Social Media | MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL

ID Go: In a small Tennessee town, Jenelle Potter has few friends. When her attraction to one of them isn’t mutual, she is ostracized and feels threatened. Then a shadowy figure guides her family into a dark plot with a twisted ending no one saw coming. -Catfish Killer, Primal Instinct (S1, E4)

Date: January 31, 2012
Victims: Billie Jean Hayworth and Billy Payne
Offenders: Jenelle Potter, Barbara Potter, Marvin Potter, Marine Corp veteran
Location: Mountain City, Tennessee
Circumstances: Jenelle Potter catfished her parents Barbara and Marvin and led them to believe she was in danger, she posed as a CIA agent and manipulated Marvin Potter to kill Billie Jean Hayworth and Billy Payne after they unfriended her on Facebook
Disposition: Jenelle and Barbara Potter were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and given two life sentences; Marvin Potter plead guilty to murder and was given two life sentences

Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.

In the News:

Part 1: Living at home with her parents, Jenelle Potter spent most of her adult life on social media. -ABC News

Part 2: A friend found Bille Jean Hayworth and Billy Payne dead with single gunshot wounds to their faces. -ABC News

5 Dark & Twisted Catfish Stories. -FactFaction

Investigation Discovery:

ID Go: A young couple is found murdered, execution style, their infant still alive in the mother’s arms. As police investigate, the story takes a shocking turn when the admitted shooter claims this was a sanctioned hit ordered by a rogue CIA agent. -To Pretty to Live, Investigation Discovery (S1, E1)

USA Network:

In Tennessee, a family is driven to despair when their daughter Jenelle becomes the target of social media bullying. When two of Jenelle’s tormentors are found dead, the police uncover a bizarre web of assumed identities and mental manipulation. -The Sinner

Oxygen:

Jenelle Potter’s attorney, her sister, and others discuss the case after the verdict. -Killer Post, Oxygen

Jenelle Potter claimed that her Facebook account was hacked. -Criminal Confessions, Oxygen

Podcasts:

A young mother is shot to death while she clutches her 7-month old baby. Her husband lies executed in the next room. This isn’t the story of a Hollywood drama, but the tragic end to an average Tennessee working class family. Billie Jean Hayworth and her husband Billy Payne were going about their normal weekday morning routine when they were senselessly and violently murdered. The events that led to that morning are inexplicable, fueled by the petty ignorance of a woman who used social media to manipulate and hurt people. We’re taking a look at the catfishing murders of East Tennessee in this episode of True Crime Brewery: Unfriended. Settle in for a twisted tale of senseless murder, jealousy, and cruelty beyond what most of us could ever imagine. -True Crime Brewery

Related Links:
Web of Death!
Accused Facebook killer has local ties
Stolen Valor Marine charged with double FACEBOOK murder in my hometown
Murdered over a Facebook snub: Dad guns down couple who deleted his daughter on social network
Tennessee father murders couple after pair had deleted his adult daughter as friend on Facebook, authorities say
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Facebook Defriending Leads to Double Murder: Cops
What Does The Facebook Double Homicide Say About The Dark Side Of Social Media?
Murder investigation continues, court documents reveal tumultuous history
State closes in on Potter women
Tenn. father charged with murdering couple who”unfriended” daughter on Facebook
Woman posing as CIA agent convinces parents to kill Facebook friends
Testimony begins in Facebook ‘unfriending’ murder trial
Testimony begins in Facebook ‘unfriending’ murder trial
Testimony begins in Facebook ‘unfriending’ murder trial
Witness for the prosecution: Woman testifies against mother, sister in ‘Facebook murders’ trial
‘I never wished them dead’: Weeping killer begs for forgiveness over elaborate ‘catfish’ where she posed as a male CIA agent and encouraged the murder of a young couple
East Tennessee jury convicts women in Facebook slayings
East Tenn. mom, daughter convicted in slaying over Facebook unfriending
Guilty on all counts in Potter double-murder trial
Mother, daughter serve 2 life sentences in Tenn. Facebook murders
TN women convicted in Facebook slayings want new trial
Potter women to serve two life sentences; third person pleads guilty to role in Facebook murders
Marvin Potter sentenced to two life sentences for double murder
Potter guilty on two counts of First Degree Murder
Court of Criminal Appeals grants stay of appeal for Jenelle Potter
State of Tennessee vs. Marvin Potter, Jr. (2016)
Prosecutor writes book on Mountain City Facebook murders
Facebook murders documented in true crime book written by prosecutor
Story of Mountain City Facebook murders reaches national audience in book, tv special
Mountain City slayings case gets new prosecutor, new judge, new court date
Lawyer’s book about ‘Facebook Murders’ earns censure from TN Supreme Court
Prosecutor Censured for Book About Facebook Slayings
TDOC employee accused of meddling with Facebook murders case
Prison guard fired for letter on behalf of women convicted in ‘Facebook murders’
Convicted Tennessee Woman Denies Wanting Couple Dead After Social Media Feud
How a Social Media Feud Led to the Murder of a Young Tennessee Couple
‘Too pretty to live’: How a woman convinced her parents and boyfriend to kill ‘Facebook bullies’
Woman Impersonates CIA Agent to Convince Boyfriend, Parents to Murder Couple
Evil daughter tricked parents into murder
Prosecutor Censured for Book About Facebook Slayings
Facebook De-Friending Results in Double Murder
The Catfishing Murders of East Tennessee: Woman Poses as Male CIA Operative
Couple Murdered for ‘Unfriending’ Woman On Facebook
Jenelle Potter: ABC ’20/20′ Takes Look At Facebook Murder Of Mountain City, Tennessee Couple Who Unfriended Woman
Social Media Feuds That Escalated To Offline Murders
6 Murderers That Posted Their Kills On Facebook

YouTube:
Defense attorneys for women at center of “Facebook murders” ask for new trial
Defense attorneys in “Facebook murders” say new evidence revealed in prosecutor’s book warrants new trial
TDOC employee accused of meddling with Facebook murders case
Sullivan County District Attorney taking over “Facebook murders” case
TN appeals court upholds Marvin Potter’s conviction in Facebook killings
Tennessee Woman Claims She’s Victim of Online Threats to Her Life
Young Couple Found Murdered With Baby Alive, Covered in Blood
Unfriended: The Catfish Murders of Billie Jean Hayworth and Billy Payne
Episode 23: Jenelle Potter | Moms and Murder | A Podcast
Episode 23: Jenelle Potter | Moms and Murder | A Podcast
Jenelle Potter | Sword and Scale Episode 62 | Podcast
10: Jenelle Potter and the Facebook of Lies and Creepy Carl’s Corpse | Darkest Corners Podcast
The Sinner | Famous Murders Bizarre Motives: Jenelle Potter | USA Network
Criminal Confessions: Was Jenelle Potter Hacked? – Preview (Season 2, Episode 1) | Oxygen
#killerpost: After the Verdict Episode 1 – Payne and Potter | Oxygen
To Pretty to Live | Investigation Discovery (S1, E1)
Catfish Killer | Primal Instinct | Investigation Discovery (S1, E4)
Catfish Killer | Primal Instinct | Investigation Discovery (website)
5 Dark & Twisted Catfish Stories

History of Witch Hunts in America, located at the Salem Witch Museum, Massachusetts

Society has a tendency to respond in a crisis oriented fashion to a moral panic. After “The Invisible War” gaslighted America, all women soldiers were victims and all male soldiers were predators. This has been a repeated cycle after every sexual assault scandal. The media narratives reflect this and continue to perpetuate the myths typically choosing a blonde white female as the ‘victim’. But that’s not how it works in real life and male victims of crime in the military set both the filmmakers and the media straight. The momentum died off so they created another film about college sexual assault and tried again creating a female versus male division. No one really knows the statistics at the college campuses but in the military, the majority of victims of sexual assault and homicide are men. We care about the men just as much as we care about the women. We care about facts and evidence and have learned that the devil is in the details.

Learn more:
Rape Culture is a ‘Panic Where Paranoia, Censorship, and False Accusations Flourish’
A Complete List of the 35 Basic Military Training Instructors Court Martialed in the Lackland Air Force Base Sex Scandal
Minnesota football rape case emblematic of campus witch-hunt culture
Rape Culture in the West is as Real as ‘Witchcraft in Salem’
A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials
Defending Sexual Assault Cases Animation

In this video, a former D.A. (now criminal defense lawyer) explains the law of rape, penalties and sentencing, and common legal strategies to fight the case. Each year, countless innocent people get wrongfully arrested for rape and sexual assault. Sometimes there was a genuine misunderstanding between the accuser and the accused as to the issue of consent. Other times, the alleged victim makes up false allegations out of anger, jealousy or spite towards the accused. A conviction for Penal Code 261 can bring years, sometimes life in prison. It’s important in these situations to have an attorney and defense investigator who can scrutinize the background of the accuser and expose a fabricated story for what it it.