The Murder of Jordan Lum
For this case I watched an episode of Fear Thy Roommate. It’s season 1 episode 6 titled ‘Uninvited Guest.’
A woman is killed after she offers to let a new friend stay with her.
Background
Jordan Lum
Jordan was born on April 29, 1965. Her birth name is actually Patricia Hill, but she changed her name after she went through a divorce.
Jordan was described as a loving and caring person. Her cousins were the main talking heads of this episode, and they said she always had a vibrant smile, but that she wasn’t used to living alone and needed help around the house. Unfortunately, inviting someone in would end up being a huge mistake.
A New Friend
Jordan had chronic back pain, and some other medical conditions. She had struggled with an addiction to pain medications, but was going to a support group. This is where she met a woman named Carmie Nelson. Carmie had just left an abusive relationship, and she and Jordan hit it off.
Carmie didn’t have anywhere to live after she left her abusive husband, and Jordan needed help around the house, so she invited Carmie to move into her home in Summerville, South Carolina. Carmie didn’t have a job, but she promised to help Jordan with whatever she needed.
Suspicious Behavior
After a few weeks of living together, tensions started to rise against the roommates. Carmie didn’t do much cleaning, and she complained to her husband Daniel, that Jordan treated her like a maid. Jordan would listen to Carmie’s phone calls, and Carmie was suspicious of it.
Jordan let Carmie borrow money for awhile, until Carmie kept asking for it. Jordan eventually cut her off, and Carmie became angry. Jordan was also receiving anonymous phone calls from someone demanding she give them money. It was later revealed that the calls were from Carmie and Daniel.
The Final Straw
Jordan was also convinced that Carmie was sneaking Daniel into the home without her consent. Jordan was angry, and wanted Carmie out. Carmie tried to reason with Jordan, and told her that she would use the car to buy them groceries. However, Carmie didn’t come back for a few hours, and Jordan called the police.
Carmie was even more angry, and Jordan told her that she was going to get her out of the home one way or another. Jordan again called the police, but they told her that she needed to go to court and file paperwork to force Carmie out.
Carmie was hostile and manipulative, and Jordan had no idea what she was really planning.
The Murder and Discovery
On April 2, 2017, while was Jordan was taking a nap, Carmie attacked her with a hammer and kitchen knife. Carmie had planned the entire thing, and had asked Daniel to come over, but he had gotten into a car accident on his way over.
Three days later, on April 5, Daniel called 911 about the murder. He said he had also been threatened by Carmie. When the police arrived, Carmie was hysterical, and was holding a knife saying she wanted to kill herself. The police’s body cam footage was shown on this episode, and Carmie was eventually detained.
The police made entrance into Jordan’s house, and immediately smelled decay. They found Jordan’s body in the garage, inside a wooden crate. Jordan had 110 wounds to her body. Her throat was slashed, she had been stabbed in the back, chest and attacked with a hammer. Jordan had tried to fight back. She had several defensive wounds and broken fingers.
Daniel arrived after Jordan was already dead, but he helped Carmie clean up the crime scene, and they stayed in the home until Daniel called 911. Daniel also recorded her admitting to the murder.
Convictions
At her trial, Carmie tried to blame everything on Daniel. Carmie also said that she was drunk at the time, and said Daniel threatened her to make the recordings of her admitting to the crime.
No one believed her story, and she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Daniel was sentenced to five years for accessory after the fact.
Carmie and Daniel Nelson
FINAL THOUGHTS
This relationship between two strangers escalated into something that didn’t need to happen. Carmie should have left when Jordan asked her to, but Carmie was so greedy and selfish, and wanted everything that Jordan had for herself.
Carmie also had a toxic relationship with Daniel, but he made the right decision to turn her in. I believe that Daniel did help in some way, but I think that Carmie was the manipulator in every relationship she was in. She deserves the sentence she was given, but I believe she’ll always be manipulative.
Sources
https://thecinemaholic.com/who-killed-jordan-lum-where-are-carmie-and-daniel-nelson-now/
https://www.counton2.com/news/local-news/woman-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-murder-of-roommate/
