Julie Braun's senseless murder by Jeremie Overstreet

Jeremie Overstreet was living with a young, attractive woman at the time he committed his rape and murder. Holly Doyle was lucky to have been living with a violent monster and wind up unharmed. Did she know about his prior conviction for rape and subsequent jailtime? Did she know he was on parole and actively in violation after moving to Fresno? If she knew either of these things, would she have continued letting Overstreet live with her?

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

His rape was not merely about sex – the young Overstreet had relatively ready access to simple carnal pleasures. Even if he hadn't been dating an exotic dancer, Jeremie was a decent-looking guy and apparently "articulate". Overstreet's crime was about domination, and some cruel enjoyment he got from violating women. It was said his first victim was probably given the same choice Jeremie gave Julie Braun – either have sex with him or die. It's unknown which Julie chose or if she fought Overstreet. Even if she'd succumbed to this fiend's assault, it's likely he wouldn't have left her alive. Overstreet's previous victim hadn't been killed, and he ultimately was convicted of her rape.

It seems there were unnatural urges pushing Jeremie to attack women. Just three days prior to Julie Braun's murder, Overstreet attempted to lure the wife of the apartment complex's manager to a dark corridor. The advantage of hindsight makes his motivations obvious. Thankfully, this potential victim was suspicious enough to avoid Overstreet's ploy, despite his insistence. His sick desires seemed to outweigh his self-preservation – quickly targeting another woman in the same complex was a dumb move. Did Overstreet think the manager's wife would have forgotten about the disturbing incident? Or perhaps he never believed she was suspicious in the first place.

Related cases from Forensic Files

When this tale and Jeremie Overstreet's description was shared with investigators, their best lead emerged. Living right next door to Julie and having a prior conviction for rape easily led to Jeremie being the number one suspect in her death. His rapid departure and avoidance of the police didn't support his innocence either. Even when a very obvious suspect is revealed, Forensic Files offers other persons of interest. This is partly to share the policework taken to clear additional suspects, and partly as a red herring to mislead the viewer.

Consider the case of Chris Edwards' murder of Jessica O'Grady in 2006. Early in the episode Sworded Scheme (s13e15), 19-year-old Edwards provides an alibi for the night in question. Meanwhile, another man named Chris that Jessica had recently dated was shown to have a criminal record. Even though his history and sex offender status painted him to be a likely culprit, the episode circled back to Chris Edwards as the killer. Similar scenarios played out in Disrobed (s12e23) where tenant Mel Speegle seemed like a possible suspect in the murder of Diane and Alan Johnson, and in Smoking Out a Killer (s12e30) where John Paul Phillips and Daniel Wolason were both likely perpetrators in the murder of Susan Schumake, a Southern Illinois University student.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Other likely suspects (that are sometimes, and sometimes not the actual perpetrator) very often include the victim's ex-spouse. It's no wonder our episode suggested that John Braun, Julie's ex-husband and father of her children, might have been involved in her murder. John was thousands of dollars behind in his child support payments, and his new girlfriend had known tension with Julie Braun. Forensic Files was able to interview John Braun for his unique perspective on the case – this always provides an interesting angle in my opinion. And it seems his interview setting neither affirmed nor rejected the idea that he might be in jail.

Other ex-husbands have made noteworthy appearances throughout Forensic Files. John Hamilton's murder of his wife Susan from Deadly Valentine (s10e16) included Susan's former husband Richard Horton. He was respectful and stoic (albeit a bit smug) as he described Susan and his perception of her relationship with Dr. Hamilton. Another ex-husband interview (this time "estranged") is found in Driven to Silence (s12e24). Dana Satterfield, a mother of two, was murdered in her workplace in 1995. A fingerprint belonging to her husband was found at the scene, but police learned that its presence had a very logical explanation. In the episode's interview, Mike Satterfield explained that he performed all of the maintenance at Dana's workplace. Ultimately her killer was identified as a 17-year-old sociopath, Johnathan Vick.

As an honorable mention in the "ex-husband interview" category, the episode Writing on the Wall (s13e36) featured the murder of Karen Pannell. She was found in her Florida apartment, and it seemed she wrote a name on the wall in her own blood as she was dying. The letters R-O-C were plainly visible to police, and they soon learned of Karen's ex-boyfriend, Roc Herpich. They'd had a bitter breakup a year earlier. Interestingly, the background of Herpich's interview gives clear indications of a jail setting. However, a close look reveals Roc is shot against a green screen, and the jailhouse background was added later.

Police investigation of Jeremie Overstreet

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

As an exotic dancer, Holly Doyle certainly had access to plenty of gentleman suitors. So, among the endless stream of men hitting on her, what drew Holly to Jeremie Overstreet? It seems among all these men, she found Jeremie "articulate and attractive". Apparently gainful employment wasn't a prerequisite for Holly – perhaps she saw Jeremie as a project? This young man was down on his luck, and Holly was going to help him rebound by letting him move in with her. He'd clean up his act, find a good job, and they'd live happily ever after. I think Holly should've set her sights higher, no matter how articulate Jeremie was.

In addition to Holly, it seems Jeremie was able to charm his way into Julie Braun's life as well. There'd been no forced entry into her apartment; Julie had let Overstreet in. Despite being on parole, Jeremie asked Julie for help securing a loan for a car. How he hoped she might accomplish this when he wouldn't be able to prove he had a source of income is confusing. And it wouldn't have taken Julie long to discover that Jeremie was an unlikely candidate for any type of loan. This had been another ruse by the sycophant to gain a woman's confidence.

A bit of consideration was given to the bloody footprints found in Julie Braun's apartment. These were certainly made by Jeremie, but the low quality of the prints on the carpet and on Julie's body made them unusable. Still, the presence of Julie's blood on footwear owned by Overstreet would have been compelling evidence. Our episode gave no additional information whether or not the shoes were located or even looked for. His shirt nor pants were found, so it's likely that Jeremie Overstreet also disposed of his shoes after the murder.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Kudos to Holly Doyle for sharing the detailed information about the shirts she'd purchased for Jeremie – specifically the Eddie Bauer shirt from which the button was found. Even though this (and the fact that this new shirt was now missing) was highly circumstantial evidence, it informed detectives that they were focusing on the right suspect. Ultimately, it was Julie's blood located in Holly Doyle's apartment where Jeremie was also living that had the most evidentiary value and sealed Overstreet's conviction. But had investigators looked for Jeremie's blood (from the wound on his hand) on Julie's body?

Julie Braun's murder: Additional observations

Our "File This Under…" section of recurring themes in Forensic Files includes "Love triangle". Brenda's jealousy and willingness to fight Julie over her perception that John's ex-wife might've been trying to lure him back certainly contained the components of a love triangle. But since John nor Brenda were ultimately involved in Julie's murder, this occurrence didn't warrant the designation for this episode. A genuine love triangle is seen when Patricia Rorrer killed Joann Katrinak and her 4-month-old son Alex in 1994. In an attempt to win back her ex-boyfriend Andrew, Rorrer felt killing his new bride and newborn son would eliminate the competition for his affection.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

I'm not convinced that Jeremie Overstreet claimed one of Julie Braun's business cards as a "trophy" as suggested by Assistant District Attorney, Jon Skiles. It's more likely Julie offered him her business card, and Overstreet simply stuffed it in his wallet to perpetuate his feigned interest in exploring a car loan. Not every perpetrator is inclined to take something from their victim as a token to memorialize their act. Jeremie Overstreet had committed rape before, and it wasn't suggested that he retained anything from his previous victim. Is it possible though that Jeremie Overstreet had killed before and gotten away with it?

Lastly, there was a bit of a chronological error observed around the episode's 16:45 mark. It's stated Overstreet was charged with Julie's murder in "July of 1999". But additional research put Julie's murder on August 1, 1999 – and recall that Overstreet was on the run for a week and then jailed on a parole violation while detectives sought additional evidence in order for the charges they planned to file to stick. A minor but noteworthy faux pas.

Where is Jeremie Overstreet now in 2024?

On March 1, 2003, Jeremie Overstreet was convicted of murder, attempted rape, and burglary. He was sentenced to two life terms without parole. He is inmate #T88986 serving his sentence at the Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, California. Interestingly, he has a fairly recent profile on PrisonFriendship.com where he seeks conversation with persons from any walk of life, shows off his artwork, and claims his innocence.