A Nebraska Man Arrested For Car Theft Makes Unprompted Murder Confession

When authorities cornered Jeremiah Connelly in the parking lot of a storage facility on Sept. 21, 2018, they were expecting to arrest and interview him about the reckless driving and stolen car they were alleging he drove.

Later, at the police station, detectives sat down with Connelly to find out more about the car, but the man made a startling revelation: “I loved her, so I killed her.”

Shocked detectives began asking more questions, slowly drawing the macabre story from the man in front of them.

Prior Bad Acts

Connelly had a lengthy criminal record for arson, robbery, and attempted kidnapping, and at the time of his arrest, he was only three months into freedom after serving 12 years in prison. As police questioned him more about the woman he was speaking of, they realized he had information about someone who hadn’t even been reported missing yet.

The day that Connelly was arrested for stealing a car and driving recklessly, the family of 22-year-old Jeanna Wilcoxen didn’t even realize she was missing. According to reports, they hadn’t been able to reach her beginning Sept. 17 but believed that she was busy and would return their calls soon.

Instead, Connelly told police that Wilcoxen was never coming back.

According to him, he and Wilcoxen were romantically involved and she was planning on moving in with him. Security camera footage shows the pair talking outside of a laundromat on Sept. 16, and Connelly claimed he grew angry after Wilcoxen told him she wasn’t going to move in with him after all. Rejected, Connelly left the laundromat but hatched a sinister plan.

He dressed in all black and stalked Wilcoxen through a park before jumping her, duct taping her hands, and forcing her into his van. He told the police that he wasn’t kidnapping her — he was saving her.

In the van, he sexually assaulted her before reportedly choking her to death. He then began working to cover his crimes by dumping her body, disposing of her belongings, and trying to burn his van in three different places in the area. Connelly then led police to all three locations.

Connelly went on trial for Wilcozen’s murder in September 2019 where he was found guilty after a Douglas County, Nebraska jury deliberated for about an hour. He was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Connelly is housed at the Nebraska Department of Corrections Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln.

For more on cases like this, stream Signs Of A Psychopath on discovery+.