Snapped is investigating the murder of Gerald Lee Jensen by his stepdaughter, Nicole Thornhill, and her boyfriend, Christopher Tomlinson, in Stuart, Florida.
On April 21, 2008, Tomlinson killed Jensen, his girlfriend’s stepfather, by stabbing him multiple times with a sword in the victim’s apartment.
Thornhill was not present at the time, but she soon returned to the apartment and helped Tomlinson clean the crime scene with bleach. They then dumped the body in a nearby dumpster.
The gruesome couple then went about their day as if nothing abnormal had happened. They each attended a doctor’s appointment before having lunch at a nearby mall.
Jensen’s remains were discovered three days later in a landfill.
The cops learned that Thornhill and Tomlinson had been plotting the murders of Jensen and Thornhill’s mother, Jensen’s wife, Kristan Jensen. They had already laced their victims’s tequila and a milk carton with a sleeping aid; however, they had used enough for a fatal dose.
Christopher Tomlinson convicted for killing Gerald Lee Jensen
Tomlinson eventually confessed that he had been the killer, but he still ended up in a jury trial. In 2010, a Martin County jury took only three hours to find him guilty of first-degree murder, which led to an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelThe twisted killer was also sentenced to 30 years for first-degree attempted murder.
Although Thornhill was not in the apartment when her stepfather was brutally butchered, investigators claimed she’d played an integral role in the murder and the cover-up.
She entered a guilty plea for second-degree murder and was given a 50-year sentence. She was also given 30 years for first-degree attempted murder. The sentences will run concurrently.
Nicole Thornhill told mom she loved her after conviction for attempting to kill her
At her sentencing, Thornhill mouthed “I love you” to her mother and told Circuit Chief Judge Steven Levin, “I’m sorry to my mother, my family, and my step-father’s family. It’s not [my mother’s] fault. She did the best job she could when she raised me.”
In an open letter to her daughter, Kristan Jensen said, “You’re going to have to find a way through this and come out stronger in the long run.”
Some of Thornhill’s family members claimed that she had a difficult and abusive childhood, which resulted in her being easily led astray by the “evil” Tomlinson.
Snapped airs Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen.