Loren Bunner and Jolee Callan had picked a beautiful day to take a hike through the heavily wooded Pinhoti Trail area of Mount Cheaha, Alabama, in August 2015.
Before they’d headed off, Loren, then 20, posted a picture of Jolee on his Instagram account – the first of four photos that day. The snap showed Jolee, 18, sitting in the front of Loren’s car with his dog. The caption read, ‘On our way to go hiking.’
Jolee and Loren had once been a couple, but now they were trying to find a way to move on as friends
A few times, Jolee had tried to end the relationship, but Loren would emotionally blackmail her into taking him back, threatening to end his life if she didn’t. Jolee found it easier to give in, but now she’d graduated from high school and was making plans for college, she’d finally plucked up the courage to finish things for good. While she moved on, Loren continued to call her, begging her to take him back.
When Loren suggested going for the hike just as friends, kind-hearted Jolee agreed. The night before, Jolee messaged a friend to say she was going out with Loren the next day. She made a joke, saying, ‘If something happens to me, you’ll know who I was with.’
During the hike, on 30th August, Loren updated his Instagram three more times. The last two photos were of Jolee standing on the edge of a cliff at the state park. Loren had written, ‘Oh, ya know. Just enjoying the view.’
At around 6pm that evening, Loren called 911 just off the local interstate and asked to speak to the police.
“I want to turn myself in for the murder of my ex-girlfriend Jolee Callan that happened just a little while ago on Cheaha Mountain,” he said, calmly.
Shortly afterwards, Jolee’s body was found at the bottom of a 40ft cliff on the Pinhoti Trail. She had been shot twice – once in the back of the head and once between the eyes. She was still wearing her backpack.
When questioned, Loren stunned investigators with his explanation. He told police that he’d shot Jolee in the head as part of a suicide pact, before throwing her off a cliff. When it was his turn to kill himself, he couldn’t go through with it.
“She didn’t want to see it coming,” Loren said, which is why he’d shot her from behind. But it didn’t explain why he’d then turned her over and shot the young girl between the eyes.
Police believed that Loren had simply lured Jolee to the remote area with the
intent of killing her because he wasn’t able to convince her to take him back. Jolee showed absolutely no signs of being depressed. She was making plans for the future and there was no note for her friends and family – it was completely out of character.
Loren, now 22, was sentenced to 52 years in prison .
Culled from Daily Mirror