The Murder of Seath Jackson- Part 2
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</figure>We discuss the arrests, interrogations, the full murder plot and the trials and convictions of Seath Jackson’s murderers in part 2 of 2.
Police take both Kyle and Amber in for questioning.
Detective Rhonda Stroop confiscates both teen’s cell phones and begins questioning Kyle in an interrogation room with his mother Tracy present.
Kyle tells Detective Stroup that Seath had come to the house to talk to Amber. He says that he, Amber, Charlie, and Mike Bargo are all there. He says they are all at Charlie Ely’s house and once Seath arrives at Charlie’s house, Mike began shooting Seath and that he is in fact dead.
She then brings Amber in and Amber tells a similar story- that Seath came to Charlies, nobody knew Mike was going to shoot him and that she was just an innocent bystander. She says that when they heard gunshots she and Charlie locked themselves in the bathroom and that Mike Bargo threatened them with harm should they tell anyone what happened.
Now, they bring in Charlie to see what she has to say.
Charlie tells detectives that she knew that Seath was coming over, that Mike said he just wanted to scare Seath and that they did not know that Mike was going to kill Seath.
Now that they’ve been interviewed separately, detectives decide to put all three together in a room- unaware that they’re being recorded, they start talking about the murder plot.
Kyle says “we did not kill an innocent kid, because this kid was not innocent. He threatened to burn my house and kill my family. And he deserved it.”
Detective Stroop calls this a “performance” by Amber and says she is manipulative and diabolical. She is always pointing the finger at someone else, and she is merely a victim or bystander. Mike is the one that pulled her into this because he knows he can get her to do anything he wants her to.
At this point, all three are booked for premeditated murder. I love Rhonda Stroop. She has NO TIME for their shit.
And Amber says “I’ll be fucking 20 by the time I get out.” No bitch, you’re in for life. Murder 1 is not a “couple year” sentence. I don’t know if she thought because she was a juvenile she’d get a slap on the wrist, but she was tried as an adult.
At this point, police comb through phone records of the 3 incarcerated teens. And they corroborate William’s story that Amber had contacted Seath claiming to want to get back together that night around 7PM.
She said that she wanted to talk about things and work stuff out, but that her friend Charlie would be with her so that she could provide emotional support. She said she’d been talking to Charlie about everything and she needed her there to help her through. She also asked him to keep it a secret that he was meeting her- she said that she didn’t want anyone to know until they got everything hashed out, so don’t tell anyone at all where you’re going. This is why William did not know Seath had gone to meet Amber rather than going home as he had told William he was going to do.
At 7:58 pm, Amber texted Seath: “Meet me at the corner of 140th street and 58th court near Charlie’s house?”
At 8:00 pm, Seath texts: “Ok, I’m walking up the hill now”
Amber, 8:05 PM: “c u there!”
Seath, 8:22 PM: “I’m at the neighborhood road”
Seath, 8:56 PM: “Amber, if you have me jumpt I will never give you the time of day so if I get jumpt say goodby allrite.”
Amber then persuades Seath to come back to Charlie’s house. Kyle is in the living room. Mike’s plan is for Amber to text him when she and Seath are coming back to the house so that they can be ready. When Seath enters, Justin Soto was supposed to hit Seath over the head with the 2×4 and Kyle was going to jump Seath. Then, Mike would shoot him.
But when Seath comes in, Justin does nothing. Kyle and Mike are waiting in the back room. With Justin having cold feet, Mike tells Kyle to hit Seath in the head with a 2×4, and Kyle says he not sure if he can actually go through with the plan. Mike tells him that Seath disrespected Amber, and that this has to happen.
Guys- if you don’t want to know the disturbing details, skip forward. What happens next is horrific.
Kyle comes out of the back room and hits Seath in the head with the block of wood. As Seath begins to run, realizing he has walked into an ambush, Mike shoots Seath twice in the back. Seath keeps running and manages to make it out the front door into the yard. Justin and Mike follow, with Justin tackling Seath to ground and Mike shooting Seath in the back of the head. But Seath still wasn’t dead.
They then drag Seath back into the home and place him in the bathtub. Mike orders that Seath be left alive so that he will know “who is killing him.” Justin and Kyle are tasked with cleaning up the blood in the living room and kitchen while Mike is screaming at Seath in the bathroom and beating him with his fist. Mike then break his kneecaps and begins dismembering Seath to allow his body to fit into a sleeping bag that the group has decided to use to transport his body. Mike then shoots Seath several more times- the coroner report states there are 8 gunshot wounds in all. Kyle Hooper asked Mike to “stop with all the shooting” because he was afraid neighbors would hear this and call the police.
Finally, Seath Jackson succombs to his injuries and passes away. The teens place his body in a sleeping bag and carry him to the backyard, where they had a bonfire going. They tended the fire until about 2:30 AM. His charred remains were then placed into paint buckets and dropped into a nearby rock quarry by Mike Bargo, Justin Soto, and Mike’s former stepfather James Haven. Haven admitted to helping Bargo dispose of the buckets, but claimed he did not know what was in them.
So now we have 6 people who knew a person was going to be murdered and said and did nothing. When Detective Stroup tells them she’s bringing charges and they’re going to jail, Charlie says “but we didn’t do anything, and I was scared because Mike had a gun.”
I love Detective Stroup’s response here. She says “first of all, let’s get over that hump, ok? We all knew about it, we all planned it, we were all complicit.” And when Charlie tries to use the “I was scared b/c Mike had a gun” she says “you know what? Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it… do you think we haven’t been listening to everything you’ve been saying in here? Are you that stupid really? Just stop.”
Yes, Detective Stroup. Fortunately for the investigation, they ARE that stupid.
Police find bone fragments in the fire pit at Charlie’s house and the rest of his remains in the water at the rock quarry. Testing confirms both sets of bone fragments belong to Seath Jackson.
Mike Bargo is finally located hiding out at a friend’s house and is charged with 1st degree murder. Without Amber texting Seath that night, he would not have gone to Charlie Ely’s house and would likely still be alive.
Amber, Charlie, Kyle, and Justin are all convicted of 1st degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Side note- Charlie Ely’s attorney is none other than Jose Baez, who represented Casey Anthony.
Mike Bargo is also convicted and receives the death penalty. At his trial, a man who had also been at the police station turning himself in on a probation violation testified that Mike Bargo told him that he received the injuries on his face in his mugshot from “burning this kid Seath’s body and something exploded in the fire” causing the injuries.
Mike Bargo became the youngest prisoner on Florida’s death row at 19 years old. In March of this year, Mike Bargo will be resentenced due to his sentence being overturned after the Florida Supreme Court ruled in October 2016 that death penalty verdicts must be unanimous jury decisions. Bargo’s 2013 jury sentenced him to death with a 10-2 vote.
Charlie Ely is appealing her conviction on the basis that she had ineffective counsel. She has a “Free Charlie Ely” facebook page and as of right now, there has not been a development in her attempts to gain her freedom.
Seath’s mother, Sonia Jackson gave a victim impact statement at Kyle Hooper’s trial.
Sonia Jackson Victim Impact Statement
So what do you think? Should the juveniles have been tried as adults? Do you agree with their life sentences? Let us know on our Facebook discussion group, or leave us a comment below.
Remember, if you want to support the show and get additional episodes, priority case submission and more, visit patreon.com/killerqueenspod.
Sources:
Killer Women with Piers Morgan (interrogation audio)
Sonia Jackson Victim Impact Statement
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