Seath Jackson: The Murder Case That Refuses to Die

Editor's note 5/2/2024: Published on April 20, 2011, the brief news item below was typical of the scores of stories that immediately followed the arrests of five young people who were accused of killing 15-year-old Seath Jackson outside Ocala, Florida.

The Seath Jackson case moved quickly through the court system, providing some measure of closure. But in the dozen years since, the tragedy has taken on a life of its own among true-crime fans, spawning countless documentaries, podcasts, and other internet-based retellings.

In light of the case's persistent afterlife, New Times surveyed the most informative coverage available to share with our readers.

(Did we miss anything good? If you've found a story that merits inclusion, email [email protected].)

In the Beginning: "Teenager Seath Jackson Brutally Murdered by Five Others Near Ocala"

Seath Jackson, 15, of Belleview, Florida, was dating Amber Wright, also 15, of nearby Summerfield, but something went wrong, and Wright began seeing 18-year-old Michael Bargo. Jackson took to his Facebook page to accuse Wright of cheating, according to UPI [archived] (though it's unclear if Wright and Bargo were actually dating).

Sometime after the post, Jackson received a text message to meet Wright. When he arrived at the meeting place, a group of five people, ranging in age from 15 to 20, brutally beat Jackson [archived] and shot him. They then burned his body to dispose of the evidence.

Wright, 15; Bargo, 18; Justin Soto, 20; Charlie Ely, 18; and Wright's brother Kyle Hooper, 16, have all been charged with first-degree murder.

Police say Wright and Ely lured Jackson to a home Sunday afternoon after Bargo repeatedly talked about his hatred for Jackson and thought up ways of getting him to the house.

Three young men were waiting for him instead, and they began beating Jackson with wooden objects. Bargo shot Jackson multiple times with a rifle. When Jackson tried to flee, Soto held him down while Bargo continued to shoot.

They then put Jackson in a bathtub and tried to break his kneecaps so they could stuff him into a sleeping bag. Once they noticed Jackson was still alive, they shot him again.

After successfully stuffing the body into the sleeping bag, they tossed it into a backyard fire pit that had been lit before Jackson arrived.

After the grisly murder, the house was cleaned with bleach, and Jackson's ashes were shoveled into paint cans.

Jackson's parents reported him missing Monday, but police didn't know where he could be until Hooper told his mother about the murder.

Wright, Soto, Ely, and Hooper were arrested and admitted to their part in the deadly plot.

Bargo was caught in a town an hour and a half away. He had hitched a ride with 37-year-old James Havens, who had helped to dispose of the ashes and was charged as an accessory to murder. Havens is also Wright and Hooper's stepfather.

A Brief History of the Seath Jackson Murder Case

The killing of 15-year-old Seath Tyler Jackson in 2011 practically cried out for tabloid treatment.

The grisly homicide centered on a teen love triangle that turned deadly after a Facebook flame war involving Jackson, his ex-girlfriend Amber Elizabeth Wright, also 15 at the time, and Wright's new beau, Michael Shane Bargo Jr., who was 18.

On April 17, 2011, Wright, accompanied by a female friend, Charlie Kay Ely, 18, lured Jackson to Ely's mobile home in rural Summerfield, 15 miles southeast of Ocala. There, Bargo and two other young men — Wright's 16-year-old brother Kyle Hooper and 20-year-old Justin "Roach" Soto — beat Jackson with sticks and held him down as Bargo unloaded a .22 revolver into him.

The killers proceeded to mutilate Jackson's corpse, stuff it into a sleeping bag and throw it on a bonfire. They then scooped up the remains in paint buckets and threw them into a nearby lime pit.

All five were arrested and charged with Jackson's murder. After their respective trials, Bargo drew a death sentence. Wright, Hooper, Soto and Ely were sentenced to life. (A sixth suspect, Hooper and Wright's stepfather James Young Havens III, was also arrested and charged as an accessory after the fact for helping to dispose of the remains. He pleaded guilty to the charge in 2018.)

Ely was released in 2020 after a successful appeal.

The Seath Jackson Murder: Where Are They Now?

More than a decade after Seath Jackson was killed, the circumstances surrounding the events of that fatal spring evening continue to captivate true-crime junkies, inspiring a seemingly endless parade of news articles, documentaries, podcasts, YouTube videos, and TikTok commentaries. Below you'll find an update on the whereabouts of the suspects, a timeline of contemporaneous news coverage, and scores of links to selected documentaries, podcasts, and social media posts spawned by the slaying. (Note: Seath is pronounced with a short e, as in the biblical name Seth.)

A funeral for Seath Jackson was held at the First Baptist Church of Summerfield on April 23, 2011. Investigators later recovered his charred remains from a limerock quarry in Ocala.

Charlie Ely was found guilty of first-degree murder for her role in the slaying. Sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, she appealed and was granted a new trial nine years later. In June 2020, she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was released for time served.

Justin Soto pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. He is currently incarcerated at the Avon Park Correctional Facility.

Amber Wright and Kyle Hooper were tried simultaneously, found guilty by separate juries, and sentenced to life without parole. Wright is incarcerated at Homestead Correctional Institution in Florida City, Hooper at Sumter Correctional Institution in Bushnell.

Michael Bargo was sentenced to death, earning the dubious distinction of becoming the youngest inmate on Florida's Death Row. He awaits execution in a cell at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford.

News Headlines: A Seath Jackson Murder Timeline

Orlando Sentinel: "Brutal killing of teenage boy rocks community" (April 20, 2011 [paywalled])
The Orlando Sentinel broke the news of Seath Jackson's slaying with this report, published hours after the arrests of the suspected killers by the Marion County Sheriff's Office (MCSO). Jackson's mother reported him missing on Monday, April 18. On April 19, Kyle Hooper, accompanied by his (and Amber's) mother, Tracey Wright, told MCSO detectives that "he, his sister and friends had planned the crime and lured Seath to his death."

Excerpts from the Sentinel's report:
"Hooper told deputies that the plans for the crime began to come together as he, Amber Wright, Bargo, 18-year-old Charlie Kay Ely and 20-year-old Justin Soto were at Ely's house on Southeast 53rd Avenue in Summerfield on Sunday.

"After Bargo said how much he hated Seath, the group hatched its deadly plot to lure Seath to the house, according to arrest affidavits filed in the case. It's unclear why Bargo so disliked the boy. Seath indicated on his Facebook page that he thought Amber Wright and an older boy he called 'Mike' were in a romantic relationship.

"Wright and Ely called Seath to try to get him to the house Sunday, but he declined at first, infuriating Bargo. After a barrage of text messages and phone calls from Wright, Seath finally arrived at the home that afternoon, according to the documents."

WFTV 9 Orlando: "Deputies: Teen's Body Stuffed in Sleeping Bag, Burned" (April 20, 2011 [archived])
Excerpt:
"Once inside the home, Jackson was hit in the head with some kind of wooden object and was shot multiple times, according to detectives. When Jackson made an attempt to leave the house, he was tackled, held and shot again, deputies said.

"'He was beaten in the head with a wooden object; it may have been an ax handle. He was shot once, he was able to break free, he was tackled and he was shot once again,' said Judge Cochran of the Marion County Sheriff's Office....

"'He was dragged into the bathroom where he was beaten some more and shot once again,' Cochran said.... According to investigators, Bargo was the mastermind behind the murder plot.

"According to a sheriff's office report, Jackson's body was placed in a bathtub and his knee caps were broken. His body was hog tied and then placed into a sleeping bag and then burned in a bonfire."

WFTV 9 Orlando: "Search Continues for Slain Teen's Remains" (April 21, 2011 [archived])
Excerpt:
"Jackson's Facebook page may give an inside look into the motive for the gruesome crime.

"In a series of profanity-laced messages between Jackson and Wright two weeks ago, he accused her of cheating.

"She wrote: 'You continuously write s**t about me.'

"Jackson responded: 'I said I was done with you, and you should be done with me.'

"'It takes a real man to accept the fact that he got broke up with,' Wright posted."

Miami New Times: "Seath Jackson's Facebook Posts Shed Light on Events Surrounding His Brutal Murder" (April 20, 2011)
Excerpt:
"On April 7, Jackson again wrote disparaging comments about Wright and accused her of using meth. The post attracted 37 comments, and several of Jackson's female Facebook friends said the accusation went too far. Jackson defended himself, at one time posting, 'it is true as fuck.' He also accused Wright of cheating on him with an unnamed 19-year-old, possibly a reference to Bargo. Another male friend boasted about how easy it would be to kick the 19-year-old's ass."

Starcasm.net: "Murder of Seath Tyler Jackson: The Facebook posts that started it all" (April 21, 2011)
*GRAB A SCREENSHOT?

In an article for the pop-culture site Starcasm.net, writer Chris Gaines published screenshots from the Facebook fight between Jackson and Wright that preceded the murder. In a separate piece, Gaines published mugshots of the killers, as well as photos culled from social media.

WFTV 9 Orlando: "18-Year-Old Could Face Death in Teen's Slaying" (April 21, 2011)
Excerpt:
"As the murder happened inside a Summerfield house, the neighbors across the street said they noticed the commotion and the bonfire, but thought it was a party.

"'We just saw a bunch of kids partying. You know, kids will be kids. We didn't expect anything until we started hearing some shots. Then we were a little concerned here,' neighbor DJ Vialig said. Still, the neighbors convinced themselves that they were only hearing firecrackers.

"'The bonfire and just everything that was going on, but, like I said, I was going to work. I didn't think anything,' Vialig said. 'Something like that, from what I read this morning, that was unreal. I feel so bad for his parents.'"

GTN News: "Charlie Ely's Exclusive Jailhouse Interview" (April 21, 2011 [via YouTube])
"'I'm sorry. I'm really not a bad person. I'm really not. I'm married, I'm 18. I don't deserve this," Charlie Ely told Venise Toussaint and Sia Nyorkor In a tear-filled jailhouse interview. Ely said she was threatened and told she would be killed if she didn't go along with the plan to kill Seath Jackson. "It wasn't just a threat... It was a gun pointed at your face, everything," she said.

WKMG 6 Orlando: "Six Arrested in Brutal Murder of Fla. Boy, Seath Tyler Jackson" (April 21, 2011 [via CBS News])
Excerpt:
"Investigators are still searching for a .22-caliber revolver used in the slaying. The Sheriff's Office said a dive team found three 5-gallon paint buckets Wednesday afternoon in a lime rock pit. The contents of the cans are being tested to determine if they contain [Seath] Jackson's remains. According to the Sheriff's Office, some of the suspects told investigators that [Michael] Bargo shot Jackson. Bargo was located and arrested in Starke, where he fled to stay with friends, deputies said."

WESH 2 News Orlando: "Suspect in Slaying of Marion Teen Heads to Court" (April 21, 2011)
Excerpt:
"Detectives say Wright's new boyfriend, Michael Bargo, is the mastermind behind the killing.... Bargo faced a judge with a gash on his eye and forehead. Investigators told WESH 2 News he had the cuts when they arrested him."

News Headlines: The Seath Jackson Murder Trials

Ocala Star Banner: "Jury Hears Video Recording of Ely's Story Before State, Defense Rest in Murder Case" (September 22, 2011)
Charlie Ely was the first defendant to be tried, with opening statements beginning September 20, 2011. Ely maintained that she only helped lure Jackson to her house because Bargo threatened her life.

A videotape of Ely's interview with a Marion County Sheriff's Office detective swayed the jury otherwise, wrote Star Banner reporter Carlos Medina, who was in the courtroom when the jury saw Ely's videotaped interrogation.

Excerpt:
"On Thursday, the jury got to hear Charlie Kay Ely admit, if only for a moment, that she knew the chances of Seath Jackson leaving her home alive the night he was killed were nil.

"A video recording of Ely's interview with Marion County Sheriff's Detective Donald Buie was played in court during Ely's first-degree murder trial on Thursday afternoon. The video shows a young woman who at first nervously tries to joke with Buie as she tells what happened that night."

On September 23, 2011, the jury found Ely guilty of first-degree murder.

Medina reported that one jury member, a 74-year-old woman, expressed sympathy with Ely but said the tape sealed her fate.

"The interrogation, where she actually admitted knowing (that Seath Jackson's killing) was going to happen, that was pretty much it. There were other things, but that was the main thing," she said.

A judge sentenced Ely to life without the possibility of parole. Nine years later, an appellate court granted her a new trial. In June 2020, the prosecution struck a deal with Ely: She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, was sentenced to ten years, and was released for time served.

Ocala Star Banner: "Justin Soto Pleads Guilty in Summerfield Murder of Seath Jackson" (May 30, 2012)
On May 30, 2012, Justin "Roach" Soto, 21, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for his part in Jackson's homicide and the ensuing coverup. Soto was 20 years old while living at Ely's home along with Bargo and others.

A native of Hawaii, he appeared to have no motive to participate in the killing, but he went along with it. The Star Banner reported that Soto's public defender told the judge his client was "pleading as an avoidance of a potential death penalty."

Marion County Judge David Eddy sentenced Soto to life without the possibility of parole.

According to the Florida Department of Corrections website, Soto is incarcerated at the department's Avon Park facility.

WESH 2 News Orlando: "Trial Begins for Two Accused of Killing Marion Teen" (June 6, 2012)
Amber Wright and her brother Kyle Hooper went on trial in June 2012, charged with first-degree murder. Though tried simultaneously, each defendant had a separate six-person jury. Orlando's WESH 2 News provided daily coverage of the trial.

On the first day, WESH's Gail Paschall-Brown reported that one neighbor testified hearing Wright asking, "Is it time to light the fire yet?" Another neighbor testified that the fire was so large that it was "nearly reaching the trees."

In a subsequent report, Paschall-Brown noted that jurors heard taped confessions from both Wright and Hooper, the latter of whom admitted to hitting Jackson with a stick and witnessing Bargo shoot Jackson eight times.
Ocala Star Banner: "Hooper, Wright Sentenced to Life in Seath Jackson Murder" (August 22, 2012)
On August 22, 2012, Judge David Eddy sentenced Wright and Hooper to life without parole, calling the case "the single most cold, calculated, premeditated case of murder" he'd ever seen.

Hooper took the stand in the hope of gaining a lesser sentence. "I know it may not help bring him back in any way, but I am sorry for what I have done," he told the court.

Jackson's mother, Sonia Jackson, also testified, reading aloud from letters she wrote to the defendants. Addressing Hooper in videotaped testimony WESH 2 News posted on YouTube, she said, "Kyle, you helped take Seath's life and I hope he haunts the rest of yours." To Wright, she said, “Amber, we hope that guilt eats you inside and out knowing that you caused all this. Seath would have never been at that house without your manipulation.”

Hooper and Wright both appealed. Wright won a new trial, at which she was again convicted and sentenced to life, but this time with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

An appeals court ordered that Hooper be resentenced. The lower court sentenced Hooper to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

Wright is serving her sentence at the Homestead Correctional Institution in Florida City.

Hooper is cooling his heels at Sumter Correctional Institution in Bushnell. His mug shot shows a large tattoo of the yin-yang symbol on his neck.
Gainesville Sun: "Testimony Begins in Bargo Murder Trial" (August 13, 2013)
Michael Bargo was the last of the killers to stand trial. Reporter April Warren quoted prosecutor Amy Berndt at length In her coverage.

Excerpt:
"'Michael Bargo, the defendant in this case, wanted 15-year-old Seath Jackson to die,' Berndt told the court. 'It was April 17, 2011, and he got four people to help him put together a well thought out, calculated, premeditated murder; to lure Seath Jackson to the house where he would eventually be killed.'

"Berndt retold the gruesome details of the killing where Seath was beaten, shot and his body set on fire inside a backyard pit. She described how the orange flames from the backyard fire pit were 20 feet high. 'So tall, it's licking the tops of the trees,' Berndt said....

"Berndt told the jury they will hear expert testimony that confirms hundreds of human bones — all believed to be from a male, 14 to 16 years old — were found in that fire pit during an investigation.

"Berndt also recounted how three five-gallon paint cans containing the ashen remains of Jackson were discovered in a lime rock pit off State Road 40. She said Bargo found Seath's skull in the fire pit the next morning and used pliers to pull out the teeth."

Prosecutors sought the death penalty. Bargo took the stand in his own defense, but prosecutor Berndt eviscerated him on cross-examination.
WESH 2 News Orlando: "Jury Recommends Death Penalty for Michael Bargo" (August 27, 2013)
On August 2, 2013, the jury recommended by 10-2 vote that Judge David Eddy sentence Bargo to death. At a subsequent hearing, Bargo pleaded for his life, reportedly telling the judge, "I don't want to die."

Eddy sentenced him to death.

Bargo, then 21 and the youngest inmate on Florida's death row, appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which called for a new sentencing trial because the death recommendation was not unanimous. (Click to read more about Florida's dance with death-penalty jury rules.)

The second penalty trial took place on April 9, 2019. This time the jury unanimously recommended the death sentence, which a judge formally imposed on September 12, 2019.

Bargo awaits his execution at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford.
Ocala Star Banner: "Guilty Plea in Murder Case" (March 20, 2018)
James Young Havens III, Hooper and Wright's stepfather, pleaded guilty to a charge of accessory after the fact for his role in helping the killers dispose of Seath Jackson's remains. At the time of his guilty plea, sentencing was deferred and it's unclear from subsequent news reports whether Havens served any time behind bars. He was 37 years old at the time of the murder.

Excerpt:
"Havens helped the group dispose of Seath's body by driving Bargo and Hooper to a limerock pit in Ocala, where the two dropped paint buckets full of the boy's remains into the water, Havens testified at Bargo's trial. He claimed he did not know what was in the buckets when he drove Bargo and Hooper to the quarry.

"He also helped Bargo elude arrest by driving him out of Marion County to Starke, and coached the teenagers on how to sanitize the crime scene.

"Havens, who was charged at the same time as the teenagers, was deemed incompetent to stand trial in 2012 and underwent treatment at The Centers in Ocala.... After some delays, including hiring a new lawyer, Havens was found competent in December 2017."
WKMG News 6: "Woman Convicted of Teen's Murder to Be Released From Prison" (June 17, 2020)
This WKMG News 6 report out of Orlando features footage of Charlie Ely in court shortly before she was freed from prison after nine years behind bars.

Excerpt:
"A woman who had been serving a life prison sentence for her role in the 2011 death of 15-year-old Seath Jackson is being released from custody after a federal judge vacated her original first-degree murder conviction.

"Charlie Ely, 27, pleaded guilty Wednesday to the lesser charge of second-degree murder as part of a plea agreement that spared her from being put on trial again. Circuit Court Judge Anthony Tatti then re-sentenced Ely to ten years in prison.

"Since Ely has already spent more than nine years in custody and earned additional credit for her time in state prison, she was expected to be released Wednesday, said her attorney, Jose Baez.

"'It's a bittersweet day. I've been fighting for her for eight years. I'm really happy that she's getting out,' Baez said. 'But she's forever scarred. This was a plea of convenience. She maintains her innocence, and the facts show she's innocent.'"

(Trivia note: Ely's appellate attorney, Jose Baez, successfully defended Orlando mom Casey Anthony during her trial in the 2008 tabloid murder case of her 3-year-old daughter, Caylee.)

Post-Conviction Seath Jackson Murder Reports and TV Series

Documentaries
ITV Channel 3: Killer Women With Piers Morgan: Amber Wright (June 29, 2017)
One of the better documentaries about the Seath Jackson murder is season 2, episode 2 of Killer Women with Piers Morgan, a series in which the British TV host attempts to answer the burning question: Why do women kill?

Morgan interviewed Wright in prison, asking her probing questions about the killing. Wright told Piers the murder "doesn't define who I am," that it was just one bad day out of her life.

"I'm not evil, I'm not," she insisted.

She later admitted she was not a nice person in the past and still might not be one:

"I didn't care about anything but having fun. I'm a selfish person. I was very manipulative. And I got what I wanted," she said.

Morgan also interviewed Sonia and Scott Jackson, Seath's parents, who were squarely in the anger stage of grief.

"I wanna kill the bitch," Scott Jackson told the host. He paused, then added: "No.... Let's put this in a good way. I wanna torture the bitch.... And I wouldn't lose a bit of sleep over it."

Discovery+: Grave Mysteries: Texts and Threats (October 10, 2017)
Grave Mysteries, a true-crime series on Discovery+, tackled the Jackson case with an episode entitled, Texts and Threats. The 42-minute documentary features interviews with Jackson's friends and dramatic re-creations of events leading up to and including the murder.

In one interview, Jackson's best friend, William Samalot, offered background on Jackson's life before and after meeting Wright. Jackson was popular and attractive, Samalot said. They were both into mixed martial arts and BMX bikes.

"We'd hang out a lot and we could count on each other," Samalot said, adding, "He was a great wingman — best in the world."

Samalot said Jackson and Wright began dating in December 2010. He recounted the tension that arose after Wright began dating Bargo. Samalot recalled a confrontation between Bargo and Jackson at a party, where Jackson punched Bargo.

"Seath basically just laid Mike Bargo out," Samalot said. "An 18-year-old gets laid out by a 15-year-old boy and [Bargo's] ego is just crushed."

Lifetime: Sleeping with a Killer: Seath Jackson (October 10, 2022)
The Lifetime series Sleeping with a Killer is the weakest of all the documentaries about the Seath Jackson murder, relying mainly on law enforcement officers to tell the tale. It makes use of clips from pre-indictment interviews wherein the suspects implicate themselves and others — interviews that are readily available in their entirety on TikTok and YouTube.

Also shown: screenshots of a text exchange between Amber Wright and Jackson that took place on April 17, 2011, shortly before Jackson met Wright and Charlie Ely at a crossroads, from which they led him to the house where he was killed.

[Seath to Amber] "Amber if you have me jumpt i will never give you the time of day so if i git jumpt say goodbye allright -Ms pretty"

[Amber to Seath] "I swear yuur not seath. I could never do that to yuu. I just want me and yuu back"

The Best Seath Jackson Murder Podcast

The Killer Queens: A True Crime Podcast: "The Murder of Seath Jackson, Part 1 & Part 2" (March 2019)
Many true-crime podcasts have covered the Seath Jackson murder. Among them, The Killer Queens is a standout. The podcast features two sisters, Tyrella and Tori, who live in Nashville. Their thorough examination of the homicide is annotated in blog posts (Part 1, Part 2) for those who prefer a written rendition.

Excerpt:
"The area in which [Seath Jackson] grew up is a very poor area, it seems that there is little parent supervision either because they are always working (which I believe is the case in the Jackson household) or because they simply don't care, and drugs are everywhere. These kids were doing what they wanted when they wanted, and it is obvious that none of their parents are monitoring their social media pages.

"And someone needs to arrest the teachers at the school all these kids go to. They cannot spell ONE WORD correctly. The word 'you' is spelled 'y-u-u' on Amber's replies every time. But she does spell 'fucking' right. Priorities, I guess."

Other Seath Jackson Murder Podcasts

• Obscura: "The Murder of Seath Jackson" (January 2019)
• Criminal Discourse: "Teenage Angst Leads to Murder" (August 2019)
• Morbid: "The Senseless Murder of Seath Jackson" (August 2019)
• Murder With My Husband: "The Evil Six" (August 2021)
• Behind You: "High School Drama Turns Deadly" (December 2022)
• Crime and Coffee Couple: "The Murder of 15-Year-Old Seath Jackson" (January 2023)

The Best Seath Jackson Murder YouTube Series

Crime Circus Cult: "Seath Jackson Series" (March–April 2023)
Typing "Seath Jackson" into YouTube's search engine returns a smorgasbord of videos, many of them assembled and curated by channels that specialize in tabloid murders. Of these, Crime Circus Cult offers a comprehensive survey of the video from the case in its "Seath Jackson Series." Police interrogations of the murderers, footage from the trials and even one video that offers a walkthrough of the crime scene.

Crime Circus Cult also posted the interrogation of Amber Wright, in which she admits that she and others plotted to kill Jackson. This was one of a couple of police interviews of Wright. In previous questioning, she denied knowing Bargo planned to kill Jackson.

But in this interview, Wright copped to being in on the murder plot.

"The plan came together in about two minutes," Wright told a detective.

Wright explained that her role was to act as bait, luring Jackson to Ely's mobile home and playing on Jackson's hope for reconciliation. Wright admitted to helping to clean the house with bleach after the murder.

Prior to Wright's confession, detectives placed Wright, Ely, Hooper and Soto in a room together, where they spoke freely of their crimes, unaware that they were being surreptitiously videotaped.

Crime Circus Cult posted the entire video of this conversation to its YouTube account. Wright makes some revealing remarks about the killing at 1:05:59 into the recording.

"You know how many people are going to fucking hate us for this? People that don't even know us are going to be looking for us if we get out of this," she said.

"Why?" asks Hooper.

"There's a fucking 15-year-old kid murdered because of us," Wright shot back.

Crime Circus Cult also posted Charlie Ely's interview with Marion County Sheriff's Detective Donald Buie (mentioned in the timeline above) in its entirety. Jurors cited Ely's admissions in this video as key to their guilty verdict.

From the video:
[Buie] "You all knew when Seath came to that house he was not going to leave that house. You knew, off of your actions and what happened when Kyle hit Seath on that head with that stick and you guys ran into that room you separated yourself because you knew what was going to happen...."

[Ely] "Mike sat us all down, and we had a conversation. [He said] I want to kill Seath. I said that's not a good idea. And he said, yes, I want to kill Seath."

Other Seath Jackson Murder YouTube Series

• TheTawniDilly: "Michael Bargo Trial: Michael Bargo Testifies in Own Defense" (August 2013)
• Court on Crime: "Michael Bargo Trial: Bargo on Cross and Direct" (November 2017)
• Disturban: "The Sadistic Case of Seath Jackson" (September 2021)
• Cold Cases True Crime: "Investigating the Haunting Case of Seath Jackson's Mu*der" (August 2023)

The Best Seath Jackson Murder TikTok

TikTok gets a bad rap. Best known for its short videos of women dancing in their underwear. But there is a lot of serious content on TikTok, dealing with history, politics, true crime, etc.

As true crime has near-universal appeal, it's no surprise that there are countless true crime TikTok accounts that have addressed the Seath Jackson homicide. One of the best is "Crime Coverage w/ Em," a four-parter from true-crime TikToker @hiemilynoelle (Part 1, 2, 3, 4).

Part 4 includes a significant portion of Jutin Soto's interrogation, which occurred shortly after his arrest. In the video, Soto describes how Wright and Ely brought Jackson to the house, where Bargo and Hooper "beat the dogshit out of him" with sticks.

Jackson ran out of the house with the other males in pursuit. Soto said he "grabbed him and held him down," then he "got out of the way...and Mike pumped his ass" with five rounds from his revolver.

Other Seath Jackson Murder TikToks

• @Thicwitch18 (January 2023)
• @heygirlletstalkcrime: Part 1, 2 (June 2023)
• @truecrime.interrogation: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 (August 2023)
  

Did we miss anything? If you've got a link you think we should add, email [email protected].