It was a
Christmas gift delivered
to a Jacksonville, Florida home.
There was no card or label
identifying the sender,
but inside were some clues.
A thin piece of wire and some
cryptic numbers on a sales
receipt held the key to a
brutal and senseless m*rder.
January 6, 2001, was packing day
for Lillian Jarvis
and her two children.
She was moving her
family to a new apartment
in the same town,
just a few miles away.
I thought Lillian
was a very wonderful girl.
We didn't have any secrets.
We talked about everything,
and I don't even
want to tell you what
everything means either.
Lillian spent most
of her professional life
working with special
needs children.
She was a very sweet girl.
She would do
anything for anyone.
On moving day,
it was Lillian's mother
who first saw the gift
on the front porch.
There was no card, just a
note saying, sorry, it's late.
She carried the
package inside the house.
Lillian was actually
inside the bathroom
packing some
toiletries and things.
Marjorie came back into
the house with the package,
kind of excited, you
know, oh, look, look.
There's a Christmas
package here.
And everybody gathered
around to see what it was.
Inside was a green
fisherman's tackle box.
There's a fire in our house.
There's a fire and my
mom's burning to death.
The expl*si*n was immense.
It blew a hole straight
through the roof.
Shards of galvanized steel
proved it was a pipe-b*mb.
The fire component was
extremely uncommon.
The impact of the b*mb
threw my daughter
across the room.
I knew my daughter was dead.
I knew she was dead
when she landed.
There's no way she could
have got out of there.
Lillian Jarvis was k*lled.
Lillian's mother suffered
burns on her face and torso,
but, fortunately, she survived.
Lillian's boyfriend,
Dan Showalter,
also had burns on his
face and upper body.
He lost the sight in
one eye and sustained
permanent hearing loss.
Lillian's daughter was unharmed.
- It was very
difficult to tell who
the package was intended for.
The package did not
have a label on it
that we were aware
of, denoting who
this present or package
was intended for.
- A little child could have come
by and picked it up and opened
it, thinking it was
a Christmas gift
and not even thinking
that it wasn't
on their house or anything.
And then children
will do those things.
Firefighters could
smell the remnants of gasoline,
making this an
extremely unusual b*mb.
I think most b*mb
builders are revenge motivated,
to get even with the victim
or to k*ll the victim
for some reason, some
motive, other than just
a random k*lling.
- Most of the individuals who
do bombings are criminals,
basically think they're
smarter than everybody else,
but there's always
one mistake they make
that's going to get them caught.
Since the package
didn't have a shipping label,
it was most likely
delivered by hand,
but was Lillian the
intended target?
b*mb experts conducted
a grid search
inside and outside the home
in which Lillian Jarvis was
k*lled, and little
by little, searchers
found quite a few
pieces of the b*mb.
- b*mb builders think that
the bombs are destructive
and that they destroy
evidence, but, in fact,
bombs don't destroy evidence.
They create evidence,
and they create
very unique imprints
of evidence.
- There were, I believe, over
had to be sifted, and
separated, and looked
at under the microscope
or magnifying ring.
I spent upwards
of several months
to a year looking
through and going
through all of that evidence.
By testing the
debris with gas chromatography,
scientists confirmed that
gasoline was used in the b*mb.
- So not only was she blown up,
then she was also burned up.
And this, again,
shows that there
is a personal hatred
of this target.
Experts believe
that the gasoline was
in a balloon inside
the tackle box.
The b*mb was identified as
a type of pipe b*mb wrapped
with ball bearings to
make it more deadly.
Investigators also found bits
and pieces of the tackle box,
enough to identify
the make and model.
Fortunately,
there were stickers and labels
on some of the pieces that
I was able to reconstruct
and able to identify this tackle
box as a Plano tackle box.
Thousands of these tackle boxes
had been sold in
the area, making
it virtually
impossible to trace.
- They're sold in Jacksonville
as well as other parts
of the country, so we
ran into a little problem
in trying to
identify who may have
bought that tackle box as well.
It's a pretty generic item.
But investigators
did find an extremely important
piece of evidence in the rubble,
a tiny piece of metal wire,
no wider than a thread.
- A single wire that
was a little heavier
gauge than some of the
other wires, the house wires
that I'd been seeing
in the evidence,
and I recognized it as
a model rocket igniter,
just from my past experience and
seeing these in other devices.
The first suspect in the bombing
was Lillian's ex-husband,
William Jarvis, because he had
been clearly unhappy
about the divorce.
He was a 39-year-old
air traffic controller
with no criminal record.
He would be calling her
at all hours of
the day and night
and harassing her to come home.
And I love you, I'm
sorry, and yada yada yadi.
It just kept getting
worse and worse.
But his daughter, Katie,
was in the home at
the time of the blast.
No one believed
William Jarvis would
ever put her in harm's way.
WILLIAM McFARLAND: There was
some real confusion as to
whether or not the father
would actually send the device
to where his
daughter was staying.
Therefore, we kind
of ruled him out.
Then investigators
learned that Lillian's mother,
Marjorie, worked for an
organization that had received
a b*mb threat just
- The night before, there was
a b*mb threat called to where
I worked, which is
Community Hospice,
and they were thinking
that someone didn't like me
or they didn't like the company.
- When we were investigating
to see if Marjorie was
a target through Hospice and
the b*mb threat they received,
we looked very hard at the fact
that the caller was a female
and had a very strong
southern accent.
This was a tantalizing clue.
Lillian's new boyfriend,
Dan Showalter,
almost died in the blast.
His ex-wife, Connie,
had a southern accent.
Dan had a
protection order against Connie
he received, because
Connie had attempted
to take their
daughter, take custody
and flee the state
with the daughter.
When questioned,
Connie Showalter
said she was out of state
when the bombing occurred,
and her alibi checked out.
Plus, if you just look
at the nature of this particular
k*lling, which is highly
personal, with a very,
very vicious device,
it's just not... women
don't do that to women.
One piece of evidence
found in the rubble suggested
that Lillian Jarvis
may have been
the intended target after all.
- It was wrapped in some angel
Christmas wrapping paper,
and Lillian was known to
have a fondness for angels.
A background check
revealed Lillian had developed
extensive and sometimes
intimate relationships
over the internet.
We were concerned
that, perhaps, this b*mb had
been left by somebody
that she had met online
and had developed a
relationship with,
and that, that relationship
maybe had gone bad.
- And we conducted
almost 100 interviews
on various people that knew
Lil through the internet.
Five days after the bombing,
friends and relatives
held a candlelight vigil
for Lillian Jarvis
in a park nearby.
Detectives posed as TV news
crews to conduct surveillance.
And they actually
filmed the vigil, interviewed
some of the people there,
and we used that footage to
see who showed up and maybe who
didn't show up that might
help in the investigation.
You'd be surprised how often
K*llers show up at these things.
Bombing victim, Lillian Jarvis,
developed many friendships
online following her divorce.
Investigators spoke to everyone
on Lillian's buddy list
and email address book, but
all were virtual dead ends.
Then they learned
something suspicious.
Just two days after the
bombing, Lillian's ex-husband,
William Jarvis,
was due in court.
He owed Lillian a
considerable sum of money
as part of their
divorce settlement,
and he had been refusing to pay.
- He was to be in court with a
check for close to $44,000.00,
a cashier's check to present
to the judge for this money
that he owed her.
That was the date the
judge had told him,
and he said he was not
letting him go one more day.
The money was for back
child support and Lillian's 50%
share of the house
they own together.
Was the timing of the
expl*si*n just a coincidence?
Investigators didn't think
so, so they asked the judge
for a search warrant to look
inside William Jarvis' home.
At his desk was a hint that
some items from the house
had recently been removed.
- The tower computer was gone.
In fact, there was still
an imprint in his carpet
of a tower computer,
yet there was none.
And where did it go?
Investigators then searched the
home of Jarvis' new girlfriend.
WILLIAM McFARLAND: We
found two CD-ROMs, which
were in her underwear
drawer in her bedroom.
We were positive these were
the CDs belonging to William
Jarvis, because they
were various emails,
personal pictures, documents
relating to his divorce,
and his children.
And some of those
documents were incriminating.
Some documents and brochures
on how to build a b*mb.
He had demonstrated
that he had an interest
in the Oklahoma City bombing.
He had approximately
- One of the interesting items
that we found in that b*mb
was a sound bite, and
the sound bite stated,
I'll blow this place up and be
home in time for cornflakes,
which actually came out of
the movie "Total Recall."
In William Jarvis' home,
investigators found two
Walmart sales receipts
for items purchased just three
weeks before the bombing.
- The receipts had fallen by
a night stand next to a bed
and evidently had been missed.
On the receipts were what's
known as SKU or SKU numbers.
It stands for
stock keeping unit,
a way for stores to
keep track of inventory.
We went to
Walmart with that SKU number.
Walmart was able to tell
us that, that SKU number is
unique to a certain item,
that no other item they sell
would have that same SKU number.
The SKU numbers revealed
Jarvis bought a package of Estes
brand model rocket igniters.
A*F forensic chemist, Rob
Reed used x-ray fluorescence
spectroscopy to compare the
Estes wires from their rocket
igniter to the wire
recovered from the b*mb site.
X-ray beams identified the
chemical elements of the wires.
The Estes model rocket igniters
have a particular
alloy that's used
for the bridge wire
and the leg wires.
It's also very unique.
This is proprietary
information that Estes
doesn't share with anyone.
They shared it with
us for our own reasons
in trying to help solve crimes.
The wire in the b*mb debris
have the same metal alloys
as the Estes brand igniters.
The companies
that make these products have
no control over how we
use them as consumers.
They have an intended
purpose, but sometimes people
in their sick minds will
twist them and use them
for something that's
going to hurt someone.
- We had been working
long and hard on this,
and you almost start to take a
personal interest in the case
and, to get the first...
We had had other suspects,
but to get the first piece of
evidence that directly linked
our best suspect to the device...
It's like winning the lottery.
Investigators swept
William Jarvis' kitchen floor
for any microscopic particles
that might be present.
Under the microscope,
scientists found
irregularly-shaped
spheres of nitrocellulose,
an ingredient of
smokeless g*n powder,
the same type used in the b*mb.
Also on the sales
receipt was proof
that Jarvis purchased
Christmas wrapping paper.
The SKU number proved
it was the same wrapping
paper used with the b*mb.
It was a very rare
form of wrapping paper, which
had been distributed through
some stores in the southeast,
of which one of these stores
was this Walmart store, where
these particular
items were purchased.
The receipt also
showed Jarvis bought condoms.
Investigators suspected
Jarvis used the condoms
to hold the gasoline
in the b*mb.
- We did some tests to see how
long a condom could contain
gasoline and we found that the
couple of hours that it would
have taken for him to transport
the device from his home
to the victim's house, was
more than enough time...
That there was no
leakage or seepage
of the gasoline
from the condoms.
We were sure at
that point that we had our man
and that we were going
to be able to prove
it in court as well.
But Jarvis denied
any involvement in the bombing
and said he had an alibi.
He claimed he was at
home on his computer
at the time of the bombing,
which was an hour's drive away.
His online computer
service confirmed
he was on his computer.
So how did he do it?
Prosecutors believe William
Jarvis had two motives
for k*lling his
ex-wife, Lillian.
The first was money.
Bill Jarvis ended up
owing Lillian alimony and child
support payments in the
neighborhood of around $1,800
a month.
He was also, as part of
the settlement, property
settlement, had a balloon
payment due to her of almost
$30,000 that was due to
be paid to her in October,
and he did not pay it.
The other
thing was William Jarvis viewed
his wife as less of
a person than him,
and he was quite upset that she
would run around and do things
that he did not approve
of, and, therefore,
she had to be punished.
In other words,
Jarvis didn't approve of Lillian
dating other men after
they were divorced.
Three months before the
m*rder, store receipts
show that William Jarvis
purchased the same brand
of rocket igniter and wrapping
paper used in the bombing.
He also bought condoms,
which investigators
believe held the
gasoline in the b*mb.
The evidence shows
that Jarvis made
the b*mb on his kitchen table.
Microscopic particles
of smokeless gunpowder
fell onto his floor.
On the morning of the
bombing, prosecutors
believe Jarvis
woke around 5:00 AM
and logged onto his
AOL account, possibly
to establish his alibi.
Then he drove to
Lillian's house,
deliver the b*mb.
Prosecutors don't
believe Jarvis was home
when his computer
logged off AOL.
They believe AOL ended
his online session
at 5:15 due to inactivity.
Jarvis left the package
on Lillian's doorstep
around 6:00 AM.
He knew Lillian liked this
kind of wrapping paper,
so the children would
know it was for her.
Lillian's mother first saw
the package around 6:30.
She didn't think it
was for her because she
didn't celebrate Christmas.
When she handed
Lillian the package,
no one, except
William Jarvis, could
have anticipated what
would happen next.
My mom's burning to death.
I believe
William Jarvis waited around
in the neighborhood until
he heard the expl*si*n.
Then, instead of going home,
he went to work 45 minutes
before his shift started.
WILLIAM McFARLAND: We don't
think he wanted to go back
to his house,
fearing that people
might be there waiting for him.
Therefore, he had to
be at work, and he just
went to his normal
routine of going to work,
except he was early that
day, which is unusual.
William Jarvis'
hatred for Lillian
could easily have
resulted in the death
of his daughter,
Katie, had she been
the one who opened the package.
- The last image of my daughter
is seeing her standing
by the sink, opening the gift
that was wrapped for Christmas,
and it exploded, and
she was thrown in midair
across the room,
and everything went
up in flames, including her.
William Jarvis
was tried and convicted
of first degree
m*rder and arson.
He was sentenced to three
consecutive life terms
in prison with no
possibility of parole.
The forensic evidence proves
that Jarvis planned the bombing
for months, but was
convinced the expl*si*n
would destroy all the evidence.
WILLIAM McFARLAND: I'd say the
most critical piece of evidence
in this entire case was
one tiny piece of wire
that our lab technician found,
and this tied him to the b*mb.
Without that one piece
of wire, this case
probably wouldn't
have been solved.
That was the smoking
g*n in this entire case,
that one piece of wire.
- And that just goes to show that
you may think you're smarter
than the police, but you're not.
Eventually we'll get you.
11x20 - Live Wire
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Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.
Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.