By Chuck Hustmyre
March 8, 2007
MIAMI, Fla. (Crime Library) — In a packed Florida courtroom Wednesday, a jury handed down its verdict on John Evander Couey for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford—Guilty.
It may have been justice delayed, but it was certainly not justice denied.
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| John Evander Couey |
The judgment came nearly two years to the day since police found Jessica's body buried in a hole in the backyard of Couey's sister's trailer, wrapped inside two trash bags and clutching a stuffed purple dolphin.
An autopsy later determined she had been sexually assaulted and suffocated.
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| Jessica Marie Lunsford |
Jessica lived in the small Gulf Coast town of Homosassa, Fla., with her father and her grandparents. On Feb. 23, 2005, her grandmother tucked her into bed for the night with the purple dolphin her father had won for her at a state fair.
The next morning Jessica and the dolphin were gone.
Police conducted a massive search, canvassed the neighborhood, and interviewed local sex offenders.
On March 18, 2005, police in Augusta, Ga. arrested convicted felon and registered sex offender John Couey for failing to notify authorities of his change of address. Couey had hopped a bus and fled Florida on Feb. 28.
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| John Couey |
Couey, 46 at the time, had a rap sheet stretching back 30 years that included 24 arrests.
During a series of interviews, Couey confessed to Florida investigators that he had kidnapped, raped, and murdered Jessica.
He said he knew where the little girl lived because he had seen her walking around the neighborhood. The night he kidnapped Jessica, Couey said, he had been at a party smoking crack and drinking. About 3:00 a.m., he sneaked up to the mobile home where Jessica lived and found the back door unlocked.
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