A pre-trial hearing was held on June 8 at the Hernando County Courthouse in downtown Brooksville relating to the 1993 murder and sexual assault of Jennifer Odom. On Monday, the Honorable Judge Daniel B. Merritt ruled that evidence from a similar case (Caroline Murray) may be heard in the trial against Jeffrey Norman Crum on August 17, 2026.
The defense argued that the differences in these cases (the girls’ ages and ethnicities) and the presence of two such instances were not enough to establish a pattern, but Judge Merritt noted that “clear and convincing evidence” had been proven by the state and that the circumstances surrounding the attacks on Odom and Murray did not have to be “identical” to be linked. Florida Fifth Judicial Circuit Chief of Homicide Prosecution Richard Buxman cited Florida Statute 90.404 2(a), otherwise known as the “Williams Rule,” which states, “Similar fact evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is admissible when relevant to prove a material fact in issue , including motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident , but is inadmissible when relevant solely to prove bad character or propensity.” The prosecution referenced the 2007 case of Paul Durousseau v. State as part of its reasoning. In Durousseau, the court permitted the state to “introduce Williams rule evidence” of separate murders into the murder trial of Tyresa Mack. Similar to Crum, whose alleged crimes were 13 months apart, Durousseau argued that 3 ½ years between those murders were “too remote in time” to be connected. The court did not feel that way in the Durousseau case, and, on the 19th anniversary of Durousseau being found guilty of first-degree murder, Judge Merritt ruled the same way.
The prosecution noted that this, along with several other facts, proved the relevance of Murray’s case in the Odom trial , both were young girls (17 and 12) who were coming home from school and were attacked.
Originally reported by Hernando Sun
Sources: Hernando Sun
