BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — After more than three decades, the case against Jeffrey Crum is now in the hands of a jury.
Crum is accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering 12-year-old Jennifer Odom after she got off her school bus in rural Pasco County in February 1993.
The jury heard the final testimony Wednesday in Crum’s death penalty trial in Hernando County, where her body was found. Both sides have rested, and jurors went home for the evening. They are scheduled to return Thursday to hear final jury instructions before beginning deliberations.
WATCH: Jury to begin deliberations in Jeffrey Crum trial over 1993 murder of Jennifer Odom
Odom was last seen on Feb. 19, 1993, getting off her school bus around 3 p.m. and beginning the roughly 200-yard walk to her home in near Dade City. She never made it home.
Her body was found nearly a week later, on Feb. 25, by a couple searching an abandoned orange grove in southwest Hernando County.
For decades, investigators worked to determine who was responsible.
Children who were on the bus told investigators they saw a faded blue pickup truck slowly following Odom as she walked home. That truck became a key focus of the investigation. Investigators later determined Crum lived in the area where Odom was taken and owned a blue truck.
Two years after Odom’s body was found, her backpack and clarinet case were discovered in a rural area of Hernando County. The clothes she was wearing when she disappeared have never been found.
The case broke open decades later.
Investigators connected Crum to the murder through evidence collected during the investigation of a separate 1992 sexual assault involving a 17-year-old girl in Pasco County.
That attack happened almost 13 months before Odom disappeared, after the girl got off a school bus. DNA collected in that case was later developed into a full profile. In 2015, investigators found a familial match to Crum’s son, eventually leading authorities to Crum. He was arrested in February 2015 in connection with the 1992 attack and is now serving two life sentences for that crime.
On Wednesday, jurors heard from the medical examiner who performed Odom’s autopsy.
The medical examiner testified Odom suffered blunt force injuries to the head and was sexually assaulted. Jurors were also shown photographs from the autopsy.
Crum’s son, Jeff Crum Jr., also took the stand. He was around the same age as Odom when she was killed.
Crum Jr. testified that his father eventually admitted to him that he murdered Odom.
“I love you but it’s going to come out one day I’m a monster,” Crum told his son, according to his testimony.
Crum Jr. also testified that when he was a child, his father gave him a musical instrument as a gift.
Odom had her clarinet with her when she got off the bus the day she disappeared.
Prosecutors showed Crum Jr. Odom's clarinet on the witness stand.
“Does that look familiar?” the prosecutor asked.
“Yes sir,” Crum Jr. replied before looking down.
As he left the courtroom, Crum Jr. looked at his father and shook his head.
Jurors also heard from Nicholas Romano, who was housed in the same jail cell as Crum before trial.
Romano testified Crum told him he was nervous about the upcoming trial but also admitted to killing Odom.
“Did he tell you why he did it?” the prosecutor asked.
“He said he saw her get off the bus and that’s when he snatched her,” Romano testified.
Romano said he came forward because he believed it was the right thing to do.
Crum has pleaded not guilty in the Odom case.
After prosecutors finished presenting their evidence Wednesday, the defense rested without calling any witnesses. Crum did not testify in his own defense.
Earlier, the defense asked the judge for an acquittal, arguing prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to connect Crum to Odom’s murder. The judge denied that request.
Crum was indicted in the Odom case on charges including first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Crum could face the death penalty.
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