No one could have foreseen that subsequent investigations would follow the route they took after Michelle Saum Schofield was discovered dead after being stabbed in a canal in February 1987. This is because after the husband of 18 year-old Leo Schofield has been found guilty of his murder, as discussed in ’20/20: Last Seen In Lakeland’, new evidence has emerged suggesting another person may have been responsible for the horrific crime . So if you really want to get to the bottom of this confusing issue, we have the information for you if you want to know more about this previously unrelated person, criminal Jeremy Lynn Scott.
Jeremy Lynn Scott
Now where is Jeremy Scott?
Jeremy Lynn Scott, who has a long criminal history dating back to his teenage years, is currently imprisoned for an unrelated crime despite having a long history of crimes. At age 15, in or around 1984, he was reportedly cleared of a murder charge; yet, over the next three years, he committed arson, robbery, armed robbery, major theft, and assault on a public official. The Polk County, Florida native went above and beyond when he killed his friend Donald Moorehead on November 1, 1988, apparently because he hadn’t received money for a painting he had completed. It was another year later.
Court documents claim that in the early hours of that tragic day, Jeremy and a companion beat Donald in the head with a bottle of grape juice before strangling him to death with a telephone wire. He was convicted of first-degree murder as well as armed robbery and sentenced to life in 1989 after the pair even stole his car after failing to discover money in his trailer. At the mixed-security Florida State Prison (formerly known as Raiford Prison) in Bradford County, the offender known as ‘Bam Bam’ is currently serving his just sentence at the age of 53 year.
Michelle Schofield: Did Jeremy Scott Kill Her?
Jeremy Scott
When convicted murderer Jeremy Scott was linked to the whole case in 2004, a fingerprint that was found in Michelle Schofield’s abandoned car (in 1987) had previously gone undetected. He was then questioned by authorities due to the fact that he lived two miles from the scene of the discovery of her body and was not just free of jail at the time of this specific crime. Then, in an effort to explain the origin of his fingerprint and rule out any involvement in the homicide, he admitted to being a car radio/equipment thief, but he still maintained his denial of any involvement.
But things started to change in 2016 when Jeremy’s lawyer contacted Leo Schofield, Michelle’s husband and the man who had been convicted of killing him, in a bid to get new information to support Jeremy’s request for a new trial. During a 2017 police interview, Jeremy allegedly admitted, only to reject it outright, before adding that he would be willing to take responsibility for any crime if he received $1,000 in cash. He underwent further questioning, but this time he was taped and the recording captured every word of his admission that he had killed the 18-year-old on February 24, 1987 with a hunting knife.
According to Jeremy’s stories, after asking Michelle for a ride while she was at a gas station talking on the phone and after honestly consenting, he casually gave her directions to a remote lake. He claimed that when his sharp object involuntarily slipped while he was looking for his cigarettes in the car, he lost his temper and she became enraged, punching him. Before declaring, “Next thing I know I lost it,” the 19-year-old in 1987 even hinted that he was on a lot of prescription drugs. His throat was slit by me. Because I’m not sure what happened, I’m currently in a panic.
In order to decide whether or not Leo should be given a new trial, the case went to court for a preliminary evidentiary hearing, at which Jeremy actually testified. He claimed to have murdered Michelle thirty years earlier, but some inconsistencies and details were missing from his story, despite his immediate emotion. This was therefore interpreted as his retraction of his statement when he later said, “I didn’t”, after seeing footage of his autopsy, and the court ruled he lacked credibility.
Following the rejection of Leo’s appeal and the upholding of the original verdict, he is still considered guilty of the murder, so it is impossible to believe that Jeremy was the person who killed Michelle. Due to their own admitted wrongdoing, they are both still incarcerated.
