Ep 5 | Jennifer Grayson Transcript

Voices of a Killer Podcast: Ep 5 | Jennifer Grayson Transcript

Before we begin this podcast, please be advised that the following episode contains language that some listeners may find offensive and inappropriate. The opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not reflect the views of the podcast producers, listener discretion is advised.

Callaway County Sheriff's investigators did not reveal a motive behind the double murders, allegedly committed by Dale Horton and Jennifer Grayson. Well, I just felt untouchable. I didn't care. I didn't care. What would make someone want another person killed in your case? That b**** r***d my daughter. The wheels of justice move slow.

Things will work themselves out. Be patient. Okay. What was her reaction to seeing him holding a gun? Her son. Is she still alive today? Luckily, yes. Was she saying anything to you like, don't kill me? She did say that day. Whoever's there is gonna get it. You are now listening to the podcast voice. Of a killer.

I'm bringing you the stories from the perspective of the people that have taken the life of nother human and their current situation thereafter in prison. You will see that although these are the folks that we have been programmed to hate, they all have something in common. They are all humans like us that admit that they made a mistake.

Will you forgive them or will you condemn them? They're currently serving time for their murders and they give us an inside glimpse of what took place when they killed and their. Feelings on the matter now hear, or the voices of those who have killed.

Revenge is a powerful emotion that can drive people to do unspeakable things. Whether it's a desire for justice or a need to avenge a wrong, the thirst for revenge can consume someone until they take matters into their own hands. In this episode of Voices of a Killer, we delve into the case of Jennifer Grayson.

A tragic tale of betrayal, of trust, complications of family, relationships, and eventually revenge. Be warned, listener. It also touches on the topic of murder, suicide, drugs, and the devastating impact of sexual assault. So buckle up and join us as we explore the twisted path that led to the heinous crime and the aftermath that left a devastating impact in this episode of Voices of a Killer.

So, Jennifer, where are you from? Columbia. Columbia, Missouri. Have you lived there all your life? Yeah, I have. How would you describe your childhood? Roughed off and lonely. You have good parents? I'd like to think so. My biological parents, yes. Who raised you? Mr. Grayson and his wife, Linda Grayson. Okay. Were you adopted?

Yes. You would consider these adoptive parents? Good parents? I would consider them, uh, what's the word? When they're, when you're not there. Absent. Ah, yeah, absent. Thank you. Why do you feel like they were absent? Uh, Mr. Grayson was always gone trying to work, take care of us, et cetera, and then his wife, she left and divorced him because she didn't want any more foster children or adopted children. Were you a foster child or an adopted child? I was a foster child at first in their care, and then they adopted my brothers and. At what age did you, uh, meet the Graysons? I'd say four. And you had biological siblings to accompany you with this adoptive family?

Yes and no. They are my biological siblings. However, they were absent as well. My older brother was. Yeah. How'd you do in school growing up? Were you a good student? Did you have trouble? I mean, I think I was a good kid. Uh, there was just underlining issues, you know what I mean? Well, what were those issues?

Well, Like, kind of sucks to say, but like, I was like the little stinky girl. Didn't have hygienes really. Um, never could shave my legs or applied deodorant or anything, you know? So, kind of lonesome. Did you get in fights at school and, and have trouble with academics? No, not necessarily. I just didn't give a s*** about anything.

Why didn't you give a s***? But. Well, because no one gave a s*** about me. What direction did you go once you were able to leave your adoptive parent's house? Well, I found my biological mother and uh, also drugs. At what age did you get into drugs? 16. You were doing hard drugs then? Yes. Like what, meth? Cocaine, pills, ecstasy.

How'd that make you feel? Phenomenal. Do you still do drugs? No, it's often said that the past really never leaves us, and for Jennifer Grayson, it seems to be true. The trauma and pain of her early years would continue to haunt her. Jennifer couldn't shake off the feelings of being lost and abandoned. The absence of her biological parents left a deep void in her life that even the affection of her foster parents couldn't completely fill.

As with lots of drug addicts, Jennifer turned to drugs to seek solace from the pain and trauma that she had been carrying for so long. The decision would lead her to meet her literal partner in crime Dale Horton and set them on a path of destruction leading to a series of an unfortunate events that would culminate in the tragedy that we explore in this episode.

So you got into a relationship with a guy named Dale Horton? Yes. How old were you when you met Dale? 16. And how old was he? 24. And did you have sexual relationship with him at that age? Yes. Did your parents know about this? My biological mother, yes. What did they think about that? She really felt like she couldn't tell me anything because she was never there.

Also, my biological father is 15 years older than her. Did anybody think about calling the police knowing that A, a guy that ages with a 16 year old girl? Oh, did they think about calling the cops? No. Did you feel like you were being taken advantage of being with a guy so much older? No, I thought someone actually loved me.

Do you still have a relationship with Dale? Absolutely not. Do you have any contact with him whatsoever? No, I do not. So Dale is actually your co-defendant in a second degree murder case, is that correct? Yes. So you were 16 when you met Dale. At what point during your relationship did this crime occur? I believe I was 27 years old.

So you'd been with him for almost a decade? Yes. And during that time with Dale, did you have some rough patches with him where you know you saw somebody that probably wasn't good for you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So what made you feel like he wasn't right for you? What happened? Well, I knew that he was a liar and a cheater.

And, uh, it's sad but true. He couldn't pick our family up the ladder, you know? And he was abusive. He was abusive, yes. All the way around the board. Jennifer's life was never easy. And meeting Dale Horton at the age of 16 seemed like both a blessing and a curse. Dale was abusive towards her, and that made her life even more difficult.

But despite the abuse, Jennifer and Dale had children together. They created a family, and for a while it seemed like things were going to be okay, but little did Jennifer know that it would be Dale's family that would eventually cause her even further problems. Jennifer has obviously ended up in prison for what happened, but as we'll soon find out, it wasn't as simple as the news report from local Kansas City News Station KRCG made it out to be. Callaway County Sheriff's Investigators did not reveal a motive behind the double murders allegedly committed by Dale Horton and Jennifer Grayson. Investigators said Horton used a nine millimeter handgun to shoot and kill his mother's Sherry Horton and his brother-in-law, Joshua Griffith.

Investigators say Horton shot his mother twice. The first time he wounded her. The second shot resulted in her death.

So you're actually in prison for being involved with the murder of Dale's mom and his brother. His brother-in-law? Yes. Okay. So that would make it to where it's your mother-in-law that was killed and your brother-in-law. Yes. And from what I understand is is Dale is the one that wanted his mother and y'all's brother-in-law dead.

Is that correct? We both did. What would make someone want another person killed in your case? Well, to be blunt, that b**** r***d my daughter, so I wanted him dead. And then as far as his mother, she called my child a liar in her face and made her cry so hard. So I had that feeling of animosity towards her.

Is this a child you had with Dale? Yes. All my children are his. So tell me about what all unfolded. Your daughter was r***d sexually, uh, assaulted by the brother-in-law. And she came to you and complained about it throughout the years because she was being r***d by the age of three up to age six. Me being sexually abused as a child, I, I knew the signs, you know, so I just one day asked her why her sisters said that she was being nasty again upstairs in the bedroom.

So I finally called her down and was like, what's up? You know? And she told you what happened? She tried to give me a story. She tried to spin me, but I'm not dumb, and I just made it clear to her that it's very important for me to know these things. She won't get in trouble, you know, she's not nasty. Along the lines of that.

So are you pretty certain that your daughter was being sexually assaulted by this brother-in-law? I'm 1000% sure. What makes that certain? Well, the very next day we took accused the, uh, emergency room where they checked on her and they looked at her. You know what I mean? They did like a r*** analysis.

Yes, yes. Thank you. And they were able to determine that something sexually had happened to her? They were able to determine that she had been penetrated many times.

The break if you thought the story couldn't get any crazier, you are in for a shock.

What was your reaction at the hospital? Did you call the police? We followed their directions, yes. So you filed the police report, and what happened after that? Did the police go arrest him? The police actually did make an arrest. However, my kids' dad, his dad and his mother went and got him out of jail.

They dropped 20 grand, like it wasn't s***. His bond was $200 what,thousand assurity, something like that, and they just dropped it like it wasn't nothing, and I pulled him out of jail that very day or the very next day. So who bailed him out? My kids. Dad. Dad. So her grandpa? Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The grandfather? Yes. Okay.

Why would they go and bail him out? Do they think that your daughter was lying, or why would they do that? Yeah, like I said, uh, she called my child a liar. Even though we had the medical records for them to read, we called them over, said, Hey, 9 1 1, family emergency, pull up. They did. They were like, what's up?

What's this? They tried to explain. And his drunk ass belligerent mother had some slick s*** to say. She looked down, like I said, at my child, she's only six years old, and said, well, we all know that Riley ain't nothing but a little liar. And she was sucking on her nasty ass cigarette. And then my little girl ran upstairs so hard that she slammed her bedroom door.

And it like went inside her room with her, you know what I mean? Yeah. The mother told y'all this to your face? Like all like a family meeting? Yes. Where was the, uh, brother-in-law that r***d her at this meeting? Was he around probably at work or something? No, he was not around. We just called mom and dad.

So it was you and Dale, your then boyfriend that came and had this meeting with your mother-in-law? Yes. And what was your reaction? Were y'all yelling out at each other saying, you know, this is true, and she's saying it's not. All I can remember is I puffed my chest up and like bucked her out of my house with my chest and slammed the door.

Dale proceeded to force his father to leave as well. What were their reactions when you were pushing him out of the house? The dad was mad and she was still just being a slick mouth. So now that you've pushed him out of the house, And y'all are completely on opposite ends of the spectrum of what happened.

They think it's all bulls*** and then you know for sure that it's not because a medical examiner determined that she was sexually assaulted. You're now having discussions about what Uh, we have a detective on our case, you know, they come by, they do interviews on us all separately. You know, this happens a number of times.

We are told that, you know, the wheels of justice move slow. Things will work themselves out. Be patient. It's in your best interest not to trespass on anyone's property. He's like a safe distance. Meanwhile, dude and his wife, the brother-in-law and sister-in-law got suspended. Oh, because she was part of it too my sister-in-law. They got suspended from their jobs and uh, they were looking at losing their home. So, Mom and dad was like, oh, that's cool. Come live with us. So now everybody's all living together, going out eating steak and shrimp and shrimp and steak, and we're just like, okay, cool. So feeling really betrayed.

At this point it's hard to imagine the emotions that Jennifer must have felt knowing that her daughter had been sexually assaulted by her brother-in-law, guilt, rage, anger. These are all emotions Jennifer must have felt at the time. Her trust in Dale's family was shattered. And that left her distraught. But the failure of the justice system to provide punishment for her brother-in-law's actions must have made her feel incredibly helpless.

A news report about her brother-in-law's, Justin's arrest sums up the situation quite well. It reads that in December of 2015, the Cole County prosecutor charged Joshua Griffith with statutory sodomy with a child under the age of 14, along with statutory r*** of a child under the age of 14. During the interview with Jefferson City Police, Joshua denied having sexual contact with the child, and according to court records, he made other statements such as, I don't think I did this.

Now get ready, listener, as this is just the tip of the iceberg for Joshua. So the guy that sexually assaulted your six-year-old daughter, is this Dale's brother? Yes. What was his relationship like with his brother? Did he, uh, get along with him before that? No, nobody liked him. Well, apparently the parents liked him and the person that bailed him out liked him.

They dealt with him because of their daughter, I feel, what's his name? The, uh, brother-in-law, Joshua Griffith. So Joshua is the guy that sexually assaulted your daughter. What did he do for a living? Oh, wow. I'm glad you asked. Well, I'll have you know that he's blind. He was blind. He had no eyeballs. Just sockets.

Okay. So everyone's like, well, he couldn't have done this. Well, he was a very intelligent character. He works for the government. He, um, adjusted their payroll. He reprogrammed computers. That dude could do feng shui like none other on anyone's house. He cooked dinner by himself. Needless to say, he worked for the government.

Yeah. So he was actually blind. He didn't have eyeballs. Nah. Where did he get the chance to be alone with your daughter? Okay, so I have four kids with Dale and there's also two other kids. His older kids, my stepkids and uh, so basically, you know, the two older kids would go out on the weekends. My oldest daughter would go to Mimi and Papa's and then Riley was, someone left out, she wanted to go somewhere, but nobody wanted to watch her cuz she was like a little alien.

So, Jania and Josh decided to take on the responsibility, well, not necessarily responsibility, but they're like, Hey, Tiffany can come over to our house on the weekend. You know, get mom and dad a break, myself and my kid and dad a break. So it would happen when she would stay the night. So Joshua, the in-law that sexually assaulted your daughter?

He had a girlfriend. He had a wife, yes. Where was she when this was going on? Ah, exactly. I asked my child the same question. She said that her Aunt Jania was on the bed scratching her private parts. So do you think she was involved in the sexual assault as well? 100000%, yes. I mean, it sounds like it. So, cause she wasn't just on the bed, she was also in the closet with a phone scratching her private parts.

So, you know, I mean, you're scratching your private parts because you're masturbating. Yeah, that's what it sounds like to me. So did the police arrest her whenever your daughter said these things? Uh, I can't remember. I, I just can't remember. I, she was very well a part of the, uh, investigation though. Yeah.

Is she still alive today? Luckily, yes. So with that information of her scratching her private parts and your daughter's saying these things, the authorities have never tried to charge her with anything? No. That's crazy. I think we can all agree that this was truly a horrific situation to be in. As a mother, she would've felt helpless, angry, and betrayed.

Her thoughts must have been consumed with the desire to protect her child, to punish the person who had caused her so much pain and trauma, and to make sure that justice was served if things were complicated to begin with. They were about to get worse. Not only was this the father of her child's family, but as Jennifer now explains, she and Dale ended up falling on even harder times.

So I'm gonna assume this is what happened, but I'd like you to tell me if this is accurate or not. You feel like justice is not being served because he's out of jail and just like the authorities told you, it's a slow process. Did you and Dale start talking about taking action yourself? Yeah, we talked about it.

Yeah. What were the discussions like? Were y'all like, we need to kill this guy, or we need to hurt him? Or Tell me about the discussions you had from the beginning. Well also, unfortunately, I. Drugs were involved, but my kid's dad kept saying that he was gonna do this and do that and, but he wasn't, nobody was taking action.

You're talking about Dale. I'm talking about Dale, the justice system. This is about my child. At the same time though, I was being physically abused and force fed drugs at the same time. So you were abusing drugs at the time that all this was going down. What were you abusing at this time? I did try methamphetamine.

So now you're kind of hopped up on drugs and you're, you and Dale are talking about taking action and killing them. Yeah. And uh, he just keeps saying that he's gonna do something, do something, but never did. What is he saying he's gonna do? There's a couple different ideas. After you pushed your in-laws out of the house, how long was it until the crime was committed?

My daughter told me Christmas night what happened to her, and the murders happened April 26th, so from Christmas to April. So that gives us about four and a half months. Yeah. You and Dale are now talking about taking action yourself, and you're telling me that Dale would talk about it, but wouldn't do it.

So now you're feeling like that. You're gonna take action yourself, or did Dale hatch a plan and you agreed to that plan? Tell me about what happened. Well, there was about three different occasions that I can like remember on. We're gonna do this, that we're gonna do it, but still it never happened. And then we were actually living in a motel, unfortunately, at this point because not only did all those things happen, but Dale also lost his job, you know, so that whole four months we're facing an eviction, but we're riding it out. We got kids. So, you know, the law can't just kick you out. So we're riding it out and all the while getting so f***ed up. I can't even look at my child without, uh, bawling at this point. So, of course the mess helps, right?

No, it enhanced things. So we're living in a motel. Not only do these people need to die, but we need some f***ing food money for kids. They're hungry. So I actually came up with an idea, Hey, we f***ing roll out there. Wait in the woods until a mom goes down and checks on the chickens. And when she does that dip in the house and grab the credit card cuz you know, um, he knew the password or the code or whatever.

And for real, our kids were hungry and that was the focal point. But he did say that day, whoever's there is gonna get it. Dale said that. Uh, yes, absolutely. After the break, Jennifer talks about the day of the murders.

So did y'all go and hide out just like you talked about and waited? God, yeah. Forever though. And she was not coming out of the house to go check on the damn chicken, so he's like, all right man. I'm just gonna roll up there and knock on the door. You know, that's my mom. And she's always said, you know, f*** you and f*** you.

But those kids will never go without, right? So he's like, I'm just gonna go be like, Hey, I need some money. We're hungry. And he's following up on the house quick, like, and I'm all like saying a good idea. In my mind. He was ahead of me and as soon as he went to go knock on the door, his mother actually came out with the, uh, chicken feed or whatever.

Did you guys have weapons with you? Yes. What were they? Nine millimeter, Caltech and a .22 Revolver. Little handgun. So y'all both had a pistol? Yes. Okay. So he knocks your mother-in-law, answers the door. Well, she doesn't answer the door. She's actually, as he goes to knock, she's coming out the house to do what she was gonna do, Uhhuh.

So it was like, oh s***, the door's open. Oh, and by this point she's hella intoxicated. So were the guns in your hand or are they like tucked in your pants where she can't see it? No one saw anything with me, but he just had had it out like, what's up? Okay. What was her reaction to seeing him holding the gun?

Her son? I don't necessarily think that, uh, she saw the gun or anything. I think that she was just surprised that he was at the door. What was her reaction would she say to him? I wasn't close enough to necessarily hear the conversation. However, I guess dude was there and he heard Dale's voice and said some slick s***.

And I just remember Dale saying, Aw, yeah, motherf***er. And then I heard like one or two shots, maybe three. And then that's when she was trying to get out. I drug her back in and shut the door. So Dale shot his brother whenever he mouthed off. Yes. Instantly. It wasn't in kill shop, but he started shooting at him.

Yes. And then did you see his brother fall to the ground? When I finally got in the house and I sat his mother down, made sure she wasn't gonna go anywhere. I saw him shooting at dude. And you know, he's blind, so he's trying to find somewhere to go. So I'm watching him. It's all like in slow motion. He's shooting at him.

He's trying to run and hide. It's like bop, bop, bop. And then they're in the back room. And I'm with Sherry alone. Was the mother-in-law screaming? No, actually she was very calm. There were tears in her eyes though. What were you telling her whenever you cored her back in the house? I wasn't saying anything. I just felt like I knew that I just had to secure her in the house and lock the door so she couldn't get out.

So you secure the, her inside the house, you lock it, you're making sure that she doesn't do anything crazy. And Dale is actually chasing his blind brother down and killing him? Yes. So initially he s- shot his brother, but it didn't kill him. His blind brother actually tried to run to the back of the house, is that right?

Yes. And Dale follows him back there and basically finishes him off? Uh, yeah. And what were you thinking at this point? Were you thinking this is something that you're glad's happening or do you have any regrets at this point? No, I didn't have any regrets at that point in my mind. I was like, finally, You're finally serving justice?

Yes. However, uh, I'm telling you, it was like all slow motion, so I'm like, I'm not really scared, but I am in shock. I think it was just a lot of emotions.

Court documents obtained by KRCG indicate Horton used a nine millimeter handgun to shoot and kill his mother, Sherry Horton and his brother-in-law, Joshua Griffith.

Investigators say Horton shot his mother twice. The first time he wounded her. The second shot resulted in her death. It is clear from the news report at the time that there was misinformation as to how the murders actually played out. Dale was understood to definitely have shot his brother, which as Jennifer points out, wasn't just as clean cut as the report makes it out.

There was an element of struggle. Turns out this was also true of the murder of Dale's mother. The report says that Dale shot his mother twice, but Jennifer was also carrying a weapon and having listened to the vitriol she had for her at the time. It begs the question was Dale the only one to blame for his mother's death?

You had a gun in your hand, were you pointing it at his mom and saying, you know, stay right here. Were you, were you brandishing in the weapon? I wasn't pointing it at her, no. Was she saying anything to you like, don't kill me? No. So after Dale finishes off his brother, she comes back from the back of the house to meet back up with you and his mother?

Yeah, but we had a little time, his mother and I to ourselves. Tell me about that. I yelled at her. I wanted to know why she called my daughter a liar. What was she saying to that? I wanted, she just kept shaking her head no. What else did you yell at her? I, uh, was going on and on about the $20,000 and them f***ing getting dude outta jail and s***.

And that's when she said that it wasn't her. She just kept shaking her head and she said that it wasn't her. She had nothing to do with that, but it still didn't matter to me. I don't give a f*** about the money or him or anything. You called my child a liar. You made her cry. You didn't believe us. Uh, she was supposed to be my mother, you know?

Yeah. So then what happened? You're basically yelling at her and she's defending herself saying that, you know, she's not a part of it. Well, her dumb ass little dog keeps barking. And so my anxiety is starting to like, reach a high level and, um, she's not like bawling or anything, but she's like making excuses and it's pissing me off.

I did try to pop her in the ribcage, however, for some reason, my revolver. It didn't, it didn't go off. The dog was yapping. Barking. Okay. So the dog made you your anxiety high. So then you tried to shoot your mother-in-law in her ribcage, is that right? Or you just tried to poke her with the gun? No, I tried to shoot her and the gun jammed.

Yeah. What was her reaction when she just noticed you trying to shoot her and it didn't work? Her eyeballs got big. What did she say? She she didn't say nothing. She knew that you were serious whenever you tried to pull the trigger and it didn't work? Nah, she knew I was serious when I f***ing popped her ass down on that couch.

Dale, that's his mother. Was he watching you try to shoot his mother? No. Where was he at? He was still in the back room. So he still hadn't made it back from killing his brother? No. But like right after that he did. Okay. So while he was going, you actually tried to shoot your mother-in-law, his mother, which did not work out.

Yeah. And then he comes back. Tell me about what happens once he comes back. Are you trying to fix the gun so you could shoot her? Or did you say, Hey, I just tried to shoot her, didn't work? Tell me about what happened. No, the dog kept barking and yiping at my ankles or nipping at my ankles, whatever. So I tried to shoot the dog and the gun jammed again?

No, the gun went off. Did you hit the dog? No. You missed? yeah. So what happened? The dog run off? Yeah, the dog sat down and shut up. I bet. So now, what's your mother-in-law's reaction at this point? You just shot at the dog. What is she saying or looking like? Listen, she's very like hardcore, like, Hey listen, if I'm gonna f***ing die, let's f***ing do it type s***.

Because she just wasn't speaking really on anything. She was just looking around like, what the f*** is happening? Again though, she was very drunk. So what is Dale doing at this point? You just tried to shoot the dog. You missed. You got her his mother sat down. What's he doing? Now he's yelling at her. Now he's yelling at her.

She's all like Ali, that's his middle name. He's like, Hey, listen, don't call me that b**** if you don't love me. You don't believe me and you're not with us. And he was wanting to know why this, why that, and just wasn't coming up with the right answers. Did she ever say, what did you do with your brother?

Did you just kill him? Did she ever ask him that? No. Was it pretty obvious that that's what Dale did back there? He just went and killed his brother? Yes. Yes. While the tragedies of these murders are difficult to listen to, it is interesting to know just how clear Jennifer's recount of the day is. For a lot of murderers, they often talk about being in a trance-like state, making it difficult for them to remember exactly what happened.

But perhaps because Jennifer didn't deliver any of the final blows to the victims, she was perhaps able to remove herself from the situation. A situation that gets increasingly more shocking. So now Dale is arguing with his mother right after you just tried to shoot her in your gun jam and he's basically saying, you know, you're not with us.

And then go ahead and pick up there what, what happened. So she went on ahead and said his full name again, and that's when he kind of lost it a little bit. He was kind of at war with himself. He didn't really know what to do at that point. He was like, Jen, go grab a, A, B, and C. He wanted me to go grab a jewelry box, a checkbook, a credit card.

He wanted me to go grab these items. Okay. So I follow direction and uh, so I do all these things and then I get back and he's just still, nothing happened. You know what I mean? And he's like, alright, let's go. I'm like, alright, let's go. I was confused at that point. You mean like leave the house and after you stole everything?

Yeah, like leave the house and leave her there confused. You said that whoever was there was going to get it, and in my mind you're not following through. At this point I'm hyped to f*** up. We're here. We're in this s***. So what's up? So. I just said she ain't dead.

What was his reaction to that? He looked at me. He looked at her, and then he shot her in the head. What was the look on her face when he raised that gun to his mother's head? Telling you she's, she was hardcore. Nothing. Nothing changed. Maybe just like one last deep breath. Did he hold the gun to her head for a minute and thought about it, or did he just raise it immediately and pull the trigger?

He immediately put it to her temple and shot her. What was it like watching that? Um, I was just like, oh, s***, because she was sitting on the arm of the sofa and then her body literally jumped right up into a standing position and then she fell. So when he shot her in the head, she actually stood up and then fell over.

Yeah, I mean she was a very little dainty thing. 4'11" 80 pounds, soaking wet. Well, that must have been kind of weird to see somebody getting shot in the head and standing up. It almost doesn't make sense, but I mean, the body does weird things, but was it just some kind of nerve reaction? I'm guessing it was a nerve reaction.

She was no taller really, than her sofa, you know what I mean? So like sitting on the arm of the sofa. The impact of the gun, I guess, made her body jump and then fall flat to the ground. What was your immediate thought? Did you ever think like, wow, we just committed two murders. I'm going to prison for a long time, or did you think maybe you can get away with it?

What was your thoughts? Ah, s***. I was like, oh f***. I, I knew that we had to get out of there. Um, no prison wasn't on my mind. Uh, I felt kind of powerful, I guess. Maybe not powerful. I just felt untouchable. I didn't care. I didn't care Were you? He asked me, once we finally got in the vehicle, are we gonna run?

What are we gonna do? And I was like, no, we don't even have any gas money. We promised the kids that when we got back to the motel, but they could go swimming. No, we're not running. Honestly, we should have just sat there. We should have called the cops and just sat there. Why do you think that? Because everyone knew.

I mean, we were trying to be so incognito. I had a backpack full of all black stuff. That way after we got out of the creek, we could, uh, change into these black clothing, but we were so f***ed off that we forgot to do that. So the neighbor saw, you know what I mean? And it was f***ing loud as f***. So basically I knew what time it was.

I guess I've been told, have we sat there and waited? Maybe it could have been like a crime of passion or whatever. The reason why I'm in trouble, I didn't call the cops. Why didn't you run? I've been put in a similar position. Dale has tried to kill me before. I'm not running away from him. You know,

Dale Horton and Jennifer Grayson are in the Callaway County Jail with bonds set at $5 million each. Their children are in state custody. 35 year old Dale Horton and 27 year old Jennifer Grayson faced charges of two counts of first degree murder, assault, armed criminal action, stealing a motor vehicle, and tampering with evidence.

Sheriff's officials say the arrests of Horton and Grayson are just the beginning of their investigation. Case of this magnitude even with arrest, we're probably two to three months out before that case actually makes it to the prosecuting attorney for processing through the court system. After the murders, Jennifer and Dale were arrested and given a long list of charges with first degree murder being at the top of that list.

It's ironic that both her and Dale received bonds of $5 million while her now deceased brother-in-law only received one for $20,000 and that the wheels of justice seemed to be turning much faster against her than they did for her daughter's abuser. How long after the day that this murder happened, these murders, did the police come and get you?

Oh, it was like hours later. We literally had enough time to get gas, a bottle, some pizza, and uh, let the kids go swimming. They got us set that night. It happened at like three, 4:00 PM and we were arrested about 9:00 PM They knew exactly what happened who did it? Uh, yeah, they followed us. They knew that my car was in Callaway County.

We weren't supposed to be in Callaway County. Someone spotted my car. We parked over a couple county roads and then footed it to the back of his parents' property and waited. Where was the grandpa at that, his dad, where everyone else was at work. Who discovered the bodies? I can't remember which one found the body first, but it was his dad and his sister.

When we got back to the motel though, that's when it started becoming like real, in my mind I'm like, oh s***, these people are dead. You know what I mean? What was Dale's reaction? Cuz he just killed his brother and his mom and he literally put a gun to his mom head and, and shot her in the head. How was his demeanor afterwards?

He wanted to f***. He wanted to have sex? Yeah. Okay. Did you have sex with him? No, you see, I really didn't like Dale at that point in my life, but you are supposed to be daddy, so let's, uh, mount up basically. Well, also the evening before, the day before I had just tried to hang myself. I did hang myself because he kept physically abusing me.

He always thought I was cheating on him, so no, I did not have sex with Dale. What did they charge you with initially? First degree murder. They charged me with a lot. First degree murder, ma'am? There was like eight charges. What'd you end up with? I ended up with a second degree. Did you take a plea deal or did you take it all the way to trial?

No, I took the plea deal cause uh, nobody was talking to me about anything. I never, I mean, in the beginning, you know, but they didn't do anything that I asked. I was trying to go with the battered woman syndrome, like he made me do it type s***. But honestly, he didn't make me do anything. He actually told me to stay at home with the kids and I said no.

Are you glad with the results of what happened or or do you regret it? I regret that my children are without their father and their mother at this time. What was your sentence you got? Two fifteens ran concurrent, so you gotta do 85% of 15 years, which is probably about, what, 12 and a half years?

Something like that. Yeah, it's 12 and some change. Do you ever get hate mail from your, your, your father-in-law? Nope. Nope. You know, he is a sick b**** too. My, uh, his grandfather, there were allegations against him raping his daughter when she was younger, but it just got all thrown under the rug back then, you know.

So how long did Dale get for killing his mom and his brother? Okay, so though Dale and I don't talk, um, this is still sad. He got two life sentences without, he got two life sentences without parole? Yeah. Yeah. He took everything for me. So did he had someone at home with the kids and it wasn't gonna be him.

So the last time that you actually communicated with Dale was the day of the murders? No, not necessarily. I still kept in contact with him a little bit while we were both in jail and then into my first couple years of prison. And then I just realized that, uh, it's just like not a good thing. The case of Jennifer Grayson raises questions about the morality of revenge.

Was Jennifer justified in her actions? Was her desire for revenge understandable, or was it excessive and unjustifiable? These are complex questions without easy answers. On the one hand, it is natural for a mother to want to protect her child from harm. It is difficult to imagine the pain and anger Jennifer must have felt upon learning that her daughter had been sexually assaulted by her brother-in-law who had been bailed out by his mother. The fact that he was able to walk. Free, despite the serious allegations against him must have been deeply frustrating and infuriating. However, on the other hand, taking matters into her own hands and resorting to murder is not a justifiable solution.

It is important to remember that revenge does not bring back what was lost and can often cause even more harm. While Jennifer's actions may have been driven by a desire for justice, ultimately they resulted in the loss of multiple lives and the destruction of multiple families. In the end, it is up to each individual to decide for themselves whether revenge is truly sweet or not.

However, it is clear that the consequences of seeking revenge can be severe and far reaching. One good thing that does remain clear for Jennifer is that she will always have her children.

Do you have contact with your kids? Yeah, I do. Yes. Your daughter that got sexually assaulted, does she understand what happened? How old is she now? She is about to be 14. Does she ever call you and ask questions about what happened? In the beginning yeah. What did you tell her? She didn't really have to go into detail.

Our kids are very intelligent. Just let her know that he was never ever gonna touch her again, didn't lie about anything. He's dead. What's your life been like in prison? Are you getting along pretty good actually, I think I am. Had it not been for prison, I probably would've died myself being with Dale and uh, or like some major f***ing meth head, I wouldn't be getting the therapy.

Even though we don't really get therapy in here. There's people in here who have been in similar situations, therefore they are like the therapist. You know what I mean? Yeah. Have you tried to commit suicide since you've been in prison? No. It's an extremely unfortunate event, especially for your daughter being six years old and having to deal with that.

I felt like if this guy would've never had a bail, he'd probably be still out right now. But like you said, who knows where your life would be if he didn't wind up in prison, but we'll never know. Oh. And like as I'm sitting here in prison, the same thing happened again with all my girls and my son. And uh, a dude's name was Josh too, and they're f***ing crazy.

So they got sexually assaulted again while you're in prison? Yeah. By another family member. Yes. Jesus. However, my children did something that I couldn't do. They, uh, put him away. He's got four life sentences consecutive, an additional 10 for the neglect, an additional 10 for the physical abuse on my son, and then an additional seven for, um, coercion.

So is this another relative on Dale's side? Yeah. They're not blood or nothing, but like he's a cousin by marriage type s***. Wow. So unfortunate. Yeah. However, my children are great though. You know what I mean? They're finally living their best life. They're thriving in their elements. I'm, I'm very proud of them.

They're strong. They don't have the victim's mentality, you know what I mean? But we have a, a new family now, you know. And how long have you been in prison? Seven years. I'll be seven years on the 26th of this month. So about six more years. You can reunite with your kids. Yeah. Do they come visit you? Yeah, I'm gonna see my son on Friday, but for real, at the end of the day, I stand 10 Joes down on what happened.

The only thing that sucks is I was never allowed to say anything about what happened to my child. Cause then it would've looked like first degree murder premeditation. You know what I mean? But now you can. Yeah, you definitely plotted outside the house. So it's really a crazy story that. For Dale especially because he killed his brother and then turned around and shot his mom in the head.

Well, listen, his mom has been a belligerent drunk his whole life. It was just a matter of time before he snapped on his mom. Anyways, I feel like that was just the, the icing on the cake. You know? His parents were just like, s***. He was never good enough for his dad. His mother was a belligerent, drunk, beat on him.

You know what I mean? His dad beat on his mom. Mom beat on him just a circle jerk, you know? Yeah. Well, Jennifer, I appreciate you opening up to me. I hope that, uh, you do your time well in there. I hope you have a relationship with your kids, cuz it sounds like they're important to you. I wish you the best of luck.

Hopefully I'll talk to you again soon. Okay? All right. All right, Jennifer, have a good night. Yeah, you too. Take it easy. All right. Bye-bye. Bye.

On the next episode of Voices of a Killer.

This person's body is probably still warm, and you show up. Tell me what happened whenever you walked in there. What would you do in a holding cell when your water broke? Okay. They wouldn't take you to the hospital. They would rather let you and your baby die. Did they charge you with a hate crime because it was a transgender?

Yes. I'm not a judgemental person. Didn't you kill this person or help kill this person? Why should the public believe your story? You can ask my family. Okay. I have never been in any trouble. Nothing whatsoever.

That's a wrap on this episode of Voices of a Killer. I want to thank Jennifer for sharing her story with us today. Her ability to be open and honest is what makes this podcast so special. A big shout out to Sonic Futures who handle the production audio editing, music, licensing, and promotion of this podcast.

If you want to hear more episodes like this one, make sure to visit our website at voices of a killer.com. There you can find previous episodes, transcripts, and additional information about the podcast. Lastly, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a review on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your feedback helps us improve and reach new listeners. Thank you for your support and we can't wait to share more stories with you in the future. Thank you for tuning in. I'm your host, Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer.