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The University of Missouri student, Jesse Valencia's brutal murder in June 2004 became the focus of headlines as a police officer was found to be at the bottom of it all. Valencia was found on a lawn close to his living quarters with his throat slit wide open.
Jesse Valencia wanted to be a law student after graduation whose life had been cut short by a married man and a father, Steven Rios. The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode titled Before Daylight showcases the murder of Jesse James Valencia as it was aired on July 24, 2024, at 8 p.m. EST on Oxygen. The episode originally aired on April 24, 2020. The official synopsis reads:
"A college student is found murdered in a residential neighbourhood; as police search for the truth, they are stunned to learn that one of their own might be involved."
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Who was Jesse James Valencia?
Jesse James Wade Valencia was born on February 22, 1981, in Boyle County, Kentucky to parents Lupe Valencia and Linda Baugh Valencia. Jesse grew up with his two sisters, Maria and Rachel Valencia. Jesse finished his high school education and began working as a model.
After graduating, he enrolled at the University of Missouri where he pursued pre-law and journalism. At night, he worked as a night auditor at Campus Inn Motel. Jesse was known to be religious by nature as he was a Doctors Fork Baptist Church member.
What happened to Jesse Valencia?
On June 5, 2004, Jesse Valencia was found dead on a lawn close to his off-campus residence. Valencia was a student at the University of Missouri campus and was found only in his pair of boxer shorts. His throat was slit open so wide that the knife had grazed the spine, per CNN News May 2005 report.
Valencia's throat bore marks of strangulation but his body bore no defensive wounds except for bruises on his breastbone and shoulders. The body was found face up in the afternoon as some of the college students, Matt Finucane and his friends, found the body on Wilson Avenue.
As the 911 call was made and the responders arrived at the crime scene, Columbia patrolman Steven Rios identified the body to belong to Jesse. As the authorities went on with their investigation, they had Jesse's neighbor say that they had heard arguments between two men break out around 3.30 a.m. local time.
The autopsy reports from the medical examiner stated that Jesse's throat had been cut open with a serrated knife so deep that it had severed his carotid artery and nicked his vertebrae. Furthermore, an anonymous tip over a phone call alerted them of an angle and motive behind the murder - a homosexual affair.
The Chief of Police of the Columbia Police Department, Randy Boehm, believed that Jesse had possibly run away from his home in an attempt to escape as his body was found seven houses away in another block.
As Jesse Valencia's friends were brought in for questioning, Andrew Schermerhorn stepped up to visit the police station to identify the officer Valencia had allegedly been sleeping with.
Schermerhorn identified the 27-year-old Steven Rios as the man who had coerced him and Valencia into sexual acts with him. Additionally, Rios' arm hair was detected on Valencia's chest and his DNA was found under Jesse's nails, according to the Columbia Missourian, July 2008 report.
Catch all the details of Jesse Valencia's murder on the Dateline episode on Peacock.
