The Case - Mascotte, Florida

To have a better understanding of the layout of the important places in Mascotte, Florida pertinent to this case, I have "google-earthed" and marked the area. In this first picture it is a shot of Teresa McAbee's house located at 29 South Sunset Avenue in Mascotte, Florida 34753. This is how the house appears today, not too different than in 1987.

This next picture is of the convenience store that was called the Circle K and the laundromat next door, again very similar to 1987. The dumpster is to the right of the building  behind the pickup truck.

The next picture shows Polly's Bar now under a different name. This street leads to Teresa's house.

The next is a series of pictures as if walking from the convenience store toward Teresa's house. The lake (where her body was found) is on the right.

It is a very short walking distance from the store to her house (under 5 minute walk).

This is the view of the dumpster from Teresa's house (see how close it is).

This is the view of the lake across the street from Teresa's house.

Teresa's body was found on the edge of the shore of the lake behind the pump house 1500 feet from her home on the curve of the lake. Google states that it is only a 5 minute walk from Teresa's house.

As you can see by the pictures, the crime of raping and murdering Teresa McAbee was all within walking distance from her home.  There is no logic to this case, that Teresa would have to  be taken in a car (or police cruiser) in order to commit this crime.

The Commission on Capital Cases

Duckett's Brief

STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS

The Statement of the Case and Facts as set out on pages 1-19

of Duckett’s brief is argumentative and is denied.

The Facts from Direct Appeal

On direct appeal, this Court summarized the facts of this

case in the following way:

The facts in this opinion are set forth in extensive

detail since the convictions are based on

circumstantial evidence. Duckett, a police officer for

the City of Mascotte, was the only officer on patrol

from 7:00 p.m., May 11, 1987, to 7:00 a.m., May 12,

1987. Between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. on May 11, Teresa

McAbee, an eleven-year-old girl, walked a short

distance from her home to a convenience store to

purchase a pencil. Teresa left the store with a

sixteen-year-old Mexican boy, who was doing laundry

next door. The boy testified that they walked over to

the convenience store's dumpster and talked for about

twenty minutes before Duckett approached them. A clerk

at the convenience store testified that Duckett

entered the store and asked her the girl's name and

age, at which time she advised him that Teresa was

between ten and thirteen years old. After indicating

that he was going to check on her, Duckett exited the

store and walked toward the dumpster, where he located

the two children. Duckett testified that he conversed

with the children and subsequently, acting in his

capacity as a police officer, instructed Teresa to

return home. The sixteen-year-old boy testified that,

after speaking with Duckett, he went to the laundromat

to wait for his uncle, who arrived soon thereafter;

that Duckett and Teresa were standing near the patrol

car; and that Duckett asked the uncle the nephew's

age. Subsequently, Duckett suggested that the uncle

talk to his nephew while he spoke to Teresa. According

to the uncle and the boy, Duckett placed Teresa in the

passenger's side of his patrol car and shut the door

before proceeding to the driver's side. The uncle also

testified that he never saw Teresa touch the hood of

Duckett's car.

At approximately 11:00 p.m., Teresa's mother walked to

the convenience store, searching for her daughter.

Upon arrival, she was told by the store's clerk that

Duckett may have taken her daughter to the police

station. The mother then left the store and spent

about an hour with her sister driving around Mascotte

in search of Teresa. During this time, the mother did

not see a police car. She next went to the Mascotte

police station and, finding no one there, she drove a

short distance to the Groveland police station. There,

she told an officer that she wanted to report her

daughter as missing. The officer told her that he

would contact a Mascotte officer to meet her at the

Mascotte police station. Teresa's mother returned to

the Mascotte police station and waited for fifteen to

twenty minutes before Duckett arrived. After arriving,

Duckett told her that he had spoken with Teresa at the

store; that she had been in his police car; and that

he had directed her to return home. Before returning

home, the mother also filed a missing person report

with Duckett. Subsequently, Duckett went to the

mother's residence to get a picture of her daughter,

called the police chief to inform him of the missing

person report, and advised the police chief that he

had made a flyer and did not need any help in the

matter. Duckett then returned to the convenience store

with a flyer but told the clerk not to post it since

it was not a good picture. Although he told the clerk

that he would return with a better one, he never did.

Duckett did bring flyers to two other convenience

stores. The clerk at one of these stores testified

that, while the police usually drove by every

forty-five minutes to an hour, Duckett came by at 9:30

p.m. but failed to return until he brought the flyer

later that evening. A tape of Duckett's radio calls

indicated none between 10:50 p.m. and 12:10 a.m. At

1:15 a.m., Duckett went to the uncle's house to

question his nephew about Teresa, and Duckett returned

to the mother's home around 3:00 a.m.

Later that morning, a man saw what he believed to be

a body in a lake and went to find the police chief,

who determined that it was Teresa's body. The lake is

less than one mile from the convenience store where

Teresa was last seen.

James Aren Duckett - Introduction

James Duckett was born James Hunter on September 4, 1957 to Louise Jordan and James Hunter. When James was 3 years old his mother married James Duckett. When young James Hunter turned 12 years old he signed his own adoption papers and he became James Aren Duckett. He met Carla Roberts when she was 13 years old and he was 15. They married July 11, 1977 when he was almost 20 and Carla almost 18. They had two sons, Justin Samuel born November 13, 1982 and Joshua Ryan born May 15, 1985. To support his family, James enrolled at the police academy in Eustis, Florida. Mascotte Police Chief Mike Brady hired James Duckett before he graduated in November 1986.

While James was on duty as a Mascotte policeman, working the 7pm till 7am shift Monday May 11, 1987 (the day after Mother's Day) a little girl, named Teresa Mae Mcabee, was reported missing by her mother Dorothy Mcabee a little after 11pm. Teresa's body was found on the edge of Knight Lake just a few hundred yards from her home at 9am the next morning. At that time, James was off duty and called to the crime scene. When he shook hands with an investigating officer from the Lake County Sheriff's office, his fate was sealed. That handshake made James the prime suspect, regardless of any facts in the case. Like the Melinda Duckett case, this case was built upon picking a suspect, then building a case, even when the evidence proved otherwise.

Melinda Duckett did not know that James Duckett was Josh's father. When she met Josh he went by the name of Josh Boggs, his mother's second husband. When James' case came up for appeal in Lake County Florida in 2003, Josh told Melinda that his name was not Boggs but Joshua Duckett. Melinda became interested in James' case and wrote him letters. She also acquired a  book written by Jeanne Bragg called "The Truth Shall Set Him Free". Jeanne believed in James' innocence and spent over 10 years researching his case. Melinda also believed James innocent and told him she wanted to help him. She also wanted to reconcile Josh and James as Josh hadn't seen him since James was incarcerated. Melinda and Josh went to visit James in 2005 then Melinda went to see him in May 2006.  Unbeknown to Melinda, Josh Duckett visited James on August 12, 2006. He was  very angry when he found out that James was siding with Melinda regarding the threatening email and also sending child support for Trenton. That same night Melinda was frantically calling friends to get her hands on $5,000 cash because she needed to protect herself and Trenton from Josh.  She was scheduled to visit James again on Sunday August 27, 2006, but James cancelled the visit.That fateful day, Trenton Duckett was abducted.