right from the start. The statements from the Chris Drive party don't really support the story Susan would later come up with. Let's start with the belt. In the initial interviews, no one can really recall what Quincy was wearing, but one offhand comment would prove fateful. Here's Miranda Hellman again, a lawyer who would eventually end up representing Quincy in the years to come.

[Miranda Hellman (Lawyer)]

When they interviewed some of the girls that were at Chris Drive, and those are part of Quincy's investigative file connected to the drug charges. They said that he was wild, he was, you know, partying, having a good time and one of the girls was like, yeah, he was swinging his belt around like a lasso.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

That's the line right there. A throwaway comment made by a girl at the Chris Drive house party after the cops busted them for drugs. It had nothing to do with Jessica Curran yet.

[Miranda Hellman (Lawyer)]

And so it's just like these key phrases of belt now. There was never a belt involved in the Jessica Curran case until Susan starts talking about, well, how was she murdered? And this belt becomes a part of that narrative.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

This moment is worth remembering. The confusion of the belt will run the length of this story, its importance growing at every step.

[Miranda Hellman (Lawyer)]

There was never a conclusive report as to what her cause of death was. The crime scene had a lot of issues. So there's a lot of evidence laying on the ground. There's a lot of things around her body that simply don't have anything to do with the crime. And so one of the items that was found at the middle school did include what looked to be a piece of a leather belt.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

Rumors arose from the very beginning about whether this piece of leather belt was important. Was it near the body or on the body? It's a minor detail that would have devastating consequences. Interestingly, the state trooper who picked Quincy up on the side of the road early that morning noted that Quincy was wearing sweatpants, which don't typically require a belt. The next bit is even harder to reconcile. The timeline.

[Miranda Hellman (Lawyer)]

Everyone at Chris Drive said Quincy never left. Unanimously, he never left. Yeah, he was partying, he was being wild. But once we settled in, you know, 10, 11 o', clock, Quincy didn't leave until the wee hours of the morning,

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

sometime between 1am and 3am, the time when Jessica was supposedly making the 45 minute walk home, having left Venetia and friends. Lolo and others are driving around town getting food in the blue Pontiac, but Quincy was never with them. Through those phone records and witness statements, Quincy has an alibi until about 5am that's about three hours after Jessica should have been home.

[Miranda Hellman (Lawyer)]

I think that those call records probably corroborate some of the testimony and witness statements that come from Chris Drive. And you know, that four or five o' clock time frame seems to really line up with exactly the point in time that the cop says he was pulled over on the side of the road without gas, you know, as the sun is coming up in the 6, 6:30 range. And so we have a timeline. You know, that timeline becomes really difficult to match to the story Susan brings in.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

Still, Tom and Susan were certain they'd found their man. Here's Susan in Tom's documentary, recalling the moment of revelation.

[Susan Galbraith]

There was, there was a feeling of euphoria or whatever we were so excited with the information of all these things coming together.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

Of course, Quincy had no idea of this. At the time, the now 28 year old former high school football player was back in Tennessee living with his grandma. How could he know that just over the state line in Kentucky, a timer had just started ticking. Tom and Susan would need to find the evidence to support their fledgling theory. But they were convinced they had their guy. Quincy Omar Cross was now their main suspect. And with that, Tom's work in Mayfield was finished. It was time to head back to England. Tom and Susan handed all their findings, copies of their case file and their theory to the man now leading the official murder investigation, Kentucky State Police Detective Jamie Mills. As Tom headed back across the Atlantic, he knew his part was largely finished. As he'd later say, quote, it was now up to Susan alone to bring it all in. I'm brave. Bring it in, she would. Over the course of the following year, Susan Galbraith would take the names and details she and Tom found in those Chris Drive transcripts and start writing a new story, moving around facts to fit her evolving theory of what really happened the night Jessica Curran was murdered.

[John Poole (Private Investigator)]

To me, the Chris Drive party is almost like the old expression, a red herring.

[Miranda Hellman (Lawyer)]

They just looked at the highlights, you know, the keywords gasoline belt that he was on Chris Drive.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

When the Kentucky State Police start taking her theory seriously, suddenly anything seems possible.

[Miranda Hellman (Lawyer)]

The clout that came with working with the police, that were active police in the community, only seemed to give the things that Susan said more credibility.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

But as her influence grows, people start to take notice of her, apparently including Quincy Cross.

[Tom Mangold]

She was beginning to take personal risks. Then, to my horror, the killer began stalking her.

[Narrator (Beth Karras)]

That's next time on My Mother's Lies. At the time of release, we have not received a response from from Jeremy Adams or Renee Tuck regarding allegations reported in this episode. Tom Mangold confirmed by email that he stands by his reporting. Don't want to wait for that next episode? You don't have to unlock all episodes of My Mother's Lies ad free right now by subscribing to the Binge Podcast channel. Search for the binge on Apple podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page not on Apple. Then head to getthebinge.com to get access wherever you listen. As a subscriber, you'll get binge access to new stories on the 1st of every month. Check out the Binge channel page on apple podcasts or getthebinge.com to learn more. This is Bing My Mother's Lies, an original production of Sony Music Entertainment and Message Heard, hosted by me, Beth Karras from Message Heard. Alice Arnold is our investigator producer Robin Simon our producer McAllister Bexson our series producer Thiago Diaz. Our assistant producer Alan Lear is our supervising sound editor, supported by sound editors Lizzie Andrews and Ivan Eason with original composition by Mike Mains from Sony Music Entertainment. Our executive producers are Catherine St. Louis and Jonathan Hirsch from Blink Films. Our executive producer is Justine Kershaw and a big thanks to the whole Sony Music Entertainment team.

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