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The murder of Gerald Jensen in 2008 became a topic of national interest due to its horrendous nature. The 48-year-old had been brutally stabbed and killed by his stepdaughter's husband, Chris Tomlinson, in April 2008. His stepdaughter, Nicole Thornhill, helped Chris wrap the body and dispose of it in a dumpster nearby.
Gerald's body was found by the workers at the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority who were compacting trash collected from Martin County and Palm Beach County. Nicole and Chris had also plotted to kill Gerald's wife, Kristan Jensen, but failed in the attempt to do so.
The Snapped episode 1 of season 34 showcases the horrific murder of Gerald Jensen and aired on August 25, 2024, at 11:30 p.m. EST. The episode is currently streaming on Hulu and Peacock. The official synopsis reads,
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"A Florida woman's desperate search for her missing husband takes a dark turn when his mutilated body is found in a landfill. As detectives dig into his home life, the victim's family becomes a crucial link to uncovering the grisly truth."
What happened to Gerald Jensen?
On April 21, 2008, Gerald Jensen's wife, Kristan, returned from her rehabilitation at a detox hospital to find him missing from their residence. The day before, Gerald had promised to pick her up from the facility after she was released but she had returned home alone.
Kristan found her daughter, Nicole Thornhill, and her husband, Chris Tomlinson, home with their newborn at home. According to Oxygen, Thornhill and Tomlinson explained that Gerald had fought with a person over a call when they took their son to the library. When they returned, they found Gerald missing from the house.
In addition, Kristan found a number of suspicious details to the house as well such as a strong smell of bleach overpowered the air indoors. The bathroom door had been missing along with the comforter. Besides, Gerald had reportedly left behind his phone, car keys, and car at home.
As the Stuart police authorities jumped to search for the missing 48-year-old, organizing search parties and missing posters, the Palm Beach County detectives made the horrific discovery of his body upon a pile of household garbage at the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority five days later.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that the workers in the area had been compacting garbage they had collected from over 100 homes and businesses in Martin County and south of Palm Beach County. The Stuart Police could immediately identify Gerald from the body and fingerprint analysis further confirmed his identity.
Gerald Jensen had been brutally stabbed with a samurai sword and his throat was slit open. The authorities looked into his call records to find that Jensen had no incoming calls that prompted him to step out. The suspicion fell on his stepdaughter and her husband immediately.
As soon as Nicole Thornhill was confronted with the information, she confessed to plotting to murder Gerald by sleeping pills at first and failing to do so. She then had Chris attack Gerald with his samurai sword at his home. Nicole helped Chris wrap up Gerald's body in a tarp and bed comforter and the couple disposed of it in an apartment complex trash bin.
Catch all the details of Gerald Jensen's murder as the Snapped episode streams on Hulu and Peacock.
