Jesse James Cummings 
|
ALL INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE PROVIDED BY JESSIE JAMES CUMMINGS
Special thanks to Richard Northrop and Brenda Kelly in New Brunswick, Canada for helping transcribe the text |
Hello Friends:
My name is Jesse
James Cummings #244982. I am currently in custody at the
H-unit, Oklahoma
State Penitentiary, P.O. Box 97, Mcalester, OK. 74502-0097
On September 5th,
1991, while I was over a hundred miles away in Oklahoma
City with my
Father who was dying of cancer, Jaunita Marie Lewis Cummings
and Sherry Marie
Mitchell Cummings, shot and killed Judy Ann Moody Mayo, my older sister
and killed her 11 year old daughter Melissa Marie Moody.
At this time I
was living with two women - Sherry and Jaunita Cummings who
were both married
to me. I married Sherry Marie Mitchell first on October 8, 1987 and
then at Sherry's request I married Juanita Marie Lewis on June 14, 1989
without divorcing Sherry. We lived in the community of Phillips,
Oklahoma. The household consisted of me, Sherry, Jaunita, mine and
Sherry's daughter, Juanita's son and my Father Jesse Samuel Cummings.
Felony informations
were filed on August 1, 1994 in Coal County District
Court.
Jaunita was charged with the first degree (malice) murder of Judy.
Sherry was charged
with the first degree (malice) murder of Melissa. I was
charged with
two counts of first degree (malice) murder for: The murder
of Judy, acting
in concert with Jaunita, and the murder of Melissa, acting
in concert with
Sherry.
It was testified
to by the actual murderer, that Judy was murdered in my
home. Judy's
body was recovered on September 10, 1991 in Atoka County in
a small pond
next to Atoka Lake. Judy had been shot several times.
There was no evidence
- physical, trace and/or biological, to support that
Judy was murdered
in my home.
Melissa's skeletal
remains were recovered on October 16, 1991 near a
bridge spanning
the clear boggy creek in Choctaw County. The medical
examiner releasted
Mellisa's body and she was buried on Nov. 22, 1991.
Initially the
medical examiner was unable to determine a cause of death
for Melissa.
However, some three years later, her remains were exhumed
for a second
autopsy at which time evidence of sharp force trauma on
several ribs
were recovered.
The case remained
opened and unsolved from September 1991, til July 1994,
at which time
Jaunita Cummings, one of my wives, turned herself into the
Coal County Sheriff's
Department and confessed to the murder of Judy.
In Jaunita's initial
statement to Law Enforcement, she implicated both
Sherry Cummings,
my other wife and me in the murders but stated that she
did not know
who killed Melissa and that she did not know how Melissa had
been killed.
In subsequent
interviews by and in statements given to law enforcement,
Jaunita's version
of her initial statement greatly vary. Sherry's initial version of
events differed from Jaunita's and changed in subsequent interviews by
and statements given to law enforcement.
The women had admitted to killing Judy while I was out of town and falsely claimed they kept Melissa alive until my return many hours later. But the facts make it clear, however, that Jaunita and Sherry also killed Melissa and disposed of the bodies before I returned. There was no evidence connecting me to the Homicides, other then the self-serving testimony of Jaunita and Sherry Cummings and there was no evidence to corroborate the women's claims against me. The evidence at trial showed that I had no motive to want either Judy or Melissa dead, and that I was on good terms with them both.
Important evidence
which would have impeached the women and their claims
was not presented
at trial. Moreover, Jurors were unaware that Sherry
and Jaunita had
incentives to frame me. Subsequently, both Jaunita and
Sherry entered
into plea agreements with the State in exchange for the
testimony as
State witnesses. In return for Jaunita's testimony, the
prosecution agreed
to drop the first degree muder charge against her and
allow her to
plead to second degree murder with a recommended sentence of
life imprisonment.
Jaunita's parole date is in March 2003. She is serving time
in NewPort, Arkansas, about thirty miles from her family's home.
The State agreed
to drop the first degree murder charge against Sherry
in return for
her testimony. Sherry was to be allowed to plead to two
accounts of accesory
after the fact and one count of permitting a child
to be abused,
with a sentence totaling 35 years imprisonment. Sherry's
parole date is
September 2000. She is serving time in Odessa, Texas.
Although the exact
sequence of events on the afternoon of Sept. 5, 1991,
is not easily
discernable from Sherry and Jaunita's testimonys and the
available evidence,
three key points are clear from a thorough review of
the known evidence.
| FIRST:
It is undisputed that I was with my Father, who was admitted to
Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City for cancer tests. |
| SECOND:
It is clear from Jaunita's and Sherry's testimonys that it is
impossible for both Jaunita and Sherry to have testified truthfully at my trial. Their respective inconsistent statements, both prior to trial and at the trial are diametrically opposed on key events. |
| THIRD:
Jaunita's testimony is contrary to other known physical evidence.
This evidence includes information contained in the medical examiners autopsy reports and the investigation by law enforcement agenciesin the month following the homicides. |
Because of the
inconsistent and conflicting versions of the women, it's
unsure of what
happened or where the murders happened. The only thing
I know for sure
is my sister and my niece are dead and I have been wrongfully convicted
of their murders.
On August 4, 1998,
the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals reversed with
the instruction
to dismiss the murder conviction of my sister Judy, but
let Melissa's
murder conviction stand against me, saying: Sherry and
Jaunita were
accomplices on Judy's murder and could not corroborate each
other.
But as to Melissa's murder, Sherry could not corroborate Jaunita
but Jaunita could
corroborate Sherry because Jaunita was dropped as an
accomplice and
deemed a witness for purposes of corroboration, not
because she had
witnessed any offense being committed but solely for
purposes of corroboration.
In Oklahoma, the
law is such that if a witness can corroborate a single
item of circumstantial
evidence is corroborated and admissable. The
prosecution knowingly
used false, misleading and inaccurate evidence,
testimony and
created false impressions as to the evidence at my trial to
get a cconviction.
Jaunita's and
Sherry's fertile imaginations continued to supply the
authorities with
many tales of my alleged wrong-doing. I was convicted
of two counts
of murder in the first degree with a sentence of death
imposed on each
count. My sister's murder conviction was dismissed in
appeal court.
I need help proving
my innocence of my niece's murder. There are no
other criminal
matters pending in other courts against me, nor is there
any sentence,
capital or non-capital, to be served by me in any other
jurisdiction.
The prosecution
has nothing to fear or lose by convicting an innocent
person.
The prosecution has immunity against being prosecuted for
wrongful convictions,
and once a person is convicted, no one listens to
them and it takes
years of appeals to prove innocence, and that's only
if your lucky
and get some outside help. The court appointed lawyers are
usually overloaded
with cases and don't have neither the money or the
time they need
to investigate a case to get the evidence needed to prove
innocence in
your case.
| There
is a lot more to my case.
If anyone is interested in helping me,
I would be very grateful for any help, legal or investigator or other. |
Links to Jesse James Cummings other webpages:
| Friends beyond the wall - Prisoner Webpage |
|
ALL INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE PROVIDED BY JESSIE JAMES CUMMINGS
Special thanks to Richard Northrop and Brenda Kelly in New Brunswick, Canada for helping transcribe the text |
