The Murder of Jackie Vandagriff
I watched an episode of 48 Hours for my research. It’s the second latest episode that aired and it’s also titled ‘The Murder of Jackie Vandagriff.’
I just heard about this case this week, and it’s so horrific. A young college student was murdered, and it’s believed she was killed because she looked someone’s ex-girlfriend.
Background
Jackie Vandagriff
Jackie Vandagriff was a 24 year old student at the Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. She was majoring in Health and Wellness. In the episode, they have a short video of Jackie and she said she wanted to major in Health because nutrition and eating right was so important to her.
Jackie was also described as a very nice and lovable person, and her best friend became so emotional talking about her, and it made me so sad.
The Murder
On September 13, 2016, Jackie went to a bar called the Fry Street Public House, looking for a job. While she was there, she started talking to the bartender and a man that would later be identified as Charles Bryant.
Jackie and Charles left together around 9pm and went to another bar. They were seen on surveillance cameras at both bars, and then later at a convience store. Jackie was seen sitting in Charles’ car, and this was the last time she was seen alive.
On September 14, the police received a call about a body at Grapevine Lake. When they arrived, they found a charred body in a kiddie pool. The police were able to identify the young woman as Jackie Vandagriff, using her fingerprints.
The police immediately had their suspect: Charles. He was identified because he had given another young woman his business card, and the police recognized him because they dealt with him just shortly before Jackie’s death.
Surveillance of Jackie leaving with Charles. The other woman is the bartender.
Caitlin Mathis
Jackie and Charles’ ex, Caitlin.
The reason that police dealt with Charles is because he was arrested several times for stalking his ex-girlfriend, Caitlin.
Caitlin met Charles when she was 18 and he was 29. Charles had walked into the restaurant where Caitlin was working. Caitlin said she was attracted to him because he was muscular and had tattoos. They soon had their first date at non other than Grapevine Lake.
About three months into the relationship, Caitlin realized that Charles was very arrogant and manipulative. She broke it off in August 2016, and then went to start school at University of North Texas, which is also in Denton, Texas.
A few days later, Charles showed up at her dorm room. Caitlin was so scared that she reported it to the campus police. He was banned from the campus. On September 6, Charles was back at Caitlin’s dorm, knocking and telling her that he had something for her. Caitlin refused to open the door, and called the police. When he left, there was a note and flowers outside her door.
Charles was arrested that day. He would go on to be arrested three times in the next 14 days, until he walked into that bar and met Jackie.
After Jackie was killed, Caitlin was really scared. Charles continued to try to talk to her even days after the murder. He had even used Jackie’s phone to send Caitlin a Facebook request. The police also wanted Charles off the street, so they arrested him for ignoring the no contact order.
Interrogation and Arrest
Charles was brought into the Grapevine police station, and at first denied knowing Jackie. He then said he met her at a bar.
Ranger Holland was assigned to talk to Charles. He had interviewed many narcissistic criminals before, so he made a ruse to try to get Charles to be his “friend” so he could ask him about the murder.
Charles still said he didn’t kill Jackie or know what happened to her. Ranger Holland then ordered a pizza and decided to try to play a mind game with Charles, in order for him to remember.
Charles apparently fell for it, and he said he did remember. He said he gave Jackie a ride home and they had “kinky sex” in his car. Charles had zip ties in his car, as any usual person does, and said Jackie wanted to be choked. He said Jackie had choked when the zip tie was too tight, so she died. Ranger Holland wasn’t believing it at all.
Ranger Holland then came up with a theory. He said that Charles had killed Jackie because she looked like Caitlin. He told Charles he wasn’t over his ex, and instead of killing Caitlin, he killed someone who looked like her.
The police were also searching Charles’ house at that time. They found a military style knife, Jackie’s purse, a shovel that he had bought at Walmart at 4am on September 14, and the kiddie pool that Jackie was found in was missing from his backyard.
Once Charles was confronted with the evidence, he told Ranger Holland that he must have done it and set her on fire to destroy evidence.
Charles was arrested and charged with murder.
Charles Bryant
Trial and Conviction
In April 2018, Charles’ trial began. Charles pleaded not guilty.
Charles’ defense was that he killed Jackie on accident after they had kinky sex in his car. However, after an autopsy was done, there was no evidence that the two had sex.
The prosecution’s theory was that Charles killed Jackie because she looked like his ex, Caitlin. Caitlin was the star witness. She testified about their relationship and how he stalked her.
Caitlin was interviewed in the 48 Hours episode, and she said she had to make eye contact with Charles and he was smirking at her. She said as soon as she left the court room, she started bawling.
Charles’ interrogation was thrown out, but the evidence against him was still a lot.
Charles Bryant was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Caitlin said she wished he had gotten the death penalty, because she’s afraid he’ll come after her when and if he’s released.
Other
At the end of the episode, the on screen text said: Jackie’s family has endowed an internship in Health and Wellness at the Texas Woman’s University in Jackie’s name.
FINAL THOUGHTS
An innocent woman was stalked and another innocent woman was brutally murdered. Charles Bryant is a monster, and I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t killed before, because Jackie went through hell that night.
I feel so bad for Caitlin because she said she wishes that she was the one he killed because Jackie was innocent. Ugh, she was innocent too, she didn’t deserve that!!! Charles thought he could get whatever he wanted and he took it out on an innocent woman who had a promising future.
Also, let’s take a moment and praise the police in Grapevine and Denton, Texas, believed that Charles was a monster. They believed Caitlin, they tried to help her get away from Charles, they arrested him to get him off the street and they knew he had killed Jackie from the start. There are so many other stalking cases where the victim’s are not believed, and it results in them being murdered by their stalker.
I hope Charles never gets out of prison. I think if he does, he’ll meet another girl, he’ll become attached and do this again.
Sources
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jackie-vandagriff-murder-targeted-killer-ex-48-hours/
https://people.com/crime/jacqueline-vandagriff-killer-charles-bryant-she-died-during-sex/
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/tv/article248540610.html
