Killer Father: The Mysterious Disappearance of Valiree Jackson

the army mystery in the case of enrique ramon martinez

**Episode Transcription

Dispatcher: Location of emergency?

Brad Jackson: I can’t find my daughter.

Dispatcher: Ok, how old is she?

Brad: Nine.

Dispatcher: Ok, she didn’t go to school today?

Brad: No, we were just getting ready to go and she went outside to play for a while because she was done early, and I can’t find her.

Dispatcher: She’s a white female?

Brad: Yes, a little redhead.

Welcome everyone! Welcome to a new episode of Love and Murder – the weekly true crime podcast discussing relationships gone terribly wrong. Where our motto is, you’re either someone’s last love or first murder

I am your host Ky and this show discusses true crime cases told in the form of a story with mystery and suspense.

Be sure to subscribe to Love and Murder on Spotify, Apple or whatever platform you’re on so you don’t miss any of the cases. If you didn’t know, you can also subscribe on our Patreon so that you don’t have to hear an intro or commercials.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about a case of a missing child. The mother of the missing girl, had a history of drug abuse and had apparently left the family when the baby was just two years old. But those who knew Roseann didn’t believe that she would ever just abandon her child. Was the mother back to claim the child, or had something even worse happened?

But first, I wanted to remind you to head on over to our exclusive group at patreon.com/loveandmurder. We have so much going on in there – bonus episodes – bonuses of full episodes, and our upcoming bonus episode is a round up of the craziest crime stories. I’ll tell you more at the end of the episode.

Now, grab your butts and grab your apple juice and let’s get into today’s episode of Love and Murder…

To truly understand the events that happened in October 1999, I gotta first tell you about the troubled past of the Jackson family. It all started on September 29, 1992, seven years before this current case, in Spokane, Washington. A 35 year old woman named Roseann Pleasant, girlfriend of William Bradley “Brad” Jackson, vanished without a trace. Roseann was no stranger to a risky lifestyle, entangled in drugs and prostitution, in which both can be very dangerous. Roseann had 4 children, but her youngest, Valiree Jackon – who she’d had with Brad – was only 2 years old at this time. Rumor had it that months before September, she had witnessed the murder of a fellow sex worker, adding another layer of darkness to her disappearance. The last time she’d been seen was at a corner store and a week before that, she’d called her brother to tell him that she feared for her safety was going to take 3 of her kids and move to the south.

The reason she was taking only 3 of her 4 children was because Brad had primary custody of Valiree, with Roseann only having supervised visitation. The last person who had heard from her was her brother and the last one who had seen her was her boyfriend, Brad. Police questioned them both and Brad was a person of interest due to what her brother, John Stone, had told authorities about their last phone call.

There were reports that there was physical abuse going on in the house, including an arrest for domestic violence.

Brad wasn’t very cooperative with the investigation and refused a polygraph test, and the case was marked as “missing persons” and that was it. Open and kinda shut case Johnson. Let’s move on with our lives; I’m sure she’ll turn up.

Back to the current day of the case:

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On what should have been just a normal October morning in 1999, Brad Jackson woke up, blissfully unaware of the harrowing events that were about to unfold. His 9 year old daughter Valiree was playing outside in the front yard of his parents house, where they were living, after her father had picked her up from school. Brad had gone inside to put some laundry in the dryer, but when he came back outside Valiree was nowhere to be found. Her backpack was still by the front door, but nothing else of her was around.

Trying not to panic, Brad asked neighbors if they had seen her, but no one had. The police were called. Before long, the entire small community of Spokane Valley, Washington had banded together to help search for the missing girl within a 2 mile radius of the house. It was never clear if Brad checked at McDonald Elementary School, just a few blocks from their house. Spokane Valley might be a small town, but it had seen its fair share of horrible events, such as multiple bank robberies and bombings just a few years prior, with The Phineas Priesthood as the culprits behind these acts. This even ended up being featured on an episode of Forensic Files called Line of Fire.

However, despite everyone’s best efforts, Valiree could not be found. One of the things that immediately stood out to investigators, was how EXACTLY well Brad was able to describe his daughter’s clothes she was wearing even though he was in panic mode. Also, being that this happened before to the exact same person, and he was very uncooperative at the time, police decided that the best course of action was to IMMEDIATELY look into Brad. For this investigation though, instead of letting Brad know they suspected him, they first looked through the house. The first thing they found was blood stains on Valiree’s sheets and pillows. Upon further investigation, they found two, red pubic hairs on her bed (which Brad’s hair is red) and blood stains on Brad’s sneakers as well. However, there was no other evidence so a week later, they obtained a search warrant for Brad’s car. They searched the cars and returned them to Brad with a hidden GPS tracker on Brad’s embedded in it. They then tracked Brad for 18 days.

“It was very serious to us. Our whole purpose was to use everything in our capability to determine the whereabouts of Valiree Jackson.” said Lt. Doug Silver.

Before they started tracking him, they put the pressure on him by bringing him in for questioning. He had an answer for everything.

Remember I pointed out how well Brad described Valiree’s outfit? Well investigators believed that this was an attempt to make his story more convincing if her body was ever discovered.

When they pointed out the pubic hairs they found, Brad claimed that pubic hairs “migrate” within a home, but investigators later did an experiment that showed that the migration of these hairs from an adult’s bedroom to a child’s is actually very uncommon.

When they told him about the blood stains on her pillow and bed, Brad claimed they were from a nosebleed that she had the night before she disappeared. However, there was no additional evidence of stopping a nosebleed, such as tissues, toilet paper, or towels.

When they followed the places the gps went, it revealed a journey. On October 6, Brad drove 60 miles out to a wooded area NW of his home – in Springdale near a logging site. There he stayed for 44 minutes. Then he drove down Highway 27 to a secluded foothill, only 10 miles away from his house. There he stayed for 16 minutes. Police followed the gps tracker and at the Highway 27 location, found a grave, though empty, but there were plastic bags that were used to bury Valiree sitting right there next to the hole. Police kept watching the tracker. Days before the warrant for the GPS expired, the GPS data showed that Brad’s truck had spent 16 minutes in that wooded area outside in Springdale. The significance of this location became apparent when, on November 15, 1999, Valiree’s lifeless body was discovered. So what it looked like is that she was buried close to his home and, when he figured police were looking into him, he went and moved the body further.

On Thursday, November 18, 1999, Brad was arrested, charged with first degree murder, and held on a $1 million dollar bail and under suicide watch. Why suicide watch you ask? Well, there was another case of a child disappearing in Spokane Valley while with their father. The case of 11 year old Christopher Wood in January of the same year was way to similar to this case. However, when this child’s body was found and the father, Robert Wood was arrested, he committed suicide while in jail and awaiting trial.

During the autopsy, the medical examiner saw bruising around Valiree’s nose and mouth.

Brad’s co-workers were shocked. They described Brad as an excellent father who was always in his daughter’s life. Whenever they saw him, they saw her. Currently, he’d been collecting disability checks from the steel fabrication company he worked at due to suffering a back injury while he’d been at a waterpark with Valiree in August.

Investigators heard this but painted a different picture, of a guy who was sexually abusing his daughter. They also reopened the investigation into Roseann’s disappearance.

In the meantime, when investigators interviewed Brad, he admitted that he killed Valiree, but…. “You don’t understand. It was completely an accident. And why did I not call 911 since this was accidental? Gimme a second while I come up with that answer.” Like, an accident? Really?! So here is his real excuse. He said that Valiree was on Paxil to help to control some behavioral problems. So for those of you who don’t know, according to drugs.com, Paxil also called paroxetine [pa-ROX-a-teen] “ is an antidepressant that belongs to group of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Paroxetine affects chemicals in the brain that may be unbalanced in people with depression, anxiety, or other disorders.

Paxil is used to treat depression, including major depressive disorder.

Paxil is also used to treat panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).” Now, the other thing you need to know is that this is not recommended for children or teens without serious caution as it’s a strong psychotropic drug.

With that being said, Valiree was seeing a counselor, Laurie Miller, because Brad’s girlfriend at the time recommended that she go. Dr. Peter Holden said that because of Laurie and Brad’s concern over Valiree’s depression, he through it was best to prescribe Paxil.

“I generally prefer not to use it, but the medication has been effective many times.”

On top of all that, Brad’s girlfriend and Valiree didn’t get along. The thing is though, everyone described Valiree as a sweet and loving child. However, Brad labeled her as difficult because she didn’t get along with his girlfriend. So she was probably being sexually assaulted AND not getting along with the girlfriend. These are valid reasons a child would be acting out; no need for medication.

During the time that Valiree was in therapy, Danette, Brad’s girlfriend broke up with him.

Anyway, Brad said he accidentally killed her because she accidentally overdosed on Paxil. He said he panicked and decided that the best course of action was to try and cover it up. Police didn’t believe this “accidental” claim. Due to the autopsy, they deduced that Brad intentionally smothered her by covering her mouth and nose. The motive, however; was a bit shaky.

While Brad was in jail awaiting his trial, he called Danette and proposed to her. After the murder of his child. While he was in jail for said murder. Will you marry me. Really?!

During the trial, around November 2000, the motive was pieced together from investigators. They believe that Brad thought that Danette left him because of Valiree. Supposedly, he killed Valiree hoping that would help him get his woman back. Crazy people man!

Defense attorneys argued that Valiree died from an overdose of Paxil and that Brad became so distraught that it turned to irrationality which in turn made him bury, dig up, and then re-bury his daughter. Again, as I always wonder – how could these lawyers defend people they know are guilty?!

While in jail, Brad had sent his family two letters. In one, he said that some random guy named Criag kidnapped Valiree. The only reason he’d gone to the logging company was to meet this guy. When he got there a voice in a tree, Craig, told him that Valiree was dead and where to find her. Then he said: Ninja vanish! No he didn’t say that part. And those of you who try to come at me for laughing, bite me. I’m not laughing that a child is dead. I’m laughing that a stupid murderer thought this this stupidity would fly in court. I’m getting tired of you non LaMs not knowing the distinction. The rest of you – yall are smart and amazing.

ANYWAY, then the supposed Criag told Brad not to say anything because (creepy voice) “I’m watching you 24/7 and if you say anything to anyone, I will find you and more harm will come to your family.”

He ended the letter by saying, “Hope you all can read my writing. At least it’s better than mom’s, ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, ho, hee, hee, hee.”

A pediatrician also came to testify against the defense of a Paxil overdose saying that shortness of breath is common in depressed children and not from complications with Paxil.

Dr. Barry Logan also testified that there was not enough Paxil in her system to warrant on overdose.

Dave Harrean, Brad’s lawyer argued that using GPS raised on constitutional questions.

“There has to be some checks and balance with a device like that. What is the next step? How far is law enforcement allowed to go? Maybe the next time they’ll put something in our wallets and purses and watch us from space.”

Brad was found guilty sentenced to 56 years in prison for first degree murder.

He’s since tried to appeal his conviction, in 2019 and 2003, but the courts have upheld it every time.

Since this case, the FDA has required a “black box” warning on antidepressants and other medications for an increased risk of suicide in children and young adults.

Also, although the pubic hairs were matched to Brad, there was never an explanation given as to how they got in Valiree’s bed and nothing was done with this information.

“This is hard for me to say — I honestly believe Brad deserves what he took from Valiree, and that’s a life sentence.” a quote from Brad’s brother, Dick Jackson.

Rosann’s body has never been found and no one has been charged with her death. Her brother thinks that Brad killed her and buried her in one of the construction sites he used to work at. He said that Rosann was terrified of Brad. Her case is listed as “Endagered Missing.”

And that is the case of Brad Jackson. His daughter is dead and his daughter’s mother is still missing. What do you think of this episode?

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