Recording purports to reveal confessed killer on 34th anniversary of Jennifer Lynn Bailey’s death

By Brian O’Brien

WRIL

Recently WRIL received a recording and multiple news clippings regarding the death of Jennifer Lynn Bailey in Bell County. The recording was of three individuals involved in the case and an inmate who had been held at the same facility as an individual who had confessed to killing Jennifer.
Kentucky State Police say 21-year-old Bailey was strangled to death while she was jogging near Pine Mountain State Park. Her body was found in a wooded area in the park. August 16th is the 34th anniversary of Jennifer’s death.
We have obtained a statement from Attorney Bill Hayes, who was then Bell County Commonwealth Attorney, in regard to the recording which he was a part of concerning the case. Hayes claims in a release that he tried several times to have the case prosecuted, but to no avail. We have reached out to Kentucky State Police and believe a statement is forthcoming.
We will be releasing more information about this case soon as we continue our research. Here is the release from Mr. Hayes:
“ The audio recording, concerning the murder of Jennifer Bailey, dated December 30, 1993 was made by me, Commonwealth’s Detective Anita Taylor, and Commonwealth’s Detective Keith Brunner at Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville, Kentucky. It was made on a cassette recorder. The copy we received appears to be authentic.
It records the conversation we had with Henry James Lawson, an inmate in that institution. Two (2) years before, he and others were held in the Whitley County Jail with a man who confessed to the murder of Jennifer Bailey.
The Whitley County Jailer initially contacted my office approximately sixty (60) days after Jennifer Bailey was murdered. KSP, at my request, dispatched Detective Jerry Brewer (later Commonwealth’s Detective) and another trooper who interviewed several individuals at the Whitley County Jail, all of whom knew discrete details of the Bailey murder and the scene and had never been there. They had learned those details from a Defendant held with them, who would go on to do ten (10) years for the rape of a second victim.
These original recordings and statements were made in the Fall of 1991. They were in the KSP file and some are more revealing than this recording. We three interviewed Lawson when we realized we needed to preserve the record, on the last full day I was Bell Circuit’s Commonwealth Attorney.
There are many copies of this recording that were disseminated by my office to authorities and media over thirty (30) years ago.
From that moment I tried, repeatedly, to get the authorities to prosecute this case. They declined. But that was the old guard. There is a new State Police Commissioner, who upon the request of Sheriff Mitchell Williams and myself, reassigned this case some months ago. With thanks to him, we are very hopeful. This is all I have to say at this time.”

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