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The upcoming premiere of People Magazine Investigates on Investigation Discovery is all set to cover the brutal murder of Jessica Lunsford by John Couey. Couey was a registered s*x offender, who repeatedly assaulted the 9-year-old girl before burying her alive. The details of this crime sent shivers across the quaint town of Homosassa, Florida.
People Magazine Investigates will cover this case in its upcoming episode, titled, The Boogeyman, and is set to air at 9 pm EST.
John Couey already had a rap sheet that seemed to indicate his involvement as he lived very near to the Lunsford house. Soon, this suspicion was confirmed when authorities entered his mobile home and found Jessica's DNA. He was arrested and charged with the murder and eventually, the jury sentenced him to death.
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Before the state could have carried out his death penalty, John Couey died of natural causes on September 30, 2009, following a couple of years in prison.
What did John Couey do to Jessica Lunsford?
On the night of February 24, 2005, Jessica Lunsford, a nine-year-old resident of Homosassa, Florida, went to bed but was never seen alive again. From the next morning on, an intense search began for the child but nothing was found for nearly a month. And when the police did have a breakthrough, it was the most shocking one.
Jessica Lunsford was found partially decomposed, buried in a shallow grave in a plastic bag only 150 yards away from her home. She reportedly died from suffocation from lack of oxygen. It was clear that she had died from being buried alive in the bag. Moreover, authorities also figured out that the nine-year-old was assaulted before being murdered.
As investigators delved into the case, they discovered a man named John Couey, who was living opposite the Lunsford residence in a mobile home. His niece came forward to share details about his twisted past, which involved assaults. He was also a registered s*x offender.
While there wasn't much to initially charge Couey with, Dorothy Dixon, Couey's half-sister, who was also the owner of the mobile home, finally allowed the police to look into the house. There, the police found DNA evidence to link Couey to Jessica Lunsford. This was enough evidence to arrest and charge Couey.
What happened to John Couey?
After his arrest, in March 2005, Couey reportedly confessed to the crime. He revealed that he allegedly went to rob the Lunsford house, but when Jessica saw him, he led her outside. He soon took her to the trailer, where he kept her for three days before killing her by burying her alive inside plastic bags in the nearby wooded area.
In the meantime, he had repeatedly assaulted the nine-year-old. However, this confession was reportedly not admissible in court as there was no lawyer present.
However, when Couey moved to trial in 2007, he was convicted of all the charges and sentenced to death by the jury. But before he could be executed, he passed away of natural causes on September 30, 2009.
People Magazine Investigates will cover this case in more detail.
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