Leon Jacob Trial Prosecution Opening Statement

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: He emailed her. He texted her, all to no avail. He was not going to stop until he got what he wanted. And you'll see that throughout this case. Leon Jacob does not stop until he gets what he wants. He even goes so far as to have acquaintances of theirs try and contact Megan for him. He searches internets, internet search sites for her to try and locate her. He tries to contact her through Facebook. When all those attempts to directly contact her are unsuccessful. Like I said, he tries to get other people involved. And one of those other people is Laura Thurlow. He's obsessed. Now, Laura Thurlow is a family acquaintance of sorts. See, Laura works at a business where her uncle is good friends with the defendant's mother. And as a favor to her uncle, she takes on helping the defendant out. And at first she thinks it's only to do a criminal search. You see, the defendant at that time, when he meets Ms. Thurlow, is concerned that there is a criminal charge filed against him. And, of course, Ms. Thurlow -- and you'll hear from her and she'll explain to you, "I thought it was just this. I thought I was going to search his name, find out nothing was wrong, find out he's not been charged with anything, and he'd be on his way." Well, she searches his name, finds out that he's not been charged with anything at that point, tells him that, he is not convinced. He has her take him down to the criminal courthouse, to the district clerk's office, to convince him that nothing has been filed against him. She does that. That should be the end of the story, right? That should be the end of Laura Thurlow's involvement with the defendant. Well, it quickly escalates into the defendant having Ms. Thurlow do what he wants to do with Megan. And what I mean by that is directly contact her, find out if she's at work, find out if her car's at work. He drives her to the hotel she works at, has her go into the parking garage to see if she can find Megan's car, has her go inside to see if she can contact Megan herself directly. And you'll see the text messages from him to Laura Thurlow throughout the course of the end of January 2017. Help me, help me, help me. I thought you were going to fix this, I thought you were going to fix this, I thought you were going to fix this. And it's at this point, Laura will tell you that the defendant has developed an alternative plan as to how to deal with Megan's future. And she'll tell you that at that time, the defendant tells her, you know, if I can't get her back, maybe you know somebody who can help me get rid of her. And the reason he asked Laura that is because Laura has a background with working with criminal defense attorneys. And in the defendant's mind, he thinks, well, you must know some dirtbags. You must know some people who I can get employed by me, who I can use to get Megan out of the picture. Now, Laura, at that point, as you might imagine, starts to fear for her own sake. And it's at that point she talks to her friend named Kenneth. Now, I have a PowerPoint up here just to keep all the people straight in your mind because it is a story involving several people. So Laura Thurlow talks to a friend of hers named Kenneth. And Laura Thurlow is in a difficult spot because, like I said, her uncle is good friends with the defendant's mother. And she'll tell you, in hindsight, I should have gone to the police. I should have told the police what was going on. I should have told the police what this guy was saying. I should have told the police I felt threatened myself. And instead, she talks to her friend named Kenneth. Now, Kenneth is a guy that she knows, an acquaintance who is kind of a rough and tumble guy. And she asks Kenneth, hey, can you get this guy to back off of me? And you'll see the reason why, like I said in the text messages, that he's calling her incessantly, fix this problem for me. And Kenneth says, no problem. I can call him. Before Kenneth is able to do anything, Kenneth unexpectedly does. Now, Kenneth has a friend named Motaz Azee. Now, he's going to be referred to throughout this trial, but as Motaz Azee, his real name, but also Zach, because that's the name the defendant knows him by. Laura attempts to call Kenneth to speak with him. Zach has Kenneth's phone because Kenneth, they were roommates, he has Kenneth's personal belongings. Kenneth had died the day before. Motaz answers the phone and has a discussion with Laura. There's some discussion about the defendant at the end of that conversation. Laura believing now that Motaz, knowing his background and he was in the military, thinking that he can take care of the defendant and get him off her back, tells the defendant, this guy's going to contact you. Laura thinks that Motaz is going to contact the defendant and say exactly what Kenneth was going to say. Leave this girl alone. Well, Motaz calls the defendant. And Motaz meets with the defendant. Motaz does not do that. Motaz meets with the defendant under the guise of himself being a hitman. Now, Motaz is way in over his head from the beginning. There's no question with that. Motaz meets with the defendant. And when he realizes how serious the situation is, is when at their first meeting, the defendant gives him several thousand dollars to take care of his problem. Now Motaz, I think, recognizes himself he is in over his head. So what does he do now? Well, what he does is for the next several weeks, he strings the defendant along. There's no evidence that you'll hear of any kind that he ever intended to hurt Megan, that he ever intended to kill Megan. He actually, at one point, and he'll tell you this, makes up a story how he kidnapped Megan and tried to convince her to leave the city. And the defendant believes it. Now, you're going to hear from Megan herself and she'll tell you that never happened. Motaz is drawing out the time. He's trying to figure out what to do with this guy. Now, in the meantime, in late January of 2017, the defendant is charged with assault of a family member. With the victim being Megan Varakis. From an incident that occurred back on January 12th, the day she was charged with assault of a family member. In late February, the defendant is charged with a felony offensive stalking, Megan. And it's at this point that Michael Kubosh enters the picture. Now, Michael Kubosh is a bondsman. He's also a city councilman. Many of you may have heard of him. He is the one that makes the defendants bond. Now, his name had come up because Motaz had told the defendant about him in the past. Mr. Kubosh makes the defendant's bond. The defendant has not heard from Motaz in several days. Given the current situation, given the current situation, now he's charged with a felony that can end him up in prison. He goes to Mr. Kubosh, demanding to know how he's charged with the defendant. He goes to Mr. Kubosh demanding to know where Zack is. Because Zack would always contact the defendant, not the other way around. Zack would contact the defendant through various numbers because he didn't want the defendant to have his number. And so the defendant came storming in Mr. Kubosh's office demanding to get a hold of Zack. Mr. Kubosh didn't know who he was talking about because Zack, for one, is not Motaz's real name. And then the defendant tells Mr. Kubosh that he needs to find Zack because he has paid him a lot of money to take care of his problem. And Mr. Kubosh is going to tell you it's very obvious to him what he's talking about. He's talking about Megan Veracott. He doesn't provide him any information of any kind. He's actually so startled by the entire situation that he feels as though he might be getting set up for something. Because he'll tell you he cannot believe that this man is coming in here and saying the things that he's saying to me. And he alerts the police. Eventually he's put in contact with investigators from the Harris County DA's office. They're able to find Motaz. They learn from him what's been happening. They get Houston Police Department Major Offenders Division. They get Houston Police Department Major Offenders Division involved because Houston Police Department Major Offenders Division is a division with the police department that specializes in solicitation cases. They bring an officer named Javier Duran into the situation. Introduce him to Motaz. And the plan is to have Javier introduced to the defendant as a hitman. And that's exactly what happens. So Motaz calls the defendant. You're going to hear several recordings. There's 12 total phone calls that are recorded. There are two personal meetings between Officer Duran and the defendant that are recorded. And you're going to hear them all. The very first one. The very first one is Motaz calling the defendant to set up a meeting the following day to introduce the undercover officer. And it's at that time that the defendant brings up a second problem. Valerie's problem. Now Valerie McDaniel is the now girlfriend of Leon Jacob. At the end of January into February of 2017, they've developed a romantic relationship. He's now living with her. And now he brings Valerie's problem into the situation. Now at that time, Officer Duran has no idea what Valerie's problem is. But he's going to find that very quickly. He's going to find out the next day what Valerie's problem is. It's marrying Mac McDaniel. He's the ex-husband of Valerie McDaniel. They have a child together. And that's going to be important here in a minute. But she is now involved in this. And so is he. Because the defendant is letting everybody know that there are two problems that need to be taken care of, not just one. The meeting takes place the following day. It's at an Olive Garden. Present at that meeting are the undercover officer, Javier Duran. Motez Aziz, Valerie McDaniel, and the defendant. And the purpose of the meeting is going to be very clear from the get-go team. One of the first things the defendant says or asks of Officer Duran is, "Are you a cop? Are you a police officer? I have to cover my bases. Are you a cop?" is exactly what he says. Officer Duran says no. The conversation continues. And the conversation mostly focuses on Megan. And you'll hear that all options are on the table when it comes to Megan. All options. Kidnapping her, planting drugs in her car to get her in trouble, and ultimately killing her. And there'll be no question that Megan's death is an option. A prominent option in the drugs in her car to get her in trouble and ultimately kill it. And there will be no question that Megan's death is an option, a prominent option in the plan here, because you will hear the defendant himself state that he would like to kill her himself. You heard that right. You will hear him say he will make reference to potassium chloride that will stop her heart and that it's untraceable. So the stakes here are clear. He believes he's talking to a hitman. He is talking about killing his ex-girlfriend. So the trajectory of this relationship is set from the beginning. Now you'll hear him say things like, "I prefer she not be hurt. I prefer that doesn't happen." Well, he'll have a chance to act on that preference. We'll talk about that in a minute. Eventually, the conversation turns to Mac McDaniel. And you'll come to learn, that Mac McDaniel is a problem for Leon as well. He's not just Valerie's problem. He's Leon's problem and this is why. Mac and Valerie share custody of their child. Mac knows that the defendant is now living with his ex-wife. Mac also knows that the defendant is charged with a family member and stalking. And like any good father, as you would imagine, he tells Valerie, "My daughter is not going to be around this guy. There is no way that I will allow my daughter to be in that household with you and him." And that's perfectly reasonable, right? So now he is Leon Jacobs' problem. And you will hear Leon Jacobs talk about Mac McDaniel. You'll hear how much he disdains this man. You'll hear how much he hates this man. What he calls him. That he doesn't care what the hitman does to him. He'll even say, "I know what I want done with him." And then he leaves the table. He leaves his girlfriend alone with the hitman to discuss what she would like done with him. Because he insists, "Not my decision. It's hers." And during that time, you'll hear Valerie talking to undercover officer Duran and she agrees to pay $10,000 to kill her ex-husband. When the defendant comes back to the table, officer Duran makes it clear to all the parties there, including the defendant and Motaz Aziz, what had just happened. It's going to be a $10,000 fee. He's going to be killed. It's going to look like a robbery. Immediately upon learning that, the defendant offers to pay $2,500 a week for four weeks. And he'll say that again. He'll talk about making payment again. Because later that night, there is a custody dispute between Valerie and Mack. Mack has her daughter. Valerie wants her daughter. The police are called. And the defendant has had enough. The defendant calls Officer Duran, the hitman. You've got to take care of this problem now. You've got to take care of this problem now. Again, playing around the words of things, whatever Valerie told you, do it. Now, you will know, based on the evidence that he understands exactly what Valerie told the hitman to do with Mack. Because he's standing right there when Officer Duran tells him this. He believes that because he doesn't use certain words, he's not responsible. But he says, just get it done and you'll get your payment. Well, unbeknownst to them, of course, HPD has contacted Mack. They've contacted Megan. They've both been warned that there is a valid threat to their lives and they both agree to cooperate. And so the next day, undercover Officer Duran goes to Valerie's condo to meet with the defendant to let him know that Mack has been killed. And there's the proof. Mack has agreed to take part in the staged death scene. And these are the pictures, or this is one of the pictures that Officer Duran intended to show them when he arrived at her apartment that night. And he makes it clear, and this is, again, a recording you'll hear, the officer makes it clear he is dead. He is dead. At that point, Valerie excuses herself from the conversation. What is the reaction to learning of Mack's death? Is it shock? Is it disbelief? This is never how I wanted it to go. What is this? What have you done? No. No. Because that was the plan, to have Mack killed. Immediately after talking about Mack and how he died, the defendant then steers the conversation back to Megan. Because, again, this is the path that he has set them on. This is for real now. He knows that a person's been killed in his direction. But, again, the defendant gets what he wants. The defendant wins. Because you'll hear the reasons why he wants this done. With Mack, it's clear. With Megan, it's because of the criminal cases. And he'll refer to those cases over and over and over again. If she goes away, then these cases go away. If she goes away, then these cases go away. You'll even hear about an elaborate plan to have the hitman take Megan's phone, send him an email from her email address saying, "I'm sorry. I love you." He then plans to forward that information on to his defense attorney who will then present it to the court or the prosecutor in order to have his cases dismissed. That is how far the defendant goes to get what he wants. And I'm not suggesting it wasn't Mr. Parnum, and I'm not suggesting the defense attorney was involved in this. But this is how far out he has planned his own survival. And he'll say it over and over again, "I need this taken care of. Whatever it takes, I need it taken care of." The night after the meeting at her apartment, in Valerie's apartment, they decide to contact him about Megan being abducted. And it's at this point the defendant can really put his preference into action. During their conversations that night, this is the picture that the defendant gets. We have Megan. [00:18:15] Speaker ?: We have Megan. [00:18:17] Speaker 1: She's zip tied. She's duct taped. If there was any time for the defendant to say, "Enough is enough. Enough is enough. Let her go. I don't want her hurt. I don't want her killed. Just end this." There are plenty of opportunities for him to have said that. But this, this right here, is the last one. And he doesn't. Because he knows the end game in all this. Mack was going to die, and Megan was going to die. And Leon Jacob was going to get to walk away. Because there was two obstacles to the defendant's new life with Valerie McDaniel. It was Mack and it was Megan. Mack could keep Valerie away from him by making Valerie choose between the defendant and her daughter. And Megan could make him end up in prison. Those were his problems. He expected them to both be dead. And when he was arrested, in the early morning hours of March 10th of last year, he believed they both were dead. He's guilty of solicitation of capital murder for both Megan Varakis and Mack McDaniel. And at the end of this trial, we'll ask you to reach that perfect. Thank you.