Lifetime's Sleeping With a Killer: How was the Ashley Mead murder case cracked?

Lifetime's Sleeping With a Killer is a true crime docuseries about ordinary people who met tragic ends at the hands of their lovers, friends, or spouses. The show takes a deep dive into these cases and presents them with a touch of drama. The episodes narrated by Katie Flamman are released every Monday at 10 pm ET.

The upcoming episode of Sleeping With a Killer is set to air on June 20, 2022 and will delve into the gruesome murder of Ashley Mead at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Adam Densmore. The mother-of-one and pre-school teacher from Boulder, Colorado, was murdered and her body dismembered, with her remains still at large.

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Tracing the clues in Ashley Mead's murder case ahead of Sleeping With a Killer

Two days after her disappearance on February 12, 2017, the 25-year-old Ashley Mead was reported missing by her friends and co-workers. At the time, she was living with her ex-boyfriend and father of her child, Adam Densmore. The latest episode of Sleeping With a Killer will attempt a detailed exploration of the clues in the case.

Signs of disturbances at Ashley's apartment sent authorities on a trail to catch her ex-boyfriend, who was arrested in Lousiana. He was staying there at his parents' house along with his daughter, and was arrested for child custody violation. While in custody, police noticed a bite mark on his arm.

His steps were backtracked and a security camera footage showed him lifting the lid of a dustbin at a gas station in Oklahoma. Upon searching the dustbin, police found Ashley's disemboweled torso.

Further investigations also helped them find bloodstains in Ashley's apartment that were eventually confirmed by a forensic scientist as matching the victim's blood. Police also discovered that an excessive amount of bleach had been used in the bathroom of Densmore's father's house in Louisiana.

Densmore's past reputation added fuel to the case against him. He had previously been arrested for domestic violence for allegedly choking his ex-wife in Louisiana. In 2010, he received a DUI and the following year a probation violation. In 2013, he was also charged with disturbing the peace.

Ashley's friends revealed that she had described Densmore as an alcoholic and had expressed her hate for him in a text message. Densmore, on the other hand, was convinced that Ashley was going to take their daughter away from him and blamed his alcoholism on her.

In his arrest affidavit, Ashley's friends claimed that he not only refused to sign their daughter's birth certificate but also referred to the child as "Ashley's daughter." He would claim to love his baby daughter but was only present when it was convenient for him.

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Sleeping With a Killer Season 1, Episode 3: Adam Densmore's sentence

In addition to the evidence against him, Densmore's journal entries further solidified the prosecution's case against him in the trial. In one of the journal entries, he wrote, "I'm so tired of being tired of her. I'm so tired of her not seeming to give a good goddamn about me and want and my needs."

There were other appalling undated entries in his journal. One read, "I long to hit someone. Hard. And again. I want someone to feel the frustrating helplessness of a beating."

On the basis of all the evidence, a 16-member jury found Densmore guilty on all counts of first-degree murder, tampering with a corpse, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, along with an additional 12 years for the dismemberment of a corpse.

Despite his conviction, the case never received closure as many questions revolving around the cause and reason for the murder remain unanswered. The rest of Ashley's body parts were never found and when Ed Mead, her father, urged Densmore to reveal where he had buried them, the latter refused to respond.

The upcoming episode of Sleeping With a Killer will air on Lifetime on June 20, 2022 at 10 pm ET.