Wednesday the State Attorney's Office released more evidence in the case involving murder suspect Kimberly Kessler.
Kessler is the sole suspect in the disappearance of Nassau County mother Joleen Cummings. Cummings has not been seen alive since May 2018.
The evidence released Wednesday contains interviews detectives conducted with many people from Kessler's past.
PHOTOS: Evidence collected in case against Kimberly Kessler, accused of killing Joleen Cummings
Here are 10 things people who went to high school with Kessler told detectives, according to interviews released by the SAO.
1) Kessler's high school friend, unnamed in the evidence, says to the detective, "Everybody was afraid of her. I tried to stay off Kim's radar because, quite honestly, she was a scary individual once she did this major change in personality."
2) Kessler's high school friend, unnamed in the evidence, says to the detective, "My neighbor remembers Kim going into that like witchcraft or voodoo mode or something real dark because, around the time Kim changed, it wasn't just her personality that changed, it was the heavier makeup, the rougher look, the rougher clothing, and my friend Hiedi says that, that was all a part of that transformation. She thinks Kim got into stuff like that."
3) Kessler's high school friend, unnamed in the evidence, says to the detective,"She went from dating one of the most popular students in high school to this guy... he would have been a little bit older than Kim by a year or two; but he was a very rough individual -- partying and probably sold drugs. That type of person."
4) Kessler's high school friend, unnamed in the evidence, says to the detective, "It was just like one day something snapped. It seemed to be maybe over a summer break, if I remember correctly, because it was like, one school year was great and then the next one she was just this different person."
5) Ray Wyant, a person who attended the same high school and knew of Kimberly Kessler and her brother, told detectives, "She ended up getting pissed off at him, OK, and said, 'I'll get even with you,' and she waited for him to fall asleep and she hit him over the mouth with a baseball bat. Basically blew all of his teeth out." Wyant is talking about Kessler's brother. He says Kessler's brother told him about the incident in person, according to the interview with detectives.
6) Wyant to detectives, "I mean she was, like, literally smokin' hot back in the day, and uh, I just think people just sensed that she could just, like, she could go off the wall at any moment."
7) According to reports, David Trempus is the man Kessler drove to Texas to propose to not long before Cummings went missing. After speaking with detectives and learning Kessler's real name, Trempus realized he knew Kessler from when they were kids. He told detectives he was a few years older, but his younger cousin was friends with Kessler. He says his cousin said Kessler had a crush on him when they were kids.
8) Kimberly McCall told Action News Jax reporter Jenna Bourne she was a childhood friend of Kessler's. She says the accusations cellmates say Kessler made while in prison about her mother are not true. According to cellmates, Kessler said her mother sold her to men and made a voodoo doll of Kessler's hair as punishment. McCall says, "I don't think that's true. And selling her, I don't think any of that's true at all. She never mentioned anything of the sort and I never saw anything out of line, anything that would be a flag for me to not want to go to her house," said McCall.
9) Kessler's ex-boyfriend, Tim Barnes, told detectives he went to high school with Kessler, but that they dated and lived together after high school. Here is some of his interview with detectives: "She's our main person of interest for a homicide," said the detective. "Yeah, I'm not surprised," said her ex-boyfriend. He says she would often appear to be kind but would "snap" if triggered. "She stabbed me in the chest, she bit my dad in the leg," he said.
10) Barnes also tells detectives how Kessler may have chosen her known aliases. In the following quote, he describes what happened when he and Kessler went to visit her father's grave site. "When we went down there, the reason I thought was to see her father's grave," he said. "She wanted to walk around and look for girls around her age that died."
MORE:
Documents released in investigation involving missing Nassau County mom
TIMELINE: The disappearance of Joleen Cummings
Customers told Action News Jax there was tension between Kessler and Cummings
Community raises money for Joleen Cummings' children
Items of interest found in Joleen Cummings landfill search, Sheriff says
Newly released documents shed light on what may have happened to Joleen Cummings
Kimberly Kessler, suspect in Joleen Cummings disappearance, made first court appearance
Report: Kimberly Kessler asked how another inmate accused of murder hid body
Source: FBI investigating Nassau County suspect, Kimberly Kessler, as possible serial killer
Ex-husband of murder suspect, Kimberly Kessler, knew she was using alias
Cox Media Group
