This podcast details true crime cases.

It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of violence.

It is not intended for children.

Listener discretion is advised.

Thank you for joining me for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime.

We're in the series Last Dance, where I tell you stories about crimes that were committed on prom night.

In this episode, a teen is accused of committing a terrible crime for the sole reason that he'd been forbidden by his father to attend his high school prom.

To investigators, Jeff Pelly was clearly guilty, but there was much more to this story, and it would take

years before the case would finally be resolved. Even then, questions would linger. There's a lot

to unravel in this story, so this will be one of the rare two-part episodes you occasionally hear on Once Upon a Crime.

If you don't want to wait to hear part two, you can join Patreon and get the second part early.

I'll give more details on how you can join at the end of the episode.

This is part one of the case of Jeff Pelly and the Prom Night Murders.

In August 2002, Jeff Pelly was on his way home from a work assignment in Australia when his life changed in an instant.

The 31-year-old had a home and family in Florida and worked as a computer network consultant.

He was making his way back home on Saturday, August 10th, through Los Angeles International Airport, with just one leg left of his trip when he was stopped at Customs.

Jeff's passport had been flagged, and before he had time to understand what was happening,

he was put under arrest. The U.S. Customs Database had informed the agent that Jeff Pally

was wanted on a fugitive warrant out of South Bend, Indiana. The warrant had been issued

just three days earlier. The warrant wasn't for a recent crime, but one that had occurred

13 years earlier when Jeff Pelley was just 17 years old. Truth be told, Pelley's life had been

filled with tragedies that had turned his life upside down more than once.

...