Playing cards lead confessed killer to meet with Jennifer Kesse's father
A deck of playing cards featuring the unsolved case of missing Orlando woman Jennifer Kesse led to a meeting between her father and a confessed murderer.
David Byron Russ met face-to-face with dad Drew Kesse in the Seminole County Jail to pass on tips about the case, Kesse said Tuesday. Russ told the father during the December meeting that a playing card with information about Jennifer Kesse got him thinking about her disappearance.
"It's odd, but it's not the first time tips have come out of the jail," Drew Kesse said. He would not discuss what information Russ gave him.
Jails distribute decks that feature an unsolved case on each card in the hopes of getting tips from inmates.
Russ killed Madeleine Leinen, 58, in her Longwood-area home May 7, 2007. He pleaded guilty last year, saying he was in the middle of a cocaine binge at the time. He wrote his judge that he is "a cold-blooded killer" and would have killed again had he not been arrested.
Russ pleaded guilty last year and is awaiting sentencing. During a hearing earlier this month, Russ refused to let his attorneys present evidence that might help him avoid the death penalty.
A lawyer for Russ contacted Drew Kesse and gave him a handwritten letter from the confessed killer. Russ wrote that he needed to meet with Kesse in person so the tip would get proper attention. The father obliged him.
"If I'm willing to die for Jennifer, why not walk into a jail for her?" Drew Kesse said.
Kesse passed the information to Orlando police investigators. Sgt. Barbara Jones, a police spokeswoman, said detectives have no plans to meet with Russ, and the information the inmate gave had been obtained by investigators and looked into "several months ago." She would not give details about the tip, citing the ongoing investigation.
Jennifer Kesse has been missing since Jan. 24, 2006.
On Saturday, a community-safety event marking the third anniversary of her disappearance will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Mall at Millenia's lower-level community rooms. The Jennifer Kesse Beacon of Hope for the Missing event will fingerprint and video children for identification purposes.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will take DNA samples from relatives of missing people to put in a national database that will help identify human remains, Drew Kesse said. The service is free. About 400 people from Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Polk counties have been missing for more than 90 days, he said.
link
