Who was Jewell Parchman Langford? Wiki, Biography, Age, Family, Cause of Death

Jewell Parchman Langford Wiki - Jewell Parchman Langford Biography

Rodney Mervyn Nichols allegedly told detectives that he "had to come clean" when confessing to murdering beloved Tennessee businesswoman Jewell Parchman Langford and disposing of her remains in a Canadian river. That revelation, however, is said to have occurred some 50 years after the crime, immediately after police confronted him with the evidence, and years after he gave the initial investigators an impossible story about her contacting him when, in fact, she was already dead.

Now, as Nichols awaits extradition from Florida, both sides of the case are arguing about the veracity of his confession. Bernardo Lopez, a defense lawyer who is seeking release for Nichols throughout the extradition process, stated that his client is wheelchair-bound and has full-onset dementia. "Because Mr. Nichols' alleged confession is the strongest evidence supporting the required proof of probable cause, this court must examine the validity of the interrogation and resulting confession,"

Jewell Parchman Langford Age

Jewell Parchman Langford was 84 years old.

Jewell Parchman Langford Cause of Death

Lopez said in a Wednesday filing. He wanted an evidentiary hearing to examine how his client's medical and mental health issues affect the bond request and the legality of the extradition request to Canada. According to records, Nichols is still being held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami. Authorities acknowledged his alleged mental illness in a federal extradition suit filed in the United States.

"According to Canadian authorities, NICHOLS recently developed cognitive and memory issues, as reported by his Power of Attorney," prosecutors said. Investigators were aware of this and conducted a standard mental capacity examination of Nichol during the interview on February 1, 2022, at the North-Lake Retirement Home in Hollywood, Florida.Authorities believe Nichols was vocal and able to converse, and that he displayed accurate recall, such as when he corrected the interrogating officer about the name of his former rugby team and critiqued the lunch he had just eaten.

Lopez termed the investigators' mental capacity test "laughably inept," saying it fell short of ensuring someone is completely aware of the nature and conditions of the interview, his rights, and if he knowingly and freely surrendered those rights. Authorities said Langford, a well-known businesswoman in Tennessee, departed the country for Montreal in April 1975. According to federal records, she was last heard from on April 22, 1975.

Both the prosecution and defense filings state that she is dating Nichols. Authorities said they moved in together in Montreal.At the time of her disappearance, Langford's belongings, including her Cadillac, remained at her home in Montreal," prosecutors said. Police in Montreal were unable to locate her or charge anyone in connection with her disappearance.

On May 3, 1975, Ontario authorities discovered her floating face down in the Nation River and had no method of identifying her. For decades, "The Nation River Lady" went unnamed, and Langford was considered missing until investigators unearthed her bones in 2018 and used her DNA to locate find her relatives in 2021.

"The Victim was partially naked, her hands and feet were bound with neckties, a twenty-four-inch piece of black plastic-covered coaxial cable wire was loosely wrapped around her neck, and her head was covered by a handcloth, a towel, and a tablecloth, all of which were knotted tightly around her neck," according to the documents.

Her larynx was fractured twice, according to the autopsy. According to the coroner's findings, she died of strangulation by ligature of the neck. The presence of swelling around the ligatures suggested to Canadian authorities that the Victim was alive when her wrists and ankles were tied," prosecutors stated. Her lungs, however, were devoid of water.

Given this, Canadian detectives assumed she died before entering the ocean.Nichols allegedly offered investigators contradictory stories in his testimony from 1975 and 2021. According to prosecutors, he was interviewed by Montreal police on June 7, 1975, at the home he shared with Langford, even though he was not considered a suspect at the time.

"She complained about being alone and told him she was going to take a solo trip across Canada," Nichols allegedly claimed. "NICHOLS took her wallet and vehicle keys to keep her from fleeing, and as he did so, he noticed the date of birth on her driver's license and realized she was much older than he had assumed." This aggravated the situation, but he went to bed."

Langford was supposedly gone when he returned home from work the next day.He claimed she called him in early June 1975 and told him she was in Vancouver, according to records. But that was when authorities discovered her body in the Nation River. On June 12, 1975, the investigator followed up with Nichols. Nichols apparently stated that he had not heard from Langford since their last phone call.

Years later, in 2011, Canadian researchers were able to create a partial male DNA profile from a green fabric covering Langford's face.Investigators suspect Langford lied when he stated Langford called him in June 1975, according to records. He was located in the North Lake Retirement Home in Hollywood, Florida. On February 1, 2022, Ontario police drove to Florida and interrogated Nichols in a retirement home, accompanied by the FBI.

Prosecutors claimed Nichols voluntarily provided a DNA sample to investigators. This supposedly corresponded to the partial male DNA profile obtained from the green fabric wrapped around Langford's face and neck in 2011. They said it was 190 times more likely to be his than anyone else's. Nichols first denied any involvement in Langford's disappearance, but when challenged about the body in the Nation River, he said he and Langford went sailing and she drowned when the sailboat capsized.

"NICHOLS subsequently stated that he tried to drown Langford in the Ottawa River because he was depressed," according to court documents. "When NICHOLS was shown photographs of the neckties that had been used to bind Langford's hands and ankles, he identified the neckties as belonging to him." Nichols was informed by Canadian officials that he had admitted to murdering Langford and that he could face charges.

According to investigators, Nichols told a legal aid lawyer in Canada that he had an incident with Langford at his Montreal home and subsequently discarded her body in the Nation River."When the [Ontario Provincial Police] investigator asked why he confessed, NICHOLS stated that he 'had to come clean,'" officials noted.