Jack Stephenson

Parties and relationships

• Melissa Yon vanished in November 1995.
• Jack Stephenson was Melissa Yon’s common-law husband.

Timeline

• November 1995 (week of Nov. 13, 1995) — Melissa Yon vanished.
• November 15, 1995 — Melissa Yon last talked to her sister, Chandra Yon-Corley, and her mother, Nollie Yon. Chandra said Jack Stephenson called her around midnight and asked her to take his three-year-old son Jeffrey to daycare the next morning.
• November 16, 1995 — Jack Stephenson called Nollie and told her that Melissa would not need a lift to work the next morning.
• November 19, 1995 — Jack Stephenson changed his story and said he had seen Melissa twice on Friday morning in Columbia, S.C.
• November 1995 (two days later after Nov. 19 statement period) — Police searched Jack Stephenson’s home and did not find evidence of a murder.
• Weeks later (after Nov. 19, 1995) — Police did not find any evidence implicating Jack Stephenson in Melissa’s disappearance until he abandoned his half brother Dan Mivens’ car in Sumter, S.C.
• November 17, 1995 (immediately after the car-related events described) — The borrowed 1968 Chevrolet Caprice got stuck in a mud patch near an isolated alligator-infested swamp.
• Weeks later (after the car abandonment and blood evidence described) — Weeks later, Dan Mivens and Jack Stephenson met at a motel in the southern part of the state.
• Fall of 1996 — Dan Mivens unknowingly helped authorities find and arrest Jack Stephenson.
• Over the next year (after the motel meeting described) — Jack Stephenson lived like a vagabond, sleeping in the woods and in motels.
• 1999 — Jack Stephenson was sentenced to life in prison.
• Fifteen years later context implied by “possibility of parole after 20 years” — If convicted, Stephenson faced life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.

Background

• Melissa was a nursing assistant.
• Melissa last talked to:
  • her sister, Chandra Yon-Corley, and
  • her mother, Nollie Yon, on Nov. 15.
• Melissa vanished after her disappearance date described as during the week of Nov. 13, 1995.
• She last talked to her sister and mother on Nov. 15.
• Melissa had arranged for her mother to drive her to work Friday because of car trouble.
• Melissa went to the hospital on Nov. 15, where she discovered she had chlamydia.

The offence (prosecution theory vs. defence claim)

Prosecution’s theory

• The prosecution claimed that Jack Stephenson and Melissa Yon were having relationship problems.
• The prosecution claimed that Stephenson violently killed Melissa during a heated argument.
• Prosecutors said Stephenson hid Melissa’s body and that the body was loaded into Dan Mivens’ car trunk.
• Prosecutors said Stephenson drove to an alligator-infested swamp and buried the body.
• Prosecutors acknowledged that without Melissa’s body they would have a difficult time proving that Melissa is dead and convincing jurors that Stephenson is her killer.

Defence claim

• Jack Stephenson insisted that Melissa Yon was not dead.
• Stephenson claimed that Melissa ran away after he accused her of having an affair.

Investigation

Initial missing-person concern

• When Melissa did not show up to work at the Lowman Retirement Home in Lexington, S.C. for two days, her supervisor became concerned and called Nollie.
• Melissa’s relatives were worried because Stephenson repeatedly told them that she had been at work on those days.

Police questioning and changing story

• When police questioned Stephenson on the night of Nov. 15, he told them that he last saw Melissa going to work that morning.
• Two days later, on Nov. 19, Stephenson changed his story and said he had seen Melissa twice on Friday morning in Columbia, S.C.

Search of home and later evidence

• When police searched Stephenson’s home, they did not find any evidence of a murder.
• Police did not find evidence implicating Stephenson in Melissa’s disappearance until he abandoned Dan Mivens’ half brother’s car in Sumter, S.C. weeks later.

Blood evidence

• A small blood spot was found on the rug of the car’s trunk.
• DNA tests revealed that the blood most likely came from Melissa.
• The odds that the blood belonged to someone else were 58,000-to-1.
• Melissa’s body was never found.

Arrest and custody-related events

Car abandonment leading to implicating evidence

• Evidence implicating Stephenson did not emerge until he abandoned Dan Mivens’ car in Sumter, S.C. weeks later.

Dan Mivens’ role and complaint

• Dan Mivens said Stephenson borrowed Mivens’ 1968 Chevrolet Caprice a few weeks before Melissa’s disappearance.
• In the fall of 1996, Mivens unknowingly helped authorities find and arrest Stephenson.
• While Mivens signed a complaint alleging that Stephenson had not been authorized to use his car, Mivens later claimed police tricked him.
• Mivens said he did not know he was signing an arrest warrant for his half-brother.

Witness accounts and statements

Chandra Yon-Corley

• Chandra said Stephenson called her around midnight on Nov. 15 and asked her to take his three-year-old son Jeffrey to daycare the next morning because Melissa was working “around the clock.”
• Chandra said it was unusual for Stephenson to make the daycare arrangements.
• Chandra remembered that Jeffrey was hysterical when Stephenson dropped him off at her house at 4 am.
• Chandra said she was not able to calm Jeffrey down until it was time to take him to daycare.

Nollie Yon

• Nollie claimed that Stephenson said Melissa was working when he called her on Nov. 16 and told her that Melissa would not need a lift to work the next morning.

Melissa’s employer and co-worker

• Melissa’s employers called Nollie and asked her about her daughter’s whereabouts hours after Stephenson dropped Jeffrey off.
• Melissa’s co-worker, Jill Ray, said Stephenson called and told her that Melissa was very ill and would not return to work until after Thanksgiving.
• Jill Ray told Stephenson that he would have to speak to Melissa’s supervisor, and Stephenson never did.

Dan Mivens

• Dan Mivens said that when the 1968 Chevrolet Caprice got stuck on Nov. 17 near an isolated alligator-infested swamp, he helped extricate the car.
• Mivens said Stephenson then confessed to killing Melissa and said he hid the body underneath their mobile home.
• Mivens said Stephenson immediately retracted his statement, saying he was only joking.

Method and location details (as alleged)

• After killing Melissa, prosecutors said Stephenson loaded Melissa’s body in Dan Mivens’ car trunk.

Motive and related disputed or contested elements

• The prosecutors believed that Stephenson’s domestic problems with Melissa drove him to murder.
• Two weeks before she disappeared, Stephenson found love letters and motel receipts in one of her outfits.
• The state suspected that Stephenson’s suspicion that Melissa was having an affair contributed to intent.
• Prosecutors said Stephenson allegedly called Dan Mivens and told him he planned to kill her.
• Mivens said he drove to Stephenson’s home to calm him down, but Stephenson was not home.
• Melissa’s chlamydia discovery occurred on Nov. 15.
• It was not clear whether Stephenson had the sexually transmitted disease at the time, but the state suspected that the revelation drove him to murder Melissa.
• The jury would not hear any evidence about Melissa’s chlamydia until the state’s rebuttal case.

Trial and outcome

• Stephenson was found guilty but vowed he would appeal.
• He was sentenced to life in prison.
• He faced life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.

Aftermath

• Jack Stephenson vowed he would appeal after being found guilty.
• Melissa Yon had disappeared and her body was never found.