Hold My Sweet Tea
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Hold My Sweet Tea
Ep. 25-Shondra May UPDATE: Rubin Weeks arrested in 39-year-old Cold Case
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A significant breakthrough occurs in the 1986 Shondra May cold case as Scott County Sheriff's Department arrests 63-year-old Rubin Weeks on charges of kidnapping, rape, and murder.
• Original suspect Rubin Weeks arrested Tuesday morning at an RV park in Madison County
• Weeks previously convicted in 1991 for similarly kidnapping and raping a Missouri motel clerk
• Both cases show striking similarities: victims were taken from cars, restrained with poultry tape, and sexually assaulted
• Three eyewitnesses have reportedly come forward with crucial information
• Weeks had previously served multiple sentences in Mississippi for breaking and entering, forgery, and burglary
• Sheriff Mike Lee fulfills his promise to solve the case, bringing relief to Chandra's brother and cousin
• Cold case was broken by "networking and finding people willing to talk"
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Scott County Sheriff's Office or message the Shondra May Murder Investigation Facebook page monitored by cold case investigators.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1ETSSnUgNi/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Source Material:
Stribling, Wilson, Apr 29, 2025, Arrest made in Shondra May cold case, https://www.wlbt.com/2025/04/29/arrest-made-shondra-may-cold-case/?outputType=amp
Apel, Therese, Apr 29, 2025, Arrest made in 39-year-old cold case death of Shondra May, https://darkhorsepressnow.com/arrest-made-in-39-year-old-cold-case-death-of-shondra-may/
Weeks V. State 2004, https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/mo-supreme-court/1333741.html
Northside Sun, Apr 29,2025, Arrest made in Shonda May Murder, https://www.northsidesun.com/arrest-made-shondra-may-murder-68111945e4f94
Rubin R. Weeks, Appellant, v. Mike Bowersox, Appellee, 119 F.3d 1342 (8th Cir. 1997), Submitted April 15, 1997. Decided July 24, 1997 https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/119/1342/486411/
Breaking News: Chandra Mae Case Update
Speaker 1We have an update on the Chandra Mae cold case. This is Hold my Sweet Tea. Hey y'all, I'm Pearl.
Speaker 2And I'm Holly, and welcome to our update episode. Let me tell you, when I got this text last night from Pearl, I was like yes.
Speaker 1I'm so excited, right. And then we discussed like how are we going to do this? And then I realized, oh my gosh, this is going to be like an entire episode's worth of stuff. Because I was initially like, no, let's just record a snippet in the morning and just push it out real quick. And then I went, oh never mind, yeah.
Speaker 2I was like no, let's just cram my episode in here and then we're just going to edit because we want it out here, because it is hot news yes, I literally was like sitting in my bed typing this up last night.
Speaker 1I told you this morning I was like I misspelled so much stuff in here. But I know what I'm. I know what I'm saying. And I just like you know, my notes look like a kindergartner wrote them.
Speaker 2And then there was an update by her brother on the Facebook page. So, like I know that they have to be somewhat relieved.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, they're definitely like the brother and the cousin. Mainly are the ones that have been still kind of pushing everything because her parents have passed away. And so you know they've yeah, they definitely are relieved. Sheriff Mike Lee when he was first elected sheriff there in Scott County, he had promised that they were going to solve this case and he said so he's kept his promise.
Speaker 2Yeah, and, like I was saying earlier, I remember in your initial episode, you were saying that they had some information that they were holding on to, but they hadn't released any details because they were trying to get everything together. These, and I didn't read any of the articles or anything, because I want to like hear it.
Speaker 1Yeah, I want to hear it, and honestly, these the guys that I had told you guys about too in that episode. So if you have not listened to the chandra may episode way back when we first started I'll say way back, I know, but it was- but anyway yeah, so go back and listen to that first.
Speaker 1But the uh retired investigators that had taken on this case literally worked their butts off interviewing people and stuff, so they had a lot that they turned over as far as information went. So I feel like you know they're probably super relieved and happy I know. One of them said that, uh, everything kind of just fell together. He said I can't say anything other than this is god, that's his beliefs, or? Whatever but I was like it's.
Speaker 2It's fantastic that it did all yeah, all in place, that's All right. Are we ready to jump into it?
Suspect Ruben Weeks Arrested
Speaker 1Yeah, we can jump jump. So on Tuesday morning, which was yesterday, Ruben Weeks was arrested for the abduction and murder of Chandra. He's now 63 years old. He was a suspect originally.
Speaker 2So it is someone that they have looked at before A question and everything. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1So according to WLBT News' Wilson Stribling, if Ruben Weeks was surprised, he didn't show it much when Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee showed up with a caravan of other law enforcement officers at the RV park where Weeks has been living in Madison County.
Speaker 2Oh, wow, yeah.
Speaker 1So, despite reportedly fishing the day before, this all went down. Weeks requested to use his wheelchair, oh yeah, during his arrest. So they wheeled him out of his uh, fifth wheel camper in his wheelchair.
Speaker 2In his wheelchair? Well he was, he just had his hands in front of him in his lap.
Speaker 1But yeah they. They put him in the wheelchair and wheeled him down the ramp and wow put him in the car. I watched video, so of course Wilson's dribbling was there when they arrested him and he asked him. He was like did you kidnap and murder Chandra May? And of course the man says no. He said did you know Chandra May? And he says no, the only thing I knew of her were the pictures that were thrown in my face back when they questioned me before. So I was like hmm, Okay.
Speaker 2We'll see.
Speaker 1We'll see. Yeah, so he is charged with kidnapping, rape and murder murder. Okay, um, michael frazier, who's part of that group we were just talking about, said that it was networking and finding people willing to talk.
Speaker 2take the time to talk to somebody you know, because like literally, there were people who were just like kind of closed-lipped way back then, which is why, like we're, you know, podcasters like us are putting these things out there, because sometimes it helps. Sometimes it does help and people are like you know what. Maybe it's really weighing on my conscience.
Similar Crime Pattern Emerges
Speaker 1I need to go say something yeah, so I mean he said that literally is what contributed to this turn in the case. Yes, um, he did say something about three eyewitnesses. Hmm, hmm.
Speaker 2Oh, wow.
Speaker 1That have come forward, so wow.
Speaker 2That's great evidence.
Speaker 1Yeah, there's no other details than just that they exist. But crazy, yeah. Like I said before, ruben was one of the original suspects in the case and in 1991, weeks had actually been staying in a motel in Missouri. During this stay, weeks actually kidnapped and raped the clerk of the motel. So, like she, after she got off of work he followed her in his car, started flashing his lights as fast as he could, like a police officer yeah.
Speaker 1Just like his headlights you know, in order to get the girl to pull over. And you know, many, many people believe that someone obviously made Chandra pull over somehow, some way, flashing those headlights like crazy fast. You know, being a person driving a car, you're going something wrong with my car, right, you know? Let me see what's what's up. Why are they flashing me like this? So the motel clerk pulls over, she cracks her window, yeah, so that she can hear what he has to say. He actually pulls a knife and is able to reach his arm through the crack and it says like that he like sliced her hand several times, um, but uh, he forced her out of her car and into his, drove to the next county, to a barn and literally took her out of his car, laid her jacket down on the ground, made her take off her bottoms and sexually assaulted her. I'm not going to go into the details.
Speaker 2I've never read it all.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2I'm going to have to go back and read it.
Speaker 1I'll send it to you. It'll be in the. There's a Justia link. There's a fine law, fine law, yeah, um, so you can read them both, because they're a little bit different in each one, but, um, very slightly, it's just. Yeah, there's a little more detail in one than the other. Yes, and it's graphic yeah, pretty graphic.
Speaker 1And he literally asked her if she had had sex. Like when was the last time that you had sex with someone else? And she was she's married, she's a married woman and she's like yesterday, wow, yeah. So during he stopped twice during this assault because he thought he heard something. So then he so he sexually assaulted her the first time, heard something, stopped, started again, heard something, again, decided he was just done with this because he was afraid he was going to get caught. Obviously tells her to put her clothes back on.
Speaker 1So she just grabs her pants and puts them back on and he then gets tape which they say is the same kind of tape that was used on Chandra and tapes her hands, her feet, her knees, like just really tapes her up Somehow. After he drives away she works her way out of this tape and then goes and gets help, and then she obviously testified against him. So, yeah, yeah, crazy stuff.
Speaker 1so of course there's a lot of stuff about the dna in there that like it's kind of back and forth, so, um, apparently, I mean obviously it's mixed with someone else's right, right, so they're having to figure out who's who's who and whatever. And at one point they're saying that they think he was staying in room 11. She doesn't ever actually say that herself, but they took some stuff from that motel room that they've compared and stuff like that. But he literally ended up pleading guilty. So they didn't really turn in any of the DNA stuff, even though it was still out for testing.
Speaker 1It wasn't completely finished. There was, there was some stuff that was done, but not all of it. And then of course you know there's things they couldn't do, even in 92 ish that, yeah, they can do now. That would be more definitive. But um, yeah, but yeah, he actually was sentenced to 30 years and life for the kidnapping and rape charge and he was to serve those concurrently. So I believe he served the full 30 and then they let him out, even though the life sentence was running. With that, I guess they just and that happens a lot yeah, but I can't find an actual release date and, considering this is like years after his conviction. I would assume that it was.
Speaker 2Yeah, within the last few years, yeah.
Speaker 1So I was like I guess he's got a he's. He had to have just been let out. So did he. Assaulted her in Missouri after after yes, okay chandra, so he had already chandra. May was 1986, this woman was in 1991 91.
Speaker 2Okay, so he got caught for that one. So this was yes, okay. Okay, I'm catching up.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's a lot of information so when you compare the archived articles in the clarion ledger which I used for the original episode, and court documents from the Missouri case, chandra and the motel clerk were both taken from their cars, raped, restrained with tape. They used the words hogtied for the way Chandra was taped up. So I mean very similar, all the things. The only difference is obviously that Chandra did not live Correct and that she was actually held for several days.
Speaker 2So Because of your water-based evidence episode, like how long she had been in the water, correct?
DNA Evidence and Legal Challenges
Speaker 1And the other thing was remember I told you that Chandra said she felt like somebody was following her, but she didn't want to tell her parents because she didn't want to lose her job. So he had been stalking her. Missouri clerk Motel clerk I don't know her name, they just refer to her as JB in all the court stuff. She told police that he stalked her so she had seen him watching her and following her before.
Speaker 2Oh my gosh, yeah. So the similarities are there, the tape?
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2The way it was done. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1I just was like, wow, all the similarities.
Speaker 2And you were saying about the tape in the first episode that it was the kind of tape they would use in like a yeah, and it was like poultry packing.
Speaker 1Yeah, did he.
Speaker 2I wonder if he was very fiber-based tape and so you'll have to see like if he had ever worked at one of those places or something so he was a truck driver, so so I don't know, was he driving chicken trucks? Yeah, because of that whole area. Yeah, and he was living in Decatur and stuff like that.
Speaker 1So I was like, yeah, I mean, who knows, he could have been hauling chickens. I don't have any information on what he hauled, I just know he did drive trucks Right and you can get your hands on that tape easy right there.
Speaker 2Yeah, and you can get your hands on that tape easy, yeah.
Speaker 1Right there yeah.
Speaker 2So that was all. And with him driving trucks, how many other women? Yeah, how many? Because I want to say that I doubt it's just these two.
Speaker 1Right, and that's the thing is like. I think when they sentenced him in Missouri, they sentenced him as a repeat offender even though, like, none of his prior convictions were anything like that. Yeah, so prior to his Missouri incarceration Weeks, had previously served time in the Mississippi State Penitentiary.
Speaker 2That's how I feel today.
Speaker 1Right, you're like it's Parchman. Yeah, he was in there on Scott County convictions for breaking and entering as well as forgery in 1980. So before Chandra. Then he was in for a Reagan County burglary in 1988, which would be after Chandra, and again on more forgery charges in Boulevard County in 1990, right before the motel clerk.
Speaker 2So he was just committing crimes all over the place.
Speaker 1So yeah, a lot of forgery, a lot of burglary, but nothing like that. So I guess those are repeat offenses. I mean, he repeat offensed there, but it wasn't the same kind of offense, so I think they still just used that against him when they were considering sentencing for this other charge.
Speaker 2Well, and I'm sure that they will, but they'll probably go through any any cases of, you know, rape or murder of young women within that time frame and see if any of those connect to him as well so I do know that when he was arrested and convicted for the case in Missouri he had actually pled guilty.
Speaker 1So you know they asked him all the questions in there like did anyone force you to? Blah blah blah. The weird part is when they tried to get him to say what he did in court in his own words and he like, basically wouldn't like. The only statement they could get out of him was I did what they said I did. That's how he did it. But he insisted he was guilty.
Speaker 2But he wouldn't come out, so he got in his own.
Speaker 1So he basically got that you know plea agreement at that point, and which is why I saying I think that he just got out after he served the 30. But during his time in there he kept harping on that DNA stuff like he never appealed. He didn't submit things the right way, but then started trying to find other ways to go. You know what? I'm not guilty, I'm actually innocent. So I'm going to need that DNA done Like they didn't do that while I was Well, there was no need to submit any of that, even post-conviction.
Speaker 2You admitted it.
Speaker 1Because you admitted it, yeah, but he was like well, they didn't even tell me that DNA existed. Blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 2There's like so much stuff and I'm sure she identified him because, right, she testified in court exactly. But you know, chandra doesn't get to identify him because you know, yeah, because she died because she died. So I'm sure they've stacked all this evidence and they, they know, they know yeah, it's just a matter of interrogation and getting him to admit it and that's kind of the hope of many, many people.
Speaker 1Yeah, they just hope he eventually just admits to it so that there's no dragging. You know tim may and his cousin right even. Spivey through all this court stuff. I mean, yeah, that would be her and have to sit and like re-listen to everything all over again. And all of that, and it would be really nice of him. Which Right, what killer is ever actually nice yeah?
Speaker 1Unless they're a sociopath that likes attention To literally tell this poor family when he actually killed her Right so that she could have a death date on her tombstone? Yes, because they don't know the exact date of death. But do we think it's going to be that easy? Probably not, I don't know I mean he's come out the trailer Right Straight denying. I mean he's come out the trailer Right Straight denying.
Seeking Justice and More Information
Speaker 2I mean he's 64, so like, maybe you know they'll send you to Angola or something and you can go fishing and farm. I'm not laughing.
Speaker 1Well, good thing he's not in Louisiana. But you know Parchment had some issues because like there were some very deplorable conditions in that place, so I would hope you don't want to go back and I wasn't laughing to laugh.
Speaker 2I was just saying, because of a previous story, that one of the guys had yeah, he was like oh, yay, I get the garden right.
Speaker 1So that wasn't me laughing at this case I'm not being insensitive at all I am, so not in the least, but that's also like, like I said during that case, I was like that's such a messed up thing to say, because now does it even make the family feel like you're feeling punished for this, because you're actually looking forward to going and gardening, right, right, yeah.
Speaker 1But I don't think he's going to be that lucky, I mean. And then the whole, I feel like, mainly, I feel like he's not going to admit to it because he already admitted to the other one and then went back on that. He's not going to do that twice. No, he's going to be like prove it, yeah, prove it all the way you know, because somehow in the back of his mind he believes that he would be able to get away with that.
Speaker 2It's been years.
Speaker 1They're never going to get me they're never going to get me, but the thing of it is is, I think, like dark horse press in mississippi. Um, they reported that there was a dna match for him in the missouri case. I don't. I don't know where they got it from, so I did not want to say one way or the other as to whether or not there was because I know that they did rule out certain things um, before he, yes, pled guilty, but, like I said, they were still testing other stuff.
Speaker 1So I they said there was some inconclusive stuff, because you know the secretor, non-secreter stuff, yes, and part of the dna that was found on her was a secretor DNA, but again, she did have sex with her husband the day before. So I mean that very well could have been just from her husband, Dunno. But I was like, since I couldn't find definitive yes, no stuff on the DNA at this point, I just kind of left it out.
Speaker 1But in her report she said that it was proven it was him that raped the other woman. So if that's the case, hopefully I will find it, because you know I was trying to hurry so I could get all this done, yeah, and there will be another update. Yeah, and I mean obviously I'm going to keep my Google Alerts open. I'm going to add his name to it just in case it comes out under his name instead of hers but I'm gonna, you know, make sure that my google alerts still running on it because now I mean, we have due process and we're gonna have to see how it rolls out, so I'm looking forward to more updates.
Speaker 2Yes, and you know, we hope that her Facebook page gets a lot of attention.
Speaker 1And if anybody else knows anything, they still want you to come tell them, right?
Speaker 2now is the time to come forward. If you know, do it. Like it's not too late. Join the group?
Speaker 1Yes, because, if you know, If there was more than one Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2And if this is the guy and you know it's the guy come on, Just do it.
Speaker 1Do you have any information that could be used in court? Definitely, absolutely, definitely, come forward. So yeah, that's all I got.
Speaker 2That's all I could cram into last night really late, but I mean, it's an update and that is phenomenal.
Speaker 1Yeah, I knew we'd get one eventually for this case, because of what I you know I'd seen what they'd done on Facebook and everything else Did I think it'd be right now.
Speaker 2No, no, but we're glad. But it was super exciting when I saw it and I was like yay, woo-hoo.
Speaker 1So here we are smashing it out. So I'm literally, after we get done here, going to edit the whole thing and make sure it's ready to roll in the morning.
Speaker 2For tomorrow.
Speaker 1yeah, so this will be, you know, the one time I did a very last minute episode, Woo-hoo. But yeah, I feel like a friend a friend's episode when I just said that, yeah, the time I, the time I sped, wrote an episode that's awesome.
Speaker 2I cannot wait to get more updates and get more you know information on that. He's guilty because he is I feel it in my heart, I feel it I mean he's done it before, yep, whether he wants to admit it still, and I like I said earlier, I really hope that they start running other stuff and then they find out that he did other things so some of these other cold cases can be solved, because I'm sure there's, and if there's, other people involved in in chandra's case.
Speaker 1Maybe that was the first time that they all did that and then they kind of just like branched off there.
Speaker 2There's so many different scenarios that could occur here and if he was driving a truck, that's you know less traces for him to leave because he's all over the place.
Speaker 1My other thoughts were like remember the refrigeration? Yes, scenario was it a refrigerated truck.
Speaker 2Did he have her in there?
Speaker 1right, I'm like my god like it. Just, my brain just started running wild. I was dreaming stuff last night because I had thought about it so much before I went to sleep. But yeah, so I'm. I can't wait to find out more details because, like said, like they've been holding on to so much stuff, I want to I want to know.
Speaker 1Yes, yes, everybody wants to know, everybody is ready for that. I mean the the people local to them are. Like you know, there's been so many people who've been upset and struggled with with the loss of Chandra not just her family so it's like a really good day yesterday for them for sure, absolutely, and if you have any information, call the police department. Yes, scott County Sheriff's Office Ring-a-ding-ding, do it, do it, do it. Or even just message the Facebook page, because those cold case investigators are babysitting it, because that's their page.
Speaker 1So they're the ones who put it up. So if they want anything you got, send it on over. So I think we could say that anyone who listened to this enjoyed it, because who doesn't enjoy good news and a good update?
Call to Action and Episode Wrap-up
Speaker 2Yeah, because we put out such like sad bad news and things like that you know about people missing and assaulted and everything that gives you some hope In your day and, like Pearl said, if you got this far and you're like, who is Chandra Mae Go? Listen to the episode, the full episode. It is our second episode, after our introductory episode.
Speaker 1Yeah, so it's like episode three or something.
Speaker 2So go listen to that, so you can get all the information.
Speaker 1No, it's episode four Is it four.
Speaker 2Yes, because we did.
Speaker 1Beatrice, and then I did the court stuff, and then Chandra and then water, yeah, so it's the fourth episode, yep All right Go listen to those. Our theme music is by Patti Salzetta. Share the link with your friends, especially if you know they've already listened to the first Chandra episode.
Speaker 2Share it so that they get the update yeah, because those episodes are already in the like hitting 100 and everything so yeah, they. There's at least 100 listens, yeah, so share it, those 100, and like share it, and then we can get like three or four hundred more on this case, yeah it'd be amazing, because you know it's going to be one to follow for sure, yes, yes and then, of course, as usual, if you guys have any anything you want to share with us.
Speaker 1We're on the social yep, so hit us up on facebook, instagram, tiktok, youtube, all of it all of it, all of it, and then you can always email us. Yes, steeped at HoldMySweetTeacom.
Speaker 2Yes, and you guys make sure to stay safe out there. And I hope everybody that is listening tomorrow has a wonderful day. And Hold, my Sweet Tea is a Drunken Bee production and you guys remember, just because we're dipping doesn't mean you can't keep sipping. Bye, thank you.