Twisted Love on Investigation Discovery examines the case of teen lovers 18-year old Jennifer Lynn Jones and 19-year-old Bobbi Jo Smith, who murdered their roommate, Robert Dow, and went on the run across the Southwestern US States before finally being caught in California.
Jennifer had been dating boys since she was fourteen; however, she seemed to discover a kindred spirit with Bobbi Jo. She moved into the house that Bobbi Jo shared with 49-year-old Bod Dow and his incapacitated mother.
As well as a roof over her head Dow kept Bobbi Jo well supplied with a variety of drugs. In return, Bobbi Jo would bring young women back for Dow, telling them she knew somewhere they could party. Dow expressed an interest in having sex with Jennifer, but she was repulsed by the idea.
As time passed and the two young women became closer and more and more consumed by drug addiction, they became convinced that the world and particularly Bob Dow was trying to force them apart. They decided to kill Dow.
The murder of Bob Dow
On May 5, 2004, Bobbi Jo supplied Jennifer with a loaded firearm, which she hid in the back of her pants. She went into Dow’s home and told him she wished to sex with him. Precisely what happened next remains unclear, but Dow was shot dead.
Jennifer and Bobbi Jo immediately confessed the murder to Jennifer’s mother and sister, and sister’s girlfriend. The five women all agreed to skip town. They drove a banged-up pickup truck slowly across Texas and New Mexico. In Arizona, the small group of outlaws fractured, with only Jennifer and Bobbi Jo continuing to California.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelJennifer and Bobbi Jo went on the run
Just over the state line in the small town of Blythe, California, the two women were finally arrested by police officers who were allegedly acting on information received from family members. Despite fantasizing about Thelma and Louise or Bonnie and Clyde scenarios of going out in a blaze of gunfire, the two surrendered without incident.
The pair were tried separately with Jennifer receiving a sentence of 48 years and Bobbi Jo, a sentence of 50 years in prison.
Bobbi Jo appealed in 2007 but the judgment was affirmed by the Eleventh Court of Appeals in Texas.
Other cases involving homicidal women
In another case from Twisted Love, read about Chastity West, who slashed the children of her boyfriend with a box cutter while in a jealous rage. There’s also the case of Samantha Wohlford, who hatched a devious plan which involved husband, Ernest Ibarra, being kidnapped and shot execution-style.
Follow the case on Twisted Love at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.
Love is crazy,but it shouldn’t make you kill..
Absolutely right
I just finished reading the book by M. William Phelps titled, Bad Girls. It seems to me that Bobbi Jo should have been entitled to a new trial. It sounds like Jennifer Jones could do anything and get by with lying and because of her sexuality, Bobbi Jo was held at a much different standard and charged as if she actually pulled the trigger and not Jennifer. Very sad and disgusting that she was treated as such. I don’t know if there’s anything to be done to help her get out of that prison, but at the very least, she should be entitled to a new trial. Also, why wasn’t Jen’s journal brought in to this case at some point? That seemed to have a good background on Jennifer Jones and her life up to meeting Bobbi Jo.
I have worked with a family seeking Justice for their murdered daughter and these injustices happening across this country are unacceptable. Laws are not the same for everyone and especially when it comes to murder. Here in southern Illinois, we have had several cases where the person who committed the crime walked away unscathed. SMH…