The Shocking Truth Unveiled: A Twisted Tale of Deception, Justice, and a Man's Fight for Innocence

Editors Note: This story contains language that some readers may find offensive.

Crooked cops. Drug dealers. Secret agendas.

The discovery of 18-year-old Jessica Currin's burned and decomposed body behind Mayfield Middle School in 2000 sparked widespread speculation. In the small town of Kentucky, the case remains a topic of conversation, although some locals prefer not to discuss it when approached by outsiders.

In 2008, Quincy Omar Cross was found guilty by a jury after 3 hours and 45 minutes of deliberation. He was convicted of murder, rape, sodomy, kidnapping, evidence tampering, and abuse of a corpse, receiving a life sentence in prison. However, Cross has consistently maintained his innocence, leading Joe Currin, Jessica's father, to believe that Cross was wrongly accused. For more than ten years, Currin has actively advocated for the identification of the true culprit responsible for his daughter's death.

"We have always harbored the hope that the truth would eventually come to light," expressed Joe Currin. "However, with more individuals concealing the truth rather than seeking it, the task becomes exceedingly difficult."

Cross and his legal team have persistently pursued the reversal of his conviction for several years. In 2020, Miranda Hellman joined the Kentucky Innocence Project (KIP), revitalizing their endeavors. Yet, the already intricate case grew further entangled when a tornado ravaged the Graves County courthouse in Mayfield, obliterating the pertinent documents and evidence stored within.

The Graves County courthouse was destroyed by a tornado on December 12, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky.

KIP has recently filed multiple motions in its attempt to have Cross's conviction nullified. The organization argues that it possesses fresh witnesses and evidence that point to misconduct on the part of the police and prosecutors.

CNN will closely follow the "Wrongful Conviction" podcast team as they cover KIP's efforts to overturn Cross's conviction. Throughout the upcoming year, we will interview key individuals involved in the case, both in collaboration with the podcast team and independently. Additionally, CNN will conduct its own investigation into Currin's murder.

In June, CNN had the opportunity to witness "Wrongful Conviction" host Maggie Freleng's interview with Cross. This story was constructed using not only that interview, but also several others conducted by CNN, recent motions submitted by KIP, court opinions from Cross's past legal battles, and recordings from the original 2008 trial.

Its clear in this case that there are more than two sides to the story.

Saturday night

On July 29, 2000, Currin was spending time at a friend's house playing cards with her 16-year-old cousin, Vinisha Stubblefield. Later that evening, as the gathering came to an end, Currin decided to walk back home. However, according to Stubblefield's testimony during Cross' trial, Stubblefield and several others were in a car that night, all under the influence of pills, cocaine, and marijuana. They encountered Currin and she agreed to what she believed would be a ride home. Unfortunately, Cross began making unwanted sexual advances towards Currin. The group then headed to Burtons house, where Cross physically assaulted Currin and forcibly took her to a back bedroom, as recalled by Stubblefield. Stubblefield stated that she later witnessed Currin lying unconscious on a bed, with Cross using a belt to restrict her breathing. Furthermore, Stubblefield testified that Burton engaged in sexual intercourse with Currin, and Cross encouraged Stubblefield to do the same. The entire group, including the Caldwells, then proceeded to engage in various sexual activities with each other.

Victoria Caldwell testified against Cross during the trial. Her account of the events that took place on that Saturday night paralleled the overall storyline, but it diverged in numerous aspects. According to Caldwell, Cross used a bat to strike Currin while they were in the car, and later carried her unconscious body into Burtons house. In the bedroom, Currin regained consciousness and desperately called out the name of her infant son as she experienced the horrifying ordeal of being raped. Caldwell claimed that Cross proceeded to assault Currin further by striking her head with a metal tool and ultimately strangling her with his black, braided belt.

Jessica Currin is seen in an undated photograph. Her body was found behind Mayfield Middle School in August 2000.

The Paducah Sun/AP

Caldwell testified that the group concealed Currins' naked body by wrapping it in a blanket and storing it in Burtons' garage. When the decomposing body began to emit an odor, Burton, Stubblefield, Caldwell, and a few others transported it to the local middle school where they set it ablaze.

On the contrary, Cross provided a conflicting account of what transpired that Saturday night. In an interview with the "Wrongful Conviction" podcast, Cross claimed that he was in Union City, Tennessee, on July 29th when he was picked up by a couple of friends. He stated that the group then engaged in drug-related activities and eventually someone proposed crossing the Kentucky state line.

In Cross telling, they arrived in Mayfield at around 11 p.m. and eventually found themselves at a gathering on Chris Drive in the outskirts of the small town.

As the night progressed on Saturday, Cross decided to borrow a car and drive into Mayfield to find something to eat. According to his account in the podcast, he got lost in the unfamiliar town and eventually ran out of gas. He managed to find a gas can in the trunk and was in the process of refueling when Mike Perkins, Deputy Sheriff of Graves County, stopped to offer assistance.

Perkins testified that he detected the smell of gasoline on Cross that morning, a detail that the prosecution used to connect Cross to the burning of Currins body. Additionally, Perkins stated that Cross repeatedly pulled up his pants because he was without a belt.

After dropping off Cross at Chris Drive, Perkins returned to the car where he discovered marijuana seeds and a gun. Later, when he went back to Chris Drive, he found Cross in possession of "bags of powder and foil in his pockets," as mentioned in one of KIPs motions. Subsequently, Cross was arrested for drug possession in the early hours of Sunday morning, July 30, along with several others at the party on Chris Drive. He then spent the following two years awaiting sentencing at the Kentucky Department of Corrections.

Cross says he was in jail the first time he ever heard Currins name.

Before Cross trial in 2008, Victoria Caldwell and Stubblefield pleaded guilty to evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse.

Victoria Caldwell testified during the trial of Quincy Cross on April 1, 2008.

Burton and Tamara Caldwell, who is Victoria Caldwell's cousin, were charged along with Cross but chose not to testify against him. Following Cross's conviction, they both pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. By entering an Alford plea, the defendants maintain their innocence while acknowledging that the prosecution has sufficient evidence for a conviction.

Both have maintained their innocence ever since.

Changing stories

The testimonies given by Victoria Caldwell and Stubblefield held significant importance in the Cross trial.

During the trial, Cross attorneys scrutinized the inconsistent accounts provided by the women throughout the years. As per the judge's summary of Caldwell's testimony, she confessed to having lied to the police during the initial investigation. This led to the wrongful charges against Currin's boyfriend, Carlos "Lolo" Saxton, and Jeremy Adams, who is suspected to be the father of Currin's child. (Saxton and Adams' charges were subsequently dismissed without prejudice. More details on this will follow.)

According to a motion filed by Cross' attorney, Stubblefield did not mention Cross to investigators until five years after the murder, instead implicating others in Mayfield.

Both Caldwell and Stubblefield testified at trial that they initially lied because they feared Cross.

A new affidavit from Stubblefield has been added to the motion requesting the reversal of Cross's conviction. Enclosed within is a statement, dated July 31, 2023, where Stubblefield declares her absence from Jeffrey Burton's residence on that particular Saturday evening. She asserts that she neither encountered Cross, Burton, nor Tamara Caldwell that night, and vehemently denies any involvement in disposing of the body. Stubblefield maintains her innocence regarding the charges she was found guilty of and explains that she provided false statements due to the immense pressure and threats exerted by law enforcement.

Vinisha Stubblefield testified in the trial of Quincy Cross on March 31, 2008.

Stephen Lance Dennee/The Paducah Sun/AP

Stubblefield's retraction of her testimony is not a recent development. Cross filed a petition in federal court in August 2022, seeking to overturn the previous rulings, but it was denied. The court's opinion dismissed Stubblefield's statements as insufficient to absolve Cross, as she claimed to have had no direct involvement in the murder.

It is worth noting that Stubblefield is currently serving a prison sentence for drug possession, unrelated to the Currin case. CNN has contacted her for a statement on the matter.

The federal court acknowledged the conflicting statements regarding Victoria Caldwell's testimony. In 2012, a Kentucky Innocence Project investigator reported that Caldwell had admitted fabricating her story in order to obtain money from the state. However, Caldwell later contradicted this statement in an affidavit, affirming that her original testimony was true.

In the recent motions submitted by the Kentucky Innocence Project this year, a transcript of a telephone conversation between a volunteer and Caldwell in August 2023 is included. In this conversation, Caldwell reiterates her claim that she was coerced by the state into giving false testimony. Nevertheless, Caldwell has not yet signed a new affidavit to support this claim.

CNN contacted Caldwell through Facebook, and she agreed to respond to a few inquiries. Caldwell admitted that her recollection of the case is vague but claimed that she was coerced into giving her testimony during the trial. She refrained from divulging the identity of the person responsible for the coercion. In her written statement, Caldwell stated, "I didn't want to lie under oath, but I also didn't want to risk my life."

During the Cross trial, investigators refuted any allegations of intimidating witnesses or offering them compensation in exchange for their testimonies.

CNN contacted Kentucky law enforcement agencies involved in the Currin case, including the Kentucky Attorney General's Office, Kentucky State Police (KSP), and the Mayfield Police Department, for their comments. Mayfield Police Chief Nathan Kent directed CNN to KSP as the official agency responsible for the case.

During the 2023 call, KIP also questioned Caldwell about multiple diary entries that were presented as evidence during the trial to support Caldwell's testimony. At the trial, Caldwell recited one passage from the diary, allegedly dated August 1, 2000, which stated, "Unfortunately, the body has been discovered. I sincerely hope that they do not uncover the truth about our involvement. It's concerning that Q is nowhere to be found, and Jeff refuses to communicate with me. This situation is frustrating. I have decided to distance myself."

The prosecution presented this diary page as Victoria Caldwell's, written the month that Jessica Currin's body was discovered at the middle school.

According to court filings, Caldwell, speaking to the Kentucky Innocence Project (KIP), stated in the transcript of her phone conversation that the diary was counterfeit under the instruction of law enforcement. Notably, she has not officially declared this assertion under oath.

Hellman, a lawyer from the firm Cross, has submitted a motion requesting a reexamination of the ink present in Caldwells diary. During the trial, the chief forensics chemist from the Secret Services gave testimony stating that it was not possible to match the ink used by Caldwell with any commercially available inks from the year 2000 within their library. However, the chemist clarified that this lack of a match did not necessarily imply that the diary entries were fraudulent. Conversely, the defense team proposed the notion that the absence of a match could indicate Victoria's authorship of those entries long after the murder took place in 2000. Hellman now asserts that the ink may currently exist in the database, potentially providing valuable evidence for accurately dating the diary.

The citizen detective

In early 2001, Adams and Saxton were charged with capital murder in the Currin case, years before the Cross trial. However, just days before Adams' scheduled trial in February 2003, the state's case collapsed. Adams' lawyer accused the Mayfield Police Department of withholding crucial evidence, leading the judge to dismiss the case without prejudice. This meant that Adams could potentially face charges again if the prosecution wished to retry the case. Similarly, charges against Saxton were also dropped, as both individuals maintained their innocence.

Mayfield resident Susan Galbreath, a friend of Adams mother, took it upon herself to solve Currins murder. Galbreath, who described herself as a middle-aged, cigarette smoking busy body wino with no investigative experience, sought the help of BBC reporter Tom Mangold. Mangold agreed to assist and traveled to Mayfield in 2004, where the unlikely duo began their investigation.

After two weeks of digging, Mangold and Galbreath reached the conclusion that Cross had "probably" killed Currin in a sex-and-drug-fuelled attack. In 2004, three years prior to Cross being charged, Mangold published an article recounting their time in Mayfield and implicating Cross in the crime.

Pages of recently discovered emails between Mangold and Galbreath are now being presented as evidence in KIPs motion to overturn Cross's conviction. Cross's attorney argues that these emails demonstrate Galbreath and Mangold's intention to profit from Currins's murder story. Additionally, the motion alleges instances of misconduct by the police and prosecution, claiming that Galbreath was essentially deputized by the Kentucky State Police and Kentucky Bureau of Investigation to collaborate in their investigations. It further asserts that there was a free flow of information between Galbreath and the police and that Galbreath's belief in Cross's guilt influenced the prosecution's case.

Susan Galbreath testified in the Quincy Cross trial on April 7, 2008, gesturing as she spoke. Galbreath took it upon herself to conduct an investigation into the death of Jessica Currin.

Galbreath claimed that she had initially connected Victoria Caldwell with the Kentucky Bureau of Investigation when they became involved in the investigation back in 2006. Additionally, she conducted interviews with Cross and Adams. During the trial, the primary investigator from the Kentucky State Police confirmed that Galbreath had been granted permission to motivate witnesses to cooperate during various interviews.

Prior to Cross's trial, the Kentucky Bureau of Investigation honored Galbreath with an "Outstanding Citizen Award" in recognition of her contributions to the Currin case.

CNN has contacted the Kentucky Attorney General's Office as well as the Kentucky State Police for their statements. It is important to note that the Kentucky Bureau of Investigation is no longer functioning.

Galbreath, who was 58 years old, passed away in 2018.

A charred crime scene

Upon CNN's approach to Mangold, he responded by stating, "If your project pertains to the notion that Quincy Coss [sic] and the others implicated in Jessies murder may potentially be innocent, I want no part in it. However, if it encompasses any other subject matter, I would be glad to offer my assistance." Following CNN's confirmation of impartiality and accurate portrayal of both sides of the story, Mangold politely declined to participate.

Gathering physical evidence became challenging due to the condition of Currin's body - most of the items at the crime scene were burnt. However, Currin's mother was able to identify her based on the jewelry she wore on Saturday night. Additionally, a braided belt with a buckle was discovered near the body, which the medical examiner used as evidence to establish that Currin was strangled, despite the absence of typical indications. Furthermore, because of the burning, there were no visible physical signs of rape on Currin's body.

No forensic evidence was submitted during the trial to establish a connection between Cross and the murder.

Cross is presently engaged in multiple legal battles in his endeavor to have his conviction overturned. In the previous year, a federal court dismissed a petition contesting his conviction in the state court. Cross is now seeking the court to reconsider that ruling based on his attorney's assertion of "new evidence that raises doubts about the validity of his conviction." A response from the wardens is anticipated in October.

In the state court, Cross's attorney has filed a motion to overturn the conviction on similar grounds. Additionally, she has submitted two motions to access and re-examine specific pieces of evidence. Along with analyzing the ink in the diary, she is requesting DNA testing for various items from the middle school that were either previously untested or tested utilizing limited scientific methods at the time. If the motion is approved, KIP intends to analyze hairs found on and around Currin's body, cigarette butts discovered at the scene, and DNA from the belt buckle. Furthermore, they plan to conduct tests on a plastic Gatorade bottle that is believed to have contained the accelerant used to ignite Currin's body.

The Kentucky Attorney General's Office is expected to respond to the state court motions by December. CNN has confirmed its intention to cover the upcoming hearing in January 2024.

CNNs João Costa, Aaron Fisher and Matt Gannon contributed to this story.