Freshly Squeezed True Crime

#24, Samuel James "Jimmy" Ryce

• Suhailly Nieves

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SPEAKER_01

This is Frenchly Squeeze True Crime, a Florida Only True Crime podcast. I'm Sun Henry, and before we get to this week's juicy episode, I ask you to visit the website at fsccpodcast.com where you'll find all of our social media platforms as well as the newest episodes. And also find us on YouTube where we would like you to follow us, subscribe, share it, do all the things. So pour yourself a telegraphs of orange juice and let me tell you a story.

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On the afternoon of September 11, 1995, 15 days short of his 10th birthday, nine-year-old Samuel James Jimmy Rice disappeared after having been dropped off from his school bus at approximately 3.07 p.m. at a bus stop near his home in Redlands, a rural area of South Miami, Dade County. An extensive and well-publicized search of the area followed, but failed to locate the child. At that time, defendant Juan Carlos Chavez, a Cuban immigrant born on March 16, 1967, was living in a trailer owned by Susan Shannes. Chavez worked as a handyman for Shannon and was permitted to use their Ford pickup truck to run errands or do other work for the family. As part of his duties, Chavez frequently cared for horses owned by the Shaughness family, but housed on property owned by David Santana, which contains an avocado grove. There was also a trailer on that property, referred to throughout Chavez's trial as the Avocado Grove Trailer or the Horse Farm Trailer. In August or September of 1995, Ms. Shannis reported to the police several times that items, including a handgun and some jewelry, were missing from her residence. Although she suspected Chavez, she lacked evidence of his culpability. She testified at trial that in November she had decided to obtain the evidence required to pursue her claim. With the help of a locksmith on December 5th, 1995, while Chavez was away for the day, Ms. Shannis and her son, Edward Shawnez, or Ed entered the trailer located on her property, which Chavez occupied. She found the handgun, which she later identified in court as a gun she had purchased in April of 1989, in plain view on a counter opposite the trailer door. As Ms. Shannon continued to look inside the trailer, she discovered in the closet area a book bag, which was partially opened. Looking inside the bag, she saw papers and books. The work appeared to be in a child's handwriting, and she noticed the name Jimmy Rice. She also observed this name on one of the books. When Mishanas asked her son to look at the items, he also recognized the child's name. As a result of the discovery, Mishanas notified the FBI. When Chavez returned to the Shana's residence at about 7 15 on the evening of December the 6th, armed FBI agents quickly surrounded and secured him. After being patted down, he agreed to go with Metro Date police officers who were also present to the station for questioning. Chavez's detention included a questioning process that was punctuated by regular refreshment, food, bathroom breaks, and a rest period. Also, intercept with two outlining returns to the Shaughness and Santana properties in southern Miami-Dade County. Although Chavez was first brought to the police station on the night of December the 6th, he did not sleep until shortly after midnight on December the 7th. Detective Louis Espedian, who was bilingual, conducted most of the questioning, although other officers also participated. Various police detectives and FBI agent Miss Schaunhaus and an independent interpreter all had opportunities to observe Chavez at various times throughout this period. Chavez was consistently described as alert and articulate during this time, and no one observed police detectives mistreating Chavez in any way throughout the period of questioning. He received repeated warnings and instructions in accordance with Miranda and indicated that he fully understood them on all four occasions during the period of interrogation. Over the course of the interrogation, and after having been repeatedly advised of his Miranda rights and knowingly waiving them, Chavez provided several versions of his involvement in Jimmy Rice's disappearance. As law enforcement officers engaged in a contemporary investigation of Chavez's changing narratives, he agreed to accompany officers on two occasions to visit the horse farm property and the Shanaus' property, where he showed them the location of the events he had recounted and had transpired. On those occasions, Chavez was asked to reveal where the boys' remains were located, to permit Jimmy's family to have closure. After the physical evidence resulting from this contemporary investigation totally discredited each version of events which Chavez had initially proposed, Chavez agreed to tell the truth. However, Chavez explained that before he could disclose the location of Jimmy's remains, he wanted the officers to guarantee that he would receive the death penalty. Estiopinen advised Chavez that he could not guarantee that the death penalty would be imposed. However, Chavez continued to talk, asserting that the events would not have happened had he and had been sexually battered by a relative in Cuba. And went back and began to ask him about Jimmy and where Jimmy was located. We wanted to find Jimmy. A break followed this inquiry, and then Chavez reiterated to Sergeant Jimenez that most recent account which he had given SPOPI. Chavez then went to the restroom for another break and upon returning to the interview room informed the officers that they were now going to hear the truth. Quote, what do you want to know? I'll tell you what happened to Jimmy Rice. Chavez proceeded to admit to SCOP and Jimenez that he had abducted Jimmy at gunpoint, traveled to the horse ranch, and sexually assaulted Jimmy before finally shooting him. SCOPN explained that the officers would need details from Chavez and requested permission to take a sworn statement. Chavez agreed to continue the questioning, and SCOP and Jimenez quote began to get details about what happened to Samuel Jimmy Rice. On December the 20th, 1995, Chavez was indicted as follows Count 1, first degree murder, Count 2, sexual assault and victim under 12, and Count 3, kidnapping with a weapon. At trial, SCOP and testified regarding the final version of Chavez's statement. Chavez said that he had observed young children playing in water on his way home from the Home Depot at approximately 3 p.m. Some of the boys were wearing just their underwear. And quote, as he saw the young boys wearing just their underwear, he took an interest in them, end quote. After observing the children, Chavez drove off but returned a short while later because he quote still had a mental picture of what happened, meaning that he saw the young boys in their underwear by the canal bank and decided that he wanted to take another look at COP and testified. Quote, and while this is occurring, he was driving on the avenue, he sees a figure of a person, and then he realizes it's a young boy that he saw. At the same time, he sees a young boy who later turns out to be Jimmy Rice. Again, he's thinking about the young boys who are at the canal bank. He said at this point he's feeling something sexual and that he had a mental picture of his mind of the young boys in the canal with their underwear, and he's also picturing Jimmy Rice, the young boy. As he's driving the pickup truck in the opposite direction of Jimmy Rice, he said at the time he had with him the shot's revolver, the Taurus 38 caliber, and he said at the time Jimmy is walking on the left side of the road, and what he did is drive on the opposite side. He begins to drive on the opposite side of the traffic and drives and stops in front of Jimmy Rice, causing him to stop. The minute that Jimmy stops, he stops the truck, he gets out of the truck, and with the gun in his hand, he tells Jimmy, at gunpoint, do you want to die? And Jimmy made a comment to him, no. And he told Jimmy in English to get inside the truck. And Jimmy responded by getting inside the truck via the driver's side door. Once Jimmy was inside the pickup truck, Jimmy removes his backpack and puts it in between his legs. He and Chavez get into the truck, still holding the handgun. It's at that point he takes the revolver and he places it underneath his lap and tells Jimmy to put his head down so Jimmy wouldn't be seen by anyone. And at that point he tells me that he drives back to the horse ranch where the trailer was located. He told me that Jimmy left his backpack inside the pickup truck. Once they both exited the pickup truck, both him and Jimmy, at his direction, go inside the trailer that's located inside the horse ranch. He goes on to explain that once inside the trailer, he tells Jimmy to sit down on the bed. Jimmy complies. And he sits on the black office chair close to Jimmy by the entrance and he begins to talk to Jimmy. He notices that Jimmy is nervous and scared, and Jimmy begins to sob. And while this is occurring, Jimmy began to ask him why did he take me? And Chavez explains to him, Well, why do you think I took you? Things to that effect. He wants Jimmy to answer his own questions. He goes on to explain that at this point he feels like doing something sexual and he tells Jimmy to remove his clothing. He said Jimmy complied by removing his shirt and shorts, his sneakers, and wasn't sure if Jimmy was wearing socks or not. And then Jimmy remains in his underwear. His white underwear he believes. He goes on to tell me that at this point he gets up and tells Jimmy to also go ahead and remove his underwear. Jimmy complies and removes his underwear. And then he tells Jimmy to lay on the bed in the trailer and Jimmy complies. Jimmy lays on his stomach on his bed. Chavez tells me that he went into the bathroom area of the trailer looking for something. And I asked him, What are you looking for? He told me I was looking for something like lubricant. And then he goes into the bathroom and he finds a see-through plastic container with some blue lettering on it. And then he look took a sample of the contents of the container to see if it would burn. And when it didn't, he came back to where Jimmy was and placed this, the substance or the lubricant on Jimmy's rectum. And as he was placing the lubricant on Jimmy's rectum, Jimmy is asking, What are you going to do? As he mentioned to Jimmy that what do you think is going to happen? Things to that effect. He is zipped his pants, he exposed his penis, and he inserted his penis into Jimmy's rectum. He told me right after he inserted his penis in Jimmy's rectum, he again had a mental image of a young boys in their underwear, which he has seen at the canal, and said that he quickly ejaculated and once he did, inside of Jimmy, he said he removed himself. Chavez said that he and Jimmy then dressed and left in the truck, indicating that he had intended to leave Jimmy in the area where he had picked them up from. However, upon nearing the area where he had abducted Jimmy, Chavez noticed that police cars were present, believing that someone had reported Jimmy missing and that they were looking for him. Chavez kept Jimmy's head down in the truck and returned to the horse farm. SEOP testified regarding what transpired when Chavez and Jimmy returned to the horse farm. And Jimmy asks, What's going to happen to me? Are you going to kill me? He noticed that Jimmy was very frightened and he begins to speak to Jimmy in order to calm him down. Chavez told SEOP that he tried to calm Jimmy down by asking him questions. He then explains how he killed Jimmy. Quote, Well, the next thing Chavez mentions happened is he heard a helicopter fly over the horse ranch. It was his opinion he believed the helicopter belonged to the police, that the police were searching for Jimmy. When he heard the helicopter flying over him, he went ahead and held Jimmy close by to him so Jimmy wouldn't go anywhere. And eventually he heard the chopper several times flying over him. The helicopter that is. And while he was looking for the helicopter, Jimmy is still close to the front entrance of the trailer. He said that Jimmy made a dash for the door. Jimmy ran for the door trying to escape. He said that he tried to reach up to Jimmy, but he got tangled on the floor of the bathroom. And at that point, he said he took out the revolver belonging to Miss Shot House. He pointed the handgun in the direction of Jimmy, fired one time, hitting him. He said that Jimmy collapsed right by the door and collapsed to the right by the door inside the trailer. He said after he shot Jimmy, he came up to Jimmy. He turned him around and held him in his arms and Jimmy took one last breath. He expressed it. And he said that it was the last thing Jimmy did. Chavez described that to dispose of Jimmy's body, he found a metal barrel inside the trailer at the horse farm and placed Jimmy's body inside the barrel. He transported the barrel containing the body from the horse ranch to the Shinehouse's residence, where he removed the barrel and placed it in Chavez's disabled van, which was parked in the stable area. Chavez removed Jimmy's book bag from the pickup and carried it with him to his own trailer. That night, Chavez looked at some of the notepads inside of Jimmy's book bag. Chavez noticed blood on his own clothing and eventually destroyed the clothes. During the night and into the next morning, quote, all he could think about was what he was going to do with Jimmy's body, end quote. Two or three days later, Chavez attempted to use a backhoe on the Schonhaus' property to dig a hole in which to bury Jimmy, but the machine did not operate properly. Chavez remained concerned, particularly when he noticed that the lid of the barrel which contained Jimmy's body had come off. Chavez pulled Jimmy's body from the barrel onto a piece of plywood, and from there his remains fell to the ground. Chavez described the tool he used to dismember Jimmy's body and even drew a picture of the implement. He explained that it took him a while to dismember Jimmy's body as he was becoming sick and vomiting. Quote, but then he completes it and he places three of Jimmy's body parts onto these three planters. And once he fills these planters with Jimmy's remains, he goes ahead, goes into the stable area of the stable where the building is located, and he locates some cement bags. With those cement bags, he seals the tops of the planters with cement. The oral interview conducted at 10:50 p.m. on December the 8th, while interpreter and stenographer were being obtained to record a formal statement, Chavez remained in the interview room and did not further converse with Ipsiotin until the interpreter arrived. Then at 11:45 p.m., Chavez began to provide a formal statement. SCOP, Sergeant Jimenez, and the court reporter were present as a statement was obtained. After some preliminary questions, Chavez was again advised of his Miranda rights. At this time, Chavez confirmed that he had voluntarily agreed to waive his first court appearance and that he had given the officers consent to search his property. When the statement was completed, each page of the statement was reviewed and Chavez made any corrections he desired. He acknowledged in the statement that he was making the transcribed statement voluntarily, that no one had threatened or coerced him into making the statement, and that he had been treated well. SCOP testified that at the time he made his sworn statement, Chavez was quote polite, cooperative, and was alert. Mary Lou Balbus testifies that she was a professional interpreter providing services during Chavez's sworn statement. As Miss Balbus was an independent contractor who had been an interpreter and translated for 12 years, the confession was unusually long and Miss Balbus had the opportunity to closely observe Chavez's demeanor. Chavez did not appear sleepy and was alert. At no point did the detectives give Chavez any answers. Once the confession was finished, Ms. Balbaz reached each page word by word to Chavez to make sure that it was typed correctly. Chavez approved every page by initial each page at the bottom.

unknown

Ms.

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Balbaz indicated that the police officers treated Chavez with courtesy and that she did not observe them threaten or raise their voices towards Chavez. Officer Michael Byrd recovered the loaded handgun from Chavez's trailer. Byrd also found a poster in Chavez's trailer bearing the likeness of Jimmy Rice, which he processed as evidence. A box of ammo containing live ammunition and one spent shell casing were also found in the trailer. Crime scene technician L. V. Maligrano testified that on December the 8th, 1995, he helped search and process the trailer on a horse avocado farm. He searched the trailer and found, quote, a lube of JR water-based lubricant on a shelf inside the trailer. Miligrago collected a sofa cushion and part of the wood floor of the trailer just inside the front door. These items were packaged for transmitter for processing. Milagrano also traveled to Shinehouse's property, where he noticed the three concrete filled planters and became suspicious that they might contain a cadaver. Fingerprint technician William Miller identified Chavez's fingerprint on the handgun recovered from his trailer. To determine whether fingerprints were present on the handgun, he placed it in a laboratory chamber in which super glue fumes were released, surrounding the handgun and adhering to the residue and oils left by any fingerprints. As a result, a fingerprint matching that of Chavez was found on the firearm. Miller testifies that there were 10 points of identification throughout this fingerprint, which is only common to Chavez. It's an absolute and positive identification that his left thumbprint made on the weapon. On December 8, 1995, Miller also examined the books and notebooks found inside a book bag belonging to Jimmy Rice. He found Chavez's fingerprint on the front of one of the notebooks found in the book bag. The fingerprint located on the interior of the notebook cover was found to quote have 16 points of identification, a positive identification based on the left thumbprint of Mr. Juan Carlos Chavez against the print which was developed on the inside cover. Another print of value was located on the textbook entitled Journeys in Science. He found, quote, this particular print of value from this area to be made by the right middle finger of Mr. Chavez. I had nine points of identification. When compared to the prints of Mrs. Schoenhaus and Edward Schoenhaus, the prints in the book bag contents did not match. Forensic serologist Teresa Merritt of the Metro Dade Police Department testified that she received items for examination on December 8, 1995. She was dispatched to the horse farm to assist crime scene personnel in attempting to determine whether blood was present. Merritt testified a twin-sized mattress from the trailer, a cushion present on the bench in the trailer, and a cut-out portion of the threshold area from the floor of the trailer. A scraping from the floor area produced a positive result for the presence of blood. Another sample from a cushion in the trailer yielded blood scrapings. Anita Matthews, assistant director of the forensic identity testing laboratory for Lab Corp of North Carolina, testified that she was, quote, responsible for doing interpretation on the results of the testing that the technology Conducted, Matthew testified that they were not able to obtain a sufficient quantity or quality of genetic material from samples collected from the body of Jimmy Rice for testing. However, DNA from the oral swab samples taken from his parents, Don and Claudine Rice, was compared to the blood found on the door of the trailer. This comparison produced a conclusion that the blood on the floor was extremely likely to have come from a child of Don and Claudine Rice. The other two blood samples taken from the floor of the trailer carried the same genetic characteristics. Another blood sample taken from the cushion found in the trailer was consistent with having come from the biological child of the rices. Dr. Roger Middleman, Chief Medical Examiner for the Dade Medical Examiner's Department, testified that on December 9th, he conducted an examination of the contents of the three planters. The cement in each planter encased the remains of what appeared to be a young boy. The remnants of a cement bag were in at least one of the planters. Dr. Middleman describes the clothing found on Jimmy's body. It was dressed with his t-shirt and head-on jeans and underwear. There was one sneaker on. One sneaker was off, there were socks. The doctor then corrected himself and stated that only one sock was found on the body. The doctor testified that a body expands as it decomposes due to the breakdown of material and biological processes, causing gases to expand. This process could cause a body placed in a barrel to expand to the point that a lid would be forced off or open. The remains were significantly decomposed. Using dental records from Jimmy's family dentist, a forensic dentist, testified that the comparison with the jaw and teeth of the body was so strong that, quote, skeletal remains were positively identified as that of Jimmy Rice. An X-ray of the body cavity revealed a flattened projectile jacket that lodged in the area of the heart and great vessels. The bullet entered the point where the right sixth rib is located, went upward in the body, through the lung and into the heart, and exited from the upper left of the chest. Based upon the trajectory of the bullet, the gun would have been pointing slightly upward and below the individual who was shot. However, there was no evidence on the body which would demonstrate how far away the gun was when it fired. On December 20, 1995, Detective McCullem had transported a tool known as a bush hook, had previously been impounded to the medical examiner's office. Dr. Middleman was asked to examine the bush hook to determine if its cutting characteristics were consistent with the injuries inflicted on Jimmy's body. The medical examiner noted that a number of the injuries inflicted on the body during dismemberment were consistent with having been made by a bush hook. However, he also testified that it was possible that more than one instrument had been used. Firearms examiner Thomas Quirk of the Metro Dade Police Department Crime Laboratory testified that a 38-caliber Taurus Model 85 was submitted for his examination after it had been processed by the fingerprint section. He also received one aluminum jacket from a projectile recovered from the body of the victim and two 38 caliber casings, projectile identified as having come from a red bullet box and a casing that had been fired from a firearm. The two empty 38 caliber shell casings found in Chavez's trailer were fired from a 38 recovered from Chavez's trailer. Cork testified that the manufacturer of the barrel and the rifling process provide microscopic differences which are transferred to the bullet during firing and in which repeat similar to the fingerprint. Also, the projectile jacket recovered by the medical examiner and the lead core, also known as the fatal bullet, were positively identified as having been fired by the gun recovered from Chavez's trailer. Quote, my conclusion is that the bullet was fired in this weapon to the exclusion of all other weapons in the world. This is the gun that fired that bullet. After the state arrested, Chavez moved for judgment on acquittal, which was denied. Defense counsel specifically argued the state's failure to establish a corpus delecti for which the crime of sexual battery. The defense then began the presentation of his case. During the examination of Ed Shawhouse's, Ed explains that he had been under house arrest at the time the kidnapping occurred. He worked from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and was required to stay at home at all other times unless he arranged in advance to be away from his house. He had an ankle device and would be called each day at random times as controlled by a computer throughout the period he was confined to his home. When called, he would have to report in by placing the ankle bracelet next to a device installed in his home. Chavez also testified in his own defense, stating that he had belonged to a counter-revolutionary group in Cuba. He gave details of his imprisonment for attempting to escape and for stealing military property in Cuba and his eventual escape from the islands. According to his trial testimony, Chavez encountered Ed Schonhouse at the horse farm trailer after Jimmy had already been killed and helped Ed to dispose of the boy's body. Chavez testified that after he was brought to police headquarters in connection with Jimmy's disappearance, he was mistreated. He stated that when he was placed in the police car, he was told, quote, Don't do anything stupid or we will shoot you. We're going to kill you, end quote. He complained that his watch and beeper were taken away from him and returned only after he gave his final confession. Chavez stated that when they were interrogating him, he did not know what date or time it was. He said that he was not permitted to sleep and no one offered him a pillow or a blanket. Chavez also claimed that the officers brought the book bag into the interrogation room and asked Chavez to handle it and look through the contents, which he did. According to Chavez, the police goaded him into making up the lies. He stated that the officers suggested details of his confession and to avoid deportation, he did whatever they wanted. After the defense rested, the state presented rebuttal testimony. The officers refuted that they had ever threatened Chavez, coerced him, or suggested any part of the confession to him. They denied that they had taken Chavez's watch away or that anyone had hit him, and they also testified that he had never mentioned Ed as the perpetrator during the questioning process. Ed Schonhaus' parole officer testified that Ed, who was in the pest control business, had taken his permission to travel to take care of a client on the afternoon on which he had received a speeding ticket, and that Ed had shown the ticket to his parole officer himself without being asked to. He testified that Ed had lost his ankle bracelet once prior to September 11th, and that he had come in that same day to have it replaced with a new one. He said that the file would only reflect times when calls were made to the house and Ed did not respond. He said that he had nothing in the file for the month of September 1995, which indicated that Ed had remained home as required and that had no violations had occurred. At close of the rebuttal, Chavez renewed all motions, including the motion to suppress his statement, the motion for judgment of acquittal, particularly reiterating that the state had failed to prove the corpus decti of the charge of sexual battery, and the motion to mistrial based upon alleged cumulative errors, these motions were all denied. On September 18, 1998, Shavis was found guilty on all counts. On October 29, 1998, upon advisory sentencing, the jury was instructed and, following deliberations, entered verdicts of guilty on all counts charged. Following the penalty phase of the trial, the jury recommended death by a vote of 12 to 0. On November 23rd, 1998, Chavez was sentenced as follows Count one, first degree murder, death. Count two, sexual assault, victim under 12, life. Count three, kidnapping with a weapon, life. The aftermath. The notoriety of this case drew an unusually large media contingent. About two dozen news reporters, photographers, and TV satellite trucks gathered under drizzling gray skies in a sprawling field across from the Florida State prison. Chavez, who spent nearly 16 years on death row, was the 12th inmate to be put to death in Florida since the start of 2012. The day started off with the Florida Supreme Court rejecting a last-minute bid to delay the scheduled execution. The court issued brief orders on the night of February 12, 2014, rejecting the appeals, which focused on a challenge to Florida's method of lethal injection, declaring it cruel and unusual. The execution had been delayed from the original 6 p.m. time because of the appeals. You see, Chavez's lawyer, Robert Norgrad, tried to persuade the Florida Supreme Court to reconsider Chavez's argument that the sedative used as part of the cocktail of lethal drugs was ineffective as a pain-relieving anesthetic and therefore violated his constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. His lawyer filed an affidavit by University of Miami anesthesiologist David Larpsky to bolster his client's latest claim Tuesday. Norgrad based that claim on the state's High Court decision to consider the same experts' evidence and other death throat inmate petitions. But the Florida Supreme Court concluded that Chavez should have presented this evidence when he had the opportunity before the justices rejected his previous bid for stay on January 31st. And late on Wednesday, the nation's highest court rejected the same argument. Early on that day, Chavez's only visitor was a spiritual advisor. His demeanor during the day was calm, a Florida Corrections spokeswoman told reporters. Chavez requested ribeye steak, French fries, strawberry ice cream, Goya mango juice, hot sauce, and a mix of bananas, mangoes, and papayas as his last meal, said Jessica Carey, Director of Communications for the Florida Department of Corrections. Carey said Chavez received no visitors prior to the execution aside from his spiritual advisor and that Chavez's demeanor was calm. In a death chamber at 8.02 p.m., a curtain rose that allowed witnesses seated in a brightly lit white room to look through a two-way window at Chavez lying on a gurney. A white sheet covered his body except for his face. Leather straps cinched Chavez's wrist and ankles, and IVs for the lethal injection were inserted into his arm. A prison official supervising the execution asked Chavez if he wanted to make a last statement. Chavez declined, and the first of three drugs were administered. Within a few minutes, a sedative took effect. Chavez yawned and closed his eyes. At one point, the corrections official said his name, Mr. Chavez, three times to make sure he was asleep. The official then leaned over Chavez and shut his eyelids. As the lethal components in the injection kicked in, Chavez moved his feet slightly. His skin, already pale from years in prison, turned more ashen. His body lay still for several minutes. A doctor examined Chavez's eyes, nose, and mouth. A stethoscope detected no heartbeat. At 8 17 p.m., the corrections official declared Chavez's death. Throughout the process, none of the 19 witnesses showed any emotion. As he walked from the room with the aid of a cane, however, there was a clear pain in Don Rice's eyes. Other witnesses included Miami Dade Assistant State Attorney Penny Brill and former prosecutor Michael Bance, both of whom took Chavez to trial. Former Miami Dade homicide sergeant Felix Jimenez was also on hands, as was one juror who helped convict Chavez in the 1998 trial. Pat Diaz, the retired Miami Dade police detective who led the investigation into Jimmy's murder but did not attend the execution, still felt a sense of closure. Chavez did not make a verbal final statement, but submitted a verbal statement laced with religious references, offered no apologies to the family, nor did he claim any innocence and read in part, I doubt there is anything I can say that would satisfy everyone, even less those who see in me nothing more than someone deserving of punishment. Chavez requested to be cremated. Jimmy's father Don, who was at the time of Chavez's death 70, witnessed the execution along with his son Ted. Jimmy's mother and sister both died while awaiting the death of Chavez. They told reporters outside the prison that the execution closes a long, painful chapter and hopefully sends a powerful message to other would-be child abductors. They will not forgive. We will hunt you down and we will put you to death. Jimmy Rice's death led to changes in the legal system and the way police respond to missing child cases. Don Rice said that he and his wife Claudine became determined to turn their son's horrific slang into something positive, in part because they felt they owed something to all the people who tried to help find him. They also refused to wallow in misery. Quote, you've got to do something or you do nothing. That was just not the way we wanted to live the rest of our lives. The Rice has created the Jimmy Rice Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction, a nonprofit organization based in Vero Beach that works to increase public awareness and education about sexual predators, provides counseling for parents of victims, and helps train law enforcement agencies in ways to respond to missing child cases. The organization has also provided free of charge more than 400 bloodhounds to police departments around the country and abroad. Rice said if police searching for Jimmy had bloodhounds, they might have found him in time. The Jimmy Rice Act, or also known as the Jimmy Rice Involuntary Civil Commitment for Sexual Violent Predators Treatment and Care Act, was passed unanimously by the Florida legislator and was signed by Governor Lawton Childs on May 19, 1998, and became effective on January 1, 1999. The Act calls for inmates with sexual offense histories to be reviewed by the Florida Department of Corrections, the Florida Department of Children and Family Services, and state attorneys to determine the level of risk for re-offense. Upon release from incarceration, these inmates may be subject to civil proceedings and commitment to a secure facility for treatment. That treatment center is located in Arcadia and has been criticized because treatment is lacking, it lacks security, there is no method of restoring civil liberties, and being underfunded, understaffed, and located in an old condemned correctional facility. After running the center for seven years, Liberty Healthcare was released by the state as a vendor and the GEO Corp was retained. Unfortunately, many of these issues regarding stepped down programs, community placement, or aftercare remained unresolved for nearly 10 years. Furthermore, Chavez had no criminal history, so this law would have not affected him. First three squeezes, hosted and written by me, Susan Haley, and executive produced by Ebony. So thirsty and need more? Visit us at fstpodcast.com for links to all our social media handles, including YouTube. Want to keep the juice flowing? Make a donation by buying us a glass. And as always, cheers.